Pentecost 4, June 21, 2015 (full size gallery)
This Sunday 4th Pentecost is also the first day of Summer as well as being Father’s day. We had 41 in church. Catherine’s parents from NC were visiting. The day lilies were in full bloom along the river with dragon flies and butterflies swirling around. The weather was sunny but by noon was getting hot. The graveyard was particularly beautiful in the changing light. People had plans for cookouts, visiting, going to restaurants on this Father’s Day Sunday.
In a larger sense it is the first Sunday after significant events of the week. The killing of 9 at the AME Church in Charleston, SC and the implications of the Pope’s encyclical on the environment are troubling.
From the Prayers of the People -"Take away our distrust and our anger with one another and our love of dissension. Heal our divisions, and open our hands and hearts to embrace each other. Strengthen our resolve to do all in our power to heal the racial divides in this country through the power of your love. We pray especially for the congregation and for the families of those who died in this past week’s shooting at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina."
At 10:00am we supported "#CharlestonSoldarity" by Charles McGuire ringing the bell 9 times, one for each live lost.
It was also World Refugee Sunday. From the Prayers of the People"We pray for the sixty million refugees around the world, and for all who suffer from the ravages of war, violence and poverty as they seek safety and shelter. "
We continually remember those affected by national diasters. From the Prayers of the People "Strengthen us for the work of rebuilding wherever devastation has visited your people through the work of nature’s rhythms, especially those who are homeless in Nepal as a result of the earthquakes and those affected by the recent flooding in the Midwest. "
The readings for this Sunday are here. The sermon considered the Gospel and Epistle. The Gospel is the first of several "crossing over" stories where Jesus and the disciples venture from Galilee to Gentile areas. But it is in the night in dramatic storms on the Sea of Galilee. It looks like they may not make it and they find Jesus is asleep during all of it. Now, they are really afraid! The sermon was over confronting our fears.
"They cross the Sea of Galilee into the less than welcoming land of the Gentiles on the other side, a land where Jesus and the disciples would not be particularly well received, a land where danger lurked.And this was Jesus’ idea, to cross over to the other side—because in that crossing the disciples would come face to face with their deepest fears…Jesus wanted the disciples to become fearless–Because if they didn’t learn to cross to the other side and move beyond their fears, they would be forever held captive by those very fears."
"If we’re honest with ourselves, we end up asking the same question that the disciples did in the boat that night because we’re scared to death. God, do you really care that we are perishing?… Did You care this past week when a young man methodically gunned down the old men and women who had come to church to study your Word and had welcomed that young man to their table and you then did nothing to save them as he shot them dead, one by one?"
"We can own up to our fears. "Fear can protect us. But most of the time, fear is a demon that can keep us bound in chains, that can keep us from acting, or can even lead us into anger or hatred because we feel that anger and hatred are necessary in order to protect ourselves.
1. So first, admit to the fear. 2. Then, call out as if God really does care, whether we believe that for sure in the moment or not. And then– take action. And that action is to open our hearts wide, even and especially in the face of our doubts and fears. "
The sermon moved to the Epistle. "In his letter to the Corinthians, in the reading we heard today, Paul talks about the storms he has faced. He lists them off. “Afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger.In spite of all of these things, Paul says that his heart is wide open, with no restriction in his affections for the Corinthians, and he begs them to open their hearts also…Because when our hearts are open to God, God’s love can pour into us in ways that we could never imagine, and bring us peace even in storms that keep right on raging on the surface of our lives.And here’s the other thing. When I open my heart to God, God helps me keep my heart open to others who are experiencing their own storms."
Catherine thanked Cindy Fields for the flowers from her garden which adorned. She gave an update on Stanley Fields who had a brain stem stroke this week. He has had some difficulty swallowing and eating and so will require additional treatment next week. We prayed for his swift and complete recovery.
We made it a point to add a Father’s day celebration during the announcements. We have a poem that Catherine found in her inlaws home and is published here that we read together. There were some confusion when Catherine asked everyone to standup who had a father. Some people stood up – but others weren’t sure!
We celebrated wedding anniversaries for Roger and Eunice Key and Bill and Nancy Wick.
There were a lot of meanings in today’s service from the change of seasons, to the week’s events and rich lectionary readings.
Commentary by Canon Lance Ousley, Diocese of Olympia
There are many options in the lectionary this week, and often that can produce anxiety for the preacher or the one leading a study with so many things coming at us. Barrage and anxiety are common threads running through all our texts this week except for Psalm 133. And Psalm 133 sets itself counter to anxiety, celebrating the blessing of unity. Likewise, we do hear of the source of Peace in the other texts. The Gospel sets this in the context of journey, and it is there I want to draw out a point of stewardship.
When we set out on a journey it is good to have a clear idea about where we are going. Without this, it hard to stay on course when the barrage of the waves of life come at us. Jesus has called us, the Church, to be his Body in the world establishing and proclaiming God’s kingdom. For me, as Jesus’ disciples this means we are to being about doing the work that he was doing in the world in his earthly ministry, both literally and metaphorically. This is our journey, our focus and direction. We are to be stewards of fulfilling the vision of God’s kingdom in the world with the resources we have at hand. It is important that we set our course clearly understanding that each of us as individuals and congregations has been given unique gifts to do this work in our particular contexts. Without knowing our gifts and our contexts the seas of ministry can be pretty rough, and it is easy to miss our mark, having spent all our resources in the process.
In our Gospel text Jesus sets the direction for the journey,"Let us go across to the other side." They all took an inventory of their resources, "They took him with them in the boat" and "Other boats were with him." Notice they did not go by land, which was a option. The anxiety of the disciples appeared when the storms arose, partly because they were not considering all their resources and partly because they were not fully understanding their context. Jesus, their greatest resource, was with them in the boat affecting their context!
To be good stewards we need to be clear about how we can best express and live-out our mission in our context with the resources we have at our disposal. There will be options to "go across to the other side" but our context and resources will influence the way we will journey with Christ. Expressing our misson clearly will help us to keep our eyes on where we are headed and it will lower anxiety. This helps us to be more efficient with our resources shielding us from wasting energy and resources being tossed to and fro by external forces.
We are in an age in the church where clarity and efficiently are deeply needed. We need to stay on course and utilize all our resources to do the work we have been given to do. And most importantly to remember who is in the boat with us! This is just good stewardship!