{"id":1563,"date":"2020-10-11T18:31:51","date_gmt":"2020-10-11T22:31:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/standrewsharlem.org\/blog\/?p=1563"},"modified":"2020-10-11T18:31:51","modified_gmt":"2020-10-11T22:31:51","slug":"10-11-the-19th-sunday-after-pentecost-waiting-in-hope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/standrewsharlem.org\/blog\/?p=1563","title":{"rendered":"10\/11 The 19th Sunday after Pentecost: Waiting in Hope"},"content":{"rendered":"

On this mountain the\u00a0Lord\u00a0of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines,\u00a0of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear. And he will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations;\u00a0he will swallow up death forever. Then the Lord\u00a0God\u00a0will wipe away the tears from all faces, and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth,\u00a0for the\u00a0Lord\u00a0has spoken. It will be said on that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us.\u00a0This is the\u00a0Lord\u00a0for whom we have waited;\u00a0let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.\u00a0<\/span> From Isaiah 5<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Isaiah writes of the messianic age when the world will be a place of abundance and enough for all \u2013 a refuge-like shelter and shade from the storms of life: A mountain and a feast, in images of plenty and tasty food, and of the blinding dividing death-vision shroud to be destroyed by the Lord God as he clears all sadness and disgrace from humanity.\u00a0 On that day, says Isaiah, we wait with yearning.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

The Church has awaited this day for centuries in the messianic feast known as the eucharist \u2013 holy communion, the feast of thanksgiving for God who both leads and follows us in the blessing grace of Jesus Christ \u2013 forgiveness supreme.\u00a0 This time last year we were celebrating Homecoming and getting ready for our 190th<\/sup> Anniversary Feast and Gala.\u00a0 These occasions were a foretaste of what Isaiah describes and which like him, we await – Caught still, in the death-vision shroud, with even our sabbath feasting interrupted in the confusion of fear that the world has become. \u00a0Caught still- and waiting\u2026\u2026but not without hope.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jesus\u2019 story today of a wedding banquet echoes this mountain top feast of plenty with a lesson for us all.\u00a0 The feast was ready but those called, mocked the invitation – so the doors were flung wide to bring in any and all, with the punchline: \u2018For many are called, but few are chosen\u2019.\u00a0 How many times have we quoted this, and heard it quoted to justify a condescending attitude of superior attitude over someone or group? To point the finger? And that\u2019s the punch Jesus landed in the self-righteous shroud-shade attitude of the chief priests, pharisees, – and you and me.\u00a0 Whether you think you are called or (better?) – chosen \u2013 the point is this: the banquet kingdom-feast is for \u201call peoples\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em>So, pay attention \u2013 and be READY.\u00a0 The wedding garment of grace is available to everyone who asks and receives and puts on Christ Jesus- the garment of salvation.\u00a0 Paul robed in Christ from the depths of a prison knew this and could proclaim a message of hope \u2013 in his tortured waiting \u2013 like brother Isaiah: Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

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On this mountain the\u00a0Lord\u00a0of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines,\u00a0of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear. And he will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations;\u00a0he will swallow … Continue reading 10\/11 The 19th Sunday after Pentecost: Waiting in Hope<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/standrewsharlem.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1563"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/standrewsharlem.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/standrewsharlem.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/standrewsharlem.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/standrewsharlem.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1563"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/standrewsharlem.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1563\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1564,"href":"https:\/\/standrewsharlem.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1563\/revisions\/1564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/standrewsharlem.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/standrewsharlem.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/standrewsharlem.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}