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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: