Collect for Proper 24
Almighty and everlasting God, in Christ you have revealed your glory among the nations: Preserve the works of your mercy, that your Church throughout the world may persevere with steadfast faith in the confession of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Readings for today can be found here.
Rite II, Spiritual Communion & Meditation
Rev. Bambi Willis and Barry Holliday have coordinated our service for this morning. The service can be found here: https://youtu.be/SzL-1tJQJOM
We will be doing Rite II and you can follow along starting on page 355 in the Book of Common Prayer. The of Common Prayer (BCP) can be found here. The Psalm for this morning is
Psalm 99 found on page 728 in the BCP. The readings are Exodus 33:12-23; 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10; and Matthew 22:15-22.
A Meditation for the Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost
I realized this week as I continue to shelter down how many of the basic tasks of my day are focused on separation. I separate the junk mail from the important mail, the clean clothes from the dirty clothes and the dirty dishes from those which are not. And of course there is the practice of social distancing when I do go out which separates me from others.
I voted this week and again practiced separation as I voted for one candidate and not another.
Except for social distancing, I have done all of these things all of my life – separating the mail, the clothes and the dishes and voting. I have never given much thought to what seems to be a natural way of life.
But this year feels different.
Jesus in our gospel reading is asked if it is lawful to pay taxes to the emperor. Jesus asks for a coin and notes the head on the coin belongs to the emperor. Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.
Jesus is asking us to make a separation between what belongs to the state and what belongs to God.
We are poised on the eve of a presidential election in just about two weeks. Please vote! When we vote we are exercising our responsibilities as members of a civil society. When we vote I trust you will follow your conscience as Jesus, as far as I know, is not registered to vote in Virginia and will not be telling us how to vote.
But that brings us back to the issue of separation. On November 4th, we will still be the church, whether we are Republicans or Democrats, whether we voted or not, whether we are sad or mad or glad.
On November 4th, we will need to learn how to come together in an age that encourages us to separate. You may just want to keep silent for a time. Silence has a way of centering us.
If silence is hard for you, then you might want to pay attention to whom you talk with. Are they folk who think like you or think differently? Commiserating with like minded folk can make us feel good but is not likely to make us humble.
We are hearing calls to plan our vote. I would urge us to plan our post election plans.
Please remember all those on our prayer list this week found here or in the Good News Daily found here. Don't forget to send the names of those you wish to be prayed for by name on All Saints' Day, November 1st, to Denise by Thursday, October 29th.
The Rev. Bambi Willis
* * * * * * *
Sermon from the Bishop's Chapel
The Rev. Sean Cavanaugh
Head Chaplain, St. Stephen's and St. Agnes School, Alexandria
There is no written version this week.
The YouTube version can be found here.
