Sunday School?
"Welcome, happy morning!" age to age shall say:
hell today is vanquished; heav'n is won today.
Lo! the Dead is living, God forevermore!
Him, their true Creator, all his works adore.
"Welcome, happy morning!" age to age shall say.
Welcome, happy morning, Sunday School classmates, friends and neighbors! My all time favorite Easter hymn, by Fortunatus** dates from about 603 AD.
This morning I'll say we're in class together in the parish library, with the table full as usual and maybe a few people have grabbed extra chairs and are sitting across on the library side of the Gator moat the library ladies taped off to mark our space from theirs. A full class then. We have the worship bulletin for eight o'clock, with the Propers (scroll down).
Nobody remembered to bring the Quiz, so we open with the Collect and have a look at what it suggests about today's theme, the Good Shepherd. Also at theology, it asserts that Jesus is God's Son, that Jesus is our good shepherd, that Jesus calls us each by name, he has a personal relationship with you (see, doing theology is that easy).
For contrast, we'll thumb back to a couple of the Eighth Century Prophets of Doom, Amos and Micah, and chase around to see what scripturally bad shepherds have been like in God's experience with us humans. As a handout I'm giving you a photocopy page from Strong's Concordance, to show what a concordance is and is for, and to help us locate Bible passages about shepherds in Micah and Amos.
Glancing from the Collect down to the Psalm and the Gospel, it's obvious that Easter 4 is "Good Shepherd Sunday".
Easter is a season in the church year when baptism is especially appropriate on Sunday mornings, and we see hints of this in the Acts reading. With it in mind, we turn in the BCP to the liturgy for Holy Baptism and rehearse the Baptismal Covenant together. IMHO, this covenant, the Apostles' Creed with promises added, is more significant and far more important to our everyday lives as Christians, than the theologically more elaborate, complex, not to say abstruse, Nicene Creed that the rubrics require us to stand and say every Sunday morning. If I were General Convention, I'd put the Nicene Creed in the back of the BCP with historical documents, and we'd renew our baptismal vows every Sunday instead. Before Covid-19 with Shelter in Place my intent was to devote a couple of summer 2020 Sunday School sessions to explore the Nicene Creed, its content and history. But stay tuned!
We've fairly well explored Acts in class over the years, but never 1 Peter, a worthy epistle and promising adventure that the lectionary has us reading through, snippets anyway, during Easter Season Year A.
Exploring the 1 Peter lesson we'll look first at what various scholars say about the epistle's dating and authorship. The book has five chapters and today we'll read chapters one and two. It sounds like 1 Peter uses the Old Testament extensively, and in Isaiah 53 we'll read about the Suffering Servant, an innocent, tormented figure whom Christians generally take for Jesus; even though that's not who Isaiah had in mind (who might Isaiah have meant?). It hasn't been long since we read all four Suffering Servant passages in class.
This writing is reminiscent of Paul, so we'll chase down some similarities between Peter and what Paul says about Jesus.
The reading praises the suffering of the innocent and charges us to emulate Christ, does this indicate that recipients of the epistle were suffering persecution? What do you feel that might have to do with you, with us?
Note that 1 Peter holds Christ to be without sin, an assertion central to Christian doctrine. Let's explore that in class this morning. In your mind, what might that mean that Jesus, as fully human ("and was made man"), might have missed that is a normal part of the life of any normal adult human being? Can you visualize Jesus with a spouse? With children? Is anger a sin? Can you recall Jesus being angry and lashing out?
The 1 Peter reading seems to assert blood atonement for the forgiveness of our sins, that our justification, our righteousness before God, is purchased by the blood of Christ. How do you feel about that? Open the BCP and read Eucharistic Prayers I and A and, with lex orandi lex credendi in mind, talk about whether the church seems to hold that doctrine.
In my email exchange with SS students this week, some suggested we try a ZOOM Sunday School session. That's the kind of reimagining thinking we're supposed to be doing during Shelter in Place. The idea is quite new to me, I'm contemplating it but a little hesitant. What do you think? Is it just "a good idea" or would you yourself personally actually turn on, tune in, and participate? The whole idea is - - well, we didn't meet like that when I was a boy. What do you think?
The Collect
O God, whose Son Jesus is the good shepherd of your people: Grant that when we hear his voice we may know him who calls us each by name, and follow where he leads; who, with you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
The First Lesson
Acts 2:42-47
Those who had been baptized devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.
The Response
Psalm 23
1 The Lord is my shepherd; *
I shall not be in want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures *
and leads me beside still waters.
3 He revives my soul *
and guides me along right pathways for his Name's sake.
4 Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I shall fear no evil; *
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
5 You spread a table before me in the presence of those who trouble me; *
you have anointed my head with oil,
and my cup is running over.
6 Surely your goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, *
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
The Epistle
1 Peter 2:19-25
It is a credit to you if, being aware of God, you endure pain while suffering unjustly. If you endure when you are beaten for doing wrong, what credit is that? But if you endure when you do right and suffer for it, you have God's approval. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps.
“He committed no sin,
and no deceit was found in his mouth.”
When he was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.
The Gospel
John 10:1-10
Jesus said, “Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.” Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.
So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”
++++++++++++++++
** As amongst the sophisticated there is a grand snobbery that affects to scorn the inferior work, hymns and poetry, of Fortunatus (ca 530-609 AD), he isn't sung often, especially in the Episcopal Church, where the unforgivable sin is not blasphemy against the Holy Spirit but poor taste. Nevertheless, my favorite Easter hymn is his "'Welcome, happy morning!' age to age shall say" and in my churches it was always our opening hymn on Easter Day. In my twenty-one-plus years of retirement I've tried to make sure we sing it once during the Easter Season, generally the first Easter Sunday that I'm preaching, Low Sunday, Easter 2. And I remember specifying it to be the entrance hymn my final and retirement Sunday at Trinity, Apalachicola even though it was not springtime but a lovely fall morning three months before Christmas.
Fortnatus has an interesting history and was fairly prolific: https://hymnary.org/person/Fortunatus_VHC
Motoring on StAndrewsBay on Saturday, Columbia https://panamacityliving.com/homeport-and-destinations-brian-disernias-schooner-columbia/
hell today is vanquished; heav'n is won today.
Lo! the Dead is living, God forevermore!
Him, their true Creator, all his works adore.
"Welcome, happy morning!" age to age shall say.
Welcome, happy morning, Sunday School classmates, friends and neighbors! My all time favorite Easter hymn, by Fortunatus** dates from about 603 AD.
This morning I'll say we're in class together in the parish library, with the table full as usual and maybe a few people have grabbed extra chairs and are sitting across on the library side of the Gator moat the library ladies taped off to mark our space from theirs. A full class then. We have the worship bulletin for eight o'clock, with the Propers (scroll down).
Nobody remembered to bring the Quiz, so we open with the Collect and have a look at what it suggests about today's theme, the Good Shepherd. Also at theology, it asserts that Jesus is God's Son, that Jesus is our good shepherd, that Jesus calls us each by name, he has a personal relationship with you (see, doing theology is that easy).
For contrast, we'll thumb back to a couple of the Eighth Century Prophets of Doom, Amos and Micah, and chase around to see what scripturally bad shepherds have been like in God's experience with us humans. As a handout I'm giving you a photocopy page from Strong's Concordance, to show what a concordance is and is for, and to help us locate Bible passages about shepherds in Micah and Amos.
Glancing from the Collect down to the Psalm and the Gospel, it's obvious that Easter 4 is "Good Shepherd Sunday".
Easter is a season in the church year when baptism is especially appropriate on Sunday mornings, and we see hints of this in the Acts reading. With it in mind, we turn in the BCP to the liturgy for Holy Baptism and rehearse the Baptismal Covenant together. IMHO, this covenant, the Apostles' Creed with promises added, is more significant and far more important to our everyday lives as Christians, than the theologically more elaborate, complex, not to say abstruse, Nicene Creed that the rubrics require us to stand and say every Sunday morning. If I were General Convention, I'd put the Nicene Creed in the back of the BCP with historical documents, and we'd renew our baptismal vows every Sunday instead. Before Covid-19 with Shelter in Place my intent was to devote a couple of summer 2020 Sunday School sessions to explore the Nicene Creed, its content and history. But stay tuned!
We've fairly well explored Acts in class over the years, but never 1 Peter, a worthy epistle and promising adventure that the lectionary has us reading through, snippets anyway, during Easter Season Year A.
Exploring the 1 Peter lesson we'll look first at what various scholars say about the epistle's dating and authorship. The book has five chapters and today we'll read chapters one and two. It sounds like 1 Peter uses the Old Testament extensively, and in Isaiah 53 we'll read about the Suffering Servant, an innocent, tormented figure whom Christians generally take for Jesus; even though that's not who Isaiah had in mind (who might Isaiah have meant?). It hasn't been long since we read all four Suffering Servant passages in class.
This writing is reminiscent of Paul, so we'll chase down some similarities between Peter and what Paul says about Jesus.
The reading praises the suffering of the innocent and charges us to emulate Christ, does this indicate that recipients of the epistle were suffering persecution? What do you feel that might have to do with you, with us?
Note that 1 Peter holds Christ to be without sin, an assertion central to Christian doctrine. Let's explore that in class this morning. In your mind, what might that mean that Jesus, as fully human ("and was made man"), might have missed that is a normal part of the life of any normal adult human being? Can you visualize Jesus with a spouse? With children? Is anger a sin? Can you recall Jesus being angry and lashing out?
The 1 Peter reading seems to assert blood atonement for the forgiveness of our sins, that our justification, our righteousness before God, is purchased by the blood of Christ. How do you feel about that? Open the BCP and read Eucharistic Prayers I and A and, with lex orandi lex credendi in mind, talk about whether the church seems to hold that doctrine.
In my email exchange with SS students this week, some suggested we try a ZOOM Sunday School session. That's the kind of reimagining thinking we're supposed to be doing during Shelter in Place. The idea is quite new to me, I'm contemplating it but a little hesitant. What do you think? Is it just "a good idea" or would you yourself personally actually turn on, tune in, and participate? The whole idea is - - well, we didn't meet like that when I was a boy. What do you think?
The Collect
O God, whose Son Jesus is the good shepherd of your people: Grant that when we hear his voice we may know him who calls us each by name, and follow where he leads; who, with you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
The First Lesson
Acts 2:42-47
Those who had been baptized devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.
The Response
Psalm 23
1 The Lord is my shepherd; *
I shall not be in want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures *
and leads me beside still waters.
3 He revives my soul *
and guides me along right pathways for his Name's sake.
4 Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I shall fear no evil; *
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
5 You spread a table before me in the presence of those who trouble me; *
you have anointed my head with oil,
and my cup is running over.
6 Surely your goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, *
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
The Epistle
1 Peter 2:19-25
It is a credit to you if, being aware of God, you endure pain while suffering unjustly. If you endure when you are beaten for doing wrong, what credit is that? But if you endure when you do right and suffer for it, you have God's approval. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps.
“He committed no sin,
and no deceit was found in his mouth.”
When he was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.
The Gospel
John 10:1-10
Jesus said, “Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.” Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.
So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”
++++++++++++++++
** As amongst the sophisticated there is a grand snobbery that affects to scorn the inferior work, hymns and poetry, of Fortunatus (ca 530-609 AD), he isn't sung often, especially in the Episcopal Church, where the unforgivable sin is not blasphemy against the Holy Spirit but poor taste. Nevertheless, my favorite Easter hymn is his "'Welcome, happy morning!' age to age shall say" and in my churches it was always our opening hymn on Easter Day. In my twenty-one-plus years of retirement I've tried to make sure we sing it once during the Easter Season, generally the first Easter Sunday that I'm preaching, Low Sunday, Easter 2. And I remember specifying it to be the entrance hymn my final and retirement Sunday at Trinity, Apalachicola even though it was not springtime but a lovely fall morning three months before Christmas.
Fortnatus has an interesting history and was fairly prolific: https://hymnary.org/person/Fortunatus_VHC
Motoring on StAndrewsBay on Saturday, Columbia https://panamacityliving.com/homeport-and-destinations-brian-disernias-schooner-columbia/