Author: John Thomas Frazier

Daily Office Readings for Saturday of Proper 12: Year 2

Morning, Psalms 75 and 76;,Evening, Psalms  23 and 27;

Judges 5:19-31; Acts 2:22-36; Matthew 28:11-20

“‘You that are Israelites, listen to what I have to say: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with deeds of power, wonders, and signs that God did through him among you, as you yourselves know, this man, handed over to you according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of those outside the law. But God raised him up, having freed him from death, because it was impossible for him to be held in its power.”  (Acts 2: 22 – 24)

Peter painfully reminds the Israelites of both who Jesus was, and is, and, their part in going against the goodness of God in handing him over to be killed.  Even though those who actually crucified him were outside their faith, they indeed were responsible. 

The important thing to remember for us today, we who call ourselves Christians, is that our Lord Jesus was, and is, the living will of God. Today we can only read of “the deeds of power, wonders, and signs that God did through” our Lord Jesus among the people. We must read and believe.

Today, as Christians, we must believe in the living Jesus.  Our belief then is made manifest in how we conduct ourselves in everyday life.  We do not return evil for evil.  We seek fairness and justice for all people.  But first and foremost, we must love God.  For some of us, without regular Church services during the restrictions of this pandemic, it is difficult.  But church was never intended to be first.  First faith starts at home and in the heart of the individual. The story of Jesus is shared so that the hearer might grab on and believe.  And in believing, the faithful might come together in Church community.  But even without the gathered Church, we are still held accountable to the precepts of our Baptismal Covenant, our allegiance to the teachings of Christ.  

Peter reminds us, “This Jesus God raised up, and of that all of us are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you both see and hear” (Acts 2: 32 – 33).  Peter’s words are not limited to his time and day: they are meant for us today as well.

Peter continues, “Therefore let the entire house of Israel [and indeed the world] know with certainty that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified”(Acts 2: 36).  We might also ponder about any acts we do today that are inconsistent with the faithful covenant we have made to be a Christian and amend our lives accordingly. Our Christian duty also includes praying for Ukraine that they may be safe and sovereign.

As we listen to what the Spirit is saying to us, let us live to love, to serve, and to teach, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Friday of Proper 12: Year 2

Morning, Psalm 69:1-23(24-30)31-38; Evening,  Psalm 73

Judges 5:1-18; Acts 2:1-21; Matthew 28:1 – 10

Then Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”  (Matthew 28: 10)

Encounters with the Resurrected Jesus differ according to the Gospel we read.  In Matthew, the disciples are instructed to return to Galilee and there, Jesus will meet them.  Luke and John have Jesus meeting them in Jerusalem of Judea.  Mark is unclear about location in his extended version.  I like the Galilee meeting.  Galilee is where Jesus began his ministry and walked throughout Galilee preaching the Good news, and healing many, and casting out demons, for three years.  This place moved me as I sat in a boat in Lake Galilee in February of 2018 with a full view of the land that Jesus walked.  I took a picture of it and it is the scene at the top of each new One Who Ponders blog.

So Jesus says return to your beginnings and you will see me.  They were Galileans, for the most part, fishermen by trade.  Galilee is where they were grounded in their faith.  How about you?  Where were you when you were first told about our Lord Jesus?  Where is your Galilee?

Your Galilee may be more than a single, physical location.  Jesus’ instruction to return to Galilee may be an invitation to go back to the time (and place) when you first decided to follow him.  As Galilee is a vast area with several notable towns where our Lord Jesus taught and performed signs and wonders; like the Sermon on the Mount at Mount Tabor; the raising of a woman’s son in Nain; where he was raised by Mary in Nazareth; the feeding of the multitudes near Capernaum where he chose to live, and other places as well. 

Your Galilee may be a vast area or collections of life-altars also.  Going back may be a serious meditation on your own Galilee experience.  My own Galilee includes St Vincent de Paul Catholic School in Nashville, Tennessee; Paris Island Marine Corps Recruit Depot in South Carolina; St Anne’s Episcopal Church in Memphis Tennessee; Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia; and St Paul’s in Pines Episcopal Church in Fayetteville, North Carolina. All of these are the building blocks of my spirituality.

What and where are your life-altar places that make up your Galilee experiences?  These are the places that Jesus is asking you to return to in order to meet him again. Ponder on these places.

Please keep Ukraine in your prayers.

“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done” (Genesis 2:1 and 2). So, for this evening and tomorrow day my friends, Shabbat Shalom. 

What is Shabbat? Intro to the Jewish Sabbath – YouTube

As we listen to what the Spirit is saying to us, let us live to love, to serve, and to teach, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Thursday of Proper 12: Year 2

Morning, Psalm  71; Evening, Psalm  74; 

Judges 4: 4 – 23; Acts 1:15 – 26; Matthew  27: 55 – 66

“At that time Deborah, a prophetess, wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel. She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the Israelites came up to her for judgment.”  (Judges 4: 4 –  5)

Women, in particular the strength of women, is often overlooked in the Bible.  Today, in our Daily Office Readings from the book of Judges we have two women who are revealed as very strong human beings.  Deborah the Prophet and Jael who I would bet was a builder of tents inasmuch as she could drive a tent peg with the best of men.

While the Bible says that Deborah sat under a tree named after her, I believe it was her presence that gave the tree the name after her time with us.  And all Israel came to her for judgment, for guidance and direction. They needed her presence so much that Barak, son of Abinoam, would not go to war unless she accompanied him. (verse 6). 

God has always included women in the carrying out of life and in the promise of salvation.  Men have too often overlooked this important fact. But this does not negate what God intends for all people in the fulfillment of what God is doing. This is true even in the conflict of war itself.

During a battle with Sisera, who was the cowardly leader opposing Barak and Deborah, he fled to the protection of Jael.  “But Jael wife of Heber took a tent-peg, and a hammer and went softly to him as he slept and drove the peg into his temple, until it went down into the ground—he was lying fast asleep from weariness—and he died.” (Judges 4: 21)

Some of this language never comes up in “polite” company or our Sunday Lectionary.  But it is among our holy writings. It definitely shows God’s hand at work in women and that God’s wrath can also be made manifest in the leadership and courage of women.  We need to see, and be aware of, God’s will being made manifest in all human beings.  This is the way God, has worked, is working, and always will work.

Let us pray to see God’s salvation for Ukraine in our lifetime.

As we listen to what the Spirit is saying to us, let us live to love, to serve, and to teach, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Wednesday of Proper 12: Year 2

 Morning, Psalms 72; Evening, Psalm 119:73-96;  

Judges 3:12 – 30; Acts 1:1 – 14; Matthew  27:45 – 54

“In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over the course of forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.”  (Acts 1: 1 – 3)

When I read scripture, I remember that I am standing behind the writer.  I am watching Luke, a man who never knew Jesus the way the other apostles did.  He learned from Paul and Peter.  I remember that his teacher Paul did not know Jesus in the flesh either, Paul met the resurrected Jesus while he, (Paul) was traveling to Damascus.

Even with this insight, I know that the “Acts of the Apostles” is Luke’s second book, his Gospel being the first.  Acts starts out with heavy input from Peter but ends with Paul speaking. It wasn’t until I saw the movie “Paul, Apostle of Christ” (with James Faulkner as Paul and Jim Caviezel as Luke), that I realized how significant Luke was in providing these writings to us.  He put himself at great risk going into and out of confinement with Paul. I highly recommend the movie.

Luke was an educated man, a physician.  He was accustomed to writing and taking notes.  God used the gifts of Luke to ensure we, of today, knew the history of Jesus and the first apostles, disciples and Christians. It must be remembered that he never met Jesus personally. He received his information from Peter and Paul. God still gifts a few of us with what we need as a community.  We get what we need for now, and we get what we will need for the future – like Luke.

The only thing you have to do to please God is live, believe, have courage when it seems dangerous, and make use of the gifts God has graced you with. This leads to the kingdom of God that Jesus spoke of through Luke. Thank you Lord Jesus.

Please keep your prayers for Ukraine going. Thanks

As we listen to what the Spirit is saying to us, let us live to love, to serve, and to teach, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Tuesday of Proper 12: Year 2

Morning, Psalms 61 and 62, Evening, Psalm 68; 

Judges 2:1-5,11-23; Romans 16:17-27; Matthew 27:32-44

“Whenever the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge, and he delivered them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for the Lord would be moved to pity by their groaning because of those who persecuted and oppressed them.  But whenever the judge died, they would relapse and behave worse than their ancestors, following other gods, worshipping them and bowing down to them. They would not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways.” (Judges 2: 18 – 19)

Perhaps judges were prophets of sorts but they seem to take on more of a military role in many cases.  God was with them for the good of the people.  But what’s important here is that the judges were raised by God for the well being and direction of the people.

I think it was through the feelings of the judges that God could feel what the people were going through. This would be kind of a pre-Jesus experience for God where the Creator felt a little of what the people were feeling. 

There is a timeless truth at work with the book of Judges.  There was no School of Theology or Seminary for human- selected young ones to attend, or a human crafted degree of certification.  God graced who God raised up as a judge. I believe this is still true today.  There are God-selected people, men and women, in our midst like Deborah and even Samson, who are graced by God for the strategic purpose of moving us to where God wants us to be.  Denomination or religious tradition notwithstanding, God will choose who God will choose. God always has, God always will.  According to the words that our Lord Jesus gave us to pray, “God’s will be done.”  You might be such a person.  No person can say that he or she is not good enough.  Such thoughts and words are not limiting who you are; such thoughts and words attempt to limit the ability of God: for which, there is no limit and for Whom nothing is impossible.  Pray to discern if God is raising you up for the purpose of Leadership. It is entirely possible and it matters not who you are to this point in your life. God will choose who God will choose, and nothing is impossible for God.

I pray for more good leaders to help President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine with the leadership and rebuilding of Ukraine.

As we listen to what the Spirit is saying to us, let us live to love, to serve, and to teach, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Monday of Proper 12: Year 2

Morning, Psalms 56 and 57; Evening, Psalms  64 and 65;

Joshua 24:16-33; Romans 16:1-16; Matthew  27: 24-31

“So when Pilate saw that he could do nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took some water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, ‘I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.’ Then the people as a whole answered, ‘His blood be on us and on our children!’ So he released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified.”   (Matthew 27: 24 – 26)

Pilate washed his hands, but his heart was still filthy. He had our Lord Jesus beaten before being handed over to be crucified.  However, a literal interpretation of this translation implies that Pilate himself whipped Jesus.  Most readers (myself included) would assume that Pilate had his soldiers do the dirty work. In any case, Pilate re-soiled his “baptized” hands. Dirty hearts make dirty hands. 

The opening prayer for Sunday Holy Eucharist says it all; “Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen”  (BCP 355). We must first want our hearts focused on wanting good for ourselves and others. It may be that we need help even wanting to think good.  Therefore, we ask the Holy Spirit of God to cleanse the thoughts of our hearts.  There is too much hate and evil taking place in the world; just watch the news.  Our hands and words follow our hearts. Brushing our teeth and washing our hands won’t help if our hearts are soiled. Let us want to heed the Holy Spirit of God and love and care for one another.

Let us also continue to hold Ukraine in our prayers. I pray for them to have peace.

As we listen to what the Spirit is saying to us, let us live to love, to serve, and to teach, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

New Testament Eucharistic Readings for Sunday of  Proper 12: Year C

Colossians 2:6-15, (16-19) and  Luke 11:1-13:

“And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.’ And he answers from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’  I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.” (Luke 11: 5 – 8)

God has hard-wired us to seek and to assist. It is our human nature to solve mysteries, be it the rotation of the universe or the cure for cancer. We look for answers.  We have inquiring minds and we want to know stuff. Today Google is flooded with people finding information about myriads upon myriads of all kinds of things.  We are born to ask, both for what we need and for what we want. 

Within the tradition of humanity is also the concept of hospitality.  From time to time we all find ourselves in need.  When thus found, we need the help of others. It is nothing to be ashamed of. It is our human condition.  Every person that hears the request of another has to deal with how they will respond to each situation.  I have a very dear friend who carries in his upper left pocket 2 or 3 small envelopes which contain a dollar and a Bible verse in each.  When a person approaches him for money he hands the person an envelope and bids them peace. I myself will adopt this response. A dollar or two is not much but it is a response. It helps satisfy that human need to respond. Even if the timing is bad, we will help if we listen to our hearts. We have this drive to respond to the need of others (friend or stranger). I believe there are more Good Samaritans among us today than there used to be.  We are born to help.

So we ask for help, and when we can, we render help to others.  This is God’s desire for us to be a loving community.  Yes, we still have way too many bad apples.  But we don’t give up because of them.  We endure. We pursue what is good and upright.  When we need help we ask for it.  It is not a matter of pride that we should suffer loss.  We ask someone to help us and we also may help another down the road.  All resources come from God.  We’re just borrowing from God anyway.  And we should keep our eyes open for our brothers and sisters who may not ask yet be in need.

Being born to ask, and born to help, means that we are born to live in harmony with each other.  I know people who are too proud to ask for the help they need.  And perhaps if they are criticized about it, they ought to feel reluctant to ask.  So those of us who can help must be vigilant in making sure that we are “grateful” to know when an unexpected opportunity has come to us. And never, never shame, or in any way speak down or look down on anyone who needs our help.  One day it could be us.  If we can Google about the universe, we surely can ask about, and respond to, our needs, and the needs of others in our midst.  We want to take comfort in knowing that we live in a community that takes care of God’s own. We are all God’s own.

Ukraine too is God’s own.  Let us help them where and when we can .

As we listen to what the Spirit is saying to us, let us live to love, to serve, and to teach, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Saturday of Proper 11: Year 2

Morning, Psalm 55; Evening, Psalms 138 and 139:1-17; 

Joshua 23:1-16; Romans15:25-33; Matthew 27:11-23

“While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, ‘Have nothing to do with that innocent man, for today I have suffered a great deal because of a dream about him.’” (Matthew 27:19)

We don’t have the name of the wife of Pontius Pilate but she was definitely spiritually connected with God.  Many people, prophets and leaders of Israel were contacted by God via a divine dream.  Jacob, Daniel, and even Joseph, the earthly father of our Lord Jesus, are just three examples.  Pilate’s wife is in good company but she is not listened to.

I ponder about dreams.  Scripture has shown that dreams are often used as conduits of communication by God for the purpose of doing God’s work. Dreams can be places of revelation.  Pilate did not listen to his wife, perhaps it was destined to be that way, who knows?  For this Matthew Gospel account it may be surprising that we even get to hear her voice.  But we do and so I pray that all of us should look deeper into our dreams of revelation.

At a Christian Education session I have personally witnessed one person share a dream and another person at the table interpret what the dream could have meant. It made so much sense.  For the most part I believe God’s message for us will move us closer to the will of God in good ways.  Dreams are very slippery however.  If we wait too long we forget the details of our dreams.  It could be an important message lost. I believe the Spirit of God connects with us in some of our dreams (not all), because we stay too busy with worldly things to hear God during our waking hours. Pleasant dreams everyone.

As we listen to what the Spirit is saying to us, let us live to love, to serve, and to teach, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Friday of Proper 11: Year 2

Morning, Psalms 40 and 54, Evening, Psalm 51;

Joshua 9:22-10:15; Romans 15:14-24; Matthew 27:1-10

“He said, ‘I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.’ But they said, ‘What is that to us? See to it yourself’”  (Matthew 27: 4)

Judas has betrayed our Lord Jesus.  He is sorry he did this.  He goes to the religious and spiritual leaders of his community for repentance.  There is no compassion to be found, no consolation.  He goes off and hangs himself.  Poor Judas.

What’s going on here?  First of all, the chief priests and the elders were, sadly, co-conspirators in the plan to arrest and kill Jesus. They were co-conspirators with Judas.  I ponder about what made him think he could then go back to them for any kind of understanding.  However, what really stuns me is their response to Judas.  “What is that to us? See to it yourself.”  See WHAT to yourself?  They are in a hard place.  If they acknowledge that Judas was a bad actor, they must own blame themselves. But what they have done is to forsake one of their own people by not helping him find a way to repent.  Too bad that John the Baptist is already dead, Judas could have used him. 

Christian clergy today must remember, as someone once told me, “it takes sheep to make a shepherd, otherwise, you are just a person with a funny looking stick.”  The sheep are the most important part of ministry, no sheep; no ministry.  And you don’t have to be officially ordained to be a shepherd. Somebody is watching and learning from you.  Lead on.

Addition for today:

We remember Mary Magdalene today.  My heart always goes out to Mary Magdalene.  From the Gospel according to John: “But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to lookinto the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her’ (John 20: 11 – 18). This is the first Resurrection sermon ever preached. Enough said.  Praise Jesus!

“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done” (Genesis 2:1 and 2). So, for this evening and tomorrow day my friends, Shabbat Shalom. 

What is Shabbat? Intro to the Jewish Sabbath – YouTube

As we listen to what the Spirit is saying to us, let us live to love, to serve, and to teach, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Thursday of Proper 11: Year 2

Morning, Psalm 50; Evening, Psalms 66 and 67;

Joshua 9:3-21; Romans 15:1-13; Matthew 26:69-75

“May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 15: 5 – 6)

These words of Paul about who God is, is worth some deep pondering.  Paul says the God of “steadfastness and encouragement.”  Steadfastness, to me, means discipline.  It means to keep on keeping on.  This is the discipline of my blogging, every day.  However, we must look at content.  The discipline of steadfastness is negative if the content of what we are being steadfast about is negative.  The content of steadfastness must be both good and uplifting for our family, friends and humanity.  This then is the encouragement part.

We all should lift up the good traits and habits we see in others.  Such lifting up is encouragement and it promotes harmony.  Even the most introverted person likes to hear words of encouragement. Such words really do bring about harmony in the community. This is how the God of love is revealed in the community.  I think this is why Paul says that God is the God of steadfastness and encouragement.  God is made manifest in how we embrace one another in steadfastness and encouragement. In this way, when people see you coming, they will say to themselves, “here comes “Good News!”

This blog is an example of my steadfast discipline and encouragement to all who read this blog so that readers may, with one voice, glorify the God and Parent of our Lord Jesus Christ.  And I pray our Creator and Sustainer act through us for the safety and welfare of Ukraine.

As we listen to what the Spirit is saying to us, let us live to love, to serve, and to teach, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John