Sunday, February 8, 2015 (full size gallery)
The week began with Presentation of Jesus in the Temple service on Monday Feb. 2 with 26 in the service helped by St. Asaph’s and Rev. Willis sharing the worship. The music was noted by Amy Meyer’s harp performance 20 minutes before the service. The service was surrounded by a howling wind outside with frigid temperatures. The next day L. Cleo Mullins firm came for a more indepth investigation of our tablets. They peered beneath the black overpaint, looked at the separation of the panels from the walls, noted similarities in the top rosettes and the stained glass windows and brought in a gilding expert to look at the molding around the panels. This will be a long term project both in terms of their work and our ability to fund it/
Sunday, Feb. 8 was Morning Prayer in Epiphany 5 since Catherine was away with her father who was going through a major back operation in Winston-Salem. Cookie was our officiant and Helmut preached with Charles as lector.
We had 33 in the service. A number of people from Portobago Bay came to support Helmut, including Larry Campbell and his wife. The day was uncharteristically warm in the 50’s under a clear sky. Two birthdays were remembered – Elizabeth and Clarence.
Helmut began his sermon with advice Martin Luther gave to a young priest 1. Stand out cheerfully 2. Speak manfully 3. Leave speedily! Helmut provide a sweeping narrative over the season of Epiphany, a time of the revelation of Jesus to the nations. He reviewed the beauty of Christmas particularly in music and then quoted Hymn 133 for Epiphany- O Light of Light, Love given birth by Laurence Housman. He quoted the first verse -"1. O Light of light, Love given birth; Jesus, Redeemer of the earth: more bright than day your face did show, your raiment whiter than the snow." He used the idea of light coming to the 3 kings offering a way home. He emphasized Jesus was a culmination the light of God present in a human being providing a new direction. Light provides a vision, it does not overcome or diminish. Light bestows wisdom and provide new ways.
He went through the early scriptures in Mark where the disciples followed Jesus discarding their livelihoods and without question. In this 5th Sunday of Eiphany in a day, Jesus drove a demon in the synogogue (Epiphany 4), healed Peter’s mother in law, healed others, and withdrew to pray in a deserted place (Ephiphany 6)
Despite our limitations, God has continued the covenant with us, honored us, loved us in all we do and provides us with a new life. All this despite the fact we often fail God. In turn we need to extend God’s honor to others. We need to honor others and give our best as Jesus does for us.
This week is the trip to Washington to see "Picturing Mary" with artist Susan Tilt. The bulletin was filled with Lent announcements coming up on Feb. 18. In the next week we will have another Village Harvest distribution and we need chili supplies to round out the distribution. Last week in the Souperbowl we collected $327 and 25 cans of food for that effort.
Commentary by Lance Ousley, Canon of the Diocese of Olympia, Washington
Stewardship is an all encompassing way of life, not a practice compartmentalized to a single element or season each year. Chiefly, our stewardship is a reflection of our relationship with God in all things and through all things, including stewardship of the Gospel of Christ in relation to the world.
Our first two readings remind us of the awesomeness of our Creator and the care that God gives to the whole of Creation. Both of these readings set our hearts in gratitude for the gift of the heavens and earth and all that is therein. They remind us whose we are, …and whose all other people are. We are all children of God, sisters and brothers – siblings born out of our Creator. Our epistle and gospel readings this week wrap these ideas together and present us with the implications of our divine-sibling love.
I love the NIV translation of 1 Corinthians 9:16 because of the use of the phrase, "I am compelled to preach". In the depth of Paul’s theology he can’t help but deliver the good news to his fellow children of God – those under the Law and those outside the Law. The law of Christ, which is to love one’s neighbor as oneself, demands this of him and compels him to preach it to both Jew and Greek alike. Woe to him if he does not do it, because he would be keeping the Gospel from his divine-siblings, and therefore not be acting in love. This message has been entrusted to him, not to horde, but to share with the world in love. It is stewardship of love.
The gospel lesson presents the Good News to us in both action and word through Jesus. Jesus seeks to deliver the message of the Gospel both by acts of whole-making through healing those in need, casting out demons, and by preaching the restoration of Creation as God intended through the coming of God’s kingdom on earth. The picture of the healing of Simon’s (Peter’s) mother-in-law restoring her to health and loving service of her fellow children of God illustrates the work and result of God’s kingdom. All is made whole in Christ and through Christ. This is good news and we are "compelled" to share it with all of Creation in both word and deed.
But the echoes of Isaiah 40 and Psalm 147 remind us that this whole-making also refers to the rest of Creation, too, the earth and all that is therein, animal, mineral and vegetable. By caring for these with whole-making and healing, we are caring for our neighbors as ourselves. Part of the stewardship of the Gospel is also stewardship of Creation; and not only humanity, but also those represented by what Francis called Brother Wolf and Sister Moon. We cannot wholly care for our sisters and brothers without caring for the rest of Creation.
So this week we are reminded whose we are; and therefore, who we are. In this we are compelled to be stewards of the Gospel preaching it to all the world with word and deed, because we also are remind whose they are. We all belong to God, the Creator of all the earth.
Don’t you think God the Creator wants us to be good stewards of one another (and every "other") in all we say and do?