Sample Sermons and Services

Sample Sermon I

2007-11-06T15:21:00.001-08:00

A sermon I preached at COTA after returning from Rwanda:

As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that really is life.

Apostles, this is us. How does that sentence sound?

Do you know that apostles means the sent ones?

Apostles – sent ones – it is us who are the rich in this present age – and what are we doing with that richness? And what richness – as apostles – again, as ones who are sent – do we seek? And, yet again, as sent ones, what does it mean for us to find joy in the things we have? And as we have so much, will we yet find more joy in the things we give?

This is us Apostles. And today, as Apostles, I want to invite you to indeed, put your hope in something bigger and better than the riches of the world that surround us – and to give yourselves to good works – to become rich in them – to enjoy them more than all else. And why can we do this? Because our hope isn’t in our riches – whether they are the riches of the world or the richness of good deeds – our hope is in God – not a God who gives us what we need to scrape by or who wants to use us to bring about his Kingdom – or who gives us things only to ask for them back. 1 Timothy tells us that this God in whom our hope is is the God who provides richly for our enjoyment – not for our refinement – for our enjoyment! And it is a blessing that God is quick to supply us with the true riches of true life – the opportunities to give with joy and see God’s Kingdom.

So, with that, I’d like to tell you a bit about my time in Rwanda. And, it’s a lot like the Gospel story.

It begins a lot like the Gospel – amid darkness and human sinfulness and, like the day we strangely though accurately call “Good Friday,” it begins in utter death and despair. I want to Rwanda hoping that God didn’t exist but suspecting that God did and was not the good-willed, loving God our scriptures describe. God had not protected me in crucial times in my story. God is not protecting Africa – not protecting orphans, widows, and those vulnerable people affected by AIDS. I was done with God.

Then, on my first day in Rwanda, I went to the genocide memorial in Kigali. I went there after 33 hours of traveling. I was exhausted and so had no defenses left as we toured the scenes of death. The worst was a children’s wing. It had stories and pictures of children killed in the genocide. On one wall there were snap shots of hundreds of children killed in the genocide. The pictures were fading and I knew that, the moment that child’s face disappeared off of the photo paper into a small see of dusty yellow, their memory – every mark they had in the world – all evidence of whatever of God’s image was delicately encoded in that child – would be gone from the memory of the world. Have you ever tried not cry when everything in you is falling apart – when it feels as though evil has set of an atomic bomb in your heart? You begin to choke and then make inhuman sounds before the well of tears and shakey breathing, and trembling lips and desperate, desperate cries explode out of you. I found myself amid this explosion on my first day in a foreign country and my first day with a mission team I had warranted distrust of. Just as those children were vulnerable, I was vulnerable and quite near to what I thought was spiritual death – to utter disbelief in a God of love. And then, and then he spoke. A man on my missions team made fun of me for crying.

That was it. God protected no one. God loved to see his people break and be murdered by their friends and neighbors. I was done. And I was broken. And I hated hope and was over-joyed to see it decimated. Now, without hope, I was free to move on numbly though life – or I would be free for that once I got done grieving this last attack.

This was Good Friday and Jesus was in the tomb. I wanted to just give into taking all my joy from the things I have and forgetting the giving part because I could only do so much and clearly Jesus wasn’t there to do his part. I wonder if the disciples felt this way on Good Friday – “Man, we never should have abandoned our nets – they take years to make. How do I return to being a fisherman? Why did I ever leave? I’m such a fool – but I can’t go back – so what? What do I do?”

Then, when you least expect it, there is something crazy called resurrection – and it always comes in the ashes – in despair – in the wake of submitting yourself to utter grief and painful giving-up.

So I went about my time in Rwanda – and at every turn – everywhere we went, I heard an unbelievable story of reconciliation, or how God protected someone, or how God has brought rape victims together so that they can love each other back to wholeness, or simply how hope has not died and grass roots movements are empowering the powerless and loving the unloved. There was even one time when I felt God protecting my weary shattered heart when, while speaking at a marriage conference – don’t ask. I still don’t know how it happened – I’m single! – I had an awkwardly long standing ovation from people who previously wouldn’t listen to me because I was a single woman. In the middle of my raw grief – I looked around at what should be one of the most grief-stricken lands and found one of the most hopeful places – because they too had seen Good Friday and were in the midst of Resurrection Sunday. And I too found myself in the midst of resurrection.

And then, in response to this resurrection – I found that hope – hope in the God who gives richly for my enjoyment. I found myself praying with a woman imminently dying of AIDS, dancing with prisoners who have committed genocide, playing with disable AIDS orphans – and – while it was sad and hard – I found greater joy than I had ever known in these things.

And, here’s my favorite story – there was this one kid in the poorest and least respected part of Rwanda. He was filthy and – truthfully – a really mean kid. At probably 2, he was running around with a sling shot shooting all the other kids – who would faithfully break his sling shot and I, the stupid American who couldn’t bare to see the toddler cry, would fix it and so on until it was beyond repair. He cried and cried and cried. I got down on my knees next to him. As the mud bonded with my legs, it was apparent that the other kids were not ok with the white woman getting dirty – but I didn’t care. I rubbed his dirty back and said, “It’s ok. It’s going to be ok.” But he was inconsolable. So, I decided to pick him up. As I lifted him and rested him on my arm, we both looked into each other’s eyes – he was unsure because I was holding him. I was unsure because I quickly realized that he should be wearing a diaper but was not. But then, we both began to smile and giggle. This was, I am convinced, the richest moment in my life.

The God of hope has given me riches for my enjoyment. The God of hope loves to give us riches for our enjoyment!

Let me close with a poem from my brother Jake Tucker. There are three well-placed cuss words in it so – know that they are coming. But as I said, they are well-placed.

bull shit

by jake tucker

On a Sunday morning in earliy may

The Rhodendrons are blooming

and every bird is singing

as I walk the three blocks

from my house to Church

I have a view

it's panaramic

Bellingham bay, San Juan Islands and Cascade mountains

I can see straight on into Canada

I sit in a pew as light filters in through stained glass

I sing to God

At the podium someone is telling us about orphans

In Uganda, with no food,

no shelter,

no money

Asking if we could help

lend our support,

money or prayer

It's moving

On my way out

I walk past their booth

Look straight into the big eyes of a Young Black Boy in a picture

And keep walking

Go Home

Order some Little Ceasars

Scripture states that the only religion which God accepts

Is taking care of orphans and widows in their distress

If that's the case

than it is time to quote REM

Because that is me in the corner

But this isn't in the spotlight

in shadows and crowds

I'm performing my magic tricks

Apathy is my magic wand,

I'm pulling a rabbit out of my hat,

Turning reality into fantasy

Orphans turn into science fiction

People turn into statistics

something far away

something that can be ignored

like a parking ticket or library fine

people lose their humanity

In Christian theology we have a term for this

Bull Shit!

It's a shift in focus

From changing to waiting

Christ taught us to pray

"Thy Kingdom come"

Instead of bringing it

I wait for it to come

In lethargy I have great patience

Heaven is supposed to come down

Descend to earth

Heaven is not someplace far away

Someplace to go when we die

Heaven is near,

it is knocking

It is availible

NOW

It will start to come in me

When I get off my ass

Fill out the damn card

send a fraction of my paycheck to buy vaccinations and education

For someone who wasn't born on the right continent

With the right color of skin

Heaven will come

When I see people as what they are

Art

Created in the image of God

Each made with divinity dripping from every pour

Each the pinnacle of creation

Each made with more care

detail, attention,

and love

Than I can fathom

Each one the Creator took a step back from

To get a better look

Decided

With tears welling up

from the bottom of him

That it was good

it was very good

Heaven will come when every tear is dried from tired eyes

When every head is lifted

When pain and mourning cease

When hope dawns

When love finally conquers

once and for all

So, lord haste the day

when my faith shall be sight

the clouds be rolled back as a scoll

the trump shall resound

The lord descend

and the Dancers will dance upon injustice

So, Apostles, with that, I invite you to put your hope in the God who gives richly and to become rich: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, to pray with AIDS victims, and dance with prisoners – and even to pick up the urine-covered kid. Get dirty for the sake of the Gospel– because it is there that you will find that the Gospel is indeed true and that God longs to richly give to you for your enjoyment!

Now, it is time for something we call open space. This is a chance to explore how the texts and the “reverb” are reverberating in you. Today, we are packing up. As many of you know, we are making a pilgrimage down to Fremont Baptist church for a couple of months as this space is being renovated. So the liturgy guild thought it would be a good idea to pack up. There are two suitcases here. One is for things that we have and one in for things that we give. We invite you to come up and write down the things that you have – and take joy in them – offer praise to God for these as you put them in the suitcase. Also, write down what you give – and take joy in this – offer praises for these things – and put them in the other suitcase. Of course, as always, there are also the prayers of the people station and the all angels’ station.

Please enjoy this time.

Sample Sermon II

2007-11-06T15:11:00.000-08:00

A sermon I preached on Youth Sunday - which was also my last Sunday on staff at LCPC.

Luke 17:20-21
Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, "The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, 21nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you."

Commercials are pretty annoying – though creative. But, their entire point is to get you to want something you didn’t want before. Somehow, a 30 second commercial makes you thirst for something you didn’t even know existed before.

Have you watched many pharmaceutical commercials? They are the worst. They aggravate me. You see the perfect family with the perfect house playing in a perfect yard with perfect children on a perfect day. Then, watching television either by yourself or with your family, you look around your small apartment or cluttered house; you see the grey sky and eternal rain outside the window. If you’re a parent, your kids aren’t giggling, they are crying or fighting and your spouse is passed out on the couch. If you aren’t a parent or if you are a parent whose nest is empty, the laughter of the children in the commercial is haunting. There’s this sense of longing that is awakened in you. You think, “I want this drug.”

At the end of the commercial, they tell you the name of the drug but not what it’s for. You find yourself fighting the impulse to rush to the phone and call your doctor for a prescription. The drug might turn out to be for the arthritis you don’t have or for insomnia when you actually suffer from narcolepsy, but you have to have the drug.

Somehow, without even knowing what the drug does, we get a glimpse of the life it’s supposed to give us and we cannot live without it.

Still, this commercial doesn’t exactly hit home for me. My dream commercial starts here at LCPC. Close your eyes and imagine it. The new fellowship hall is filled with smiling people of divergent ages, ethnicities, and socio-economic statuses. They are eating together and praising God. Then the commercial pans to the adult education room where a session meeting ends in under an hour and there are tears of joy and love in each elder’s eyes as they embrace and go out to proclaim God’s love to the congregation. Did I mention this took less than an hour!?! If you’ve been an elder, you know what I’m talking about.

The commercial then pans to the greater Lake City area. The homeless people that congregate by 125th street would still congregate, but for a feast. They’d be laughing and in their right minds. They’d be joined by the richest citizens of Lake City, by the youngest and oldest, by every ethnicity and every age group.

Eventually, the commercial, shattering records for the longest commercial ever, shows sweat shops closing, AIDS orphans being held, droughts ending, AIDS being cured in Africa, governmental corruption ending and capitalistic demands being replaced with two commandments, love God and love others. War ends. Soldiers put down their weapons and run across enemy lines to embrace their once enemies. Murder ends. Suffering ends. The whole world is consumed with love. We are all made one.

Finally, the commercial ends by returning to a smaller level, showing homes in every nation with mothers and fathers together and in-love, children cared for and adored as beautiful gifts from heaven, neighbors welcomed as though they were family.

Then, in a short breath, the commercial shows a bottle of pills with some long but catchy title like chlorahappymediloveinol and has some sort of cheesy phrase like “because we all like to be happy and we all have trouble loving.” Then quickly a voice says, “Consult your doctor before consuming Chlorahappymedaloveinol. Side effects include but are not limited to patience, kindness, lack of envy, pride, and rudeness, disinterest in usual sinful activities such as self-seeking, recording wrongs, and delighting in evil. May also cause rejoicing in truth, trusting, hoping, perseverance and even faith. The greatest side effect is a high propensity to love God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself. Warning: Chlorahappymedaloveinol is for everyone and its effects are highly contagious.

Do you want to buy this drug? How much are you willing to pay for it?
What if I promised you that it actually works? How much would it be worth to you?

One of the events I was blessed to go to with the youth this year was an AIDS walk with World Vision. They simulated the real lives of five children in Africa. One of them was named Timothy. The first time I went, I was Timothy. I remember taking my first step into his story and being overwhelmed by the beauty of his smile. I wanted to freeze time and just stare at his smile until I was lost in it. I peaked around the corner, though, and saw a gravestone. I knew the next step involved death and longed to just cling to the moment, but the recorded story moved me along. Timothy’s father died of AIDS. Later, his mother died of AIDS. Finally, Timothy finds out that he has AIDS. He got it from, at age 6, working in the fields until his hands were cracked then, with those cracked hands, caring for his HIV-positive mother’s wounds. I wanted to scream and cry and I did, later, weep over this true story.

If a pharmaceutical commercial promised me that Timothy would have a family and that he wouldn’t die of AIDS, I would sell everything I own to buy that drug. I would scour behind every couch cushion in my house for change. Actually, I’d scour behind the couch cushions of my neighbors and of my friends and I might just sneak into some other houses. I’d take out every penny of loan money I could and apply for endless credit cards to buy that drug.

So, going back to my question, how much would you give? Jesus tells us that the Kingdom of God is like that prescription drug. He tells us about a man who finds a pearl and sells everything he owns to buy it. This, Jesus says, is the Kingdom of God.

Jesus tells us that this kingdom belongs to the poor in spirit and to the meek. He tells us that if we seek this kingdom first, everything else we could possibly need will be given to us. In this kingdom, there is no need to worry – ever. It’s like a high class, extravagant banquet that everyone is invited to. The kingdom is about forgiveness. In the kingdom, we are born a new – into a new life, where righteousness shines like the sun and children playfully lead. The kingdom comes with power and will never end. In the kingdom, disease is healed and children are greeted as though they were Christ himself. There, the least are the greatest. In the Kingdom, we will truly know God – like a son or daughter knows her father, like a wife knows her husband. In the kingdom, life is eternal.

So, how much do you want this kingdom?

Now that you are longing for the kingdom, here’s the good news and bad news: the kingdom of God is in you.

It’s obvious how this is good news, but I’m sure you are wondering how this is bad news.

Scripture tells us that the kingdom does not come with careful observation – or rule following. The kingdom does not come in policies or a book of order. The kingdom does not come in liturgy or tradition. It does not come in spell-checking a bulletin. The kingdom will not become brighter or more present if kids sit quietly in pews for a worship service. It does not flourish because events go well. It will not shine more brilliantly or dimly if youth day goes off without a hitch.

None of these things are bad. These things have their place in the kingdom. But, in so much as we are pre-occupied with them, we miss Jesus’ message and become Pharisees.

Jesus says, further, that no one can say the kingdom is here or the kingdom is there. The kingdom is not in the new fellowship hall or it’s beautiful kitchen. I was driving to Federal Way with my roommate once and we passed World Vision. I told him the World Vision is the capitol of the kingdom. He corrected me: the capitol of the kingdom is the hearts of the children World Vision serves.

We have put so much energy into our remodel. It has paid off. It is beautiful and will, no doubt, hold many holy moments – but it’s not the kingdom. In fact, it won’t even house the kingdom unless our hearts do. In field of dreams, the voice says, “If you build it, they will come.” This is not true for the kingdom. In the kingdom, we say, “If you love, they will come.” We can make all the beautiful architectural space in the world – but unless we make beautiful space in our hearts, our physical space will be spiritually empty.

This is the bad news. But, it’s not all that bad because Jesus goes on to say that the Kingdom of God that does not come with rules and that is not here or there is in you. It is in each of us, and more importantly, it is in us as we come together as the body of Christ.

So, where is the Kingdom of God – it is in each person in this room. It is in our conversations – in the space that exists between us. More aptly for today, it is in the youth at LCPC.

Do you remember the construction process? Do you remember how every step was exciting? Do you remember peering through windows to see every new advance? Do you remember your first step into the nursery? I remember a youth spilling soda pop in there and getting lectured on how this beautiful space should be preserved. Do you remember the first time you stepped into the new fellowship hall? Do you remember the awe that struck you the first time you saw the kitchen?

Can you imagine having that same dedication to every person in this room and to the community we can have if we become one? Can you imagine having this same dedication to our youth specifically? Can you imagine being as protective of them as of the new carpet in the nursery? Can you imagine that the slightest stain on the wounded hearts of our youth threw you into panic and sent you flying to the store to buy a professional carpet cleaning syrum? Can you imagine looking into each face in this room and seeing God’s beautiful architecture in their eyes with the same awe you held for the marble counter tops in the new kitchen? Can you imagine looking at each of these youth so that your breath is literally stolen away at their beauty? I can. I have had my breath stolen by them. As my time here ends, I have to thank you all for inviting me into their lives. The blessing of knowing them has been and will continue to be a treasure – a pearl – that I would sell everything to own – it has been the kingdom of God.

So, that commercial for that medicine that you would sell everything for? That commercial is the person sitting next to you. Today, especially, it is the youth you have been introduced to. Please, as we go out to celebrate the youth, track them down and listen to the melody of the kingdom in their voices. See the art of God in their eyes. Hear God’s mercy in their laughter. Please know that the Kingdom is in you.

Before we conclude, I’m going to ask you to do something that will probably be very uncomfortable, but sooooo holy. Turn and look at someone sitting next to you -preferably someone you don’t know too well. Look into their eyes and study their faces. Know that they are created in the image of God. We’ll do this in silence for 120 seconds. Fight the uncomfortability and pray for God’s presence.

Prayer:
Lord God, King – Great King, your kingdom has been given to us. As you say, it is in us. Lord, as we pray, your kingdom come, make us believe it. Make us seek it. Make us see it in each other. King Jesus, take our lives and make them your kingdom.

Amen

Sample COTA service I

2007-11-06T14:48:00.001-08:00

Proper 21 C 07

Joy in what we have and what we give

Sept 29, 2007
Set: Minimal. As we are moving on Sunday, if it's at all possible to move the couches some place else and just have a few folding chairs, that would be great.
Props: Two big suitcases, small pieces of paper, pens/pencils

Songs
Opening: 'Let Everything that has Breathe Praise the Lord'
Offertory: Hallelujah We Sing your Praises (South Africa) w hand drums This is a hymn like song.
Closing: 'For Joy' (Aaron Strumple)

From 5:00-5:10 - as everyone is finding their seats, a slide show from Rwanda and some Rwandese music will play.
At 5:10, the service starts with a Rwandese Song (Gisenyi Pastors #1) playing with reduced volume as Becky reads opening words over it.

Opening Words: (Becky) on God Mic
The first time I heard this song was after visiting the genocide memorial in Kigali, Rwanda. For those of you who don't know, in 1994 Rwanda was over-ran by one of the most efficient and devastating genocides in history. One million people were killed by their friends and neighbors with simple gardening tools and a few guns in 90 days - leaving houses, crops, schools, churches, and families in ruins.

The morning after my trip to the genocide memorial, I went to a church with nothing but a roof, a stage, and a few weak pews. We've set the room up to give you a bit of an understanding of this.

As I stood in the church, mourning their poverty, I heard this song. The refrain of this song proclaims, "God be praised greatly!" and in that church, God was praised greatly as their beautiful, emphatic voices, dancing, and drum playing flooded the sparse place - that suddenly seemed more extravagant than sparse.

I thought to myself, "These people know something I don't. They know the Gospel in a way I cannot comprehend."

Since the genocide, these people have found unparalleled reconciliation. Not rich by any stretch of the imagination, they gladly give neighbors who have less than themselves. These are people who know what it is to take joy in what they have - and even more joy in what they give.

Tonight's texts invite us to join the Rwandese people in that - to have joy in the things we have - sparse or great as they may be - and to have even greater joy in the things we give.

Welcome to Church of the Apostles and may you find this joy as we journey together tonight. May we all understand the Gospel as the Rwandese do.

Song: 'Let Everything that has Breathe Praise the Lord'

Hallelujah from the heavens

Hallelujah in the heights above the earth

Hallelujah all His angels

Hallelujah for the last who will be first

Let every thing that has breath praise the Lord

Hallelujah in the morning

Hallelujah for the beauty of His scars

Hallelujah in the twilight

Hallelujah sun and moon and shining stars

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord

When the night seems so long

(Throw your hands to the sky)

You can sing a new song

(Wipe the tears from your eyes)

When you're weak, He is strong

He can heal your wounded soul

And calm the storm inside

For all your times of laughter

And every hopeful prayer

When the world weighs on your shoulders

Through sorrow and your despair

With everything, with every breath, praise the Lord

Let everything, let every breath praise the Lord

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord

Let everything, let every breath praise the Lord

When the night is so long

(Throw your hands to the sky)

You can sing a new song

(Wipe the tears from your eyes)

When you're weak, He is strong

He can heal your wounded soul

And calm the storm inside

1st reading, 1 Timothy 6:11-19 (Jacob Ibarra) (from large Purple Lectionary Book)
As for you, man of God, pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life, to which you were called and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. In the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you to keep the commandment without spot or blame until the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will bring about at the right time-- he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords. It is he alone who has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see; to him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

2nd reading, Psalm 146 (Skye)
(Tell a few people ahead of time to say the refrain excitedly)

All: Hallelujah! Praise the LORD, O my soul!

Skye: I will praise the LORD as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

All: Hallelujah! Praise the LORD, O my soul!

Skye: Put not your trust in rulers, nor in any child of earth,
for there is no help in them.When they breathe their last, they return to earth,
and in that day their thoughts perish.

All: Hallelujah! Praise the LORD, O my soul!

Skye: Happy are they who have the God of Jacob for their help!
whose hope is in the LORD their God;
Who made heaven and earth, the seas, and all that is in them;
who keeps his promise for ever; and food to those who hunger.
Who gives justice to those who are oppressed
and food to those who hunger.

All: Hallelujah! Praise the LORD, O my soul!

Skye: The LORD sets the prisoners free;
the LORD opens the eyes of the blind;
the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down;

All: Hallelujah! Praise the LORD, O my soul!

Skye: The LORD loves the righteous;
the LORD cares for the stranger; *
he sustains the orphan and widow,
but frustrates the way of the wicked.

All: Hallelujah! Praise the LORD, O my soul!

Skye: The LORD shall reign for ever,
your God, O Zion, throughout all generations.
Hallelujah!

All: Hallelujah! Praise the LORD, O my soul!

Gospel (Naomi Wachira)
(from large Purple Lectionary Book)

All Stand

Luke 16:19-31

Jesus said, "There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man's table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores. The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. He called out, `Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.' But Abraham said, `Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony. Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.' He said, `Then, father, I beg you to send him to my father's house-- for I have five brothers-- that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.' Abraham replied, `They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.' He said, `No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' He said to him, `If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'"

All Sit

Reverb (Becky)

Intro to Open Space (Becky)

Stage left station: Prayers of the People

Stage right: All Angels

Center of the room: Two suitcases, some paper, and some pens/pencils. People will write things they have on one paper, and things they give (or have given, or will give) on another. One suitcase will be marked: Things we have. The other will be marked: Things we give. At the end of the service, after the blessing, whoever does the blessing will close both suitcases, maybe pause for a little bit, and pick up the "Things we give" suitcase and walk to/out the door.

Fam Biz - (5 minutes or less)

- We are moving to Fremont Baptist for services (Oct-Early Dec). Our last service at th Abbey is TODAY!

The First Service at Fremont Baptist Oct 6. We will celebrate the feast of St. Francis and do a blessing of pet's.

Bring your cage or leash for you pet as the pet blessing will take place outdoors.

We are moving tomorrow. Come haul stuff! 10am-5pm

Next Sunday, October 7th - Taize service - 6:30 at Fremont Baptist

COTA Retreat. October 12-14 Sign up in the back, for a time of prayer, rest, reflection and community in a beautify natural setting.

'Simply Giving' forms are on the back counter. Fill one out to auto deduct your regular tithe & capital campaign pledge.

Attach a canceled check and bring the form back and give it to Karen or mail it back COTA's P.O box.

- Powerpoint Jockeys needed: We need 4-6 people operate the power point on rotation once a month or once every two months.

We really need help with this. It easy to learn and an important ministry to help our community worship.

See Karen to sign up for upcoming dates you can help.

- The 'Feed' after service is at Praxis as we kick off our South Africa trip - (maybe have Megan do the announcement for this)

Prayers of the People: (Lucas) Lucas will open and close with prayer as the Spirit leads. In between, we will pray African style - all praying out loud - hopefully loudly - at once. Lucas could offer an opening and pray the collect at the finish if we did this. thoughts? Plant a few people - Sarah Moore, Sarah Norris, Ned, Janette, others.

The Peace

Lucas: The peace and of the Lord be with you always.

ALL: And also with you.

Lucas: Let us share Christ's peace.

Offering

Song for Offering> Offertory>Eucharist: 'Hallelujah, We sing your Praises' (keys or piano would be nice')

this is a South African song.

hallelujah! we sing your praises

all our hearts are filled with gladness

Christ the lord to us said i am wine i am bread

i am wine i am bread give to all who thirst and hunger

Jesus says to us still all who do the lord's will

all who do the lord's will are my sisters and my brothers

Now he sends us all out, strong in faith free of doubt

strong in faith, free of doubt, tell to all the joyful Gospel

Offertory Procession

Eucharist (Karen) 'All Africa Eucharistic Prayer' (w. cahone or djembe drum beat)

God of our ancestors, friend in our midst, your children come before you.

Here is food! Here is drink!

These things are yours before they are ours.

Now we are making a feast, but it is a thanksgiving:

God, we are thanking you.

With our ancestors in fatih and all the hosts of heaven,

O God, we thank you and rejoice.

This food—we shall eat it in your honor!

This drink—we shall drink it in your honor!

We thank you for giving us life.

We thank you!

We thank you for giving us freedom.

We thank you!

We thank you for bringing us peace.

We thank you!

We thank you for the one who bore our sins upon the cross.

We thank you!

We thank you for the one who brought us over from death to life.

We thank you!

Father, send the Spirit of life,

the Spirit of power and fruitfulness.

With the Spirit's breath, speak your Word into these things.

Give us who eat and drink the living body and the lifeblood of Jesus, our brother,

life and power and fruitfulness of heart and body.

Give us true communion with your Son.

On the night of his suffering,

he gave thanks for the bread that he held in his hands.

This bread he shared among his followers, saying:

All of you, take this, eat this;

it is my body, handed over for you.

Do this and remember me.

The body of Christ! Amen

Then he shared drink with them, saying:

All of you, take this, drink this;

it is my blood, the blood of the new covenant

that begins now and lasts forever.

This blood is poured out for you and for all people

so that sins may be taken away.

Do this and remember me.

The blood of Christ! Amen

Let us proclaim the mystery of faith.

Hail, hail, hail

Jesus Christ our Lord,

death, resurrection, and return!

May happiness come!

Lord, you are resurrection and life.

You, Crucifixion, are here!

You, Resurrection, are here!

You, Ascension, are here!

You, Spirit - Medicine of Life - are here!

Father, bring us life;

give us kinship with Mary, the mother of our Lord,

with all the elders and ancestors of your people,

and with all your children

And you, our prayer -

Prayer of the long-distant past;

you, ancient Word, spoken by the Father;

you, Breath of the Spirit—

Prayer of the ancestors,

you are spoken now!

Amen

Song during Communion distribution: Rwandese song(s): Church#1 and possible Church #2 depending on how much time is needed

Blessing: Karen

Closing Song: 'For Joy' (Aaron Strumpel)

Before saying the dismissal, close both suitcases and pick up the "Things we give suitcase" and walks to the door as though leaving. Stand at the door, turn around and say:

Dismissal: Go in joy to love and serve God's world!

All: Thanks be to God !

Sample COTA service II

2007-11-06T14:42:00.000-08:00

COTA LITURGY SCRIPT

October 20th, 2007

The Great Wrestling Match

Proper 24 C

Theme: The Great Wrestling Match
This service invites people to think about what it means to wrestle with God and to be honest about their own wrestlings. Through the somewhat comical theme of a wrestling match, we will explore both how we wrestle with God and how we hope for something more than wrestling - how anything with a "winner" or a "loser" misses the hope of being with God.

Set-up:
All Angels prayer station and general prayer station behind the alter. In the front middle, a station set up with index cards and pens for letter writing. On whatever side the musicians are not on, a station with difficult puzzles will be set up - Becky will bring these.

Props:
Large pieces of tag board that say "Round 1," "Round 2," and "Round 3."
Index cards
Pens
Difficult puzzles
Small table with two chairs - if the table was more like bar table height, that would be AWESOME - but if not, that's fine too.
Another table for "Bob and Jerry" to sit at

Songs:
Wanderer (Restoration Project)
Help My Unbelief (COTA)
Blessed (Tara Ward)
God where are you now?

Opening Words:(God Mic) (Lucas)
Saturday, Saturday, Saturday, Fremont, Fremont, Fremont
Welcome to Church of the Apostles for at front row seat in the match of the millenium
Humanity vs. God, down and dirty in the incarnation.
The greatest wrestling match in the history of the World, World, World.
Bring your doubt, bring your angst, and bring a flashy outfit,
cuz it's you against God in a fight to the Blessing

all stand for first song
Opening Song: O God Where are You Now

God Mic: Round One: In the right corner, weighing in at 150 pounds, we have Jacob, son of Isaac, Patriarch of Israel. (Enters through choir door). And in the left corner we have The Angel of the Lord. (Stands up behind the Musicians).

(Reader reads the OT reading while the players pantomime. Jacob (Matthwe Lyon) walks to the middle of the dais, faces the congregation and waves. The angel creeps up behind and tackles him, they end up arm wrestling at the top of the steps--or thumb wrestling in front of the altar if need be. Angel runs away, up the aisle Jacob limps off to the right.)

Genesis 32:22-31 - Read via God Mic from the purple lectionary

Jerry (Brian): Well Bob, I'd say that humanity got the best of that round. Jacob got a blessing and walked away.

Bob (Kristian): Nosirree, Jerry, he walked away with a limp and he didn't even get the angel's name.

God Mic: Round Two: A song of Ascents

Psalm 121 from the middle of the Aisle (Becky - memorized)

Meditative silence.

Bob: looks as though God's a no show.

Jerry: What do you mean, "My help comes from the Lord," Bob.

Bob: Yeah, but there's only one person standing there, Jerry and she sure looks human to me.

Jerry: Looks like the image of God, Bob. Looks like the image of God.

Bob: Still not buying it.

(Becky sits down.)

God Mic: Please stand as you are able for round three. Round Three: Jesus told this parable to his disciples about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. In the right corner we have a persistent widow (Carol steps to the right, with a clipboard in hand) and in the left hand corner we have an unjust judge (Andy moves to the top of the stairs with a book and says "Harumph!").

Judge: I have no fear of God or Man. My trust is in the law and in my own power. People are untrustworthy, and rarely worth the effort. (Sits on the top right steps and reads.)

Widow: (walks up to him and says) Grant me justice.

Judge: Go away.

Widow: Grant me justice.

Judge: Harumph! (walks to left side of steps and faces away.)

Widow: (walks over beside him). Grant me justice. Please?

Judge: Harumph! (Moves to FB Lecturn, starts reading again).

Widow: (In a stage whisper) Grant me justice. Grant me justice. Grant me justice.

Judge: Leave me alone woman! I have no care for your concerns (Walks to the choir door and exits.)

(Dramatic Pause)

Woman: (Passes to door and hammers) Grant me justice.

Judge: (Comes out) I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone--least of all, you--But I respect my peace and quiet. I'll do what you want if you'll only leave me alone. (Signs script on clipboard). Now go away.

Jerry: Yup, I bet God is something like that.

Bob: Grumpy, irritable, and poorly dressed.

(Andy: I heard that)

Jerry: Even a grumpy old atheist with no respect for anyone granted her request. How much more likely would God be to answer our prayers, if we pray enough.

Bob: So God's a grumpy old atheist?

Jerry: Even God listens if you talk enough.

God Mic: And now for round Four, God Almighty reigning heavyweight champion of the Cosmos is in the building. Ready to face all challengers. In Open Space, you too have an opportunity to enter the ring.

Open Space: (Lucas)
Stations:

All angels
Prayers
A place to write wrestling letters to God and leave them on the alter - will remain during Eucharist
Some difficult puzzles to "wrestle with"

Fight scenes playing on screen

Song for open space:"Hold" (burnt on a cd)

Reverb: (Lucas)

Song 2: Wanderer

Family Business: (Josh Samuelson)
- COTA Sat 5 pm service for Nov 3 and 10at Gift of Grace Lutheran in Wallingford.
- Taize Nov 4th, 6:30 is still at Fremont Baptist

Prayers of the people: Jacob Ibarra
Opening: Canticle Q
Refrain: Leader: We will not let you go
All: until you bless us
Closing: Collect

Peace: Jacob Ibarra

Offering:
Offering Song: Help My Unbelief

The Lord's Prayer:

Eucharist: (Karen) - addressing the things on the altar - focusing on the fact that, though wrestling, we still come to the table.
Music During Eucharist: Light Within my Darkness (Abbess) - (burnt on a cd)

Blessing: (Karen) Pilgrim - focus on Jacob's pilgrimage "empty spaces wrestling with God."

Invitation to Community (Karen)

Closing Song: Blessed

Go, wrestle well, and love and serve the Lord!
Thanks be to God!

* Extended family business after service

Sample Service [the feast of St. Patrick]

2007-11-06T11:44:00.000-08:00

Sinners, Saints, and Snakes:

The Stories God Writes

Tonight, as we celebrate the life of Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, I want to honor the Irish tradition of story telling. When I was in Ireland, an old priest took us on a tour of the countryside with endless stories to invite us into the life of the land. Tonight, I want to mimic this wise old man by telling the stories that invite you into the life of the eternal land – into the Kingdom of God.

Opening I: Sinner and Saint

Sinner and Saint. This seems a good topic in the season of lent. We fast in repentance and wait for the celebration of redemption. This is the time of the year that best holds us in that tension of Sinner and Saint. This is also the title of a story only God could write. Last year, I wrote a paper about Saint Patrick and that was my thesis. I still believe it true. Patrick describes himself in these words: “"I, Patrick, a sinner, least among men, most unlearned, least among the faithful, and despised in the eyes of many."¹ And, still, Patrick is a saint.

I’m going to play a Derek Webb song for you called “Saint and Sinner.” The lyrics to the song are under your plate. Please listen and reflect. Before I tell you stories, find your story as a sinner and saint.

Lyrics:

If you want my glory you gotta take my sin

If you want my future you gotta take my skin

If you want my heart you gotta take my blood

If you want my bed you gotta take my lust

‘Cause I’m not a half a man

I’m not a half a man

Lord knows I love you now

But a saint and a sinner is what I am

If you want my spirit you gotta take my booze

If you want my mystery you gotta take my clues

If you want my child you gotta take my kin

If you want my money you gotta take my rent

And it doesn’t get better once you see the light

You wake to find that the fight has just begun

I used to be a damn mess but now I look just fine

‘Cause you dressed me up and we drank the finest wine

Prayer:

Let’s open our time with the prayer of a sinner and saint:

I arise today, through God's strength to pilot me:

God's might to uphold me, God's wisdom to guide me,

God's eye to look before me, God's ear to hear me,

God's word to speak for me, God's hand to guard me,

God's way to lie before me, God's shield to protect me,

God's host to secure me:

Christ to protect me today

Against poison, against burning, against drowning,

Against wounding, so that there may come abundance of reward.

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me,

Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right,

Christ on my left, Christ in breadth, Christ in length,

Christ in height, Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,

Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,

Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me.

Opening II: Snakes

Harry Potter II (Snake scene)
Anaconda
The Jungle Book (Snake Scene)
Passion of the Christ (Snake scene)

Table Groups

I’m sure you’re thinking many things right now – probably many of them relate to the level of my sanity, but aside from that, I’d like you to explore what you’re feeling at your tables. You should have a list of questions at each table to discuss. Please take a few minutes to go through these:

What are you feeling right now?
What emotions or descriptive words to snakes raise?
What symbolism do they hold?
Do you have any traumatizing memories of snakes (previous to today)?

My memory of snakes

My experience of snakes is extreme fear. To say I was a timid child would be putting it lightly. Still, my fear of snakes was worse than my other fears. I remember one day setting out into my back yard only to find a Gardner Snake sitting on the path to our basketball court. I was paralyzed. I ran back into the house and, since my parents weren’t home, I called the neighbor to tell her I was trapped in my house because a snake tried to kill me. Another time, a neighbor boy grabbed a Gardner by the tail and whipped him in the air snapping his neck. This boy became a legendary strength in my mind. His name was Travis but now he was “Travis the great, slayer of snakes.”

There is yet another memory of snakes. In my neighbor’s yard, we found a snake. We decided that we would kill it. We dropped a rock on its head. Sound biblical? We were little Bible nerds in the making, and we were going to crush the serpent’s head. Anyway, we picked the rock up and the snake was still alive. So, we got a bigger rock and threw it harder. Still, he lived. At this point, my stomach was churning. In part, I was afraid that all the snakes in the world would now seek their revenge on me in mythical proportion. In part, though, it felt just wrong. Even thinking of it now brings tears of shame to my eyes. We were dedicated to the painful death of something God created. I left at this point, no longer able to partake in this torture. Eventually, my friends, the crusaders, achieved their righteous goal. None of us ever felt as good about it as we hoped. I was not Becky the Great, slayer of snakes. Travis was no longer great; he was the troublemaker next door. We were not heroes; we were murderers and little more.

Scripture and Snakes

It seems like there is this inborn fear of snakes. That is actually why we are here tonight. When I first heard a myth of Saint Patrick driving snakes out of Ireland, he quickly became my own patron saint. When I mentioned to a friend that tonight we would be looking at pictures of snakes, she threatened not to come and begged me to mention it no more. I don’t think this fear is cultural – or at least it is globally cultural.

What are some of the biblical images of snakes or serpents?

The Garden
2 Corinthians 11:3 – The Greeks actually believed that snakes crafted their poison be eating certain herbs.² There was an intelligent intentionality to their poison.
Matthew 7 and Luke 10 – the good Father will not give his child a snake when asked for fish.
Leviathan, the sea monster is a serpent the Lord uses as punishment.
Revelation 20 calls the serpent a dragon, the devil, Satan, who will be bound for 1,000 years.>

Another image of a serpent in scripture comes in Isaiah chapters 11 and 65 and in Micah 7. The serpent is no longer an object of fear. Children frolic over the asp’s hole and carnivorous snakes now eat dust. This craftily deadly creature is somehow included in redemption as it is made harmless. It makes you wonder what happens between the dawn of creation and the completion of re-creation.

Stories

1) Moses and Snakes

Let’s begin with the story of the fiery snakes in Numbers 21.

Then they set out from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the people became impatient because of the journey. The people spoke against God and Moses. “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this miserable food."

The LORD sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. So the people came to Moses and said, "We have sinned, because we have spoken against the LORD and you; intercede with the LORD, that He may remove the serpents from us." And Moses interceded for the people.

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live."

And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.

In this portion of history, what are the Israelites best at? Wandering, sure. Complaining though. That is their forte. So, here we have them, forced to circumnavigate Edom and back to their complaining. I remember my mom teaching me this story as a child. The thesis and application: Don’t complain or snakes will get you. I don’t, though, think that the complaining of the Israelites is the main point of the story. It is the background. Much like in Garden State, when Andrew is dressed is that wretched shirt and stands in front of the matching curtains, it is possible to lose the story to the background, but let’s neither lose Andrew amidst the floral print sea nor the foreground of our story to the people’s complaining.

So, the people complain again. Sometimes, God hears the complaints of the people and responds with odd generosity, and my odd I mean the grace that is only comprehensible by our gracious God. In chapter 11, God responded to their complaints with food from Heaven, a highly extravagant grace. Here, though, God’s generosity comes through painful rebuke: God sends a scourge of serpents.

The videos that played as we began our discussion were there to traumatize you. I figure, if I’m preaching and I don’t believe in Hell fire and brim stone, I have to be inventive and find new ways to traumatize my audience. No, but I did want to traumatize you. Imagine what the Israelites experienced. You are already hungry and tired. You are wandering in the desert. You assume God has brought you to the desert to die. Now, a plague of snakes comes. All around you people are dying. You see them bit. The bites burn like fire, and so the snakes are named “fiery snakes.” They burn and writhe in pain. Then, they die. Will you be next? Will your family? Maybe you are already mourning someone in your family and every step outside of your tent is filled with fear of the snakes. Every time you climb into bed at night, you wonder who might be waiting to slowly poison you. Trauma.

And so, you, again, find yourself in a place of repentance. You gather your shame up in hand and meet Moses to beg his forgiveness and, through him, beg God’s forgiveness. With tears, trauma and frenzy you ask Moses, “Pray to Yahweh that he might take away this serpent from upon us.” You don’t ask for safety amidst the serpents. They are a tainted image to you and you wish them gone. Your heart clings to the hope that, as you have repented and your faithful leader Moses brings your repentance before Yahweh, the snake will leave.

They don’t. Instead, Moses makes a bronze, idol-like, snake, of the same breed as your tormentor, and places it upon a pole for you to fix your eyes upon. Moses instructs, as Yahweh proclaimed, “It will be that anyone who has been bitten and sees it will live.” The scourge of the snakes has not left, but salvation has come. And as the strangeness of this hits you like mesmerizing wave, you are bitten, pain pulses through your body as the burning scars you and you recalcitrant do as instructed; you gaze into the eyes of the bronze serpent as though they were the very eyes of God and find it strange a serpent saves you.

The thing that hit me as I was studying this passage was that, later in Israel’s life of worship, this same snake became an idol that Hezekiah destroyed.³ The Canaanites worshipped a snake god in a cult of healing as well.⁴ This just seems strange. Snakes are poisonous and deadly. Snakes are the original source of poison that led Adam and Eve to the apple. How, of all creatures, does a snake become a God of healing?

Let’s stop for a moment and, at your table, talk for a bit about what you are feeling and the strangeness of this mode of salvation.

2) Patrick and Snakes

With this story in hand, I’d like to jump way forward in history to roughly 400 AD and Saint Patrick. Has anyone heard the story of Saint Patrick? You all know that he is primarily a snake charmer right? You know that he came to a plagued people, and unlike the story above, drove the snakes out. Right? If you’re not familiar with the story, let me share with you.

Croagh Patrick is a mountain in the West of Ireland. I call in Pneumonia Mountain because I climbed it and got pneumonia. But, what Croagh Patrick means is Patrick’s Mountain. It is a holy site in Ireland. It is a pilgrimage site. You climb up this mountain whose path is covered with loose rock, making it more difficult, to arrive 2,000 feet above sea level at a wee chapel where homage is paid to Patrick in memory of his snake charming.

One day, as Patrick was trekking across Ireland as a servant and shepherd of God’s people, he set out to climb Reek, what later became Croagh Patrick, and, even later, became Pneumonia Mountain. Like any traveler attempting the hike up Pneumonia Mountain, Patrick grew tired and rested. As he returned to his climb, he was plagued, not only by a torturous path, but by the demon Corra. He fought the demon with his staff. Finally, he pitched his bell at her, sending her away. Corra darkened the bell and it turned to iron. Then she took flight as an exile. Patrick continued his journey with blackened bell in hand.

Reaching the peak, Patrick offered a blessing over Ireland. Like Moses at the Red Sea, he held his bell in the air and rang it. It echoed down from the mountain like a trumpet call as Patrick shouted from the peak, banishing snakes from Ireland. From every rock and every hole, every snake in Ireland was driven, like a lemming, into the mystical green Irish Sea. The snakes, like Corra, were exiles. They never returned to Ireland. Patrick remained on the mountain for 40 days as he prayed for the salvation of the people. Now, those who climb the mountain as a penitent pilgrimage are assured not to be included in eternal death.⁵ This is a story of utter triumph, of running out an enemy, of absence of adversity in the wake of a sounding bell and resounding cry. This is also a story of untruth. It is a myth. It is a story God did not write. God does not write these smooth ended stories. God redeems, and that is much more messy.

Let’s now turn to a story God did write, the truest story ever told.

3) Jesus and Snakes

Gospel Reading: John 3:13-21

No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man.

"As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

“This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God."

The thing I’d like you to notice is that Jesus is equated to the serpent. Part of this is the ways in which Jesus is the new Moses. Still, with all the dark imagery around serpents, it feels difficult to hear Jesus equated with a serpent. None-the-less, as we discovered before, of all animals, the serpent was a source of healing, so Christ is a source of healing. If you remember the words, the promise in Numbers is that those bitten who believe will not die. In John 3:16, those who believe will not perish – they will not die. But more comes: they will have eternal life. When John uses “eternal life,” he means the kingdom of God. What does this mean? The Kingdom of God. Eternal Life. What are these? They are certainly more than salvation from death. They are certainly not extrication from the world of snakes or banishment of demons. They are a life. They are calling. They are re-creation. They are, in effect, sainthood given to sinners.

The Essence of The Story of Sinner and Saints

Ephesians 2:1-10

And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

In this passage, we see that we were dead. We were all sinners, like any sinner. We walk in the course of this world, in disobedience, according to lust and desire. We were children of wrath. In short, we walked as the Israelites wandered. Complaining and unchanged. Again, this death is not the point. It is not the foreground. Remember Andrew from Garden State again. Remember him lost amidst the background and rescue him from disappearing into that floral fabric abyss. Do not lose the foreground of resurrection and redemption to the background of shame and death.

At the same time as we do not want to lose the foreground of grace to the background of sin, we need to hold sin. The complaining of the Israelites, though background, is not only null. The sin that puts Christ on the cross is not small. The way we lived, as sinners, does not disappear in light of grace. Like Derek Webb says in the song we listened to: “It doesn’t get better once you see the light. You wake to find that the fight has just begun. I used to be a damn mess but now I look fine, ‘cause you dressed me up and we drank the finest wine.” We live in a paradox. The sin of the sinner, though background to the foreground of grace, is still very present and very real. It is death.

Here is our story in a nutshell: We were dead, but God. The most beautiful words: But God. Through God’s grace, God has made us living. God has taken us, sinners, whose works are helpless to save us, and as a gift, has made us alive, saints, with Christ. This life, eternal life, is more than avoidance of death. It is calling. God has prepared works for us, a story for us, for God’s own glory. Our joy, our eternal life, now, is to participate as the kingdom brings redemption.

In Moses’ story, the snakes do not leave: the people are saved. In Patrick’s story, the demons do not leave: the people are saved. In our stories, our sin does not leave, the world’s sin does not leave: we are saved. What is more, we are saved in order to spread salvation. We are sinners, common and missing God’s mark, redeemed, called, set apart, made holy – we are saints.

The Real Patrick

Patrick is such a sinner called to sainthood. Now that we’ve heard the false story of Patrick, I invite you to the life of Patrick as a play. I’ll tell you the story in six acts and through it, you’ll see God as a masterful author who, indeed, writes the story of sinner and saint, dead turned living, lost turned called and finally calling. As Patrick himself said, “My final prayer that…none of you will ever say that in my ignorance I did anything for God. You must understand – because it is truth – that it was all the gift of God.”⁶

Let me set the stage through prologue - the already in motion story Patrick is born into. Without mentioning anything else of the background, we start where Patrick does: God. In his Confession, Patrick writes, “God himself is the beginning of all things, the very one who holds all things together, as we have been taught.”⁷ For a minute, close your eyes and meet Patrick’s starting point: only God. <30>

Stepping out of this universal yet intimate beginning, we encounter his family. Patrick’s grandfather was a priest,⁸ owning land both in the city and one the countryside. His father⁹ was a deacon, and an imperial tax collector. Patrick’s family foreshadows greatness – but not the type which Patrick’s journey leads him to.

As we set the stage and the curtain rises on our play, we are in a small Roman town on the Western Coast of Britain.¹⁰ The town is walled and safe. You hear a soft tune of innocence and luxury and Patrick prances onto the stage.

So begins act one of our play: Patrick’s childhood. He frolics away the years between the city and his grandfather’s country estate. He watches and taunts the slaves tending sheep. Here, the lights would dim and the dialogue become pointed and eerie as it foreshadows something different. (By the way, shepherds, at this time in Britain were not respected; they were in face, the lowest of the low. When Veggie tales, being the historical experts that they are, remade the story of Patrick substituting pigs for sheep, it did well to translate and emphasize how lowly this position was.) Amidst all of this, Patrick is baptized, trained in Christian faith, and well educated. Yet he has no use for the religion of his father and grandfather and is a self-proclaimed atheist from birth.

As Patrick turns 15, he commits some great sin – probably murder and likely the murder of one of those pitiful shepherding slaves. He stands on the stage, murder weapon in hand as through the dimming lights, you see Irish slavers sneaking up behind him and capturing him.

The lights rise on act two with Patrick closing up a one day trip from his past home to his new and future home: Ireland. Even in this dark hour, Patrick, the letter and story, sees that it is the work of God: “We deserved slavery,” he boldly states of himself and the thousands of other youth taken to slavery in Ireland, “for we had abandoned God and did not follow his ways…so God poured out his anger on us and scattered us among the hordes of barbarians who live at the edge of the world¹¹.” The background of Patrick’s story is just like the background of the Israelite’s story and ours: we deserve death.

In the next several scenes of our play, Patrick is sold, sent to the lowliest position – not a cow herder not the prodigal son’s nightmare of pig tending – but a shepherd and slave-owner is made slave: a further step in foreshadow. Next we see the youth encountering the fear of wolves and marauders, the loneliness and chill of cold, dark, and misty Irish hills and everything that is not the privilege and safety his prologue afforded. In this place, the youth also encounters God. Prayer becomes his steady pastime and love his rapidly increasing response to God.

Like in a movie montage, quickly, six years have come and gone turning youth to man and the voice of God meets Patrick in such a state. The Author enters the story telling Patrick, first, “You have fasted well, soon you will be going home,”¹² and later, “Behold, your ship is ready.”¹³ The humble man obeys and thus ends act two. In summation of this act, Thomas Cahill insightfully observes a spoiled youth turned humble man and states, “[Patrick] endured six years of this woeful isolation, and by the end of it he had grown from a careless boy into something he would surely never otherwise have become: a holy man.”¹⁴

Act three begins as Patrick journeys. He has come to the coast of Ireland¹⁵. High on his awaited arrival, Patrick asks for safe passage only meet hearty rejection. He turns back to the direction from which he came and begins to pray. Before Patrick reaches “amen,” the sailors call after him and offer not only safe passage but an odd – common at the time and place – sign of friendship: their nipples to suck.¹⁶ One imagines Patrick turning bright red as he politely refuses the gesture but accepts the sentiment. Act three trails on as Patrick journeys through dessert for 28 days before reaching home.

Here is where our intermission comes. As the lights come up and you go to the lobby for refreshments, you discuss how shocking it is that Patrick may be a murderer. You ask each other when the snakes come in. You marvel at the God who took this atheist to the ends of the earth in order to create a transforming encounter.

Take a minute and discuss the story so far at your tables <1>

Now the lights flicker and you return to your seat. The curtains rise on that same village we began with. The same joyous music is playing as Patrick enjoys a prodigal son like homecoming. However, his happy return is interrupted by a dream. Those to whom he was a slave, from whom he escaped, now come to him and hauntingly whisper in his sleeping ear, “We beg you, holy boy, come and walk among us.”¹⁷ Again they come to him, with letters. He reads the first one and cannot bear to read the rest. He will return as a slave to his slavers and as a savior to his captors, bearing that same Gospel that turned a murderous boy into a man of God.

In act five, Patrick returns to Ireland. He weathers peril at the hands of kings, slavers, druids, and even the accusations of his fellow Christians. Amidst all this, he serves and interacts with the people and with their culture as a loving servant. In typical Catholic form, he never asks the people to disavow their gods, culture, or worldview but instructs them, instead, to see all these things in light of Christ. Again, the snakes do not leave, but the people are saved.

This brings freedom of more than one kind. Where once they feared their Gods, they now hate demons.

In the scenes of act five, we mainly see Patrick reaching out to the kings and rejoicing, as Irish princesses become nuns. This also afforded Patrick the great blessing and crescendo of fighting for the rights of slaves and ultimately for the end of slavery. Once a slave owner, then a salve, now a slave to Christ, Patrick’s fight for women and slaves fits perfectly into the epic and circular story God writes for him. And, the seed of an early foreshadowing, as Patrick watched shepherd slaves on his grandfather’s estate, then becomes one himself – this strain of the story come to resolution as Patrick’s influence ends the Irish slave trade and remains a shepherd of people until his death¹⁸. He is a sinner – a deadly snake – turned saint. Like I said, a story only God can write.

A Final Story: The Snake

As we come to the end of our stories, I want to remember the snake, the lowest and most despised creature. The one who strikes fear in our hearts. The one equated with Satan – who also, is somehow equated with healing, and eventually equated as a prefiguration of Jesus Christ. One day, we will not fear this snake. As John 3 tells us, we are brought into eternal life, into the Kingdom of God. Here, God writes the stories of sinners turned saints and of snakes who do not strike fear, but who represent redemption. We have become God’s story. As Patrick wrote of himself: ““I – who am myself a letter of Christ for the work of salvation to the end of the earth.”¹⁹ He also said, “My final prayer that…none of you will ever say that in my ignorance I did anything for God. You must understand – because it is truth – that it was all the gift of God.”²⁰ Ephesians 2:10 tells us that we are “His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” So, before we close through a Psalm, take a moment in your groups to reflect and dream about the story, the letter, God is writing in and through you as all around you sinners become saints and snakes come to represent healing.

Close with the Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22

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Let us now praise the author who is writing this story.

Person 1:

Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, for His lovingkindness is everlasting. Let the redeemed of the LORD say so,

Person 2:

Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the adversary and gathered from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.

Person 3:

Fools, because of their rebellious way, and because of their iniquities, were afflicted. Their soul abhorred all kinds of food, and they drew near to the gates of death.

Person 4:

Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble; He saved them out of their distresses. He sent His word and healed them,

All:

And delivered them from their destructions. Let them give thanks to the LORD for His lovingkindness, And for His wonders to the sons of men! Let them also offer sacrifices of thanksgiving, and tell of His works with joyful singing.

Benediction:

May Christ and His Saints stand between you and harm.

Mary and her Son.

Patrick with his staff.

Martin with his mantle.

Brigid with her veil.

Michael with his shield.

And God over all with His strong right hand.