All Saints Gazette: "Yet, even now..."
Greetings from All Saints! This week:
Thursday, 18:00, Zoom: Prayer lab—On Sacraments
Sunday, 17:30, Vribjurg: Worship with meal afterward
Monday through Friday: Morning Prayer (9:00) and Evening Prayer (18:00) on Zoom
See the church calendar for Zoom links!
Source: https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/diglib-fulldisplay.pl?SID=20241113976779459&code=ACT&RC=56672&Row=8
In the last week:
there was violence in Amsterdam
a presidential campaign that expressed open hostility to an inclusive society was successful in the US
the governing coalition in Germany collapsed
the Archbishop of Canterbury resigned over the handling of an abuser
Utrecht University announced the disbanding of several humanities departments, including religion
Sinterklaas’ steamboat got stuck under a bridge
I’m sure I’ve missed something
Our daily office readings have been taking us through the little book of the Prophet Joel. Joel is a neat little book that is set during a disastrous locust plague in Judah. The first chapter and a half take a tone of lamentation and foreboding, using the plague as a jumping off point to reflect on the “Day of the Lord,” the day of God’s judgment on the nations. The prophet is aware that while the natural disaster knows no justice, his people have sinned in ways big and small. The prophet compares the locusts to an invading army that has laid the land waste. They have wreaked devastation on the agriculture and ecosystem, leading to hunger and well-founded fears that life as the people had known it was over. Even the grain and wine that are used to offer the appointed sacrifices to God have failed.
But then in about the middle of the book, we get a change. This is how today’s passage begins:
Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; rend your hearts and not your clothing. Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing. Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord, your God?
If in the laments of the first part of the book, Joel mourned that the grain and drink offerings to God were cut off and wondered what it meant for God’s presence among the people, now he tells the people to turn to God.
Turn to God, now of all times? Yes, “even now.” There is not much else to do, after all.
When our situation feels hopeless, when the world may just not be hospitable to human life, or human society receptive to transformation, start with what we can do. “Even now,” we can turn to God, when it seems like we cannot even offer God the things that we have always taken to be the things that demonstrate and bring God’s favor. Even now, perhaps especially now, God is ready to hear our us. What we would offer includes our lamentations, which is simply the honest naming of our experience, and our confession, which is the honest naming of the way that we ourselves have failed.
Maybe, says Joel, just maybe God will “turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord, your God?” If we offer God such worship as we have, with or without all the cultural trappings of worship and church, God will provide, even providing the materials for the appointed offering, grain and wine.
Christians see in these grain and wine offerings the Eucharistic elements, the bread and wine that become Jesus’ body and blood. In this feast, we meet Jesus himself and welcome him into our midst, into our very bodies. And we participate in the mystery of our very existence as church: Jesus’ offering, which is an expression of God’s gift to God in the creation and redemption of the world.
“Even now,” we can turn to God. We do it on on own, we do it together, and do it especially in the Eucharist. If we can do that “even now,” then only God knows what will be able to do afterward.
Prayer Lab on Thursday
Prayer Lab this week will finish the series on Prayer Book Spirituality with a session on Sacraments:
So. we might as well admit it: we make people immortal by pouring water on them and we offer bread and wine to God, which we believe turn into God’s own body and blood (which we then eat). Think this is kind of cool but struggle to explain it? Or think this is actually superstitious and a bit gross and don’t get why we keep doing it? Come talk about it with us.
Church Meeting on Sunday
While we eat, we’re going to talk about what our church’s vision is, and also also provide some documents for your consideration. This is important in order for us to be eligible for donations to us to be deductible from Dutch taxes, and for us to gain clarity about what exactly we’re inviting people to. Also, it will be fun.
Child-care
We are hoping to find someone to lead an activity for children during services. For now, we’re just focused on care, and we will eventually move to formation and education. If you know someone who might be interested in performing that service for a small honorarium, please put us in contact with them.
Thanksgiving
You have next Thursday in your calendar? So far, I’ve had no takers on a turkey, so let me know by this Sunday if you want to go in on one with me. Otherwise, we’ll just call it a potluck and bring whatever suits the mood!
Christmas Eve/Day
The poll is still open: https://doodle.com/meeting/participate/id/bkDpEwrd. Let us know what would work best for you for a service on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. This is for informational purposes, as several other factors will be taken into account. Doing this by Sunday would also be helpful. For now: there will be some liturgy on one day or the other.
Daily Office
Morning Prayer is now at 9:00 and Evening Prayer remains 18:00 every weekday. You can find links for everything here: https://allsaintsamsterdam.church/calendar/. Come every day, or come when you can. It’s a good way to connect briefly with others, and also to join in a pillar of Anglican spirituality!
Support our Life Together!
Investing in the community we want both helps the church grow and thrive and also blesses the giver! Use the QR code or this link, or make a transfer through your banking app (the latter saves us a few cents). Please consider making your offering recurring.
Bank details
All Saints Amsterdam
IBAN NL32 TRIO 0320 8657 62
BIC TRIONL2U
A nice take on Revelation
The daily office lectionary has also been taking us through Revelation. This is a 1985 gospel classic by Jeffrey LaValley that’s gotten some renewed attention of late. Without necessarily endorsing every statement in the commentary, you should listen to the song. It’ll put you in the right spiritual framework, and help you praise God “even now” (to continue a theme). My gratitude to Black music scholar Rev. Dr. Alisha Lola Jones of Cambridge University for bringing this to my attention (you’ll need some Very Powerful Necromancy to open the link outside the US).
That’s all for Today! Want to talk to a priest? We want to talk to you too!
Website: https://allsaintsamsterdam.church
Mpho: mpho@allsaintsamsterdam.church
Kyle: kyle@allsaintsamsterdam.church
General: info@allsaintsamsterdam.church
Instagram: @allsaintsamsterdam.church
