Conflict/Destiny

 

 

Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. Then Moses said, “I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up.” When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” He said further, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

Then the Lord said, “I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them. So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.”

But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” He said, “I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain.” But Moses said to God, “If I come to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” He said further, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘I am has sent me to you.’“ God also said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you’:

This is my name forever, 

and this my title for all generations.

 

Exodus 3:1-15

 

Burning Bush

Photograph by Earsaregood

2009

 

Notes:

Entitled "The Burning Bush", this photograph was produced by long exposure photographic effects of sparks in a tree, not harmful to the tree. Photo by earsaregood.

https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/diglib-fulldisplay.pl?SID=20230902750989012&code=act&RC=55946&Row=29



 

The Burning Bush

 

5-2-2009 Light Painting with Brian, David (artandsteel), Ed, and Trey ….. I was inside the tree, over the water, spinning steel wool on an articulated wire hanger hook ….. good times.

 

Just FYI this does no damage to the tree or me ….. it is not a “fire” as much as a spark shower

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/earsaregood/3564534366/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Destiny grants us our wishes, but in its own way,

in order to give us something beyond our wishes.

~ Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

 

 

 

The world is changed by your example,

Not your opinion.

~ Paulo Coelho

 

 

 

 

 



Rev. Kimra Perkins was our Guest-in-Pulpit at church on Sunday.



Several Rotarians also attended.



Lunch afterwards, at Lariot Lodge

Annette Bradley, Kimra Perkins, Jim Fay, Carolyn Alexander, Mande Mischler



Palisade Peaches are here!

YUM!!!



She had almost sold out.











Two roads diverged in a wood,

and I took the one less traveled by,

and that has made all the difference.

~ Robert Frost







 



 

September 3, 2023  Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost: Proper 17 Year A

 

Previous OPQs may be found at:

 

Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.” But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life? 

“For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done. Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

Matthew 16:21-28

Agnus Day, by James Wetzstein

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







 

For Labor Day

 

Song of the Builders

 

On a summer morning
I sat down
on a hillside
to think about God -

 

a worthy pastime.
Near me, I saw
a single cricket;
it was moving the grains of the hillside

 

this way and that way.
How great was its energy,
how humble its effort.
Let us hope

 

it will always be like this,
each of us going on
in our inexplicable ways
building the universe.

 

~ Mary Oliver ~

 

(Why I Wake Early)



 

Happy Labor Day Gifs

 

 



 

LECTIONARY

Exodus 3:1–15 

Psalm 105:1–6, 23–26, 45b 

Romans 12:9–21 

Matthew 16:21–28

 

Summary

Peter goes from high to low in just a few short verses. For denying the way of the Cross, and trying to dissuade Jesus from following the same, Peter takes on the role of the Tempter, even if unwittingly. Jesus’ harsh reaction shows that a great deal is at stake not only Jesus’ saving atonement, but also the life his disciples expect to live.

The Cross is not only for Jesus but for anyone who would follow him. Suffering for the sake of the kingdom is a requirement for coming after Jesus, and the broad way that avoids suffering leads not to resurrection but to destruction.

Today, the health and wealth message that says that God is waiting on the right amount of faith to “bless” you with riches or success, and its more cultivated cousin, in which following Jesus is really the path to unlocking one’s inner potential are the very Satanic counterfeits the Lord demands be put behind us. Nothing is more fatal to Christian discipleship than misconceiving it as the path to a better earthly life. Suffering is not the obstacle in the Christian’s path, it is the Way itself.

 

THE WORD:

Chapter 18 of Matthew’s Gospel is a collection of Jesus’ sayings on the practical challenges facing the Christian community, including status-seeking, scandal, division and the topic of today’s reading, conflict.

Today’s Gospel reading sounds more like regulations devised by an ecclesiastical committee than a discourse by Jesus (this chapter has been called the “church-order discourse” of Jesus). But the real point of Jesus’ exhortation is that we must never tolerate any breech of personal relationship between us and another member of the Christian community.  At each stage of the process – personal discussion, discussion before witnesses, discussion before the whole community – the goal is to win the erring Christian back to the community (the three-step process of reconciliation outlined by Jesus here corresponds to the procedure of the Qumran community).

Jesus’ exhortation closes with a promise of God's presence in the midst of every community, regardless of size, bound together by faith.

 

Exodus 3:1-15

Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. Then Moses said, “I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up.” When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” He said further, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

Then the Lord said, “I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them. So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.”

But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” He said, “I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain.” But Moses said to God, “If I come to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” He said further, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘I am has sent me to you.’“ God also said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you’:

This is my name forever, 
and this my title for all generations.

The Psalm

Psalm 105:1-6, 23-26, 45c

Confitemini Domino

1 Give thanks to the Lord and call upon his Name; *
make known his deeds among the peoples.

2 Sing to him, sing praises to him, *
and speak of all his marvelous works.

3 Glory in his holy Name; *
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.

4 Search for the Lord and his strength; *
continually seek his face.

5 Remember the marvels he has done, *
his wonders and the judgments of his mouth,

6 O offspring of Abraham his servant, *
O children of Jacob his chosen.

23 Israel came into Egypt, *
and Jacob became a sojourner in the land of Ham.

24 The Lord made his people exceedingly fruitful; *
he made them stronger than their enemies;

25 Whose heart he turned, so that they hated his people, *
and dealt unjustly with his servants.

26 He sent Moses his servant, *
and Aaron whom he had chosen.

45 Hallelujah!

or

Old Testament

Jeremiah 15:15-21

O Lord, you know;
remember me and visit me,
and bring down retribution for me on my persecutors.

In your forbearance do not take me away;
know that on your account I suffer insult.

Your words were found, and I ate them,
and your words became to me a joy
and the delight of my heart;

for I am called by your name,
O Lord, God of hosts.

I did not sit in the company of merrymakers,
nor did I rejoice;

under the weight of your hand I sat alone,
for you had filled me with indignation.

Why is my pain unceasing,
my wound incurable,
refusing to be healed?

Truly, you are to me like a deceitful brook,
like waters that fail.

 

Therefore, thus says the Lord:

If you turn back, I will take you back,
and you shall stand before me.

If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless,
you shall serve as my mouth.

It is they who will turn to you,
not you who will turn to them.

And I will make you to this people
a fortified wall of bronze;

they will fight against you,
but they shall not prevail over you,

for I am with you
to save you and deliver you,

says the Lord.

I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked,
and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless. 

The Psalm

Psalm 26:1-8 

Judica me, Domine

1 Give judgment for me, O Lord,
for I have lived with integrity; *
I have trusted in the Lord and have not faltered.

2 Test me, O Lord, and try me; *
examine my heart and my mind.

3 For your love is before my eyes; *
I have walked faithfully with you.

4 I have not sat with the worthless, *
nor do I consort with the deceitful.

5 I have hated the company of evildoers; *
I will not sit down with the wicked.

6 I will wash my hands in innocence, O Lord, *
that I may go in procession round your altar,

7 Singing aloud a song of thanksgiving *
and recounting all your wonderful deeds.

8 Lord, I love the house in which you dwell *
and the place where your glory abides.

The Epistle

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 honor. 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. 

The Gospel

Matthew 16:21-28

Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.” But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life? 

“For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done. Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”