Rejoice!

… lost and found, doomed and saved, scattered and gathered …

 

 

1Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. 2And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, "This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them."

3So he told them this parable: 4"Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? 5When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. 6And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.' 7Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

8"Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? 9When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.' 10Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

Luke 15:1-10 *

 

Good Shepherd

TANNER, Henry Ossawa

1902-1903

Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University

New Brunswick

New Jersey

United States

 

https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/diglib-fulldisplay.pl?SID=20220905631519591&code=ACT&RC=57405&Row=15

 

This examination of Henry Ossawa Tanner’s The Good Shepherd highlights the distinction between art and illustration. While the purpose of illustrations is primarily to depict a subject, works of art draw the viewer into a more complex and meaningful engagement. Employing form and color to activate the viewer’s spiritual imagination, Tanner’s painting visualizes a faith in a divine shepherded who watches over his flock through the night hours of tribulation. Written and narrated by Dr. James Romaine.



https://www.museio.org/story/henry-ossawa-tanner-the-good-shepherd



 

 

 

 

 

If one sheep is with the shepherd

and ninety-nine aren’t, who’s really the stray?

~ Sarah Dylan Breuer *

 

 

 

The way to love anything is to realize

that it may be lost.

~ G.K. Chesterton

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pastor Richard Aylor, on the right, was visited here by his father for a week.

 

Rev. Richard was my guest at Rotary this week.

Here he greets Rev. Kimra Perkins and Rev. Jack Stapleton.

 

Clean-up Day at church this morning!

What to do with all this junk?

Why, Evergreen Rotary’s Recycle Day on September 24th, of course!

 

 

Tina Yoshioka

August 24, 2022

Her name Tina comes from a lotus flower. In  Japanese her name is 陽奈. Unfortunately a kanji for the sound “Ti” didn’t really exist.  We choose 陽 which means the sun in Japanese as we found out that in the southern island of Japan (Okinawa) they have a dialect to call the sun “tida”. So we decided to use this kanji character. To hope she will be a person who will light up the room like the bright summer sun. And “na(in Japanese 奈)” is the same character as my name Junna(潤奈) my sister’s  Reina(玲奈) and Elena (絵礼奈). We all share the same letter! 

(Junna Sakamoto Yoshioka)

 

 

Tina with her big brother, Ray

She has been a delight ever since she joined us. And Ray loves her very much! He is taking good care of her by offering his famous playdough sushi! 

(Junna Sakamoto Yoshioka)

 

 

 

 

 

Losing an illusion makes you wiser

than finding a truth.

~ Ludwig Börne

 

 

 

 

 

September 11, 2022  Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost - Year C

 

Previous OPQs may be found at:

     http://www.dotjack.com/opq.htm

 

*  Used in 2007

LUKE 15:1-10 

The Parable of the Ninety-Nine
(or why it's probably a good thing that sheep don't talk)

by Sarah Dylan Breuer

 

Once there was a shepherd who had a hundred sheep. One of them went astray. The shepherd's colleagues figured this was probably due to some carelessness on the shepherd's part -- after all, when the shepherd had been a farmer, he had repeatedly been seen tossing seed in the middle of paved parking lots and pigeon hangouts without much thought as to whether anything would actually grow there, so he had acquired a reputation for being a little loopy.

The ninety-nine sheep, wanting to be helpful, immediately sprang into action ... or discussion, anyway. One loudly announced that the Historic Flock had never included more than ninety-nine sheep, and therefore that the stray was probably a goat, or perhaps a marmoset, and should not be bothered with. If a wolf got it, that's what it deserved for straying from the flock, or for being a marmoset, or whatever its problem was.

Factions gathered in response to that announcement, some suggesting that perhaps a message could be sent to the stray that if she were to stop being a marmoset and instead become a sheep, or at least learn to bleat like one, or perhaps if she stopped making...what noise is it that marmosets make? (cries immediately went up for a subcommittee to study that issue) she could rejoin the flock. A website and glossy magazine ads were put in place to further this effort, as were a series of dialogues, in which each member of a panel of three sheep would present its view of what species the strays were, followed by discussion and concluding with a very nice and moving liturgy.

Another faction formed to try to win over the first group. They poured their resources into a public relations campaign in the flock to celebrate the contributions of all sheep, even the ones reputed to be marmosets or goats. Since their raison d'etre was to convince the Historic Flockers, though, it was very important not to engage in any precipitous action that might offend them. So when rumors arose that the stray sheep was being attacked by wolves and a voice in the flock suggested that perhaps something ought to be done, another of the ninety-nine sheep produced a marvelous-looking PowerPoint presentation documenting the decline in wolf attacks by well over 30% over the last fifteen years. "And there used to be 78 strays per year," she noted, "that we've got it down to one is most impressive!" The faction responded with a loud cheer and rumbled off to a celebratory ball and fundraiser to cover the cost of a digital camera to supply graphics for future presentations.

All of this "pro-stray" rhetoric greatly annoyed the planners of the campaign to convince the stray to return to sheephood, and the sheep who didn't want the stray back in the flock at all were furious, threatening to leave the flock. Much hubbub ensued, and hours later, if you could somehow manage to listen beyond all of the loud bleating and blaring loudspeakers and committee deliberations and rousing choruses of "Bringing In the Sheep" and a new hymn, "Goading Out the Goats," you might have heard a few sheep quietly noting the shepherd's absence and wondering where the shepherd had gone, as one silhouetted figure made its way toward the horizon and the stray ... and some wolf howls echoed in the distance.

Three questions:

  1. Where is the shepherd?
  2. Where are the ninety-nine?
  3. If one sheep is with the shepherd and ninety-nine aren't, who's really the stray?





-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

12I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he judged me faithful and appointed me to his service,13even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, 14and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 15The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners-of whom I am the foremost. 16But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience, making me an example to those who would come to believe in him for eternal life. 17To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

1 Timothy 1:12-17

 

Agnus Day, by James Wetzstein

Agnus Day appears with the permission of www.agnusday.org

 

 

 

May be a cartoon of text

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZRP70zMHgo

 

fullsizeoutput_170e.jpeg

https://www.eleanortomlinsonart.co.uk/miscellaneous?lightbox=dataItem-l20gpnrd

 

 

 

September 11th Downloads, Images, and Tributes

 

 

 

LECTIONARY

 

Jeremiah 4:11–12, 22–28 

Psalm 14 

1 Timothy 1:12–17 

Luke 15:1–10

 

 

“Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep . . . because I have found the coin that I lost . . . because your brother was lost and has been found.”
Luke 15: 1-32

THE WORD:

The three “parables of the lost” in chapter 15 are unique to Luke’s Gospel.  Luke wrote his Gospel at a time when the Christian community was embroiled in a great controversy: many Jewish Christians were indignant that Gentiles should be welcomed into the Church without first embracing the traditions and laws of Judaism.

In these three parables, we enter God’s world: God communicates the depth of his love in his unconditional and complete forgiveness; his mercy breaks through and demolishes all human restrictions.  The Pharisees could not imagine a God who actually sought out men and women, a God who is more merciful in his judgments than we are, a God who never gives up hope for a sinner.

Today's Gospel reading of chapter 15 includes three parables:

The parable of the lost sheep:  Shepherding demanded toughness and courage – it was not a job for the weak and fearful.  Responsible for every sheep in his charge, a shepherd was expected to fight off everything from wild animals to armed poachers.  Shepherds often had to negotiate the rugged terrain of the wilderness to rescue a lost sheep.  Like the responsible shepherd, God does whatever is necessary to seek out and bring back to his loving providence every lost soul.

The parable of the lost coin:  Finding a small silver coin in a dark, dusty, dirt-floored Judean house was nearly impossible, but so great was the value of any coin to the poor that a woman would turn her poor hovel inside out in search of such a lost treasure.  So great is the value of every soul in the sight of God that he, too, goes to whatever lengths necessary to find and bring back the lost.

The parable of prodigal son:  This is probably the most inaccurately titled story in all of literature.  Jesus’ tale is really about the great love of the prodigal’s father, who forgives his son and joyfully welcomes him home even before the son can bring himself to ask.  The father’s joy stands in sharp contrast to the prodigal son’s brother, who cannot even bring himself to call the prodigal his “brother” – in confronting his father, he angrily refers to the brother as “this son of yours.”  But the father is a model of joyful reconciliation that Jesus calls his disciples to seek in all relationships.

What is striking in the three stories is the joy experienced by the shepherd who finds the lost lamb, the woman who recovers the missing coin, the father who welcomes home his wayward son. 

https://connectionsmediaworks.com/sundaygospel.html#sept11

 

 

First Reading Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28

11At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem: A hot wind comes from me out of the bare heights in the desert toward my poor people, not to winnow or cleanse-12a wind too strong for that. Now it is I who speak in judgment against them.

22"For my people are foolish, they do not know me; they are stupid children, they have no understanding. They are skilled in doing evil, but do not know how to do good."

23I looked on the earth, and lo, it was waste and void; and to the heavens, and they had no light. 24I looked on the mountains, and lo, they were quaking, and all the hills moved to and fro. 25I looked, and lo, there was no one at all, and all the birds of the air had fled. 26I looked, and lo, the fruitful land was a desert, and all its cities were laid in ruins before the LORD, before his fierce anger.

27For thus says the LORD: The whole land shall be a desolation; yet I will not make a full end. 28Because of this the earth shall mourn, and the heavens above grow black; for I have spoken, I have purposed; I have not relented nor will I turn back.

Psalm 14:1-7

1Fools say in their hearts, "There is no God."

They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds;

there is no one who does good.

2The LORD looks down from heaven on humankind

to see if there are any who are wise,

who seek after God.

3They have all gone astray, they are all alike perverse;

there is no one who does good,

no, not one.

4Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers

who eat up my people as they eat bread,

and do not call upon the LORD?

5There they shall be in great terror,

for God is with the company of the righteous.

6You would confound the plans of the poor,

but the LORD is their refuge.

7O that deliverance for Israel would come from Zion!

When the LORD restores the fortunes of his people,

Jacob will rejoice; Israel will be glad.

Second Reading 1 Timothy 1:12-17

12I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he judged me faithful and appointed me to his service,13even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, 14and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 15The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners-of whom I am the foremost. 16But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience, making me an example to those who would come to believe in him for eternal life. 17To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

Gospel Luke 15:1-10

1Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. 2And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, "This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them."

3So he told them this parable: 4"Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? 5When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. 6And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.' 7Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

8"Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? 9When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.' 10Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."