Worship Service at Church of the Dawntreader Thursday May 16, 2019 10:00 a.m. SLT
Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
    Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.™ 
    Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.
    www.zondervan.com
"New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989,
Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America.
Used by permission. All rights reserved." Designated by the initials, (NRSV).

Invocation:
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God, and the Communion of the Holy Spirit be with us all. Amen
Confession and Absolution
We come before you, our Loving Father, Mother God, confessing most of all our need of you.
We confess that we have not always acknowledged how much we depend on you.
We confess that we have not always loved you with all our heart, soul and mind.
We have not always loved our neighbors as ourselves.
We ask that you will forgive us and grant us your strength to conform more fully to your loving will for us.
We pray in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Amen.
In obedience to the command of our Lord Jesus Christ, it is my privilege to declare to you and to myself, the entire
forgiveness of all our sins.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen

Prayer of the Day
Let us pray.
O Lord God, you teach us that without love, our actions gain nothing.
Pour into our hearts your most excellent gift of love, that, made alive by your Spirit,
we may know goodness and peace, through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen

First Lesson: Acts 14: 21b - 27 (NRSV)
21b They returned to Lys'tra, then on to Ico'nium and An'tioch.
22 There they strengthened the souls of the disciples and encouraged them to continue in the faith, saying,
"It is through many persecutions that we must enter the kingdom of God."
23 And after they had appointed elders for them in each church,
with prayer and fasting they entrusted them to the Lord in whom they had come to believe.
24 Then they passed through Pisid'ia and came to Pamphyl'ia.
25 When they had spoken the word in Per'ga, they went down to Attali'a.
26 From there they sailed back to An'tioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work that they had completed.
27 When they arrived, they called the church together and related all that God had done with them,
and how he had opened a door of faith for the Gentiles.
Here ends the First Lesson

Psalm 145 (verses) (NRSV)
1 I will extol you, my God and King,
and bless your name forever and ever.
8 The LORD is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 The LORD is good to all,
and his compassion is over all that he has made.
10 All your works shall give thanks to you, O LORD,
and all your faithful shall bless you.
11 They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom,
and tell of your power,
12 to make known to all people your mighty deeds,
and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures throughout all generations.
The LORD is faithful in all his words,
and gracious in all his deeds.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

Second Lesson: Revelation 21:1-6 (NRSV)
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
"See, the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them as their God;
they will be his peoples,
and God himself will be with them;
4 he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away."
5 And the one who was seated on the throne said, "See, I am making all things new."
Also he said, "Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true."
6 Then he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.
To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life.
Here ends the Second Lesson.

Gospel Lesson: John 13: 31 - 35 (NRSV)
31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him.
32 If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once.
33 Little children, I am with you only a little longer.
You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, "Where I am going, you cannot come.'
34 I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.
35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."
Here end the Readings from Holy Scripture.

 - Sermon -

Our Gospel lesson for this week includes the New Commandment given by our Lord Jesus Christ.
The newness, the uniqueness, of this commandment by Jesus
is that He calls us to love one another as He has loved us,
that is, unconditionally.
The two Great Commandments of the Law are not new.
They are in the Law of Moses, the Law of the Old Testament.
Other rabbis before Jesus cited those two commandments as the great commandments,
the summary of the whole law.
By His use of them, Jesus made clear that He also was a rabbi of that school of thought.
To summarize, the two great commandments are also the commandments of love.
They said,
You shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, and with all of your mind,
and,
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
The new commandment of Jesus is new
because the love of Christ for His disciples - and for us all -
is a new reality in the world,
a unique revelation about Who God really is.
Jesus loved His disciples always, to the very end,
even the ones who denied Him and betrayed Him.
That is the unique self-giving and self-sacrificing love of Christ,
the love to which we are all called.
We will not live up to it.
There will be moments,
world changing moments,
in which some of us, the followers of Jesus,
will live up to this commandment of His,
and the world will never be the same.
St. Francis of Assisi famously kissed a leper,
an actually dangerous act in his time, as we now know regarding contagion,
and he showed the unconditional love of Christ acting through him.
The church of his time was reformed and changed from the top to the bottom
by the kind of love Francis lived,
even though he lived it imperfectly.
It was still the love of Christ working through a human being,
and the world was transformed by it.
During the Crusades,
at great personal risk to himself,
St. Francis went to visit the Sultan of Egypt,
the one everyone believed to be the enemy of Christianity.
In the Sultan, to everyone's surprise, Francis found a kindred spirit,
a deeply devout believer in God,
who showed great respect for Francis and his faith.
They become life-long friends, and the world was transformed by their friendship,
although the wars they both so much wanted to end did not come to an end in their time.
If you want to read more about the story of Francis and the Sultan of Egypt,
a contemporary historian has done a painstaking study of their meeting and their times.
It's called _The Saint and the Sultan_ by Paul Moses.
There are Christians and other people of good will in our own time
seeking to live according to the new commandment of Jesus,
His command that we are to love one another as He has loved us.
For those of us who believe that this is possible,
I do have a word of warning.
Loving others does not mean being their doormat.
We do not have to subject ourselves to the judments and unkindnesses of others
just because we love them.
Forgiveness does not mean permission to do harm to me again.
At the very least,
sometimes the most loving thing may be simply to walk away.
There are relationships that are not possible to sustain in this world.
None of us can live up to the love of Christ perfectly,
and none of us need sacrifice ourselves for the sake of the world
the way Christ did.
The world has a Savior.
We cannot do it over again.
Love for others does not result in a loss of self-respect.
It is not possible to take love too far,
but it is no longer love when it becomes a kind of indulgence
of the mistreatment of ourselves or of others.
The love of Christ as it works in us
calls forth the same kind of love from others.
If it does not,
it is not working as God intends,
and sometimes it is simply time to move on.
The love of Christ is the love of God at work in our human hearts.
It will change the world.
It will also change our own lives for the better.
We can live in the peace and joy of that love as it is given to us,
and we can share it with everyone we meet.
St. Francis once said it beautifully,
"Preach the Gospel at all times. When necessary, use words."
When we live in the simple caring
that is the unconditional love of God for us all,
we begin to make our lives and the world around us
a foretaste of Heaven on Earth.
When we do so,
we may begin to rehabilitate the reputation of Christian faith in our times and places.
Jesus said, 
"By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."
To say the least,
this is not the characteristic most people think of
when they think of Christians.
For many centuries, the most characteristic thing about Christians
has appeared to be the way they fought over doctrines.
In our times it is even possible to ask the question,
"Who would Jesus hate?"
Too many people who claim to adhere to the Christian religion
talk about hating the sin while loving the sinner,
whatever they may mean by that.
In reality,
if people want to hate sin,
let them hate their own sin.
Hating other people's sin
invariably results from judging them
in ways that are forbidden.
When it comes to judgment regarding another person's actions or way of life,
I want to be as gentle and understanding as I can possibly be,
and then try to be even more gentle and understanding.
You see, our Lord Jesus warns us
that the standard we use on others is the same standard that will be used on us!
Therefore, the key to the new commandment
is to love others
the way Christ has loved us,
not judging us,
but simply caring so much about our well being
in this world and the next
that He gave Himself
to live and die for us,
and He continues to give Himself
to live for us and within us forever.
Amen.

Prayer of the People
Please type your spontaneous petitions in chat.
Each prepared petition is intended to remind us of the things we need to pray about,
so a brief pause will be provided for us to pray our own petitions,
either sharing them in the chat window
or praying them in our own hearts.

Loving God, we pray for each other, for those who depend upon us for prayer, and for all people according to their needs.
We ask that your healing power may prevail in our lives.
We pray that those in positions of public trust may be worthy of that trust as they act as stewards of power and wealth
for the benefit of all.
We pray that conflicts may be resolved in the context of relationships,
so that violence of thought word and deed may be diminished all through our world.
We ask your blessing for all who bear witness to the Gospel, so that relationships with you may be deepened for all people.
All these things, and whatever else you see that we need, we ask that you will grant for the sake of your Son,
our Lord Jesus Christ, in Whose name we pray.
Amen.
Our Lord's Prayer
Our Father Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name.
Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
And forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the Kingdom, and the power and the glory, forever and ever,
Amen.
Benediction
May the Lord bless us and keep us.
May the Lord make His face to shine upon us and be gracious to us.
May the Lord lift up His countenance upon us, and give us peace.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
Amen +

          Ecotheology and After Life

No matter what we believe or think about life after this life, the way we think about it can help or hinder our care of the Earth.


I'm sure that many of us remember the TV series
    on the History Channel, Life After People.

It was an interesting series of programs.

The premise was the question:
    What would happen to our world
        if we humans all suddenly disappeared?

It was an unusual idea for a series,
     and it made for thought provoking viewing.

I would say the idea is based on a kind of speculation
     most of us engage in at one time or another:
           What will happen in our world
                  and among our people
                      when we are no longer around?

The word "we" as I'm using it
   does not only refer to the human species.

It refers also to us as individuals.

So, again, what happens here
    when we are no longer around?

It's an important question,
    and it forms the heart of many things
         for us to think about.

On the most basic level,
    it leads us to make wills and estate plans.

On another level, the question of what will happen
    to us and what is ours
        applies to our digital lives.

Many of us have a presence online
    in social media, email and other forms.

An interesting program on Science Friday on NPR
    considered that question last week.

The episode was called,
    "Protecting Your Digital Afterlife,"
        and there is an online article about it:
         https://www.npr.org/2011/01/10/132617124/after-death-protecting-your-digital-afterlife

You can search for it on the NPR website,
 or the URL is in the online publication of this sermon
    on my blog, http://spirithand.blogspot.com/

The question of what will happen when we are gone
     has tremendous impact
          on our attitude about the environment,
                here and now as well.

It's also an important aspect of ecotheology.

Theology addresses the question of life
      after this life.

Ecotheology addresses the question of the life
     of the natural world
           now and after any or all of us are gone.

The most important thing for us to remember
 is that in about 100 years or less (maybe much less),
   it is likely that none of us who are in this room now
     will still live and move around on this planet.

We need to keep that reality in perspective
    for a number of reasons.

First and foremost, choices we make today
    will still continue to have impact
         long after we are gone.

What we think about our own personal survival
   and the survival of our unique consciousness
        after the death of our bodies
            will affect the choices we make here and now.

Even more, HOW we think about
    the survival of our consciousness after death
        will affect our choices.

All of us tend to be somewhat self-centered.

We think and act, sometimes we even speak,
   as though we really did think that we ourselves
      are the most important people in the world.

After all, each of us is the most important person
      in our own personal world.

If we don't outgrow that rather narcissistic attitude,
      we may think, "Who cares what happens
             after we are gone?"

If we take that attitude,
    we deny our ecotheology so strongly
          that it becomes almost useless for us.

On the other hand,
      we can use any belief we may have
           in life after this life
                 to help us care very much
                      about what happens when we are gone.

Here's how that can work:

If we have any awareness of events in the world
   once we have crossed over the threshhold of death
      - and there is some evidence that we just might -
              then we will care very much
                    about what happens
                          to the world and the people
                               we leave behind when we die,
                                     and yet...
                                          there will be very little
                                                we can do about it
                                                      from the other side.

That sounds much too much like Hell to me.
    My feeling is that the experience
          is  well represented
               by the myth of Tantalus
                     whose desires are always near
                           yet also always out of reach.
                                We would want to help the world,
                                       but we would never be able.
                                              If we want to help,
                                                  we have to do so now.

Even without the fear of Hell and of being tantalized,
     our ideas about life after life
          can help focus our thoughts, words and actions
                in helping to protect the natural world.

Whatever our ideas about life after this life,
    the most important consideration for us is love.

At its foundation, love is caring.

If we care, we will act in positive, helpful ways.

The help and positive direction
    need not be limited to the immediate present.

Caring about the Earth, our universal Mother,
    includes caring about things happening now
         and also, equally, caring about the future.

We think about the people we love
    and we hope to provide in some way
        for their well being to continue
            even after we are gone.

Some of us have far more resources
    to use to provide for the long term well being
         of the people they care about.

Some of us have far less.

Regardless of what we have or do not have
    we want to do what we can with what we have.

Likewise in loving Mother Earth, Gaia,
    we want to do what we can for her right now
         and move things in helpful directions
              for her long term well being
                  whether we are here to influence it or not.

In any case,
    we do not always do the right thing
          either for the here and now
                or for the long term future.

The important issue at hand
     is the question
         of the direction of our commitments.

Our thoughts about life after this life
    can help direct our commitments
           in a good way.

If we believe
      that our consciousness will survive death
           then we will want to have hope and goodness
                to think about
                     and maybe even perceive
                          after we have left
                              this plane of existence.

If we do not believe in any survival of consciousness,
     we can still care, maybe even more,
           about what we leave behind.

Far from not mattering to us,
      what happens after we are no longer aware of it
             becomes a thing to think about
                    and speculate about.

If we live with love in the here and now,
        our love can continue in the unknown future
                whether or not that future
                        will be known to us in any way.

The one thing we can count on continuing is love.

Whether we continue to feel it or not,
      the ones we leave behind will certainly feel it.

They will continue to feel the love
         we shared with them, no matter what.

You need only think about the expressions of love
      in any kind of great literature
            to recognize the truth of what I'm saying.

The feelings and commitments
        written and remembered
              continue to echo down the ages,
                    and the greatest of those is love.

In the long run,
    we hope that our loved ones
           will continue to experience our love for them
                 whenever they remember us.

We can hope, too, that our Mother Earth
    will in some sense continue to experience our love
        long after we are no longer here.

This is just as true for those who do not expect
     a life after this one
          as those who do expect it.

The question at hand, once again,
     is one of commitment to love, here and now.

Will we direct our energies
     in the positive direction of love
          or will we do the opposite?

The opposite of love, contrary to popular belief,
       is not hatred.

The opposite of love is not caring.

The choice here and now
    which will affect the whole world
         long after we are gone
              is whether we will love the Earth
                   or not care about Her at all.

No matter what we think about life after this life,
   (and I personally believe that there is such a life),
     we can commit ourselves to care:
       about our own lives,
         about the lives of other inhabitants of our world
            and about our world itself.

It is not too late to make the positive choice,
    to choose for love.

It is not too late for any of us to focus on caring.

Amen
Ameen
Omeyn
So mote it be

Blessed Be!