Blessed be God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
And blessed be his kingdom, now and forever. Amen.
Jesus said, "The first commandment is this: Hear, O Israel: The Lord your God is the only Lord. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these."
Mark 12:29-31
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, God, who is faithful and just, will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all
unrighteousness. 1 John 1:8,9
We confess our sins against God and others.
Silence may be kept.
Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen.
May Almighty God have mercy on you, forgive you all your sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen you in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep you in eternal life. Amen.
A Hymn of Praise
Glory to God in the highest,
and peace to his people on earth.
Lord God, heavenly King,
almighty God and Father,
we worship you, we give you thanks,
we praise you for your glory.
Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father,
Lord God, Lamb of God,
you take away the sin of the world:
have mercy on us;
you are seated at the right hand of the Father:
receive our prayer.
For you alone are the Holy One,
you alone are the Lord,
you alone are the Most High,
Jesus Christ,
with the Holy Spirit,
in the glory of God the Father. Amen.
The Collect
Grant us, O Lord, to trust in you with all our hearts; for, as you always resist the proud who confide in their own strength, so you never forsake those who make their boast of your mercy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Old Testament 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 judgments: 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 Cantate Domino
1 Hallelujah! Sing to the Lord a new song; *
sing his praise in the congregation of the faithful.
2 Let Israel rejoice in his Maker; *
let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.
3 Let them praise his Name in the dance; *
let them sing praise to him with timbrel and harp.
4 For the Lord takes pleasure in his people *
and adorns the poor with victory.
5 Let the faithful rejoice in triumph; *
let them be joyful on their beds.
6 Let the praises of God be in their throat *
and a two-edged sword in their hand;
7 To wreak vengeance on the nations *
and punishment on the peoples;
8 To bind their kings in chains *
and their nobles with links of iron;
9 To inflict on them the judgment decreed; *
this is glory for all his faithful people.
Hallelujah!
The Epistle 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 reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
The Gospel Matthew 18:15-20
Jesus said, “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.”
The Sermon Fr. Nelson Gaetz
In our Gospel today we encounter a fascinating teaching on how to deal with parish disputes. Sounds simple and logical except for one small glitch in possible interpretation. When all the procedures outlined fail, we are to treat an “offender” like a Gentile and a tax collector. For me, that’s an amazing “obligation” because, reading the rest of the Gospels, we see how Jesus treats Gentiles and tax collectors. He treats them with kindness and one might even say LOVE: healing, forgiving, eating at their homes. HMMM. That might just be a hint as to why the people of God (The local parish – us) have such an urgent need to be in community. If we read this in light of our Old Testament lesson today, we see why.
You see … we are not just any old gathering or fraternal group. We are not a political party or the Moose or the Legion or any other voluntary association. We are a FAMILY drawn together by God to do a very specific thing: “Remembrance.” God tells the people of Israel, looking ahead to a time when they will have been no longer on the run from Pharaoh, they shall keep a perpetual ordinance where they are to remember his saving acts. This “remembrance” is not just thinking about the past but doing so in a way that draws the keepers of the ordinance into that history as their own. The “order of Service” says clearly…. “When we eat this meal, we become aware that if it had not been for the Exodus, we and our children and our children’s children would still be slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt. At the Passover supper, each person gets startled to encounter that original event as if they themselves, in their own person, were there when God delivered his people from slavery.
That’s a really powerful kind of remembering.
SO, back to that fledgling New Testament Community and their very special remembering. They too were commanded to keep a “perpetual ordinance.” They were to eat a meal to “remember” – Christ’s body given up on the cross and his blood of a new covenant. They were to eat and drink so as to make that saving event their own. To be drawn to the foot of the cross where they themselves, in their own flesh received such love. Love of a life given up for them. For the sinners. It’s that sort of community Jesus was establishing where unity and love matter. They matter because we are not just any old gathering but the gathering of the redeemed at the foot of the cross.
So, all these generations later, nothing has changed. We are to be a people gathered around an act of “remembrance” we call Eucharist or Holy Communion etc. rendering all our other acts subservient and expecting us to be a holy people. Our entire life together is to be shocking. Why, we even treat offenders like Gentiles and tax collectors. Having recently paid my 2019 federal taxes I am grateful that I don’t know any tax collectors personally. But I do know lots of other fellow sinners and they too need to be embraced at the foot of the cross where all are welcome. It’s a deadly serious business but a great privilege and a great joy.
Amen.
THE NICENE CREED
We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come.
Amen.
THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
Blessed Lord, You have promised that where two or three are gathered in Your name, You are in the midst of them. Hear the prayers of Your people and grant our supplications.
Brief silence
O Lord, be present among Your people to shower us with the gifts of Your grace, and grant that we may receive them with joy. Give to us faithful Bishops, Priests and Deacons who will minister to us in Your name and strengthen our faith and life together as Your baptized people. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
O Lord, give to us good and honest civil leaders who will govern according to Your will. Give us grace, that we may not fail to pray for those who lead us and to act as good citizens and good neighbors to one another. Give peace to the nations, and bring an end to violence, prejudice and racism. Guide us to know and respect all life. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
O Lord, You send rain upon the earth and turn the seeds into plants rich with fruit for harvest. Accept our thanks and praise for Your continued goodness in providing a good harvest and food for all. Give us wisdom so that we may use Your resources wisely and extend Your care to those in need. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
O Lord, You are the strength of the weak, the healing of the sick, the comfort of those who grieve and the peace of those near death. Hear us on behalf of those we name in our hearts, that they may be sustained in their afflictions, comforted in life and death, and delivered to everlasting life. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
O Lord, You have given the day for work and the night for rest. Bless all honest labor and industry, artists and artisans, and those in caring professions. Keep us in humility, and guard us against pride and arrogance. Give to us a spirit of generosity, that we may share with others the blessings that flow from our labors. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
O Lord, teach us to forgive others as You have forgiven us and bless the fellowship of the forgiven, that we may be united in life. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
O Lord, deliver us from pandemic and pestilence, from disaster and danger, and from a sudden death, that kept in faith, we may be preserved through this mortal life and in death be received into the arms of Your mercy and into the blessed rest of everlasting life. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
Hear us, O Lord, who cry to You in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, whom with the Spirit, You are one God and one Lord, now and forevermore. Amen.
So now we pray with confidence to the Father the words our Lord Jesus taught us:
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed by the Name,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
The Closing Blessing
May God almighty bless and keep us, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
We go now in peace to love and serve the Lord.
Amen.