Tag: Jesus

Third Sunday after Pentecost, Year B

I give you thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise… Psalm 138:1 (NRSV)

Welcome!

Psalm 138 (NRSVue) gives thanks and speaks powerfully to the majesty and humility of the God who loves us. Sometimes it helps to hear more than one translation of the ancient text to discover new dimensions of our relationship with God.

Here is Psalm 138 from the New Jerusalem Bible:

1I thank you, Yahweh, with all my heart, for you have listened to the cry I uttered. In the presence of angels I sing to you, 

2I bow down before your holy Temple. I praise your name for your faithful love and your constancy; your promises surpass even your fame. 

3You heard me on the day when I called, and you gave new strength to my heart. 

4All the kings of the earth give thanks to you, Yahweh, when they hear the promises you make; 

5they sing of Yahweh’s ways, ‘Great is the glory of Yahweh!’ 

6Sublime as he is, Yahweh looks on the humble, the proud he picks out from afar. 

7Though I live surrounded by trouble you give me life—to my enemies’ fury! You stretch out your right hand and save me, 

8Yahweh will do all things for me. Yahweh, your faithful love endures for ever, do not abandon what you have made.

Here is Psalm 138 from the Tanakh:

1Of David. I praise You with all my heart, sing a hymn to You before the divine beings; 

2I bow toward Your holy temple and praise Your name for Your steadfast love and faithfulness, because You have exalted Your name, Your word, above all. 

3When I called, You answered me, You inspired me with courage. 

4All the kings of the earth shall praise You, O Lord, for they have heard the words You spoke. 

5They shall sing of the ways of the Lord, “Great is the majesty of the Lord!” 

6High though the Lord is, He sees the lowly; lofty, He perceives from afar. 

7Though I walk among enemies, You preserve me in the face of my foes; You extend Your hand; with Your right hand You deliver me. 

8The Lord will settle accounts for me. O Lord, Your steadfast love is eternal; do not forsake the work of Your hands.

On Wednesday, June 5, 2024, we* read through the scriptures appointed for the Third Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 5, Year B. We spent most of our time reading and learning from Psalm 138 (NRSV)

As always, our sacred text (in its various English translations) questions us even as we speak, listen to, and hear the words:

  • Throughout the day, how often do you pause and give thanks? How often is thanksgiving done with all your heart? How might you experience or describe a half-hearted thanksgiving? A whole-hearted thanksgiving? (v. 1)
  • In verse 1 the Psalmist sings before “gods” (NRSV), “angels” (NJB), or “divine beings” (Tanakh). Which translation speaks to your heart? Why is that? Close your eyes, picture and feel and hear yourself singing your thanksgiving in such hallowed company. Well?
  • In the NRSVue verse 3 reads: “On the day I called, you answered me; “you increased my strength of soul.” The NJB translates God’s answer as “you gave new strength to my heart.” The Tanakh translates God’s answer as “You inspired me with courage.” Again, which translation speaks to your heart and why is that?

With these few examples from verses 1 and 3, I encourage you to allow the text (in various translations) to question you. Become quiet. Hear what the Spirit is saying to you. Hear how the Spirit—in the sacred text—both questions and encourages you.

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*Most Wednesday mornings a group of us gather online to explore the readings that will be used in worship the following Sunday. This week’s handout features readings, commentaries, and notes for the Third Sunday after Pentecost (June 9, 2024) in Year B of the Revised Common Lectionary. Please: View or download the handout we used to guide our discussion and tune our hearts to the Spirit.

View the Revised Common Lectionary readings (NRSV translation) appointed for The Third Sunday after Pentecost, June 9, 2024, on the Revised Common Lectionary site curated by the Vanderbilt Divinity Library.

Please return to this site throughout the week to keep learning.

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More thoughts on Sunday’s (June 9, 2024) readings

Be well. Do good. Pay attention. Keep learning.

Image: ChurchArt Pro

Trinity Sunday, Year B

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you. 2 Cor 13:13 NRSVue

Welcome!

Along the way I read—and remember now—Marcus Borg’s observation that credo, “I believe,” is probably better rendered, “I give my heart to.”

Everything we say in the Nicene Creed is about giving our heart to God who we experience as one God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Enter into our Nicene Creed as an expression of trust born of love:

WE GIVE OUR HEARTS TO one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.

WE GIVE OUR HEARTS TO one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father. Through him all things were made.

WE GIVE OUR HEARTS TO THE ONE WHO, For us and for our salvation, came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man. WHO, For our sake was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried.

WE GIVE OUR HEARTS TO THE ONE WHO, On the third day rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; WHO ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. WHO will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and WHOSE kingdom will have no end.

WE GIVE OUR HEARTS TO the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets.

WE GIVE OUR HEARTS TO THE one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

On Wednesday, May 22, 2024, we* read through the scriptures appointed for Trinity Sunday, Year B. We spent the most time on the reading and learning from the letter to the Romans (Chapter 8, verses 12-17)

To whom do you give your heart?

A further thought on the Mystery of the Trinity

Gregory Nazianzen wrote:

“There was the true light, which enlightens everyone who comes into the world” (John 1:9)—the Father.

“There was the true light, which enlightens everyone who comes into the world”—the Son.

“There was the true light, which enlightens everyone who comes into the world”—the other Paraclete (John 14:16, 26).

“Was” and “was” and “was,” but one thing was; “light” and “light” and “light,” but one light and one God. This is what David too imagined long ago when he said, “In your light we shall see light” (Psalm 36:10 [36:9]).

And now we have both seen and proclaimed the concise and simple theology of the Trinity: out of light (the Father) we comprehend light (the Son) in light (the Spirit).

Source: Christopher A. Beeley, Leading God’s People: Wisdom from the Early Church for Today (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2012), 99–100.

Christopher Beeley is the Walter H. Gray Associate Professor of Anglican Studies and Patristics [Yale Macmillan Center]. He teaches early Christian theology and history and modern Anglican tradition. He is an Episcopal priest.

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*Most Wednesday mornings a group of us gather online to explore the readings that will be used in worship the following Sunday. This week’s handout features readings, commentaries, and notes for Trinity Sunday (May 26, 2024) in Year B of the Revised Common Lectionary. Please: View or download the handout we used to guide our discussion and tune our hearts to the Spirit.

View the Revised Common Lectionary readings appointed for Trinity Sunday, May 26, 2024, on the Revised Common Lectionary site curated by the Vanderbilt Divinity Library.

Please return to this site throughout the week to keep learning.

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More thoughts on Trinity Sunday

Be well. Do good. Pay attention. Keep learning.

A Memorial Day Prayer

Wind in the Chimes: We remember those whose graves are marked and those whose passing is commemorated in our hearts

Sacrifices remembered with grateful hearts

Jesus, Prince of Peace, we remember before you with grateful hearts the men and women of our country who in the day of decision ventured much for the liberties we now enjoy and especially we remember with gratitude those men and women who have laid down their lives in the service of our country.

Grant—to those whose graves are marked in hallowed grounds and to those whose passing is commemorated in our hearts—your mercy and the light of your presence.

And give, O Lord, to the people of our country a zeal for justice and the strength of forbearance, that we may use our liberty in accordance with your gracious will. As you know us and love us, hear our prayer.

Adapted from the Book of Common Prayer: Thanksgiving for Heroic Service (839); Collect for the Nation (258)

More

About Wind in the Chimes

Wind in the Chimes (renaming and reintroduction of Wind Chimes, 7/21/20)

Wind Chimes: September 25 2012 (an introduction)

Trinity Sunday, Year B

Wind in the Chimes: The Sunday after the Day of Pentecost is Trinity Sunday

Trinity Sunday (May 26, 2024)

Feast that celebrates “the one and equal glory” of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, “in Trinity of Persons and in Unity of Being” (BCP, p. 380). It is celebrated on the first Sunday after Pentecost. Trinity Sunday is one of the seven principal feasts of the church year (BCP, p. 15). The proper readings and collect for Trinity Sunday are used only on the feast, not on the weekdays following. The numbered proper which corresponds most closely to the date of Trinity Sunday is used (BCP, p. 228). The BCP also provides the proper “Of the Holy Trinity” for optional use at other times, subject to the rules of the calendar of the church year (see BCP, pp. 251, 927). The Hymnal 1982 presents ten hymns in a section on The Holy Trinity (Hymns 362-371), including “Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!” (Hymn 362), “Come, thou almighty King” (Hymn 365), and “Holy Father, great Creator” (Hymn 368).

Celebration of Trinity Sunday was approved for the western church by Pope John XXII in 1334. This feast is associated with Thomas Becket (c. 1118-1170), who was consecrated bishop on Trinity Sunday, 1162. His martyrdom may have influenced the popularity of the feast in England and the custom of naming the remaining Sundays of the church year “Sundays after Trinity.” The Sarum Missal and editions of the Prayer Book through the 1928 BCP named these Sundays the Sundays after Trinity. The 1979 BCP identifies this portion of the church year as the season after Pentecost, and names these Sundays the Sundays after Pentecost (see BCP, p. 32).

Reference: “Trinity Sunday” in An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church

About Wind in the Chimes

Wind in the Chimes (renaming and reintroduction of Wind Chimes, 7/21/20)

Wind Chimes: September 25 2012 (an introduction)

The Day of Pentecost, Year B

Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit… (Acts 2:3-4)

Welcome!

What does Pentecost mean to you? How have you experienced the gift of the Holy Spirit breathing life into you, guiding your thinking and choosing, and enlivening your day-to-day activity?

On Wednesday, May 15, 2024, we* explored Acts 2:1-21, the account of the events on the Day of Pentecost.

Pause, remember, acknowledge, and even celebrate, the presence of the Holy Spirit “the Lord, the giver of life” in you.

From a commentary on Acts 2:1-21

The language of the Pentecost experience, with its images of “wind,” “spirit,” and being “filled” with the Spirit or the “breath” of life, is reminiscent of God’s initial creative activity (Gen. 1:2; 2:7). Here, however, the emphasis is not so much on creation or God’s works in history as on direct contact with the Spirit of God, who is now filling the world in a new way. The roll call of nations and languages points to the universality of the Spirit’s work for the whole world. God’s Spirit is the divine energy that now enables an eternal life to be real for those on whom God’s Spirit is poured and in whom the Spirit dwells (cf. Rom. 5:5).

Even more, linking the Pentecost events with the prophetic word about “last days” (Acts 2:17) points forward to the ultimate consummation of God’s reign in a “new heaven and new earth” (Rev. 21:1).

Source: Donald K. Mckim, “Theological Perspective on Acts 2:1‒21,” in Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year B, ed. David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor, vol. 3 (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009), 2.

Donald K. McKim is the Executive Editor of Theology and Reference, Westminster John Knox Press, Germantown, Tennessee.

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*Most Wednesday mornings a group of us gather online to explore the readings that will be used in worship the following Sunday. This week’s handout features readings, commentaries, and notes for the Day of Pentecost (May 19, 2024) in Year B of the Revised Common Lectionary. Please: View or download the handout we used to guide our discussion and tune our hearts to the Spirit.

View the Revised Common Lectionary readings appointed for Pentecost, Sunday, May 19, 2024, on the Revised Common Lectionary site curated by the Vanderbilt Divinity Library.

Please return to this site throughout the week to keep learning.

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More about Pentecost

Be well. Do good. Pay attention. Keep learning.

Pentecost, Year B

Wind in the Chimes: our prayer and why we celebrate this day

Collect for Pentecost

Pentecost

The term means “the fiftieth day.” It is used in both the OT and the NT. In the OT it refers to a feast of seven weeks known as the Feast of Weeks. It was apparently an agricultural event that focused on the harvesting of first fruits. Josephus referred to Pentecost as the fiftieth day after the first day of Passover. The term is used in the NT to refer to the coming of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1), shortly after Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension. Christians came to understand the meaning of Pentecost in terms of the gift of the Spirit. The Pentecost event was the fulfillment of a promise which Jesus gave concerning the return of the Holy Spirit. The speaking in tongues, which was a major effect of having received the Spirit, is interpreted by some to symbolize the church’s worldwide preaching. In the Christian tradition, Pentecost is now the seventh Sunday after Easter. It emphasizes that the church is understood as the body of Christ which is drawn together and given life by the Holy Spirit. Some understand Pentecost to be the origin and sending out of the church into the world. The Day of Pentecost is one of the seven principal feasts of the church year in the Episcopal Church (BCP, p. 15). The Day of Pentecost is identified by the BCP as one of the feasts that is “especially appropriate” for baptism (p. 312). The liturgical color for the feast is red. Pentecost has also been known as Whitsun or Whitsunday, a corruption of “White Sunday.” This term reflects the custom by which those who were baptized at the Vigil of Pentecost would wear their white baptismal garments to church on the Day of Pentecost. The BCP provides directions for observance of a Vigil of Pentecost, which begins with the Service of Light (p. 227). The Hymnal 1982 provides a variety of hymns for Pentecost (Hymns 223-230) and the Holy Spirit (Hymns 500-516).Reference: “Ascension” in An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church

Pentecost in 2 Minutes

More

  • The Collect: an Anglican/Episcopal Treasure. From the “Foreward” to The Collects of Thomas Cranmer edited by C. Frederick Barbee and Paul F. M. Zahl. This essay provides historical and liturgical background to this type of liturgical prayer.
  • A Pattern for Prayer by John D. Witvliet posted on Religion Online. The author believes the study of ancient liturgical materials facilitates special insight.  He discusses at length the understanding which lies in the structures and patterns of early collects and similar prayers, for preparing such prayers challenges us to draw on nearly the whole range of theological themes and motifs.

About Wind in the Chimes

Wind in the Chimes (renaming and reintroduction of Wind Chimes, 7/21/20)

Wind Chimes: September 25 2012 (an introduction)

A prayer after the Ascension

Wind in the Chimes: a prayer on the Seventh Sunday of Easter to be strengthened

O God, the King of glory … do not leave us comfortless

On the Seventh Sunday of Easter, we first ask that our God not leave us comfortless. Then we ask for the Holy Spirit to strengthen and exalt us.

Marion Hatchett in his book, Commentary on the American Prayer Book, (New York: The Seabury Press, 1981) tells us that Thomas Cranmer (the author of the precursor of this prayer in English) “translated the word ‘orphans’ [from a more ancient prayer in Latin] with a weaker term ‘comfortless,’ which is used here in what is now an archaic meaning, ‘without strength,’… as well as ‘without consolation.'”

In this week as we prepare to remember and celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, consider how the Spirit has strengthened you in your faith journey. In what moments of your journey have you relied upon the strength of the Spirit to sustain you?

Likewise, what experiences in your faith journey have led you to trust that God, the King of glory, is even now exalting us, exalting you, “to that place where our Savior Christ has gone before?”

More

  • The Collect: an Anglican/Episcopal Treasure. From the “Foreward” to The Collects of Thomas Cranmer edited by C. Frederick Barbee and Paul F. M. Zahl. This essay provides historical and liturgical background to this type of liturgical prayer.
  • A Pattern for Prayer by John D. Witvliet posted on Religion Online. The author believes the study of ancient liturgical materials facilitates special insight.  He discusses at length the understanding which lies in the structures and patterns of early collects and similar prayers, for preparing such prayers challenges us to draw on nearly the whole range of theological themes and motifs.

About Wind in the Chimes

Wind in the Chimes (renaming and reintroduction of Wind Chimes, 7/21/20)

Wind Chimes: September 25 2012 (an introduction)

They proposed two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias.…

Before the casting of lots: heartfelt prayer for God’s guidance (Acts 1:24-25)

… and the lot fell to Matthias

Acts of the Apostles 1:23, 26 NRSV

Welcome!

On Wednesday, May 8, 2024, we explored Acts 1:15-17, 21-26, the first reading appointed for the Seventh Sunday of Easter, Year B (May 12, 2024). Our handout included commentaries on the other appointed texts from the First Letter of John (1 John 5:9-13), the Psalms (Psalm 1), and the Gospel according to John (John 17:6-19).

In her commentary on the text from Acts—from a homiletical perspective—Barbara K. Lundblad highlights the two men put forward by the group gathered together after the Ascension but before the Day of Pentecost. We are asked to “acknowledge and celebrate the ordinary people who have carried the extraordinary gospel from one generation to the next.”

Pause, remember, acknowledge, and even celebrate, the ordinary people you have met in your faith journey who have shared the Good News of God in Christ with you.

From a commentary on Acts 1:15-17, 21-26

Matthias becomes part of the inner circle; the other loses the toss of the dice. Even his name seems to be in question: Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus. The truth is that we know very little about either one of these men.

Their lack of renown is a wondrous reality. In the next chapter Peter stands with the eleven to preach his Pentecost sermon. That would mean that Matthias must have been there even though he is not named. Where was Justus? Perhaps he was there too, for the narrator tells us that all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit. …

Rather than being disappointed by having so little information, we can be grateful for the witness of those who are so little known. [The sermon this Sunday] can be a time to acknowledge and celebrate the ordinary people who have carried the extraordinary gospel from one generation to the next. Who is Justus in your faith journey?

Source: Barbara K. Lundblad, “Homiletical Perspective on Acts 1:15–17, 21–26,” in Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year B, ed. David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor, vol. 2 (Louisville, KY; London: Westminster John Knox Press, 2008).

The Rev. Dr. Barbara K. Lundblad is the former Joe R. Engle Professor of Preaching Emerita at Union Theological Seminary.

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Most Wednesday mornings a group of us gather online to explore the readings that will be used in worship the following Sunday. Our handout this week features readings, commentaries, and notes for the Seventh Sunday of Easter (May 12, 2024) in Year B of the Revised Common Lectionary. Please: View or download the handout we used to guide our discussion and tune our hearts to the Spirit.

View the Revised Common Lectionary readings appointed for Sunday, May 12, 2024, on the Revised Common Lectionary site curated by the Vanderbilt Divinity Library.

Please return to this site throughout the week to keep learning.

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About casting lots

Be well. Do good. Pay attention. Keep learning.

Ascension Day

Wind in the Chimes: the Ascension is about presence

The Ascension of Christ (Ascension Day)

The occasion on which the risen Christ is taken into heaven after appearing to his followers for forty days (Acts 1:1-11, Mk 16:19). The Ascension marks the conclusion of Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances. It is the final elevation of his human nature to divine glory and the near presence of God. The Ascension is affirmed by the Nicene and Apostles’ Creeds. The Ascension is celebrated on Ascension Day, the Thursday that is the fortieth day of the Easter season. It is a principal feast of the church year in the Episcopal Church. Reference: “Ascension” in An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church

A Homily on the Feast of the Ascension

… the ascension is about presence, not absence. Jesus has not left us. Rather Christ has filled us. —Michael K. Marsh

An invitation: Hear what the Spirit is saying, in this homily “Feast of the Ascension” by Michael K. Marsh posted to Interrupting the Silence on May 21, 2009.

More

  • The Collect: an Anglican/Episcopal Treasure. From the “Foreward” to The Collects of Thomas Cranmer edited by C. Frederick Barbee and Paul F. M. Zahl. This essay provides historical and liturgical background to this type of liturgical prayer.
  • A Pattern for Prayer by John D. Witvliet posted on Religion Online. The author believes the study of ancient liturgical materials facilitates special insight.  He discusses at length the understanding which lies in the structures and patterns of early collects and similar prayers, for preparing such prayers challenges us to draw on nearly the whole range of theological themes and motifs.

About Wind in the Chimes

Wind in the Chimes (renaming and reintroduction of Wind Chimes, 7/21/20)

Wind Chimes: September 25 2012 (an introduction)

For the love of God is this …

Genuine faith is firmly connected with active love.

… that we obey his commandments.

1 John 5:3 NRSV

Welcome!

On Wednesday, May 1, 2024, we explored 1 John 5:1-6, the epistle pericope appointed for the Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year B (May 5, 2024). Our handout included commentaries on the other appointed texts from the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 10:44-48), the Psalms (Psalm 98), and the Gospel according to John (John 15:9-17).

From a commentary on 1 John 5:1-6

1 John reminds its readers that God’s commands are not burdensome. Here again we hear an echo of Jesus, who denounces the religious leaders for loading people down with “heavy burdens hard to bear” (Matthew 23:4). The Greek word that NRSV translates as “heavy” is barus, the same adjective translated as “burdensome” in 1 John 5:3. By contrast, Jesus says, “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens … For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28–30). Like Jesus, 1 John insists that God’s commands are not difficult. In essence, they consist in the call to love, “not in word or speech, but in truth and action” (1 John 3:18). Genuine faith, therefore, is firmly connected with active love.

Source: Commentary on 1 John 5:1-6 by Judith Jones posted May 10, 2015 to Working Preacher for Easter 6B

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Most Wednesday mornings a group of us gather online to explore the readings that will be used in worship the following Sunday. Our handout features readings, commentaries, and notes for the Sixth Sunday of Easter (May 5, 2024) in Year B of the Revised Common Lectionary. Please: View or download the handout we used to guide our discussion and tune our hearts to the Spirit.

View the Revised Common Lectionary readings appointed for Sunday, May 5, 2024, on the Revised Common Lectionary site curated by the Vanderbilt Divinity Library.

Judith Jones is the Vicar, of St. Stephen & St. Luke by the Sea Episcopal Churches in Waldport, OR. More.

Please return to this site throughout the week to keep learning.

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Be well. Do good. Pay attention. Keep learning.

Image: ChurchArt Pro