Please join us in the virtual world of Second Life each Sunday at 2pm Pacific/ 5pm Eastern time. Download the interface at Secondlife.com, create your avatar, and join us at Sunshine Cathedral.
Call to Worship
Sunshine Cathedral is a different kind of church
where the past is past
and the future has infinite possibilities!
This is the day our God has made.
Let us rejoice and be glad in it!
Opening Prayer
May we be forgiven for forgetting our divine nature.
May we be forgiven for failing to see the sacred value of all people.
May we be healed of judging ourselves, and others, too harshly.
May we forgive ourselves for not trusting in the absolute goodness and unconditional love of God.
May we forgive ourselves and others of all mistakes, real or imagined, since God has always and only seen the truth of our endless goodness.
May we now let our light shine and live as the children of God that we are. Amen.
The Lessons
A reading from A Course in Miracles
It is God’s strength in you that is the light in which you see…God’s strength denies your weakness…
Strength…[sees] past appearances. It keeps its steady gaze upon the light that lies beyond them…It brings the light in which your Self appears...Strength is the truth about you; weakness is an idol falsely worshipped…
Strength comes from truth, and shines with light its Source has given it…
The light of strength is constant, sure as love, forever glad to give itself away…No one can ask in vain to share its sight, and none who enters its abode can leave without a miracle…and strength and light abiding in his [or her] heart.
The strength in you will offer you the light, and guide your seeing so you do not dwell on idle shadows…Strength and light unite in you, and where they meet, your Self stands ready to embrace you as Its Own.
A reading from the Fourth Gospel (John 18.1-11)
Jesus went out with his disciples across the Kidron valley to where there was a garden, into which he and his disciples entered. Judas his betrayer also knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. So Judas got a band of soldiers and guards from the chief priests and the Pharisees and went there with lanterns, torches, and weapons. Jesus, knowing everything that was going to happen to him, went out and said to them, “Whom are you looking for?” They answered him, “Jesus the Nazorean.” He said to them, “I AM.” Judas his betrayer was also with them.
When he said to them, “I AM,” they turned away and fell to the ground. So he again asked them, “Whom are you looking for?” They said, “Jesus the Nazorean.” Jesus answered, “I told you that I AM. So if you are looking for me, let these men go.” This was to fulfill what he had said, “I have not lost any of those you gave me.” Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear. The slave’s name was Malchus. Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its scabbard. Shall I not drink the cup that I’ve been given?”
Reflection by Rev. Dr. BK Hipsher
Who In God's Name Are You? 03132022
It is appropriate that today we explore the question, “Who in God’s Name Are You?” All week I’ve been asking myself, “Who in God’s name are we? We are allowing an entire country of people to be terrorized, murdered, forced to flee their homes. Who in God’s name allows that to happen? How can we live in a world where this is the best choice we can make?” Yes I’ve been asking myself this very question all week.
Like Peter in our gospel story I want to draw a sword and cut more than an ear off Vladimir Putin. I want to know that somewhere on this great wide planet that someone from among all of the smart people in this world can come up with a better plan than letting this monster kill thousands of people as if he is a little boy playing with toy soldiers. I want to know that there is a better answer than not provoking this maniac to what may still be his ultimate goal, thermo-nuclear war.
So what can I say to you today that has any prayer of making a difference? What “truth” do I know that can shine a light in this hateful, terrifying darkness? What can I say to sooth the fears of my friend who, like me, wonders in every moment if this is our last sane moment before we hear the news that a nuclear warhead has hit the mainland US?
Honestly, I don’t have a clue. There have been some difficult Sunday’s in my life to preach… the Sunday after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, the Sunday after the tsunami hit Thailand, the first Sunday after Co-Vid was declared a pandemic two years ago today, the Sundays after school shootings, attacks on synagogues, floods, fires, earthquakes and just two weeks ago, the first Sunday after Russian troops invaded Ukraine.
But no Sunday in my memory has been more difficult to come to you and try to find something, anything, to say that might ease our anxiety or point to a future full of hope. All week I’ve asked myself, “What does it say about me that I can just go on about my daily life when my siblings in Ukraine are being slaughtered? What kind of person am I that I can just compartmentalize all of this and continue my work, enjoy my friends, laugh with my partner, and come be with you here, my beloved faith community?”
I’m not the biggest fan of A Course in Miracles but our reading today brought me comfort and a sense of peace when I read it. And I realized that I do have something to share with you today that is important, something that might ease the dis-ease of news overload and push out the feeling of impending doom that some of us are living in. You see what causes my despair is the fear that I can do NOTHING to change the course of my life, the feeling that I am caught up in some historical pattern over which I have no control. But that is not the truth.
As our reading said today, “Strength is the truth about you; weakness is an idol falsely worshipped… Strength comes from truth, and shines with light its Source has given it…” God is my strength, God is my light, God’s love is my truth. And I believe it with all my heart. That strength will prevail. And that truth will be known, no matter how many news outlets and internet news sources Putin tries to shut down, the truth will make its way to the hearts of the Russian people. They did not start this war but they have the power to end it and they will.
Our brother Jesus knew the power of knowing who we are. When Jesus answered I AM to the questions of those who came to do him harm he was naming himself as a child of God. I AM is the name of God, and as a child and heir we take the name of our creator as our own. I AM.
I have no idea what will happen in coming days. Will next week’s news be even worse? Or will our collective prayers bring about the change we need to end this madness? No one knows. But there are a few things I do know.
I AM a child of God.
I AM a citizen of the world.
I AM a family member of every Ukrainian, or Syrian, or Korean, or Chinese, or Russian.
I AM not powerless because I live in God’s truth and that truth is the light in the darkness.
As our sister Ann Frank wrote, “In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can’t build up my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery, and death. I see the world gradually being turned into a wilderness, I hear the ever approaching thunder, which will destroy us too, I can feel the sufferings of millions and yet, if I look up into the heavens, I think that it will all come right, that this cruelty too will end, and that peace and tranquility will return again.” That is who we are.
May the light of truth shine on the whole world and may we take from that light , strength to know our true greatness as children of a loving parent who wants only good things for us all.
Ken Yehi Ratzon Let it be so. Amen
For a list of music suggested to meditate on for this service click the link below:
"The Heartbreak of Denial" Sunday, March 20, 2022 Lent III, Sunshine Cathedral of Second Life
Please join us in the virtual world of Second Life each Sunday at 2pm Pacific/ 5pm Eastern time. Download the interface at Secondlife.com, create your avatar, and join us at Sunshine Cathedral.
Sunshine Cathedral is a different kind of church
where the past is past
and the future has infinite possibilities!
This is the day our God has made.
Let us rejoice and be glad in it!
Opening Prayer
May we be forgiven for forgetting our divine nature.
May we be forgiven for failing to see the sacred value of all people.
May we be healed of judging ourselves, and others, too harshly.
May we forgive ourselves for not trusting in the absolute goodness and unconditional love of God.
May we forgive ourselves and others of all mistakes, real or imagined, since God has always and only seen the truth of our endless goodness.
May we now let our light shine and live as the children of God that we are. Amen.
The Lessons
ReadingLentIII20220320
The wisdom of Helen Van Slyke
“Yea, I, the Christ within, proclaim anew my birth.
Look unto me and be ye saved ye uttermost ends of the earth.
Saved from all that hinders the onward march of the soul,
The petty limitations that keep thee from the goal.
Destructive thoughts and wrong endeavor have earned their measure of the pain,
I look to thee, O Christ within, and I am whole again.”
GospelLendIII20220320
A reading from the Fourth Gospel (John 18.12-27)
A detachment of soldiers, their commander, and several guards seized Jesus and bound him. They took him first to Annas, the father-in-law of Caiaphas who was the high priest that year. It was Caiaphas who had advised that it was better for one person to die for the people.
Simon Peter and another disciple were following Jesus. That disciple was known to the high priest, so he went with Jesus into the high priest’s courtyard, but Peter remained standing outside at the gate. The other disciple who was known to the high priest went out and spoke to the woman who was in charge of the gate, and he brought Peter inside.
The woman said to Peter, “Are you not one of this man’s disciples?” He replied, “I am not.”
Since it was cold, the servants and the guards had made a charcoal fire, and they were standing around it, warming themselves. Peter was also standing there and warming himself.
The high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his teaching. Jesus answered, “I have spoken openly for the world to hear. I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple...I have said nothing in secret. Why do you ask me? Interrogate those who heard what I said to them. They know what I said.”
When he had said this, one of the temple guards standing there struck Jesus with his hand, saying, “Is that any way to answer the high priest?” Jesus replied, “If I have spoken wrongly, testify to my error. But if I have spoken rightly, why did you strike me?” Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas, the high priest.
Meanwhile, as Simon Peter stood warming himself, he was asked, “Are you not also one of his disciples?” He denied it and said, “I am not.” Then one of the servants of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had sliced off, asked, “Did I not see you in the garden with him?” Again, Peter denied it. And at that very moment, a cock crowed.
Reflection by Rev. Dr. BK Hipsher
The Heartache of Denial - Lent III 2022
In our reading from the gospel according to John we find Jesus arrested, bound, and brought before the religious authorities. After all, he had been preaching a message of love, acceptance, economic justice and equality. Even today this is hardly the message that religious hierarchies warm up to.
In our reading, we get the information that Caiaphas, who had been named the High Priest for that year, had already voiced his opinion that literally sacrificing one man, Jesus, would calm the stirred up crowds and bring them back under control.
You see the Romans occupied the land around Jerusalem but they had nowhere near enough soldiers to keep the people under control if they rose up. So they made a deal with the religious authorities. The Romans would allow them to freely practice their religious rites as long as they kept the population under control, behaving themselves and following the rules of the occupied society.
But Jesus had disrupted this very delicate balance between the occupying force and the religious authorities control. And the people were acting up. And there were a LOT of people in Jerusalem. They had come from all over to the Temple in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. So what better way to control the people than to put together a propaganda campaign to turn the adoring crowd against him. Have the crowd call for his execution and voila, problem solved.
So it makes perfect sense that Peter was not anxious to align himself with Jesus. What our story does not tell us is that Peter had sworn that he was willing to follow Jesus to the death. And Jesus had said to him, “You will deny me three times before morning.” That’s exactly what our story says. Peter was asked three times, “Aren’t you one of that guy’s disciples?” Peter says, “Who me? No way.” Three times. And then the rooster crows and Peter realizes that he has denied Jesus and in so doing has denied himself.
This story is important because when we deny our own divinity, our own connection to God, we are denying that we have a connection to goodness, to love, to compassion. When we deny the divinity of another human being, made in the same image of the same God of love, we are also denying out own divinity and therefore denying that love, goodness, compassion exist.
So yes if we enjoy privilege in the form of social position or financial comfort we are duty bound to use that privilege to help others. And make no mistake, giving money to good causes does not let us off the hook for using our influence to help others, speaking out for those who cannot speak. We are duty bound as humans to try our best to right any injustice that we see. And we are duty bound to see injustices to which we are, at this time blind.
This is a hard lesson but one we must learn if we are to grow in faith. When we see a wrong and do not speak up, we are just like Peter. We are keeping quiet and pretending not to “know” that one of God’s children is being victimized.
When we do nothing to protect voting rights for every person in every democracy around the world, we are denying that we are made in God’s image.
When we tolerate our government not giving comfort and a new start to refugees, we are denying that we are made in God’s image.
When we hear racial or ethnic “jokes” told in our presence or despicable names used for some groups of people and do not speak up, we are denying that we are made in God’s image.
When we deny a woman’s right to make health decisions about her own body, we are denying we are all made in God’s image.
When we tolerate our leaders refusing to redistribute hideously out of balance wealth to feed the poor, clothe the naked, and care for the welfare and education of children, we are denying that we are all make in God’s image.
When Peter denied that he knew Jesus, he was denying himself, denying his commitment to God’s love, denying his duty to live by the words of his teacher. And remember, Peter is the “rock” upon which Jesus said he would build the means to carry on his teachings. So we all make mistakes, we all deny ourselves, deny those who are less fortunate, deny our connection to God. But when we realize what we have done, when the rooster crows in our lives and our eyes are open… What we do then is what is important.
As the brutal war Kremlin is waging against the people of Ukraine enters the fourth week we see the result of one man’s power used for evil. Entire cities leveled. Infrastructure destroyed. Thousands killed. Children targeted with bombs and missiles. This kind of evil seeps into people who are already in denial about who and what they are. In the United States, the people who openly praise Putin terrify me because they are denying that good exists, that compassion is God’s way.
But make no mistake. Love will prevail. It must. Because if we humans alive at this time in history do not rise to this moment to explicitly demand that this evil is punished, then another, and another and another dictator will repeat these patterns.
When World War II ended the most of the world said, “Never again.” Well friends it is happening again. What will we do? I pray that we will individually and collectively indict Putin for the war crimes he is committing and hold him accountable. If not, we will have declared that every life taken and destroyed is meaningless. We will have denied the value and divinity of the men, women, and children who have been slaughtered. Let us choose wisely.
Ken Yehi Ratzon Let it be so. Amen
For a list of music suggested to meditate on for this service click the link below:
Download SL20220306
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