Author: John Thomas Frazier

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Daily Office Readings for Sunday of Proper 21: Year 2

 Psalms 66, 67; and 19, 46 Hosea 2:2 to14; James 3:1 to13; Matthew. 13:44 to 52

“But no one can tame the tongue—a restless evil, full of deadly poison.  With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God.  From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so.”  (James 3:8 to 10

As wild as the tongue is, it rarely says anything that was not first born in the heart or mind. The tongue, like the hands, can only follow the management of the heart and mind.  What is key here, is, what do we want? Do we want to be fair and loving or not?  We, without God, are not able to change our hearts no matter how much we want to do or say the right things.  This saying and doing will be examined further in part 2 of today’s Ponder.  For now I remember our Sunday opening Collect where we read, “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)

Part 2 of 2

Eucharistic New Testament Readings for Sunday of Proper 21: Year A

Philippians 2:1-13 and Matthew 21:23-32

“Which of the two did the will of the father? (Matthew 21:31).

As I ponder these two sons I try to be as objective as I can, even in spite of the heavy influence by the evangelist.  Matthew says the first son, changed his mind and did the work he said he would not do.  For the second son the evangelist implies that he just lied about his intentions and never intended to do the work in the first place.  So I give the benefit of doubt to both.  Perhaps the second son changed his mind also.  Maybe he truly intended to do the work but later he too, changed his mind. 

The bottom line here, no matter which way we look at it, is, “Which of the two actually did the will of the father?”  The key word here is “did” the will of the father, not just said they would or would not do it.  I have a quote from Mark Twain where he says “Action speaks louder than words but not nearly as often.”  I really do believe we speak more accurately with our actions.  But is such accuracy a good thing?  Ponder this please and ask our Lord Jesus for help.  He is waiting.

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 20, 2020:Year 2

Psalms 87, 90; and 136; Hosea 1:1-2:1; Acts 20:1-16; Luke 4:38-44

“After the uproar had ceased, Paul sent for the disciples; and after encouraging them and saying farewell, he left for Macedonia.  When he had gone through those regions and had given the believers much encouragement, he came to Greece” (Acts 20:1 and 2).

To encourage a person is to build their self esteem.  It is to make them confident in their vocation, occupation, faith, and civic duty. In this reading Paul encourages his disciples and others as he travels. First, he encourages his disciples, and then he encourages the people of Macedonia.  He is full of the “lifting up” language.

We have so many people around us everywhere today that need encouragement.  This encouragement does not mean only saying nice things to people who agree with you.  It means giving hopeless people hope.  I am again reminded of a poor woman who came to our parish while I was leading a meeting.  I excused myself to let the woman know that I couldn’t see her at the moment but shortly I would be able to attend to her.  In her urgency, she asked “has this church ever “hoped” anyone.”  I was confused at first.  I then realized that she was using an improper past tense of the word “help.”  She wanted to know if we had ever helped anyone before. Apparently she didn’t want to wait for me if we didn’t tend to help, particularly financially.  As it turned out she did not stay.  But her word did stay with me.

We Christians are to “hope” the hopeless.  Hope is not a verb, at least in its normal use.  But I would like to change that.  Can we not hope people?  By this I mean encourage people; give people hope.  Remember, we should not look for like-minded people.  Let’s restrict our encouragement to only those who are human and created in the universal and internationally diverse Image of God. Let’s lift them up, encourage them, and give them hope. Amen.

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 20: Year 2

Psalms 88,  91, and 92:  Esther 8:1 to  8, and 15 to 17; or Judith 13:1 to 20; Acts 19:21to 41; and  Luke 4:31 to 37

“If therefore Demetrius and the artisans with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open, and there are proconsuls; let them bring charges there against one another. If there is anything further you want to know, it must be settled in the regular assembly. For we are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since there is no cause that we can give to justify this commotion.’ When he had said this, he dismissed the assembly.”  (Acts 19: 38 to 41)

The unnamed “town clerk” calls for order and rational conduct in accordance with established protocols. Perhaps he is concerned for property and people on both sides of the argument. 

Currently, in the United States of America, we are struggling with a Covid 19 pandemic, our West Coast that is on fire,  our Gulf Coast hit with the most hurricanes in recorded history; a very divisive political polarization,  and on top of all this, we are struggling with issues of racial disparities between police and people of color.  Where is our “town clerk?”

The better question should be, where are our clergy?  Ouw!, that’s me.  Like the town clerk, clergy are called to be outside of the political fray and seek order and peaceful resolutions. Clergy must also remember, and be an advocate for all sides of human oppression or discrimination.  Sure, let us be there for minorities and women, but we must also advocate for white men and police persons too.  Too often in our zeal for corrective action we allow the pendulum to swing too far to the other side. 

Maybe more attention should also be given scientific evidence regarding climate change.  This subject should not be considered a political agenda, but rather, and earth agenda. The town clerk in our Acts reading is one of their own but takes a stand in order to calm things down.  Today, in America, people are protesting which too often morphs into rioting that destroys family businesses.  The town clerk tells his own people that “we are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since there is no cause that we can give to justify this commotion.”  Maybe I should be doing more of this kind of work.  Town clerk or town clergy, more of us need to step up and take a stand against rioting and vandalism. As I write these words I will ponder more deeply what the Holy Spirit of God is saying to me about these matters. I invite you to do the same.

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 20: Year 2

Psalms [83] or 146, 147, 85, and 86: Esther 7:1 to 10 or Judith 12:1 to 20; Acts 19:11 to 20; Luke 4:14 to 30

“Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs in attendance on the king, said, ‘Look, the very gallows that Haman has prepared for Mordecai, whose word saved the king, stands at Haman’s house, fifty cubits high.’ And the king said, ‘Hang him on that” (Esther 7:9), and:

 “She [Judith] came close to his bed, took hold of the hair of his head, and said, ‘Give me strength today, O Lord God of Israel!’ Then she struck his neck twice with all her might, and cut off his head” (Judith 13: 7 and 8).

I have deliberately skipped over the Esther and Judith readings these past days for two reasons.  The first, is that I am so fascinated with what was happening in the Acts of the apostles.  The second, is that I wanted to wait until the climatic parts of these two Hebrew women’s stories came into view; the parts where they cause the destruction of evil men. I did skip ahead with Judith.  The part that I share from Judith today is actually from tomorrow’s reading of Judith.  But I wanted to bring these two stories together to show these two faithful and powerful women.

Sometimes we overlook how God works through us in sometimes wrathful ways.  Haman (Esther) and Holofernes (Judith) were self-serving men of position.  Interestingly, there are other-serving  eunuchs (considered less than men due to their mutilation), in both stories.  These eunuchs play important roles in the fulfillment of God’s wrath.

We tend to play to our strengths, sometimes as if we had no weaknesses. But we do indeed.  And God is aware of our weaknesses.  Arrogance blinds us to our weaknesses.  Often God uses those, thought to be weak by our calculations, to illumine for us our short comings; our weaknesses. I don’t think such illumination is always to our death, but it is often emotionally painful. We should use such occasions as growth moments.

Esther, Judith and their respective eunuchs are examples of God using the weak to overcome the strong.  These stories are similar to the David and Goliath story of 1 Samuel 17.  God is never concerned about human strength, position or power.  God loves us and God wins every time.   

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 20: Year 2

Psalm 119:97 to 120;and  Psalms 81and 82; Esther 6:1 to 14 or Judith 10:1 to 23; Acts 19:1 to 10;and  Luke 4:1 to 13

“He entered the synagogue and for three months spoke out boldly, and argued persuasively about the kingdom of God. When some stubbornly refused to believe and spoke evil of the Way before the congregation, he left them, taking the disciples with him, and argued daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus.” (Acts 19: 8 and 9)

Paul shows that there are some people that just won’t believe. And we know that this is still true today.   The only thing we can do in such a situation is leave.  I would add that we should still keep them in prayer.  But is serves no good purpose to stay and argue for the sake of arguing.

This type of arguing brings up another important problem to deal with.  And that is, the “speaking evil of,” about the Way.  I think is okay to “not agree,” but why do people then have to demean those whom they don’t agree with?  I think it was Patrick Henry or Evelyn Beatrice Hall,  who said, “I disapprove of what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”  Regardless of who first said it, the greater point is the respect of the speaker without a sense of contempt for the speaker.  I often tell my listeners that whatever they believe, it is what it is for right now.  In an hour, or a year, it could change or evolve.  It has, and continues to do so for me.  We are all a work in progress. We must be patient and respectful of one another.  We are all created in the Image of God. 

Like Paul and his disciples, we can take our arguments elsewhere and continue.  I really like being a citizen of these United States.  Sometimes I forget that we are a country of united STATES. That means that different states have different values and priorities.  And even those priorities and values change over time.  We can stay where we are and strive for incremental change and improvement, or we can move to where likeminded people already live.  We are a free country under one federal system where our vote rules.  We elect our state governors, representatives and senators based on the majority of our values and then continue to argue for an even better life.  We don’t all agree on any particular issue but hopefully, we don’t, (or will stop), lowering ourselves to demeaning, or speaking evil of, those who differ from us.  We must be open to God appearing in them, and in their words also.

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 20, Year 2

 Psalm 78;  Esther 5:1 to14 or Judith 8:9 to17, 9:1, 9 to7-10; Acts 18:12 to 28; Luke 3:15to 22

“He began to speak boldly in the synagogue; but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained the Way of God to him more accurately.  And when he wished to cross over to Achaia, the believers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. On his arrival he greatly helped those who through grace had become believers, for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the scriptures that the Messiah is Jesus.” (Acts 18: 26 to 28)

Apollos spoke boldly in the synagogue but with limited and incorrect understanding.  However, he was smart enough to listen to good counsel.  We all could benefit from the example of Apollos.  If we think we know it all and are opposed to listening to others, we could err in our speaking and in some cases, do more harm than good.

Perhaps the best way to practice our faith is to live a life of life-long learning.  I know that for me, seminary showed me how much I did not know. Since seminary I have continued in my theological studies.  Education for Ministry (EfM), a program of study from the School of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, continues to be a good source of Christian education for me. While EfM is a four year program, I am an EfM mentor and therefore I continue to learn every year as I mentor participants in the program.  Also, clergy conferences, and Bible studies as well as one on one dialogue with people who God puts in my path, helps me to learn more and more. 

All of this informs my understanding of what God is doing in the world, and in my own life.  I just have to follow Apollos’ example and listen to the people God sends to me.  How about you?

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 Monday of Proper 20:Year 2

 Psalms 80,  77, [79]: Esther 4:4 to 17 or Judith 7:1 to 7 and 19 to 32; Acts 18:1 to 11; and Luke (1:1-4),3:1-14

“In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, ²during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.”  (Acts 3: 1 and 2)

 Wow!, Really? Look at all the prestigious titles of human achievement exhibited here.  We have the Emperor of Rome, Tiberius by name.  We have Pontius Pilate as Governor of all Judea. We have the puppet king Herod figure head, called the king of Galilee, and his brother Philip who lost his wife to his brother Herod as witnessed by John The Baptist.  Philip was the ruler of two small sections of the occupied Palestinian area of Judea; and we have Lysaniaas, ruler of Abilene.  In addition to these, self absorbed government rulers, we have the self absorbed clergy also, Annas and Caiaphas as high priests.  Now, here is the striking part; The Word of God by-passes all of these self absorbed men and goes to the selfless John hanging out in the wilderness sustaining himself on whatever the earth can provide.  He is the empty cup that God can fill because he has room to be filled.  The lesson here is that if we are full of ourselves, there is no room for God.

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Eucharistic Gospel Reading for St Matthew Day

“ Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him.” (Matthew 9:9)

Today is Saint Matthew’s Day.  Matthew is one of possibly seven (if you count Philip and Nathaniel) that we actually have written evidence of a call by Jesus to “follow him,” who accepted the invitation.  At least one was called but refused, such as the rich ruler in Luke (Luke 18:18 to 25). Again, he was a ruler who refused to be ruled. His cup was full of himself. We can read where John, and James, and Peter and Andrew, were fishermen but when called, they left everything and followed Jesus.  So too we have Matthew, also called Levi, who, upon being invited to follow Jesus, left his appointed task of collecting the Roman tax to follow Jesus.  So Matthew emptied his cup that was filled with a vile substance in order to fill it with the sweetness of our Lord Jesus.  How many of us are filled with ourselves, or with stuff we don’t like, and wish we could just empty ourselves and follow our Lord?  Well, we can.  Just open your eyes and ears and mind and heart.  We are still asked to “Come and follow Him!”

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 20: Year 2

Psalms 93, 96,  34 Esther 3:1 to 4:3 or Judith 5:22 to 6:4, 10-21; James 1:19 to 27; and Matt. 6:1-6,16 to 18

“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”  (James 1: 27)

I think this is the real benefit of religion, it is a communal benefit for the community.  If it serves no community benefit, why be religious at all?  Charity (which is love expressed in action), is the most important virtue we can aspire to have.  We must take care of our own needs and then look for ways to help the helpless.  It is what God wants of us.  All of us, and especially those of us who say we are followers of our Lord Jesus, should always ask, “how can I help you?”

Part 2 of 2

New Testament Eucharistic Readings for Sunday of Proper 20:Year A

Philippians 1:21-30 Matthew 20:1-16

Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me?” (Matthew 20: 14 and 15)

This is an old story about paying the last laborers the same as the first.  Perhaps the owner (a stand-in for God) is looking past the working men themselves.  Maybe the land owner is looking at the mothers and children whom the working men represent.  These mothers and children require the same rents and food as the families of the men who were hired early on.  Should the mothers and children of the men who weren’t hired early, suffer “Because no one has hired us.”  (Matthew 20:7) Again, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”  (James 1: 27)

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 19; Year 2

Psalms 75, 76,  23, and 27; Esther 2:5 to 8,15-23 or Judith 5:1 to 21; Acts 17:16 to 34; and  John 12:44 to 50

“The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things.”  (Acts 17:24 and 25)

Paul explains to the people who believe in gods that there is only one God and God is unknown and not in need of human support or shelter. This means that if we humans did not exist, God is still God. God gives to us, not we to God.  Paul goes on to say “For “In him we live and move and have our being”” (Acts 17:28)

Paul is speaking to an educated people.  These are learned philosophers and people who strive to seek more knowledge.  Paul also speaks about human ignorance.  He says, “While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”  (Acts 17:30 and 31)

It is because of this Acts writing, and the understanding that the English word “believe” really has more to do with “trust,” that I crafted my own theological creed which 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.” 

We have a wonderful Nicene Creed in our Book of Common Prayer.  And I totally believe in it.  However, I needed something short that I could both easily recall as a guide for myself, and share quickly with someone while on an elevator if asked what I believe.  I ask you to do the same.  Use mine if you want.  But if you believe in a Supreme Being, write down a simple sentence that articulates your belief.  We have the gift of words.  Use this gift to help guide your relationship with our unknown, but very loving God.

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 19: Year 2

 Psalms 69:1-23(24-30)31-38, and  73; Esther 1:1-4,10-19 or Judith 4:1-15; Acts 17:1-15; and John 12:36b-43

“And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women,” (Acts 17:4)

The language of the Acts of the Apostles is very interesting.  Christians were first identified as Christians in Antioch as explained in chapter 11, verses 25 and 26.  But I notice that as we move through this chapter the followers are referred to as, “believers.”  I like it.  I like it because I think first of all, as observers of all that takes place in the world; each person must see that there is a creating and ordering hand at work in life and in the universe.  Once we acknowledge and “believe” that, we can wrestle with what we want to believe about our Lord Jesus and his relationship to the Creator.  Believing is not limited to one sex or gender.

As the people listened to Paul and Silas with an open mind the Spirit of God began to make sense to them, all of them, men and women.  Some of the women were people with power and it helped Paul and Silas to continue with the work of spreading the word.

The fact that women were included is mentioned again.  Luke writes that, “Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men,” (Acts 17:12).  These new believers were men and women with equal standing in this new form of Judaism, or the Way.  I say Judaism only because Paul and Silas were Jews who branched off from their traditionally male dominated theology, to be open to where the Spirit of our Lord Jesus was leading them, and the new believers, all the believers who followed them.

This leadership is still at work today.  When we take the time to ponder about the love of God and how God came among us as our Lord Jesus, we too, men and women, are still empowered by that same Holy Spirit to continue the work of spreading the word.  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