Author: John Thomas Frazier

Daily Office Readings for Saturday of Proper 18: Year 2

Psalm 55, 138, and139:1to 17(18-23) Job 38:1to17; Acts 15:22 to 35; and John 11:45 to 54

“We have decided unanimously to choose representatives and send them to you, along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, who have risked their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth.” (Acts 15: 25 to 27)

So four disciples (Barnabas, Paul, Silas and Judas (also called Barsabbas) went to Antioch to give “word of mouth” testimony about how the believers should behave.  I am as much concerned about method as I am content of the message.

I am required to preach now while wearing a mask.  I don’t like it.  But I am loyal to the instruction of my Bishop.  Perhaps preaching through a mask is one step above sending a note or letter, or for that matter, social media.  There is something very human about hearing the word directly from lips that we can see as well as hear.  While I know that hearing challenged people rely on reading lips, I think we all do a little of the same as a way of affirming what we think we hear.  It is word of mouth. It is the ancient way of spreading the Gospel.  Remember, in the beginning was the Word, not the book or the print.

Many times in the Bible we are directed to “Hear O Israel.”  Most notably these words appear in the Deuteronomy 6:4.  This directive entails the receiving and retelling of our dedication to God and it is done by word of mouth.  This instruction to hear is found throughout the Bible and is meant to be read aloud in the hearing of the people. 

Read letters were the way our forbearers received the Gospel and the letters of Peter, Paul, John, James and the preacher to the Hebrews.  We are a word of mouth people.  This word of mouth is spoken through us, the saints of God. So when the opportunity presents itself, and it will,  be a speaker of the Good News of the Gospel, that “We are all loved by God and there is always hope, no matter what.” First, listen to yourself say these words, and then deliver them to someone else by word of mouth.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to and through the saints of God and then ponder anew what the Almighty can do.  John

Daily Office Readings for Friday of Proper 18: Year 2

 Psalms 40, 54 and 51; Job 29:1, 31:24 to 40; Acts 15:12 to 21; John 11:30 to 44

“Jesus said to her, ‘Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”  (John 11: 40)

Jesus does not respond to Martha and Mary in the same way.  As he approaches their home, but not quite there yet, each sister of Lazarus greets him and both say the exact same thing; “If you had been here my brother would not have died.”  While Jesus has a long conversation about the Resurrection with Martha, he only asks Mary where Lazarus was laid.

This difference in how the sisters were responded to may have to do with Jesus’ knowledge of what their faith revealed. “[Martha] said to him, ‘Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.’” (John 11:27)  But maybe Martha didn’t really believe after all. She only said what she thought Jesus wanted to hear.

Jesus says to her, and to us, that if we only believe, we will see the glory of God. Two people can witness the same event and one will sense only a reasonable outcome, (the smell of death) while the other will see the hand of God at work, (Lazarus alive). 

We must make room in our hearts and minds for God to do things outside of what we are expecting.  The waters will still part, we can still feed the multitude with “not enough.”  However, if we don’t believe we can, or that God can, then it can’t be done.  The point here is that we must first believe.  Or as sung in Amazing Grace: “’Twas grace that taught My heart to fear; And grace my Fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear, the hour I first believed.” This is not just a hymn; it is our Christian code of life.  We must believe, not just say what we think Jesus wants to hear. When we truly believe, God’s presence is made manifest.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to and through the saints of God and then ponder anew what the Almighty can do.  John

Daily Office Readings or Thursday of Proper 18: Year 2

 Psalms 50,  [59, 60] or 93, 96;  Job 29:1 and 31:1to 23; Acts 15:1 to 11; John 11:17 to 29

“After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, ‘My brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that I should be the one through whom the Gentiles would hear the message of the good news and become believers. And God, who knows the human heart, testified to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us’” (Acts 15: 7 and 8).

I often converse with others who study the scriptures (professional theologians) who argue that Paul is the designated carrier of the Gospel to the Gentiles, that is, the non-Jewish nations.  However, there is much evidence to show that Peter is also, perhaps the first, to do the same.

Peter knew, and walked with the living Jesus.  Peter was invited to “come and follow Jesus.” Peter was a married man but left family to do the will of God. My point here is that Peter, while often over bearing and outspoken, was an original follower of our Lord Jesus who showed us how to carry the Gospel to those who have yet to know about it. He did this work in both word and deed.

We are not required to be educated theologians to carry the Gospel to others.  All who believe are theologians at some level. Paul was a professional theologian.  He was a Pharisee, although misguided, before the risen Lord changed his path while on his way to Damascus.  Peter was a fisherman.  The message here is that God does not call the qualified, God qualifies the called.

While both Paul and Peter appear to be down playing the requirement to be circumcised, it was Peter who stood up and reminded his listeners, and us, about God knowing the human heart no matter who we are.   And this is the most important message; God knows our hearts and minds.  No matter what our walk in life is, educated, gifted, or basic laborer, the only important quality about us is whether or not we have love for others.

Let me say also that if we feel we don’t have this kind of love, the next thing to ponder is, “do we even want this kind of love?”  Sadly, if we don’t want to love others, we won’t.  If we do want to have love for others but feel we can’t, we need to ask God for help.  We should pray using the words, “Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of [my heart] by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that [I] may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.” (BCP 355)

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to and through the saints of God and then ponder anew what the Almighty can do.  John

Daily Office Readings for Wednesday of Proper 18: Year 2

Psalms 119:49 to 72,  49;  Job 29:1,30:1 to 2,16-31; Acts 14:19 to 28; John 11:1 to 16

“Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow-disciples, ‘Let us also go, that we may die with him.” (John 11:16)

I am so glad that I get to bring you this passage for its own use.  I often have to make it an aside when talking about Thomas not being a doubter. Thomas is willing to give his life to follow Jesus.  Jesus requires no less from us today.

The good news for us (in addition to the Good News of the Gospel itself), is that we don’t follow Jesus to a real and painful cross.  We dedicate our lives to our Lord Jesus by dedicating our lives to prayer, study and charity while living a life of love.

When we are baptized, we are baptized into the death of Christ.  This always needs an explanation when baptizing an infant.  Death is the last thing on the mind of parents and family of the baby.  But death is the unavoidable path of all life in creation. However, being baptized into the Death of Jesus we are raised into the Resurrection of Christ as well (Romans 6:3 and 4).  The one brings about the other.

We cannot ransom our lives.  We all are destined for death. But in death life is not ended, life is changed. “For to your faithful people, O Lord, life is changed, not ended; and when our mortal body lies in death, there is prepared for us a dwelling place eternal in the heavens.” (BCP 382)

There have been many martyrs in our Church history.  These were people who gave their lives for the sake of the Gospel of God in the Name of Jesus Christ.  Thomas was willing to give his life by following Jesus, even to the cross.  How about you and me?  Let’s start by dedicating our lives to prayer, study and charity while living a life of love.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to and through the saints of God and then ponder anew what the Almighty can do.  John

Daily Office Readings for Tuesday of Proper 18: Year 2

  Psalms 45  47 and 48; Job 29:1 to 20; Acts 14:1 to18; John 10:31 to 42

“When the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting, ‘Friends, why are you doing this? We are mortals just like you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.”  (Acts 14: 14 and 15)

In today’s John Reading, as well as this Acts passage above, people witnessing God’s work are misguided in what they see.  In the Gospel of John people are upset because they say that sense Jesus is only a human being, how can he say that he is God (John 10:33).

In the Acts passage, people see what Paul and Barnabas are doing and want to worship them as gods.  In both cases the people who see what God is doing want to focus on the instrument of God rather than God.  They forget that it is God who is at work.

The same is true today.  God works through us to do the will of God. But God works through people of faith to do this work. Miracles still happen.  People are miraculously healed.  People miss having accidents through no foresight of their own.  Such events are not coincidental. They are the will of God.

Our experiences are all about what God is doing.  If we don’t like what God is doing and think the person is undeserving, as in the John passage, we should calm down and ponder the greater benefit to our community.  If we really like what we see God doing in someone, a doctor or teacher or pastor, or anyone, we need to realize that such a person has allowed themselves to be used by God through faith. If we want to honor people for some good deed, we should honor their obedience to God’s call on his or her life and their willingness to obey.

God is good, all the time.  And God is at work all the time.  The only thing that God needs in order to help us is our faith.  If we believe in God and submit to the will of God, God’s will, will be done.  God uses us to fix us.  All we have to do is be faithful, user friendly, and thankful.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to and through the saints of God and then ponder anew what the Almighty can do.  John

Daily Office Readings for Monday of Proper18: Year 2

Psalms 41, 52, and  44; Job 32:1-10,19-33:1,19-28; Acts 13:44 to 52; John 10:19 to 30

“When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and praised the word of the Lord; and as many as had been destined for eternal life became believers.  Thus the word of the Lord spread throughout the region.  But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, and stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their region.  So they shook the dust off their feet in protest against them, and went to Iconium.  And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 13: 48 to 52)

We just can’t please everybody.  The Jewish authorities took offense to the message of Paul and Barnabas and drove them out of their region.  Today we still do not want to sit and listen to people who disagree with us.  We only want to win, even if winning our way is really not the best outcome for all concerned.

We must pay attention to the words that say, “devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city” were incited by smooth talkers.  We must ponder about the words we hear.  From social media to politics and religion, we sometimes lose the purpose of what we are fighting about and are only concerned about our side winning. We need to stop letting ourselves be manipulated and follow the advice of Blaise Pascal who said,  “All men’s miseries derive from not being able to sit in a quiet room alone.” 

 And when polarized persons will not accept our need to ponder the deeper meaning of our choices, we need to follow the model that Paul and Barnabas set for us and shake the dust off our feet in protest and just be filled with the Holy Spirit.                                                                                              

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to and through the saints of God and then ponder anew what the Almighty can do.  John

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Daily Office Readings for Sunday of Proper 18: Year 2

 Psalms 63:1-8(9-11), 98, and  103;  Job 25:1to 6,27:1to6; Rev. 14:1to 7,13; Matt. 5:13 to 20

“No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lamp stand, and it gives light to all in the house.”  (Matthew 5:15)

I love the hymn, “This Little Light of Mine.”  It is a reminder that we are truly called to be the light of the world. But maybe we are a “battery powered” light rather than a flame torch and our batteries are weak.  We either need to get them charged or get new batteries.

Decency is key.  Our baptismal covenant requires us to respect the dignity of every human being. For me, this means being kind to everyone without regard to how others might treat us.  It is in this way that we are the light of the world.  And remember, Jesus gave it to us, so we are going to let it shine.  And, everywhere we go, we are going to let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.

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New Testament Eucharistic Readings for Sunday of Proper 18: Year A

Romans 13:8 to14:  and Matthew 18:15to20

“For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” (Matthew 18:20)

Our Lord Jesus lived out this idea of 2 or 3.  His favorite three were Simon Peter, John and James.  He took only them with him to heal Jairus’ daughter; to the Mount of Transfiguration; and in the garden when he went to pray the night he was arrested.  You might say that Peter, John and James were his “executive counsel.”  They were all simple men, fishermen by trade.

The important qualities were, and are, a good and loving heart, and strong faith. They all had flaws. Peter was an ego-centric extrovert. John and James wanted to prearrange a position of glory for themselves in the kingdom. But notice that our Lord Jesus held onto them for his inner circle. 

Is there a lesson in this example of three for us? In the passage from our Gospel lesson for this Sunday Jesus moves from a one-on-one situation to the whole Church.  But in the middle he asks us to select one or two others to bear witness of the troubling situation.  Can you pick two or three people from your faith community to stand by you in difficult times?  Find 1 or 2, and you will make three, and Jesus is with thee.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to and through the saints of God and then ponder anew what the Almighty can do.  John

Daily Office Readings for Saturday of Proper 17: Year 2

Psalms  30, 32, 42, and 43: Job 22:1 to 4 and verse 21 to chapter 23 to verse7; Acts 13:26 to 43; John 10:1 to 18

“I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.”  (John 10: 16)

This is an undeniable ecumenical statement by our Lord Jesus. In spite of this pronouncement John will come and say to Jesus that he tried to stop someone from casting out demons in Jesus’ name because he was not following Jesus in their group.  But Jesus rebuked him and said do not stop him (Luke 9:49).

We Christians often get wrapped around the axel when it comes to denominations.  All Christians are on the path that best suits them. Given this, I do feel that some experimentation is necessary. Christianity is not “one size fits all.”  Our Presiding Bishop of our Episcopal Church says that we are on the Episcopal path of the Jesus movement.  I like that explanation.

Pretty much any path is better than no path.  But even if we encounter someone who is on no religious path we are still called to love them as if they shared a pew with us. Christianity is about our personal relationship with our Lord Jesus and that faith is demonstrated in how we love and treat others without regard to what they believe or do not believe.

Much good work is being done through ecumenical organizations.  It saves precious resources when we don’t try to build and maintain staffing networks to feed the poor or provide health care when a Christian organization already has it in place, right?  

As an Episcopal priest, my most ecumenically challenged time is when I am asked to conduct a marriage between a couple of different denominations (or even different religious affiliations).  I am thankful that they have a faith path but really wish they were the same.  My Prayer Book only requires that at least one of them be baptized.  However, I want more.  Please don’t judge me.  I’m still a work in progress.  Besides, later on, according to our Lord Jesus, there will be one flock and one Shepherd.  Thank You Lord Jesus.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to and through the saints of God and then ponder anew what the Almighty can do.  John

Daily Office Readings for Friday of Proper 17: Year 2

Psalms 31,  35;  Job 19:1 to 7 and 14 to 27; Acts 13:13 to 25; and John 9:18 to 41

“Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind.”  (John 9:32)

I think the operative word here is “born” blind.  Our Lord Jesus did not restore the man’s sight as he has done for others.  Jesus gave him something he has never had, his ability to see for the first time ever.

There is more than one kind of blindness.  When we are made to see our lives in only one sad way, we are blind to the realities and love of the world.  It is almost like being color blind. 

Being born into a world in which you are told that you are less valued than others makes you blind to all the potential God has placed in you.  In my own story, I feel that I was mismanaged twice by an elementary school teacher.  I was told that I was stupid and hopeless.  This was not a race issue.  It was an issue of family hatred that I only found out about later in life.  In fact it was a combination of joining the Marines, taking psychology courses and joining the Church, that made me aware that I was not stupid or less valued than anybody else. 

In this way, joining the Church was coming to Jesus in my early thirties, and was in fact being able to see my true self for the first time.  Sometimes we lose sight of who we are.  But sometimes we never had sight of who we are.  It is a very big deal to see who we are for the very first time.  Far too many people, of all walks of life, never really see who they are and what God wants for them.  I suggest finding the Lord and let him open your eyes for the first time.  And please know this, it is never too late. In all the world, only our Lord Jesus can give sight where there was none, ever. Thank You Lord Jesus.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to and through the saints of God and then ponder anew what the Almighty can do.  John

Daily Office Readings for Thursday of Proper 17: Year 2

Psalm 37;  Job 16:16 to 22,17:1,13 to 16; Acts 13:1 to 12; and John 9:1 to 17

“Refrain from anger, leave rage alone; do not fret yourself; it leads only to evil.”  (Psalm 37:9)

Psalm 37 says a lot about what will happen to the wicked and how God will deal with them. This Psalm also advises us regarding doing good deeds.  Verse 9 however gives good counsel regarding our hateful emotions.

We get angry at others from time to time; why?  What makes us want to feel really bad about another?  How long does it take for such a feeling to pass, if it passes? 

When we are angry, what does it take to discipline ourselves to not act on such anger?  Can we separate our anger from our resultant words and/or action?  Saint Paul says “be angry but do not sin.”  To the Church in Ephesus he writes, “So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another.  Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not make room for the devil.  Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy.  Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear.” (Ephesians 4:25 to 29)

I think the Psalmist is correct, anger and rage leads only to evil.  The word “regret” comes to mind. Some tools to prevent regret is the standard “count to ten.” I had one friend who suggested, “stop and wind your watch, even if it’s not required.”  I think the point is to force yourself to occupy your mind with something else, and do it quickly.  Once a few seconds have passed you will realize how thankful you are that you didn’t say or do something regretful.

Maybe a short prayer or a short Bible verse like “Refrain from anger, leave rage alone; do not fret yourself; it leads only to evil,” will work just fine.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to and through the saints of God and then ponder anew what the Almighty can do.  John