All Saints’
The Weekly WWW.ALLSAINTSCARMEL.ORG
Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost •August 25, 2013
God’s Extraordinary Hospitality in Freedom from Shame By The Rev. Rick Matters
The woman, bent over for eighteen years, experienced the extraordinary hospitality of God as Jesus set her free. (Luke 13:10-17). However wonderful that freedom, the woman discovered an even greater healing when Jesus turned the shame of the leaders back on themselves. How tall she must have felt in standing straight after all those years, how much taller when freed from the shame.
Scripture Lessons Today
Shame is debilitating, because it diminishes who we are. When I was a teenager, shame almost cost me my life. The healing of Jesus was a two-step dance. The first step was the sudden realization: I am loved! I matter! The second step was recognizing that, by the grace of Jesus Christ, I am worthy of God’s love. Accepting this grace-filled worthiness took layers of prayer, vulnerability, and spiritual work. Sometimes I forget. But whenever we forget, the voice of God welcomes us with the freeing message of love.
Proverbs 25:6-7 Psalm 112 Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16 Luke 14:1, 7-14
Isaiah 58:9b-14 Psalm 103:1-8 Hebrews 12:18-29 Luke 13:10-17
Scripture Lessons for Next Week
Recommendation:
Sabbath in the Suburbs By Robin Denney
Sabbath in the Suburbs: A Family’s Experiment with Holy Time by Rev. MaryAnn McKibben-Dana In the Isaiah reading today we hear about the importance of keeping the Sabbath, and in the Gospel we see that the authorities of Jesus’ time had missed the point of the Sabbath entirely. This book is by a Presbyterian Pastor about her family’s year long journey to observe the Sabbath. With gentle humor she points out how our to-do lists can become idols, and how our over-functioning leaves us drained. This is a fun read that is both thought provoking and encouraging to find Sabbath time in our own lives. If this busy family with three tiny kids and two more-than-full-time working parents can do it, why not me?
All Saints’ • The Weekly
Our Search for Significance By Greg Troxell
“I just can’t help it, that’s just the way I am. I cannot change. I am hopeless, I’m of no real use to the world or my family.” - Have you ever found yourself feeling like that or believing such lies? Those who dwell on these lies often struggle with feelings of shame, hopelessness, inferiority; passivity; loss of creativity; isolation; thoughts of suicide, withdrawal from others, resigned to failure; a feeling of helplessness. However God’s answer is regeneration—being spiritually reborn is a act of God that transforms your life and reshapes your basis of truth and being by accepting Jesus propitiation and letting the Bible transform your thinking. Because of regeneration, you become a new creation—complete in your relationship with Christ, and forever completely accepted by Christ. You no longer need to experience the pain of shame. You have a new nature, a new source of truth that defines your identity and value. The results are remarkable: Christ-centered life, self-confidence; joy, courage, peace; a desire to know Christ more and more. For more read:
http://www.allsaintscarmel.org/2013/08/our-search-for-significance/
What is Important? By Robin Denney
What is important? What is this all about? I feel those questions in the background of the Gospel story. The authorities accuse Jesus of breaking the Sabbath, by healing a woman, by setting her free from 18 years of bondage in pain. As he so often does, Jesus opens the eyes of people to see the hypocrisy amongst them or within them. After all, who doesn’t untie their donkey and give it water on the Sabbath? What is important? What is this all about? Shouldn’t this woman be joyfully set free on the Sabbath? And what about us? Do we not rush around each day consumed with the tasks of living? Most of the time when my nephews say, “play with us Auntie,” my response is, “after I do this…” Whatever “this” is, can it really be more important than spending that time in relationship with people so dear to me? What is important? What is this life all about? Are we enslaved, bound by our personalities, expectations, culture, and times to give tasks undue importance? If the answer is “yes,” there is hope. Jesus can open our eyes and set us free, and help us to change the way we live each moment.
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Highlighted Events and Meetings August 25 Youth group noon-2pm every Sunday August 25 Youth Back to School Beach party August 27 Santa Lucia work day August 28 Vestry Meeting August 29 Chancel Choir Rehearsal September 2 Labor Day - Church office is closed September 7 Dennis Sharp Memorial Service September 7 Healthy Saints Hike at Elkhorn Slough. September 17 All Saints’ Singers Rehearsal season begins September 20 Movie night at All Saints’ September 20-21 Youth overnight “Boardwalk Beach Blitz” September 24 Healthy Saints Hike at Andrew Molera State Beach September 27-29 Diocesan Youth Camping trip, Big Sur September 27-29 Festival of Christian Spirituality October 1 Diocesan Training for Eucharistic Visitors October 6 Confirmation classes begin Read more news online at: www.allsaintscarmel.org We’re also found in these social media streams:
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All Saints’ • The Weekly
Healing the Nations By The Rev. Rick Matters
Brene Brown is a social researcher who has studied the impact of shame on our society. She has given two talks on TED, which I recommend. In “Listening to Shame” she makes a compelling case that shame is associated with addiction, bullying, suicide, and violence. She also identifies shame as the source of racial prejudice. I believe her, because when people feel unworthy they become desperate. Three military trials this week might well illustrate the cancer of shame. There were two trials for soldiers who went on murder sprees in Afghanistan and at Fort Hood, Texas, as well as the trial of Pfc. Manning for leaking classified information. Jesus shows God’s power to free people from shame through the hospitality of his love. Hanging with compassion and nobility as a naked criminal on a cross, Jesus offers to transform the hearts of individuals. God’s passionate affirmation of the dignity of humans through the resurrection has the power to heal the nations of the world. What if that healing power began with us?
Embodying the Hospitality of God By The Rev. Rick Matters
It is not our own hospitality that we offer when inviting and welcoming people to All Saints’. We offer the same extraordinary hospitality that Jesus showed to the woman in today’s Gospel. First she was condemned as a sinner. Second, she was shamed for being healed on the sabbath. Both times Jesus graced her with dignity and respect. He even laid his healing hands upon her. The hospitality of Jesus communicates worthiness. As the church, we experience that same affirmation. Our task is to recognize the message of love, by receiving it all the way into our souls, as well as by letting this message of love permeate our every action. Wonderfully, God heals others by communicating their worth through our words and actions. As we treat people with the dignity with which God holds them, they are summoned to that same relationship of love that we enjoy. We welcome guest and strangers as the precious children of God that we are.
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Announcements Today: Back to School Beach Party, 2:00 to 5:00 p.m.—Youth and friends entering grade six and up are invited! Come to youth group at noon and walk down together at 1:30, or just meet us at Carmel Beach near Tenth Street. Upcoming youth events include an overnight “Boardwalk Beach Blitz” in Santa Cruz, September 20–21, and the diocesan camping trip in Big Sur, September 27–29. Tuesday: Santa Lucia work day, 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. for weed whacking, clearing brush and fallen limbs, spraying poison oak, and more. We’ll have lunch from noon to 1:00; you can come for all or part of the day. If you can’t work you may want to bring food or donate money to provide lunch. RSVP to Mother Cynthia at 520-260-5158 or cms614@me.com. Ministry of hospitality—You’re invited to open your home to a participant at the September 27–29 Festival of Christian Spirituality. All meals will be provided at the festival. If you would like to participate in this ministry, contact Father Rick or the parish office.
All Saints’ Episcopal Parish Ninth and Dolores PO Box 1296 Carmel, CA 93921 Phone: 831-624-3883 Fax: 831-624-1459 www.allsaintscarmel.org
Healthy Saints Hikes—Saturday, September 7, at Elkhorn Slough we’ll enjoy easy hiking from 9:30 to 1:00 along a variety of trails. There is an admission fee of $4; no dogs are allowed. Carpools will leave from both Santa Lucia Mission (8:30) and All Saints’ (9:00). The following hike will be on Tuesday, September 24, from 9:00 to noon at Andrew Molera State Beach. Contact Mother Cynthia at thevicarofbigsur@ gmail.com if you plan to attend either of these hikes. Volunteers to “Raise the Barn”— Beginning September 16–20 and continuing for several weeks, we will build a multipurpose shed at Santa Lucia Mission, Big Sur. Helpers are needed to do carpentry and to donate, prepare, and/ or serve lunch and snacks. Please contact Mother Cynthia (520-260-5158 or cms614@me.com) if you can help support the Big Sur ministry in this way.
Festival of Christian Spirituality: Special Offer for All Saints’—We encourage you to participate in the festival, September 27–29, at the reasonable rate of $175. However, you may also make a minimum donation of $35 (to defray costs for your snacks, facilitators’ meals, advertising, etc.), and participate in all of the sessions while providing your own meals. Complete either the regular or the special parishioner registration form at the back of the church or in the office. Wednesday Bible study from 10:30 to 11:45 a.m. in Grant Hall. Sunday handout deadline—To be included in next Sunday’s handout, your announcement must be submitted by 4:00 p.m. on the preceding Wednesday. Most special parish events are included in the announcements for three weeks before they occur. Contact Andrea Matters at andreamatters@gmail.com or 624-3090.