WEBVTT

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Come, Holy Spirit, come.

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Come as the fire and burn, come as the wind
and cleanse, convict, convert, consecrate

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our hearts for our greater good and your greater
glory.

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Amen.

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Well, good morning, and just in case there
might be some wonder, I am Bishop Brian Thaum,

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the 13th Bishop of the Diocese of Idaho, serving
from 2008 to 2022.

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And I was 17 years at Church of the Ascension
in Twin Falls.

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So the role today, as the deacon was telling
you, is to provide supply for the rector who's

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on vacation.

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And my task is to try to interpret the readings
in my own way and to make you really miss

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your rector.

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So I'm going to try my best at that, and we'll
see how it goes through the rest of

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the service.

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I'm particularly committed to letting the
deacon do parts that he normally does instead

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of barreling through them, if I remember,
like I did at the early service.

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So it's my pleasure to be in this space with
you.

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Ardell and I have found a parish home with
you in my first and second retirement.

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So it's a delightful thing for us to be able
to be with you and for me now to have a chance

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at an altar.

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The deacon reminded you, as the rector always
does when he takes this space, or at the beginning

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actually, that St. Stephen's is a place where
we're attempting to know Christ and to make

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Christ known.

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And that is exactly what's happening in all
the readings today, particularly in the gospel

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session from Matthew.

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Let me help you with a little bit of church
business, if you will.

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Now that all the major events have been accomplished
from Christmas, the Incarnation, through crucifixion

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and resurrection and Pentecost, all those
things that are kind of crammed together in

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the first five or six months of the calendar
year, we now enter what our Roman Catholic

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brothers and sisters call ordinary time.

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For all these Sundays after Pentecost, there's
going to be 26 of them before we get to First

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Advent, which I think is going to be the Sunday
after Thanksgiving.

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So for the next 26 weeks, you're going to
have to move your way through the gospel of

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Matthew.

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We'll spend some time finishing the story
of Abraham and Sarah, but it'll be Matthew,

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Matthew, Matthew, Matthew, Matthew, Matthew,
Matthew.

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The church gives us this blessing because,
yes, we've paid attention through the intensive

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part, but in its wisdom, it now gives us,
through the long, ordinary season, a chance

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to engage the three synoptic gospels in a
fuller way.

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So in year A, which we're in, we get Matthew,
next year it'll be Mark, and the third year

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for C it'll be Luke, and so we get to spend
this time now just getting reacquainted with

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these stories that help us understand who
Christ is and might help us move into that

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space where we can help make Christ known
to others.

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You've heard some of these stories before.

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I checked at the early service.

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Who's been an Episcopalian the longest?

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How long?

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Give me a number.

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How many?

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73.

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73.

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76.

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76.

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79.

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79.

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59.

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81.

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81.

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Okay.

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There was a sister here with 86 at the 8 o'clock
service.

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She began as an Anglican, but we'll take that.

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No, my point is, so you take those big numbers
and divide by three, and that's how many times

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you've heard this reading.

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And sometimes the readings, oh yes, this is
the story about Matthew, this is the story

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about the woman, or this is the story about
the child, and then you pick up the bulletin

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or you sit back and do something.

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The point is, you may be familiar with the
story or you may not, but the bidding is still

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the same.

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How is the Spirit going to reveal who Christ
is to you through the stories?

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Or how will you help others do the same?

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Indeed, everything we do on a Sunday morning
in a Episcopal church is about creating an

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environment where we can come to know Christ
in a deeper way.

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From the moment you begin worship, which is
when?

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When you wake up, when you walk out the door.

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How many of you set out your outfit last night
before you went to bed?

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Remember those days?

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Oh yeah, thank you.

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Go raise your hand.

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People.

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Right?

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Right?

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I can remember my mother setting stuff out
to make sure I'd put it on in the morning.

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However, we're people of the Incarnation.

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Our worship, our encounter with God begins
in a sense when we turn our hearts towards

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that moment.

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So I would say to you, and I always said to
the kids, that you begin worship when you

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decide to come to church.

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And then everything since then can be part
of your worship experience, or part of that

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crucible where you're going to know Christ
or make him known.

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When you pull into the parking lot, you have
an encounter with the parking lot.

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Well, you have many things.

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Either it's empty and you go, oh, or it's
really full and you say, who's in my parking

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space?

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Or maybe you look around and, what's the condition
of the parking lot?

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Well, it's been picked up.

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It's very nice.

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That's good.

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Someone's paying attention.

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They want to make a good impression.

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There's customers coming.

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The parking lot is the first message to your
customers.

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This is true.

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So, and then you come in here, and then there's
somebody in your pew.

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And then, and what's going on?

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And there's flowers, and there's a new setup
up here, and in this church, that funny cross

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that's off-center.

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I just can't figure that out.

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Put your hand on your heart.

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Oh.

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So, you see, many people participate, and
you're getting to know Christ better.

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I'm kind of pushing this to the frivolous,
because I really believe in the power of
our

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liturgy and the power of our physical space
to make a difference.

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Thanks be to God, I get to come and, most
days, sit in the pew with my partner.

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And as a retired bishop, twice, it takes me
a while to get over my creative assessment

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of the rector's style and grace.

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But I've got to tell you, that's really a
thing for retired clergy.

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Because all we're thinking about is how he's
holding his hand and what happens when.

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And the Holy Spirit is trying to help me get
over that.

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To think, look past Dennis and the shenanigans
that they create up here.

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I was pointing at Lisa.

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To look past those things that I put up as
blocks.

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What I'm saying is, come each time, prepare
yourselves, and anticipate that something's

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going to happen to help you get to know Christ
better.

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The Spirit's going to do something with you.

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You come to that door thinking, I think this
is a get-to-know-Christ-better day.

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Or, it could be, well, you know, kind of okay.

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Maybe this is a get-to-help-someone-else-get-to-know-Christ-better
day.

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And that tells you how, then, to greet someone,
or to welcome them,

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or to take them to coffee, or that person
you think,

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I should probably go say something to them
about that.

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To know Christ personally and to make Christ
known is offered to us at every moment.

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You will come these 26 weeks and hear different
versions of Matthew's story

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that you've heard before.

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And both of us, we sit there and say, I've
heard this before.

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And the Spirit says, hmm.

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The Spirit says, hmm.

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I wonder if I can.

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But you can't.

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You can't.

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Unless you're willing.

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Keep coming back.

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It works, as our friends in AA say.

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Come back.

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Decide when you come to the door if this is
a get-to-know-Christ-better day

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or a make-Christ-known-better day.

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And you will.

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Thanks be to God.

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And amen.

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Amen.