23 Pentecost/Year C
November 13, 2022
2 Thessalonians 3:6-13; Psalm 98; Luke 21:5-19
(Sermon by Rev Julie Platson)
Just a brief reminder:
For the month of November, and as part of our Fall pledge campaign season, we will be exploring the Five Marks of Mission as adapted in Bishop Mark’s call to the people of the Episcopal Diocese of Alaska to a time of renewal and growth in discipleship through the Five Marks of Mission…
Here at St Peter’s, we will be using this framework of the Five Marks of Mission throughout the next year, to help us discern what we are being called to do, by being opened to them changing us, transforming us, and guiding us in all that we will do here at St Peter’s and in the community…
Last Sunday, we reviewed the 1st Mark of Mission…to TELL…
That one invites us to pray and reflect on our individual relationship with Jesus, and to prepare a simple, from the heart response to this question: “Why is my hope/faith/love with Jesus Christ?” And we are invited to share our answer with others, often, in times of casual, personal conversations with others…Last week, Kit and Deacon Kathryn, both shared some personal reflections, and responses to the question, while thinking about a beloved family member they considered a saint in their lives, who influenced their faith journey…
This week, we are exploring the 2nd Mark of Mission…to Teach/Learn…
Mandy Evans, a vestry member and active member of St Peter’s…introduced us to this 2nd Mark of Mission, in a mid-week email that I sent out…
These are her words…
Bishop Mark wrote (regarding this 2nd mark of mission), “I call on all Episcopalians in Alaska to commit at least 15 minutes each day to reading and praying on the Gospel lesson assigned for Morning or Evening Prayer. How does the passage relate to your life, your situation? How is the Gospel part of your story?”
I love routines, and one of my favorites is Morning Prayer. When I read this call from our bishop, I realized that my habit has been to focus on the Psalms more than other scriptures. In the past few days, I shifted my focus to the Gospel lesson, and I thought about this change.
I love the Psalms - the cadence, and imagery, the familiar and comforting words. So, what treasures will I gain from this focus on the words of our Christ each morning? My first “a-ha” was (remembering) these words, these parables, and explanations that cause more questions, these expressions of love in so many different forms - they burn away all the rest. Jesus shows us our Creator’s Love. Nothing else really matters. All of our human debates on policies and practices are reflected back to us in a sometimes humorous, sometimes scathing, and always loving voice that shows us the Way.
IN the email, I included several online options to be engaged in Morning Prayer or evening prayer services, to use throughout the week…
What I want to add to this introduction that Mandy provided us with… are a few other hands-on, creative practices that can assist us in reflecting further, and going a little bit deeper on these daily gospel readings that come up on the daily lectionary…
This invitation to reflect on the gospels daily, are not meant to make us biblical scholars…they are meant to assist us in putting Christ in the center of our lives, in all we do, and to listen and look for the good news, and the Hope that is found in Jesus’ words and teachings…
The daily practice of allowing the words of Jesus to wash over us, are meant to bring light to our darkest moments, to show us the way…to guide us when we think there is no way…to help us see where God is present with us, always, and especially in those times, when everything around us can be terrifying, when it seems that there is no end to the news of wars, and destruction, famines, weather disasters, when we can’t understand why bad things happen to good people, or when life seems to be full of so many questions….with very few answers that can soothe our anxious soul…
The daily practice of being engaged with the gospel readings, can help support us and encourage us, when the daily grind of life zaps the energy out of us, and leaves us weary in believing that anything new or hopeful is just around the corner…
Many of you have heard about the Disciples Prayer Book…or what is called Gospel-Based Discipleship…And quite a few of you may already use this as a way to reflect further on the gospel reading for the day…
It’s something individuals can use, but many small groups use it to reflect on the gospel readings together…and many clergy, including myself, use this simple practice of engaging in the reading of the gospels, and other scriptures, as a way to help prepare for the weekly sermons…
Gospel Based Discipleship is not a program. It is not Bible Study. It is an encounter with the Gospel, designed to engage people with the Gospel appointed for the day.
In the Disciple’s Prayer Book, it follows a simple format of the daily office services of morning prayer, noonday prayer, evening prayer, and at the close of the day.
Included in the order of the service, is a time to pause, read, listen, and reflect on the gospel reading, reading and listening to it 3 times, often using different translations…, and after each reading, responding to these questions…
After the first reading:
1. What word(s), idea(s), or sentence(s) stand out for you in the Gospel of the Day?
After the 2nd reading:
2. What is Jesus (the Gospel) saying to you?
After the 3rd reading:
3. What is Jesus (the Gospel) calling you to do?
And what I would like to invite you to consider, as you engage in this reading of the gospels in this way…is that you think of other ways to help you listen more attentively and learn more about the way of Jesus, beyond just the conventional idea that might look like sitting by your yourself, reading the bible, or sitting around the table with a few others, and responding to the questions in conversation-style….
I was reminded this week, of the many ways that we all learn things…some are more hands on learners , some learn by watching, some learn best by reading, some may find listening to help them learn new things, some may need music on in the background, some may need long periods of silence….most of us, probably learn best with a combination of approaches…
As an example to try…after the 1st reading…take a colored pencil, highlighter, and circle, mark the words, ideas, or sentences that jump out at you…
After the 2nd reading…try responding to the question: what is Jesus (the gospel) saying to you…by looking at those words you initially marked, and highlighted…and write them out on another piece of paper…hang it up in front of you…and take some time to look at the words in front of you…giving you a new perspective on what you initially heard, and saw...and perhaps you draw some lines between the different words you put on that separate piece of paper…connecting things that seem similar…or maybe you draw a line between several words…that don’t seem to connect…
After the 3rd reading…and responding to the last question… What is Jesus (the Gospel) calling you to do?
Maybe you draw a picture of what you imagine Jesus is calling you to do…maybe you respond in a journal by writing a letter to Jesus…Maybe you have a list of 20 more questions that came out of your gospel reflection time after hearing it 3 different times, in 3 different translations…maybe your response is to sit in silence for a time…or maybe your answer at the moment…is to get up and bake a cake to bring to someone...or make a phone call to someone…write a letter to someone…pray for someone…
There is no right or wrong answer…it’s simply getting into the practice of engaging in the gospel readings, the scriptures, on a regular basis…placing Jesus in the center of our lives, helping us embrace and
ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which has been given to us in our Savior Jesus Christ.
Presiding Bishop Michael Curry wrote in a publication about being engaged in Gospel-Based Discipleship: Groups and individuals using GBD regularly should expect to begin to see their call to mission differently.
That’s my hope for us, here at St Peter’s…that as we strive to be engaged not only in this 2nd Mark of mission, but the other four marks of mission, as well, that we will all be changed, and transformed in the process to see and hear anew, where God is calling us and leading us in the days, months, and years ahead…as the body of Christ, here at St Peter’s and in the community we are being called to love and serve…
Let us pray:
HYMN after sermon: (H) 628 – Help us, O Lord, to learn
Recording of Hymn 628
1 Help us, O Lord, to learn
the truths your word imparts:
to study, that your laws may be
inscribed upon our hearts.
2 Help us, O Lord, to live
the faith which we proclaim,
that all our thoughts and words and deeds
may glorify your Name.
3 Help us, O Lord, to teach
the beauty of your ways,
that yearning souls may find the Christ
and live a life of praise.
