9.29.21 Holy Eucharist & Thanksgiving for the Ministry of The Rt. Rev. Chilton Knudsen

hey [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] friends on me [Music] [Music] to thee [Music] broken and the captives are set free so let it fall fall down fall down on me [Music] hey [Music] hey [Music] me [Music] need the power [Music] holy spirit let it fall down oh [Music] oh holy spirit your power holy spirit holy spirit [Music] the holy spirit fall down foreign [Music] on fall down fall down [Music] on me [Music] [Music] um [Music] um [Music] foreign is foreign [Music] is [Music] [Applause] foreign oh foreign [Music] foreign oh [Music] see [Music] [Applause] [Music] blessed be the one holy and living god [Music] so is [Music] praise the is let the people rejoice [Music] through jesus [Music] god be with you and also with you let us pray everlasting god you have ordained and constituted in a wonderful order the ministries of angels and mortals mercifully grant that as your holy angels always serve and worship you in heaven so by your appointment they may help and defend us here on earth through jesus christ our lord who lives and reigns with you in the holy spirit one god forever and ever a reading from the book of genesis jacob left beersheba and went toward heron he came to a certain place and stayed there for the night because the sun had set taking one of the stones of the place he put it under his head and lay down in that place and he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth the top of it reaching to heaven and the angels of god were ascending and descending on it and the lord stood beside him and said i am the lord the god of abraham your father and the god of isaac the land on which you lie i will give to you and to your offspring and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring know that i am with you and will keep you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land for i will not leave you until i have done what i promised you then jacob woke from his sleep and said surely the lord is in this place and i did not know it and he was afraid and said how awesome is this place this is none other than the house of god and this is the gate of heaven hear what the spirit is saying to god's people [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is the [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] more [Music] a reading from the revelation to saint john war broke out in heaven michael and his angels fought against the dragon the dragon and his angels fought back but they were defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven the great dragon was thrown down that ancient serpent who is called the devil and satan the deceiver of the whole world he was thrown down to the earth and his angels were thrown down with him then i heard a loud voice in heaven proclaiming now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our god and the authority of his messiah for the accuser of our comrades has been thrown down who accuses them day and night before our god but they have conquered him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony for they did not cling to life even in the face of death rejoice then you heavens and those who dwell in them but woe to the earth and the sea for the devil has come down to you with great wrath because he knows that his time is short hear what the spirit is saying to god's people thanks be to god [Music] in my heart [Music] every time up [Music] oh is [Music] in my heart [Music] the holy gospel jesus de l'hombre when jesus saw nathanael coming toward him he said of him here is an is truly an israelite in whom there is no deceit nathaniel asked him where did you get to know me jesus answered i saw you under the fig tree before philip called you nathanael replied rabbi you are the son of god you are the king of israel jesus answered do you believe because i told you that i saw you under the fig tree you will see greater things than these and he said to him very truly i tell you you will see heaven opened and the angels of god ascending and descending upon the son of man the gospel of the lord [Music] please be seated during the worst of the pandemic my household learned how to find excuses to laugh it's important in a pandemic to find opportunities to laugh and one of the things that we found were old movies old movies thanks to netflix and amazon prime and all of those services and we found or rediscovered i should say the films of may west now mae west she was a bit naughty just a bit naughty but she was also hilarious she made us laugh until tears rolled down our faces we particularly liked one movie she was in and we watched it over and over because the laughs were so good the movie is called i'm no angel i'm no angel and indeed mae west made a kind of career out of being naughty now normally she played with her best leading man wc fields whose kind of bumbling clumsiness was a perfect foil for her sharp wit but in i'm no angel she actually played alongside carrie grant that's a mix isn't it mae west and cary grant but something about his debonair good looks his kind of suave ivy league manner also was a perfect foil for her sharp wit i'm no angel this reminds us that one of the things human beings do is imagine that angels are perfections of moral virtue examples of perfection no sin no base impulses no jealousy that angels represent the perfect being so that's one image of angels another thing that we did was we learned to watch old tv series and one of them was the series it lasted about 10 years some of you may remember it it's called touched by an angel i see heads nodding and in the touched by the angel series the angel had nothing to do with moral purity but rather with the acts of compassion the tenderness the protection the guardianship of those most vulnerable the rescuing of people from danger the safeguarding of people as they went through difficult times always the emissary of mercy and compassion perfection and compassion that's kind of the two qualities that we associate with angels think with me for just a moment about these two qualities it is true indeed that god's perfection is shown forth in god's creation and the righteousness the goodness the sheer goodness of god the sheer moral perfection if you will is made known to us it's made real for us as we look at the life and teachings of the word of god made flesh jesus brother savior and so angels perfection perfection but then angels also do works of mercy protection guarding guiding i'm imagining every person in this room and those of you who are watching with us online i imagine you've had an experience in your life where somehow you at the last minute sometimes averted a dangerous situation it's as if you were sort of pulled at the last minute from an ongoing hazard and you thought to yourself huh my guardian angel was right there taking care of me what is true is that angels only do what god does angels in fact are messengers representatives spokespeople of god in whose incredible goodness and perfection we are in awe in awe of the goodness of god and we are also in awe in gratitude for the many ways mercy tenderness compassion and protection showered upon us by the god who formed each one of us as a burst of god's love so i would put before us that this feast has more to do with angels goodness and mercy because all of the readings we have find their incredible consummation in the story from revelation because angels you see they were right there when the war between good and evil was raging in heaven angels were there some of the angels went bad became turncoats and followed the dragon michael the archangel and his angels were victorious representing the kind of good that's beyond our describing michael and the good angels banished the dragon banished the dragon and all of the bad angels and we understand from scripture that they in fact kind of came down to earth where the devil still we are told prowls around rest for a moment in two pieces of scripture that will i hope give us confidence for going forward one piece of scripture that gives us confidence is that we are companioned in our life by heavenly beings of all kinds in all sorts of circumstances we live in community with angels and with each other and sometimes the angels that we know and see are in each other and the second confidence is the war between good and evil has already been waged and we know what happened and who has the victory we can think of michael as leading the charge on behalf of good and making certain by the show of strength that the dragon would be banished and that good would prevail and so dear friends i leave you with this the war is over admittedly like a major earthquake there are aftershocks aren't there where it seems as though the war hasn't really been won after all but those are aftershocks the war has been won the great cosmic struggle between good and evil has now been decided and we live on the decided side of that struggle we who believe in god and follow christ as our savior do not do so wondering how it will all come out we know even in our worst moments that it will come out for good c.s lewis one time said in christ jesus the good is always yet to be the good is always yet to be and we know also from our angelic figures and from the example and life and teaching of jesus we know that we are also held in compassion we are held in tender love we are embraced every minute of every day by mercy and justice and now my friends there's a god we can build a life around and now i invite us to proclaim and affirm our faith in the words of the nicene creed we believe in one god the father the almighty maker of heaven and earth of all that is seen and unseen we will believe in one lord jesus christ the only son of god eternally begotten of the father god from god the light from light true god from true god begotten not made of one being with the father through him all things were made for us and for our salvation he came down from heaven by the power of the holy spirit he became incarnate from the virgin mary and was made man he suffered death and was buried he descended today in accordance with the scriptures he ascended and is seated at the right hand of the father he will come again glory to judge the living and the dead his kingdom will have no land of the holy spirit the lord who proceeds from the father but the father the son he is worshipped and glorified he has spoken through the prophets we believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church knowledge the world i'm going to make a correction to the date of my start since i've been here longer than that on the 19th day of february 2019 i was welcomed by bishop marianne to serve as the assisting bishop of the diocese of washington i have with god's help and to the best of my abilities exercised this trust accepting its privileges and responsibilities after prayer and careful consideration i must leave this charge and i publicly state that my time as your assisting bishop ends this day do you the people of the diocese of washington recognize and accept the conclusion of this relationship we do now friends it's my moment to tell you how thankful grateful overjoyed i have been to serve among you it's been a huge privilege to serve alongside my dear sister marianne and to serve with so many of you and many of you who are watching from all across the globe i will say that one of the most meaningful parts of this ministry for me has been going through the pandemic together we made our way through we had to help each other we had to come together build new relationships and strengthen existing ones it has been a formative painful but formative experience i will never ever forget sitting on my phone or on my zoom and exchanging words of comfort exploration hope sadness it's been wonderful thank you all from the bottom of my heart bishop chilton spoke to us today of angels as messengers of compassion and mercy and i dare say everyone gathered in this worship service and the majority of the diocese of washington have experienced in a personal and direct way how bishop chilton's own ministry has been of such angelic put power and transformative impact words cannot convey the gratitude except to say that you will forever be in our hearts because your love and your wisdom your street smarts your i've seen it all before and she has uh confidence to forge into some of the most tender and complex pastoral situations and your pastoral skill have touched us and transformed this diocese and the people who serve it for the better and we are all deeply indebted to god for bringing you to us and for you in saying yes and with equal pride we are sending you forth to be bishop assisting in the diocese of chicago alongside our beloved bishop-elect paula so together oh god you have found us together for a time as bishops and people to work for the advancement of your kingdom and in this diocese we give you humble and hearty thanks for the ministry which we have shared in these few years we thank you for your patience with us despite our times of blindness or slowness of heart we thank you for your forgiveness and mercy in the face of our faith we thank you for your never failing presence with us through many conversations gatherings and shared prayer especially for the deeper knowledge of you and of each other in our times together we thank you for those who have been joined to this part of christ's family through baptism and confirmation and for feeding us abundantly with the sacrament of the body and blood of your son we thank you for opening our hearts and minds again and again to your word and now we pray be with chilton who leaves and with us who stay and grant that all of us by drawing nearer to you may always be close to each other in the communion of your saints all this we ask for the sake of jesus christ your son our lord chilton we send you forth in prayer and with our love to our sister paula and our brothers and sisters in the diocese of chicago may they benefit from your wisdom grow in their knowledge and love of god and each other and may you be strengthened with the presence of the holy spirit for your ministry there amen amen god of unchangeable power and eternal light look favorably on your whole church that wonderful and sacred mystery things which were cast down are being raised up and things which have grown old are being made new and that all things are being brought to them to their perfection by him through whom all things were made your son jesus jesus christ our lord who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the holy spirit may the peace of christ be always with you and also with you they share a moment of greeting with one another we have a few other things to do today you may be seated thank you all for gathering thank you to the musicians and the ministers of the cathedral for helping us do this important and wonderful bittersweet commemoration and celebration of you bishop chilton we are grateful to the cathedral and to all who have gathered and all who are witnessing this and participating with us from where you are it is also chilton's 75th birthday so we are going to sing [Music] we have also gathered in this memory box um some some of the expressions you can be seated again if you want or you can stand if you want it's your decision um some expressions of gratitude that have come to us from the diocese and we wanted you to have something concrete but not too big because she's got a little apartment in chicago and her town home in maryland so we didn't want to clutter you with things but we have expressions of our gratitude and at the top is a an envelope with um an offering and our our intention you can do with it what you want but our intention knowing how much maine is your beloved spiritual home and you have places of respite there that mean that speak to you of god's place we have gathered some resources so that whenever you want to go there and be with your son and gather in your sacred place you have the resources to do that with our love knowing that the well you draw from is deep indeed but we all need to go there sometimes and we love the idea of being able to support that part of you as you share your love with so many so on behalf of all of us we we get we send you off with this modest expression of our love [Applause] oh thank you you're welcome you're welcome going to read to you what it says on the top of the box love bears all things believes in all things hopes all things endures all things love never ends amen to that and love does not end in fact grows day by day and we've had enough days together that my love for you has grown large indeed and i feel your love also in return and i will take that as strength to the next chapter of ministry where there will be love and love will grow but we will have a particular kind of love which is a love laced with hope that before too long the diocese of chicago will have a brand new bishop thank you thank you marianne as um as bishop chilton prepares to lead us in the sacrament of the altar one last time as our assistant bishop may we all be reminded of the love that never ends in our commitment to continue to walk in that love following in the ways of jesus so oh [Music] is [Applause] [Music] uh [Music] yes [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] courses [Music] is [Music] [Music] foreign so the lord be with you and also with you lift up your hearts lift them to the lord let us give thanks to the lord our god it is right to give god thanks and praise all thanks and praise are yours at all times and in all places our true and loving god through jesus christ your eternal word the wisdom from on high by whom you created all things you laid the foundations of the world and enclosed the sea when it burst out from the womb you brought forth all creatures of the earth and gave breath to humankind wondrous are you holy one of blessing all you create is a sign of hope for our journey and so as the morning stars sing your praises we join the heavenly beings and all creation as we shout with joy [Music] foreign is [Music] glory and honor are yours creator of all your word has never been silent you called a people to yourself as a light to the nations you delivered them from bondage and led them to a land of promise of your grace you gave jesus to be human to share our life to proclaim the coming of your holy reign and to give himself for us a fragrant offering through jesus christ our redeemer you have freed us from sin brought us into your life reconciled us to you and restored us to the glory you intend for us we thank you that on the night before he died for us jesus took bread and when he had given thanks to you he broke it and gave it to his friends and said take eat this is my body which is given for you do this for the remembrance of me after supper jesus took the cup of wine said the blessing gave it to his friends and said drink this all of you this is my blood poured out for you in the new covenant for the forgiveness of sin do this for the remembrance of me and so remembering all that was done for us the cross the tomb the resurrection and ascension longing for christ's coming in glory and presenting to you these gifts your earth has formed and human hands have made we acclaim you o christ dying christ jesus come in glory send your holy spirit upon us and upon these gifts of bread and wine that they may be to us the body and blood of your christ grant that we burning with the spirit's power may be a people of hope of justice and of love giver of life draw us together in the body of christ and in the fullness of time gather us with michael and all angels blessed peter and paul and all your people into the joy of our true eternal home through christ and with christ and in christ in the inspiration of your holy spirit we worship you our god and creator in voices of unending praise blessed are you now and forever amen and now as our savior christ has taught us we are bold to say our father who art in heaven hallowed be in thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation we break this bread to share in the body of christ we who are many are one body for we all share the one bread these are the gifts of god for the people of god [Music] all nations [Music] therefore and teach all nations [Music] baptizing them in the name of the father's sun and holy ghosts [Music] go go [Music] if you love me really love me feed my sheep if you love me you really love me won't you feel [Music] of the world so cute [Music] [Music] [Applause] hey [Music] therefore and teach all nations [Music] go ye therefore and teach all nations go go you're baptizing them in the name of the father son and holy ghost god i'm telling you to go go [Music] me [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] hmm [Music] hello [Music] you have to go [Music] go [Music] praying together god of in the abundance of salvation you have united us with christ amen one another you have made us one with all your people in heaven and on earth and continue for forever may god who has led us in the paths of justice and truth lead us still and keep us in his ways amen may god whose son has loved us and given himself for us love us still and establish us in peace may god whose spirit unites us and fills our hearts with joy illumine us still and strengthen us for the years to come amen and the blessing of god almighty the father the son and the holy spirit be upon you and remain with you now and forever [Music] is is [Music] is [Music] oh foreign [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] go in peace to love and serve the lord [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] yes

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Length: 86min 30sec (5190 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 29 2021