Palm Sunday March 29, 2015
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Lent 1B John Henry Newman February 21, 2019 (21 Feb 1801–11 Aug 1890) Genesis 9:8-17 Priest & Theologian 1 Peter 3:18-22 Mark 1:9-15 St. John’s Episcopal Church, Centreville VA Adult Lectionary Forum 2021 John Henry Newman was an major Anglican Oxford Movement figure whose studies convinced him to become a Roman Catholic, eventual elevation to cardinal, & a Doctor of Divinity degree from Pope Pius IX. While a youth, the Napoleonic Wars precipitated a financial collapse that forced his father's bank to close. Alone at school & shocked by the family crisis, he fell ill but later said it was one of three great providential illnesses in his life. He underwent a religious conversion that year, NewmanHenryJohn Cardinal too, influenced by a schoolmaster, who converted to Calvinistic evangelicalism. Ordained as a priest in 1825 at Oxford’s Christ Church Cathedral, he was also appointed curate of St Clement’s, Oxford. He later admitted issues in 1828 checked influences that were taking him in a religiously liberal direction: first a nervous breakdown & then his youngest sister’s sudden death. There was a theological factor, too: a fascination since 1816 with the Fathers of the Church, whose works he read systematically during his “long 1828 vacation.” His views assumed a higher ecclesiastical tone in 1833, when John Keble preached an assize sermon on National Apostasy at St Mary’s which Newman claims inaugurated the Oxford Movement. Keble’s message inspired him to write his Tracts for the Times, through which he hoped to give the Church of England a more solid doctrinal & disciplined footing. For eight years he augmented teaching the tracts with Sunday sermons, gaining a loyal following all the while. At the height of influence, his study of the monophysite heresy made him doubt the Anglican position was tenable based on principles of ecclesiastical authority he now accepted. He remained a controversial High Anglican until 1841, when he issued Tract 90, the last of the series, by which he tested the tenability of Catholic doctrine within the Church of England, examining in detail all 39 Articles of Faith. He suggested their negations were not directed against Roman Catholic creed, but only against popular errors & exaggerations. For British Catholics, his conversion secured great prestige & dissipated many prejudices. His influence aimed at broadening spirit & recognition of the key roles played by developing doctrine & improving Church government. Collect for Lent 1B Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan; Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations; and, as you know the weaknesses of each of us, let each one find you mighty to save; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. Prayer for Lent 1B [John Henry Newman] God of all wisdom, we offer thanks for John Henry Newman, whose eloquence bore witness that your Church is one--holy, catholic & apostolic--even amid the changes & cares of this world: Grant that, inspired by his words & example, we may follow your kindly light until we rest in your bosom, with your dear Son Jesus Christ & the Holy Spirit; for you live & reign, one God, now & forever. Amen. St. John’s Episcopal Church, Centreville VA -- Adult Lectionary Forum 2021 Synopsis: L God makes a promise to all of God said to Noah & his sons, “As for me, I am establishing my covenant with ENT humanity and every living creature to you & your descendants, & with every living creature that is with you, the come. His mercy is symbolized by a birds, the domestic animals, & every animal of the earth with you, as many as rainbow. 1B: C 1B: Signing the Covenant came out of the ark. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall --Primitive peoples think of God as a all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, & never again shall there be a flood threat to be placated, but Israelites thought of God as a benevolent power to destroy the earth…This is the sign of the covenant I make between me & --God initiates covenants, dictates you & every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have OVENANT terms, outlines benefits & may or may set my bow in the clouds…a sign of the covenant between me & the earth. not require a response from those with whom the covenant is made --But God doesn’t require a response from Noah since his family complied with terms of an earlier covenant in which God told him to build/enter Ark • In that 1st covenant, God did not S specify a benefit (implied survival) but did specify a response (enter the ark). IGN • In the 2nd one, God specifies a benefit (no more destruction of life by water) but doesn’t require a response. ! [G ! --Why the difference? Perhaps because Noah complied with the terms of the nd ENESIS original covenant, so this 2 one may be a reward for that compliance. --Just as God initiates covenants and When I bring clouds over the earth & the bow is seen in the clouds, I will dictates terms, God also establishes signs to ratify the covenant & by which remember my covenant that is between me & you & every living creature of all to remember it. flesh; & the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When 9:8 the bow is in the clouds, I will see it & remember the everlasting covenant - between God & every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” God said 17] to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me & all flesh that is on the earth.” St. John’s Episcopal Church, Centreville VA Adult Lectionary Forum 2021 Context: God saved Noah and his family through the dangers of flood Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order waters. Now, he saves through the to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in risky waters of baptism, drawing a Lent 1B:Lent AnotherCovenant Sign!Peter[1 3:18 which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in former new people to himself. times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the Flooding the Soul! --To those experiencing trials, harsh building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water. treatment & suffering, Peter says to stand fast in faith amid adversity . --He concludes it is better to suffer for obeying God than for doing evil --Peter’s point: Christ endured the same suffering he calls us to bear. --Christ was righteous, suffering on behalf of those who were unrighteous; suffering with redemptive purpose --IRT Noah, Peter assures us we are indeed The Church, a new ark rising & falling on waters of adversity, toward a day of peace when chaos around us recedes & a new world is established. --Christ revealed himself to spirits of disobedience, putting them on notice from Day 1 of his earthly ministry --Lent offers us opportunity to search our conscience, consider implications of our baptism & assess on which side we really are --Ostensibly, the waters that wash us clean are the source of our salvation, but our actions sometimes suggest an allegiance to the chaos that lies just - beyond the walls of the ark. And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you-- not as a removal of dirt 22 from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the ] resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him. St. John’s Episcopal Church, Centreville VA Adult Lectionary Forum 2021 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in Summary: c.30 AD the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens After John baptizes him, Jesus torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from faces tests by the Evil One; filled with the Holy Spirit, given grace & heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” attended by God’s angels, Jesus withstands the assaults, emerges victorious, & begins preaching. Epiphany6C:Proveit!1:9 [Mark Speed Gospeling --Mark covers a lot in these few verses. 1. Jesus’ baptism 2. His temptation 3. Declaration of the coming kingdom 4. His call to repentance and belief --Mark uses strong, jolting language: 1. Heavens were “parting” 2. Spirit “drove (Jesus) out” into the wilderness “immediately” following the baptism 3. Tempted by Satan 4. Dwelled with wild animals 5. Attended to by angels 6. Preaches,“Repent & believe in the Good News” --In Exodus, Israel transits Red Sea into dry air of a desert wilderness where they encounter temptations during a 40- year wilderness journey - 15] --Jesus passes thru baptismal waters of the Jordan and goes directly from the cool water to the hot wilderness. And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him. St John’s Episcopal Church, Centreville VA Adult Lectionary Forum 2021 .