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<div style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">Part 2 of 2</div>
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<div style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">Bob Morrison</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: OpenSansRegular; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF ST. ALBAN, ALBANY 3<sup>rd</sup> EPIPHANY C</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: OpenSansRegular; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">NEHEMIAH 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10 24<sup>th</sup> JANUARY, 2016</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: OpenSansRegular; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">1 CORINTHIANS 12:12-31a PSALM 19</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: OpenSansRegular; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">LUKE 4:14-21</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: OpenSansRegular; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Jesus stood there, taking within Himself every word, every phrase, every longing passed down from Isaiah, and offered the assurance that these would be fulfilled, made infinitely and intimately personal for every last one of us. Jesus, the Word made flesh, became tangible in order to show that God never gave any insight to a prophet that wouldn’t be fulfilled.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: OpenSansRegular; font-size: 13px; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> As Herbert Slade, a former member of the community of St. John the Evangelist, put it “</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">God is always being revealed and the revelation is never complete. The Spirit who leads into all truth continually proceeds both from the divine nature in terms of revelation and from the human nature in terms of reception. There is no end to the process.” <sup>3</sup></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: OpenSansRegular; font-size: 13px; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(32, 32, 32);"> God is always being revealed, and that day, Jesus stood up and said that the Word, the Living Rule and Guide of Life was in their midst.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: OpenSansRegular; font-size: 13px; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(32, 32, 32);"> Of course, it’s so easy to read a line from a page, no matter how respected and honoured the book. Just as it’s easy to say or think, while under stress, that words can become lifeless, sometimes. That’s why Jesus didn’t stop, </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">didn’t fade from vision, slowly, after He spoke in the synagogue. Everything He did from that point on was the living out of the prophecy He’d read that morning – everything. The Word became Present. The Word became Personal.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: OpenSansRegular; font-size: 13px; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> We’re looking for that personal touch that makes the Presence of God real and powerful. And so is everyone else. Why else do people buy into the latest offer, no matter how shallow?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: OpenSansRegular; font-size: 13px; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> I have to admit that it’s all well and good to say this, to talk about what we think is shallow, or empty, or deceptive. When we’re up against it, especially when we’re lonely, or tired, or confused, or desperate, anything may seem an improvement over where we think we are. How are we supposed to tell what is real, what is lasting, what is best for us and for everyone else?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: OpenSansRegular; font-size: 13px; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Well, if I knew that, if you knew that, we could retire and live extremely comfortably, if not lavishly, for the rest of our lives, and our children and grandchildren would all set also. We have to depend on someone else to help us see what it is that is right, the is good, that is just. We can be as hyper-critical as we like about those in the Synagogue that day.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: OpenSansRegular; font-size: 13px; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> It’s actually an interesting contrast to hold side by side in our minds the Hebrew people listening to Ezra and Nehemiah and their descendants listing to Jesus. The first group became totally immersed in the words. Maybe that was it. What Nehemiah and Ezra were doing was awakening the people to words, and, sometimes, that’s less threatening, less demanding, even if it is exhilarating. And, no doubt about it, they responded with relief and with passion. They took the law into their hearts.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: OpenSansRegular; font-size: 13px; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> But that can die after a while. That can grow cold. It can lose the burning impetus given it when first spoken, unlike the presence of Person who says, “I am these words”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: OpenSansRegular; font-size: 13px; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> But then, it’s so easy to ridicule the young man next door, all of whose foibles they knew. Sad to say, Jesus knew full well that no matter what He said, even no matter what He did; Jesus knew that there would be people who’d forget when they were in a bind; people who’d forget when it became dangerous or inconvenient. So, somehow, Jesus found a way to make Isaiah’s prophecies ting true.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: OpenSansRegular; font-size: 13px; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> He called us all to gather to worship, to experience the mystery of conversing with God and listening as we ourselves know that we’re heard. And then He taught to stop short, to inject the simplest, yet most profound elements into this. He said, “Take Bread, Take Wine. In Them I become Present.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: OpenSansRegular; font-size: 13px; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Not only do we remember and show forth Jesus’ amazing love in His Life, and Death and Resurrection. But we remember and show forth the prophecies of Isaiah also. <b><u>WE</u></b> bring them to life in our midst, yet another gift from Jesus, a gift for every last one of us.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: OpenSansRegular; font-size: 13px; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> As Jesus draws us to this table this morning and every time we gather here, so we are to be aware that the Table extends far into the world, way beyond our imaginations.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: OpenSansRegular; font-size: 13px; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> When we go into whatever grocery store we patronise, will we see people who may be struggle to get something nutritious yet filling enough to keep them from being hungry? When we stop at the gas station, will we see those who are buying a limited amount of fuel rather than will up the car’s tank because that’s all they can afford? When we sit in a health care provider’s office, will we see those who seek healing but don’t know how they’re going to be able to afford it and everything else that life requires?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: OpenSansRegular; font-size: 13px; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Jesus’ word to those in the synagogue was that, somehow, everything which imperilled and made miserable the lives of so many would be lifted from them. And, no, He wasn’t saying that it would happen because He’d wave his hand. He was saying his then to enflame the hearts of everyone who heard, so that they, in turn, would be able to stand before <b><u>THEIR</u></b> neighbours, and say that the words, the longings, of Isaiah become real for everyone now.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: OpenSansRegular; font-size: 13px; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> We have been commissioned. As we have heard, time and again, that Jesus is present to bring us healing, so we have to make this practical for one another.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: OpenSansRegular; font-size: 13px; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> In Brooklyn, Lakima Lewis “has spinal damage, which limits her strength and her ability to stand or walk for extended periods of time. She needs her daughter’s help getting ready in the morning, and she must wear a brace on one of her feet. She has asthma and sleep apnea and uses a machine that helps with her breathing. In 2012, one of her lungs collapsed.” Even so, she leaves notes all over her house, not just for herself, but for her children. (They are) messages of wisdom and hope, drawn from hours spent poring over the Bible.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: OpenSansRegular; font-size: 13px; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> “She leaves the notes, she said, because she wants to inspire her children. Her son, Anthony, 23, is studying business at <a target="_blank" href="http://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/web/home.php" style="color: blue; cursor: pointer;"><span style="color: windowtext;">Brooklyn College</span></a> and wants to go into education. Her daughter, Tamecca, 19, studies sign language communication at <a target="_blank" href="http://www.laguardia.edu/home/" style="color: blue; cursor: pointer;"><span style="color: windowtext;">LaGuardia Community College</span></a>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: OpenSansRegular; font-size: 13px; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> “Ms. Lewis wants them to be strong and, more important, to hold onto their optimism in the face of adversity.” <sup>4</sup></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: OpenSansRegular; font-size: 13px; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> To her children, she’s saying day-in-day out, “This becomes real for you today.” Just as we heard it. Just as <b><u>WE</u></b> have to repeat it to everyone, whether we see them once or every day. God gives us all someone to touch, someone to touch us.</span></div>
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<h3 style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 15.3333px;">[1]</span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span><i><span style="font-size: 10pt;">“</span></i><i><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;">Art in the Christian Tradition”,</span></i><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;"> Vanderbilt University Library </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-weight: normal;"><a target="_blank" href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwj3nsTCgL_KAhVW22MKHbq5CdIQFggdMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Flectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu%2F&usg=AFQjCNETHMc-ZHKo7x9yfw7HJzo_VphgbA" style="color: blue; cursor: pointer;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 153);">Revised Common Lectionary</span></a> </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(0, 102, 33); font-weight: normal;">lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"></span></h3><h3 style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: gray; font-weight: normal;"> </span></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: OpenSansRegular; font-size: 13px;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">2</span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> <i>“<span style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Journey from Texts to Translations”</span></i><span style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"> by Paul D. Wegner, Baker Academic, </span><span style="color: rgb(33, 33, 33); background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Ada, MI.,</span><span style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"> © 2004, page 187</span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: OpenSansRegular; font-size: 13px; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">3</span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Herbert Slade, SSJE (1912-1999) <a target="_blank" href="http://ssje.us4.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=344ed142b391b2b520df4080c&id=40a1471c37&e=d3bff814a3" style="color: blue; cursor: pointer;"><span style="color: windowtext;">Society of Saint John the Evangelist</span></a> <a target="_blank" href="http://ssje.org/word/" style="color: blue; cursor: pointer;">http://ssje.org/word/</a></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: OpenSansRegular; font-size: 13px;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">4</span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> “</span><i><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">A Woman’s Mission: Teaching Her Children to Stay ‘Full of Hope’ </span></i><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.25pt;"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.nytimes.com/column/neediest-cases" style="color: blue; cursor: pointer;"><span style="color: windowtext;">The Neediest Cases</span></a>” By <a title="More Articles by RICK ROJAS" target="_blank" href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/r/rick_rojas/index.html" style="color: blue; cursor: pointer;"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;">RICK ROJAS </span></a></span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">JAN. 18, 2016</span></div>
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