Pentecost 8B July 18, 2021 - Rev. William White (1747 - 1836) - St. John's Episcopal Church
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Pentecost 8B Rev. William White
July 18, 2021 (1747 - 1836)
2 Samuel 7:1-14a
1st & 4th Presiding Bishop
Ephesians 2:11-22 of the Episcopal Church
Mark 6:30-34, 53-56
St. John’s Episcopal Church, Centreville VA
Adult Lectionary Forum 2021
Before the American Revolution, the colonies lacked bishops partly because the
Crown was reluctant to give them such implied autonomy & many colonists were
opposed to their presence. After the War, establishing an American episcopate
became imperative. In 1784, Samuel Seabury became the first American to be
consecrated as a bishop. In 1787, William White & Samuel Provost, elected to
the bishoprics of Pennsylvania & New York respectively, sailed to England to be
so consecrated on 14 February by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Archbishop
of York, the Bishop of Bath and Wells, and the Bishop of Peterborough. William
Rev. Bishop William White
White was born in Philadelphia in 1747, went to England in 1770 to be ordained
deacon and priest, returned in 1772 to serve as assistant and then rector of
Philadelphia’s Church of Christ & Saint Peter. He served as Chaplain of the
Continental Congress from 1777-1789, and then as Chaplain of the Senate.
Bishop White's home is where the Constitution of the Protestant Episcopal
Church in the United States (PECUS) was conceived. At his suggestion, PECUS
established a governing system that remains largely intact today: Only a bishop
can ordain a deacon or priest, & only bishops (normally 3+) can consecrate a
new bishop. When a bishop dies or retires, a diocesan convention meets to elect
his successor. Clergy sit in the upper house & lay delegates (elected by vestries
of local congregations) sit in the lower house--a majority in each house is
required to elect. Afterwards, a majority each of bishops & diocesan Standing
Committees are required to confirm. National business is conducted through a
General Convention, which meets every 3 years & consists of 3 Houses:
Bishops, Clerical Deputies, & Lay Deputies. A majority of each is required to
pass a measure. All Deputies meet & debate together as the House of Deputies,
but Lay and Clerical Deputies vote separately whenever any deputy so requests.
In all this, the PECUS gtries to follow, as nearly as modern circumstances permit,
the government of the early church as far back as the 2nd & 3rd centuries.
Collect for Pentecost 8B
Almighty God, font of all wisdom, you know our necessities before we ask & our ignorance in asking:
Have compassion on our weakness; mercifully give us those things which for our unworthiness we
dare not & for our blindness we cannot ask; through the worthiness of your Son Jesus Christ our
Lord, who lives & reigns with you & the Holy Spirit, one God, now & forever. Amen.
Prayer for Pentecost 8B [Bishop William White]
O Lord, who in times of turmoil & confusion raised up your servant William White to lead your
Church into stable ways & peace; Hear our prayer & give us wise, faithful leaders, that, through their
ministry, we may be blessed & your will be done; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives & reigns
with you & the Holy Spirit, one God, forever & ever. Amen.
St. John’s Episcopal Church, Centreville VA -- Adult Lectionary Forum 2021
Synopsis: King David strives to
PENTECOST 8B: ARK DISCOVERED [2 SAMUEL 7:1-14]
…The Lord came to Nathan: Go and tell my servant David: Thus says the build a home for the ark of God
(AoG) , but God speaks of building
Lord: Are you the one to build me a house to live in? I have not lived in a a legacy for David.
house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day,
but I have been moving about in a tent & a tabernacle. Wherever I have Temple of the Lord!
--Vv 1-3: AoG dwells behind curtains?
moved about among all the people of Israel, did I ever speak a word with any --Vv 4-7: YHWH speaks to Nathan
of the tribal leaders of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people --Vv 8-9:YHWH’s past blessings
• Took David from pasture to palace
Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?” • Was with David wherever he went
• Cut off all his enemies
--Vv 10-11: YHWH outlines 3 great
promises for David’s future. He will…:
• Make for David a great name
• Appoint a place for Israel and will
plant them there
• Give you rest from all your enemies
--Promises will not be fulfilled in
David’s lifetime
--Vv 11-13: YHWH will make David’s
household a great house (dynasty)
--V 14: Concept of adoption into God’s
family, a point that will resonate with
Christians centuries later.
--Ultimate fulfillment of this promise is
through Jesus.
…Thus says the Lord of hosts: I took you from the pasture...to be prince over • He is the son of David (Matt 1:1, 20)
my people,,,& I have been with you wherever you went…l make for you a • He is the son of God (Mark 1:1; Luke
1:32; 22:70; John 20:31; Acts 9:20;
great name…I will appoint a place for my people … & will plant them, so they Hebrews 4:14; Revelation 2:18).
may live in their own land & be disturbed no more…Moreover the Lord…will
make you a house. When your days are fulfilled & you lie down with your
ancestors, I will raise up your offspring…& will establish his kingdom. He shall
build a house for my name & I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
I will be a father to him, & he shall be a son to me.
St. John’s Episcopal Church, Centreville VA Adult Lectionary Forum 2021
Context: Jesus’ sacrifice erases
Remember that at one time you Gentiles by birth, called “the uncircumcision” by old barriers between circumcised &
those who are called “the circumcision” —a physical circumcision made in the flesh uncircumcised. All saints stand on
by human hands— remember, you were at that time without Christ, being aliens level ground at the cross.
Pentecost 8B: One in Christ! [Ephesians 2:11-22]
from the commonwealth of Israel, & strangers to the covenants of promise, having Who Says You Don’t Belong?
--Paul is writing to Gentiles
no hope & without God in the world. • 1st Christians were Jews & church
initially required Gentile converts to
submit to circumcision.
• But Philip baptized an Ethiopian
eunuch—one whose castration
kept him from being fully Jewish
• Peter had his vision in which God
told him to eat animals that were
considered unclean by Jewish law
--Paul traveled on his 3 missionary
trips, converting scores of Gentiles,
shifting church rolls from mostly Jews
to predominately Gentiles
--Jerusalem Council (Acts 15) ends
circumcision faith requirement
--In this letter, Paul emphasizes ways
…In Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the God changed Gentiles’ lives
--Cautions not to look down noses at
blood of Christ. For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into fellow Christians from different
one & has broken down the dividing wall--the hostility between us. He has backgrounds--caveat for today, too!.
abolished the law with its commandments & ordinances, that he might create --Christ is our peace--he made us one
--Through Christ we have access
in himself one new humanity in place of the two,… and [reconciling] both --Once strangers, but now citizens
groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that --Resurrection/ascension: Christ is our
new temple—no physical temple now
hostility through it…So then you are no longer strangers & aliens, but are needed to atone for our sins
citizens with the saints & members of the household of God, built upon the
foundation of apostles & prophets, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone. In
him the whole structure is joined & grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in
whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.
St. John’s Episcopal Church, Centreville VA Adult Lectionary Forum 2021
The apostles gathered around Jesus, & told him all that they had done & taught. He Synopsis: Jesus tries to give the 12
time to rest, but his compassion for
said, “Come away to a deserted place by yourselves & rest a while.” For many were
the needy is relentless.
coming & going, & they had no leisure even to eat. They went away in the boat to a One’s Work Never Ends
deserted place...Now many saw them going &…they hurried there on foot from all --2 passages linked by similar content:
Pentecost 8B: No Escape! [Mark 6:30-34, 53-56]
the towns & arrived ahead of them. As Jesus went ashore, he saw a great crowd; & • Vv 30-34: Jesus & The 12 seek solitude
but are interrupted by crowds with their
he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; so great needs
he began to teach them many things. • Vv 53-58: Crowds also descend on
Jesus in Gennesaret for
--Sandwiched between the 2 are stories
of the feeding of the 5,000 & Jesus
walking on the water
--Passages speak to us, because we’ve
felt like The 12 must have felt—hurried
and harried.
--Needs were great; crowds were large; &
The 12 didn’t even have time to eat. If
busyness was a problem for them, it was
becoming even more so
--Today’s world is no better
• Experts engineer out breathing room
•.Laborsaving appliances fail to save us
from laboring
• Communications technology fails to
bring us together
• Our leisure is filled with chores
• Interruptions abound!
--We have also felt like the people who
came to Jesus--sick in body, mind, spirit
When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored the --We, too, are begging to but touch the
boat. When they got out of the boat, people at once recognized him, and rushed hem of His garment! If only we could…
about that whole region and began to bring the sick on mats to wherever they heard
he was. And wherever he went, into villages or cities or farms, they laid the sick in
the marketplaces, and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his
cloak; and all who touched it were healed.
St John’s Episcopal Church, Centreville VA Adult Lectionary Forum 2021
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