October 1, 2017 – Season of Creation 5
From the Sermon – "That’s why we must first, before we do anything else, take the time to appreciate the natural world in its beauty and sometimes terrible magnificence, to see it as the dwelling God has given us rather than an object to be used up for our own benefit…"
Wendell Berry is a farmer living in another Port Royal – Port Royal, Ky. We know Berry best for his over 40 works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. He fits well into the season of creation since he challenged the the church to take environment issues serious. As we end the Season of Creation this week Berry remains a model of taking nature seriously
Links
1. Interview with Bill Moyers.
2. Interview with Krista Tippett, On Being
3. His own page
More Thoughts from Wendell Berry
So, friends, every day do something that won’t compute. Love the Lord.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it.
Give your approval to all you cannot understand. Praise ignorance, for what man has not encountered he has not destroyed.
Ask the questions that have no answers.
Put your faith in the two inches of humus
that will build under the trees every thousand years.
Listen to carrion – put your ear
close, and hear the faint chattering
of the songs that are to come.
Expect the end of the world. Laugh.
Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful
though you have considered all the facts.
Practice resurrection.
From "Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front” from The Country of Marriage
Video this Sunday
1. Psalm 33 with harp. A creative reading.
2 "Seek ye first" last verse
The Week Ahead…
Oct. 4 – 10:00am – Ecumenical Bible Study
Oct. 4 – 4:00pm – 6pm St. Francis Day Celebration
Oct. 4 – 5pm – 6:30pm – Village Dinner
Oct. 8 – 10:00am – Godly Play for Adults
Oct. 8 – 10:00am – Children’s Christian Ed with Becky
Oct. 8 – 11:00am – Holy Eucharist, Rite II
Sunday, Oct. 8, Readings and Servers
We need these items:
1. For the Village Harvest – by Oct. 15
Toilet paper, paper towels, Kleenex and other paper products are greatly appreciated by the people who come to the distribution and we can’t get them from the Northern Neck Food Bank. The next Village Harvest is Oct. 18.
2. For the "Buzzing Bees", ongoing 
a. Granulated sugar, in any amount, so that Andrew Huffman, the beekeeper, can prepare it for the bees for food.
b. Mason jars, preferably pint size 16oz, for the bumper crop of honey that the bees will provide for harvesting next year
St. Francis Day, Oct. 4 at St. Peter’s
This was a different St. Francis Event, 4pm-6pm, Oct. 4, 2017. In the past we have had the service around the Blessing of the Pets. In other years at Charter Day we gave out treats and had some blessings.
This year we had a variety of activities – art, a scavenger hunt, the blessing and then following it the Village Dinner. In attendance were 7 dogs, 3 hermit crabs, a wounded vulture and 2,000 bees. The people came at different times so the service was repeated several times. Usually the people gather for one service Catherine also had "treats to go" that she gave out at the Village Dinner
Thanks to all who participated in particular for Susan Tilt’s art project, Andrew Huffman for his wonderful explanation on our bees and for gathering the bees in a separate glassed container so all could see, Catherine for the scvanger hunt (for both children and adults), the helpers with the Village Dinner and of course those who brought their animals. There was much more diversity from just having dogs.
Adding to the above was the wonderful day on the river and behind St. Peter’s.
Links to the materials
The Pet Blessing on St. Francis Day, Oct. 4
"Our pets have already blessed us. On St Francis Day, we get to bless our pets. St Francis of Assisi, who lived long ago from 1182 to 1226, had a great love for animals and the environment. He understood the earth and everything in it as God’s good creation and believed that we are brothers and sisters with everything in creation. So on this day, we remember St Francis and thank God for the gift of our pets.
"When you have a moment with your pet, offer this blessing written by Bishop Mark S. Sisk:
Live without fear. Your Creator loves you, made you holy, and has always protected you. May we follow the good road together, and may God’s blessing be with you always. Amen.
"Who was St. Francis? " – a link collection
St. Francis on the "Episcopal Saints" page
St. Francis Reluctant Saint
"Brother Sun, Sister Moon"- trailer
Director Franco Zeffirelli’s "Brother Sun, Sister Moon" focuses on the early years of Francis of Assisi in this 1972 film.
Poem by Jan Richardson from the "Painted Prayerbook"
John Rutter’s music for "Brother Sun, Sister Moon"
Rhonda Mawhood Lee: "Go a little crazy on St. Francis Day", a sermon preached at St. Philip’s Episcopal Church, Durham, N.C
"It’s appropriate to go a little crazy on St. Francis Day, because during his own lifetime, many people thought Francesco Bernardone was insane."
Remembering our pets, both those here and those who have reached another shore.
Lectionary, Oct. 8, 2017, Pentecost 18
I.Theme – Look carefully at the vineyard you are cultivating!
"Vineyards with view of Auvers" – Van Gogh (1890)
The lectionary readings are here or individually:
Old Testament – Isaiah 5:1-7
Psalm – Psalm 80:7-14 Page 703, BCP
Epistle –Philippians 3:4b-14
Gospel – Matthew 21:33-46
The main motif in 3 of the 4 readings is about the vineyard which beginning in the Old Testament refers to Israel and by the Gospel to those tending it. Corruption is evident in Israel in the 8th Century BC and in 30AD with Christ. In Christ time the vineyard represents all places where we have been called by God to produce the fruits of the kingdom. The real villains move from Israel as a country to specific groups cited by Matthew.
The Isaiah reading is one of the oldest parables in the Bible. This song of the vineyard is a parable and a prophetic attack on corrupt Israel. It begins as a love song, singing of a deep love that is giving and caring, moves on to convey disillusionment, and then to express anger and a withdrawal of love and care. The coming destruction (verses 5-6) results from the people’s failure to do what God "expected," and more literally and poignantly, what God "hoped for" (verses 2, 4, 7). God doesn’t destroy the vineyard directly. Instead, what he described was simply the removal of his care and protection of the vineyard, the careful work done earlier
The Psalm is a carryover from the Old Testament reading. The same imagery of Israel as the vine in God’s vineyard is used here. This is the exile’s lament over the vineyard now in ruins. It is an expression of abandonment and a lament psalm pleading for restoration. But while Isaiah wanted to spur the people repent, the psalmist sought to spur God to repent.
The Phillippians reading is Paul’s personal testimony beginning with his Jewish credentials and his achievements in the Jewish faith – a Pharisee, a keeper of the Law, a persecutor of the church. Yet what he discovered was that a right relationship with God was based not on Law but on a right relationship with Jesus Christ.
Greater than any of these qualifications and attributes is to know Christ. This is no head knowledge (as, he implies, is the knowledge of the law) but means taking on a way of life, one that includes suffering. Here is the famous metaphor of the race, when the runner knows that to dwell on a mistake in the last lap is to distract her from focusing mind and energy on the last few yards. Behind this is Paul’s anxiety about another view strongly at work in the young church, that the only approach to the new faith is through the old. To receive the grace of God in Christ you do not need to be ‘primed’ with the Law and all its observances.
The Gospel reading is the famous Parable of the Wicked Tenants which continues the vineyard setting. The story is of an absent landowner who sends two sets of servants to collect rents.
For the first set, they beat one, killed another and stone. The second set of servants met the same fate. He next sent his son .Believing the son to be the sole surviving heir, they kill him in hope of gaining the vineyard for themselves. If a landowner died without an heir, the land passed to the first claimant, so by killing the son (presumably the only one), the tenants become landowners and they become free.
The vineyard is the nation of Israel and the owner is God. The cultivators are the religious leaders of Israel, who, as it were, had charge for God of the welfare of the nation. The messengers who were sent successively are the prophets sent by God and so often rejected and killed. The son who came last is none other than Jesus himself.
What is the parable saying? That Christ knew what lay ahead of him, he knew death on the cross awaited him. Jesus’ point seems to be that his opponents (Pharisees) have mistaken their leadership over Israel for outright ownership of Israel. His main concern is the simple fact that they are responsible for pointing Israel to God, yet they have instead pointed her to themselves.
This was a risqué story and it caused a lot of muttering amongst the Pharisees. They were not bad people (except for the fanatical few that any religion seems to harbor), indeed the very opposite, but Jesus suggests that their kind of goodness has now been superseded. Others will manage the vineyard including the church.
The ‘moral’ is consistent with Paul’s teaching about the legalism that tended to characterize the religious people of the day. Then Jesus infuriates his hearers by quoting one of their texts as if it was as much his – the stone that the builders rejected (Psalm 118:22) but giving them a new dimension in making it refer to himself.
The parable serves to show how the temple leaders have been entrusted by God and how they have rebelled against God. It also prophesies their violent rejection of the Son. Jesus’ opponents understand all of this. They get the parable, but they reject its truth.
We are expected to live under the authority of the Owner; to produce and give back the proper fruit. Sin is not primarily doing bad things, but an attitude of selfishness that has no need for God. We must constantly be on the guard if we are not producing the fruits that will expand the Kingdom of God. A new owner may be waiting in the wings.
We today often find it profoundly worrying when other people lay claim to religion, whether it is people of another culture living in our midst or people claiming to have found alternatives in other spiritualities. By all means let’s keep our critical faculties, but let us also hold open the possibility that they have found something that deepens and enlivens our own beliefs and practices.
Read more about the Lectionary…
Gospel Reflection
Rev. Winnie Varghese
“The kingdom of God will be taken away from you.”
— Matthew 21:43
"When I hear these words about tenant farmers, stewards, scheming to get more than their fair, legal share, I can’t help but think of sharecroppers, serfs, peasants, landless laborers, migrants on every continent through the ages, wondering what it might take to create some security and stability in their lives. Surely the first people who heard this story were more likely to be like the tenants than a landowner.
"Where is the kingdom of God in that? And what is this kingdom of God that we have already that can be taken from us?
"In this reading from Matthew, and in all of the readings, it is clear that there is a law and also a parallel or critique, a law from the tradition, that is the way of the kingdom of God, the world as God intends it.
"What does the Bible tell us are the attributes of a society living within a vision of God’s justice?
"In your context, does the law support you if you wish to live within that vision?
"The virtues of the reign of God’s justice, the world as God intends it to be, are clear in the Hebrew Scripture: The love and awe of God are illustrated by a just society. A just society has God at the center. A just society is marked by law that enshrine fairness toward one another; compassion and generosity to those who cannot fend for themselves; and right stewardship of the earth.
"These are clearly difficult values to apply in real living. In 2017, as in the time of the Hebrew prophets, we can feel like wackos at the gates of the palace as we try to proclaim these values.
"As Christians, living as though the law of God is the law of our hearts is the work of our lives. We listen and bring the breadth of our experience to these texts, and we are convicted by them. "
The Rev. Winnie Varghese is the Director of Community Outreach for Trinity Church, Wall Street. She has been a priest for 17 years in parishes and as a college chaplain. Before joining Trinity, Winnie served as rector of St. Mark’s-in-the-Bowery, a vibrant and diverse church in Manhattan that tripled in size under her leadership.
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Block Print by Mike Newman
Projects
Beginning Nov. 12 for 4 Sundays in the Parish House ! (no class Nov. 26). Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol and the Bible.
A Christmas Carol has delighted audiences since it publication in 1843 in its book form and through the many movies made from its story. Few people know of Dickens’ connection with religion. A Christmas Carol has many Biblical references, some cleverly hidden within the story. The regeneration of Scrooge mirrors the regeneration of mankind in the Bible. Even with the title, “A Christmas Carol”, Dickens is using the meaning of “carol” familiar to him: a song celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. Dickens each chapter of his book a stave, a stanza of a song. We will discuss Chapter 1 of the book on the first Sunday. Where to find it ?
2 The book and audio are available free at Project Gutenberg on the web. It is available in plain text, formatted text, Kindle for book readers (with or with images). It is available in in audio in mp3 format and itunes audiobook
3 If you want a hardcopy, it is available on Amazon. Look for Dover Thrift edition for as little as $3 plus shipping.
Link to the reports from Jan 15 Annual Meeting
3-Minute Retreats invite you to take a short prayer break right at your computer. Spend some quiet time reflecting on a Scripture passage.
Knowing that not everyone prays at the same pace, you have control over the pace of the retreat. After each screen, a Continue button will appear. Click it when you are ready to move on. If you are new to online prayer, the basic timing of the screens will guide you through the experience.
Daily meditations in words and music.
Your daily prayer online, since 1999
"We invite you to make a ‘Sacred Space’ in your day, praying here and now, as you visit our website, with the help of scripture chosen every day and on-screen guidance."
Saints of the Week, Oct. 1 -8
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1
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Remigius, Bishop of Rheims, c. 530 |
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2
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3
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[George Kennedy Allen Bell, Bishop of Chichester, and Ecumenist, 1958; also John Raleigh Mott, Evangelist and Ecumenical Pioneer, 1955] |
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4
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Francis of Assisi, Friar, 1226 |
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5
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6
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William Tyndale [and Miles Coverdale], Translators of the Bible, 1536, 1568 |
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7
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[Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, Lutheran Pastor in North America, 1787] |
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8
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[William Dwight Porter Bliss, Priest, 1926, and Richard Theodore Ely, Economist, 1943] |