Pentecost-11 (Yr A) Aug 16, 2020

The Word of God

(BCP p. 355)

 

 

 

 

Celebrant         Blessed be God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

People             And blessed be his kingdom, now and for ever.

                        Amen.

 

Celebrant         Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid.  Cleanse the thoughts of our hears by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit that we may perfectly love you and worthily magnify your holy Name through Christ our Lord.  Amen.

  

 

Hymn of Praise

(BCP p.356)

 

Lord have mercy.

Christ have mercy.
Lord have mercy.

 

 

Collect of the Day

 

Celebrant The Lord be with you.

People And also with you

Celebrant Let us pray.

 

Almighty God, you have given your only Son to be for us a sacrifice for sin, and also an example of godly life: Give us grace to receive thankfully the fruits of his redeeming work, and to follow daily in the blessed steps of his most holy life; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

 

 

 

A Reading from the Book of Genesis 45:1-15

 

Joseph could no longer control himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out, “Send everyone away from me.” So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers.  And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it. Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, so dismayed were they at his presence.

 

Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come closer to me.” And they came closer.  He said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years; and there are five more years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God; he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt. Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not delay. You shall settle in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, as well as your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. I will provide for you there—since there are five more years of famine to come—so that you and your household, and all that you have, will not come to poverty.’ And now your eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see that it is my own mouth that speaks to you. You must tell my father how greatly I am honored in Egypt, and all that you have seen. Hurry and bring my father down here.” Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, while Benjamin wept upon his neck. And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them; and after that his brothers talked with him.

 

The Word of the Lord.

People   Thanks be to God

 

  

 

 

Psalm 133

 

1  Oh, how good and pleasant it is, *

    when brethren live together in unity!

2  It is like fine oil upon the head *

    that runs down upon the beard,

3  Upon the beard of Aaron, *

    and runs down upon the collar of his robe.

4  It is like the dew of Hermon *

    that falls upon the hills of Zion.

5  For there the Lord has ordained the blessing: *

    life for evermore.

 

 

 

 

A Reading from the Letter of Paul to the Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32

 

I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel?

 

For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. Just as you were once disobedient to God but have now received mercy because of their disobedience, so they have now been disobedient in order that, by the mercy shown to you, they too may now receive mercy. For God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may be merciful to all.

 

The Word of the Lord.

People   Thanks be to God.

 

 

 

 

Celebrant    The Holy Gospel of Our  Lord Jesus Christ

                        according to Matthew 15:21-28

 

People        Glory to you,  Lord Christ.

 

Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed instantly.

The Gospel of the Lord.

 

People      Praise to you,  Lord  Christ.

 

 

 

Sermon

 

Take Your Problems to God

 

Today’s sermon is titled Take your problem to God. The text is Matthew 15: 21-28.

 

The theme of the text is that when we take our problems to Jesus, He will answer us at His own time. This means we have to be prepared to persevere and be patient as we pray.

 

This Gospel took place outside of the area Jesus usually ministers.

 

Jesus was in a remote area.  This means that Jesus’ ministry was not only limited to the big areas or cities. He went North as far as Tyre to minister to people.  The people in this area shared in the healing miracle which Jesus continued to perform. (Concise Bible commentary, Matthew Henry.)

 

As Jesus was leaving this area, a Canaanite woman came to Jesus and asked, ‘‘Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David. My daughter is demon possessed and suffering terribly.”

 

This same woman is called Syrophoenician Woman in the Gospel of Mark. This is because she was from the territory Northwest of Galilee where the Cities of Tyre and Sidon were located.

 

Thank God for mothers. Like every mother this woman was passionate about receiving healing for her daughter and she knew who to take her to: Jesus.

 

Hearing what the woman said, rather than empathizing or being sensitive to the woman’s needs, the disciples urged Jesus to send her away because she kept crying after them.

 

This means it is possible to become so occupied with spiritual matters (or whatever we are involved in) that we miss real needs around us. This is especially true whenever we are prejudiced against people in need. This woman exemplified perseverance. Rather than being bothered or discouraged by what the disciples said, she kept crying to Jesus for help.

 

Jesus’ disciples had always been asking Jesus to send people away. How can we forget that when Jesus fed five thousand? These same disciples urged Jesus to send the people away because it was getting dark. Jesus instead told them not to send them away, but to get the people something to eat. 

 

Thank God Jesus listened to this woman’s problem. However, Christ’s response to this woman was a case for debate whether He could talk like that or not. As soon as this woman asked Jesus for help to heal her daughter, listen to Jesus’ response: “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” Wow! I wonder how many of us would have responded hearing what Jesus told this woman. 

 

Hearing what Jesus said to this woman must have sounded insulting. A deeper look into the conversation between this woman might show that Jesus seemed to be testing the woman; though what Jesus said implied that the Jews were only whom Jesus was sent. This is because Jesus had just told this woman that she and her daughter were not qualified to be healed by Jesus! The question remains, does that mean Jesus’ healing is for certain people and not the others.

 

Unlike how many of us would have responded to Jesus, the woman in today’s Gospel seemed not bothered by what sounded like a prejudicial statement against her, rather she demonstrated humility, and also willingness to get healing for her daughter. 

 

Rather than being arrogant, she humbly stood her ground as she continued to ask for help. She demonstrated abundant faith and trust in Jesus. Her response shows her deep love for her daughter just like all mothers love their children. Nothing Jesus said could make her angry.  What a lesson for all of us. 

 

Many of us sometimes get angry for something minute that others do or say to us. She said the bread that falls on the ground for the dogs under the table to eat was good enough for her daughter to be healed!

 

Doesn’t this remind us of the statement: “Where there is a will, there is a way?” This woman was not ready to settle for less even in the presence of Jesus. If this woman did not settle for less, none of us should settle for less in our dealings with other people.

 

All Jesus could say to her was, “Woman great is your faith, let it be done for you as you wish.”  And her daughter was healed instantly. See what faith can do? See what humility and persistence can lead to? Our faith shows our trust in Jesus. When all else fails, our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ always prevails.

 

This Gospel reminds us that in the face of naysayers we must always keep the faith, believing that Jesus will reward our perseverance. Like this woman, many people come to Jesus with their challenges then when these challenges are resolved many start following Jesus.

 

Mothers spend time on their knees praying for their children like this woman.

 

This woman teaches us humility, perseverance and to believe that when times are tough, Christ will make a way. Can you imagine what she must have gone through and still she did not relent asking for help for her daughter. 

 

Our call is to take our problems to Jesus. We are to remember that Christ is loving and will answer our prayers at His time. Amen.

 

 

 

The Nicene Creed

(BCP p. 358)

 

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

worshipped 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.

 

 

 

 

Prayers of the People

 

In the Anglican cycle of prayer, we pray for the Scottish Episcopal Church.

 

In the Diocesan cycle of prayer, we pray for St. John’s in Worthington; St. Matthew’s in Westerville; and  St. Paul’s in Logan.

 

In our Parish cycle of prayer, we pray for Jeff & Libby Nicholson; Norma Peachey; and Howard and Ann Phillips.

 

 

 

Let us pray for the Church and for the world.

 

Grant, Almighty God, that all who confess your Name may be united in your truth, live together in your love, and reveal your glory in the world.

Silence

Lord, in your mercy

Hear our prayer.

 

Guide the people of this land, and of all the nations, in the ways of justice and peace; that we may honor one another and serve the common good.

Silence

Lord, in your mercy

Hear our prayer.

Give us all a reverence for the earth as your own creation, that we may use its resources rightly in the service of others and to your honor and glory.

Silence

Lord, in your mercy

Hear our prayer.

 

Bless all whose lives are closely linked with ours, and grant that we may serve Christ in them, and love one another as he loves us.

Silence

Lord, in your mercy

Hear our prayer.

 

Comfort and heal all those who suffer in body, mind, or spirit, especially those on our Parish Prayer List (N), give them courage and hope in their troubles, and bring them the joy of your salvation.

Silence

Lord, in your mercy

Hear our prayer.

 

We commend to your mercy all who have died, that your will for them may be fulfilled; and we pray that we may share with all your saints in your eternal kingdom.

Silence

Lord, in your mercy

Hear our prayer.

 

 

Celebrant   Almighty God, to whom our needs are known before we ask, help us to ask only what accords with your will; and those good things which we dare not, or in our blindness cannot ask, grant us for the sake of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

 

 

 

 

The Lord’s Prayer

 

Celebrant As our Savior Christ has taught us, we now pray,

 

Our Father in heaven,

 hallowed be your Name,

 your kingdom come,

 your will be done,

      on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins,

 as we forgive those

      who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial,

and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power

and the glory are yours,

now and for ever.  Amen.

 

 

Blessing

 

 

The Peace

 

Celebrant The peace of the Lord be always with you.

People And also with you.

 

  

 

St. Mark’s Vestry

 

Senior Warden: Gary Welch

Junior Warden: Katherine Wagner

Treasurer: Don Nancarrow

Secretary: Dave Reuter

 

Vestry Members:

Carol Nancarrow, Tracey Swartz

Jen Bonifas, Susan Kendall

Kendall Rubino, Jenna Walch

 

St. Mark’s Staff

Transitional Priest in Charge The Rev. Dr. John Agbaje

Parish Administrator Katherine Wagner

Music Director Donna Larsen

Sexton Douglas Plummer

 

 

 

Look for us…

 

On the web:  www.StMarksDayton.org

Facebook:  St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Dayton, Ohio

Instagram:  stmarksdayton

 

 

 

 

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