Church of the Ascension

Ascension Office

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.

Walking on Water

The Story for the
Tenth Sunday after Pentecost
August 9, 2020

prepared by the Rev’d Adam Brown

Matthew 14:22-33

Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds.And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshipped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

Something to Do

Walking with God

Go for a walk this week and search out places or moments where the calm of God is walking in the midst of the chaos of the world.

Spiritual Gardening

Draw the outline of a boat on a piece of paper.  On another, smaller, piece of paper, write down something about your own life that’s holding you back in your comfort zone. Over the course of the week, either think, write, or draw about ways you can overcome that fear and take that leap of faith.

Something to Wonder

The Boat of Life

The boat in the story was filled with the disciples which has often been interpreted as a symbol of the community of Christians throughout the world.  How do you see yourself contributing to the navigation of the boat through the waters?

Leap of Faith

It wasn’t Peter’s first instinct to jump out of the boat to meet Jesus, but Jesus had to extend an invitation.  How do you listen through your own “stormy weather” in your life to hear the call of Jesus? What is Jesus saying to you that might draw you out of your comfort zone?

Something to Learn

Exploring the Depth of God’s Creation

Learn about the deepest, darkest, places of God’s Creation here on earth: the ocean floor, especially the most remote underwater locations where humans rarely go.

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.