Justice, reconciliation and love … the light that guides us

 

 

1If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, 2make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. 4Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. 5Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, 
6   who, though he was in the form of God, 
          did not regard equality with God 
          as something to be exploited, 
7   but emptied himself, 
          taking the form of a slave, 
          being born in human likeness. 
     And being found in human form, 
8        he humbled himself 
          and became obedient to the point of death — 
          even death on a cross.

9   Therefore God also highly exalted him 
          and gave him the name 
          that is above every name, 
10  so that at the name of Jesus 
          every knee should bend, 
          in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 
11  and every tongue should confess 
          that Jesus Christ is Lord, 
          to the glory of God the Father.

12Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

 Philippians 2:1-13

 

Saint Elizabeth of Hungary Bringing Food for the Inmates

ELSHEIMER, Adam

1598

oil on copper

Wellcome Collection

London

UK

 

https://www.wikiart.org/en/adam-elsheimer/saint-elizabeth-of-hungary-bringing-food-for-the-inmates-of-a-hospital-1598

 

About this work

Description

Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, with a halo, offers a bowl of food and a tankard of drink to a man who sits up in bed. Next to the bed in the left foreground is a table covered by a green cloth, on which is a glass jug of water, and underneath the bed is a chamber pot. Two other patients lie in other beds in the room. Above each bed is a framed painting of a sacred subject. A large statue of the Virgin and Christ Child is mounted on one of the end walls. Two ladies attending Saint Elizabeth of Hungary stand in the centre of the room, and other people stand or sit around. Beyond, an arch divided from the front ward by a curtain which is drawn back to reveal another ward with three beds, each holding one patient

Above left, a large arched window, with a coat of arms placed within the top of the window embrasure. The arms are those of Saint Elizabeth's family--the Árpád dynasty of Hungary--except that they appear to be in the wrong orientation: the cross is on the sinister side and the bars on the dexter side, whereas the reverse is found in reference sources

 

 

Sinister (Latin for 'left') indicates the left-hand side as regarded by the bearer – the bearer's proper left, and to the right as seen by the viewer.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dexter_and_sinister

 

 

 

There is always more goodness in the world than there appears to be,

because goodness is of its very nature modest and retiring.

~ Evelyn Beatrice Hall

 

 

 

 

The fingers of your thoughts

are molding your face ceaselessly. *

~ Charles Reznikoff



 

 

 

Chew and Chat at Olive Garden

Marilee Bradford, Sondra Kellogg, Karla Byrd, Carolyn Alexander

 

Jen Volmer and I teamed up to have Dine Around at her house.

She did all the work and I made the main dish.

 

Lynne Gilbert brought goodies for Harley!

 

Harley loved the treats.

 

Dennis and Terri Heldt dropped by with these lovely flowers.

I had all three of their kids when I was teaching … way back then!

 

 

At Rotary, Alan Rubin was honored by Todd Bastian as Recycle King

for his amazing job organizing our Recycle Day.

 

Lunch at Parkside

Pastor Richard Aylor, Susan Fitzwilson, and I had a beautiful day for lunch.

 

Marilyn Herrs and I caught up with each other at The Bagelry

on Saturday morning.

 

The elk know it is hunting season and are hanging around here.

 

From my car window

 

Harley does NOT like the elk.

He thinks they should NOT be in his back yard!!!

 

 

This is a wonderful message from Emelio, Harley’s former owner,

thanking his amazing neighbors for taking care of Harley for three years.

Emilio was in a bad accident three years ago and is now a quadriplegic

and in a care facility.

 

'Click Here to hear Message

 

 

The great mystery of ministry 

is that while we ourselves are overwhelmed by our own weaknesses and limitations, 

we can still be so transparent 

that the Spirit of God, the divine counsellor, 

can shine through us and bring light to others.

~ Henri Nouwen

 

 

 

 

 

October 1, 2023  Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost: Proper 21 Year A

 

Previous OPQs may be found at:

     http://www.dotjack.com/opq.htm

 

* I must have wrinkled thoughts!!!

 



23When he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” 24Jesus said to them, “I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. 25Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?” And they argued with one another, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 26But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we are afraid of the crowd; for all regard John as a prophet.” 27So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

28“What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ 29He answered, ‘I will not’; but later he changed his mind and went. 30The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, ‘I go, sir’; but he did not go. 31Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him.”

Matthew 21:23-32

 

Agnus Day, by James Wetzstein

Agnus Day appears with the permission of www.agnusday.org

 

 

Agnus Day appears with the permission of www.agnusday.org

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LECTIONARY

 

Exodus 17:1–7 

Psalm 78:1–4, 12–16 

Philippians 2:1–13 

Matthew 21:23–32

 

Summary

The two Gospel episodes are distinct sections connected by their reference to the authority of John the Baptist.

 

In the first, Jesus successfully traps the temple priests in the same sort of double-bind that they unsuccessfully attempted to trap him. They reveal that they cannot recognize the commission of God when its marks are before their eyes: the “way of uprightness” (v. 32) and Jesus’ miracles and works of healing (see John chs. 5-10).

 

In the parable of the two sons, Jesus makes plain that his standard for inclusion in the Kingdom of God is not an outward show of godliness but the capacity to recognize the voice of the Lord and obey it.

https://www.preachingtoday.com/lectionary/

 

 

October 1 – 26th Sunday of the Year A / 18th Sunday after Pentecost A  [Proper 21]

The parable of the two sons:  “Tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you.  When John came to you in the way of righteousness, you did not believe him; but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did.”

Matthew 21: 28-32

THE WORD:

Today’s parable of the two sons is a devastating condemnation of the Jewish religious leaders whose faith is confined to words and rituals.  Jesus states unequivocally that those the self-righteous consider to be the very antithesis of religious will be welcomed by God into his presence before the “professional” religious.

Prostitutes and tax collectors were the most despised outcasts in Judaism.  In light of the First Testament tradition of God’s relationship with Israel as a “marriage” and Israel’s disloyalty as “harlotry,” prostitution was considered an especially heinous sin.  Tax collectors were, in the eyes of Palestinian Jews, the very personification of corruption and theft.  According to the Roman system of tax collection, tax collectors (also called publicans) would pay the state a fixed sum based on the theoretical amount of taxes due from a given region.  The publican, in return, had the right to collect the taxes in that region – and they were not above using terrorism and extortion to collect.  Tax collectors, as agents of the state, were also shunned as collaborators with Israel's Roman captors.

Jesus’ declaration that those guilty of the most abhorrent of sins would enter God’s kingdom before them deepened the Jewish establishment's animosity toward Jesus.  

HOMILY POINTS:

Jesus’ simple story of the two sons takes the Gospel out of the realm of the “theoretical” and places the mercy of God into the midst of our messy, complicated everyday lives.  Compassion, forgiveness and mercy are only words until our actions give full expression to those values in our relationships with others; our calling ourselves Christians and disciples of Jesus means nothing until our lives express that identity in the values will uphold and the beliefs we live.  

The words of the Gospel must be lived; Jesus’ teachings on justice, reconciliation and love must be the light that guides us, the path we walk, the prayer we work to make a reality.  Discipleship begins within our hearts, where we realize Christ’s presence in our lives and in the lives of others and then honoring that presence in meaningful acts of compassion and charity.   

Throughout the Gospels, Jesus shatters labels and stereotypes in order to uphold the sacred dignity of all men and women in the eyes of God.  Christ calls us to move beyond our own contemporary version of the designations of  “tax collector” and “prostitute” to recognize, instead, the holiness that resides within the soul of every person, who is, like us, a child of God.   

We are not defined by our mistakes and failings; the labels society slaps on us are often meaningless.  In today’s Gospel, Jesus articulates the hope of the kingdom of God: that, in the Spirit of God, we can access the grace and wisdom of that Spirit to move beyond hopelessness and despair to realize the dignity every one of us possesses as daughters and sons of God.  

 

 

First Reading Exodus 17:1-7

1From the wilderness of Sin the whole congregation of the Israelites journeyed by stages, as the LORD commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2The people quarreled with Moses, and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the LORD?” 3But the people thirsted there for water; and the people complained against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?” 4So Moses cried out to the LORD, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” 5The LORD said to Moses, “Go on ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.” Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7He called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled and tested the LORD, saying, “Is the LORD among us or not?”

Psalm 78:1-4, 12-16

1   Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; 
          incline your ears to the words of my mouth. 
2   I will open my mouth in a parable; 
          I will utter dark sayings from of old, 
3   things that we have heard and known, 
          that our ancestors have told us. 
4   We will not hide them from their children; 
          we will tell to the coming generation 
     the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, 
          and the wonders that he has done.

12  In the sight of their ancestors he worked marvels 
          in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan. 
13  He divided the sea and let them pass through it, 
          and made the waters stand like a heap. 
14  In the daytime he led them with a cloud, 
          and all night long with a fiery light. 
15  He split rocks open in the wilderness, 
          and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep. 
16  He made streams come out of the rock, 
          and caused waters to flow down like rivers.

Second Reading Philippians 2:1-13

1If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, 2make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. 4Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. 5Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, 
6   who, though he was in the form of God, 
          did not regard equality with God 
          as something to be exploited, 
7   but emptied himself, 
          taking the form of a slave, 
          being born in human likeness. 
     And being found in human form, 
8        he humbled himself 
          and became obedient to the point of death — 
          even death on a cross.

9   Therefore God also highly exalted him 
          and gave him the name 
          that is above every name, 
10  so that at the name of Jesus 
          every knee should bend, 
          in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 
11  and every tongue should confess 
          that Jesus Christ is Lord, 
          to the glory of God the Father.

12Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Gospel Matthew 21:23-32

23When he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” 24Jesus said to them, “I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. 25Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?” And they argued with one another, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 26But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we are afraid of the crowd; for all regard John as a prophet.” 27So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

28“What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ 29He answered, ‘I will not’; but later he changed his mind and went. 30The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, ‘I go, sir’; but he did not go. 31Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him.”