Here is the sermon text:
Trinity Sunday—Kevin Thew Forrester [05.18.08]
Reading from Matthew 28: 16-20
Well, there are a number of things that come together this morning in the liturgy. The Gospel in Matthew talks about baptism this morning, and it’s connected up with what we call Trinity Sunday today, and that’s all held in our tradition in redemption. So, I’ll preach on redemption, baptism and the Trinity today and it’ll take about forty-five minutes, and to weave it all together (heh, heh)—well I am going to talk about all of them, and hopefully we’ll weave them together in less time than that. I’ve been reading this over the past several months, and doing some research and writing in early Christianity as it pertains to baptism, and focusing on a treasure in our past that we’ve forgotten about. At least I have not been taught about it, and maybe you have heard about it. It’s the strain of Christianity that came out of Syria—Syrian Christianity. And Syrian Christianity goes back to the first century. So it is an ancient, it is an early stream of Christian experience and Christian theology. And, in fact, the Syrian church came up with its translation of the New Testament, the Syriac New Testament. And there is a woman, her name is Gabriele Winkler, and she’s done some of the writing on these Syriac Christians, and what’s drawn her to it is that they’ve a very positive approach to that word and the experience of Jesus in terms of the Redeemer, which is in contrast to much of Greek Christianity, and that’s important because our New Testament, that we have in English, translates the Greek text.
Now, I’m not going to get real technical, but let me give you some examples, ‘cause it really goes to the heart of something. The Greeks have a very negative, on the whole, understanding of that term redemption. And, uh, I wrote some of this down so I would get it right. When the Greeks talk about, and you find this in the New Testament, talk about redemption, they talk about us being freed from something, being rescued from something, being saved from something. So there’s something we need to be rescued from, something that we need to be delivered from, something we need to be saved from. So there’s a negative response, there’s something negative that we need to be rescued from in the Greek New Testament. She says in the Syriac New Testament the equivalent of the Greek verbs meaning to deliver, to redeem, to save—they’re not used. Instead, they come up with Syriac terms, and the Syriac terms are these, they’re fascinating: they are “to give life,” “to make alive,” and “to cause to live.” That’s very different—to cause to live, to make alive, to give life.
So let me give you, I think I have five examples here. If you look at Matthew Chapter 9 in the Greek New Testament, it says in verse 22 “your faith has saved you,” okay? Now in the Syriac New Testament it says this “your faith has made you alive.” That’s a difference. Your faith has made you alive. One chapter later, Chapter 10 verse 22 in Matthew it says in the Greek “the one who endures to the end will be saved.” The Syrian Christians experienced Jesus and they wrote and translated it “the one who endures will be living,” will be alive. Then, if you go to the Gospel of Luke, in the second Chapter in verse 11, which you hear all the time at Christmas, it says “To you is born this day the Savior,”—I always have in mind the Charlie Brown Christmas play (heh, heh, heh)—“To you today is born the Savior.” I think it’s Linus, or someone, who says that, holding his blanket. The Syriac text says “to you is born this day the one who makes alive,” the lifegiver. That’s who was born this day, the lifegiver. And then, one chapter later in Luke, it reads, in the Greek, “all flesh shall see the salvation of God,” and the Syriac says “all flesh shall see the life of God.” Let me give you one more, and this is from Luke 19. It says “the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost,” and the Syrian Christians, in their New Testament said “the Son of Man came that He may seek and make alive.” That’s very different. I find that amazing. In the Syriac New Testament when, so it’s their translation, they had the Greek and they made their own translation, and they were very deliberate in their choice of words, Jesus is baptized. That’s one of our themes today, right, baptized, baptism; He goes in the waters of the river Jordan. He emerges and have Him baptized by John, and the Syrians say “the one who rises is the unified one who is the lifegiver.” He’s the unified one and He’s the lifegiver, and those two are very closely connected. Jesus is the lifegiver because He is the unified one.
So, what does that mean? Well, we heard in the gospel today in Matthew that, for His community, Jesus says that all, what all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. That’s what we heard today, right? All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Well, we could slightly rephrase that and keep it, keep its true meaning, I think, if we would say: Jesus realized that all that He is, He had received from God. Jesus is the one that realized all He is, “all I am, I have received from God.” And in response, we read in the gospels later on His response, to having received everything from God is that, “into Your hands I commend my spirit and Thy will be done.” He receives everything from God and He returns everything to God. That is what it means that everything has been given to Jesus, all the power. His very center, the center of His heart, of His body, of His mind, is the living God. All things come from the divine source for Jesus—who He is, His self identity, His soul, that just means His understanding of who He is, He has come to realize and it’s key in that baptismal moment, that He is the very presence of the living God. That is who He is. He is one who is unified with God. That’s what the Syrians are getting at. Jesus realizes that God dwells in His very being, He is one with God, and He is one with you and me. And because He is one, He is the lifegiver. He can show us the path of life, which is the path to realizing that we are one with God. We are one with one another.
There is a passage, it’s one of the earliest passages we have that pertains to baptism, in the New Testament, it’s one of the early formulas, and it’s in the Letter to the Galatians, and we’ve heard it often. It’s that there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for all are one in Christ Jesus. Now, it’s fascinating, the Greek and the Syriac text agree on the translation of that. “All are one in Christ Jesus.” Now I find that kind of fascinating for a couple reasons. One, I look out here and I see lots of males and females, still, right? And I see rich and poor, black and white, I see gay and straight, I see Muslim and Christian. We’re all here, and yet that text in Galatians says that no longer exists. And I’m pretty sure when Jesus came out of those waters of baptism in the Jordan they still saw a Jewish man, right? Who wasn’t a slave, but was free. So what does that text getting at, that baptismal text, because we are man and we are women; we are rich, we are poor; some of us are wealthy, some of us not so wealthy, huh? The text is talking about, that we have all these categories by which to define one another and to define ourselves. We have lots of boxes that we can put ourselves in and put one another in. And all those categories still exist after our baptism, but what the scriptures are getting at, and what the Syrians are realizing, they only exist on the surface. But if we continue to take ourselves for th thtose categories, what we will do is be at war with ourselves and at war with one another, and we give no, we give no space for each other to grow. If all I see is a man or a woman, I do not see Barb for all that you are, I’ve simply reduced you, haven’t I, to a category? I’ve reduced you to an object. And those boxes are made of walls, and the walls are hard and they are thick. And whenever there’s a wall it’s something to fight over. Look at the new wall that’s going up in Israel. My guess is that in a thousand years it won’t be there. Look at the Great Wall of China. Walls don’t work. Categories don’t work. If we think that they’re going to define us for who we essentially are, and protect us from our deepest fears, and satisfy our deepest longings, the boxes don’t work.
We have these categories, of course, but what Jesus realized, and what the Syrian Christians experienced in Jesus, is that if we go to our depths of who we are, the categories aren’t there. The only thing that exists in the depth of Jesus, the only thing that exists in the depth of Jesus, is the living God. They talk about in the New Testament, in the Greek, the kenosis of Jesus, the self-emptying. The categories are gone in terms of this is who I am essentially. All that’s left is the presence of the living God. That’s all that is left. And it’s why He is one with God and one with us. Everything Jesus is He receives from God and He gives it back in a grateful spirit of surrender. But there is more, ‘cause I would invite us to consider that not only has all authority been given to Jesus, it has been given to you and to me. We have been asked, we have been invited to receive all that is from the living God, a God who is not “out there,” but a God who is the center of our very being.
One of the amazing insights I have found in the interfaith dialogue is that, no matter what you name that source, from which all life comes—you can name that source God, Abba; you may name that source Yahweh; you may name that source Allah; you may name that source “the great emptiness;” you can name that source many things, but what all the faiths in their wisdom have acknowledged in the interfaith dialogue is that, you and I, we’re not the source. We receive from the source, and what we are asked to do is give back to the source. In other words, what the interfaith dialogue has recognized is that there is a Trinitarian structure to life. That’s what I’m driving at this morning. We make the Trinity much too complex. The Trinitarian structure of life is this: is that everything that is comes from the source. And you can name the source what you want to name the source. And our response to that is with hearts of gratitude and thanksgiving, to return everything back to that source, and there’s a spirit who enables that return. Everything comes from God. We give it back to God. And the spirit gives us the heart of gratitude. That is the Trinitarian nature of life. And you can be a Buddhist, you can be a Muslim, you can be a Jew, and that makes sense. And we all develop more elaborate theologies, but the truth is we live and have our being in a God who asks only one thing of us: to grow into people who give thanks that God is our center, God is our life, that we are one with God. And as we grow into realization, that we are one with this God who lives in us, and the only thing God asks us is to give back everything in thanksgiving, we live. It’s what the Syrians said, “we will know what redemption truly is, we will come alive, we will be made to live,” because we will know—not because someone told us—because we know that God gives us life. And all God asks of us is “give it back to Me in return.”
We are told in the scriptures that Jesus did not make equality with God something to be grasped at. All Jesus did, in the end, was say “into your hands I commend my spirit.” We are asked this day, and we are reminded in baptism, that there is only one thing asked of us, and it is to say with our minds, and our hearts, and our bodies “into your hands I commend my spirit.” And the source, our God, will hold us and take care of us. Amen.
Here is the Sunday leaflet documenting the fact that the one who delivered the sermon above was indeed the Rev. Thew Forester. Notice also the wording of the collect(authored by the Rev. Forester) and the re-wording of the scriptural readings, and, importantly, the "Update From the Episcopal Ministry Discernment Team" toward the end (the leaflet will be linked here later today as a PDF primary source document...for now, here is the text)
THE WORD OF GOD
(Sunday Take-home Insert – Trinity Sunday I RCL)
Collect
Presider: The Lord is with you.
Assembly: And also with you.
Presider: Let us pray together:
God of earth and sky,
Fire and water, life and death,
You are the gracious Source
Of all that is:
From You,
We receive creative minds;
From You
We receive beautiful bodies;
From You
We receive hearts woven of love;
This day, born anew of your Spirit,
We gratefully return
All we are to You:
Our Life, our Hope, our Love. Amen.
A period of silence for reflection follows each lesson and the sermon. Allow your attention to drop in and down and rest upon your breath. When distractions arise – such as thoughts and sounds and smells – simply notice and return to the breath.
Christian Scriptures Genesis 1:1-2:4a
Reader: A reading from book of Genesis.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. But the earth became chaos and emptiness, and darkness came over the face of the Deep – yet the Spirit of God was brooding over the surface of the waters. Then God said, “Light: Be!” and light was. God saw that light was good, and God separated light from darkness. God called the light “Day” and the darkness “Night.” Evening came, and morning followed – the first day. Then God said, “Now, make an expanse between the waters! Separate water from water!” So it was: God made the expanse and separated the water above the expanse from the water below it. God called the expanse “Sky.” Evening came, and morning followed – the second day. Then God said, “Waters under the sky: be gathered into one place! Dry ground: appear!” So it was. God called the dry ground “Earth” and the gathering of the waters “Sea,” and God saw that this was good. Then God said, “Earth: produce vegetation – plants that scatter their own seeds, and every kind of fruit tree that bears fruit with its own seed in it!” So it was: the earth brought forth every kind of plant that bears seed, and every kind of fruit tree on earth that bears fruit with its seed in it. And God saw that this was good. Evening came, and morning followed – the third day. Then God said, “Now, let there be lights in the expanse of the sky! Separate day from night! Let them mark the signs and seasons, days and years, and serve as luminaries in the sky, shedding light on the earth.” So it was: God made the two great lights, the greater one to illumine the day, and a lesser to illumine the night. Then God made the stars as well, placing them in the expanse of the sky, to shed light on the earth, to govern both day and night, and separate light from darkness. And God saw that this was good. Evening came, and morning followed – the fourth day. God then said, “Waters: swarm with an abundance of living beings! Birds: fly above the earth in the open expanse of the sky!” And so it was: God created great sea monsters and all sorts of swimming creatures with which the waters are filled, and all kinds of birds. God saw that this was good and blessed them, saying, “Bear fruit, increase your numbers, and fill the waters of the seas! Birds, abound on the earth!” Evening came, and morning followed – the fifth day. Then God said, “Earth: bring forth all kinds of living soul-cattle, things that crawl, and wild animals of all kinds!” So it was: God made all kinds of wild animals, and cattle, and everything that crawls on the ground, and God saw that this was good. Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, to be like us. Let them be stewards of the fish in the sea, the birds of the air, the cattle, the wild animals, and everything that crawls on the ground.” Humankind was created as God’s reflection: in the divine image God created them; female and male, God made them. God blessed them and said, “Bear fruit, increase your numbers, and fill the earth – and be responsible for it! Watch over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the living things on the earth!” God then told them, “Look! I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the earth, and every tree whose fruit carries its seed inside itself: they will be your food; and to all the animals of the earth and the birds of the air and things that crawl on the ground – everything that has a living soul in it – I give all the green plants for food.” So it was. God looked at all of this creation, and proclaimed that this was good – very good. Evening came, and morning followed – the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth and all their array were completed.
On the seventh day God had finished all the work of creation, and so, on that seventh day, God rested. God blessed the seventh day and called it sacred, because on it God rested from all the work of creation. These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created.
Reader: Hear what the Spirit is saying to the church.
Assembly: Thanks be to God.
Psalm 8: How Glorious Is Your Name (Rory Cooney)
This music covered under OneLicensing #A-714367
The Epistle 2 Corinthians 13:11-13
Reader: A reading from Paul’s letter to the Community at Corinth.
And now, sisters and brothers, I must say goodbye. Mend your ways. Encourage one another. Live in harmony and peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the holy ones send greetings to you.
Reader: Hear what the Spirit is saying to the church.
Assembly: Thanks be to God.
Hymn (see hymn board)
We stand as able.
The Gospel Matthew 28:16-20
Deacon: A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew.
Assembly: Glory to you, Lord Christ.
The Eleven made their way to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had summoned them. At the sight of the risen Christ they fell down in homage, though some doubted what they were seeing. Jesus came forward and addressed them in these words: “All authority has been given me both in heaven and on earth; go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations. Baptize them in the name of Abba God, and of the Only Begotten, and of the Holy Spirit. Teach them to carry out everything I have commanded you. And know that I am with you always, even until the end of the world!” Deacon: Hear what the Spirit is saying to the church. Assembly: Thanks be to God. The readings are taken from The Inclusive Hebrew Scriptures Vol. I, II, and III and The Inclusive New Testament
with © permission from: Priests for Equality/Quixote Center, P.O. Box 5206 Hyattsville, MD 20782 301-699-
0042. Collect is by Kevin G. Thew Forrester.
WELCOME! We welcome all visitors and guests this morning. After the service, you are invited to the Great Room on the lower level (accessible by stairs or elevator) for coffee and conversation.
TODAY’S HOSPITALITY AND WORSHIP LEADERSHIP THIS WEEK AT ST. PAUL’S CHURCH FOOD BANK DONATIONS The Food Bank items for May are: baked beans, canned vegetables and powdered beverage mixes. As always, other items are welcomed. Monetary donations can be made by writing “Food Donations: on the memo line of your check or marking the envelope the same when donating cash. Both can be placed in the collection plate on any Sunday. Questions about Hunger Ministry? Call Larry Shell: 360-8214 or email him at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
ATTENTION YOUTH!
Mark the following dates on your calendar and plan on attending these activities:
Today – Older youth will view together and discuss the movie “Prince Caspian”, this afternoon or evening. Specific time will be announced.
Sunday, May 25th – Youth Sunday. This will close our Sunday Youth Programming for the summer.
The Youth Ministry Team will celebrate our Youth and our time together with an ice cream social after the service.
Tuesday, May 27th – Youth Ministry Meeting, 5:30-7:30 pm in the Great Room. Bring a sack dinner and please come and offer feedback for this past year and ideas for next year’s Youth programming. Be a part of this important ministry in “thought, word (and,or)deed”!
Presider: Kevin Thew Forrester
Preacher: Kevin Thew Forrester
Deacon: Pat Micklow
Organist: Jan Brodersen
First Reader: Mary Sullivan
Second Reader: Barb Carpenter
Prayers of the People: Coralie Hambleton
Chalice Bearers: Kai Carrigan and Dan Carpenter
Ushers: Bertha Loehde and Jim Jajich
Server: Dan Platt
Altar Guild: Bertha Loehde and Ann Smith
Nursery Attendant:
Coffee Hour Hosts: Sandy and Burt Purrington and Vince Reed
Evening Prayer Officiant: Mary Sullivan
Children’s Ministry Jim Edwards, Cathy Greer Cole, and Nancy Railey
Eucharistic Visitors: MGH: Kai Carrigan; Betsy Barnwell and Robina Payant: Kay
Payant; Marcella Platt: Marcia Franz
Tuesday 20th Morning Meditation
Camp New Day
8:00 am
6:00 pm
Wednesday 21st Evening Prayer
Choir Practice
5:30 pm
7:00 pm
Thursday 22nd Morning Meditation 8:00 am
Sunday 25th Holy Eucharist: 2 Pentecost
All Parish Breakfast
10:30 am
9:30 am
18 May 2008
Year A Trinity Sunday
ALTAR FLOWERS
Anyone wishing to have flowers on the altar in memory or celebration of a loved one can sign up on the list on the board in the atrium. If you have any questions or would like more information, contact Jayne McQuaid at 226-2355.
SUMMER QUARTER SIGN UP/AVAILABILITY LIST LITURGICAL LEADERS, USHERS AND COFFEE HOUR HOSTS
The Summer Quarter list and rosters for the various activities are posted through June 8 on the “Sign Up” bulletin board across from the Chapel. Completed Summer Quarter schedules will be distributed beginning June 15. If there are periods when you should not be scheduled, please indicate that in the appropriate spaces of the schedule “Away”, or roster – “Comments”. This is especially important during the period of summer vacations. You may use the appropriate roster to increase or decrease your involvement in any of these activities. I especially need more people to serve as coffee hour hosts. Bob Railey
THE RELIGIOUS VOICE IN THE PUBLIC SQUARE
Sponsored by the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Michigan and the Interfaith Forum of Marquette County What does it mean today to be a citizen who is committed to their faith? What is the role of the voice of faith in democracy? How can the many voices of the faithful conduct a civil discourse with elected officials? How do we affirm both the “Separation of Church and State” (or Mosque or Synagogue or Temple…)? How do we affirm the value language of the
many faith communities? What about ‘hot button’ issues on war, capital punishment, the environment, healthcare and poverty?
These questions and others will be the focus of this conference to be held at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Marquette on Saturday, June 14th, 10 am – 3 pm. Entitled “The Religious Voice in the Public Square”, it promises to invite participants into conversation around these questions as we “strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being.” Conference planners have invited Senators Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow, US House of Representatives Tom Casperson, Michael Lahti, Steven Lindberg and Gary McDowell (or a representative from their respective offices), and local leadership to come and enter into conversation with us. Retired Judge Pat Micklow of Marquette will be moderator of the conference.
Lunch will be provided. Please register by June 7th. For more information, please contact Rayford Ray at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or by phone at 906-360-1901, or to register please call Jane Cisluycis at 800-236-0087, or email (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
OUTREACH SUNDAY
Next Sunday, the last Sunday of the month, is Outreach Sunday. Please come prepared to contribute to either or both of the following outreach efforts: 1. Combat local hunger – Non-perishable food items and designated money are given alternately to two Marquette area food pantries: St. Vincent de Paul or the Salvation Army 2. Each month, a different local social service agency receives our “Outreach” contributions. This month’s agency is: Camp New Day
AN UPDATE FROM THE EPISCOPAL MINISTRY DISCERNMENT TEAM
May 13, 2008
The discernment process is moving along on schedule. Our first few sessions were led by Marcia Franz, Kevin Thew Forrester, Fran Gardner and Hazel Satterly. Formation and team building were on the agenda for the first few meetings. Kevin led us through a brief oversight of the Enneagram showing us how our personality traits impact group process, how we receive and give information and how we make decisions. Later, using Steven Charleston’s reflection on Episcopal Ministry and spending time in discussion centered around the Congregational responses to questions 1, 2 and 3, the group has begun to get a clear direction of the expectations and hopes of the people in this diocese. This information will be refined and provided to each community for review.
Manuel Padilla and Warren Maki from the Finance Committee worked with the group regarding the budgetary information that will also impact the direction of the discernment process. The group was very interested in this information, believes it to be an integral part of our approach to fiscal responsibility and knows this will impact Episcopal Ministry here in the Diocese of Northern Michigan.
The EMDT asked for clarification of its charge from the Standing Committee. The Standing Committee responded and the team is now clear on their tasks. The team will develop the process of discernment based on the Discovery Process used in the local congregations. Clearly there are steps that need to be adjusted or changed to fit this new category of discernment of our Episcopal Ministry. We are currently identifying these areas and working on adapting the process that has worked so well to define leadership and ministry support in the local communities. The group is also expected to discern the roles encompassed in Episcopal Ministry as well as identify people gifted for the role of Episcopal Ministry. Presentation of the names of people discerned for Episcopal Ministry here in the Diocese of Northern Michigan and their identified roles are to be presented at the Diocesan Convention in October.
This work is grounded in prayer, ongoing, sometimes overwhelming, but exciting. You can be proud of the work the Episcopal Ministry Discernment Team is doing. They are a group of dedicated, prayerful people discerned by you.
Please continue to support them in prayer and presence as they wrestle with discerning Episcopal Ministry here in the Diocese of Northern Michigan.
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What’s that hollow sound?