Author: John Thomas Frazier

Eucharistic Readings for Sunday of Proper 26, Year C Track 2

Isaiah 1:10-18  Psalm 32:1-82 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12 Luke 19:1-10

“Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham.  For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.” (Luke 19: 9 – 10)

I always see Danny De Vito as Zacchaeus; a little man but open to change. Funny how a man climbs a tree to see a man who will end his life on a tree.  This is something to ponder later. 

Something else to ponder is that Zacchaeus is called a “chief” tax collector.  This shows how he is considered even further removed from the House of Israel and from the Temple. He is perhaps the most repugnant among the excluded of the Hebrew people. But Jesus hears his change of heart and proclaims him also “a son of Abraham.”  Jesus by passes all the Temple bureaucracy and puts Zacchaeus back into the Promise of God.

My barber gave me a sycamore sapling a few years ago.  It’s growing but not yet large enough or strong enough to climb.  I hope that when Jesus comes my way the tree with be ready.  I am.

Jesus declares that he came to earth for just that reason. He came for people like me.  But like Zacchaeus, I too must get myself into a place where I can see who Jesus is and then allow him to come and visit with me.  I must make right the wrongs I’ve done and promise to do all I can to fix or mend what I’ve broken.  I too want to be placed back into the fold of Abraham.

How about you?  Climbed any sycamore trees lately?  He is coming!

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+

Readings for the Commemoration of the faithful departed (All Souls Day) 2019

Psalm 130 Wisdom 3:1-9 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 John 5:24-27 

“Very truly, I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come under judgments, but has passed from death to life.” (John 5; 24)

If nothing else, Jesus is the Great Teacher of Him who sent Him.  The Gospel of John uses the word “believe” a verb, rather than “faith” a noun, the word found in the Synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark ad Luke.  John wants action.  We must do something. We must believe.

This very day I am to do a funeral where in the Gospel of John Jesus asks Martha, at the site of the tomb of her dead brother Lazarus, if she believes him.  Believing is the key to eternal life. Remember John 3:16? “ 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.”  This is a consistent message from the Gospel of John.

Those of our loved ones and relatives who believed, even though they die, they live again.  Today we remember those who have gone before. We remember those who lived long lives and those whose lives were cut short either by accident, sickness or violence.

Personally, I am glad that our church has set aside a day of remembrance for all our loved ones.  I find it appalling to remember our loved ones who were murdered on a day picked by bad people to do evil like 9/11 or even random murders.  We can mark the day and revisit the sadness but let’s lift up our family and friends in the Church on this day that our Church has set aside for just such an occasion.  We will remember them today as we give thanks to Jesus for them and look forward to our joining them one day in that heavenly abode where Jesus will call each of us by name out of the shadow of darkness and into eternal light. Thank You 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+

Eucharistic Readings for All Saint’s Day 2019                                                             

Ecclesiasticus 44:1-14; Psalm 149;  Revelation 7:2–4,9–17;  Matthew 5:1-12

“Blessed are”

These are the words we have as the Gospel of Matthew presents the Beatitudes in Chapter 5.  There are 9 “Blessed Are”s.  

Today is All Saints Day.  Today we remember those who are lifted up from our midst and honored for their devotion and service to others in Jesus’ Name.  We have those who are famous like St Francis and Joan of Arc. And we have those not so famous on the world stage like people in our own life where only a few of us knew of their good and honorable deeds.  This latter category of saints is normally recognized on November 2^nd as we commemorate the lives of the faithful departed or All Souls Day. I am doing a combined service this Sunday to remember all Saints, famous and personal.

Something to notice from the famous saints are the challenges they were required to endure on their unintended climb to sainthood. The Beatitudes mentioned in Matthew speak to this.  Each and every “Blessed Are” shows a challenge or some level of suffering before eternal joy comes.  The Saints also underwent challenges. Certainly St Francis and Joan of Arc did as did all those we hold in high esteem.

As we look at those whom we want to recognize as saints we must ask ourselves if they too faced challenges and faced them with steadfast Christian courage.  In our later years we have Mother Teresa and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and others.  I don’t think we have to depend on any one church to determine for us who is a saint and who is not.  St Paul typically referred to all worshiping communities as saints of that city.  It is an inclusive term of endearment meant for those recognized as tenacious people of faith, no matter what. And so, let us recall the words (by Lesbia Scott) of the hymn “I Sing a Song of the Saints of God” as found in our 1982 Hymnal where the words of the last verse are:

“They lived not only in ages past, there are hundreds of thousands still, the world is bright with the joyous saints who loved to do Jesus’ will.  You can meet them in school, or in lanes, or at sea, in church, or in trains, or in shops, or at tea, for the saints of God are just folk like me and I mean to be one too.”

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 25 Year 1

AM Psalm 50; PM Psalm [59, 60] or 103 Neh. 1-1:11; Rev. 5:11-6:11; Matt. 13:18-23

“Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, singing, ‘To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!’ (Revelation  5:13)

Perhaps The Revelation to John from Jesus is the most avoided book in our New Testament.  I think some just don’t understand it and that’s not to suggest that I do, at least not all of it.  But then who can truly say he or she understands all of any book of the Bible?  There were even attempts to keep it out of the Christian cannon by Martin Luther.  But here we have it in all its sometimes spooky detail.  How appropriate for Halloween.  Hardly anybody today knows about All Saints Day which brought about All Hallow’s Eve in the first place.

I think the thing to take away from the Book of Revelation is the notification that we will be praising God with song in Heaven.  Everybody sings in heaven!  Once we get past the slaughter of beasts and the various proclamations, we sing.

Maybe the best use of our time in this life is to prepare to give voice in song to the glory of God in the next life.  I think there is a hint of this message in the first verse of Hymn “Praise to the Lord” 1982 Hymnal : “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation; O my soul, praise him, for he is thy health and salvation; join the great throng, psaltery, organ, and song, sounding in glad adoration.” 

Yes, let us join the great throng singing ‘To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!’

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to and through God’s people and then ponder anew what the Almighty can do.  John+

Readings for John Wycliffe Priest and Prophetic Witness, 1384

 Sirach 43:26-33   Psalm 33:4-11 Hebrews 4:12-16 Mark 4:13-20

“And these are the ones sown on the good soil: they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.” (Mark 4:20)

This is a different Gospel from yesterday but the same words about the good soil.  It just so happens that this is the Gospel reading for John Wycliffe.  And, for the record he did clear his mind for the purpose of receiving divine enlightenment as we all can to make us good soil.   “Born in Yorkshire, England, around 1330, Wycliffe was educated at Oxford. Although he served as a parish priest, he spent most of his vocation teaching theology and philosophy at Oxford and was celebrated for his academic achievements. (Great Cloud of Witnesses for October 30)

I think I too share much of Wycliffe’s theological and church ideas. “A number of Wycliffe’s radical ideas got worked out in the centuries that followed, as the movement toward reformation gained momentum. Wycliffe believed that believers could have a direct, unmediated relationship with God, not requiring the intervention of the Church or its priesthood.  (Great Cloud of Witnesses for October 30) I preach this all the time. I tell my parishioners that when I tell them that God wants to talk with them, my job is done.  They can go direct.

Like Holy Water, water that has been blessed, it contains the essence of the Holy Spirit. So it is also with the Sacraments in Consubstantiation. “The tables turned dramatically when Wycliffe questioned the Eucharistic doctrine of transubstantiation. He believed that the underlying philosophy was problematic and that the popular piety flowing from it led inevitably to superstitious behaviors. He was condemned for his Eucharistic views in 1381. Although Wycliffe had nothing to do with inciting the Peasants’ Revolt of the same year, he was an easy target for blame.  He retired, left Oxford, and died three years later in Leicestershire. (Great Cloud of Witnesses for October 30)  I also like the Trinitarian presence of the burning bush, (Exodus 3) it was bush, it was fire and it was voice. It never stopped being any of the 3 but were all present. This is another example of Consubstantiation, God’s Way of being with us regardless of the so called laws of physics.

“Later reformers John Hus (July 6) and Martin Luther (February 18) acknowledged their debt to Wycliffe.” (Great Cloud of Witnesses for October 30)

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to and through God’s people and then ponder anew what the Almighty can do.  John+

Daily Office Readings for Tuesday of Proper 25 Year 1

AM Psalm 45; PM Psalm 47, 48 Ezra 5:1-17; Rev. 4:1-11; Matt. 13:1-9

“Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Let anyone with ears listen!’” (Matthew 13:8 – 9)

Jesus speaks of “good soil.”  He is traveling through the land of Galilee that starts in chapter 11.  This is an agricultural area and the people would understand the importance of good soil.  Just prior to this lesson, Jesus gives a sad report about the surrounding towns and cities.  However, he seems to give the rural people hope about what they should appreciate in terms of receiving and acting on the Good News.

The good soil metaphor implies a preparedness we should attain to in order to grow the fruit God is looking for.  We know that this metaphorical fruit is made manifests in acts of love, mercy, kindness, and charity.  If we cultivate our minds we can both receive and act on the teachings of Jesus. This can only happen if we strongly desire it.  If we don’t want to be nice, or friendly or welcoming, it will never happen.

So the key to having our minds become good soil is to want it. This is a personal choice.  Either we want to be loving or we don’t.  Jesus appeals to the softer side of what God has planted in us.  Jesus does not want us to have minds that, like the hard path, will not let the seeds of love germinate.  He does not want us to have a mind that gets bogged down with the clutter of life like the seed growing up in the midst thorns, perhaps like the cities he condemned, and will not let his teachings develop. If we are serious about being Christians, we need to open our minds and truly want to receive Jesus’ teachings.  We can obtain this if we really want to.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to and through God’s people and then ponder anew what the Almighty can do.  John+

Daily Office Readings for Monday of Proper 25 Year 1

AM Psalm 41, 52; PM Psalm 44 Zech. 1:7-17; Rev. 1:4-20; Matt. 12:43-50

“And pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”” (Matthew 12:49 – 50)

I really love my biological family.  I am particularly close to my brother and all my children, biological or not.  However, I have found myself most comfortable with those who share my trust in Jesus and worship with me in the Christian tradition with which I have become most contented.

I share all kinds of relationships.  I have vocational relationships in the priesthood. As Episcopal Priests we do share the same trust in Jesus.  We do share the same sense of responsibility for the spiritual welfare of parishioners.  Because of our separate parishes and actual service times that happen at the same time, we don’t share work.  It is a wonderful time whenever we can get together however. I just recently returned from a clergy conference. It was wonderful.

There are many and various vocations in which people bond with one another.  The faith of persons however, seems to make less and less difference in their relationships.  This may be a good thing in light of today’s polarization around issues of religious beliefs or even having a religious belief.

I know that for me I am way more comfortable with people who accept Jesus as God’s example of inclusive love for all people.  I have no qualms about people who believe differently than I do but they do not share the intimacy enjoyed by my spiritual family.  It is wonderful to be in the presence of a love that does not judge but loves unconditionally. What do you believe?  And, who are the people closest to you who share that belief with you?

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to and through God’s people and then ponder anew what the Almighty can do.  John+

Eucharistic Readings for Sunday of Proper 25 Year C

Joel 2:23-32 Psalm 65  2 Timothy 4:6-8,16-18  Luke 18:9-14

“The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.”  (Luke 18: 11)\

I think we all ought to thank God all the time.  I believe in saying “Thank You Jesus” as often as I realize something good has just happened to me.  I Thank Jesus that I have only two Commandments rather than the 613 from the Hebrew Testament, or even 10, as in the Ten Commandments.  Two is much easier.

Jesus’ two Commandments however require me to love God with all that I am and to love my neighbor as myself.  One does not love neighbor as self and then be thankful that he is not his neighbor. I ponder further that it is not so much that one is not his neighbor, but that he has, and exercises, a pious discipline in his life that his neighbor has so far, not learned.

This story like the one about Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38 – 42), makes us realize that we are both /and; and not either/or.  So let’s look at each man and see the good in each.

The Tax collector of antiquity is a victim.  He, in many cases, is a man of low standing in the community even before he’s made a tax collector. Often he is fatherless and handed over to the local Roman authorities for the purpose of collecting the tax.  While it is not his choice, he is hated by his native Israelite brethren as a participant and collaborator with Rome against his own people.

The Pharisee, afforded opportunity beyond his own doing, lives a religious life, keeping the tithe, fasting, praying, and yes, paying the tax.  We need people like the Pharisee still.  We need people who pray, who set aside money to take care of the needy either in charitable giving to the Church, and/or other charitable organizations as well as paying taxes.  We should not look down on the discipline of the Pharisee.  But we must be cautioned about his holier- than- thou attitude regarding his neighbor.

These men teach two very important lessons. First, we should be thankful for what we are able to do in worship to God without looking down on those who either cannot, or have as yet, not been able to reach our level of discipline. And second, we all need to recognize our own short-comings and ask God for mercy and forgiveness where necessary.  And this mercy is necessary somewhere in all of us. We are both/and of these two men; not either/or.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to and through God’s people and then ponder anew what the Almighty can do.  John+

Readings for Alfred the Great: King of the West Saxons  (26 October 899)

Psalm 21:1-7 Wisdom 6:1-3,9-12,24-25 2 Thessalonians 2:13-17 Luke 6:43-49

“No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit;  or each tree is known by its own fruit. Figs are not gathered from thorns, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil; for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.”  (Luke 6:43 – 45)

The Gospel saying is true.  We tell the trees by the fruit they bear.  King Alfred developed and maintained his compassion for his people even after surviving the deaths of his dad and his brothers with their time as king.  “Alfred, alone of all English rulers, has been called “the Great,” because of his courage and Christian virtues. Born in 849 at Wantage, Berkshire, the youngest of five sons of King Aethelwulf, Alfred spent his life in a time of “battle, murder, and sudden death” during the Viking invasions and settlement in Britain.” (Great Cloud of Witnesses for 26 October)

Alfred was a rough evangelizer. “In heroic battles and by stratagems against the Danes, Alfred halted the tide of their invasion and secured control of the southern, and part of the midland, regions of England for the English. After a decisive victory in 878 at Edington over the Danish leader Guthrum, he persuaded his foe to accept baptism.” (Great Cloud of Witnesses for 26 October)

Alfred prayed and depended on God for direction. “A man of deep piety, Alfred’s leadership in battle and administration was grounded by his faith. His biographer Asser wrote of his commitment to a monastic influenced life of prayer, “He learned the daily course, that is, the celebrations of the Hours, and after that certain psalms and many prayers, gathered together in one book for the sake of prayer, which he carried around with him everywhere on his person by day and night, just as we have seen, inseparable from himself, in all of the doings of this present life.”” (Great Cloud of Witnesses for 26 October) Keeping selected readings close at hand keeps one grounded in the faith.  Staying grounded in the faith enables us to bear good fruit which in turn says what kind of tree we are.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to and through God’s people and then ponder anew what the Almighty can do.  John+

Readings for Dorcas of Jopa

Acts 9:36–42 Psalm 1 Matthew 25:31–46

“Now in Joppa there was a disciple whose name was Tabitha, which in Greek is Dorcas.^* She was devoted to good works and acts of charity.” (Acts 9:36)

The first thing I notice is that this is a female disciple or student.  We should be thankful to Luke for lifting up Dorcas so that we can see the inclusiveness of Christianity from the beginning of the Church.  The second thing I notice is that while she is a student of the Way, she was also devoted to good works and acts of charity.

I have learned that Dorcas, her Greek name, as well as Tabitha, her Aramaic name, means gazelle.  This might explain why in the translation of her name the animal has two distinct names for each language.  When I ponder about gazelles I see a fleet footed grazer that does little harm to the earth while playing an important part in moving seeds around and fertilizing the plains not to mention the grace and beauty inherent in the creature.

I wonder about what kind of animal would I be called today of I had to have an animal name.  Perhaps because of the way we waste the earth and do little to maintain it “human” is the worst name we could be called.  No animal would want to be called human and we aren’t good enough to shame another animal’s name for ourselves. So our gazelle or “Dorcas” was good to others as she learned about Jesus from Peter and was raised from the dead by him. (Acts 9:40)

Dorcas made clothing. Perhaps she was the fashion setter of her day. She was a working student or disciple.  Our take-away from Dorcas is that we too should be creative, lifelong learners who give much more than we take and be given to good works and charity.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to and through God’s people and then ponder anew what the Almighty can do.  John+