The Voice of the Winged Ox presents Albert Brown for "This I Believe" The Organizational and Operational Church
You can order Whose
Bible Is It
Misquoting
Jesus
For an interview with Jaroslav Pelikan, listen to Speaking of Faith Pelikan lived most of his life as a Lutheran but became a member of the Orthodox Church in America in his later life.
The Voice of the Winged Ox presents Dig a Little Deeper
You can read the lessonshere.
Here is Father Eric's sermon outline.
Real Character
Tough Parable?needs a step by step walk through.
What did it mean then?(What lessons can we draw today?(
How can we apply these lessons to our lives?
This is a shocking story and clearly Jesus anticipates objections. Why would he commend anyone who had anything to do with "ill-gotten gains", whether they had finally used them shrewdly or not? Jesus' answer is that one's use of dishonest wealth is a kind of "test case" that reveals how one would handle "real" things. Only those who, like the steward, have proven themselves trustworthy and reliable in lesser matters will be entrusted with things of greater significance. Jesus suggests here that his followers should not ignore or separate themselves from the "messy" things of this world in favor of more pure and lofty pursuits. On the contrary, it is precisely in how we handle the difficult and morally ambiguous situations presented to us in real life that we reveal our true character, just as the true character of the steward is revealed by the crisis he faces.
Very tempting to totally separate two realms of "spiritual" and "earthly". From way back Christians thought of the world as corrupt and evil and longed to get away to the pure, holy spiritual world. Southwest Airlines "Want to get away?" Some churches today encourage members to separate themselves from the world as much as possible and live in a spiritual bubble: Christian friends, home schooling, vote for Christian candidates, shop at Christian stores, watch and listen to Christian movies and music.
But even if we try to live in a totally spiritual world, it's not possible. Passionate Spirituality is not lived away from this world but in it, in the messiness of life, in the joys and problems and crises. This means that we are not called to avoid the things of this world, but instead to use them in the service of the kingdom. If that weaselly manager could save his own skin by using his intelligence and shrewdness, how much more can we advance the kingdom of God by doing the same.
That means it's OK to have and to use our skills and knowledge in money and accounting, real estate, business, media and the world wide web. A few examples recently at St. Luke's:
Retreat on passionate spirituality. Key is to turn all that over to God. To make sure that we are using these not just for selfish personal gain, but to carry out God's work of reconciling love in the world. By practicing with these earthly things, God is preparing us to handle the heavenly things.
Core belief must stay at the center as we try in and through the things of this world to serve
God our Savior, who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God; there is also one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus, himself human, who gave himself a ransom for all.
1 Timothy 2:3-6
Our music is Dawn by Josh Winiberg available at beatpick.com
Our presenter today is Sandi Gustafson, a member of Saint Luke's. I've titled her talk The Least of These
The notes below expand on Sandi's presentation.
[Jesus said,] "for I was hungry, and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you took me in. I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came to me."
"Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry, and feed you; or thirsty, and give you a drink? When did we see you as a stranger, and take you in; or naked, and clothe you? When did we see you sick, or in prison, and come to you?'
"The King will answer them, 'Most certainly I tell you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brothersand sisters, you did it to me.' Then he will say also to those on the left hand, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you didn't give me food to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink; I was a stranger, and you didn't take me in; naked, and you didn't clothe me; sick, and in prison, and you didn't visit me.'
"Then they will also answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and didn't help you?'
"Then he will answer them, saying, 'Most certainly I tell you, inasmuch as you didn't do it to one of the least of these, you didn't do it to me.'"*
.
Luke 6:31
[Jesus said,] "As you would like people to do to you, do exactly so to them"*
[Jesus said,] "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."*
Most merciful God,
we confess that we have sinned against you
in thought, word, and deed,
by what we have done,
and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with our whole heart;
we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.
For the sake of you Son Jesus Christ,
have mercy on us and forgive us;
that we may delight in your will,
and walk in your ways,
to the glory of your Name. Amen. **
A 3-disk set from the NPR series "This I Believe". Sandi really enjoyed listening to them. She thinks that she enjoyed Albert Einstein's best. You can find out more about the discs and the hard cover edition by going to The NPR Shop
Sandi also read a great book entitled
The
Life of Meaning: Reflections on Faith, Doubt, and Repairing the World
You can order it by clicking on the link.
* from the World English Bible
** from the Book of Common Prayer
Our music is The First Sunday by Jeff Wahl available at magnatune.com
Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing
Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
The Voice of the Winged Oxpresents Attitude of Gratitude. Mother Susan invites us to keep a gratitude journal. Here's why.
You can read
the lessonshere.
For an article about the gratitude study, see this article.
Dr. Emmons has written a book about health and gratitude. You can order
Thanks!:
How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make you Happier
Our music is by Josh Winiberg, Dawn, available from beatpick.com
In today’s world, many of the conflicts we see are shaped, at least in part, by religion. Differences between religions and even within religions cause a variety of problems at home and abroad. Here at St. Luke's we are exploring our own core beliefs as Christians and Episcopalians. Listen in as we ask ourselves how our beliefs shape our values and our actions. Over the coming weeks we will hear from a variety of people about the intersection of their faith and life.
The Voice of the Winged Ox presents Mystery and Simplicity by Jay Phillippi.
Jay Phillippi is the youth missioner for the Episcopal Church in Western New York
Our music is The First Sunday by Jeff Wahl available at magnatune.com
The Voice of the Winged Oxpresentsour seminary intern. Paul preaches on exaltation and humility. Jesus lived in a complex world of social customs. Jesus' counsel is to act with humility.
You can read the lessonsfor today's sermon here.
For more information on the social customs in first century Palestine, you may order The
Social World of Luke-Acts
Our music is by Josh Winiberg available at beatpick.com
If you would like to download a copy of Interior Castle, you can do this. The Christian Classics Etherial Library is a great source for public domain works.
If you would like to read more about revmerrill and Elwood, her Seeing Eye dog, and their adventuresyou can visit her blog.
The Voice of the Winged Ox presents Father Eric and revmerrill at the Labyrinth Cafe in conversation about Having a Personal Relationship with God. We hope to make these conversations a regular feature on our podcast.
You can read the article Hitchens Takes on Mother Theresa here.
You may order Interior
Castle by Theresa of Avila
