Greetings from the church yard in Chuckatuck. I am sitting while waiting for the next “customer” at the blessing of the animals/pets. This is my first attempt at a community-wide, drive-by blessing. It is a blessing that the day is sunny and pleasant – just a touch of breeze and middle 60s. It was nice to be back at St. John’s for the first time since Sep. 4 – 2 planned absences and 2 unplanned. It is funny how disjointed things can be after 4 simple weeks. But, that’s okay – we worshipped with gusto.
A first in the video realm. The first 15 minutes of the video was simply the altar and no movement. At the sermon time, the camera was accidentally disconnected and reconnected. The offshoot – the video came back. More than 2 years and there are still new things in the audio/visual world.
In worship today we were reminded that God’s grace is always before us and follows after us on our journey. Because we are bathed in God’s grace we must be committed to good works in the Name of God. Our psalmist sang of giving thanks to God for our deliverance and protection from those who wish us harm. Our only option is to offer thanks. Paul’s second letter to Timothy tells us that God’s word cannot be locked up or prevented from being shared. Likewise, the only way we can extract ourselves from God’s grace is to take ourselves away – God never abandons us. The sermon was based on the gospel reading and the reading from Hebrew scripture. The prophet Jeremiah wrote to those who were (rightfully) in exile in Babylon. They were going to survive and needed to thrive in Babylon. But, their survival wasn’t without a cost – their exile would play out as promised – 70 years would pass, but they would not be abandoned. The gospel reading was the story of the 10 lepers and the one who returned and gave thanks. Even though he must have known Jesus would heal him he did not take it for granted.
One thing we are called to remember, that our faith in God does not prevent us from being challenged and finding ourselves in pain. Rather, our faith assures us that whatever suffering we experience, God is with us experiencing our pain.
I invite your comments,
Les+
Readings: Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7; Psalm 66:1-11; 2 Timothy 2:8-15; Luke 17:11-18
Video of worship: https://youtu.be/PnORu495XYc
Video of sermon: https://youtu.be/irK-VZsXG_8
0 Comments