Pentecost 17A 2020 St. James Anglican Church

Pentecost 17A 2020

Sermon and Celebrant Fr. Carlos Raines

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Thanksgiving for the Birth or Adoption of a Child Scriptures

Bishop Eric Menees

We continue with our examination of the 2019 BCP’s pastoral rites with the service of Thanksgiving for the Birth or Adoption of a Child. This week we look at the scripture read during the service.  The choice of the Magnificat and a portion of Psalm 116 are powerful. The first, the Magnificat (which is Latin for “Magnify”) taken from the first chapter of the Gospel according to Luke is the song of St. Mary as she responds to her cousin Elizabeth’s proclamation, “Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” Elizabeth recognizes the miraculous conception of Jesus, the child in Mary’s womb.  Mary’s song in response recognizes the blessing and grace that she is experiencing with this pregnancy and eventual birth. In the same way, every pregnancy is a miracle and every child a blessing. It is impossible for the mind to comprehend how God can take a relatively few cells from a man and woman and from them create a living, breathing, loving human being!  Psalm 116 captures the joy of knowing that God has heard and answered prayer.  I bid you to read these two scriptures through the eyes of new parents! May the Lord bless and keep you all!

Pentecost 16A 2020 St. James Anglican Church

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Preacher Deacon Anthony Valdez

Celebrant Fr. Carlos Raines

Thanksgiving for a Child

Bishop Eric Menees

This week we continue with our examination of the 2019 BCP’s Pastoral Rites section. Having examined Holy Matrimony the logical next rite is to look at the Thanksgiving for the Birth or Adoption of a Child.  Pastoral rites are just that, pastoral. They speak into the major life events of individuals and families. Note that this service is equally fitting in a hospital, a home, or in the middle of our Sunday worship.  The opening instructions and the first two prayers, given whether or not there is an adoption or natural birth are so important to mark the moment. In this moment we thank God for his grace and mercy and acknowledge that life will never ever be the same afterwards.  Note that both prayers begin by expressly stating “birth” or “adoption.” That is because birth and adoption are of the greatest value and importance.   The prayer for an adopted child also reminds us that we too are adopted children of God. This is both a reference to Romans 8:15, “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”  and John 1:12, “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”  As stated in John 1:12, all Christians are adopted by our Heavenly Father and welcomed into the Christian family through baptism.  Both prayers conclude with the acknowledgment that the child is a blessing from God and both name the child. As seen in the service of Baptism, the naming of a child is an important act as names bear meaning, and to name someone gives both power over and the consequences of protecting the named.  Blessings and peace to you all!

Pentecost 15A 2020 St. James Anglican Church

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Pentecost 15A 2020

Fr. Carlos Raines Preacher And Celebrant

Thanksgiving for the Birth or Adoption of a Child

Bishop Eric Menees

Greetings Brothers and Sisters,    I pray that you’re all well and staying healthy and safe. Whoever it was who prayed the ironic blessing, “May you live in interesting times,” should be taken out to the wood shed because we are certainly living in interesting times.  That being said, know that I am praying for you as we walk together through the pandemic, wild fires, social and economic upheaval. More importantly know that the Lord is by our side every step of the way!  With last week’s Bishop’s Note, we finished our study of the Rite of Holy Matrimony from the 2019 Book of Common Prayer. This week we’ll go from holy matrimony to the second service in the Pastoral Rites section, Thanksgiving for the Birth or Adoption of a Child. Before we get into the individual parts of the service we should discuss the rite in general and its place in the Book of Common Prayer. It’s very intentional that the 2019 BCP Pastoral Rites section is laid out the way it is. These pastoral rites are focused on supporting families.  Naturally, it begins with the Rite of Holy Matrimony (the beginning of a family,) and ends with the Rite for the Burial of the Dead. The service of Thanksgiving for the Birth or Adoption of a Child is thus placed after Holy Matrimony emphasizing that a couple joined in Holy Matrimony is the ideal environment for a child’s birth and development. While many are not familiar with this service, the roots of this rite go back to long before the birth of Jesus and to the rite of purification that every Jewish woman went through forty days after the birth of a child. These rites are described in Exodus 13 & Leviticus 12 and specifically laid out for St. Mary and our Lord in Luke 2:22-38. Anglicanism’s first Book of Common Prayer in 1549 referred to this as the Purification of Women, the 1892 and previous American BCPs referred to it as the Churching of Women, and in the 1928 BCP this service was referred to as Thanksgiving of Women after Child-birth.  Using the term “purification” may unsettle some today, making it sound like women were unclean and therefore should be forbidden from entering churches, but that was never the case. St. Gregory in the 6th century said that nothing like that occurs in childbirth and that women should never be separated from the church. Purification was used as the name because this was a continuation of the Jewish rite.  We have to keep in mind that for most of human history, child birth was very dangerous and often deadly. Many things we take for granted like anesthesia, cesarean sections, and antibiotics are only a little over 100 years old. Many births ended up with the death of either the child or the mother. More than being about ritual purity, this service was a great thanksgiving to God that the mother and child were still alive and safe. It was for that reason that this service was usually held after a period of enforced rest and recuperation for the mother to welcome her and her child into the church. It may not be as dangerous today, but child birth and adoption are still occasions in which great thanks needs to be given to God. The birth of a child is truly a miracle, and it’s only proper that even before baptism a child’s birth and raising up in a Christian family is begun with prayer. I pray you all have a blessed week!

Pentecost 14A 2020 St. James Anglican Church

Pentecost 14A

Manning The Watchtowers

Preacher Fr. Dale Matson Celebrant Fr. Carlos Raines

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Manning The Watchtower II

Pentecost 14A 2020

Fr. Dale Matson

 

Note: This is an edited version of a sermon from 2014

 

From today’s Gospel lesson, we hear the following:

“If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven."

 

This is due process in the Christian life. How many of us have first gone to others before we have gone to our brother? Do we not seek out those who would agree with us? This is because it is in our nature to be self-righteous rather than righteous. We would rather be right than reconciled. Adam and Eve wanted to decide for themselves what was right and what was wrong.

 

I recently offered some corrective feedback to a brother. One test of whether my feedback is authentic and not me just being a critical parent is how much it pains me to say it. If there is eagerness, then it is probably not necessary to say it. If it is not spoken in love, it probably should not be said either. If it’s “Now I’ve got you right where I want you!” I probably should not say it.

 

There is an additional event that will follow corrective feedback I’ve offered to others as sure as the sun will rise tomorrow. A brother will also offer me feedback soon thereafter. This is God’s way of reminding me to take care lest I slip.

 

I believe there is an important relationship between our Gospel lesson today and our Old Testament lesson. Our Gospel lesson is advice on offering correction to our brothers and sisters. Who are our brother and our sister? Everyone is our neighbor and everyone is our brother and sister.

 

I can remember when I was about ten, my aunt Louise asking a woman at the bus stop not to use the name of her Lord Jesus in a disrespectful way. I was proud of her even though somewhat uncomfortable about it. Have you wanted to say this to someone also? I have too and sometimes I just don’t do it when I should.

 

Our Old Testament Lesson is a charge to those who carry God’s word to God’s people. That person is called the watchman. Who is the watchman? In this case it is the prophet Ezekiel. But there are other times when it is us, you and me.

 

“And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, speak to the sons of your people and say to them, ‘If I bring a sword upon a land, and the people of the land take one man from among them and make him their watchman, and he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows on the trumpet and warns the people, then he who hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, and a sword comes and takes him away, his blood will be on his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet but did not take warning; his blood will be on himself. But had he taken warning, he would have delivered his life.  But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet and the people are not warned, and a sword comes and takes a person from them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require from the watchman’s hand.”

 

The watchman can be the voice of the prophet to the nation of Israel or the watchman can be the prophetic voice of the church to call the nation back to God. In either case, there is not an option to keep silent. The watchman must speak God’s words or God will hold the watchman responsible.

 

The Anglican Priest John Keble was at the forefront of the Oxford movement in Anglicanism. “There was also, especially within the Oxford Movement, a sense that the [Church of England] ought to be disestablished for religious reasons—to reveal the apostolic Anglican tradition which was neither controlled by nor subject to the State.” https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=2879.

Fr. Keble said the following in his Assize sermon on national apostasy. These words are no less prophetic now than nearly 200 years ago.

 

“That they rejected God? That they wished themselves rid of the moral restraint implied in His peculiar presence and covenant? They said, what the prophet Ezekiel, long after, represents their worthy posterity as saying, 'We will be as the heathen, the families of the countries.' (Ezek. xx. 32.) 'Once for all, we will get rid of these disagreeable, unfashionable scruples, which throw us behind, as we think, in the race of worldly honor and profit.' Is this indeed a tone of thought, which Christian nations cannot fall into? Or, if they should, has it ceased to be displeasing to God? In other words, has He forgotten to be angry at impiety and practical atheism? Either this must be affirmed, or men must own, (what is clear at once to plain unsophisticated readers,) that this first overt act, which began the downfall of the Jewish nation, stands on record, with its fatal consequences, for a perpetual warning to all nations, as well as to all individual Christians, who, having accepted God for their King, allow themselves to be weary of subjection to Him, and think they should be happier if they were freer, and more like the rest of the world.”

 

What happens when God is not in charge? What happened in the wilderness when God’s representative Moses left the encampment and God was not present for the Israelites? They made a golden calf and worshiped it. Instead of worshiping God, they worshiped the creature. When we do not worship God we become idolaters and we fashion golden calves from things we should have left behind when we were in bondage; things we have no use for in God’s Kingdom.

 

I am speaking to you today as a watchman. This is the Lord’s warning to those who would deny God and in so doing downgrade the life of humans. God does not like it and is angry about it. Humans in the womb are His children and not less than human. Humans at the end of life are God’s children and not less than human. Humans in the wilderness are not intended by God to be prey for wild animals. Humans are increasingly seen as a liability, a threat to our planet. We are seen as producers of Carbon Dioxide and CO2 increases global warming. Mr. Smith in The Matrix told Morpheus that humans are a virus. Those who want to deny God want to downgrade human life also. Be a watchman!

 

 

We are on the watchtower.

 

John Keble continues,

“Thus, not only by supernatural aid, which we have warrant of God's word for expecting, but even in the way of natural consequence, the first duty of the Church and of Churchmen, INTERCESSION, sincerely practiced, would prepare them for the second; —which, following the words of Samuel as our clue, we may confidently pronounce to be REMONSTRANCE (an earnest presentation of reasons for opposition or grievance).'I will teach you the good and the right way.' REMONSTRANCE, calm, distinct, and persevering, in public and in private, direct and indirect, by word, look, and demeanor, is the unequivocal duty of every Christian, according to his opportunities, when the Church landmarks are being broken down.” During these times like now, we as the church, are called to intercede and to call to account those for which we intercede.

We are the watchmen.

 

How can we be the watchman? St. Paul tells us in today’s Epistle lesson.

 

Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

 

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:9-21)

 

“Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” Here our Lord is speaking to His church. He had made us responsible for setting the boundaries on what is right and what is wrong. We are to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. We are to love our neighbor as ourselves. We are also called to say what is right in God’s eyes. We are called to be the watchman on the watchtower. Woe to the church if she does not do this. Amen

 

 

The Introduction

Bishop Eric Menees

Dear Brothers and Sisters, today’s Bishop’s Note concludes the pastoral Rite of Holy Matrimony with two important things, the Post Communion Prayer and the Introduction of the Husband and Wife.  Assuming that there has been a celebration of the Holy Eucharist the following is used as the Post Communion Prayer:

Post Communion Prayer   O God, the giver of all that is true and lovely and gracious: we thank you for binding us together in these holy mysteries of the Body and Blood of your Son Jesus Christ, uniting us with him, and giving us a foretaste of the great marriage supper of the Lamb. Grant that by your Holy Spirit, N. and N., now joined in Holy Matrimony, may become one in heart and soul, live in fidelity and peace, and obtain those eternal joys prepared for all who love you; for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

This beautiful prayer wraps up the liturgy the way it began, by reminding us that the sacrament of holy matrimony, and more importantly the life of the married couple, are to reflect the relationship between Christ and his Church. As St. Paul tells us in Ephesians, we husbands are to love our wives the way Christ loves the Church and gave himself up for her, an offering and sacrifice to God. As I often pray for couples on their anniversary – “I pray that young and old will look to you and say to themselves, ‘I want what they have,’ because what they have is Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.” The liturgy concludes quite naturally with the presentation by the celebrant of the couple as husband and wife.  Somehow DJs and MCs think that it is their responsibility to present the couple at the reception, but that job rightly belongs to the church.   The couple came into the church as a single man and single woman. They presented themselves to God and the Church seeking his blessing with the knowledge that marriage is so much bigger than either one of them, and without God’s help they will never succeed in representing Christ. However, at the end of the service they go out into the world transformed in a way that can only come from God – they are presented as husband and wife.   In the additional directions in the 2019 BCP it says:

“Dearly Beloved please greet ____________.”  I ask the couple how they would like to be introduced; Bob & Jane Doe, Mrs. & Mrs. Bob Doe etc. etc. but that always follows: “Dearly beloved please great for the first time as husband and wife _______________.”

As the congregation applauds, the music swells, and the recessional hymn begin, the couple are welcomed into the world as the new people they are as husband and wife, blessed by God and supported by the Church. I pray you all a truly blessed week!