Author: John Thomas Frazier

Daily Office Readings for Thursday of Proper 4: Year 1

Morning, Psalm 50; Evening,  Psalms  8 and 84;
Deuteronomy 16:18 to 20 and 17:14 to 20; 2^nd Corinthians 8:1 to 16; Luke 18:1 to 8:

“When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars you have set in their courses, what is man that you should be mindful of him? the son of man that you should seek him out?” (Psalm 8)

When I look up at night and gaze upon the stars and how even the planet we live on, revolves through space, I am amazed. The Great Creator of the universe is so awesome. We humans give created things names so that we might learn about them and pass such knowledge on to our children and our children’s children. As we do this we must also keep the Creator in the teaching. Without God there is nothing.

And then there is us, you and me.  Why would the Creator of all things and all life itself take notice of us?  We have come into being through the will and love of God.  And while all universal creation seems to keep to its designated assignments, we, the human being, seem to want to argue, fuss and fight rather than to move with grace as does the suns, moons, stars and other planets.

God even came to us as one of us to model for us how to live in peace and harmony.  Yet, we not only killed the Author of life, even our church has a history of killing others because of what they believe about our Lord – our Lord who would never kill anyone. We have enslaved our brothers and sisters, misused them, abused them; and yet, God is patient with us.

So why is God mindful of us?  I think there is still hope.  In spite of our sins, we are better than we used to be.  It is because we tell our children about the Tulsa slaughter of 1921 and the Holocaust of Nazi Germany and other atrocities that we hopefully won’t repeat these horrors.

Our Jewish ancestors developed a beautiful history of telling their story, their long relationship with God. We have it in the Hebrew (Old) Testament.  This is an example for us now.  Our Lord Jesus was very good at telling us the stories about His relationship with God.  We must follow this Jewish – Jesus example and tell our stories also, the good and the bad.

Since God has hope for us and is mindful of us, we must not give up on ourselves.  We must live the stories we want to tell. We may not look like heroes in our stories, we may not even live through them and the stories might have to be told by those who knew us. But it’s still our story. Our story must be about unwavering love, no matter what.  I really love Psalm 8. It makes me ponder and appreciate God in Christ Jesus even more. Don’t give up on us Dear Lord.

Let us live to love, more than just love to live, listening to what the Spirit is saying to, and through, the saints of God, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Wednesday of Proper 4: Year 1

Morning, Psalm 119:49 to 72; Evening, Psalm 49;
Deuteronomy 13:1 to 11; 2^nd  Corinthians 7:2 to 16; Luke 17:20 to 37:

“Once Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, and he answered, ‘The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; nor will they say, “Look, here it is!” or “There it is!” For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you:’” (Luke 17:20 and 21).

I think this is the greatest secret of all time; the kingdom of God is taking incremental steps more and more right here on earth, it is the evolution of the kingdom of heaven; it is “Thy kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven.”

We are not to wait until we get to heaven.  We are to bring heaven here. Yes, we have a long way to go. And this place can’t be heaven for some and not for others. We are already citizens of heaven but far too many of us have not been acting like it. 

I see heaven as a place where we all love each other.   The step by step process of making this place heaven is simply each of us learning to listen to each other more intently.   We would normally think that language would be a barrier, but we fail to listen to our brothers and sisters who speak our tongue. Listening requires being able to “be” the other.  It requires us to perhaps not return speech at all.  Heaven then, is a listening space, not a speaking space. 

Jesus says “the kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed.”  I think the kingdom of God is coming with things that can be heard.  It is not coming with things that can be seen and therefore there will be no need to say “Look, here it is,” or, “There it is.”

We were not created when God saw us into being.  We were brought into being when God spoke, “Let there be…”  Even nothingness listened. While listening is important, it must be managed

We jam our ears with noise all day.  Our phones, TV’s, radios and devices take over our minds and block out the kingdom of God. We need listening downtime.  We need to listen to our neighbor face to face and mouth to ear.  This then is heaven right here, right now.  Listening leads to learning, learning leads to loving, loving brings us the kingdom of God, which is already here if we would but listen.  

The next time you are conversing with someone take note of how much time the other gives you to really organize your thoughts and then speak with compassion.  Take note of how much time you give the other to organize their thoughts and then speak with compassion. The kingdom of God is speaking with compassion.  The kingdom is already among us.  We just need to listen.   

Let us live to love, more than just love to live, listening to what the Spirit is saying to, and through, the saints of God, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Tuesday of Proper 4: Year 1

Morning, Psalm 45; Evening, Psalms 47 and  48:
Deuteronomy 12:1 to 12; 2^nd Corinthians 6:3 to 7:1; Luke 17:11 to 19:

“Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice: (Luke 17:15)

This is the story of the ten lepers whom Jesus healed. He had compassion for them and told them to go to the priests and show themselves to be clean.  Within this healing lesson is the requirement to obey, that is, they are to go to the priests to show them.

However, we learn that one of the ten is a Samaritan.  He would most probably not been well received by the priests. But he was loved, and healed by Jesus.  So, here once again, we have an example of persons outside of Israel having more gratitude than the so-called chosen ones.  It was  only the Samaritan who turned back to give thanks and it caught the attention of Jesus. “Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” (Luke 17:18) 

Then it is revealed that our Lord Jesus makes use of the belief, (the faith), that was already in the Samaritan and this is what saves him. Jesus uses different language from the word “cleanse.” “Then he said to him, ‘Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”

The bottom line here is that there is an implied difference between having an earthly healing like cancer or Covid,  and being “made well” as in being saved in eternal life.  In either case, faith is key.  Faith, or trust in God, can do both, heal our infirmity as well as save our souls. We must believe, and when we do, our Lord Jesus takes over and uses our faith, our trust in God in ways that we are not able to. But we must first have faith.

Full disclosure, I will take salvation over the healing of bodily sickness every time.  It is nice to have both, but eternity in the courts of heaven is my greatest desire. I want to live in love, to love, and for love, forever. Thank You Lord Jesus.

Let us live to love, more than just love to live, listening to what the Spirit is saying to, and through, the saints of God, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Monday of Proper 4: Year 1

Morning, Psalms 41 and  52; Evening,  Psalm 44;
Deuteronomy 11:13 to 19; 2^nd  Corinthians 5:11 to 6:2; Luke 17:1 to 10:

“So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, “We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!”  (Luke17:10)

I don’t consider myself a worthless slave.  But I do have a sense of decency and duty. If I work for someone or even a large organization, whereby I am compensated in agreement with what was negotiated, I feel an obligation to fulfill my legal duties.  But more than that, If in a strange situation and I witness what I suspect is wrong-doing, I feel I have a moral obligation to stand up for whoever is victimized, that is, to stand up for decency.

As a military enlisted man I was taught that if, and when, we captured prisoners of war, once we have reduced their ability to be combatants, we were to imprison them and care for them. We were not to torture them or in any way mistreat them.  I believe the same is true for our police personnel today.  We need the police because we have bad actors in our communities.  But police have a responsibility for decency and duty also. I think the knee in the neck for nine minutes is wrong.  I think harassment of citizens is also wrong for police persons who are sworn to “protect and serve.”  Protect and serve sure sounds like decency and duty to me.

Whether we are store clerks, accountants, doctors, school teachers, trash collectors, welders, farmers, priests, or any vocation, we have a call of decency and duty.  We are not slaves and we are not worthless.  I don’t think Luke meant this in the way that we might interpret it today.  Understanding gets lost in translation.  But there are things that we ought to do, and not do. First of all, we need to recognize that as we interact with people, we must see them as brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus and therefore children of God.

Whether a person is being arrested or taken prisoner of war, we need to stand them up, look them in the eyes in our search for the Spirit of God.  Yes, we put ourselves at risk if we are not careful.  But if we are afraid of people because they differ from us then maybe to protect and serve all in our community is not our call. 

I think we should do what we have agreed to do within loving reason.   I know of a young man, Doug, who was much sought after by delivery men because he could be counted on to be on time and proficient in his duties.  He was sought after on a daily basis because he was on time and worked hard. When compared to other workers who were often late and lazy, the driver – delivery men wanted Doug.  Doug would always say, I have done only what I am supposed to do, nothing more, and nothing less.  I thank God for the Doug’s of the world.

Let us live to love, more than just love to live, listening to what the Spirit is saying to, and through, the saints of God, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Part 1 of 2

Daily Office Readings for Trinity Sunday: Year 1

Morning, Psalms 146 and 147; Evening, Psalms 111, 112 and 113;
Ecclesiasticus 43:1 to 12 and optionally (27 to 33); Ephesians 4:1 to 16; John 1:1 to 18“

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it:” (John 1:1 to 5)

For many years, even before seeking ordination, these words of the prologue to the Gospel of John have guided my faith as a Christian. It is in this “light that shines in the darkness,” that we listen to Nicodemus in our Eucharistic lesson from John.  Our Lord Jesus is about what His self-same Creating and Sustaining God is doing for our salvation. And I am thankful.

Part 2 of 2

Eucharistic Readings for Trinity Sunday: Year B

Isaiah 6:1 to 8;  Psalm 29 ; Romans 8:12 to 17;   John 3:1 to17:

“There was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God:” (John 3:1 and 2). 

Then that is enough Nicodemus. If you “know” that our Lord Jesus has come from God because no one can do these signs apart from God, then just listen and obey.  Get out of the darkness Nicodemus, and bring me with you.

Jesus further explains, “No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life:” (John 3: 13 to 15).  This “lifting up” that Jesus speaks of has been explained by many commentaries as the lifting up on the cross. But I ponder that it is his being lifted up in His Ascension, in His being re-seated on the judgment seat, the seat from whence he came before time began. 

So how much does God love us? “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life: (John 3:16).  This is perhaps the most repeated verse by Christians, and at the same time, not appreciated.  Few realize that Jesus is still speaking to Nicodemus (and us) in the darkness of our unbelief.  Nicodemus will be a convert to the faith of the Jesus Way and be there at his burial.  Jesus continues, “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him:” (John 3:17).  First and foremost, God is all about love, love for us. We are called by Love, in order that we might also love. For this Trinity Sunday I don’t know how much of a Trinitarian I am. I can’t get past Jesus saying that God is Spirit (John 4:24), and Jesus Himself, Incarnate and left us in order to send us the Holy Spirit of God in Himself. It’s confusing, but I don’t try to understand. I just believe and trust, and try to love all people. Real Christianity is certainly not for the faint of heart.  Blessed be the Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier: Amen.

 Let us live to love, more than just love to live, listening to what the Spirit is saying to, and through, the saints of God, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Saturday of Proper 3: Year 1

Morning, Psalms 30 and  32; Evening, Psalms 42 and  43;
Deuteronomy  5:22 to 33; 2^nd Corinthians 4:13 to 5:10; Luke 16:19 to 31:

 “Yes, everything is for your sake, so that grace, as it extends to more and more people, may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God;” (2^nd Corinthians 4: 15).

This is so true, we need the Lord’s grace in order to show more and more people that they only have their being through God in Christ Jesus.  In this way, hopefully, more and more people will be thankful for that forgiving and merciful grace.

I often ponder about life after death.  I know that I didn’t have to be.  But I am. I do exist. I have come to realize that I have an invitation to live on past this mortal state of being.  From my understanding as a Christian, what I believe and trust in, has a great deal to do with being received and kept forever into a resurrection life. 

In our Luke reading for today we have the story of the rich man and Lazarus.  They both die and enter into an unequal after-life divided by a “great chasm.” This Gospel lesson as well as other text of the Bible lead me to believe that all people will rise beyond this life, at least, initially.  Personally, I don’t believe a loving God will keep us in some kind of eternal torment. I think that if we are inconsistent with the love of God at our individual awakening we just cease to exist. I don’t want that. I want to enjoy living and loving for all eternity on the comfort side of the great chasm.

Paul refers to our present life as a life living in a tent, a tent that will wear out eventually. He says, “For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” (2^nd Corinthians 5:1)

My personal and informal creed is a belief statement I wrote for myself. It is an elevator statement that can be quickly delivered about what I believe. Here it is, “I Trust in the Creating Word through the Holy Spirit of the Incarnate Word, in whom we live and move and love and have our being, and to whom we must give an account.” 

I don’t know what it is like to not exist and I don’t want to know. I am thankful that I have life and I want it for all people “so that grace, as it extends to more and more people, may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.”

Let us live to love, more than just love to live, listening to what the Spirit is saying to, and through, the saints of God, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Friday of Proper 3: Year 1

Morning, Psalm 31; Evening,  Psalm 35;
Deuteronomy 5:1 to 22; 2nd Corinthians 4:1 to 12; Luke 16:10 to 18

“Observe the Sabbath day and keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. For six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work, you, or your son or your daughter, or your male or female slave, or your ox or your donkey, or any of your livestock, or the resident alien in your towns, so that your male and female slave may rest as well as you. Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.” (Deuteronomy 5: 12 to 15)

The book “The Sabbath” by Abraham Joshua Heschel is one of the books that has permanently changed my life.  This book has made me realize that we did not create the Sabbath, God did and has given it to us as a gift. Rabbi Heschel has also made me realize that things and places are not as important as time.  Time is something we all share. Time then, and most especially, the Sabbath is a time that we should stop and ponder our relationship with God. “It is a day of praise, not a day of petitions:”  (page 30 of The Sabbath).

I again share the YouTube video about the Sabbath which features quotes from Rabbi Heschel.  What is Shabbat? Intro to the Jewish Sabbath – YouTube 

We Christians must remember that we are Judeo-Christians. Our Lord and Savior, Jesus, was a Jewish Rabbi, which means Teacher.  Jesus has taught us, but have we learned anything?  I believe as Christians that we should worship on Sunday.  But as recipients of God’s Holy Sabbath, we should individually calm ourselves on the Sabbath (Saturday), and be thankful for what God is still doing in our midst.  I am aware that not all of us can do this at the same time.  First responders, doctors and health care providers, police, the military, fire fighters and others must work through the Holy Sabbath.  But time should be made whereby they too can praise God in thanksgiving for what God continues to do for us.  God is love and has created us in love, to love.

For this evening, and tomorrow day, my friends; Shabbat Shalom.

Let us live to love, more than just love to live, listening to what the Spirit is saying to, and through, the saints of God, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Thursday of Proper 3: Year 1

Morning, Psalm 37:1 to 18; Evening, Psalm 37:19 to 42;
Deuteronomy 4:32 to 40; 2^nd Corinthians 3:1 to 18; Luke 16:1 to 9:

“And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.” (Luke 16: 9)

I’ll be honest, this Luke reading is not one I wanted to tackle, I would much rather take the cowardly way out and go to an easier reading. But I decided to take it on anyway.

After prayer I have pondered or reasoned that this lesson is about putting people before profit. There some business practices that sometimes have to be relaxed in order to help those in real need.  It is perhaps better to just let a customer have some bread and milk than refuse them because of their lack of money. Business practices teach that not only should we receive the value of a product, but we are due the “markup” as well in order to cover “overhead and put away some money for future investments and personal savings.

This Luke writing teaches that when we betray business practices in order to help the poor we put away something for ourselves more valuable than money. We store up for ourselves treasures in heaven.

Today we remember Bertha and Ethelbert, Queen and King of Kent, 616.

Yesterday I shared with you a little bit about Augustine of Canterbury, First Archbishop of Canterbury.  Bertha and Ethelbert are connected to this history in that Ethelbert actually met Augustine and assisted him in his desire developing the Church for the English. As I have said, this is a part of my own spiritual history. But more than that, I believe this is God’s hand at work in the continuation of the Gospel, in England, and later, to the Colonies and America.  It is God, not the devil, in the details.  Ethelbert put the faith and call of Augustine above any monarchial protocols he had in place, putting the spiritual faith of his people before his kingly policies. While not a Christian at his initial meeting with Augustine, he was baptized on the Day of Pentecost of the following year. Bertha and Ethelbert made the love of their people their first priority.

Let us live to love, more than just love to live, listening to what the Spirit is saying to, and through, the saints of God, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Wednesday of Proper 3: Year 1

 Morning, Psalm 38; Evening, Psalm 119:25 to 48;
Deuteronomy 4:25-31; 2^nd Corinthians 1:23 to 2:17; Luke 15:1-2,11-32;

“But when he came to himself he said, “How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger!”  (Luke 15:17)

These words from the wayward son express deep insight for all of us. It is only when we come to ourselves that we can fully appreciate how blessed we are.

 For me, coming to myself often means slowing down.  I believe we all have a set speed in which we should live, move and have our being.  It may not be the same pace as everybody else, and that’s fine. I can remember that back in my military service days when I worked on diesel powered generators with analog meters.  When I got the voltage output correct, I also had to adjust the frequency to 400 hertz.  The frequency had to match the aircraft to which it would provide electric power.  We are like this equipment in many ways. We must discover our God given frequency and then maintain our own proper pace in life. This is coming to, or just being who, we are intended to be.

It is only when we “come to ourselves” that we might see ourselves as we really ought to be, in our family, in our Church, and in community and in our quiet times.  And like the prodigal son, we too need to do the self-talk about how we will repent, and go back to God who God has made us to be.  This is how we come to ourselves. For some of us, it may be for the first time.

Today we remember Augustine First Archbishop of Canterbury, 605.

Pope Gregory the Great decided in 596 to send a mission to the pagan Anglo-Saxons. He selected, from his own monastery on the Coelian hill in Rome, a group of monks, led by their prior, Augustine. They arrived in Kent in 597, carrying a silver cross and an image of Jesus Christ painted on a board, which thus became, so far as we know, “Canterbury’s first icon.” (Great Cloud of Witnesses for May 26)

As an Anglican, Augustine of Canterbury is important to me because it shows God’s hand at work in the establishment and development of the Anglican Church. Coached by Pope Gregory, Augustine was to be inclusive in terms of the make-up of the Church. One of the Pope’s most famous counsels to the first Archbishop of Canterbury has to do with diversity in the young English Church. Gregory writes, “If you have found customs, whether in the Roman, Gallican, or any other Churches that may be more acceptable to God, I wish you to make a careful selection of them, and teach the Church of the English, which is still young in the faith, whatever you can profitably learn from the various Churches. For things should not be loved for the sake of places, but places for the sake of good things.” (Great Cloud of Witnesses for May 26)

Let us live to love, more than just love to live, listening to what the Spirit is saying to, and through, the saints of God, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Tuesday of Proper 3: Year 1

Morning, Psalms 26 and 28; Evening, Psalms 36 and 39;
Deuteronomy 4:15 to 24; 2^nd  Corinthians 1:12 to 22; Luke 15:1 to10;

“Rejoice with me” (Luke 15: 6 and 9)

“Rejoice with me” are the words articulated when we find ourselves restored back to where we were before we lost what we had.  It is said when the shepherd found the lost sheep, and again when the woman found the lost coin.  It is meant by me (if not actually said) when I find my keys, or glasses, or sermon notes.  We were whole, and all of a sudden, we lost something!  Then we were lost. We can’t hide it.  People who know us can tell.  They can see our confusion and worry.  We have to find what we are missing.

While these two lost stories of Luke 15 leads to the lost son, it explains a lot about us. We don’t celebrate how wonderful it is to not have lost anything, to be glad about what we have before anything is lost. We can’t count our blessings that haven’t happened yet but we should be very thankful and glad about what we have before it is lost, if it gets lost.

As I alluded to earlier, I lose stuff all the time. I try to have a place for everything, and everything in its place. But inevitably something will get misplaced. I can’t hide my frantic search for something missing. Secretly, there is something energizing about the search for the missing – about waiting for something lost to return to where it belongs.  I even get involved in the search for things that others have lost. When the item is found, it’s rejoicing time! 

Maybe the hardest thing to find is our lost faith.  If we have it and it is lost it shows.  We were whole, and all of a sudden, we lost something important!  Then we were lost. We can’t hide it.  People who know us can tell.  They can see our confusion and our worry.  We have to find our missing faith. We should be happy to help anyone find their lost faith. After all, it is not really lost, rather, it is misplaced, maybe somewhere in your mind. We will find it and put it back where it belongs, in your heart. Stop thinking and start loving.  And then we will rejoice!

Let us live to love, more than just love to live, listening to what the Spirit is saying to, and through, the saints of God, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John