Who is worthy to receive? - The Boston Globe

The Boston Globe carried an article about a custom that is sweeping through the Episcopal Church these days: Open Communion.
There was a time when we tended to be a fairly exclusive church and we used to say that those who were welcome in their own communion were welcome at ours.
Then we opened things up to say that "all Baptized Christians were welcome at the Altar rail."
Things are so different now. We tend to say now that "Everyone is welcome to receive communion in this church."
Since it is our sense that Jesus did not check membership cards to any earthly organization at the Last Supper, likewise we shouldn't either.
Jesus tended to stay at the margins welcoming rich and poor alike, common fisherfolk, tax collectors, prostitutes, lepers the lame and the halt and the blind.
These folks were often not welcome in the Temple. After all, their offerings were without blemish. For Jesus blemishes and imperfections were hardly a barrier to entry into the kingdom.
To Jesus there was a special place in God's heart for those who manifested all kinds of imperfections.
The Globe says something about "liberal" dioceses opening communion up to members and non members alike, Christians and non-Christians as well. True enough. But I would hardly call the "liberal". To me this policy is simply the next logical step in obedience to Jesus' command to "Love God and love one another!"
Godspeed to ALL
Fr. Paul

Who is worthy to receive? - The Boston Globe

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Readings for next week

Having just posted today's sermon, we now need to shift our focus on next Sunday's readings. Here they are...time to think and pray about the place of God's word our life under the banner of these readings.

The Lessons Appointed for Use on Sunday October 12

The Collect

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 for ever. Amen.

Exodus 32:1-14

When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered around Aaron, and said to him, "Come, make gods for us, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him." Aaron said to them, "Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me." So all the people took off the gold rings from their ears, and brought them to Aaron. He took the gold from them, formed it in a mold, and cast an image of a calf; and they said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!" When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation and said, "Tomorrow shall be a festival to the LORD." They rose early the next day, and offered burnt offerings and brought sacrifices of well-being; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to revel.

The LORD said to Moses, "Go down at once! Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have acted perversely; they have been quick to turn aside from the way that I commanded them; they have cast for themselves an image of a calf, and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, `These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!'" The LORD said to Moses, "I have seen this people, how stiff-necked they are. Now let me alone, so that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them; and of you I will make a great nation."

But Moses implored the LORD his God, and said, "O LORD, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, `It was with evil intent that he brought them out to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth'? Turn from your fierce wrath; change your mind and do not bring disaster on your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, how you swore to them by your own self, saying to them, `I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.'" And the LORD changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people.

Psalm 106:1-6, 19-23 Page 741, BCP

1
Hallelujah!
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, *
for his mercy endures for ever.

2
Who can declare the mighty acts of the LORD *
or show forth all his praise?

3
Happy are those who act with justice *
and always do what is right!

4
Remember me, O LORD, with the favor you have for your people, *
and visit me with your saving help;

5
That I may see the prosperity of your elect
and be glad with the gladness of your people, *
that I may glory with your inheritance.

6
We have sinned as our forebears did; *
we have done wrong and dealt wickedly.

19
Israel made a bull-calf at Horeb *
and worshiped a molten image;

20
And so they exchanged their Glory *
for the image of an ox that feeds on grass.

21
They forgot God their Savior, *
who had done great things in Egypt,

22
Wonderful deeds in the land of Ham, *
and fearful things at the Red Sea.

23
So he would have destroyed them,
had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, *
to turn away his wrath from consuming them.


The Epistle
Philippians 4:1-9

My brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.

I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you also, my loyal companion, help these women, for they have struggled beside me in the work of the gospel, together with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.

The Gospel
Matthew 22:1-14

Once more Jesus spoke to the people in parables, saying: "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come. Again he sent other slaves, saying, `Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.' But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his slaves, mistreated them, and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Then he said to his slaves, `The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.' Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; so the wedding hall was filled with guests.

"But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, and he said to him, `Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?' And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, `Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' For many are called, but few are chosen."

Optional parts of the readings are set off in square brackets.

The Bible texts of the Old Testament, Epistle and Gospel lessons are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Church of Christ in the USA, and used by permission.

The Collects, Psalms and Canticles are from the Book of Common Prayer, 1979.

Return to The Lectionary Page.

Pressing on to the Upward Call

Lively conversation followed today's service at "Coffee Plus". Below are the readings and the sermon given under the title:

"Pressing on..."

The Lessons Appointed for Use on the
Sunday October 5, 2008
Year A Proper 22 RCL

Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to hear than we to pray, and to give more than we either desire or deserve: Pour upon us the abundance of your mercy, forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things for which we are not worthy to ask, except through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ our Savior; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20

Then God spoke all these words: I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me.

You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.

Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work.

Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

You shall not murder.

You shall not commit adultery.

You shall not steal.

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

When all the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking, they were afraid and trembled and stood at a distance, and said to Moses, "You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, or we will die." Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid; for God has come only to test you and to put the fear of him upon you so that you do not sin."

Psalm 19 Page 606, BCP

Caeli enarrant

1

The heavens declare the glory of God, *
and the firmament shows his handiwork.

2

One day tells its tale to another, *
and one night imparts knowledge to another.

3

Although they have no words or language, *
and their voices are not heard,

4

Their sound has gone out into all lands, *
and their message to the ends of the world.

5

In the deep has he set a pavilion for the sun; *
it comes forth like a bridegroom out of his chamber;
it rejoices like a champion to run its course.

6

It goes forth from the uttermost edge of the heavens
and runs about to the end of it again; *
nothing is hidden from its burning heat.

7

The law of the LORD is perfect
and revives the soul; *
the testimony of the LORD is sure
and gives wisdom to the innocent.

8

The statutes of the LORD are just
and rejoice the heart; *
the commandment of the LORD is clear
and gives light to the eyes.

9

The fear of the LORD is clean
and endures for ever; *
the judgments of the LORD are true
and righteous altogether.

10

More to be desired are they than gold,
more than much fine gold, *
sweeter far than honey,
than honey in the comb.

11

By them also is your servant enlightened, *
and in keeping them there is great reward.

12

Who can tell how often he offends? *
cleanse me from my secret faults.

13

Above all, keep your servant from presumptuous sins;
let them not get dominion over me; *
then shall I be whole and sound,
and innocent of a great offense.

14

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my
heart be acceptable in your sight, *
O LORD, my strength and my redeemer.

Philippians 3:4b-14

If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

Whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

Matthew 21:33-46

Jesus said, "Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, [PBB1] put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way.[PBB2] Finally he sent his son to them, saying, `They will respect my son.' But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, `This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.'[PBB3] So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?" They said to him, "He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time."

Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the scriptures:

`The stone that the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone; [PBB4]

this was the Lord's doing,

and it is amazing in our eyes'?

Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you[PBB5] and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom. The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls."

When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.

“Pressing On…”

You shall love God and you shall love your neighbor as you do yourself. Sound simple enough? What if I told you that to love your neighbor that meant beginning with your mother and father? Simple enough for some but certainly not for all!

Some Christian Psychiatrists postulate that to love your neighbor, you must begin with mother and father. How can that be when there is so much abuse and so many wounds among so many? The reconciliation of brothers and sisters, mothers and daughters, fathers and sons can be a daunting challenge for many of us. Jesus recognized this, did he when he spoke of the conflict that he would bring into this world between those within one’s most immediate family.

When Jesus spoke of loving our neighbor, he noted too that when the dying victim lie at the roadside, it was not the priest or the Levite that ministered to the unfortunate, but it was the Samaritan, the roundly detested Samaritan who became neighbor to the helpless and hapless one.

Still it is good to have standards for behavior as set forth by the Ten Commandments. After all, if Wall Street and investment bankers has known not to worship the graven image on the so called “Almighty dollar” we might not find ourselves in the midst of the financial crisis we’re mired in just now. It appears we have no choice but bail out the very bankers who indulged in those practices that delivered us into the economic crisis we’re in. You and I would not be rewarded with such a bail out would we?

At the same time that Sallie Mae, Freddie Mac, AIG and a host of other financial institutions were being baled out of the financial implosion of their excesses one 90 year old woman in Ohio was being evicted from her home…a home she worked for all her life. Predatory lenders wrote her a reverse mortgage when she in turn could not afford and so when the sheriff came to evict her from her home, she could not face the loss of her home and did the unthinkable.

Ah yes…the Ten Commandments stand firmly placed in the center of the human condition. It is still a good idea to set aside a day of rest, to respect the holy name of God, to honor our parents even when they don’t turn out all that well, not to steal, lie, kill or covet what belongs to another, and to keep the promises you made to the one you promised to love. The whole of the Law of God is not so hard when you think of it.

And whether we live on Wall Street, The Capitol or on Main Street, USA, the law of God is still in force and still makes sense even when humanity thinks that there may be a way around the ways of God.

Those that wear the fancy robes such as I wear Sunday after Sunday had better watch out too. Jesus came into the world for many reasons. But chiefest among them was the cause of forgiveness of human sin. He wanted us to know what the Scribes and the Pharisees seemed to forget so easily…that the folks who had been expelled from the Temple were God’s beloved too.

They were common folk like fishermen. There were the notorious sinners like the prostitutes and the tax collectors, the poor the sick, the lame, the lepers of his time…and now there are outcast and the marginalized of our own time

Sometimes the Doctors of the Law of God wrote these folks out of the embrace of the love of Jesus.

But I’ve got news for you…wonderful news; for whether you are rich or poor, black or white, gay or straight, liberal or conservative…you are among the beloved of God.

And beyond that whatever sin you have committed or can’t quite conquer…God love you too…for this I know. The sublime words of the Blessed Apostle Paul are true, “forgetting what lies behind, I press on toward the upward call of Jesus to make it my own”….For as I die to the old way of sin and death, and as I press on toward this upward call, I emerge into the risen life of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Discussion:

There was lots of lively conversation today at "Coffee Plus" about the Gospel passage. We wondered about the landpwner, who we ended up thinking of as God, the Watchtower, which we thought of as the Temple in Jerusalem...its hedge as the walls that surround the Temple and the grapes as the people of God and their righteous deeds, especially in the Christian context as love, forgiveness and reconciliation. The slaves of the landowner are the prophets who were shamefully treated in each generation. The tenants are the Chief Priests, the Pharisees, the Doctors of the Law and the elders, who study each word of the law and forget its spirit.

Particularly, we noted that when Jesus came, he sought out the common fisherfolk, and then the tax collectors, prostitutes, the sick, the lame, the maimed...all of those who had been systematically excluded from the Temple life...Jesus gave the inclusive and healing touch to. Ultimately the son was also killed by those tenants..and so was Jesus. Thus the stone which the bulders rejected became the head of the corner upon which Jesus would build the new community of faith. And THAT is truly amazing in our eyes. Thus we ALL become the beneficiaries of the Grace of God and the Goodness of God and the Love of God. And THAT is amazing in our eyes.

We have a grand time at "Coffee Plus", our adult forum after church. We meet from around 11:30 until a little after noon or so. It is time well spent. Come join us any Sunday.

Fr. Paul