People's Prayers: Prayers of the People: Keys and Connections 12th Sunday after Pentecost, '17 Yr A

For Sunday, August 27, 2017, 12^th Sunday after Pentecost, Year A, Readings: Exodus 1:8-2:10, Psalm 124, Romans 12:1-8, Matthew 16:13-20

Now a new king arose over Egypt...[who] commanded all his people "Every boy that is born to the Hebrews you shall throw into the Nile...[When the Levite] woman...bore a son...she got a papyrus basket...she put the child in it among the reeds on the bank of the river...The daughter of Pharoah...took pity on him...she took him as her son. She named him Moses, "because," she said, "I drew him out of the water." [Exodus 1:8a, 22a, 2:2a, 3a,b; 5a, 6b, 10b]

Our help is in the Name of the Lord, the maker of Heaven and Earth. [Psalm 124:8]

...by the mercies of God...present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship...Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed...that you may discern what is the will of God...We have gifts that differ according to the grace given us... [Romans 12:1b, 2, 6a]

[Jesus] said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." And Jesus answered him..."I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." [Matthew 16:15-16, 17a, 19]

Just as the well-worn literary device of "It was a dark and stormy night" alerts us to trouble ahead, so do the opening words of this passage of Exodus, "Now a new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph." Of course we mostly know the story of Moses and what is to come so it is easy in a Sunday service to tune out and let the reading roll on while we look for our checkbooks, sneak a peek at a text message on our mobile phone, or think about what is needed for the evening meal. But the re-telling, of this and each of the other specifically appointed readings, gives us a chance to find a new focus, or hear something we hadn't noticed before. This is an opportunity to seek and discover the keys to unlocking the connections between the Hebrew and Christian Testaments and how - or if - it all informs and shapes our everyday life now, IF being the small yet formidable and operative word. Paul reminds us, in a most timely way, that we are one body in Christ with God-given, grace-filled gifts that we are to discover and offer in service to God and each other. In saying, Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God - what is good and acceptable and perfect, and then enumerating examples of the gifts God has given, Paul both admonishes and encourages us to look beyond ourselves and work together for God's purpose as a welcoming all-inclusive community of many members in Christ.

The disciples express to Jesus at his asking who others think he is, perhaps wondering themselves if Jesus is some sort of re-incarnation of the prophets. But Simon Peter gets the prize for getting the answer correct. Peter - a name meaning rock in Greek - is then awarded the keys of the kingdom of heaven to bind and loose on earth and in heaven. Did Peter, in that moment, feel the enormous weight of the responsibility? Binding and loosing is a rabbinical concept that, as Jews, the disciples - and Matthew - understood. In very simplistic terms it means a communal judgment to bind as in obligation or to loosen that requirement. How does that apply to us in our lives today?

Many of us feel a strong obligation, or at least a commitment, to present ourselves in Church each Sunday, but of course we are free to not attend. So what does a true obligation to the work of Christ actually mean? Ah, that's where discernment applies. Discovering what are and how to use our particular gifts, as well as offering them in the sincere attempt to follow God's will, is the work of a lifetime, our spiritual worship, our living sacrifice. Our human gifts are the keys to unlocking our spiritual gifts when used in preparation for the true life that is to come. All that was, is now, and all that is now, will come again. It is up to us, individually and collectively, to recognize the connections we share with the past and the future that help us to decipher the signs that we are on the right path or diverging from it. To paraphrase mystic/monk Thomas Merton's helpful and hopeful prayer* that begins, "My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going...," the fact that I think I'm following God's will does not mean that I truly am doing so, BUT, I do believe that God knows when I am sincere in my desire to please and fulfill my calling. Sincerity of purpose is one key to the loosening of apprehension and the binding of trust. Connecting the lessons of the past and present is the key to the future of life everlasting.

*for the full text click here: Thomas Merton's Prayer

(As for a couple of biblical connections, the word for basket - as in the basket that Moses was placed in - is the same word as ark in Hebrew; ark is not just a vessel for water travel, it is a sanctuary, a safe place as a box or a chest such as the ark of the covenant. In Exodus, all Hebrew boy babies were ordered to be killed by Pharoah to prevent them growing up and revolting against him. Earlier in Matthew, Herod ordered all boys under 2 years old to be killed to prevent a Messiah from undermining his reign. Go forth and discover more each week!)

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader: ~ Living God, our Maker and our Help, as through the waters that birth us, that Moses was drawn from, that nourish the Earth and sometimes drown it, we often struggle to navigate our lives between the raging and the calm. Let us not drift aimlessly through tide and torrent, but by Your mercy, steer toward the Light of Christ, our Messiah, the Incarnation of Your Holy Will for us.

O Lord, our God

RESPONSE: Renew and Transform us, we pray

~ Living God, our Maker and our Help, empower us to be dauntless in the vigorous pursuit of re-forming the attitudes, agenda, and actions from callous to compassionate on the part of the political leaders of this world, our country, and our community. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

O Lord, our God,