Pentecost 14BPentecost 14BAugust 30, 2015August 30, 2015

Song of Solomon 2:8-13

James 1:17-27Mark 7:1-8, 14-15,

21-23St. John’s Episcopal Church, Centreville VA

Adult Lectionary Forum 2015

Episcopal Episcopal EcumenistEcumenist

1830 - 19121830 - 1912

Rev. Charles Chapman Rev. Charles Chapman Grafton Grafton

Sketc

h: T

he R

igh

t Revere

nd

Ch

arle

s C

hap

man

S

ketc

h: T

he R

igh

t Revere

nd

Ch

arle

s C

hap

man

G

rafto

nG

rafto

n

1830 - 19121830 - 1912

Charles Chapman Grafton (12 Apr 1830 – 30 Aug 1912) was 2nd Bishop of the Diocese of Fond du Lac, supported the Oxford Movement, an affiliation of High Church Anglicans that led to ecumenism in the Episcopal Church & served as a legitimator for Anglo-Catholic projects world-wide. Before his election as bishop, he was a founding member of the Society of St. John the Evangelist [SSJE], founded the Anglican Sisterhood of the Holy Nativity, & for 14 years served as Rector of the Church of the Advent in Boston. •He was born to wealthy Boston socialites, MAJ Joseph Grafton--a distinguished War of 1812 veteran--& Anne Maria Gurley, a graceful Louisiana heiress. Unlike his three brothers who became Army officers, serious eye problems disqualified Charles from military service, so his father pushed him to study law at Harvard. •While there, he attended a vanguard New England parish, the Church of the Advent, which adopted principles of the Oxford Movement. While Charles indeed earned the law degree his father hoped he would, the germ of monasticism had grown such that he opted for the priesthood instead. Ordained a deacon in 1855, Grafton became a priest in 1858 and, in 1865, travelled to England where, at Cowley, he and two other priests founded the Society of Mission Priests of St. John the Evangelist [SSJE] the following year. •A schism within SSJE occurred in 1883, though, that led Grafton to relocate his church & found another Order, the Sisters of the Holy Nativity. This group and his congregation flourished & in 1888, as he was relocating to Providence, RI, he learned he had been elected Bishop of Fond du Lac. •During Grafton’s episcopate in Fond du Lac, it esperienced a 68% increase in the number of clergy & a 57% increase in the number of communicants. Grafton built 28 new churches, 15 parish halls & 21 rectories. Moreover, he is alleged to have spent nearly $700,000 (over $15 million in today’s currency) of his own inherited fortunes & gifts from his friends on diocesan projects. •At the core of Grafton’s ministry were his six points of ritual requiring: (1) Eucharistic vestments, (2) mixed Chalice of wine and water, (3) wafer bread, (4) Celebrants to face eastward, (5) candles on the altar or in procession, and (6) use of incense. None of these are controversial in today’s Episcopal Church, but they were very contentious in Grafton’s day.

Bishop & Bishop & EcumenistEcumenist

 

St. John’s Episcopal Church, Centreville VA -- Adult Lectionary Forum 2015

Prayer for Pentecost 14B [Bishop Charles C. Grafton]Prayer for Pentecost 14B [Bishop Charles C. Grafton]Loving God, you called Charles Chapman Grafton to be a bishop in your Church and endowed him with a burning zeal for souls: Grant that, following his example, we may ever live for the extension of your kingdom, that your glory may be the chief end of our lives, your will the law of our conduct, your love the motive of our actions, and Christ’s life the model and mold of our own; through the same Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, throughout all ages. Amen.

Collect for Pentecost 14BCollect for Pentecost 14BLord of power & might, author & giver of all good things: Graft in our hearts the love of your Name; increase in us true religion; nourish us with all goodness; & bring forth in us the fruit of good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives & reigns with you & the Holy Spirit, one God, forever. Amen

Pen

tecost 1

4B

: Th

e F

eelin

g’s

Mu

tual [S

on

g o

f Solo

mon

P

en

tecost 1

4B

: Th

e F

eelin

g’s

Mu

tual [S

on

g o

f Solo

mon

2

:8-1

3]]

Context This Solomonic ode to the love between bride & groom also reflects the love between Christ & his Church.

Love of Christ & Church•Originally an ode to lovers in King Solomon’s era, it becomes an allegory for mutual love between Christ & his Church•Christ gloriously returns to his Church•Church anticipates communion with Christ after she recovering from its reverie•--Rejoices in Christ’s approach [V 8]•--Christ eager to receive us [V 9]•--Christ beckons us [Vv 10-13] •--Christ repeats gracious calls he has made to us to walk with him

“Arise, my love, my fair one & come away; 11for now the winter is past, the rain is over & gone. 12The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come & the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. 13The fig tree puts forth its figs & the vines are in blossom; they give forth fragrance. Arise, my love, my fair one, & come away.

St. John’s Episcopal Church, Centreville VA Adult Lectionary Forum 2015

8My beloved’s voice! Look, he comes, leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills. 9My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Look, there he stands behind our wall, gazing in at the windows, looking through the lattice. 10My beloved speaks & says to me:

22Be doers of the word & not merely hearers who deceive themselves… 27Religion that is pure & undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans & widows in their distress, & to keep oneself unstained by the world.

Pen

tecost 1

4B

: Du

mp

Neg

ativ

ity [Ja

mes 1

:17-

Pen

tecost 1

4B

: Du

mp

Neg

ativ

ity [Ja

mes 1

:17-

27]

27]

Context: 61 ADJames urges Christians to put their belief into practice, so their words don’t ring hollow. Practical Religion oGod authors all that is good & true [Vv 17-18]oSuppress unbridled passion, rash anger & vile affectionsoPractice God’s law or faith becomes a vain endeavor [Vv 19-27]o-- Misery, errors, ill thoughts angry, hasty spirit bad decisionso--Wrath won’t beget righteousnesso--Put aside lust & filthy deedsoJesus flatters no mano--We must prepare ourselves [V 21]o--Practice what we preach [V 22]o-- Consider: Your sins are spots God’s law discovers!o--Christ’s blood is the spiritual cleansing agent the Gospel showsoRemember: it is not talking but walking that will take us to heaveno--So doing, Christ becomes more precious to the believer's soulo--By his grace you become more fit for the inheritance offered you.

St. John’s Episcopal Church, Centreville VA Adult Lectionary Forum 2015

17Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 18In fulfillment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures.

Pen

tecost 1

4B

: Wh

at is

Cle

an

? [Mark

7:1

-8, 1

4-1

5,

Pen

tecost 1

4B

: Wh

at is

Cle

an

? [Mark

7:1

-8, 1

4-1

5,

21

-23

]2

1-2

3]

SummaryJesus rebukes the Pharisees for elevating human precepts to doctrinal importance.

Wash Before You Eat?

•Disciples aware of law & custom•--Understood quite well •--Chose not to be bound up by it•--Ate bread with unwashed hands•Great design of Christ's coming: to sideline ceremonial law•--Christ rejects ceremonies men add to laws of God's making•-- Clean hands & pure heart Christ bestows on his disciples & requires of them, are so different from outward & superstitious forms to which Pharisees adhere in every age.•Jesus scolds Pharisees for rejecting God’s commandments •--e.g., if parents are poor, law says children must help them as are able;•--But they who curse parents deserve to die--why not those who starve them•Jesus says those who conform to Pharisaic traditions will surely find ways to avoid true duties to God

St John’s Episcopal Church, Centreville VA Adult Lectionary Forum 2015

8You abandon the commandment of God & hold to human tradition...” 14Then he called the crowd again & said to them, “Listen to me, all of you & understand: 15there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.”

18“…Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile, 19since it enters, not the heart but the stomach & goes out into the sewer?” 20And he said, “It is what comes out of a person that defiles. 21For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, 22adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. 23All these evil things come from within & they defile a person.”