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2022 Sun Oct 23
Poem for the Pharisee and the Tax Collector
Poem for the Pharisee and the Tax Collector October 20, 2016 by Bill Fulton
Two men went to the temple to pray Was either sincere? I’m unable to say. For the temple itself is a stage in a way, where people strut, elbow, hawk, kneel, beg and bray.
And what’s in the heart – can anyone say? Was either man searching his soul on that day? Did the innermost man confess or portray the angels who guard and the demons who slay?
When daily I stand on the stage of my life flinching, exposed and thrown into the strife, may I act with integrity, speak from the heart may the outer and inner be all of one part.
Youth Group, Sun Oct. 23
8 youth, Catherine and three parents met in the Parish House for a pizza dinner followed by discussions, music, in the church finally closing with Compline.
The discussions centered the role of Jesus in our lives and music in the temple. Some of the same instruments we use today were used then with music in the temple.
The youth brought their instruments. New combinations were explored – two trumpets together, a piano lead for singers.
Next month we will finalize the program which will occur on 4th Advent Dec. 18. Catherine will write a play to coincide with it. Compline was read at the end of the evening with the youth taking several of the readings.
Youth Group Oct. 23, 2022(full size gallery)
The Psalms and Music
Talking with Jesus
Reading Compline
Sunday Links for Pentecost 20, Oct. 23, 2022
Fall color
Oct. 23, 11:00am – Holy Eucharist, Pentecost 20
James of Jerusalem, Oct. 23
We celebrate James day on Tues Oct. 23. He is known as St. James of Jerusalem (or “James the Just”). James was so respected by all, including even unbelieving Jews, that he was nicknamed “the Just”.
He is referred to by Paul as “the Lord’s brother” (Galatians 1:19) and the equal of the other disciples. Matthew provides some clues in Matthew 13:55 on his identity. “Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas?” with the story of Jesus less than enthusiastic reaction in Nazareth.
Some have written that he was a half brother of Jesus, a son of Joseph and Mary and, therefore, a biological brother of Jesus. But others in the church think Paul’s term “brother” is understood as “cousin” or “kinsman,” and James is thought to be the son of a sister of Joseph or Mary who was widowed and had come to live with them.
James was not an instant believer in Jesus just because he was in his family. In Mark 3:20–21 we are told that people crowded around Him so densely that He and His disciples could not even eat. Seeing this, His family members, probably also including James, thought that He was out of His mind. On another occasion we are told plainly that His brother did not believe in Him. However, Jesus did not give up on James.
Along with other relatives of our Lord (except His mother), James did not believe in Jesus until after his resurrection (John 7:3-5; 1 Corinthians 15:7). Paul reports that Jesus miraculously appeared to James after his crucifixion and before his ascension, and this is the act which leads to James’ conversion. Once that happened he soon rose to distinction in the Church and became the Bishop of Jerusalem, even staying in Jerusalem ministering to his people during a period of intense Christian persecution.
He is known for his role in accepting the Gentiles. James was thrilled that members of the early Church were willing to welcome Gentiles into their flock, but he boldly proclaimed that they would be welcome as they are without any restrictions.
In Acts chapter 15, James was open to the radical idea that there are not limitations when it comes to God’s love. As presider over the First Council of Jerusalem, the decision was made Christians would no longer be considered as a sect of Judaism.
James decided that Gentiles should be able to join the Church just as they are. Some Pharisees insisted that all new converts needed to be circumcised. James believed there’s no need to place restrictions on their diet or acts of mercy shown on the Sabbath. There’s no need to be circumcised or become Jewish before converting to Christianity. James claimed that Jesus came to earth not only to give eternal life to him and those like him, but the entire world.
We have the decision of James. (Act 15:13-21). “What those Pharisees had demanded was not necessary.” They could cite their roots in the laws of Moses but not be bound by them.
James’ decision contradicted the accepted interpretation of Scripture at the time as well as centuries of accepted practice, teaching and tradition. In fact, James’ entire post-conversion lifestyle can be described as both radical and unpopular. God’s love is not limited to a particular group of people.
According to the historian Josephus, James was martyred in AD 62 by being stoned to death by the Sadducees.
James is considered to have authored the Epistle in the New Testament that bears his name. In it, he exhorts his readers to remain steadfast in the one true faith, even in the face of suffering and temptation, and to live by faith the life that is in Christ Jesus. Faith is active with the need to confess the Gospel by words and actions, and to stake one’s life, both now and forever, in the cross.
Photos, Oct. 23, 2022 – Pentecost 20
Pentecost 20, Oct 23, 2022(full size gallery)
Sermon, Oct. 23, 2022 – Pentecost 20
In one of America’s best loved pieces of literature, Dorothy Gale and her dog, Toto, get swept away from Kansas in a tornado and end up in the magical Land of Oz. Dorothy meets some steadfast friends along the way as they all follow the yellow brick road to the Emerald City, where they hope to meet the wizard and have their wishes granted. Dorothy’s wish is to get back home to Kansas.
The person who wrote Psalm 84 longs to get home to God’s house. The temple in Jerusalem serves as the pilgrim’s spiritual home, for God’s presence in that place is especially powerful. After all, people have gathered there over centuries to pray and to praise God. In the temple, the pilgrim hopes to encounter God more fully as the people offer sacrifices, ask for forgiveness, and pray and worship together.
When the pilgrims finally reach the temple, what joy! For in the temple, where even the birds come to rejoice in the living God, the pilgrims forget how hard the journey was. They join in praise and thanksgiving for finally arriving at the longed for destination. They realize all over again that there is no other place in the world like this home in God where God welcomes us in.
In addition to the poetic description of all of creation joining in praise to God in God’s house, the psalmist describes the journey to that house.
Not only will the pilgrims making the journey find God present at their destination, but they will find God going all along the way with them as well.
And God’s presence with them gives them the strength to make the journey.
Now it’s our turn. We are pilgrims, making our own journeys through this life.
Psalm 84 gives us some things to keep in mind as we travel.
First, the psalm reminds us that our ongoing goal and destination in this life is to be in the presence of God.
God is our North Star. To travel toward God gives us direction, focus and purpose.
Nature itself follows the direction of our Creator. The psalmist says that the sparrow has found a house and the swallow a nest where she can lay her young by the side of God’s altars. Every created thing is interconnected with every other part of creation, and all of creation is in God’s care. Nature witnesses to the presence of God and responds to that presence.
Have you ever noticed how sunflowers turn their faces toward the sun and move with the sun as it travels across the sky? Or how prayer plants spread their leaves during the day, and then roll them up at night? God has given the natural world its own direction, focus and purpose. The natural world is much better about living into God’s plan for creation than we people tend to be!
Second, we do not make this journey alone. In Biblical times, pilgrims traveled in groups to the temple in Jerusalem for the big religious festivals. The temple was always packed with all sorts of people. In today’s gospel, both a Pharisee and a tax collector have gone up to the temple to pray. The one who had contempt for the other was focused on himself rather than on God—he lacked God as his true North. If he had been focused on God rather than himself, he would have had compassion toward his fellow sinner.
Jesus said that the two great commandments are to love God and to love our neighbors as ourselves. If our destination in this life is God, not only will we welcome the company of others, but we will be willing give help to our fellow travelers.
Jesus told a story about a traveler going from Jerusalem to Jericho. Bandits attacked the traveler and left him for dead. A priest and a Levite, probably both headed to the temple in Jerusalem, passed by the man lying in the ditch and didn’t even bother to stop. Then the Samaritan came along, bound up the man’s wounds, and provided for the man’s ongoing care while he recovered.
Jesus didn’t say what the Samaritan’s destination was, because Jesus didn’t need to say it—the Samaritan’s ultimate destination was God. So the Samaritan cared for the man in the ditch and in doing so, became the hands and heart of God as he did what he could for his fellow traveler, making God present and available to the man who needed help.
The pilgrim whose destination is God is a truly blessed person. The psalmist points out that blessed people are people who rejoice. We come to church to give thanks and praise, as we say every Sunday at the beginning of the Great Thanksgiving. “It is right to give our thanks and praise!” Or, if you love the traditional words, you can say, “It is meet and right so to do,” to give thanks to God.
Psalm 84 also has some wisdom for how we should live out our last days as we complete our earthly journeys. Looking back, we can see that God has gone with us throughout our journeys in this life.
Today’s Epistle reading from 2nd Timothy reports some of the Apostle Paul’s last words. Paul has spent his life proclaiming the gospel, and now his work is done. He has fought the good fight, he has finished the race, he has kept the faith. God has gone with Paul through his life, which has been full of danger and challenges. Paul knows that God continues to go with him as Paul prepares for his own death. Paul says, “The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and save me for his heavenly kingdom.”
Now, Paul is going to God, the righteous Lord who will give him a crown of righteousness, and not only a crown for Paul, but also to all who have longed for God’s appearing. Paul has not made the journey alone. God has gone with him, and so have countless others who have followed God faithfully during their time here on earth.
So we faithful people long for our home in God. Home is where the heart is. There’s no place like home.
At the end of the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy says goodbye to the companions who have kept her company on the way, and then, following Glinda’s directions, she clicks the heels of her ruby slippers together as she says over and over, “There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home.”
In the next scene, Dorothy slowly opens her eyes. She’s at home, in her own bed. Her Aunt Em and her Uncle Henry and four friends hover over her, and she tells them about where she’s been, that most of it was beautiful, but all she kept saying was that she wanted to go home, and at last they sent her home. Dorothy says to Toto, “We’re home, home, and this is my room and you’re all here and I’m not going to leave here ever again because I love you all. There’s no place like home.”
God has brought us here today, and we are home in this place. God goes with us through our journeys in this life to our eternal home in God. And so we wait with happy expectation, for we will all be there, and we won’t have to ever leave that place of love and gladness in the fullness of God’s presence.
There really is no place like home.
“How dear to me is your dwelling, O Lord of hosts! My soul has a desire and longing for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh rejoice in the living God.”
Take heed from the Gospel this week!
Luke 18:9–14
In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus compares two individuals in the temple. One person views himself as good and righteous, believing his personal faults to be minimal. He sees his rote adherence to piety as enough to justify himself before God and neighbor, and he lives his life in a posture of judgement towards others. The other man, a tax collector who would certainly have been deemed a despised member of society in Jesus’s time, understands himself to be deeply flawed. He feels the sting of conviction in his own heart and humbles himself before God and neighbor.
As Irene Maliaman notes in her retelling of this passage, Christians today should take heed of the parable’s lesson. She asks us to consider “a model Christian and a criminal [who] went to church to pray. Without hesitation, the Christian entered the church, dipped his fingers in the stoup that holds the holy water, made the sign of the cross, genuflected, and headed straight to his favorite pew in front of the altar. It is obvious that he knew what he was doing and was familiar with the place. Looking up, he lifted up his hands and prayed, ‘Thank you, God, for blessing me and making me unlike those corrupt and miserable sinners who cannot tell good from evil, who live their lives separate from you, who do not come to church, like that criminal over there. I read the Bible daily, I never miss church, I pray for the less fortunate, I fast twice a week, I advocate for justice and human rights, I support Episcopal Relief & Development and other non-profit organizations that are helping the poor, and I give my tithes.’”
Maliaman reminds us of the dangers of considering ourselves righteous in our own context. As Christians, we are called, like St. Paul notes in his letter to the Philippians, to “in humility regard others as better than yourselves.” God, who searches our hearts and motivations, calls on us to enact a posture of repentance. In such a posture, we open ourselves to God in full awareness of who we are. We can then experience God’s mercy and kindness as a gift of grace.
—Summerlee Staten