Monthly Archives: September 2020

Turn around and run for it!

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Proper 21A
September 27, 2020

Exodus 17:1-7. So that the people may drink
Philippians 2:1-13. For it is God who is at work in you
Matthew 21:23-32. Even after you saw it you did not change your minds.

O God of of mercy and pity, grant us the strength, the wisdom and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may, and cost what it will.

In today’s appointed collect, or gathering prayer, I’m struck by the idea that God declares almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity: mercy being forgiveness, and pity being sympathy for another’s suffering. It might not be the kind of almighty power we want, but I think it is what we need. Whenever we are invoking the mighty power of God, it behooves us to look for forgiveness and sympathy first, as evidence of God’s response. It is God’s forgiveness for our sins and sympathy for our suffering and for the suffering of others that we are running to obtain, so that we can be partakers of that treasure.

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Share the wealth!

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Proper 20A
September 20, 2020
Exodus 16:2-15. What is it? It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.
Philippians 1:21-30. It is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be put to shame in any way.
Matthew 20:1-16. Take what belongs to you and go.

O God of grace, grant us the strength, the wisdom and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may, and cost what it will.

Hello! Welcome into this time and space and community that is Emmanuel Church gathered. Some are gathered in this physical place, and many more are gathered in places around New England and in various other time zones, to pray together and to worship God. Welcome into the future of God’s beloved community, as we figure out ways to adapt to challenging circumstances. I often hear people remark, when I tell them that I serve as rector of Emmanuel Church in Boston, that Emmanuel has such a great history. And I’m quick to respond, “yes! And a great present and future too!” Our vision of the future is foggier, perhaps, more treacherous perhaps, but we are sticking together. This first Sunday of the cantata season is “welcome forward Sunday. Come with us into the future, Sunday.”

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A Gentile and a Tax Collector

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Proper 18A
September 6, 2020

Exodus 12:1-14 This day shall be a day of remembrance for you.
Romans 13:8-14 Love is the fulfilling of the law.
Matthew 18:15-20 Let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

O Divine presence, grant us the wisdom, the strength and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may, and cost what it will.

It’s Labor Day weekend, our secular signal that the summer is ended. That brings Jeremiah’s lament to my mind: “the summer is ended, and we are not saved,” say the people. The Lord responds: “For the hurt of my poor people I am hurt, I mourn, and dismay has taken hold of me. Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the health of my poor people not been restored?” …“It is because the people do not know me,” says the Lord of Love. That’s not the Hebrew Bible reading that our lectionary offers us this morning, but you might read chapters 8 and 9 in Jeremiah later on for extra credit.
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