Church of the Ascension

Archives for August 2020

Do Good. Don’t do Evil. Simple as that.

The Story for the
Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost
August 30, 2020

prepared by the Rev’d Rhonda Waters

Romans 12:9-21

Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honour. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” No, “if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. 

Something to Do

Let love be genuine; hate what is evil…

and the list goes on. Choose one of Paul’s instructions and really focus on it this week. How can you fully accomplish it in your day-to-day life?

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Pick any big problem in the world – climate change or income inequality or racism or social isolation…any big problem. Do one specific, concrete good thing to work towards overcoming it. It doesn’t have to be a big thing or a hard thing – just a thing you can do that helps you refuse to let the world be overcome by evil.

What did you do?

Something to Wonder

So. Many. Words.

Read the passage again, slowly, perhaps outloud. It is full of powerful words: honour; zeal; persevere; bless; weep; haughty; peaceably.

Do any of the words in the passage make you uncomfortable? Why?

Which words do you particularly like? Why?

Leave room for the wrath of God

We don’t talk a lot about the wrath of God, preferring instead to focus on God’s mercy. Is mercy possible, though, in the absence of judgement?

How do you understand God’s role as judge? Does the idea that God gets angry make sense to you? Why or why not?

Are you satisfied letting God handle your vengeance or do you want to take such matters into your own hands?

Something to Learn

Paul’s Letter to the Romans

Paul’s letter to the church in Rome is his last and longest letter. It is also the only letter we have which he wrote to a community he had never met in person. He sent the letter ahead of himself to serve as something of an introduction – quite the introduction, indeed!

These two short articles offer fascinating insights into what might have been going on in the Christian community in Rome at the time.

“Earliest Days of the Roman Christian Church” by Sam O’Neal

“Something About the Book of Romans that will Help You Really “Get” It” by Kenneth Berding, Talbot School of Theology

Something to Pray

Holy God, we do not always understand your word or your ways. 
Give us wisdom and imagination and courage as we learn and grow. 

The story this week has made me wonder about…
         (what questions are still on your heart?)
Receive my questions and help me hear your answers.

The story this week has filled me with…
         (how are you feeling?)
Accept my praise, heal my hurt, ease my worry.

The story this week has reminded me of…
         (are there situations or people you are thinking of?)
Be with all who are in need of you.

In Jesus’ name, we pray.
Amen.

Gifts from God, Gifts for God

The Story for the
Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost
August 23, 2020

prepared by the Rev’d Rhonda Waters

Romans 12:1-8

I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God – what is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgement, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.

Something to Do

Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God

Your body, alive and vibrant, is holy and acceptable to God. Do something to enjoy it:

  • move it in a way that feels good;
  • rest it in a way that feels good;
  • use it to touch things that feel good, smell things that smell good, eat things that taste good.

Use it to do God’s work:

  • create something beautiful
  • tend God’s earth
  • care for another person

Be transformed by the renewing of your mind

Your mind is also a gift from God, to be treasured and placed at God’s service. Do something to enjoy it:

Use it to do God’s work:

  • create something beautiful
  • plan a strategy to implement something you have learned
  • write a letter to a politician about something you care about

Something to Wonder

Do not think more highly of yourself that you ought – but do not think less of yourself either!

Paul tells the Christians in Rome that each of them has gifts needed by the community – and no one has all the gifts needed by the community. The challenge, then, is to discern and embrace your true gifts. Take a look at the list of gifts identified in this week’s passage. Where do you see yourself? How would you describe your gift? How do you make use of them?

good, acceptable, perfect

“what is good, acceptable, and perfect” – this is the test Paul describes for discerning the will of God. What do these words mean to you? How do you know what is “good, acceptable, and perfect”? Have you experienced making a choice and then discovering the outcome was (or was not) “good, acceptable, and perfect”?

Something to Learn

Spiritual Gifts Inventory

This is not the only letter in which Paul encourages Christians to contemplate the gifts they have been given and commit to placing those gifts in God’s service. There have been many books and tools developed to help modern Christians do this work for themselves.

Take a look at this resource shared by St. John’s Anglican Cathedral in Winnipeg, including a test you can take for yourself.

Something to Pray

Holy God, we do not always understand your word or your ways. 
Give us wisdom and imagination and courage as we learn and grow. 

The story this week has made me wonder about…
         (what questions are still on your heart?)
Receive my questions and help me hear your answers.

The story this week has filled me with…
         (how are you feeling?)
Accept my praise, heal my hurt, ease my worry.

The story this week has reminded me of…
         (are there situations or people you are thinking of?)
Be with all who are in need of you.

In Jesus’ name, we pray.
Amen.

Great is Your Faith

The Story for the
Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost
August 16, 2020

prepared by the Rev’d Adam Brown

Matthew 15:21-28

The Canaanite Woman’s Faith

21 Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22 Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” 23 But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.” 24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25 But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” 26 He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” 27 She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” 28 Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed instantly.

Something to Do

Finding the Lost and Forgotten

Take a look around your house and find something that you thought you’d lost or something that you’d forgotten all about. It can be something significant and nostalgic, or something ordinary; how is God speaking through that object? Where was God in the memories it conjures?

Something to Wonder

Food for the Dogs

Jesus noted that, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs,” but in response the woman noted that even the dogs get the scraps that fall from the table. Dogs were considered unclean animals and represented the gentiles, so the woman was, in a way, finishing Jesus’ sentence in that the “food” that Jesus brought would be extended to those throughout the world, especially to those in the margins. It’s often said that we can say where God is, but we can never say where God is not. Ponder that thought throughout the week.

Great Faith

The disciples aren’t known for their patience. In this story they urged Jesus to just heal the daughter so the woman would stop interrupting; to just, in a way, give them what they want so they’ll just go away. Jesus, though, responds by giving the woman an opportunity to express her faith more clearly, leading to Jesus affirming that she is a woman of “great faith” where, mere sentences before during the storm on the Sea of Galilee, Jesus called the disciples, men of “little faith”. In what ways have you been annoyed by a voice which you had not recognized to be God’s, or as one full of faith?

Something to Learn

Dorothy Day and “The Catholic Worker” Movement

Dorothy Day (1897-1980) was born an Anglican in New York City, but eventually became a Roman Catholic during her life. She was a revolutionary figure in the modern development of the Christian spirituality of radical social justice, and she is celebrated today in both the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches as a hero. Since she was originally a journalist, she wrote a great deal (most notably her autobiography, “The Long Loneliness”), all of which you can find online, but the reflection linked below offers a brief glimpse into her work with the poor and marginalized as a cornerstone of her faith.

“The mystery of the poor is this: That they are Jesus, and what you do for them you do for Him. It is the only way we have of knowing and believing in our love. The mystery of poverty is that by sharing in it, making ourselves poor in giving to others, we increase our knowledge of and belief in love.” (Dorothy Day)

https://www.catholicworker.org/dorothyday/articles/189.html

Something to Pray

Holy God, we do not always understand your word or your ways. 
Give us wisdom and imagination and courage as we learn and grow. 

The story this week has made me wonder about…
         (what questions are still on your heart?)
Receive my questions and help me hear your answers.

The story this week has filled me with…
         (how are you feeling?)
Accept my praise, heal my hurt, ease my worry.

The story this week has reminded me of…
         (are there situations or people you are thinking of?)
Be with all who are in need of you.

In Jesus’ name, we pray.
Amen.