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Friends,
Sometimes one wonders what got into the minds of the people who put together The Lectionary. A good example is this comes this Sunday, with an OT lesson from Genesis 15 which is the announcement to Abraham that he was to be the progenitor of multitudes - more about which below. Taken together with Genesis 16-18, where his wife Sarah laughs after overhearing the Lord appearing to Abraham that she was to have a child at her advanced age, it seems that God's intent was to work in the lives of both females and males. In this creation story - a more intelligible story, especially to the Jews seeking their promised land, than that of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Note that while some think it mere "woke" thinking to add that reminder of Sarah's laughter, the fact is that without Sarah's womb there would be no future Jewish multitudes. Moreover in God's command to change her name from Sar'ai (princess of a specific group) to Sarah (a princess not limited to any specific group) Sarah really rises in stature alongside Abraham to the beginning of many tribes. Reading the chapters in between paints an interesting and complex (oh the humanity!") picture of that story, with the birth of Ishmael (meaning "God will hear") to Hagar, leading in theory at least to the Arabic tribes - and note that the angel of the Lord spoke directly to Hagar while Sar'ai only overheard . This creation story, thru Sar'ai's laughter, includes jealousy and succession issues and it should be noted that it is followed by the introduction of sin in story of Sodom and Gomor'rah, whose sins were very grave (scholars suggest it was a lack of hospitality to their guests) with Abraham bargaining with the Lord to save those places and the few righteous citizens that may be there (finally whittled down to ten after which "the Lord went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place." The other lessons for this Sunday include from Philippians, which scholar's generally agree was written by Paul and which include the wonderful notion of citizenship in heaven, and Luke, wherein Jesus is told that Herod wants to kill him. Jesus seems to accept this willingly as his ministry is among the Jesus and must be in Jerusalem, even while knowing that his fate there might include self-sacrifice as with former prophets. Indeed, Jesus seems to lament not that fate, but rather that his own tribe were not willing to be gathered together under God's wings for protection - note that elsewhere in Luke Jesus says that "a prophet is not without honour except in his own country". To me these three lessons include an early and grandiose vision of one's own "country" (as in the last verse of the Genesis lesson "from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates", ie the entire "Middle East" as we think of it today and a lament that the people of that country are not willing to work together for that country thru to Paul's notion of heavenly citizenship, by which I can believe Paul was hoping to put paid to the ethnic and cultural divisions within the church. We have spoken of this progression before, but it cannot be emphasised enough that Jesus says "My kingdom is not of this world". May we all find ourselves dwelling in that heavenly kingdom, working together for good with our fellow citizens! Bart (and Tony!) and for all of us at St Matthew Church Events St Matthew Parish will meet this Sunday at 10am for Morning Prayer at the chapel in San Ardo. St Luke Parish in Lockwood-Jolon will be doing the same at the chapel in Jolon. Rachel Denny leads at St Luke and Tony Saponate(!) leads at San Ardo. Other Events St Luke Parish Atascadero's Taize Music will as usual Sunday evening at 7pm via Zoom. The link, etc are below Topic: Gather with Taize Time: This is a recurring meeting Meet anytime Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87454433792?pwd=M01rNThaRUpBVmJxVW9DcHJnY2FWdz09 Meeting ID: 874 5443 3792 Passcode: 783520 Gather Lent2025 Youtube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL69la8W1_FUGizrsGI-oBeqlDpfkmX7WI Also St Luke's folks are continuing collecting items for their Plant and Bake Sale which is scheduled for April 26 from 8am to 2pm. And remember that St Luke folks meet Tues and Thurs evenings for Evening Prayer. The Zoom link is available at St Luke's website at http://www.stlukesatascadero.com/ St Barnabas Parish in Arroyo Grande On Saturday, March 15th (that's TONIGHT) is having a dinner to raise funds for the youth to attend the Episcopal Church Camp. All are invited! St Barnabas suggests all might join on Zoom for Prayers for a Peaceful World on Thursdays in Lent at 12:00 pm Pacific starting on March 13 and ending April 21 (the day before Earth Day). We will discuss our concerns and pray for just and peaceful outcomes and for all of God's creation. The Zoom link is https://saintbarnabas-ag.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=debb1b33eb11372203a975524&id=a6174c5322&e=acee3ced34 Also at St Barnabas we hear that "St. Barnabas Hosting 6 Classes on First Century Christianity: As Christians, we worship Elohym, God of Israel. Our Bible was written by the Holy Spirit, using the hands of the Hebrews. Our Lord Yeshua (Jesus), who redeemed us from sin by the shedding of his blood, is a Jew. The Bible tells us that Salvation is first for the Jew, and then for the Gentiles. This material will help us understand the conditions, both secular and religious, that existed in Messiah's time. We will learn about Israel, and about Rome. Some Hebrew customs will be examined, and an over-view of the language and culture." Contact Phil West for full info at [email protected] Also at St Barnabas: TUESDAY MORNING PRAYER at 9:30 am followed by BIBLE STUDY at 10:00 am Hybrid in-person (church library) and Zoom Click this link to attend via your computer or device: bit.ly/stbarnabasmorningprayer To dial in call 1-669-900-6833. Meeting ID: 878 6513 4138# Password: 365072## and FRIDAY AFTERNOON CENTERING PRAYER at 4pmEVERY Friday from 4 to 5pm. We next meet in-person, tomorrow, Friday, March 14th and on every 2nd Friday of the month at St Barnabas and via Zoom on all other Fridays. Our zoom linkis bit.ly/stbarnabascenteringprayer More details here: https://saintbarnabas-ag.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=debb1b33eb11372203a975524&id=e4c8d5dfc9&e=acee3ced34 To dial in call 1-669-900-6833. Meeting ID: 867 7756 1670# Password: 034979## Join Rev. Linzi of St Ben's Parish each weekday morning (Monday-Friday) through Lent. Everyone's welcome to join at any point, no prior experience is needed. Bring your BCP and Bible or follow along with "Venite" either via their website or their downloadable app. Join Morning Prayer by clicking through the zoom link below. The link is also below in "The Week Ahead" and on the website under "Worship." https://stbenslososos.us14.list-manage.com/track/click?u=56003b92c20a0cad0f96f87b4&id=b8761c907e&e=c7a1548f0f Also at St Bens we hear of "Spiritual Conversations" as follows: Tuesday Morning Spiritual Conversation: During Lent the Spiritual Conversation group will be reading from Living Well Through Lent by Living Compass. The pamphlet is available for free as a PDF file or contact Roz Malone. You do not have to do the reading to participate, all are welcome. Join on Zoom. Link is https://stbenslososos.us14.list-manage.com/track/click?u=56003b92c20a0cad0f96f87b4&id=c8f7703ba9&e=c7a1548f0f St Peter Parish in Morro Bay will host a recital called "Voices of Spring" on Mar 30 at 2pm. Also at St Peter the Knitting Group will meet in the Anderson Library at the church Wed Mar 18 at 2pm - Happy KNitting. And the Bible 101 series with Lenny Erickson will meet on Wed <ar 19 from noon til 1:30 - bring a brown bag lunch. We want to remind everyone of the North County Bible Study being held jointly by St James parish in Paso Robles and St Luke Parish in Atascadero pm Wednesdays during Lent. The group wo;; meet at St James Church in Paso using the Kerygma study guide. For full info contact Holly Cooper at 805.434.7002. Ans don't forget those listed in last week's News - in particular the Piano Concert at 3pm on March 30 by Josh Tarica at 3pm.
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