Pentecost 18

Blessed be God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Let's pray together.

Almighty God, unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid, cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love thee and worthily magnify thy holy name through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

The Lord be with you.

Let us pray.

Lord, we pray that your grace may always precede and follow us, that we may continually be given to good works through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever.

Amen.

As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.

Aaron said to them, Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons and your daughters, and bring them to me.

So all the people took off the gold rings from their ears and brought them to Aaron.

He took the gold from them, formed it in a mold, and cast an image of a calf.

And they said, These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.

When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it, and Aaron made proclamation and said, Tomorrow shall be a festival to the Lord.

They rose early the next day and offered burnt offerings, and brought sacrifices of well-being.

And the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to revel.

The Lord said to Moses, Go down at once.

Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have acted perversely.

They have been quick to turn aside from the way that I commanded them.

They have cast for themselves an image of a calf, and have worshipped it and sacrificed to it, and said, These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.

The Lord said to Moses, I have seen this people, how stiff necked they are.

Now let me alone, so that my wrath may burn hot against them, and I may consume them, and of you I will make a great nation.

But Moses implored the Lord his God and said, O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?

Why should the Egyptians say it was with evil intent that he brought them out to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth?

Turn from your fierce wrath, change your mind, and do not bring disaster on your people.

Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, how you swore to them by your own self, saying to them, I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it to forever.

And the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he had planned to bring on his people.

The word of the Lord.

Can anyone declare the mighty acts of the Lord?

Happy are those who act with justice.

Remember me, O Lord, with the favor you have for your people.

And wish you feed yourself, that I may see the prosperity of your elect and be glad with the gladness of your people.

We have sinned as our ancestors did.

Israel built a bull calf at Horeb.

And so they exchanged their glory.

They forgot God their Savior.

Wonderful deeds in the land of Ham.

So God would have destroyed them had not Moses, the chosen one, stood before God in the breach.

My brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.

I urge Eudodia and I urge Sintich to be of the same mind in the Lord.

Yes, and I ask you also, my loyal companion, help these women, for they have struggled beside me in the work of the gospel, together with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life.

Rejoiced in the Lord always.

Again I will say, rejoice.

Let your gentleness be known to everyone.

The Lord is near.

Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable.

If there is any excellent, and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Keep on doing these things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and in the God of peace will be with you.

The word of the Lord.

Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son.

He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come.

Again he sent other slaves, selling, saying, Tell those who had been invited, Look, I prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything's ready.

Come to the wedding banquet.

But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his slaves, mistreated them, and killed them.

The king was enraged.

He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city.

And then he said to his slaves, The wedding's ready, but those invited were not worthy.

Go therefore into the main streets and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.

The slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they'd found, both good and bad.

So the wedding hall was filled with guests.

But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, and he said to him, Friend, how'd you get in here without a wedding robe?

The man was speechless.

And then the king said to the attendants, Bind him hand and foot and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, for many are called, but few are chosen.

The gospel of the Lord.

So I want to unwind that with you a little bit.

And I want to start out by saying we hear this really curious story about Moses and the people that I think is a core memory in our Hebrew tradition and frankly informs often the way we look at God and the way we look at prayer.

And I want to start out by saying affirmatively that something we don't usually think about is consider these people who are slaves and they've been told what to do from generations, and quite honestly, they probably have internalized the fact that they're not worth very much.

And here is the guy who leads them out and he's just gone.

And notice they don't say we hate Moses, let's worship other gods.

They say, we'd like to express our gratitude, and we don't know how to do it.

So, Aaron, could you help us?

And Aaron does.

He just chooses a not great way, right?

So please notice the people are trying to express their gratitude.

Meanwhile, up on the mountain, uh, God gets really mad.

The kind of mad that I sometimes get as a parent when I say to my wife, look what your daughter did.

Do you notice that?

And uh and then God says, Go down to your people and fix it.

No, never mind.

I'm just really mad, and my anger is going to consume them, and I'll start over with you.

Now, this is a tough bit, right?

Because the hermeneutic with which we approach scripture is God's always right and God's always good.

So if you hear the story that way, a couple of um, well, cognitive dissonance moments come here.

Is God testing Moses?

Jeez, what if Moses fails the test?

That's a lot of pressure.

Um, this is the real scary one.

Would it be better if God killed all those people and started over with Moses?

Can anything good come from genocide?

I'd like to tell you, I hope you say no.

Cannot be good.

And then Moses does this thing, which is Moses tries to talk God out of having a temper tantrum.

And the way Moses does it is like this.

God, you're gonna hurt your reputation if you kill others people.

Everybody will think poorly of you.

There's no like, God, this isn't right, this isn't just, there's you're gonna damage your street credibility, so don't do it.

And God says, well, fine then.

Um I want to share with you that this I think is a strong core memory, and I think honestly, it represents a lot of my own spiritual upbringing and the way I've been taught to um view myself and relationship with God.

But friends, don't let me offend you too much here.

It's gotta be wrong.

It has to be wrong.

If our job is to talk a good and righteous God out of committing genocide, what on earth are we doing worshiping that God?

I mean, it doesn't even make sense, does it?

We pray every week your will be done.

And here's Moses trying to talk God out of God's will, which is terrible.

Surely this story is not about who God is, but the projections we put up on God.

I know better when I'm mad at my kids or at political opponents not to commit genocide.

I know better than that, and I'm not particularly good.

It makes me think that we sometimes approach prayer in this awful way.

We approach prayer and we say, God, something's not right in the world, so you must be testing our faith, or I need to remind you that you're good, so you need to take care of my sick brother who doesn't deserve to be sick.

I spent years praying for people trying to convince God to do what was right.

They're sick, you've made them sick, you make them better, they don't deserve it.

That's the model in this story.

I know how it feels.

And even though our feelings are things we have, it doesn't mean they're true.

The Psalm talks about how Moses has stood in the breach, but I think we've got the breach all wrong.

I don't think the breach is between God and our policies.

I think the breach is between us and our compassion.

Now, you can hear this however you want to, and I don't want to be political, although this might sound political.

I was talking to some friends this week, and look, you know, sometimes in my life I have these moments where I know the right answer, but somehow the right answer crystallizes in like a powerful moment, like it shows up deeply within me.

I was talking to some friends who honestly are high up in their organization.

I mean, like they're on Wikipedia, and they're concerned about what they're gonna do in their careers because of their health insurance.

It's crazy.

That is a crazy problem that people who are on Wikipedia as heads of their organization are worried about their insurance.

That's a problem.

We could ask God to fix it, or we could stand up and say we're gonna fix it because that's God's will.

The scary thing is when we say God's will is that people don't have access to health care.

And friends, if we read the story at face value, we could end up there real easily, and I'm here to tell you that's wrong and has nothing to do with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

So, what do we do with the story today?

Jesus says you could compare the kingdom of God to this story, but that doesn't mean it compares one to one.

I wish Jesus had used the word you can contrast the kingdom of God to this story, because I don't find anything good in that story.

Honestly, the history of interpretation is this is the parable about anti-Semitism.

The way it used to go, this is the normal read.

God invited people who were the Jews and they didn't show up and they mistreated God's servants, the prophets.

So God goes and kills them and brings in Gentiles.

But you'd better wear the right clothes.

Because if you don't, you'll go to hell.

That was the story I was given as a kid.

It doesn't make any sense for a lot of reasons.

Jesus was Jewish.

He could not have been anti-Semitic unless he hated himself.

Number two, I'm not even that bad of a party host.

And by no means am I a host exemplar, but I know better when somebody turns down my party invitation to kill them.

I mean, that does not make any sense at all.

This is what I want to suggest is that instead of us taking this at face value, I think the story is really trying to break open spiritual sediment that we wallow in.

Because to be honest, I've spent a lot of my spiritual life feeling like those people, notice, they weren't invited to the party.

The soldiers made them come.

They were dragged to that party and then told, glad that you're here.

Well, not really glad, you just have to be here, and how dare you wear the wrong clothes.

I spent a lot of my spiritual life thinking I'm the one wearing the wrong clothes.

Because it's exhausting to think, oh my gosh, what if I commit a party foe pall at the king's table and I get thrown out where there's weeping and gnashing of teeth?

The face value read of the story is that.

And this is what I want to put to you.

To me, there's a way we can hear these stories today that invites us not to break apart, but to break open our spirituality, and it comes from Philippians.

Paul says, think about things that are worthwhile.

Think about things that are commendable.

It is not commendable to kill people who don't come to your party.

Don't think about that.

Think about things like grace.

It is not commendable to say, well, God must hate poor people, that's why God lets them starve.

Don't think about that.

Think about standing in the breach.

The breach between what?

Not between God and people God hates, but between God's people and the treatment we settle for.

Now look, I am not sophisticated.

I didn't study political science.

To be honest, my math degree, I'm not even sure it's that great of a degree, because I just got it to get it.

I don't know how to solve problems like health insurance, but oh my God, it's a problem.

That's a real problem.

And I think there's this opportunity to hear in these stories.

What are we gonna let go?

What are we going to choose to say?

There is a gap here, and we need a breach filler.

And just because I don't know the answer doesn't mean it stops being a problem.

We need to say these problems are not acceptable.

And we're gonna make connections until there is a solution.

It may not be our job to solve every problem, but it is our call to say that's a problem, and what can we do about it?

And you are probably not like me in that you probably did not grow up with a very sick spirituality, but one of my problems when I read these stories is I start to think, even though they represent my feelings, that they're right.

And I'm here to tell you they cannot be right.

They cannot be right.

There is no way you're gonna come forward to the Lord's table today or any other day and be thrown out for wearing the wrong clothes.

I wouldn't do that to you in my home.

How can we settle that God does that at a cosmic level?

Paul asks us to rejoice in all things, and we can only rejoice in all things when we accept that we're loved exactly as we are, and that God is not only interested in meeting our spiritual needs, but meeting our basic physical needs.

That involve things like food and health care and dignity.

And I wonder sometimes if we haven't been fed an inappropriate way of prayer.

Every Christian mystics I read is we don't pray to change God's mind, we pray so God will change ours.

And it's not just about changing our mind, it's about changing our policies and the way we treat each other.

Whether or not we're able to see God in the Egyptians, in the people who, for good reason, become scared when Moses is gone a long time.

Are we able to throw parties for those people?

See, in the story, the king just wants to fill the party with warm bodies.

This is a spirituality that says God might love you.

But God doesn't really like you.

If we don't present a counter-narrative to the world, then that's what Christianity will mean.

God doesn't care all that much for you, but God will save you from hell if you say the right things.

That cannot be the truth.

There is no good news in that narrative.

And the narrative begins with our fundamental dignity and worthiness, and then it has us stand in the breach.

The breach not only in corrupt spirituality, but in corrupt policies, in corrupt politics.

And if we ever think that God's answer is genocide, whether that's physical or political or social media genocide, we've got it wrong.

We've got it wrong because there is nothing commendable about that way of thinking.

I think our texts try to draw us out so that we can open ourselves anew to grace.

And I invite you, whatever is commendable and praiseworthy, don't just think on those things.

Lean into them.

The most impactful thing that Brene Brown has given me is this understanding that love is not a feeling.

It's a practice.

Some of the people I love the most in my life, I don't have good feelings for.

I'm going to be honest with you.

I don't have those warm, cuddly feelings.

Feeling or not, love is about whether we stand in the breach.

Whether we lead people across the breach.

Whether or not we're able to see grace.

If love was just about how we felt, then I think that's the trap of these stories.

Love is about what we do regardless of how we feel.

And God's good news is predicated on us doing the commendable.

Please join us as we pray our faith in the words of an Icene Creed.

We believe in one God, the Father of the Almighty, the Maker of the Heaven, all that he has seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, eternally God, God, like true God, true God, God, one.

Listen to the heavenly father.

The prayers of the people.

For the community we live in, for clean air to breathe and safe water to drink.

For the courage to protect creation and the persistence to make informed decisions every day.

For the victims of oppression throughout the world, especially those who have been silenced by governments, abuse, and poverty.

For refugees and those displaced by war or strife.

For those who hunger.

Mentor and guide, elected and appointed officials throughout our world.

For forty-three years of female clergy shining your light in the Episcopal Church.

Enable our laity, deacons, priests, and bishops to discern your work in the world and boldly join it.

Bless our day school, its teachers, staff, families, and students.

We praise you for the constant love, compassion, diligence, kindness, and guidance of spouses, siblings, parents, and friends, and extend families who have put us and others before themselves.

Mend broken relationships and comfort those who are alone.

Strengthen our patience and open our feelings.

Equip us to empathize even when we are in pain.

Protect the dignity of those who are in physical decline or hardship, remembering especially Chris, Jerry, Sean, Jerome, Susie, Ted, Andrea, Kevin, Ron, Joe, Larry, Nancy, and the celebration or petitions of the congregation may wish to name at this time, silently or aloud.

Holy Spirit, we pray for all who have died, especially Mel.

Compassionate God, make your healing and peaceful presence known to the world.

Comfort those who mourn, strengthen those who are weary, encourage those in despair, and lead us all to fullness of life.

Let us confess our sins against God and one another.

Almighty and most merciful God, we are thankful that your compassion is higher than the heavens, wider than our wanderings, deeper than all our sin.

Forgive our careless attitudes toward your purposes, our refusal to relieve the suffering of others, our envy of those who have more than we have, our obsession with creating a life of constant entertainment, our indifference to the treasures of heaven, our neglect of your wise and gracious law.

Help us to change our way of life, so that we may desire what is good, love what you love, and do what you command through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

The Almighty and Merciful Lord grant you absolution and remission of all your sins, true repentance, amendment of life, and the grace and consolation of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

The socially distanced peace of the Lord be always with you.

Please be seated.

Good morning, and thank you for worshiping with us at St.

Thomas today.

Just a few announcements I want to call to your attention.

One is many of you know that we have a group of women formed by a group, a rule of life in study, service, and prayer, the daughters of the king.

And typically the way they express that rule of life of service is by hosting receptions for funerals.

And so yesterday we had a funeral, and our daughters of the king, even though we can't have receptions, did this amazingly creative thing to stand in the breach.

They were offensively generous with the amount of food that they sent home to this family, many of whom had come from afar.

And so it's this really wonderful thing that you all do and support is by making sure people and their most vulnerable are giving sustenance and comfort.

So thank you for that.

And please know this is one of the great things about St.

Thomas.

You guys continue to scratch your head and figure out amidst uh troubling conditions how it is that you can continue to serve and you do it.

So thank you on their behalf.

Um, yesterday at the same time we were having this celebration of life from Mel Corley.

Um, we were unloading pumpkins, and I want you to know that the last three years in a row, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, that is commonly referred to as the Mormon Church, has sent missionaries to help us unload the pumpkins, and they just ask when to come and how long they're working, and they show up and they're joyful and cheerful.

And um, we have a beautiful pumpkin patch that's open, so please tell your family and friends don't buy McKroger, come to St.

Thomas and support the scouts.

This is their big fundraiser for the year, and it's beautiful.

And what I love about this church and about partnering with Mormon missionaries is that we can do more together, and that's what we're really embodying here.

Um, I two other thoughts I want to raise to you about doing more together.

Um, our school so far still remains uh COVID-free, and we're super grateful for that.

This is our most visible outreach in the community because it packs our parking lot five days a week, and uh the idea is that we can give them a trunk retreat so that they know reliably that their kids can come in costumes and that we'll be wearing masks and taking um CDC protocol seriously.

So we need a few other people who are willing to put a trunk retreat on for our kids.

It's pretty easy.

You can decorate your trunk or not, you can come in a costume or not, and it takes about 50 pieces of candy or snacks to reach the whole school that's going to be here.

And what they know is their kids get this beautiful experience that I think is lovely, going to complete strangers and expecting benevolence.

I really think that's a lovely thing about October the 31st, and that we're reliably going to follow protocols so we can keep our school open.

So if that appeals to you, or frankly, if you have a neighbor that you could recruit to help us put on trunk or treat, we can do more together, and that's a lovely thing.

Um, the last thing I want to hold up to you is that our pledge drive has started in earnest, and it's unlike all other years.

But what I am grateful for is that many folks have already answered that by sending their pledge in for 2020, and I invite you to continue just to pray and think about how you might continue to support the mission and ministry of St.

Thomas, especially in uncertain times.

Um your commitment to this place and to embody in God's family on earth is truly inspiring to me as your priest, and I just ask for your continued um discernment and diligence as you think about your pledges for this year.

Continue, to walk in love, as Christ first loved us and gave himself for us an offering and sacrifice to God.

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

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

Succome.

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 are wearing the correct clothes, and you who are not properly dressed.

Come not because the church invites you, it is Christ, and he invites you to meet him here.

The Lord be with you.

Lift up your hearts.

Let us give thanks unto our Lord God.

It is even in our hearts.

It is very meet in our bound in duty that we should at all times and in all places give thanks unto thee, O Lord, Holy Father Almighty, everlasting God.

Therefore, with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven, we laud and magnify thy glorious name, evermore praising thee and saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts, heaven and earth are full of thy glory.

Glory be to thee, O Lord most high.

Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest.

All glory be to thee, O Lord our God, for that thou didst create heaven and earth, and didst make us in thine own image.

And in thy tender mercy didst give thine only Son, Jesus Christ, to take our nature upon him, and to suffer death upon the cross for our redemption.

He made there a full and perfect sacrifice for the whole world, and did institute, and in his holy gospel command us to continue a perpetual memory of that, his precious death and sacrifice, until his coming again.

For in the night in which he was betrayed, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks to thee, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, Take, eat.

This is my body which is given for you.

Do this in remembrance of me.

Likewise, after supper, Jesus took the cup of wine.

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

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

Do this as oft as ye shall drink it in remembrance of me.

Wherefore, O Lord and Heavenly Father, we thy people do celebrate and make.

With these thy holy gifts, which we now offer unto thee, the memorial thy son hath commanded us to make, having in remembrance his blessed passion and precious death, his mighty resurrection and glorious ascension, and looking for his coming again with power and great glory.

We most humbly beseech thee, O merciful Father, to hear us, and with thy word and Holy Spirit to bless and sanctify these gifts of bread and wine, that they may be unto us the body and blood of thy dearly beloved Son, Jesus Christ.

And we earnestly desire thy fatherly goodness to accept this, our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, whereby we offer and present unto thee, O Lord, ourselves, our souls and bodies.

Grant we beseech thee that all who partake of this holy communion may worthily receive the most precious body and blood of thy Son Jesus Christ, and be filled with thy grace and heavenly benediction.

And also that we and all thy whole church may be made one body with him, that he may dwell in us and we in him, through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, by whom and with whom and in whom, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, all honor and glory be unto thee, O Father Almighty, world without end.

Amen.

And now, as our Savior Christ hath taught us, we are bold to pray.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed 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, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever.

Amen.

Therefore, let us keep the feast.

Alleluia.

These are the gifts of God for you, the people of God.

People of God, behold who you are and become the gifts you receive.

I'd like to invite you to come for bread or bless by coming to the aisle immediately to your right, and once you receive bread or blessing, just circling back to your seat.

Let's pray together.

Almighty and ever-living God, we most heartily thank thee for that thou dost feed us in these holy mysteries with the spiritual food of the most precious body and blood of thy Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, and dost assure us thereby of thy favor and goodness towards us, and that we are very members incorporate in the whole body of thy Son, the blessed company of all faithful people, and are also heirs through hope of thy everlasting kingdom.

And we humbly beseech thee, O Heavenly Father, so do us by thy grace, that we may continue in that holy fellowship and do all such good works as thou hast prepared for us to walk in, through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost be all honor and glory, world without end.

Amen.

May God, who by the Holy Spirit caused those of many languages and world views to proclaim Jesus as Lord, strengthen your faith, and send you out to bear witness to God in word and deed.

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

Amen.