Easter 6 2022

Christ is risen.

Together, Almighty God.

To you, Lord.

All desires know.

And from you no secrets are hidden.

Let the bottom of our hearts by the anointing reparation of your disappeared.

And we perfectly above you.

And working to magnify your holy day through Christ our Lord.

Let us pray.

O God, you have prepared for those who love you such good things as surpass our understanding.

Pour into our hearts such love toward you that we, loving you in all things and above all things, may obtain your promises which exceed all that we can desire.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.

You may be seated, and that all of the children may go with Alex or two children.

There stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, Come over to Macedonia and help us.

When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.

We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samatra.

The following day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is the leading city in the district of Macedonia, and a Roman colony.

We remained in this city for some time, days.

On the Sabbath day, we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer.

And we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there.

A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us.

She was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth.

The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul.

When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.

And she prevailed upon us.

Let your ways be known upon the earth.

Let the peoples praise you, O God.

Let the nations be glad and sing for joy.

Let the peoples praise you, O God.

The earth has brought forth her increase.

Oh God, give us your blessing.

I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.

And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb.

The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.

Its gates will never be shut by day, and there will be no night there.

The people will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations.

But nothing unclean will enter it, nor anyone who practice ab practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city.

On either side of the river is the tree of life, with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month, and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.

Nothing accursed will be found there anymore.

But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him.

They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads, and there will be no more light.

They need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

Whoever does not love me does not keep my words.

And the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me.

I have said these things to you while I am still with you.

But the advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I have said to you.

My peace I give you.

I do not give you as the world gives.

Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.

You heard me say to you, I am going away, and I am coming to you.

If you love me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I.

And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe.

And may the countenance of the Lord lift you up and bring you peace.

Amen.

Please.

So this is Graduation Sunday, and I see there are a few graduates scattered around the room.

And graduation reminds us of commencement.

And for me, high school commencement was rather interesting.

You see, I was in the high school band, and at Clear Lake High School with a thousand people per class, the band played pomp and circumstance over and over and over.

So commencement to me meant a thankful ending.

As it may, for many of you, grateful to be out of school.

That of course isn't what commencement means.

We know that it means to begin.

The interesting thing about the word commencement is that it is rooted in consecration.

Originally, the consecration of a priest after finishing their formation in seminary, which led to the universities, which led to our scholastic system.

There was a ceremony where the priest was consecrated.

And the word commencement means that we together begin something new.

It's a reminder that we are not alone.

So I'm kind of wondering who this we is.

And it's an opportunity for us to be grateful and to tell God that we're grateful for the blessings in our life.

And there's nothing wrong with that.

The things that we think are good for us, whatever they may be, it's a good and right thing to do, we say, isn't it?

In fact, it's our duty to give God thanks in prayer.

When we offer this kind of thanksgiving, we are acknowledging it as Christians.

We know that God continually turns his face to us and shines his light upon us.

Like that glow over Moses' face.

And when we make room for that light, we are making room for the Holy Spirit, the advocate, to enter into our lives.

We're creating a space like a rare, beautiful gem or jewel.

The glory of the Lord is in its light.

Those words we just heard in Revelation.

And this is part of the seventh vision that's happening in Revelation.

And this is a vision of what the world might look like from God's point of view.

The city that they're talking about is not a new city.

God didn't come and wipe out the old city of sin and all those things, didn't it?

He took what was there and he refreshed it.

He renewed it.

He made it new again.

There could be a new beginning.

And just like those of us who are graduating, just graduated or graduated a long time ago, we are still the same person who began the journey, but we have been transformed through this process, in this commencement, in this beginning anew.

And that transformative love is what the good news is today.

As we make room in our hearts for that transformative love to come in, we hear about this city of God with a wall, but it's not a barrier.

That wall tells us when we are out of right relationship with God, we are outside the wall.

And it's not a barrier because those doors are always open.

The gates are wide open and they never shut.

God never closes the door on us to allow us to walk back into his love.

Because nothing can separate us from the love of God.

Love.

Long overdue.

Victorious energy.

Way back seven weeks ago on Monday, Thursday, I offered that as Jesus is talking to the disciples about what's gonna happen in his death and resurrection, that it was long overdue.

I left off the victorious energy because you see it is that victorious energy that happens as Jesus conquers death.

That victory over death is an outward and visible sign that nothing separates us from God's love.

Those doors are always open, regardless of what we choose.

We can choose to step outside those walls.

I know I do.

I live out here.

I make mistakes every single day, and I get out of right relationship.

And when I do, there's a hope inside of me that reminds me that I can turn and walk back in anytime I choose to, because God's love never goes away.

Long, overdue, victorious energy.

And is it these words of love that we hear in the gospel?

Words of comfort and peace as we make room for the advocate, the Holy Spirit, to come in, as Jesus is telling those disciples present what's gonna happen next, just like he did back eight weeks ago.

He says, I'm about to ascend.

This isn't gonna, I'm not gonna physically be here as Jesus Christ anymore, and what I will be is the Holy Spirit, the advocate.

He offers these words of love like this peace I give to you, and peace I leave with you.

Peace.

It is unimaginable.

Peace that describes the vastness of God's love that can never be separated or taken away from us if we choose it.

That peace I would like to offer to our new graduates who may be present online or they can volume.

What it might be like if in Transformational moment of your formation.

You walk out into the world with this concept of peace and love and make every single interpersonal interaction start with peace I give to you and end with peace I leave with you.

Bracketing whatever happens in between to be absolutely that of the Holy Spirit.

If you bracket every single interaction you have with those two pieces of peace that Jesus gives us, whatever happens in between is love.

Long, overdue, victorious energy.

Whatever happens in that interaction will be life-giving and meaningful.

And if for some reason it doesn't seem that way, there's still love.

And there are what other 13 graduates that we're honoring in our worship bullet, and eight of which come from St.

Thomas the Apostles School.

What a mission that this congregation offers to the community.

And I want you to consider that just a second.

Those people who are graduating from St.

Thomas the Apostle School will go out into the world, being formed by y'all.

And they're going to do things that we can't imagine.

Their lives will continue on way after many of us have gone on to glory.

And they will impact the lives of countless people.

Think about the long, overdue, victorious energy of those people as they go out into the world.

And the other graduates that we honor from high school and college in your worship bulletin again, we honor those as they are products of this congregation, of that school, many of them who have gone out into the world and continue to go out and bring that love and energy.

Outside of these gates, outside of St.

Thomas, outside of the Episcopal Church, outside of the Anglican communion, outside of Christianity into the world in love.

Long, overdue, victorious energy.

Well, I would like to offer to our graduates at all ages and places and times and seasons of our life.

I would like to offer that you make that your fancy like that TikTok meme, your walking music of life.

Peace I give to you.

And peace I leave with you.

That's the good news today.

In the spirit of benediction, in the spirit of Psalm 67, I think that we all are long overdue to take a moment and bask in the blessings of this life.

And if you're not particularly feeling blessed at the moment, know that you are.

Know that God loves you.

Period.

There's nothing that we can do that will separate us from God's love, not even death.

Jesus showed us that.

There's nothing that can separate God from loving us.

These doors are always open.

Long overdue.

That love never goes away.

So if you're in a moment of your life where maybe you got a bad medical report or some bad news at work or whatever it is that makes you feel anything less than, know that you are blessed.

And when you're here, I would encourage all of us to offer up thanksgiving and praise for all the blessings in this life.

We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten not made, of one being with the Father.

Through him all things were made.

For us and for our salvation.

He came down from heaven.

By the power of the Holy Spirit, he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary and was made man.

For our saints by the Father, he suffered heaven with buried.

On the third day he rose again, in accordance with the scriptures.

He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again in glory to touch the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the buttons of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son.

With the Father and the Son, he is worshipped and glorified.

He has spoken to the prophets.

We believe in one holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.

We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

We look for the resurrection of the dead and the light of the world to come.

Amen.

We thank you, O God, for your universal church and its mission and for calling us to serve you and among your people.

Continue, we pray, to equip us with all we need to tell others of you and glorify your name in all we do.

Lord, in your compassion, hear our prayer.

We pray for the leaders of all nations that they may seek to do your will for the welfare of the people they lead and serve.

We pray for those holding public office in our nation, that they may be guided by your gifts of wisdom and charity.

Lord, in your compassion, we thank you, Creator God, for the beauty, majesty, and abundance of your creation, especially for its manifestation here around Clear Lake.

Keep us mindful of the holiness and fragility of our earthly home and all the creatures who dwell therein, that we may rejoice in being stewards and peacemakers.

O God, giver of all things, we thank you for the abundance of grace poured out upon us.

May we, with thoughtful and grateful hearts, show compassion through our thoughts, words, and deeds for those who are hungry, homeless, neglected, abused, exploited, or in any other need.

Lord, in your compassion.

Lord Jesus, healer of bodies and spirits, may your healing hand touch all who suffer in mind, body, or soul.

May those who attend to them use their God-given skill, wisdom, and compassion to restore them.

We pray especially for Chris, Ken, Nancy, Amber, Christine, Patrick, Barbara, Jan, Rachel, Marilyn, Lee, Linda, the people of Ukraine, and the people of Russia.

The congregation is invited to name your own celebrations or petitions silently or aloud.

Trusting that you were able to do more than we ask or imagine.

Lord, in your compassion, we give you thanks, Lord Jesus, for graciously restoring those who have battled and survived serious illnesses and near-death situations.

That by your help and the help of those sent to them, they may continue to serve you in this life according to your will.

We are especially grateful for thanksgiving.

Lord, in your compassion.

We thank you, loving God, for the fellowship and relationships we enjoy in this gathering and pray that we may continue to grow in love and support for each other.

Make your presence known, we pray, with those who grieve for broken relationships and struggle to mend walls created through conflict, disagreement, and mistrust, that they may seek and find forgiveness, repentance, and reconciliation.

Lord, in your compassion.

Living God, we remember our loved ones and colleagues who no longer journey with us in this life, especially Austin.

Have compassion on all who mourn, and may the souls of the departed share in your eternal kingdom.

Lord, in your compassion, hear our prayer.

Rejoicing in the fellowship of your saints, let us commend ourselves, one another, and all our life to Christ our God.

Amen.

Almighty God, we commend to your gracious care in keeping all the men and women of our armed forces at home and abroad.

Defend them day by day with your heavenly grace.

Strengthen them in their trials and temptations.

Give them courage to face the perils which beset them, and grant them a sense of your abiding presence wherever they may be.

O eternal God, bless all schools, colleges, and universities, and especially those who graduate that we celebrate today.

That they may be lively centers for sound learning, new discovery, and the pursuit of wisdom.

Grant that those who teach and those who learn may find you to be the source of all truth through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

The peace of the Lord be always with you.

This is not Memorial Day, nor is it Veterans Day.

It's Armed Horses Day.

Make a double line all the way down the hall.

No.

Just come on up.

Come on.

I need my service sheet.

Oh wow, look at this.

There's a bunch of them.

So this is Landon.

Landon Todd Waidle.

It says right here.

And tell us where you're graduating from.

Clearbrook High School.

Clear Brook High School.

And you are going to go to Texas Tech University up there on the Cap Rock where the wind never stops blowing.

And you're going to study mechanical engineering.

Congratulations.

So this is his sister, Ansley.

Ansley is graduating from what school?

St.

Thomas School, yeah?

Yeah.

And I appreciate Eric mentioning that in his sermon because that is a great mission of this parish.

We are missionary-minded folks.

And how old are you, Ansley?

11 years old.

And this is Amelia.

And you are graduating from where?

St.

Thomas School again.

How about that?

And this young lady who's got caught stealing cookies is Everly Klug, and she is graduating from where?

St.

Thomas School, how about that?

And this young lady is Anna Simons, and she is graduating from St.

Thomas School.

My goodness gracious, would you look at this?

And these are four of our, what are they?

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight graduates from St.

Thomas School.

Now, have you all been there since the very beginning?

Two.

You've been there since first grade, and the two of you have been there since the very beginning.

And how long have you been there?

Two years?

This is a wonderful, wonderful way that our church serves this community.

And these bright young women are heading out into the world, as Eric said, and who knows how many lives they will touch?

Well, they will touch those lives having learned some things here at St.

Thomas School.

Okay, and this is Shelby, Shelby Griffin, and you're graduating from Clear Falls High School?

Clear Falls High School, Coom Laude.

With honors.

Yeah, that's all right.

We can do that.

We'll give them all a round of applause in a minute.

And she is going to the Moore School of Music at the University of Houston, where she will major in music education and vocal performance.

Now, she does not dress this way every day.

She is a member of the choir, of course, and she is part of our choir scholar program.

And this is one of the ways that she keeps her voice in tune.

Not only keeping her voice in tune, but also a way for her to bring the great gift that God has given her to share with you and me.

Okay, and this is you're not on here.

I'm coming to Angley.

You're Landon and Angeli's cousin.

And what is your name?

Kylie Lockhart.

Kylie Lockhart.

And are you graduating from something?

From Nichols State University.

From Nichols State University?

And where is that?

Louisiana.

In Nichols State?

The state of Nichols.

It's in Louisiana.

Where in Louisiana?

Thibodeau.

In Thibodeau, okay.

And you have graduated with what?

Petroleum Engineer.

As a petroleum engineer.

Hallelujah, huh?

You're gonna come work in Houston?

I'm gonna go to grad school.

Oh, she's going to graduate school.

Stay in school as remember, stay in school as long as you can.

It's scary when you get out.

Well, let's give a big round of applause for all of the members.

Let us pray.

Oh God, you have called these your children to learn in schools and then to use their learning to serve you by serving your other children.

Instill in them a desire to continue learning throughout their lives, and help them know and remember that you are the source of all truth and all learning, so that they may rejoice in this good world that you have made and make it even better.

We ask this in Christ's name.

Amen.

Thank you all.

God bless you.

Have a great career.

When the prayer book says to kneel, you may always stand.

And uh so there are there are two ancient postures for prayer.

The more ancient one is standing, and then about a thousand years ago, uh fairly recently, people started kneeling to pray as a kind of a penitential uh approach to God since we are all sinners.

Uh I stand to pray all the time.

Uh these days, the reason I do that is that my knees are both new and they don't want me to they don't want me to kneel.

But uh I stand to pray all the time.

You may stand or kneel to pray.

When it says in the prayer book that you kneel, you may stand.

Uh you don't have to take your cue from me because if you take your cue from me, you'll never kneel again.

So uh I just want to say that, and and you should feel comfortable doing either one.

Um any other announcements that I've forgotten?

Walk in love as Christ loves us and gives himself for us, an offering and sacrifice to God.

I saving one unless I be smoking by which we're not going to be able to do it.

We cannot save me.

This is the table not of the church but of Jesus Christ.

It is made ready for those who love him and want to love him more.

So come, you who have much faith and you who have little, you who have been here often and you who have not been for a long time or ever before, you who have tried to follow and you who have failed, come, not because the church invites you, it is Christ Himself, and He invites you to meet Him here.

Lift up your hearts.

It is right and good and a joyful thing always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth, but chiefly are we bound to praise you for the glorious resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, for he is the true Pascal Lamb who was sacrificed for us and has taken away the sin of the world.

By his death he has destroyed death, and by his rising to life again, he has won for us everlasting life.

Therefore we praise you, joining our voices with angels and archangels, and with all the company of heaven who forever sing this hymn to proclaim the glory of your day.

For in these last days you sent him to be incarnate from the Virgin Mary, to be the Savior and Redeemer of the world.

In him you have delivered us from evil and made us worthy to stand before you.

In him you have brought us out of error into truth, out of sin into righteousness, out of death into life.

On the night before he died for us, our Lord Jesus Christ took bread.

And when he had given thanks to you, he broke it and gave it to his disciples and said, Take, eat.

This is my body which is given for you.

Do this for the remembrance of me.

After supper, Jesus took the cup of wine.

And when he had given thanks, he gave it to them and said, Drink this, all of you.

This is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for you and for all for the forgiveness of sins.

Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me.

Therefore, according to his command, O Father, we remember his death.

We proclaim his resurrection.

We await his coming.

And we offer our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving to you, O Lord of all, presenting to you from your creation this bread and this wine.

We pray you, gracious God, to send your Holy Spirit upon these gifts, that they may be the sacrament of the body of Christ and his blood of the new covenant.

Unite us to your Son in his sacrifice, that we may be acceptable through him, being sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

In the fullness of time, put all things in subjection under your Christ, and bring us to that heavenly country, where with Judy and Austin and Chris and Thomas and all your saints, we may enter the everlasting heritage of your sons and daughters.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord, the firstborn of all creation, the head of the church and the author of our salvation, by him and with him and in him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all honor and glory is yours, Almighty Father, now and forever.

Amen.

Now, as our Savior Christ has taught us, we are bold to say, our Father, who Lord in heaven, hallow be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Now send us forth a people for given yield for you, that we may proclaim our love to the world and continue with the risen life of Christ our Savior.

Amen.

The God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ, the great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do God's will, working in you that which is well pleasing in God's sight.

And may the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit be upon you and remain with you forever.

Amen.