Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82512159155
phone-in for (audio only) Phone Number: (646) 558-8656
Meeting ID: 825 1215 9155
Lynn: Welcome/ Theme – ‘How Do I Love Thee? Let me Count the Ways’
Kathie: Opening Prayer: God of Love, we know you are always present with us. We acknowledge Your fire of the Divine igniting our hearts and the Spirit of serenity you weave in the tapestry of our souls. We seek to be Jesus in our time and place and to create “lives that are holy and hearts that are true.” May we cherish this day which You have made. Amen.
Opening Song: Gather us In by Marty Haugen
Liturgy of the Word
First Reading: Excerpt from a speech by journalist Michael Gerson
Many understandably pray for strength they do not possess.
Yet God’s promise is somewhat different:
that even when strength fails, there is perseverance,
and even when perseverance fails, there is hope,
and even when hope fails, there is love.
And love never fails.
These are the inspired words of journalist Michael Gerson and we affirm them by saying, Amen.
Second Reading: “But I say to you…” by Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Jesus takes the law up a notch—
or really, down: down into the depths:
not just what you do but why,
who you are in the world.
To not merely avoid murder,
Or even anger, but to truly honor people.
To place your relationship with God
in your relationship with others.
To not merely avoid adultery or even lust
but to truly be faithful with another person.
To not merely avoid overly-grand promises
but to be a person of profound integrity.
This is the grace of God, after all, toward you,
who has vowed to love, honor and cherish you.
Let the grace well up from within,
for the true law of God is pure joy.
This poem is inspired by Mathew 5:21-37 and is found on unfoldinglight.net.
We affirm the poem by saying, Amen.
Alleluia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC4nbwmQDVw
Gospel: Mathew 5: 38-48
You have heard it said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you, offer no resistance when you are confronted with violence. When someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn and offer the other. If anyone wants to sue you for your shirt, hand over your coat as well.
Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go two miles. Give to those who beg from you. And don’t turn your back on those who want to borrow from you.
You have heard it said, ‘Love your neighbor—but hate your enemy.’
But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for your persecutors.
This will prove that you are children of God; for God makes the sun rise
on bad and good alike; God’s rain falls on the just and the unjust.
If you love those that love you, what merit is there in that?
Don’t tax collectors do as much? And if you greet only your sisters and brothers, what is so praiseworthy about that?Do not pagans do the same?
Therefore, be perfect, just as Abba God is perfect.
These are the inspired words of the writer known as Mathew and we affirm them by saying, Amen
Pause…
Homily Starter: Lynn
Chapter 5 of Matthew from which today’s gospel is taken, includes the Beatitudes and examples of how we ought to consider the Spirit of the law and not just the letter of the law. His teaching stretches and resets Mosaic commandments and Pharisaic laws for the Jewish people. He explains why we have laws and why we try to follow them, making plain the reward of justice that comes to us when we do. As our second reading states, he “takes the law up a notch—or really down; down into the depths…of who we are in the world.” At one point in the chapter, Jesus declares, Don’t think I’ve come to abolish the Law and the prophets. I have come not to abolish them, I’ve come to fulfill them.
So far so good. Yet, Jesus appears to establish some pretty high hurdles. “Turn the other cheek”? If sued for your shirt, offer your cloak as well? Love your enemies”? Be perfect as God is perfect”? Kathie and I have researched the background for this gospel and discovered what one commentary states, the wording attributed to Jesus has been the victim of “tragic translations and even worse interpretations.” We will try today to clear it up without adding to the tragedy.
First, there is the prescription to offer no resistance when you are confronted by violence. Too often, this had been used to justify a spouse staying in an abusive marriage. Matthew, writing in Greek two generations after Jesus died, is more closely translated as Do not violently resist an evildoer. This becomes the springboard for the civil disobedience and non-violence of Gandhi and King.
The three examples which follow must be seen in light of the culture of the time and the audience around Jesus. Listeners were familiar with the protocol of a master slapping a servant on the right cheek with the back of his hand. Offering one’s left cheek is a disobedient but non-violent way of making it impossible for the master to slap the servant again on the right cheek. The servant looks away from the master in a silent rebuke.
In a second example, the poor man threatened with a lawsuit over a shirt is to hand over his coat as well. This would leave him literally naked in front of the rich person threatening him. Imagine the chagrin of the rich man at the humble willingness of a person forfeiting all his clothing. In the third example, peasant farmers were forced by Roman soldiers to leave the fields and carry their heavy gear for a mile. Again, we can imagine the offer of doubling this distance leaves the soldier non-plussed.
Jesus was formulating tools for the oppressed to use in dealing with the powerful, wealthy oppressors in occupied lands. In the face of exploitation and violence, they were to become more loving. Dignity becomes the birthright of the humble and justice follows for those who are generous. Jesus asks us to go against the grain of human nature, to dig deeply for the Spirit of why and how we act in the world, to have a generous heart that stuns our enemy into rethinking.
And then,” Love your enemies and pray for them.” “be perfect, just as Abba God is perfect.”
Greek culture had 6 different words for love describing the playful love of children, the deep love of friendship, the romantic love of sexual passion, self-love, the patient love of long-established couples and agape or the selfless love of universal kindness we have toward all. The Latin translation of agape became the word charity. It is this kind of altruism and kinship among strangers and all those who touch our lives that Jesus and his scribe Mathew probably mean for us to use toward enemies. This love shows respect and wishes fair treatment even for those who can sometimes annoy us or tempt us to resentment.
We need agape more than ever in this time of polarizing division when anger appears so close to the surface. Imagine, if we love our enemies, we will have no enemies.
One last thought about the closing instruction to be perfect as Abba God is perfect. The root word in Matthew’s Greek is telos which is also translated as reaching completion or intended goal or, being determined. That makes it sound more like the first reading in which perseverance and hope lead to love. Jesus is asking us to persevere in the fullest Spirit of the Law for we are divinely designed to live in the Spirit. Remember, it being said of Elizabeth Warren, “Nevertheless, she persisted”?
Are the examples and the standards of Jesus too high? Or, does he see us as we are meant to be seen?
Statement of Faith:
We believe in the Holy One, a divine mystery
beyond all definition and rational understanding,
the heart of all that has ever existed,
that exists now, or that ever will exist.
We believe in Jesus, messenger of the Divine Word,
bringer of healing, heart of Divine compassion,
bright star in the firmament of the Holy One's
prophets, mystics, and saints.
We believe that We are called to follow Jesus
as a vehicle of divine love,
a source of wisdom and truth,
and an instrument of peace in the world.
We believe in the Spirit of the Holy One,
the life that is our innermost life,
the breath moving in our being,
the depth living in each of us.
We believe that the Divine kin-dom is here and now,
stretched out all around us for those
with eyes to see it, hearts to receive it,
and hands to make it happen.
LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST
Kathie: As we prepare for the sacred meal, we are aware of our call to live the compassion and love that Jesus models for us. We bring to our friendship table our gratitude, blessings, and concerns. Please feel free to voice your prayer beginning with the words “I bring to the table….”
We pray for these and all unspoken concerns in our hearts. Amen.
With open hearts and hands, let us pray our Eucharistic prayer
All: Holy One, we yearn to be close to you and to live in the embrace of your gentle wisdom. Your divine grace leads us away from our anxieties, fears and distractions and toward all that is blessed and joyous so that we might live in the Spirit and serve the cause of equality and inclusion.
Each of us is divinely created in Your image. We are precious to you and to each other because of who we are. We are beloved and blessed in your unconditional love, quite apart from how we act or fail to act. We resolve to look upon all our sisters and brothers as precious and deserving so that we serve to spread the gospel of love and peace.
Thankful for Jesus, who treated all of Creation with respect and abundant love, we seek to follow his example to be a light in the darkness. We recognize Your loving Presence here with us today and always, and we sing:
Holy, Holy: Here in this Place by Christopher Grundy
Kathie and All: Dearest Holy One, there are times when we feel scarcity and emptiness even though we know You love us more than our human imagination can grasp. May we have the presence of mind to live in Your love. We strive to see You reflected in every person we meet, especially those with whom we disagree and those in need of great caring. Guide us in sharing our gifts and in being open hearted so that we learn to also accept help from others.
We thank you for Jesus, because you knew what it was like to be an outsider in occupied and foreign lands. May your presence prompt us to bring gospel kindness and understanding to the divisions and conflicts of our time.
Lynn: Please extend your hands in blessing.
Lynn and All: We are grateful for the bread and wine that remind us that we are called to renew and to be renewed with the love of the Spirit of God who is in everything, everyone and everywhere. We thank you for Jesus, beacon of love and wisdom, offering us a perspective of openness and service. We are grateful for this bread and wine which reminds us of the call to spread the good news of love in our world.
On the night before he faced betrayal and death, Jesus shared supper with his friends. He reminded them of all that he taught them, and to fix that memory clearly with them, he bent down and washed their feet.
lift the bread
When he returned to his place at the table, he lifted the bread, spoke the blessing, broke the bread and offered it to them saying:
Take and eat, this is my very self.
lift the cup
Kathie and All: Then he took the cup of the covenant, spoke the grace, and offered it to them saying:
Take and drink.
Whenever you remember me like this,
I am among you.
Bread and wine is transformed by your Spirit and we are transformed when we open ourselves to Your Spirit. Each time we share this bread with one another we choose to be transformed. We choose to love as you love us.
What we have heard with our ears, we will live in our lives; as we share communion, we will become communion, both Love’s nourishment and Love’s challenge.
Through Jesus we have learned how to live. Through Jesus, we have learned how to love. Through Jesus we have learned how to serve. AMEN
Lynn: Please offer communion to your neighbor with the words: You shine with the love of Christ
Communion Song: Forgive Us by The Many
Kathie and All: Let us pray together the prayer of Jesus:
Holy One, you are within, around and among us.
We celebrate your many names.
Your wisdom come; your will be done,
unfolding from the depths within us.
Each day you give us all that we need.
You remind us of our limits and we let go.
You support us in our power, and we act with courage.
For you are the dwelling place within us,
the empowerment around us,
and the celebration among us,
now and forever, Amen. Adapted by Miriam Therese Winter
Lynn: Please extend your hands in blessing as we pray together:
ALL: May our hearts expand,
May our humble grasp on love reach higher and wider,
May the Presence of Abba God comfort us,
May we be faithful followers of Jesus,
And May we persevere, always willing to see that the other as a mirror of ourselves and of God. Amen.
Closing Song: I am Willing by Holly Near
https://youtu.be/watch?v=tnmRoNeezWA
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