Listen to Readings and Sermon 9th Sunday after Pentecost The Good News Written Psalm 85.6-8 (NRSV) 6Will you not revive us again, so that your people may rejoice in you? 7Show us your steadfast love, O Lord, and grant us your salvation. 8Let me hear what God… will speak, for [God] will speak peace to [...]
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9th Sunday after Pentecost
The Good News Written
Psalm 85.6-8 (NRSV)
6Will you not revive us again, so that your people may rejoice in you? 7Show us your steadfast love, O Lord, and grant us your salvation. 8Let me hear what God… will speak, for [God] will speak peace to [the] people, to [the] faithful, to those who turn to [God] in their hearts.
From the Wisdom of Charles & Cora Fillmore
“We see logically that there cannot be any separation in spirit between the Creator and the created, but the created has the power to think of itself as separate from its source, and this thought makes a mental vacuum in which there is a total absence of spiritual attributes. The human family on this planet has set up this sort of a mental void, and unless we train our mind to think the truth, we find ourselves talking to God as if [God] were in the next room or in some far away heaven in the skies.”
Luke 11.1-4, 9-13 (NRSV)
1[Jesus] was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” 2Jesus said to them, “When you pray, say: Abba, hallowed be your name. Your dominion come. 3Give us each day our daily bread. 4And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us. And do not bring us to the time of trial.” 9“I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. 10For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. 11Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? 12Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? 13If you then… know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will God give the holy Spirit to those who ask!”
The Good News Proclaimed
Preached by the Reverend Michael A. Diaz at the Sunshine Cathedral on Sunday, July 25, 2010.
Our gospel lesson from Luke this week picks up right where we left off last week. If you recall, Rev. Dr. Durrell Watkins challenged us last week to compare the characters of Martha and Mary and encouraged us to be a bunch of Mary’s (queer Mary’s we are!). In this week’s episode, as you and I can surely relate, after dealing with a bunch of Mary’s, Jesus suddenly feels the need to pray. Sometimes even the best people around you, your own family or friends, will bug you and make you want to pray. My grandfather, who passed away earlier this year, grew up in a small South Texas town called Taft, TX. Taft has had a history of racial tension, and it was a segregated town when my grandfather was growing up. On one side of the railroad tracks lived the whites and on the other side lived the Latinos. Growing up in such an environment, there was always this mistrust my grandfather had of white people. Well, I remember in high school I was dating a cheerleader who happened to be white and I brought her home one day. Well after she left, my grandfather furiously came up and told me, “Mikito (little Mike), listen to me. Please don’t ever bring another white girl to this house.” And I immediately thought to myself, “Oh no, no, no. I have got to pray for this man. Help him God! Help him!” Well, I did pray and years later, I returned to my grandfather’s house. This time I brought a white boy home, and just like that, race was no longer an issue. My grandfather didn’t have a thing to say, but I have a strong suspicion that he felt the need to pray in that moment.
Do you ever find yourself in those moments when all of sudden, you urgently feel the need to pray? Moments when a tropical storm forms on your front porch and you have no time to prepare? Moments when that unexpected bill shows up in the mail? Moments when you receive news that your friend has just been rushed to the emergency room? Do you ever find yourself in those moments when all those around you just don’t understand the challenges you are going through? Moments when your back is against the wall and you feel as if you’re all alone? Do you ever feel the need to pray, but you have no clue what to say? Continue reading »
Listen to Readings and Sermon 8th Sunday after Pentecost The Good News Written Psalm 52.8-9 (NRSV) 8I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever. 9I will thank you forever, because of what you have done. In the presence of the [...]
Listen to Readings and Sermon
8th Sunday after Pentecost
The Good News Written
Psalm 52.8-9 (NRSV)
8I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever. 9I will thank you forever, because of what you have done. In the presence of the faithful I will proclaim your name, for it is good.
From the wisdom of Paramahansa Yogananda
“You demonstrate success or failure according to your habitual trend of thought… If your mind is ordinarily in a negative state, an occasional positive thought is not sufficient to attract success. But if you think rightly, you will find your goal even though you seem to be enveloped in darkness…
Don’t mentally review any problem constantly. Let it rest at times and it may work itself out; but see that you do not rest so long that your [discernment] is lost. Rather, use these rest periods to go deep within the calm region of your inner Self. Attuned with your soul, you will be able to think correctly regarding everything you do; and if your thoughts or actions have gone astray they can be realigned. This power of divine attunement can be achieved by practice and effort.”
Luke 10.38-42 (NRSV)
38Now as they went on their way, [Jesus] entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 39She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the [Teacher’s] feet and listened to what he was saying. 40But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, “[Sir], do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.” 41But [Jesus] answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; 42there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”
The Good News Proclaimed
Preached by the Reverend Doctor Durrell Watkins at the Sunshine Cathedral on Sunday, July18, 2010.
In the gospel story today, Martha is “playing the good host” but she isn’t really being attentive to Jesus. She is fussing, she is worrying, she is trying to be controlling…she is mostly stirring up anxiety and discord. She is more concerned with appearing to be a good host than she is about really spending time with Jesus and learning from him and then being part of his mission and message in the world. Martha isn’t a healing presence, but a source of aggravation.
Mary, by contrast, pays Jesus the highest compliment. She makes herself totally available to him. She gives him her undivided attention. She listens to him, taking the posture of a disciple, sitting at a great Teacher’s feet. And disciples are not only learners, they are then practitioners of what they have learned. So, by taking the posture of a student, she is also becoming a teacher herself. Mary is giving her attention to Jesus, and is wanting to extend his light to the world. Mary, Jesus says, has made the better choice. Continue reading »
Listen to Readings and Sermon 7th Sunday after Pentecost The Good News Written Deuteronomy 30.9-14 (NRSV) 9And… your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all your undertakings, in the fruit of your body, in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your soil. For the Lord will again take delight in [...]
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7th Sunday after Pentecost
The Good News Written
Deuteronomy 30.9-14 (NRSV)
9And… your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all your undertakings, in the fruit of your body, in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your soil. For the Lord will again take delight in prospering you… because you turn to… God with all your heart and with all your soul. 11Surely, this commandment that I am commanding you today is not too hard for you, nor is it too far away. 12It is not in heaven, that you should say, “Who will go up to heaven for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?” 13Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, “Who will cross to the other side of the sea for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?” 14No, the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe.
Luke 10.25-37 (NRSV)
25Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 26[Jesus] said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” 27He answered, “You shall love… your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” 28And [Jesus] said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.” 29But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. 31Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. 34He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.’ 36Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” 37He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
The Good News Proclaimed
Preached by the Reverend Doctor Durrell Watkins at the Sunshine Cathedral on Sunday, July11, 2010.
“Inherit eternal life…”
Inherit suggests that the life in question is something that we can expect, it is something we are meant to have, it is what has been planned for us to receive from the beginning. It is what has been promised to us; it has been bequeathed to us.
“Eternal” doesn’t mean a never-ending existence beginning after we die. Eternity has no beginning and no ending. Eternity not only always will be but also always has been. So eternal life isn’t about unfathomable longevity… it refers to the quality of life we are meant to have. It refers to divine life… such life never ends, but more importantly, such life is filled with all that God is. What must we do to receive our inheritance of God-life? How do we share in the life that God is? How do we access that divine principle, that divine presence that Deuteronomy 30 told us today is already in our hearts? That is the question asked of Jesus in today’s gospel. Continue reading »
Listen to Readings and Sermon 6th Sunday after Pentecost The Good News Written A meditation from the light of Frances W. Foulks “O Thou Christ of God within me, shine forth thy light continually on my path, that I may not turn aside. Be thou my guide every moment of every day… Give me courage! [...]
Listen to Readings and Sermon
6th Sunday after Pentecost
The Good News Written
A meditation from the light of Frances W. Foulks
“O Thou Christ of God within me, shine forth thy light continually on my path, that I may not turn aside. Be thou my guide every moment of every day… Give me courage! Give me strength! Give me faith! Give me love and patience and tolerance! I would follow all the way. I would cling to thy glorious presence until I too become glorified and a shining light in [the] world. So let it be for me… and for whosoever else may seek [the] inheritance of the All-Good.”
Luke 10.1-3, 8-9 (NRSV)
1After this [Jesus] appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. 2He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into [the] harvest. 3Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. 8Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; 9cure the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘The [commonwealth] of God has come near to you.’”
The Good News Proclaimed
Preached by the Reverend Doctor Durrell Watkins at the Sunshine Cathedral on Sunday, July 4, 2010.
The narrative of the founding of this nation, that is, the United States of America has a few wrinkles to the 21st century mind.
We can’t help but recall that there were already native inhabitants of North America before European colonizing powers seized their lands and exploited their resources.
And while we celebrate the colonies boldly seceding from the British Empire, we can’t help but ask ourselves, “What would happen if Florida decided to declare its independence from the United States today?” I’m guessing the US Government would respond in much the same way King George III’s government did, but much more swiftly and with much deadlier force. I am certain Floridian independence would be short-lived. Continue reading »
