Trinity Sunday - May 22

Who We Are and Who We Are Not

Today is Trinity Sunday.  One of the seven Principal Feasts of our church calendar.  One of the most important holy days we celebrate together.  And the only one commemorating a doctrine, and a particularly difficult doctrine at that.

This week I came across an interesting discussion of the Trinity.  It wasn’t so much focused on defining the doctrine, as describing the context in which the doctrine evolved.

The commentator wrote:  “The Trinity was the early church’s way of trying to grapple with a monotheistic belief in one God in light of their actual, lived experience of God’s activity powerfully in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus and after an encounter with the power of the Holy Spirit” (HERE).

The Trinity was an attempt to describe the 4^th century church’s experience of God.  It did that by emphasizing both who the early church was not and who they were.  The church was very clear that its belief was monotheistic, not like those pagans, Greeks, with their smorgasbord of many gods.  But the church also wanted to say that they were people who experienced God in relationships and those relationships were multifaceted, especially across time.

The Trinity was the church’s attempt to describe its belief and its identity by saying:  This who we are not and this is who we are.

That was not the only time the church sought to define itself by outlining both what it was and what it was not.  We see the same thing in the 39 Articles, written in the 16^th century.  The 39 Articles are in the fine print in the back of the Book of Common Prayer, amid the historical documents.  They come from the Church of England, our denominational forebear at the time of the Reformation.  Some of the Articles say who we are; some say who we are not.

For example, we are people who affirm the doctrine of the Trinity as a description of God.  We affirm the Incarnation, that the Son of God took on human flesh and lived among us.  We affirm Christ’s death and Resurrection as the means by which we receive eternal life with God.  These are some of the more important Articles stating who we are.

Then there are these articles, that clearly articulate who we are not:

“The Romish Doctrine concerning Purgatory, Pardons, Worshipping and Adoration, as well of Images as of Relics and also Invocation of Saints, is a fond thing, vainly invented, and grounded upon no warranty of Scripture, but rather repugnant to the Word of God.”

The early Church of England was very clear that it was not Roman Catholic.  Or this one:

“The Riches and Goods of Christians are not common, as touching the right, title, and possession of the same; as certain Anabaptists do falsely boast.  Notwithstanding, every man ought, of such things as he possesseth, liberally to give alms to the poor, according to his ability.”

The 16^th century Church of England was also very clear that it was not like those Anabaptists, extreme Protestants that arose at the time of the Reformation.

These days, we do not need to differentiate ourselves from the Greeks and their pantheon of gods like Christians did in the 4^th century.  Nor do we need to separate ourselves in the same way that the Protestant Reformers did in the 16^th century from the Catholics and Anabaptists.

If we were to describe ourselves as not something today, what would it be?  The first reaction for some of you might be to say: we are not like those Christian fundamentalists of today.  Others might say: we are not like those Unitarians who believe everything and therefore nothing.  We might learn from those conversations if they were done faithfully and respectfully. 

But it seems to me that what we most need to affirm that we are NOT these days is secular.  We are not like the secular world that surrounds us.  We are not like those people who see nothing in the world as holy or sacred.  We are not like those people who do not view other people as bearing the image of God; therefore other people are expendable.  We are not like those people who confuse busyness with purpose.  We are not like those people who measure their life’s work by the comfort they have achieved in their own lives.  We are not secular.

At all points in history affirming what we ARE is probably more important than stressing what we are not.  And that’s important for us, too, today.

We are people who experience God in relationship.  And that relationship is multifaceted.  We do not encounter God in just one place or in just one way.  We encounter God, we come into relationship with God:  in creation, in one another, in the Scriptures, in the sacraments, in prayer.  We also meet God as we do God’s work in the world.

And there’s a wondrous positive feedback loop about being a Christian.  The more we think of ourselves as non-secular… the more we decide to see the world and other people as sacred…  and the more we choose intentionally do God’s work…  the richer and deeper our relationship with God will grow.

Trinity Sunday - May 31

Salvation
Romans 8:12-17
John 3:1-17

Today is Trinity Sunday. That unique day in the calendar of the church year when we focus on a doctrine. It’s really about God, of course. A doctrine about how we describe God’s indescribability.

One piece I read this week included this statement: The Trinity cannot be analogized. I didn’t know “analogized” was a word, and it may not be, but it’s still a good statement to hang on to. The Trinity cannot be analogized. No analogy is correct. Even your favorite. Some may be a bit better than others. But no analogy of the Trinity is correct. So I’m not going to try.

I’m going to preach on something “easy” instead… John 3:16. It’s a familiar verse: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” Very familiar! But not really all that easy to interpret. As often as we hear it, what does it really mean?

I think the most common interpretation goes something like this: If we believe in Jesus, then God will give us eternal life. Although, what exactly are we supposed to believe about Jesus? If we believe somehow that Jesus is our Savior, in return for that belief, God will reward us with life after death.

But what if we only 80% believe? We want to believe, we want to understand, but we’re not always there 100%… Do we still get eternal life? Or only 80%?

 John’s Gospel continues: God sent his Son “in order that the world might be saved through him.” Again, what really do we mean by salvation? And is John’s proclamation reassuring or discouraging? Did God set the bar for the world’s salvation high or low? How does it look to you? All it takes is our belief.

Many people before I have noted that there is another way to look at salvation. To think about salvation as something God offers now, not just later, not just after death.

In this context, Jesus’ life and death are viewed primarily as expressions of God’s love for us. Illustrations. Look, God says, to us THIS is how much I love you. I sent my own Son to bring myself to you, to offer my own presence and love to you.

Paul is talking about this in the passage from Romans we heard today. Paul says: God loves us as much he loves Jesus. “All who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.” Like Jesus, we are children of God.

“When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.” We are in the same relationship with God that Jesus is. Heirs of God’s love.

And it is the Spirit, God’s own Spirit, God’s own power, that leads us to see and understand that God loves us. It doesn’t depend upon our belief.

What would it be like to really live with that awareness of God’s love for us all day every day? That’s salvation!

To live knowing we are God’s beloved children, adopted and chosen and named co-heirs with Christ. To live with the awareness that we are unconditionally loved. That we have immeasurable value in God’s eyes. That no matter what we do; no matter what is done to us; no matter where we go… God always loves us and cares about us. To live in that love is salvation.

David Lose, whom I often find quotable, wonders if “part of the reason so many of our people have a hard time connecting faith to everyday life is simply because we don’t take God’s promises seriously enough.” We don’t take God’s promise to love us unconditionally seriously enough.

This week’s readings reminds us of God’s expansive, comprehensive, unconditional love and acceptance of us as his children, co-heirs with Christ of his love.

What if we could hang onto that promise throughout our daily lives? Really hang onto it. How would it affect our relationships, to enter into those relationships knowing ourselves unconditionally loved by God? How would it impact our conversations with others, those close to us and the casual conversations of every day? How would it affect the decisions we make and how we spend our time if we remembered that nothing can take Gods love from us? Think about it.

Think about it. Would we… Risk more? Care more? Share more? Fear less?

You have immeasurable value in God’s eyes. No matter what, God always loves you and cares about you.

Trinity Sunday - June 15

The Great Commission
Matthew 28:16-20

Today, of course, is one of the seven principal feast days on the church calendar. The most important holy days we celebrate together in worship. It is Trinity Sunday.

To paraphrase a clergy colleague of mine. She has given up trying to explain the Trinity. She says the main thing you learn in seminary is which particular heresy is your personal favorite. I remember one of my seminary classmates deciding she was quite happy being a Pelagian… (Although I think, technically that is a Christological, rather than Trinitarian heresy.) I certainly learned more about identifying heresies than fully understanding the Trinity. And I would say that everyone who starts a sentence “I’ve always understood the Trinity this way…” is about to describe one of the Trinitarian heresies.

Another thing I learned in seminary was not to try to preach on the doctrine on Trinity Sunday; preach on the Scripture lessons.

And the lessons appointed for today are worthy of our attention. We have the glorious sweep of the creation story. And the celebration of the goodness that is in all that God, as creator, has created, from the seas to the stars, from the creeping things to us.

The epistle and gospel readings are obviously appointed for this day because both include words that imply, possibly, a Trinity. We heard the closing benediction from Second Corinthians: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.” And we heard Jesus’ Great Commission in Matthew 28: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

These apparently Trinitarian words long predate any development of the doctrine of God as Trinity. That would begin to evolve in the 4th century. And the celebration of the Trinity as a part of the church calendar wouldn’t start until the 10th or 11th centuries. The collect for this day comes from that time. As much as I cherish the collects in the Book of Common Prayer, this is not one of my favorites. It includes our plea that we remain steadfast in the confession of a “true” faith… a true faith being one of orthodox Trinitarianism.

I’ll come back to the collect, but first the Gospel. You should know this Gospel passage. Anyone with any involvement in the Christian life should be able to roughly quote it and know its context. When you hear it, a light bulb should go off: “Ah, the Great Commission.” If you come to the service on Wednesdays you will hear it a bit more often. We commemorate the saints in that service and this gospel passage is appointed for several of them, from St. Patrick to Jackson Kemper. Patrick you’ve undoubtedly heard of. Jackson Kemper’s ministry was in the early 1800’s. He was the first “missionary bishop” of the Episcopal church. He served the wilderness of Wisconsin.

The verses appointed for today come at the close of Matthew’s Gospel. This is one of only two post-resurrection appearances of Jesus described in Matthew. Matthew tells how on that first Easter Day the resurrected Jesus meets some women who had lingered at the tomb. The first post-resurrection appearance. He tells them to tell the disciples that he will meet them in Galilee.

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’

This passage does include that apparently Trinitarian phrase which, of course, we still use when we baptize as we did last Sunday. But I don’t think anyone would maintain that Jesus’ main point here has anything to do with the doctrine of the Trinity.

This is the resurrected Christ speaking to his closest disciples. These are his final words to them. What does Jesus tell them to DO? He does not tell them: Go out there and study real heard so you can understand the doctrine of Trinity. He does not even tell them to go out there and make sure everyone else ascribes to the true orthodox Trinitarian faith. Jesus says, go make disciples. Disciple means follower. Go and bring others to follow me. Go and bring others to me.

And it does not seem that they need to have “true” faith to be disciples. Matthew says that even those who found themselves in the presence of the risen Christ doubted.

When they saw Jesus, they worshiped him; but some doubted. New Testament Professor Stanley Saunders writes about this passage:

Most English translations of 28:17 leave the impression that the disciples included some worshippers and some doubters, but the Greek may also be translated, perhaps more naturally, to suggest that the whole group of disciples both worship and doubt.

The Greek word distazo carries a sense of standing in two places at the same time or being of two minds. Jesus commissions not perfect disciples, but people who both worship and doubt as they stand at the edge of the world that is passing away and the one that is coming to them. 

 In Matthew’s Gospel, this is the culmination of all of Jesus’ life and ministry, the summation of all that he has come to do, his last words to those who have been closest and most devoted to him on earth. And to those disciples (whose understanding, even then, is incomplete and whose faith is uncertain) the resurrected Christ says: You’re the ones. Go. You’re the ones. Go. Go out there and bring others to me. And, “Lo, (as Jesus often says in King James English) LO, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” Go out amongst all peoples and make disciples. And remember, he said to them and he says to us “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Trinity Sunday - May 26

Separate, But Inseparable

Today is Trinity Sunday. Another of the principal feast days in the church calendar. The only one dedicated, not to an event in Christ’s life or the saints of the church, but to a doctrine. It must be a pretty important doctrine… the doctrine of the Trinity.

Most preachers face this day with apprehension, burdened by the feeling that it is our responsibility to make the doctrine of the Trinity comprehensible to the people in the pews. In my experience, however, the people in the pews either really don’t care at all whether or not they understand the doctrine of the Trinity, or they cling steadfastly, and will not be budged, from their own pre-existing understanding of the Trinity. An understanding which is inevitably heretical. If you think you really understand the Trinity, it’s pretty sure to be heresy.

So whether it’s H2O as water, steam and ice, or St. Patrick’s famous shamrock, or a man who is husband, father and son… those are all heresies.

Fortunately, an orthodox understanding of the doctrine of the Trinity is not an essential element for personal salvation. On the other hand, clinging to a heretical understanding might be an impediment to the life of faith, a prideful barrier to an ever-growing experience of God’s presence.

At the very least, the doctrine of the Trinity reminds us of the mystery of God’s being and of our ultimate inability to comprehend or describe that mystery. If you ever think you’ve got God figured out, remember the Trinity with humility. We can never fully comprehend or describe the mystery of God’s being.

Basically, the doctrine of the Trinity affirms that God is Three. And One. At the same time. Three. And One. It isn’t “like” anything else in our world or our experience. All of the metaphors fall short.

They either describe God as one who happens to function in three different ways or as three different gods who happen to communicate really well with one another and share a common mission.

But as I’ve thought about the Trinity this year, I’ve been using some new language that, at least for me, takes the mystery of the Trinity and applies it to something that is important in our own relationship with God.

The Trinity is made up of separate things or persons who are inseparable. There’s nothing “like” it anywhere else in our world. Totally separate, independent persons that are inseparable.

The persons of the Trinity are distinct, but you never get one without the other two. Separate, but inseparable.

This can be a model for our relationship with God. We are separate from God. We are distinct individuals, each of us entire of himself or herself. Our bodies, our personalities, our wills, are ours. Totally ours. Nothing hampers or limits our individuality or our independence from God.

And yet, by God’s wondrous grace, we share in God’s being. We are inseparable from God.

We are as inseparable from God as the persons of the Trinity are inseparable one from another.

Distinct and separate, but inseparable.

And through our mutual participation in God’s life, we are also inseparable from one another. Distinct and separate as we may be as individuals, we are inseparable as the Body of Christ. And furthermore, we are inseparable, the living from the dead. A reassurance on this Memorial Day weekend when many pause to think of those we love but see no longer. There’s a prayer that we often say at funerals. One phrase says, “Draw us closer to you that we may know ourselves nearer to our beloved who are with you."

In our relationship with God, we are separate, gloriously unique and whole as individuals, but inseparable from God. Separate, but inseparable.

My prayer this Trinity Sunday is that God will increase my awareness and my trust in the inseparability of my life from the life of God. Separate, but inseparable.

Trinity Sunday

Exhilaration and Awe
Isaiah 6:1-8
Psalm 29

I think I’ve shared with you before a comment I remember one of my professors at seminary made: If you think you understand or can explain the Trinity, your understanding is almost certainly heresy. False doctrine. If you are thinking to your self right now… “I’ve always thought about the Trinity this way…” Your idea is almost certainly heresy. On the other hand, if you’re thinking… “The Trinity is beyond my feeble brain to comprehend; I’ll just put the whole idea aside…” That’s probably apostacy. The deliberate abandonment of religion. Our God is a Triune God. To put aside the Trinity is to put aside God.

If your thoughts about the Trinity are along the lines of… “It’s a wondrous, dynamic mystery, and I fall down in worship…” That’s a good place to start.

The collect for Trinity Sunday encourages us to hold faith in the glory of the Trinity and worship the unity.

Worship. We are definitely called to worship the God who is one-in-three and three-in-one. As I’ve been thinking about worship the last few days, I’m carrying this description of worship: an experience of exhilarated awe. It’s something we do, but it’s also something we experience. And that experience is full of exhilaration and awe.

There is, of course, a general definition of the word worship, and it can be used in all sorts of settings. The dictionary definition is worship is “the act of ascribing value.” We worship those things that we see as having value in our lives. To ascribe value is to worship. Thus it is that the Bears, or nature, or materials goods. We worship the things that have value for us. Some of those things are more worthy of our worship than others.

One of my theology textbooks defines religious worship as: “The conscious turning of the attention towards God in an attitude of praise and thanksgiving.” It is also something we do to restore right relationship with God.

Both of the Old Testament readings appointed for Trinity Sunday—the reading from Isaiah and the Psalm—talk about worship.

I love the reading from Isaiah. It paints such a lively, dynamic picture. Imagine the prophet standing at the door of the temple and peaking in. And seeing, not a kind and welcoming vision of Christ like he would see here (although that’s a good thing, of course), but seeing the awesome mystery of God.

His vision is almost beyond imagination and description. But it is also located in a real time and a real place. In the temple in Jerusalem. In the year that King Uzziah died. God is present within the time and space of our human lives.

It was an awesome vision. The hem of God’s robe filled the temple. Seraphs sang and danced and flew and worshiped. The building shook and filled with smoke.

At least in my imagination, this would have been an exhilarating experience—to witness the power and majesty of God. And a humbling experience, too, restoring a right relationship of humility before God.

And then there’s the psalm. The psalmist uses that word ascribe a lot. Probably not a word we use often in everyday speech. It means acknowledge… grant to God. Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength… Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his Name. Acknowledge the Lord’s glory and strength in your own life.

And then the psalmist describes the Lord’s power. Certainly a power beyond our control.

The God of glory thunders.
The voice of the Lord is powerful and full of splendor.
The voice of the Lord breaks the cedar trees.
He makes Lebanon skip like a calf and Mount Hermon like a young wild ox.
The voice of the Lord splits the flames of fire.
The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness.
The voice of the Lord makes the oak trees write and strips the forests bare.

 I’m reminded of something Annie Dillard says somewhere. Instead of wearing our Sunday best to church, we should wear hard hats and flack jackets. Keep this images of God’s power in mind and come to worship with eyes wide, mouth gaping, heart racing before the glory and power of the Lord.

The power of God, the psalmist reminds us, is beyond our control. (Annie Dillard—hardhats to worship). Keep these images in mind. Stand with eyes wide, mouth gaping, heart racing.

Worship is an experience of exhilarating awe.

Isaiah reminds us of one more very important aspect of worship. The prophet is changed by his encounter with the glory of God. He is given his prophetic voice.

Everyone who participates in worship should expect to be touched and changed.

Instructed Eucharist

Trinity Sunday, 2010

Before the Procession

This morning we will be participating in an Instructed Eucharist. Throughout the service, I will be breaking in with comments providing explanation or reflection on various parts of the service. I expect you will find these interruptions distracting today, but I hope that one Sunday’s distractions will enrich your participation in the liturgy in the many days and years ahead.

The Episcopal Church is a liturgical church. This means that our community worship follows a prescribed, ordered liturgy. This is probably the most fundamental distinction in style of worship among different Christian denominations. Roman Catholic and Lutheran worship are also liturgical. Most other Protestant churches are not; their worship is highly variable. When we pray together as a community we follow a prescribed, ordered liturgy as presented in the Book of Common Prayer.

Two aspects of liturgical worship are important to consider. First, liturgical worship is shared worship. The way we pray is what we all have in common. We are united by common prayer. Diversity and individuality enrich our fellowship in many other ways, but in worship individuality is repressed in favor of commonality. For Episcopalians, we find unity and identity in the words of worship we hold in common.

Second, liturgical worship emphasizes the active role and participation of the laity. You have the words and directions for worship in your hands. You are not here to be edified by something a clergyperson, or even a committee, has whipped up today for your spiritual pleasure. Liturgy means work of the people. You are here to work. In liturgical worship, the assembly has a very active role. Your role is all there in the Book of Common Prayer.

Every service begins with a procession, whether simple or elaborate. Your part in that procession began when you left home to come here. We all come from somewhere to gather here as a community in worship. The act of gathering is essential. And we bring our individual joys and anxieties with us. This is not a place or a time of isolation or escape from the world. Bring your good news and your baggage with you. To be shared and transformed by corporate worship.

Procession

The opening words of the liturgy are a greeting. Now that we are all gathered, we greet one another. “Good to see you; how are you?” “Good, good to see you, too.” Our is a Christian greeting. But it is a greeting, shared with everyone here. To not say that greeting due to inattention or tardiness is rude to everyone else who is here. Part of the active work of liturgy is courtesy to one another.

The Opening Acclamation

The next prayer is known as the Collect for Purity. It has been used by faithful Christians since the 11th century as an expression of our desire to come before God in worship with pure thoughts and open hearts.

The Collect for Purity

Say amen. Say amen after the prayer. Any prayer said by a single worship leader on behalf of the assembly becomes yours when you say amen. Amen means, “so be it.” So be it for me. You claim the prayer, become an active participant in that prayer, when you say “amen.”

The Summary of the Law
The Gloria

Part of being a liturgical church is following a defined calendar of seasons and holy days. The calendar forces us to be mindful of the breadth of Christian faith and life. Every year we must approach the glorious redemption of Easter through the penitence of Lent. Every year we reflect in awe as God takes on flesh in the manger at Christmas time and we experience the departure of God in flesh incarnate at the Ascension. And we have to struggle with Trinity Sunday every year.

Liturgically, we experience the calendar through what are called the “Propers.” “Propers” refers to the particular collect and Scripture readings that are appointed for any given day in the calendar. We always follow the appointed propers. The following Collect is always prayed on Trinity Sunday.

Collect of the Day

The lectionary indicates which Scripture readings are “proper” for any given day in the calendar. Interestingly, although liturgical churches are sometimes criticized for underemphasizing the Bible, the lectionary prescribes a much, much broader reading of Scripture throughout the year than is usually heard in non-liturgical churches.

Your job is to hear the Scriptures, to hear the Word of God. One of your fellow Christians will read it to you, for you. Give the reader your attention. After hearing the Scriptures, without looking back at your leaflets, you should be able to summarize the readings. At coffee hour you should be able to discuss interesting points from the lessons (whether or not they were the topic of the sermon.) If you can’t do these things, you’re not listening well; you’re not doing the work of hearing God’s Word spoken to you. Personally, I hear better if I do NOT “follow along” reading the printed inserts. Whatever it takes for you, do the work to really hear and absorb the Scriptures into your consciousness, so that they may speak to you in your life.

First Lesson
Psalm
Second Lesson
Sequence Hymn (10:00 o'clock)
Gospel

Typically, of course, the Sermon follows the Gospel. I want to talk briefly this morning about sacraments. Once we get into the prayer of consecration, the Great Thanksgiving, there will be only minimal interruptions, so I want to take this opportunity to explain sacraments, specifically the sacrament of Holy Communion.

The Episcopal Church is a sacramental church. We teach and experience the sacraments as a part of our common life. A sacrament is “an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace, given by Christ as sure and certain means by which we receive that grace.” God’s transforming grace… given without any conditions or qualifications through the ministry of the church. The sacraments are “sure and certain means” by which we receive God’s grace. Sure and certain. It doesn’t depend upon you. It doesn’t depend upon me. It only depends upon the power of God functioning through the activity of the church.

In the sacrament of Holy Communion, the outward and visible signs are the bread and wine. They convey to us the Body and Blood of Christ. The bread and wine are sure and certain means by which we receive the Body and Blood of Christ. In the sacramental act, the bread and wine are changed, infused with God’s grace to become for us the real Body and Blood of Christ.

How exactly? The sacraments are all mysteries. Mysteries fueled by the power of God. But by God’s grace and power, the bread and wine are transformed into the Real Presence of Christ and when we participate in Communion, we are literally in Communion with the living Christ, and with one another through Christ.

The Nicene Creed was written by the church, gathered in council in the city of Nicea in 325. The Nicene Creed is not an individual affirmation of faith; it is the church’s creed. And no matter what other profound debates or uncertainty have swirled around through the centuries, the Nicene Creed has stood steadfast as the church’s expression of the Christian faith for over 1600 years. We say it as a response to the reading and proclamation of the Word of God. Whether you accept or understand every bit of it, say it. At the very least, as a member of the church, it is your job to share it and pass it on.

The Nicene Creed

Part of our work as Christians is to pray. To pray for others. I recently read that our Christian vocation is to become in “real life” the people we are in worship. When we process out of here at the end of worship, take these prayers, your prayers, the prayers of the people, with you. Take them in your heart, or literally take the printed prayer sheets, and be people who pray for others throughout your life.

The Prayers of the People
Confession and Absolution

Say amen after the absolution. For some reason, this amen is typically one of the most feeble. Your sins have just been absolved. By God’s grace, through the action of a priest of the church, you are reconciled to God. Now. Any sins for which you offered repentance this morning have been forgiven. So be it? If you wish for it to be so, if you wish to claim God’s absolution of your sins, say amen after the absolution.

The Comfortable Words (Rite 1; 8:00 o'clock)

The sharing of the peace is a wonderful celebration of Christian fellowship. But it is more than that. Your action, your work in the liturgy at this point is to give the Peace of Christ to others. I convey the Peace of Christ to you and you and you. Try saying the whole phrase to one another… “The peace of the Lord be with you.”

The Peace

Announcements

The next portion of the service may seem like filler, but it is very important, and it is one where you, the assembly, do all the work. The Offertory. One of my seminary professors wrote, “It is not too much to say that one understands the meaning of the Holy Communion to the extent that he or she understands the significance of the Offertory.” (Edward Kryder). We can’t, any of us, really participate in Holy Communion without first acting ourselves to offer the ingredients of which Holy Communion is created. Most importantly, we must offer ourselves.

As part of the offertory, we e offer our creativity, our talent and our skill to the Glory of God and for the purpose of God. This offering of creativity is often represented by a musical offering, but it stands for all of the creative potential of all of us.

We also offer the fruits of our labor in the offertory, the substance of our lives. These days that’s money. Historically, those offerings of substance might often have been in kind… crops we had grown, clothing we had woven or sewed. We offer them in thanksgiving that all we have comes from God. We offer them for use to further God’s kingdom. We offer our money, not primarily because the church needs it (although of course it does), but because we cannot come into Communion with God unless we offer ourselves, all that we are, all that we value, our souls and bodies to God.

Make some active offering every time you approach participation in Holy Communion. Many liturgical scholars suggest each worshipper put something of some value in the collection plate every time we celebrate the Eucharist to ensure that we do the real work of offering, and remember that it is ourselves we offer.

And, of course, the assembly offers the bread and wine. They are your corporate offerings.

The offertory is not a time to be planning your afternoon or chatting to your neighbor in the pew or digging through your purse for God doesn’t care what. Your focus should be on God and on actively offering yourself to God. Offer your voice, your creativity, your substance, your body, your soul, all that your are. Participate in the offertory.

Offertory Sentences
Offertory Music (10:00 o'clock)

The next phrases are often called by their Latin name, the Sursum Corda. They are a dialogue, a conversation. Lift up your hearts means, among other things, literally, stand up. The next part is really a question from the presider to the assembly. Shall we, together, now, give thanks to the Lord? If you would like to proceed with Communion, you need to speak your assent. “Yes, we think it is right to give thanks to God.” Without your response the presider cannot proceed. The Prayer that follows is the Great Thanksgiving. The greatest of all thanksgivings for all of God’s saving acts on our behalf. Especially the gift of his living presence in Holy Communion.

Sursum Corda

…proper prefaces are seasonal. Listen for brief summary of the teaching of the various seasons of the calendar.

The Proper Preface for Trinity
Sanctus

The Council of Nicea forbade kneeling for prayer on all Sundays throughout the church year and every day of the Great Fifty Days of Easter. Kneeling thus was permitted only on weekdays outside of Easter season. Kneeling for the Great Thanksgiving, or prayer of consecration, did not become common until the late Middle Ages. At that time in the Roman Catholic Church, the peoples’ role in Holy Communion was a passive one of adoration only… passive to the point that they did not even receive the bread or wine. The Book of Common Prayer provides you the option to either stand or kneel. If you have never stood, try it for a few weeks sometime. It takes more than one Sunday to get over the awkwardness of change. If you give it a fair trial, you may find it a more open and active posture and find yourself powerfully drawn into Communion.

All versions of the Great Thanksgiving are Trinitarian. All include an institution narrative, recounting Jesus’ institution of Holy Communion, and all invoke the Holy Spirit’s transforming power upon the offered gifts, the offered gifts of bread and wine and the offered gifts of ourselves.

The Great Thanksgiving, continued

The Great Amen. Capitals and Italics. The greatest of Amens. Say this amen especially with joy and fervor.

And then we pray boldly by Jesus’ warrant and teaching. It is only at Jesus’ instruction that we boldly call God our Father and make these bold intercessions to him.

The Lord’s Prayer

The Fraction (Breaking of the Bread)
The Fraction Anthem

These next words are an invitation to come to the table. “The gifts of God for the people of God…” They are not a prayer or culmination. Resist the temptation to say “amen” at the end of the invitation. Just come. Jesus, your host, invites you to his holy table.

Come to the table promptly. Symbolically at least, we all dine together. Those of us here in the sanctuary do not dine first. Do say “amen” after you are offered the bread and wine. This is important, and most of you don’t. The Body of Christ, the Bread of Heaven. “Amen.” The Blood of Christ, the cup of salvation. “Amen.” Amen, indeed. May these be for me the Body and Blood of Jesus. And do not leave the communion rail until the person after you has received. We dine together, always with at least one Christian neighbor beside us.

The Invitation

Distribution of Communion

The post-Communion prayer is a prayer of thanksgiving, thanksgiving that everything we have done the work of offering to God has been transformed. All of ourselves that we have truly offered has been transformed, thanks be to God. This prayer also reminds us that our primary work as Christians lies ahead. Our participation in the liturgy and in Holy Communion are not ends in and of themselves. They give us strength and courage to do the work God has given us to do throughout our daily lives.

Post-communion Prayer
Blessing

Having been fed and transformed by the Body of Christ, we process again. We process onward and outward through the doors of the church to be the Body of Christ in the world.

Hymn
Dismissal

Postlude