Solemn Eucharist for February 24, 2022

thank you [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] right [Music] uh [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] r [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] today [Music] oh [Music] [Music] so blessed be god father son and holy spirit let us humbly confess our sins unto almighty god most merciful god we confess that we have sinned against thee in thought word and deed by what you have done and by what we have left undone we have not loved thee with a whole heart we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves we are truly sorry and we humbly repent for the sake of thy son jesus christ have mercy on us and forgive us that we may delight in thy will and walk in thy ways to the glory of thy name amen the almighty and merciful lord grant you absolution and remission of all your sins to repentance amendment of life and the grace and consolation of his holy spirit amen [Music] [Music] me [Music] [Music] is [Music] yes says [Music] is [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] the lord be with you [Music] let us pray almighty god who into the place of judas this truth thy faithful servant matthias to be of the number of thy two elf granted thy church being delivered from false apostles may always be ordered and guided by faithful and true pastors through jesus christ our lord who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the holy spirit one god now and forever [Music] a reading from the acts of the apostles and in those days peter stood up in the midst of the disciples and said the number of names together were about 120 men and brethren this scripture must needs have been fulfilled which the holy ghost by the mouth of david spake before concerning judas which was guide to them that took jesus for he was numbered with us and had obtained part of his of this ministry now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity and falling headlong he burst asunder in the midst and all his bowels gushed out and it was known unto all the dwellers at jerusalem in so much as that field is called in their proper tongue huckledema that is to say the field of blood for it is written in the book of psalms let his habitation be desolate and let no man dwell therein and his bishop prick let another take wherefore of these men which have companioned with us all the time that the lord jesus went in and out among us beginning from the baptism of john unto that same day that he was taken up from us must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection and they appointed two joseph called barsabas who was surnamed justice and matthias and they prayed and said thou lord which knowest the hearts of all men show whether of these two thou hast chosen that he may take part of this ministry an apostleship from which judas by transgression fell that he might go to his own place and they gave forth their lots and the lot fell upon matthias and he was numbered with the eleven apostles the word of the lord [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] foreign is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] of them [Music] foreign [Music] oh [Music] foreign [Music] oh [Music] [Music] oh [Music] um [Music] r [Music] should be made [Music] the holy gospel of our lord jesus christ according to saint john [Music] jesus said i am the true vine and my father is the husbandman if a man abide not in me he is cast forth as a branch and is withered and men gather them and cast them into the fire and they are burned if you abide in me and my words abide in you you shall ask what ye will and it shall be done unto you herein is my father glorified that ye bear much fruit so shall ye be my disciples as the father hath loved me so have i loved you continue ye in my love if you keep my commandments ye shall abide in my love even as i have kept my father's commandments and abide in his love these things have i spoken unto you that my joy might remain in you and that your joy might be full this is my commandment that ye love one another as i have loved you greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends ye are my friends if you do whatsoever i command you henceforth i call you not servants for the servant knoweth not what his lord doth but i have called you friends for all things that i have heard of my father i have made known unto you have not chosen me but i have chosen you and ordained you that ye should go and bring forth fruit and that your fruit should remain and whatsoever ye shall ask of the father in my name he may give it you the gospel of the lord [Music] [Music] [Music] in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy ghost amen now how often has this happened to you someone you love someone you think loves you friend a parent a mentor a spouse says to you if you love me you'll do what i say if you love me you'll do what i say if you're really my friend if you really care about me you'll do whatever i tell you to do and you may or may not understand why i'm telling you to do whatever i'm telling you to do but it doesn't matter if you love me you'll do what i say now the context for these statements is varied there's the passionate playground discourse of middle school where so often loyalties to friends or factions are tried or tested sometimes in ridiculous ways there's the exasperated parent or loved one who just wants us to do something sometimes even for our own good and who's unfortunately and usually unwittingly willing now and then to stoop to some form of emotional blackmail to get us to do it there's the abusive parent or loved one for whom emotional blackmail and the power it gives them is their first language of relationship sometimes their only language of relationship let's be clear if you love me you'll do what i say is a form of emotional blackmail and we're so used to it in one way or another that it's easy to think that that's what jesus is about in our reading today when jesus says ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever i command you it's easy to think that jesus is engaging in some version of emotional blackmail for our own good no doubt and troublingly it's easy for us to imagine that jesus is sanctifying or legitimizing emotional blackmail as a means of incentivizing us to righteous living as a means to incentivize love so i want to be clear this evening that is not what jesus is doing here full stop that is not what jesus is doing here so what is jesus doing interestingly the greek word for command as in you my friends if you do whatsoever i command you carries with it a sense of vision a vision of the fulfillment or the flourishing of a thing we don't usually think of commands in this way a command for us is generally some action we're bound to perform on account of the compelling authority of the one who commands this vision of command though the one jesus has in mind has more to do with perceiving the real nature of a thing perceiving the course of that thing's real flourishing and responding to that perception that vision on account of the compelling and ecstatic joy involved in seeing that thing flourish and participating in that flourishing this is why for jesus joy and the commandment to love are fundamentally related these things have i spoken unto you that your joy might be full that your joy may be whole complete that you may be full of and fully joy the word for do as in do whatsoever i command you that word can also mean to bear fruit which is to say to do the commandment specifically here the command to love is to bear fruit according to a vision of human flourishing and fulfillment that comes from love and leads to love and is characterized by joy in love because make no mistake this love is in fact what we're meant for and who we really are that's why jesus uses this word abide abide in my love and abide does not just stay there just hang around abide is discover your home there discover your true self there take root there in love and thrive there so when jesus calls us his friends he's inviting us to share this vision his vision of humanity and of human flourishing in the cruel economy of fallen human relations the servant doesn't need to know why the master commands what the master commands the servant doesn't need to share the master's vision but a friend an equal has a share in a vision can be a partner in that vision's coming to be so jesus is saying here i have a vision of your fulfillment of your highest joy a joy that is in fact love and i'm going to show you what that vision is so that you can share it participate in it and do it not on your own and in a vacuum but in relationship with me and with a whole community that shares this vision in fact i'm going to give you my life all of me all of my humanity and all of my divinity says jesus so that you can share this vision so that you can share my life so that you may love and that your love may bear fruit in your lives so that your joy may be full now notice by the way that jesus seemingly randomly insists in the middle of this discourse that god has chosen us we didn't choose god but that is not random at all jesus knows he can't ask us for a love we do not have and in our fallen state in our addictions to power and violence wealth and self in our personal and corporate collusion with the political and social and economic systems principalities and powers of death and sin that promise us anything we want so long as it amounts to more of the same continuing bondage to the things we want the ongoing commodification and compromise of our humanity jesus understands we have no idea what love really is it is that distorted in us so in his mercy he's going to show us what love looks like and he's going to invite us to be patterned and shaped and formed according to that love which is to say he is going to render meaningless every death-centered thing we imagine meaningful the violence and power and self-seeking by which and around which we order our lives he's going to turn us and our world inside out he's going to topple every structure of sin we thought reliable he's going to shake our foundations to the core by the world's standards he will impoverish us and he will shatter us and leave us ecstatic and awash in the richness of his grace made whole in the wholeness of his own being in other words he is going to lay down his life for his friends his friends who don't even know they're his friends yet because they don't know what friendship really means his friends who will betray him beat him and spit on him whip him and mock him who will crown him with thorns drive nails through his hands and feed his friends who will tear open his heart he will lay down his life for them for us and rise from death to show them to show us that death has no part in him to show them to show us how little we know of love to show them to show us how much he delights in us loves us desires us to show them us how to love how to be poured out by love and for love and never be empty of love you are my friends if you do whatsoever i command you that is not an order that is an invitation that is jesus saying i have a vision of you and of your life that is completely grounded and at home in the love of god the love that delved the oceans and fired the stars and gave your hearts their beat a love that is your fulfillment and your flourishing a love you cannot imagine you cannot do this love on your own i need to do this love in you says jesus and what's more i desire to do this love in you let me do this love in you so your joy may be full now in this context the context of abiding in and abiding love those words regarding judas and acts are especially chilling he went to his own place but beloved we are not called to go to our own place our own dark field of blood we are called from our own place from our violence and death and into the light of christ's presence into the life of christ's body to be branches of the vine growing out towards the world in love and it is as a branch of the vine that saint matthias whom we celebrate today discovered his call our lord chose and called matthias in a way unique to the other apostles through community through the gathered community of his friends that is in fact his body a live wounded triumphant and beloved matthias here gives us the pattern of our own call as well we are called in community together in the midst of the changes and chances of this life the anxieties of the age the warfare the panic the fear the death we're invited to discover ourselves god's friends invited to abide together in something deeper than the world's sin sickness and ours the joy of god's love and we're invited to share the vision of that love that transforming and transfiguring love with the world you are my friends if you do whatsoever i command you to jesus christ the lover of our souls be all honor and glory with the father in the unity of the holy ghost ever one god world without end amen you i believe in one god the father almighty maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible and in one lord jesus christ the only begotten son of god begotten of his father before all worlds god of god light of light very god of very god begotten not made being if one substance with father by whom all things are made who for us men for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the holy ghost of the virgin mary and was made men and was crucified also for us under pontius pilate he suffered and was buried and the third day he rose again according to the scriptures and ascended into heaven and sitteth on the right hand of god and he shall come again with glory to judge both the quake and the dead whose kingdom shall have no end and i believe in the holy ghost the lord and give of life who proceeded from the father and the son who the father and the son together is worshiped and glorified is paid by the prophets and i believe one holy catholic and apostolic church i acknowledge on baptism for the remission of sins and i look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come amen lord jesus christ who said is unto thine apostles peace i give to you my own peace i leave with you regard not our sins but the faith of thy church and grant us the peace and unity of that heavenly city where we the father and the holy spirit thou livest and rainest now and forever the peace of the lord be always with with you r um let's just if you want good evening please be seated welcome to saint thomas church fifth avenue in the name of our lord jesus christ it is good to have you with us and it is good for those joining us via live stream we are very glad that you're here uh on behalf of the rector welcome he is away on a conference with some of the other priests and staff of the church um and he is but he is with us in spirit as they are um a few announcements uh communion will be as usual in one kind but please know that the fullness of jesus christ is given in the bread that you will receive in communion there are stations that you can use to sanitize your hands before coming up i also want to mention next week is the beginning of lent it is that close next week wednesday the second of uh march wednesday the second of wednesday the 2nd of march is ash wednesday and we will have three services 8 12 and 5 30. there will be imposition of ashes that is available throughout the day and there will be various times for confession as well and you can see those in uh the various announcements that would be made about our lenten offerings which include many adult education offerings there is also uh compline that we will be having together at 5 30 on fridays followed by a book study there is a sermon series at four o'clock on sundays there is an adult education series that's at 10 o'clock a.m on sundays there is a lot going on in lent to encourage us and invite us to keep a holy lent if you have any questions about what that might mean or if you're considering a spiritual discipline for lent or would just like some counsel as to what it might mean to deepen your prayer during this especially holy time please do talk with one of the clergy and we would be happy to um to pray with you and discern with you what it is that might be your discipline during this time again it is wonderful and good to have you with us walk in love as christ loved us and gave himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to god um [Music] is [Music] oh is [Music] [Music] please [Music] foreign [Music] please is [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] to [Music] foreign [Music] the lord be with you [Music] let us keep things unto our lord god [Music] it is very meat right in our about in duty that we should at all times and in all places give thanks unto thee oh lord holy father almighty everlasting god through the grace shepherd of thy flock jesus christ who after his resurrection sent forth his apostles to preach the gospel and to teach old nations and promise to be with them always even unto the end of the ages therefore with angels and archangels with all the company of heaven we load and magnify thy glorious name the lord praising thee insane [Music] foreign [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] my [Music] oh is [Applause] [Music] all glory be to thee the lord our god what if thou didst create heaven earth and did to make us in thine own image and of thy tender mercy this give thine only son jesus christ to take our nature upon him and to suffer death upon the cross for our redemption he made there a full and perfect sacrifice for the whole world and did institute and in his holy gospel command us to continue a perpetual memory of that his precious death and sacrifice until his coming again for in the night in which he was betrayed he took bread and when he had given thanks to thee he broke it and gave it to his disciples saying take eat this is my body which is given for you do this in remembrance of me likewise after supper he took the cup and when he had given thanks he gave it to them saying drink this all of you for this is my blood of the new covenant which is shed for you and for many for the remission of sins do this as often as he shall drink it in remembrance of me we for o lord and heavenly father we thy people do celebrate and make with these thy holy gifts which we now offer unto thee the memorial thy son has commanded us to make having in remembrance his blessed passion and precious death his mighty resurrection and glorious ascension and looking for his coming again with power and great glory and we most humbly beseech thee o merciful father to hear us and with thy word and holy spirit to bless and sanctify these gifts of bread and wine that they may be unto us the body and blood of the ideally beloved son jesus christ and we honestly desire thy fatherly goodness to accept this our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving whereby we offer and present unto thee oh lord ourselves our souls and bodies grant we beseech thee that all who partake of this holy communion may worthily receive the most precious body and blood of thy son jesus christ and be filled with thy grace heavily benediction and also that we and all thy whole church may be made one body within him that he may dwell in us and we in him through the same jesus christ our lord by whom and with whom and in whom in the unity of the holy ghost all honor and glory be unto thee who father almighty walled without hand [Music] and now as our savior christ have taught us we are bored to see [Music] as [Music] is [Music] forever um [Music] alleluia christ our passover is sacrificed for us r behold the lamb of god behold him that taketh away the sins of the world blessed are those who are called to his supper i am at this moment i invite you who are joining us live stream to make an act of holy communion inviting jesus into your heart under your roof may the body of christ bring me to everlasting life [Music] may the blood of christ bring me to everlasting life foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] what did you do let us pray almighty and ever-living god we most heartily thank thee for that thou dost feed us in these holy mysteries with the spiritual food of the most precious body and blood of thy son our savior jesus christ induced assure us thereby thy favor and goodness towards us and that we are very members incorporate in the mystical body of thy son the blessed company of all faithful people and also heirs through hope of thy everlasting kingdom and we humbly beseech thee the heavenly father so to assist us with thy grace that we may continue in that holy fellowship and do all such good works as thou hast prepared for us to end through jesus christ our lord to whom with thee and the holy ghost be all honor and glory world without end amen may god give you grace to follow his saints in faith hope and love and the blessing of god almighty the father the son and the holy spirit be among you and remain with you always amen let us go forth into the world rejoicing in the power of the spirit [Music] [Music] [Music] thank you you

Channel: Saint Thomas Church 5th Avenue

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Id: 8qrOE-EyCZc

Length: 86min 20sec (5180 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 25 2022