Month: November 2013
32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time: Psalm 17:1, 5-6, 8, 15 ; Job 19:23–27a; 2 Thessalonians 2:16-3:5 ; Luke 20:27-38 ~ live with the end in mind
+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen
Opening sentence: The Spirit of God lives in us, inspiring and guarding. In the Spirit, we worship our creator and entrust ourselves to the Lord’s loving care.
As we prepare to approach God’s throne of grace, we call to mind our sins: (pause). Amen.
Lord Jesus, you came to gather the nations into the peace of God’s kingdom … You come in word and sacrament to strengthen us in holiness … You will come in glory with salvation for your people: Lord, have mercy.
A Reading from the Psalms: Psalm 17:1, 5-6, 8, 15 (ESV)
Hear a just cause, O Lord; attend to my cry! Give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit!
My steps have held fast to your paths; my feet have not slipped. I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God; incline your ear to me; hear my words.
Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings.
As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.
A Reading from the Old Testament: Job 19:23-27a (NLT)
“Oh, that my words could be recorded. Oh, that they could be inscribed on a monument, carved with an iron chisel and filled with lead, engraved forever in the rock.
“But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and he will stand upon the earth at last. And after my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God! I will see him for myself. Yes, I will see him with my own eyes. I am overwhelmed at the thought!”
A Reading from the Pastoral Letters: 2 Thessalonians 2:16-3:5 (NLT)
Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal comfort and a wonderful hope, comfort you and strengthen you in every good thing you do and say.
Finally, dear brothers and sisters, we ask you to pray for us. Pray that the Lord’s message will spread rapidly and be honored wherever it goes, just as when it came to you. Pray, too, that we will be rescued from wicked and evil people, for not everyone is a believer. But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one. And we are confident in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do the things we commanded you. May the Lord lead your hearts into a full understanding and expression of the love of God and the patient endurance that comes from Christ.
A Reading from the Gospels: Luke 20:27-38 (NLT)
Then Jesus was approached by some Sadducees—religious leaders who say there is no resurrection from the dead. They posed this question: “Teacher, Moses gave us a law that if a man dies, leaving a wife but no children, his brother should marry the widow and have a child who will carry on the brother’s name. Well, suppose there were seven brothers. The oldest one married and then died without children. So the second brother married the widow, but he also died. Then the third brother married her. This continued with all seven of them, who died without children. Finally, the woman also died. So tell us, whose wife will she be in the resurrection? For all seven were married to her!”
Jesus replied, “Marriage is for people here on earth. But in the age to come, those worthy of being raised from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage. And they will never die again. In this respect they will be like angels. They are children of God and children of the resurrection.
“But now, as to whether the dead will be raised — even Moses proved this when he wrote about the burning bush. Long after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had died, he referred to the Lord as ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ So he is the God of the living, not the dead, for they are all alive to him.”
Intercessions:
O God, my Rock and my Redeemer, hear my prayers – along with those of all Your people – for the Church, those in need, and all of Your creation:
- For Your Church, in all its forms and expressions, that it may be a living witness to Your love for all people and Your redeeming grace to a world in need of good news…. (pause) Lord, hear my prayer.
- For the glorious splendor of Your creation and for its continual care, that future generations may praise Your works…. (pause) Lord, hear my prayer.
- For protection, provision, and strength to those who suffer the ravages of war – especially Your people in the Middle East…. (pause) Lord, hear my prayer.
- For provision for all who are suffering from natural disasters and their aftermath – especially for those from the typhoon in the Phillipines…. (pause) Lord, hear my prayer.
- For Your steadfast love and faithfulness to those in prison, the innocent wrongly accused, and the victims of violence and abuse – especially children born and unborn…. (pause) Lord, hear my prayer.
- For comfort, strength, and hope to those who suffer with illness, grieve loved ones, or lie close to death…. (pause) Lord, hear my prayer.
- For the Spirit of Christ who unites all believers – one to one another – in relationships of mutual care and support…. (pause) Lord, hear my prayer.
- For all the children of God and of the resurrection and that day when we too shall see You face to face…. (pause) Lord, hear my prayer.
Into Your hands, gracious God, I commend all for whom I pray, trusting in Your mercy; through Jesus Christ, my Savior. Amen.
Hymn: “I Know That My Redeemer Liveth”
+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen
Bible drop: Christian group takes to sky to sneak Gospel into North Korea | Fox News
Bible drop: Christian group takes to sky to sneak Gospel into North Korea | Fox News.
On a rainy afternoon last Spring, American pastor Eric Foley and his wife stood in a muddy field near the North Korea border and prayed – their hands clasped to a 40-foot homemade balloon that would carry Bibles to the communist dictatorship’s underground Christians.
“I get choked up, every time, as I let go and watch it take off,” Foley told FoxNews.com.
The balloons, made from a large sheet of “farm plastic,” said Foley, are filled with hydrogen before the Bibles and “tracts” – testimonials written by other North Korean Christians – are attached at the bottom inside a sack or box. Timers are then used to release the materials in stages, dispersing them at high altitudes across North Korea. Foley and members of his Christian mission group, Seoul USA, use GPS technology to help direct where the Bibles land. Around 50,000 of them have dropped from the skies in the last year.
“They are the most persecuted believers on earth,” Foley said of North Korea’s estimated 100,000 Christians – 30,000 of whom are believed to be locked inside concentration camps, where they are overworked, starved, tortured, and killed. Other activist groups, like Open Doors USA, estimate that number to be even higher, reporting that the secretive nation has about 400,000 Christians.
In North Korea, the practice of Christianity is illegal. Owning a Bible is a crime, and any person caught with one is sent – along with three generations of his or her family – to prison. Foley said despite the risks, demand for Bibles is strong within North Korea. His group targets rural areas where they might be picked up discreetly, he said.
North Koreans are forced to embrace Juche ideology, which mixes Marxism with worship of the late “Great Leader” Kim Il Sung and his family – a warped version of Christianity, says Foley, because Kim took concepts from Christianity, like the Trinity and church hymns, to create a religion in which he is worshipped. Foley said that if North Koreans learned about Christ, they would realize “this is all a fraud.”
“It’s a distortion of Christianity,” Foley said. “And the best way to reach them [North Koreans] is through mindset and knowledge.”
Foley, who is in his late 40s, founded Colorado-based Seoul USA in 2003 with his wife, a South Korean who immigrated to the U.S. in 1984. The two, along with other members of their group, launched their first balloon — strapped with Bibles — from South Korea in 2006. Foley said the balloons are typically sent out overnight from a muddy field at a high altitude between May and October. He said the best conditions are during a “rain storm or really bad weather because of the currents.”
“We are constantly monitoring the wind conditions as we’re launching,” he said, “And the North Korean border is always within the sight line.”
The balloons also include tracts, or testimonies, written by other North Korean Christians — some of whom managed to flee to South Korea — about Christ.
“The North Koreans respond very well to story,” Foley explained, “Because all are required to memorize 100 stories” related to Kim’s ideology.
In addition to supplying religious materials by air, Foley’s group produces short-wave radio programs with North Korean defectors reading the Bible. He said about 20 percent of North Koreans own radios, which are illegal.
Foley and his group won the legal rights to conduct the balloon launches from South Korea, but officials there “don’t make it easy,” he said, noting that they often try to force hydrogen suppliers not to sell the group hydrogen.
“Every time we fill up one of these balloons, we hold it and we pray together in English, North Korean and South Korean,” Foley said. “We pray loudly and always with tears.”
Morning Prayer: Psalm 17:10, 14-15; Deuteronomy 15:7-11; 1 Corinthians 13:3 ~ give generously
Morning Prayer
+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
Opening sentence
One thing I have asked of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life; to behold the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple.
You will find the Lord your God, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.
Morning readings
Psalm 17:10, 14-15 NLT:
They are without pity. Listen to their boasting!
By the power of your hand, O Lord, destroy those who look to this world for their reward. But satisfy the hunger of your treasured ones. May their children have plenty, leaving an inheritance for their descendants. Because I am righteous, I will see you. When I awake, I will see you face to face and be satisfied.
Deuteronomy 15:7-11 NLT:
“But if there are any poor Israelites in your towns when you arrive in the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tightfisted toward them. Instead, be generous and lend them whatever they need. Do not be mean-spirited and refuse someone a loan because the year for canceling debts is close at hand. If you refuse to make the loan and the needy person cries out to the Lord, you will be considered guilty of sin. Give generously to the poor, not grudgingly, for the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do. There will always be some in the land who are poor. That is why I am commanding you to share freely with the poor and with other Israelites in need.
1 Corinthians 13:3 NLT:
If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.
Reflection/Prayer:
Stooping to help somebody. This position is called Mitzvah, a good deed. This they say, nudges God, right to the Book of Golden Deeds. And God writes down the Mitzvah in diamond-studded letters ten feet high.
In the twelfth century Moses Maimonides devised eight ways to nudge God for a Mitzvah while performing charity. Each one higher than the other.
- The highest degree is to make the man who needs charity self-supporting.
- The next highest degree is where the one that gives and the one that receives are not aware of each other.
- The third Inferior degree is where the recipient knows the giver, but the giver does not know the recipient.
- A lesser Mitzvah is when the poor man knows to whom he is indebted, but the giver does not know to whom he has given.
- The fifth degree is where the giver puts alms into the hands of the poor without being asked.
- The sixth degree is where he puts money into the hands of the poor after being asked.
- The seventh degree is where he gives less than he should, but does so cheerfully.
- The eighth degree is where he gives resentfully.
But there’s a catch to all these Mitzvahs. It’s best illustrated by an old story about a Rabbi, who was so addicted to golf that he even snuck off on the High Holy Day to play. That day he made a hole in one. As he danced with exultation, there was a rumble of thunder and a clap of lightning, and God’s voice boomed down on him. ‘So who are you going to tell?’ That’s the catch when you earn a Mitzvah. ‘So who are you going to tell? If you do, you’ll lose it.
The question is, what have you done for someone today, that you didn’t have to do… and whom didn’t you tell?’
Dave Berg, My Friend GOD
Canticle
Christ, as a light… illumine and guide me. Christ, as a shield… overshadow me. Christ under me; Christ over me; Christ beside me on my left and my right.
This day be within and without me, lowly and meek, yet all-powerful. Be in the heart of each to whom I speak; in the mouth of each who speaks unto me. This day be within and without me, lowly and meek, yet all-powerful.
Christ as a light; Christ as a shield; Christ beside me on my left and my right.
Blessing
May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you, wherever He may send you. May He guide you through the wilderness, protect you through the storm. May He bring you home rejoicing at the wonders He has shown you. May He bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors.
+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
_____________________________________
Peanut Gallery: The Morning Prayer readings are from the Daily Office of the Northumbrian Community as available online here… and in the book form, Celtic Daily Prayer available on Amazon.com.
The website and prayer book are rich in prayer resources and I commend them to you. For our purpose here, I will limit my selections to the Morning Prayer resources.
Morning Prayer: Psalm 111:9; 109:13; Exodus 3:13-15; Luke 1:47-64 ~ what’s in a name?
Morning Prayer
+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
Opening sentence
One thing I have asked of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life; to behold the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple.
You will find the Lord your God, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.
Morning readings
Psalm 111:9; 109:13 NLT:
He has paid a full ransom for his people. He has guaranteed his covenant with them forever. What a holy, awe-inspiring name he has!
May all his offspring die. May his family name be blotted out in a single generation.
Exodus 3:13-15 NLT:
But Moses protested, “If I go to the people of Israel and tell them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ they will ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what should I tell them?”
God replied to Moses, “I Am Who I Am. Say this to the people of Israel: I Am has sent me to you.” God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: Yahweh, the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.
This is my eternal name, my name to remember for all generations.
Luke 1:47-64 NLT:
“How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior! For he took notice of his lowly servant girl, and from now on all generations will call me blessed. For the Mighty One is holy, and he has done great things for me.
He shows mercy from generation to generation to all who fear him. His mighty arm has done tremendous things! He has scattered the proud and haughty ones. He has brought down princes from their thrones and exalted the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away with empty hands. He has helped his servant Israel and remembered to be merciful. For he made this promise to our ancestors, to Abraham and his children forever.”
Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months and then went back to her own home.
When it was time for Elizabeth’s baby to be born, she gave birth to a son. And when her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had been very merciful to her, everyone rejoiced with her.
When the baby was eight days old, they all came for the circumcision ceremony. They wanted to name him Zechariah, after his father. But Elizabeth said, “No! His name is John!”
“What?” they exclaimed. “There is no one in all your family by that name.” So they used gestures to ask the baby’s father what he wanted to name him. He motioned for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s surprise he wrote, “His name is John.” Instantly Zechariah could speak again, and he began praising God.
Reflection/Prayer:
The Jews would not willingly tread upon the smallest piece of paper in their way, but took it up, for possibly, said they, the name of God may be upon it. Though there was a little superstition in this, yet truly there is nothing but good religion in it, if we apply it to man. Trample not on any; there may be some work of grace there, that thou knowest not of. The name of God may be written upon that soul thou treadest on: it may be a soul that Christ thought so much of as to give His precious blood for it; therefore, despise it not. (Samuel Taylor Coleridge)
The letters JHWH are a jumble of Hebrew consonants, and a better translation than Jehovah is ‘The Lord’. The name of God is so aweful, so unpronounceable, that is has never been used by any of his creatures. Indeed, it is said that if, inadvertently, the great and terrible name of God should be spoken, the universe would explode. (Madeleine L’Engle)
The Scriptures recognize how important a name is; it denotes someone in particular, and affirms that they have significance.
The God who created and formed you says this, Do not be afraid for I have redeemed you. I have called you by your name. You are mine.
Isaiah 43:1
One of the strongest curses, ever framed is that someone’s name be cut off, remembered no more. Madeleine L’Engle writes:
… we live in a world which would reduce us to our social security numbers, Area codes, zip codes, credit card codes, all take precedence over our names. Our signatures already mean so little that it wouldn’t be a surprise if, by the year 2000, we, like prisoners, are known only by our numbers. But that is not how it was meant to be.
Survivors of the concentration camps still have numbers branded on their bodies; they bear the mark of a system that needed to dehumanize them.
Canticle
Christ, as a light… illumine and guide me. Christ, as a shield… overshadow me. Christ under me; Christ over me; Christ beside me on my left and my right.
This day be within and without me, lowly and meek, yet all-powerful. Be in the heart of each to whom I speak; in the mouth of each who speaks unto me. This day be within and without me, lowly and meek, yet all-powerful.
Christ as a light; Christ as a shield; Christ beside me on my left and my right.
Blessing
May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you, wherever He may send you. May He guide you through the wilderness, protect you through the storm. May He bring you home rejoicing at the wonders He has shown you. May He bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors.
+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
_____________________________________
Peanut Gallery: The Morning Prayer readings are from the Daily Office of the Northumbrian Community as available online here… and in the book form, Celtic Daily Prayer available on Amazon.com.
The website and prayer book are rich in prayer resources and I commend them to you. For our purpose here, I will limit my selections to the Morning Prayer resources.
The Peanut Gallery 