Praying twice
August 30, 2008
Qui cantat, bis orat. “He who sings, prays twice.” ~ St. Augustine of Hippo
Liturgy Lesson for the Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity: Silent Sermon
August 28, 2008
Today’s liturgy lesson is taken from Anglican Answers: Why does the priest wear the chasuble during only part of the service?
The Face of Jesus by a Grateful Member of Koinonia
August 25, 2008
“Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in his wonderful face . . .”
We sing this hymn frequently at Sunday Koinonia prayer meetings. Recently on a business trip, it came to have a very special meaning.
For the second early morning in a row, I was lugging conference material from the hotel to the convention center and back. That second morning, however, I did not have help and was feeling sorry for myself. I knew that meant trouble so I started humming the “Jesus” song.
As I did, I realized that each face I saw on the crowded, bustling sidewalk was the face of Jesus. Suddenly I was smiling at people and really noticing them. Grace changed my heart from resentment to joy—all in the space of a few minutes.
The song concludes:
“And the things of earth
Will grow strangely dim
In the light of his glory and grace.”
What grew dim in those moments on the sidewalk was the drudgery as grace brightened the faces around me and lifted my heart.
That’s the way I often feel at Koinonia—that’s why I invite people to come see and experience the Spirit there. Hope you’ll come join us soon!
Liturgy Lesson for St. Bartholomew the Apostle: Saints’ Days
August 22, 2008
The Church has set aside saints’ days, (such as St. Bartholomew) in honor of the first martyrs and those mentioned in the Gospel as most nearly connected with our Blessed Lord in the work of establishing His Church and in honor of all those who surrender their lives for the Lord’s use. Saints’ days were established for us to study and emulate their virtues and thank God for their examples. It’s important to note—we don’t pray to the saints or address them directly in devotion, but we may ask our Heavenly Father for our share of their prayers in Heaven. The first record we have of a saints’ day traces to the second century, although it probably existed earlier and grew from ancient Christians meeting at martyrs’ graves on their death anniversaries to celebrate their Godly virtues and bless God for their pure and heroic lives. The great truth for us in observance of saints’ days is that the saints on Earth are fellow-citizens with the saints in paradise, and all, whether living or dead, are members of one great Heavenly parokia, (parish)—God’s family—the Communion of Saints. Like Christians we meet, our spirits can “bear witness” with the saints because we resonate on Christ’s spiritual frequency—one Faith and one Baptism for the remission of sin—rewired to our Lord’s specification. And, we can take joy that we’re empowered—just as St. Bartholomew was—to preach His Gospel, with hearts that have “no guile” as Jesus said of Bartholomew—regardless of the cost. And, like him, when our hearts have no other agenda, we have a great company with us to God’s purpose in our lives. For the Kingdom!
God Got My Attention: Tia Weaver
August 20, 2008
God is great, but sometimes life ain’t good … but sometimes it is.
A year ago I found myself in the hospital ICU ward, undergoing not one surgery, but two—the first one to save my life, the second to save my left arm and hand. They both worked. Praise the Lord! Apparently it was touch and go for a while. In fact, one of my best friends told me she was trying to figure out what she’d say at my funeral. She told me that, not to be morbid, but to make me realize how close I came.
People tell me that if they couldn’t see my scars, they would never know I was ever injured. That’s God’s doing, no one else’s! I had doctors just shaking their heads in wonder. I should have had two or three more surgeries on my arm to make it function correctly—they only had to do one.
I was riding an ATV with a friend. It got dark, and we went right into a sinkhole ten feet deep with the ATV landing on top of me. I broke my neck, sheared off my elbow, crushed my left hand, broke my wrist in two places, broke two ribs, and crushed my spleen and left lung. I almost lost my diaphragm. The ATV pedal went through my left ankle, leaving entrance and exit wounds but not severing my tendon and not breaking my bone. I broke my pelvis on the left side in two places and had a few head injuries, too.
That was a year ago. I remember thinking I was on the path God had carved out for me, but I was attempting to take it real slow. Once I woke up in the hospital, I remember thinking to myself, OK, Jesus, what can I do for you here? I thought He must want me here to speak to someone about Him; otherwise I would have never been there. One night I woke up about three in the morning with a gentleman who heads up respiratory preparing a nebulizer treatment for me. I just came out and started asking him questions about where he went to church and told him he should come visit our church. It turned out he and his family were looking for a church home, somewhere where they just wouldn’t be a number. I said, “You have to try All Saints” and proceeded to give him the address. I’ve often wondered if he ever visited our church. Then recently when I was cleaning my desk, I found his name and address and wrote him a letter and dropped it off into the mailbox that afternoon. The following Sunday, guess who was there? Yep, it was he and his beautiful family. (That is one of my mottos, you know: clean and ye shall find.) I couldn’t believe he had remembered who I was, let alone come to our church!
Before my accident, I used to think it wasn’t my place to ask someone where they went to church or if they went to church. It wasn’t my business. Now I know it is my business.
I have been blessed with riding, training, and teaching again. In fact, I have been voted on to a board for the Burn Research and Recovery Foundation. I am the horse expert on the board and have the opportunity to become an equine therapy specialist. I will be helping burned, Downs, and autistic children learn to be empathetic via horses. It sounds like a little thing but could change their whole future.
I feel like I am in fast forward motion when it comes to the Word of God. I want to drink in the Word of God and just can’t get enough. I won’t give poor Father Chip a night off of teaching the Word. I won’t give the choir a break. In fact, we’re learning some very difficult motets during our break time. Like our own Father Chip has said, a prayer sung is a prayer said twice. What could be more important than that?
I’ll never be able to thank all my friends who helped me recover so quickly. Steve and Debbie McCullough, Hannah Sherbourne, Chrys Parker, Osei Okolo and family, Nancy Clark, Susan and Bill McLaughlin, Christian Silliker, The Pleake family, Father Chip and Christie, Father Ed, and Cecyl Dolgner … to name a few. Thanks to the people who sent me beautiful flowers, wonderful cards, and great phone calls. May God bless all of you for all you did for me.
I guess God wanted to get my attention … He did get it in a big way!
Always the Victim?
August 17, 2008
Bible Reading: God has made me fruitful in this land of my suffering.” Genesis 41:52
Bonus Readings: Genesis 37:5-10; 50:15-21; Deuteronomy 4:29-31; Romans 5:3-5; 2 Corinthians 1:3-5
If Joseph were alive today, he could be the poster boy for victimization. He was abused by dishonorable brothers, who even sold him to traveling slave-traders! They took him to Egypt as a young man, robbing him of the joys of his youth. Rather than choosing to fall into a pit of self-pity, however, Joseph continued to honor his God and proved a very valuable slave, but when he refused to sleep with his master’s wife, she lied about him and had him tossed into prison! Still, he continued to be honorable before God and was a helpful part of the prison community even though the inmates he helped by his action and attitude forgot about him after they regained their freedom, leaving him to languish. It was all so unjust. Yet Joseph never saw himself as a victim. His faithfulness before God drew him the benefit of God’s blessing, and he eventually became the equivalent of Egypt’s prime minister.
Victimization has become in vogue in our society. We insist that we have been deeply hurt by our families, our supervisors, and our culture, saying words like, “I deserve better than I have gotten.” Maybe that’s true. Yet it really doesn’t matter what we deserve. What matters is how we respond to our hurt. We can settle into a deep anger that yields only bitterness and unforgiveness that will evaporate the marrow of our lives and block our ability to be heard in God’s courts when we pray. Or we can choose, instead, to look for the ways in which God is molding our lives, even through injustice.
Ultimately, our God cares a lot more about our character than our accomplishments. When he was young, Joseph had great dreams but little humility. After his release from jail, he was a different man. That’s because he believed God could use even evil for good. That required his choice. The other choice—victimization—is a choice to waste our suffering.
Contemplative Prayer: Holy Spirit, please show me how I choose: to blame others for my hurts or to benefit from them.
Think about it: You have granted me many blessings; now let me also accept what is hard from your hand. ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer (German pastor & theologian)
All love in the Beloved,
Chip+
Schedule for Week of August 17-23
August 16, 2008
Father Chip will be at the CANA Council the latter part of this coming week. There will be no Bible study on Wednesday night, but the potluck and Evensong will be held as normal.
Salt and Light will be cancelled for August 23rd but will resume August 30th.
Liturgy Lesson for the Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity: Propers
August 16, 2008
In our prayerbook, pp. 90-269, we find the Collects, Epistles & Gospels. Called the “propers” from the Latin proprius, meaning own, they’re the lessons and prayers belonging to the particular Sunday, Holy Day, or special occasion, such as weddings. These very ancient devotions were probably arranged in their present order by St. Jerome, in the 4th century, and although designed to be part of the Communion service, we also use the collect all week for the daily offices of Morning and Evening Prayer. The term collect refers to these as the collected (unified) prayers of the people; our collects mostly originate in the writings of Gregory the Great, who gathered them out of 4th and 5th century liturgies. Archbishop Cranmer, the father of the English Reformation, along with other Godly men, authored some in the 16th century, and a few a bit later. These ancient Scripture readings and prayers harmonize a central truth appropriate to the liturgical day’s devotions and lead us to worship as St. Paul commended, “decently and in order” (1 Cor 14:40)—a Scriptural tasking to all Christians seeking God. However, to really get the full benefit from the propers requires us to enter worship well prepared for a spiritual interface. That’s why, in the Newcomers’ course, we teach everyone that the best way to approach worship is to prepare ourselves through personal examen and invoking the empowerment of the Holy Spirit for ourselves and all around us. That way, we not only ensure St. Paul’s “decency and order” but also enable ourselves to another Scriptural injunction—to worship in “spirit and truth” (St. John 4:23-24). After all, God looks on our hearts—the real proper of the day that we lift to Him.
Recognition Sunday
August 11, 2008
And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you … ~ Thessalonians 5:12
On Recognition Sunday, September 7th, All Saints will recognize those who labor among us. There will be only one service, at 11:15 AM, with a short homily and recognition for the many volunteers who serve the Lord at All Saints. A potluck lunch will follow the service. Join us to honor those who work to build God’s Kingdom here.
Liturgy Lesson for the Twelfth Sunday after Trinity: Holy Unction
August 7, 2008
Anglican Christian practice includes seven Sacraments to build us up and empower our Christian Faith. Among these, Holy Unction, in Scripture in St. James 5:13-16 and St. Mark 6:13, is specifically intended to focus God’s healing power on our illnesses and infirmities. According to the prayer book, this is done at the minister’s discretion and parishioners are called on to give him notice that someone is sick. Accomplished in obedience to divine command as found in St. James 5:14-15, it’s also a Christian duty as described in St. Matthew 25:34-36. Plainly, any Christian has the authority to lay hands on the sick and expect their recovery, but application of the Unction (anointing) for the sick is specifically tasked to the presbyters (priests) of the Church, according to St. James. This begs the question, then, does everyone we anoint become well on the spot, by God’s power? Clearly not. God, after all, is God and He chooses where and when to heal. However, we are to be faithful to what Scripture tasks us—if there are sick among us, we are to call for the priests of the Church to anoint and pray for the sick. Scripture promises us, then, the prayer of the faithful saves the sick and the Lord raises them up. How God responds is up to Him. However, since God is sovereign and Scripture tells us to pray for the sick and they will recover, then, there’s no reason not to expect God to heal miraculously by Holy Unction or simply laying on of hands in prayer. We serve a caring, sovereign God who triumphs over our problems!
