mamabishop: Canterbury Tales 2.0 Day Five Sunday, July 31st, 2022

The Collect

Let your continual mercy, O Lord, cleanse and defend your Church; and, because it cannot continue in safety without your help, protect and govern it always by your goodness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Old Testament Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14; 2:18-23

Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. I, the Teacher, when king over Israel in Jerusalem, applied my mind to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven; it is an unhappy business that God has given to human beings to be busy with. I saw all the deeds that are done under the sun; and see, all is vanity and a chasing after wind. I hated all my toil in which I had toiled under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to those who come after me -- and who knows whether they will be wise or foolish? Yet they will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity. So I turned and gave my heart up to despair concerning all the toil of my labors under the sun, because sometimes one who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave all to be enjoyed by another who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. What do mortals get from all the toil and strain with which they toil under the sun? For all their days are full of pain, and their work is a vexation; even at night their minds do not rest. This also is vanity.

Psalm 49:1-11

1 Hear this, all you peoples;

hearken, all you who dwell

in the world, *

you of high degree and low,

rich and poor together.

2 My mouth shall speak of wisdom, *

and my heart shall meditate

on understanding.

3 I will incline my ear to a proverb *

and set forth my riddle upon the harp.

4 Why should I be afraid in evil days, *

when the wickedness of those

at my heels surrounds me,

5 The wickedness of those

who put their trust in their goods, *

and boast of their great riches?

6 We can never ransom ourselves, *

or deliver to God the price of our life;

7 For the ransom of our life is so great, *

that we should never have enough to pay it,

8 In order to live for ever and ever, *

and never see the grave.

9 For we see that the wise die also;

like the dull and stupid they perish *

and leave their wealth to those

who come after them.

10 Their graves shall be their homes for ever,

their dwelling places from generation to generation, *

though they call the lands after their own names.

11 Even though honored, they cannot live for ever; *

they are like the beasts that perish.

The Epistle Colossians 3:1-11

If you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory. Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry). On account of these the wrath of God is coming on those who are disobedient. These are the ways you also once followed, when you were living that life. But now you must get rid of all such things-- anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator. In that renewal there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all!

The Gospel Luke 12:13-21

Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me." But he said to him, "Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?" And he said to them, "Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions." Then he told them a parable: "The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, `What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?' Then he said, `I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, `Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.' But God said to him, `You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God."

Today we head to the Cathedral for Sunday worship. The bishops will be all decked out in rochet and chimere. I have to go in early to sit in the choir while most everyone else processes in. I have been thinking a good deal about how humbling all of this is, having to wait for transportation and rely on others to push me around. I want to do it myself. Yet the whole meat of the Gospel is our reliance on God in Christ. Jesus at the center of all. We can parade around in finery and exhibit our treasures. Yet we are all called to care for the least among us and be humble at all times. I am reminded of Tiny Tim's reflection from the Christmas Carol "He hoped the people saw him in the church, because he was a cripple, and it might be pleasant to them to remember upon Christmas day who made lame beggars walk, and blind men see." We can only hope that our presence, however humble remind others of Jesus.

Wondrous Creator, we gather in our diversity

from high and lowly places, poor and wealthy

to pray together and listen to your leading

asking for new hearts of compassion and love.