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The Service For The 21st
Sabbath In Ordinary Time
August 25, 2001
[The “+” indicates that the Moderator and the Congregation are to cross themselves, if they should so choose.]
[The men, upon
entering, must remove all their clothes and when they have found a proper place
to sit, out of respect for the sanctuary of our Lord, must kneel before
entering the pew. It is expected that they will furnish and use their own
serviettes.]
[The Choir is to sing the antiphon. If there
is no Choir the Congregation is to recite it.]
Choir (or Congregation): “Listen
Lord, and answer me. Save Your servant who trusts in You. I call to You all day
long, have mercy on me, O Lord.”
[The Altar man,
holding the censer, and the Moderator,
in that order, line up for the procession. The rest of the Congregation lines up behind them row by row and proceeds to walk
around the church in the procession.]
Choir (or Congregation): “Listen
Lord, and answer me. Save Your servant who trusts in You. I call to You all day
long, have mercy on me, O Lord.”
[After the procession
is over, the Congregation takes
their seats and the regular service begins.]
Moderator: + “In the name of the
Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, Most Holy and Eternal Trinity.”
Moderator: “Let us all join in a statement of our faith:”
Congregation and Moderator: “We believe
that God, through His Holy Word, has made it more than evident as to how He
wishes to be worshipped. Man as represented by Adam was created by God in His
image. This creation was meant to be in harmony with Nature and the Natural
Laws. To this end men were created to be naked and to worship God in that,
their natural state. It is only by the shame of having sinned that Adam felt
that he had to hide himself behind clothes. We believe that by encasing
ourselves in clothes that we are only mimicking Adam in his sin and rebellion
against the First Cause. God, in His Holy Wisdom, had given Adam the option of
eternal life in his nakedness. But he, in his ignorance, cast away the blessing
of nudity that God so fervently wanted him to have. We believe that we of the
Apertarian Church must return to the First Cause in the way He has called us to
worship Him. We offer an open door to any Gay male that would worship with us
in the joys and blessings of his God-given nudity. For those who wish not to
join us we offer prayers that God will also bless them. When His time is right
He will open their eyes that they might see what has been so abundantly
revealed to us.”
Moderator: “Amen.”
Old Testament Lesson
Moderator: “The Old Testament lesson for
the 21st Sabbath in Ordinary Time is found in:
Isaiah 22: 15-25
15. Thus saith the Lord
GOD of hosts, Go, get thee unto this treasurer, [even] unto Shebna, which [is]
over the house, [and say],
16. What hast thou
here? and whom hast thou here, that thou hast hewed thee out a sepulchre here,
[as] he that heweth him out a sepulchre on high, [and] that graveth an
habitation for himself in a rock?
17. Behold, the LORD
will carry thee away with a mighty captivity, and will surely cover thee.
18. He will surely
violently turn and toss thee [like] a ball into a large country: there shalt
thou die, and there the chariots of thy glory [shall be] the shame of thy
lord's house.
19. And I will drive
thee from thy station, and from thy state shall he pull thee down.
20. And it shall come
to pass in that day, that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah:
21. And I will clothe
him with thy robe, and strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will commit thy
government into his hand: and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah.
22. And the key of the
house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall
shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.
23. And I will fasten
him [as] a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his
father's house.
24. And they shall hang
upon him all the glory of his father's house, the offspring and the issue, all
vessels of small quantity, from the vessels of cups, even to all the vessels of
flagons.
25. In that day, saith
the LORD of hosts, shall the nail that is fastened in the sure place be
removed, and be cut down, and fall; and the burden that [was] upon it shall be cut
off: for the LORD hath spoken [it].
Moderator: “This is the word of the Lord.”
Congregation: “Thanks be to God.”
Responsorial Psalm
Response: “Lord, Your
love is eternal; do not forsake the work of Your hands.”
Moderator: “I will give thanks to you, O
Lord, with all my heart, [for You have heard the words of my mouth] in the
presence of the angels I will sing Your praise. I will worship at Your holy
temple.”
Congregation: “Lord, Your love is eternal; do not forsake the work of Your hands.”
Moderator: “I will give thanks to Your name , because of Your kindness and Your
truth: when I called, You answered me; You built up strength within me.”
Congregation: “Lord, Your love is eternal; do not forsake the work of Your hands.”
Moderator: “The Lord is exalted, yet the lowly He sees, and the proud He knows
from afar. Your kindness, O Lord, endures forever; forsake not the work of Your
hands.”
Congregation: “Lord, Your love is eternal; do not forsake the work of Your hands.”
The New Testament Lesson
Moderator: “The
New Testament lesson for the 21st Sabbath in Ordinary Time is found
in:
Romans 11: 33-36.
33. O the depth of the
riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable [are] his
judgments, and his ways past finding out!
34. For who hath known
the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?
35. Or who hath first
given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?
36. For of him, and
through him, and to him, [are] all things: to whom [be] glory for ever. Amen.
Thus endeth the New
Testament lesson for today.”
[The Moderator then raises the Bible.]
Moderator: “This is the word of the Lord.”
Congregation: “Thanks be to God.”
The Gospel Lesson
Moderator: “The Gospel lesson for the 21st Sabbath in Ordinary Time is
found in:
Matthew 16: 13-20
13. When Jesus came
into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do
men say that I the Son of man am?
14. And they said, Some
[say that thou art] John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one
of the prophets.
15. He saith unto them,
But whom say ye that I am?
16. And Simon Peter
answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
17. And Jesus answered
and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath
not revealed [it] unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
18. And I say also unto
thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the
gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
19. And I will give
unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on
earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall
be loosed in heaven.
20. Then charged he his
disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.
[The Congregation rises as the altar man
rings the bells.]
Congregation: + “In the name of the
Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, Most Holy and Eternal Trinity.”
Moderator: Thus endeth the Gospel for today.”
[The Moderator holds up the Bible]
Moderator: “This is the Word of the Lord.”
Congregation: “Thanks be to God!”
A hymn is sung at this
point.
[The Congregation then sits down as the
altar man rings the bells.]
The Homily
“The Key Of The House Of David”
Moderator: “In our Old Testament reading for today we read that Eliakim is going
to be replacing Shebna as head of the government. Why was Shebna being
replaced? Because he chose to have his portion in this life. He had a very
elaborate tomb carved out for himself. He had chariots. He had a high place in
government. He lusted after the material things of this life. (Perhaps at the
expense of the government? We don’t know.) In any event God chose to replace
him with Eliakim. We are told that God would put His servant Eliakim into the
office. And because God chose him to head the government and called him His
servant it’s fairly certain that Eliakim was Gay. Remember Psalm 17: 15? “As
for me, I will behold Thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I
awake, with thy likeness.” He was to be the spiritual father to the inhabitants
of Jerusalem and the house of Judah. Thus fulfilling Christ’s admonition to
create spiritual children five hundred years before Christ was born.
Then in verse 23 we
read the strange comment: “And the key of the house of David will I lay upon
his shoulder; so he shall open, and no one shall shut; and he shall shut, and
none shall open.” Who or what is this “key” that Isaiah talks about? Of course,
it becomes obvious the prophet is referring to Christ. But in a larger sense
Isaiah is also talking about the Gay person. How do we know this?
There is only one
other place that the Bible uses the expression: “the key of [the house of]
David”. And that is in Revelation 3: 7: In there St. John is talking to the
church at Philadelphia, which translated means “brotherly love”. Or if you
will: the Gay lifestyle. In essence, then, it becomes an open reference to the
Gay person, and the Gay lifestyle. Having looked at Revelation now, we ask if
Isaiah has the same idea in mind. Isaiah is known as the Gay prophet who wasn’t
Gay. Yes! We can be guaranteed that Isaiah was also using the expression in the
same sense. When the expression is only used by two authors writing about Gay
material and is found in no other place amongst the heterosexual writers, what
other conclusion can we draw?
Eliakim, who held this
“key to David”, had great power. As the Bible said that which he opened, stayed
open. And that which he shut, stayed shut. But Eliakim is also used a symbol to
foreshadow the Christ. Jesus said: no man cometh to the Father but by me. He,
as the son of God, had the power to condemn. Jesus also had the authority to
pass the right of condemnation on to all of his disciples. Matthew 18: 18:
“Verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in
heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
We, as Gay nudists,
are successors to Eliakim. Yet not only successors but greater than he. He
needed a robe and a girdle to declare and strengthen his authority. We do not
need the clothing of men to declare our acceptance by God. For we worship Him
the way He has called all of us to: nakedly. We have power in our nakedness. We
do not need the approval of men or the acceptance by the world. God created us
for Himself, in His image. That is why we go naked as often as we can in open
submission to His will. And if God be for us, who would dare to stand against
us?
Combine that with our
God-given Gayness and we become invincible. We are not encumbered with the
“burden of Adam”. We, as Gay people, are not “driven” to reproduce the race. In
fact, quite the opposite is true. God has set us aside as Edenic Levites to
worship Him first! And then, if there is any time, money or energy left, to
render prodigies of service to the rest of the world.
Yes, we have power - a
great deal of power. First, we have psychological power. By being Gay and being
nudists, we are not bound by the sinful conventions of this world. We are free
- free to be us, free to set our path here God would have us go, free to
explore the world, free to be... Second of all, we have spiritual power. Don’t
forget God has created us to be naked. It is only through the rebellious
heterosexuals that clothes were invented. By going naked we are doing His will.
By following the Great Gay commission, we know God will give us a name and a
place in heaven, greater than heterosexual breeders. And, finally, we have
economic power,. How many stars have become successful because the Gay crowd
fell in love with them? How many companies have succeeded because Gay people
have backed them with their discretionary income? We have great economic power.
Turn the coin around and ask how many people or companies have failed because
Gay people have turned their back on them?
We have power, yes. But
with that power comes great responsibility not to abuse it. For example: if we
use our nakedness for sexual license. Free love isn’t free and we will contact
a venereal disease. If we use our spiritual power to mislead God’s lambs into
sin and degradation. We shall stand doubly damned for we knew better to begin
with. And what would happen if we turned our back on our Gayness and desired
our reward in this world, like Shebna did with his elaborate tomb?
We saw what happened
to Shebna. God stripped him down and cut him off. And so it shall be with us if
we don’t watch our step. The Lord said quite succinctly in the last verse of
our Old Testament reading for today. Isaiah 22: 25: “In that day, saith the
Lord of hosts, shall the nail that is fastened in the sure place be removed,
and be cut down, and fall; and the burden that was upon it shall be cut off:
for the Lord hath spoken it.”
Thus endeth the homily
for today.”
Moderator: + “In the name of the
Father, Son and Holy Ghost, Most Holy and Eternal Trinity.”
The Offering
Moderator: “Jesus has said that the Lord loves a cheerful giver. We pray that you
will open up your heart and give so that we may continue to carry God’s message
of nakedness, healing and salvation to all those Gay male Nudists who still are
suffering needless pain and rejection.”
[The collection plate
is then passed around while a hymn is sung. When the collection is completed
the collection plate(s) are brought forward and laid on the alter. The Moderator then prays over the gifts.]
Moderator: “Dear heavenly Father, we know we can do nothing to merit Your eternal
love. Yet You did love us before the foundation of the world. Accept our humble
gifts for Your service and bless the givers also. We pray in Your Son’s name
and for Your eternal glory. Amen.”
[The Moderator moves back to the pulpit.]
The Communal Prayer
Moderator: “The Lord be with you.”
Congregation: “And also with you.”
Moderator: + “Let us pray... Oh Lord,
we bring before You all of the problems of the day (here list petitions for
local problems). Help us to put in proper perspective the trials that You
send our way. We ask that You will look down on our efforts and help us to help
the Gay male Nudist who still suffers. We ask Your help in particular for
N_____ and N_____. We also pray for our
leaders who You have put into power. Give them the wisdom to make decisions
that reflect Your will. But we always and ever give You thanks and pray that
You will work Your will so that one day all men may walk free in their
nakedness the way You have created us to be. Let Your Holy Spirit guide us as
we pray the way Your Son taught us saying...”
Congregation and Moderator: “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be
Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give
us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those
who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from
evil. For Thou art the Kingdom and the Glory for ever and ever. Amen.”
Moderator: “Amen.”
The Communion Service
[The Moderator moves behind the altar and
faces the people.]
Moderator: “Brothers, we are gathered here today to commemorate the sacrifice of
our most Holy Lord Jesus Christ who by His willful offering of His perfect self
upon the cross secured for us the promise of heaven in the next life and the
blessings of nakedness in this life. Let us each examine our consciences and
prepare ourselves for the communion service.”
[Here is observed a
moment of silence while the men examine their consciences and silently ask for
forgiveness.]
Moderator: “The Lord Jesus the same night in which He was betrayed took bread...”
[At this point the Moderator elevates the bread and
displays it to all sides of the Congregation
while the bells are rung. The priest then genuflects.]
Moderator: “And when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, Take, eat: this
is my body, which is broken for you. This do in remembrance of me.”
[The Moderator then breaks the wafer into
three pieces and places it in the chalice of grape juice.]
Congregation: “This, Lord, we will remember, to keep it holy.”
Moderator. “After the same manner also He took the cup, and when He had supped
said, “This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye as oft as ye drink
it, in remembrance of me.”
[The Moderator then elevates the chalice
filled with grape juice and displays it to all sides of the Congregation while the altar man rings
the bells. The priest genuflects.]
Con. “This, Lord, we
will remember, to keep it holy.”
Moderator: “For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the
Lord’s death till He come.”
[The Congregation then lines up to receive
communion. The Moderator dips a
wafer in the grape juice and offers it to each communicant. Each may take
communion the way he feels is right, i.e., standing or kneeling, in his hand or
in his mouth, etc. When all have received communion the Moderator then offers communion to the altar man, if there is one.
He then takes communion himself, and drinks ALL OF THE GRAPE JUICE IN THE
CHALICE. He carefully washes the chalice and covers it with an altar cloth. He
then returns to the pulpit.]
[A hymn is sung.]
Moderator: “Please stand for the final benediction.’
[The Congregation stands.]
Moderator: + “The Lord bless thee, and
keep thee: The Lord make His face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto
thee: The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. Go thy
way and be at peace in thy nakedness. The service is ended. In the name of the
Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, most Holy and Eternal Trinity.”
[At this point a
closing hymn may be sung.]
[The Congregation then observes a moment of silence while the Moderator goes to the front door to welcome the men as they exit. When the altar man rings the bells the men are then free to dress and leave the service.]