John 3:16-21
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

Meditation
God sent his only Son, the Light, into the world to save it.  He was not sent to condemn it, but to love it.  He was sent to bring light to the world.  Seeking the Light is seeking truth.  Believing in Jesus brings eternal life and light through God. 
 
Prayer
Dear God, thank you for the Light you provided through your one and only Son, Jesus, Amen.

 Submitted by Elizabeth Wallingford, St, Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church, Oklahoma City

The Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral was approved by the House of Bishops but not the House of Deputies at the 1886 Episcopal General Convention in Chicago.  The document can be read on pages 876-7 of our Book of Common Prayer.   It consisted of four points (hence the term quadrilateral): 1) The Old and New Testaments are the revealed word of God; 2) The Nicene creed is a sufficient statement of Christian Faith; 3) Baptism and Eucharist, “with unfailing use of Christ’s words of institution and the elements ordained by Him” are the two sacraments of the Church; and 4) the Historic Episcopate is the Church’s valid governing body.  The document’s goal was to initiate the formation of a “Church of the Reconciliation” in America that would fulfill the desire, “That we all may be one”.   These four points were considered a “sacred deposit” and “essential to the restoration of unity among the divided branches of Christendom” during discussions of Christian reunion.  All other “preferences” were negotiable, and, if necessary for reunion, open to abandonment.  The Quadrilateral was modified by the Anglican Communion’s representatives at the Lambeth Conference of 1888.  Both Houses of the1895 Episcopal General Convention approved the Lambeth version. 
~Dr. Gil Haas, St. Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church, Oklahoma City

John 2:23-3:15
Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person.
Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
“How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”
Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.
“You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things?  Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”

Meditation
Jesus wanted us to know the Kingdom of God.  He said to Nicodemus “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”  Jesus wanted us to become born again of the water and the Spirit so we could enter the Kingdom of God.  For many it took his ultimate sacrifice, himself, for us to know of heavenly things.

Prayer
Dear God, thank you your son, Jesus Christ.  He was lifted up so we could know your Kingdom and have eternal life in you for ever and ever, Amen.

 Submitted by Elizabeth Wallingford, Member, St. Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church, Oklahoma City

John 2: 18-25
The Jews then responded to him, "What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?" Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days." They replied, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?" But the temple he had spoken of was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken. Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person.

Meditation
Many people require a sign; something they can see, hold, smell or hear, to have faith.  Blind faith does not come without an ultimate sacrifice.  Jesus knew many didn’t believe in his words, but he gave himself up for us anyway. He knew once he did that we would believe. He knows us and requires no explanation.  His love is the ultimate love because it is God’s love and it requires nothing in return.     

Prayer
Dear God, thank you for your love and for your son, Jesus Christ, who gave himself up for us so we may believe in your words and walk in your ways forever and ever, Amen.

~Elizabeth Wallingford, St. Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church, Oklahoma City

John 2: 1-12
“Woman,[a] why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.” What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him. After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days.
Meditation
The first miracle that Jesus performed was turning water into wine.  I used to joke about this miracle with my grandmother, as she lived her entire life without enjoying a glass of anything fermented.  After reaching adulthood, when I tried to convince her that she might enjoy it and even Jesus approves, as evidenced by this miracle in particular, she would smirk and say that in the lesser known but more accurate accounts, he actually turned the water into grape juice.

When I’ve read this passage in the past, or heard a sermon reflecting on it, it has always been with the emphasis on the counter-cultural nature of Jesus’s wine being even better than the one served first.  Today, however, it’s not the wine but rather the water that makes an impression.  The jars that were filled with water were used for cleansing.  It seems poetic and symbolic and purposeful.  Each jar held 20 or 30 gallons each, and there were six of them.  As a Kindergarten teacher, I come equipped with the math skills to deduce that it took the servants many trips to fill, carry, and methodically pour nearly 180 gallons of water that day.  But they did, because a woman told them to listen to her son and do what he told them to do.  They did, because they were desperate, and he was their only hope.  And Jesus exceeded everything they could have hoped for...

This past year more than any, I think we all understand a little bit better what it is to be desperate for hope.  I know I do.  Hope for an end to a pandemic.  Hope for all people to be treated fairly and equally.  Hope for peace amidst what seem to be new tensions every day.

In the face of problems that seem insurmountable, we are called to continue on with the work entrusted to us even when we don’t yet understand why.  We trust that even the smallest thing, done with great love, can make a difference.  And so we continue pouring, over and over again, believing that Christ can cleanse us and transform our collective desperation into salvation sweeter than anything we could imagine.
  
Prayer
Lord, help us to be faithful in whatever we find before us today.  Empower us to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly every step of the way.  We trust you to be our hope, and to work through us today.  Amen.
~Jen Matias, St. Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church, Oklahoma City

John 1:43-51
The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.”
 
Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
 
“Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.
 
“Come and see,” said Philip.
 
When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”
 
“How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.
 
Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”
 
Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.”
 
Jesus said, “You believe[a] because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” He then added, “Very truly I tell you, you will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’ the Son of Man.”

Meditation
I hear the sarcasm in Nathanael’s question almost as clearly as my own snide thoughts sometimes...  “Can anything good come from there?” he quips.

How quick we are to judge.  As much as we might like to think we’re accepting of everyone, the innate nature of our cynical thoughts begs to differ.

“How could she possibly support that politician?”  “How could he think that?” “What kind of person would raise their child that way?”

We infer who someone must be because of circumstances we don’t fully know or understand.  

Jesus sees all that we are, our faults and our snide remarks, and he accepts us with arms wide open.  He implores us to open our eyes to the “greater things” that await us as we accept and love one another with the same unconditional love he offers us as well. 
   
Prayer
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:

Where there is hatred (and fear, and anger, and division) let me sow love.
Amen.

~Jen Matias, St. Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church, Oklahoma City

Liturgy We Live - Parts of the Church


          We enter our church through the narthex (Greek for “small case”).  Historically, it was a porch occupied by unbaptized catechumens.  The congregation sits in the nave, derived from the Greek word “navis” for ship (albeit upside-down in its “sailing” posture).  The nave is separated in some churches from the chancel (particularly in Orthodox churches) by a screen.  Naves in the Middle Ages lacked pews and were used for dancing, eating, and plays.  The chancel (Latin for “lattice” associated with the chancel rail) is the raised area containing the altar.  In many Anglican churches, the chancel also contains the lectern, pulpit, credence table (the small table for wine and bread), and sedilia (seats for ministers), and the choir.  In our church, a hexagonal chancel rail separates the nave from the chancel.  In English churches, the nave’s upkeep was the congregation’s responsibility, but the chancel’s repair was the lay rector’s responsibility.  His family was allowed a special pew there.  “Sanctuary” has a double meaning since historically it was a safe haven for criminals, implying that the church was above the world’s powers.  In the Old Testament, it was a haven for one who killed without intent. 

​~Dr. Gil Haas, St. Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church, Oklahoma City

The Psalms refer to Egypt as “the land of Ham”.  Ham was the middle son of Noah.  He was born when Noah was 500 years old; Noah was 600 years old at the time of the flood.  After Noah’s ark was grounded on Mount Araret, each of Noah’s three sons was told to repopulate one-third of the earth.  Ham was told to procreate descendants in the lands west of the Nile River.  Before Ham left for his inheritance, he “saw” the naked body of his drunken father, Noah.  Talmudic scholars deduce that either Ham castrated his drunken father (to prevent a fourth son) or sodomized him (based upon the use of the word, “saw”, in other Old Testament scenarios).  When Noah awoke and realized what had happened, he did not curse Ham directly, but instead he cursed Ham’s fourth son, Canaan, to be forever “a servant of servants”.  When the nations were scattered following the Tower of Babel debacle, Ham’s family (except for Canaan) journeyed to their allotment which was to become Egypt and all of Africa.  Taken together, these passages concerning the cursed Biblical heritage of Ham’s descendants were later used to justify their enslavement.  
~Dr. Gil Haas, St. Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church, Oklahoma City

  May the words of my mouth and the meditations of each of our
 hearts be acceptable in Thy sight O God; our strength, our
 redeemer, and our one and hope. AMEN
A fastball - 
If feels like every moment of our day is filled by all manner of
 information being hurled at us faster than a major leaguer throws
  When you stop to think about it, how many times everyday
 are you confronted/accosted by people, places, and things telling
 you what you need to buy, believe, purchase, belong to; so that
 you can be a happy person, an included person, a valuable
 person?
 It comes at us through tv, radio, websites, apps, social
 media. Everyone, everything, everywhere is begging to lay claim
 to a piece/moment of your attention. It is exhausting and
 intoxicating.

  Political parties, organizations, products, advertisers are all
 needing/wanting/begging you to buy/believe/take hold of whatever
 they are selling.
 They need you to be formed/shaped by their story so you
 can be counted on as a reliable consumer of whatever product,
 person, ideology they’re selling.
 This isn’t wild eyed conspiracy, but it feels like that
 sometimes. It is just a business/political model that works really
 well.
 When you harness the power to shape opinions / you shape
 persons, when you shape advertising / you shape consumption.
 When people are shaped they become another reliable and
 usable consumer to further a cause, belief, or bottom line.
 We swim everyday in these deep warm waters of subtle
 manipulation, we drink unknowingly from these seemingly
 refreshing wells and the end result is they craft who we are and
 the ways we think.

  It is with the introduction of computer algorithms these
 questions of belief/identity get even more muddled and
 manipulated.
 Algorithms are computer programs that take large swaths of
 data about a person based on all manner of things. They are
 super helpful with helping us to figure out things, but there is a
 shadow side to these things.
 This gathered information is interpreted; sold and used by all
 sorts of groups and some of them harness this information to
 identify and manipulate you as a person/consumer/citizen.
 Our information that we voluntarily and sometimes
 unwittingly give up is used to sell, shape, and motivate us in ways
 we don’t/can’t fully understand.
 The purchase we make, the places we go, the websites we
 visit, the news we watch/listen too, everything we do puts out to
 the world information about us and projects an image of who we
 are.

  This data we give up gives energy/information to groups,
 business, and people who deeply want our attention. It is subtle,
 it is nuanced, and it moves in mysterious ways we don’t often
 recognize.
 We often become who we are not though one or two big
 choices but the culmination of a bunch of little things.
 Sin works like that too, it is the poor/bad choices we make
 each day that nudge us slowly down a road where one day we
 wake up and ask “How did I end up like this?”
 The impressions we give, shapes the information we
 receive. The way we live shape how we are perceived.
 All of this attention stealing/grabbing will shape/inform/
 reinforce how we interact with the world around us and what we
 give back will either be joy or pain to the world.
 We disciples of Jesus Christ have made a choice...been
 commanded to live into a certain way of life, that is shaped by the
 person of Jesus Christ.

  We know we are called to be a specific type of people/
 person for the sake of sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ;
 and oft we fall short.
 We know that we are to be shaped into a way of life informed
 by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
 Disciples of Jesus have been called to lives of meaning and
 purpose where we give and share the good news of God’s love
 and forgiveness to a world around us.
 Let’s be honest, it is hard to live into this way of life. It is
 difficult because everyday/everywhere images and information
 are coming at us telling us this is what it means to be a good
 “person, citizen, consumer, political party member, etcetera
 etcetera”.
 We haven’t often seen the way of Christ modeled well, so it
 becomes easier and easier to live into another way of being that
 is contrary to Christ.

  It leaves us weary to the point of exhaustion; so much of the
 time we are running as fast as we can to stay in place.
 We live in a world that seems wired to create and craft
 peculiar boundaries and troubling systems that keep people and
 persons in their place. We have economies and structures that
 thrive on tidy partitions that keep folks apart.
 There are indeed forces at work in this world that have been
 created by us and used by us to do certain sorts of things, and
 ofttimes these creations end up controlling us, and we aren’t even
 aware of it.
 So how then do we as Christian people, as good news
 sharing disciples of Jesus/ Christ live? How do we live authentic
 lives of deep mercy and flagrant hope?
 How do we swim against the raging current of a world hellbent on
 destruction? What shall we do to confound the world with the life
 changing nonviolent revolution begun by Jesus Christ?

Living as disciples of Jesus Christ means live intentionally,
 we live lives that confound and confuse.
 We lives lives that go against the grain, and we confound the
 algorithms, voices, and parties who seek to call us to a way of
 being that looks nothing like the person of Jesus Christ.
 We confuse the machinations of a violent world by
 remembering our true calling as disciples and live into our story/
 our calling as purveyors of grace in a world bent on vengeance.
 When we as disciples of Jesus Christ take seriously the call
 to remember and live out the hope of Deuteronomy we stand firm
 against the raging tide of a world gone mad in its lust for power,
 wealth, violence, and excess.
 Sisters and Brothers...God is our God, a deeply relational
 being. God isn’t some far off deity, God has chosen to be in
 relationship with us and hasn’t left us to ourselves.

  God knows that our lives are hard and God has called us to
 shave away the thick calluses from our heart and because it is far
 to easy for us to harden our hearts to the world and forget to love.
 It is easy to forget these world shaping truths we find in
 Deuteronomy, we lose sight who we are and we ignore that God
 doesn’t play favorites and doesn’t call us to either.
 God won’t and neither should we get caught up in messy
 sketchy dealings, that take advantage of others or defraud others
 in the name of protecting the bottom line.
 To live as disciples of Jesus Christ and living out the truth of
 our reading from Deuteronomy means that we ensure that
 orphans and widows(a poetic and truthful way to say those
 without power) are treated fairly.
 We are called to defy the way things are and live into the
 ways things ought to be by extending loving care towards those
 people who others have deemed damnable to the margins of
acceptable society and making sure that they receive those good
 things which they are due as children of God.
 Jesus helps us to be who we are called to be as God
 created children of the most high. Jesus our teacher, our guide,
 our messiah, and God in the flesh gives us THE way to live.
 We have been called by Jesus to give no heed to the world
 shaping lie/algorithm/opinions that say ‘Love your friend,’ and its
 unwritten companion, ‘Hate your enemy.’
 Jesus challenges that, Jesus goes way off script is and tells
 us to love our enemies. In our efforts to love the keepers of the
 status quo will challenge us and our response ought bring out the
 best in us, not the worst.
 Stop reacting with hostility when someone causes you a
 hard time, and instead respond with crafty moves of prayer/grace.
 When we respond in grace/love/peace we conspire with God
 to defy the way things are and live into our true selves, our God-
 created selves and heal the world.

  Loving the wounded, the hurt, and the forgotten that is what
 God does. God gives God’s grace to everyone, regardless: the
 good and bad, the beautiful and ugly, the worthy and unworthy.
 If all we do is welcome the lovable, does that make us any
 different?
 Anyone can love the lovable that is our default. If we simply
 treat well those we like, do we expect a medal?
 We have been called by God in Jesus to stand in a stark
 opposition to the way that things have always been and deepen
 our connection to God by living into our calling as disciples.
 As we do this we learn to love ourselves and others more,
 and we get better at it. Our commissioning as disciples of Jesus
 Christ means that we resist/confront the powers and principalities
 of this age that do deep harm to persons/creation.
 Sisters and brother we have been drafted/conscripted/invited
 into the way of life that goes against the grain/defying the opinion
 and world shaping algorithms. My hope this day is for you to live,
and live well as disciples of Jesus Christ.
I say to you what the prophet, poet, and singer Rich Mullins would say often.
"So go out and live real good and I promise you'll get beat up
 real bad. But, in a little while after you're dead, you'll be rotted
 away anyway. It's not gonna matter if you have a few scars. It will
 matter if you didn't live.
 It’ll matter if you didn’t live." AMEN

~Fr. Lance Schmitz, St. Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church, Oklahoma City

WITNESS
A young reporter once asked a college football coach how the game of football had contributed to the health and fitness of Americans. He replied, “It hasn’t contributed at all.” The reporter was mystified. He said, “What do you mean?” The coach replied, “Football is where you have 22 men on the field that desperately need rest, and 67,000 people in the stands that desperately need exercise!”
I hate to say it, but that might be a very good description of a lot of churches! Some people go to church the way you or I might go to a Sooners’ game. We cheer from the stands, but we never put on a helmet or pick up a football.
What the Bible teaches is that when you gather with the church here on Sundays, you are putting on a uniform and jogging out onto the field. You are in the game. And the game is being played here every Sunday. Every single Christian is to be involved in the work of ministry.
Sometimes we hear someone asking a Pastor, Priest or Preacher, “So when did you go into the ministry?”
The moment you were baptized, you went into the ministry.
Every Christian is in the ministry, not just full-time professional church leaders. Church is not a spectator sport.  
If your involvement in a church is such that you show up and passively watch what goes on, but never get involved in serving, you are involved in something that is completely foreign to our New Testament!
One of the most crippling ideas to pervade the church over the centuries is that there is a special class of Christians called the “clergy” that do the ministry, while all the “laity” sit back and watch them do it.
This concept is completely unbiblical.
Yes, it is true, God does call some members of the church to function in a different role than others, by granting them special gifts. However, that does not make them the “ministers” and the rest of the church “non-ministers.” 
Ephesians 4:7-14
Years ago, one of my former OBU prof. Rev. Dr. Dale Rolland—said that every clergy person should place outside their door this sign “Equipment Room.”
 
He has the notion that "Every Member in Ministry."  Crazy, I tell you.
 
Because my experience in the church is that many are in ministry… but not everyone.
 
But he tells the members that commitment is at the heart of membership because it is essential for being a family. In fact, commitment is the difference between being a member of the Concord Baptist Church family or a person who simply attends.
 

"Every member makes two commitments when joining our church family: a commitment to Jesus Christ and a commitment to support the Concord Baptist Church family through prayers, presence, gifts and service…Volunteering is important at Concord.
 
 Members are not recruited to do specific ministries. Ministry happens because volunteers desire to fulfill God’s purposes in their lives."
 
Did you hear that last part? Ministry happens because volunteers desire to fulfill God’s purposes in their lives. Isn’t that really the heart of it? Ministry is less about the church’s need for volunteers and more about the need for our members to live lives that fulfill God’s purposes in their lives.
I believe God has given every one a passion for a particular form of ministry. You may or may not know what that is… discernment is needed. But you are still called.
I would love for SAC to have a vision where everyone who becomes a member understands that part of that membership means that they will be involved in ministry. Everyone is a minister… not just the deacon or the priests. Everyone.
This past Holy Week, I thought about Todd, Marian, James, Renee and Claren working outside sweating to provide a beautiful landscape setting for us to enjoy on Easter Sunday.
Sometimes I imagine, what if no one volunteered to beautify the landscape? What impression would visitors have of us?
Who would do the planning and leading if people didn’t serve on committees?
Oh, I know some complain about committees, but where would we be if no one did the thinking and planning for our work?  Everyone who gets involved in the church is contributing to the common good. Thank God!
And where would our community and world be if people didn’t minister outside OKC? Serving on boards that help the community… volunteering at places like the Jesus House, the Dolese, American Fidelity, the Mettise Group, Board of Directors at Valparaiso, teaching medical students, scouts, giving blood so others can live… taking Meals on Wheels to the elderly…picking up the trash… being a part of service organizations.
Where would we be if people did not seek to serve God in their vocations… to fulfill God’s purpose for their lives in their jobs?
Have you ever thought about how your vocation can serve the common good?
For some, I know becoming involved is hard. It is clear to me that there are those who wish to be more involved but we have not always responded to those efforts or heard them well. That saddens me.
It is clear that sometimes people have a hard time breaking into ministry where there is an established group. That saddens me.
For others, the obstacles are their own… too little time… not sure what they may have to offer… and "fear.”
Anytime we try something new there is an element of fear… fear of failure…fear of acceptance… fear of getting in over my head.
If we can find some way to overcome those obstacles… and focus on how we might fulfill God’s purposes for our lives and the life of this congregation… imagine the possibilities.
 

~ Fr. Joseph Alsay, St. Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church, Oklahoma City