Celebrate,
Understand, Restore, Renew, Hope, Wear the Armor of Light, and
LABOR DAY,
a tribute to the contributions workers have made
to strength, prosperity, and well-being.
The
Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: This month shall mark for
you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you.
Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth of this month they are
to take a lamb for each family, a lamb for each household. If a household is
too small for a whole lamb, it shall join its closest neighbor in obtaining
one; the lamb shall be divided in proportion to the number of people who eat of
it. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a year-old male; you may take it from
the sheep or from the goats. You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this
month; then the whole assembled congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at
twilight. They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and
the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the lamb that
same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire with unleavened bread and
bitter herbs. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted over the
fire, with its head, legs, and inner organs. You shall let none of it remain
until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. This
is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your
staff in your hand; and you shall eat it hurriedly. It is the passover of the
Lord. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike
down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both human beings and animals; on
all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgements: I am the Lord. The blood shall
be a sign for you on the houses where you live: when I see the blood, I will
pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall
celebrate it as a festival to the Lord; throughout your generations you shall
observe it as a perpetual ordinance.
Exodus 12:1-14
Celebration
SWANSON,
John August
Serigraph
1997
http://www.johnaugustswanson.com/default.cfm/PID=1.2.9
A
joyful portrayal of people uniting in praise and worship.
The colorful style and
complex composition create a beautiful image
that commemorates the
joy of the human spirit.
As the musicians play,
the people unite, holding candles up
in a festive dance of
jubilant celebration.
https://www.eyekons.com/john_swanson_serigraphs/john_swanson_celebration_s
About
the Artist:
http://www.johnaugustswanson.com/default.cfm/PID%3d1.html
The moon looks wonderful in this warm evening light,
just as a candle flame looks beautiful in the light of
morning.
Light within light...It seems to me to be a metaphor for the
human soul,
the singular light within that great general light of
existence.
~
Marilynne Robinson
The fingers of your thoughts
are molding your face ceaselessly.
~
Charles Reznikoff
Traffic
jam!
There
were about 30 elk taking their time to cross the road.
Then,
they started going back the other way.
This
calf decided to start nursing in the middle of the road!
The greatness of a community is most accurately measured
by the compassionate actions of its members,
a heart of grace, and a soul generated by love.
~
Coretta Scott King
September 6, 2020 Twenty-third Sunday
in Ordinary Time Year A
Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 18)
Previous OPQs may be found at:
"If another member of the
church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are
alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. But if you are
not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may
be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If the member refuses
to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen
even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax-collector.
Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and
whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, truly I tell you,
if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by
my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there
among them."
Matthew 18:15-20
Agnus
Day, by James Wetzstein
Agnus
Day appears with the permission of www.agnusday.org
The
First Passover
Exodus 12:1-14 with Psalm
149 or
Ezekiel
33:7-11 with Psalm 119:33-40
Romans
13:8-14
Matthew
18:15-20
Exodus
12:1-14
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: This
month shall mark for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month
of the year for you. Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth of
this month they are to take a lamb for each family, a lamb for each household.
If a household is too small for a whole lamb, it shall join its closest
neighbor in obtaining one; the lamb shall be divided in proportion to the
number of people who eat of it. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a year-old
male; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. You shall keep it until
the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembled congregation of
Israel shall slaughter it at twilight. They shall take some of the blood and
put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.
They shall eat the lamb that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the
fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled
in water, but roasted over the fire, with its head, legs, and inner organs. You
shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the
morning you shall burn. This is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your
sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it
hurriedly. It is the passover of the Lord. For I will pass through the land of
Egypt that night, and I will strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt,
both human beings and animals; on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgements:
I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live:
when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you
when I strike the land of Egypt.
This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall
celebrate it as a festival to the Lord; throughout your generations you shall
observe it as a perpetual ordinance.
Psalm
149
Praise God!
Sing to God
a new song,
sing God's praise
in the assembly
of the faithful.
Let Israel be glad
in its Maker;
let the children of Zion
rejoice in their Ruler.
Let them praise God's name
with dancing,
making melody to God
with tambourine and lyre.
For God takes pleasure
in the people;
God adorns the humble
with victory.
Let the faithful exult
in glory;
let them sing for joy
on their couches.
Let the high praises of God
be in their throats
and two-edged swords
in their hands,
to execute vengeance
on the nations
and punishment
on the peoples,
to bind their ruler
with fetters
and their nobles
with chains of iron,
to execute on them
the judgement decreed.
This is glory for all
God's faithful ones.
Praise to be God!
or
Ezekiel
33:7-11
So you, mortal, I have made a sentinel for the house of Israel;
whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If
I say to the wicked, "O wicked ones, you shall surely die," and you
do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from their ways, the wicked shall die
in their iniquity, but their blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn
the wicked to turn from their ways, and they do not turn from their ways, the
wicked shall die in their iniquity, but you will have saved your life.
Now you, mortal, say to the house of Israel, Thus you have said:
"Our transgressions and our sins weigh upon us, and we waste away because
of them; how then can we live?" Say to them, As I live, says the Lord God,
I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from
their ways and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways; for why will you
die, O house of Israel?
Psalm
119:33-40
Teach me, O God,
the way of your statutes,
and I will observe it
to the end.
Give me understanding,
that I may keep your law
and observe it
with my whole heart.
Lead me in the path
of your commandments,
for I delight in it.
Turn my heart to your decrees,
and not to selfish gain.
Turn my eyes from looking at vanities;
give me life in your ways.
Confirm to your servant
your promise,
which is for those
who fear you.
Turn away the disgrace
that I dread,
for your ordinances are good.
See, I have longed
for your precepts;
in your righteousness
give me life.
Romans
13:8-14
Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who
loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, "You shall not
commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not
covet"; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, "Love
your neighbor as yourself." Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore,
love is the fulfilling of the law.
Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment
for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we
became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside
the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us live honorably as
in the day, not in revelling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and
licentiousness, not in quarrelling and jealousy. Instead, put on the Lord Jesus
Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
Matthew
18:15-20
"If another member of the church sins against you, go and
point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to
you, you have regained that one. But if you are not listened to, take one or
two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence
of two or three witnesses. If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to
the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such
a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax-collector. Truly I tell you, whatever
you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will
be loosed in heaven. Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth
about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For
where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them."