Author: John Thomas Frazier

Daily Office Readings for Wednesday 10 April 2019 Week of 5 Lent Year 1

AM Psalm 119:145-176; PM Psalm 128, 129, 130Jer. 25:30-38; Rom. 10:14-21; John 10:1-18

Romans

“So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17)

My Pondering

The oral story is how our faith was passed on to us.  There was no book (Bible).  Faith was born mouth to ear. I remember the prologue to the Gospel of John: “In the Beginning was the Word.” (John 1:1)  It was the word, not the book.  The written word is a secondary, mimicking of the heard word.

Writing came much later and was only intended to help in maintaining the oral story. Much of what we have of the Pentateuch was first “told” as the history of Israel and only written while the Israelites were captive in Babylon hundreds of years later.  We Christians accepted the Hebrew cannon of the Hebrew (Old) Testament and added to it the Christian (New) Testament.

While our New Testament was more closely recorded, time wise, than the Old Testament, there are still lapses.  Jesus spoke in Aramaic, not written so much as were other languages of the day.  These stories were recorded in the common Greek tongue of the time.  Later Jerome and others translated both the Hebrew and the Greek Testaments into Latin, which became the Language of the Western Church.  I might add, the written Church, not the Oral Church.

Latin was then the language of Rome.  Rome built roads to the known world.  On these roads, the Gospel was carried to the world.  While all roads led to Rome, they were not “one-way.”  They also led out to the entire Roman empire. I think this was God’s timing to get the Gospel to the world. As this Latin Gospel was spread the Reformation began to breakdown the Latin code into the local dialects of each region. There were, and are, so many opportunities to make mistakes, or to misunderstand what was originally said, or spoken. 

We must again learn to hear the story and then speak the story.  Even our babies first learn to hear and speak before they acquire the art of reading and writing. God told the Israelites in the Shema, “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is One.” (Deut. 6:4).  It was not “Read O Israel.”  I believe reading is an invaluable tool for learning, but it does not by any stretch of the imagination replace the mouth-to-ear spread of learning our faith.

Having “written” all of this, I must say, I am one who often talks too much. As a result, the guilt of my pontifications causes me to shut down in repentance from time to time. Then I remember Paul’s words to the Romans, “faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.”  So I say, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be always acceptable in your sight O Lord, our strength and our Redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying through and to the people of the Creating Word and then let us “Ponder anew what the Almighty is doing.”  John Thomas Frazier Sr.

Readings for Dietrich Bonhoeffer  9 April

Proverbs 3:1-7 Psalm 119:89-96 Matthew 13:47-52

Matthew

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad.” (Matthew 13:47-48)

The excerpt below is from A Great Cloud of Witnesses for 9 April

“Dietrich Bonhoeffer was born at Breslau, Germany (now Wroclaw, Poland) on February 4, 1906.

Bonhoeffer was arrested April 5, 1943, and imprisoned in Berlin. After an attempt on Hitler’s life failed on July 20, 1944, documents were discovered linking Bonhoeffer to the conspiracy.

On Sunday, April 8, 1945, just as he concluded a service in a school building in Schoenberg, two men came in with the chilling summons, “Prisoner Bonhoeffer . . . come with us.” He said to another prisoner, “This is the end. For me, the beginning of life.” Bonhoeffer was hanged the next day, April 9, at Flossenburg Prison.” (A Great Cloud of Witnesses: April 9)

My Pondering

Matthew’s Jesus gives us the metaphor of discriminating angels doing the Lord’s work of separating the good from the bad.  When will that day come?  Today we remember Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a deeply faithful and religious Christian Pastor who decided he could wait no longer.

Every Christian has to answer for him or herself how, and when, they should act in the interest of the innocent. The hurt and or abuse of any group of people must be the concern of every Christian. God looks upon the heart and searches the soul.  God is a lover of souls who seeks out other lovers  of souls.  Sometimes, hard moral decisions must be made. What would you do as a Christian if you met what you perceived to be evil incarnate?

No one, not even a faithful and loyal Christian, knows for sure what they will do in such a situation. It is for this reason we can’t judge Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  Only God in Christ Jesus judges him. I believe Bonhoeffer, on the day of separation, the day of the angels doing the Lord’s work, will be in one of Matthew’s baskets.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying through and to the people of the Creating Word and then let us “Ponder anew what the Almighty is doing.”  John Thomas Frazier Sr.

Readings for William Augustus Muhlenberg, & Anne Ayers 8 April

William Augustus Muhlenberg Psalm 133 Ephesians 4:11-16 Matthew 21:12-16

Anne Ayers Psalm 84:1-6 Isaiah 63:7-9 Ephesians 4:11-16 Matthew 21:12-16

Ephesians

“He handed out gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor-teacher” (Ephesians 4:11 MSG)

My Pondering

The quote from Ephesians is taken from the Message Bible.  When I was first introduced to this translation of the Bible is was not a fan.  However, as I research many English translations to note subtle differences I saw that this Message verse more readily verified a suspicion I had about Paul’s intention for the pastor-teacher gift.  That in fact it is considered one gift.

The gifts of apostle, prophet and evangelist are all listed and separated in other English translations by the words “and some.”  This “and some” served as a means of separating the different gifts.  The “and some” was not used between the words “pastor” and “teacher.”  Therefore I suspected pastor and teacher to be a combined gift.  The Message Bible verified this hunch of mine.  The Message translation writes “pastor-teacher.” William Augustus Muhlenberg and Anne Ayers, whom we remember today, possessed such a gift.

“William Augustus Muhlenberg was born in Philadelphia in 1796, into a prominent German Lutheran family, and was drawn to The Episcopal Church by its use of English. …. He was deeply involved in the Sunday School movement, and was concerned that the Church should minister to all social groups.” (A Great Cloud of Witnesses April 8)

“Anne Ayres was born in London, England, in 1816, and immigrated to New York in 1836. She began work as a tutor for the children of wealthy New Yorkers, but soon came under the influence of Muhlenberg” (A Great Cloud of Witnesses April 8)

“The companionship in ministry between Muhlenberg and Ayres led to the founding of St. Luke’s Hospital in the City of New York, where Ayres and her sisters looked after most of the patient care and nursing. They also cooperated in establishing St. Johnland on the north shore of Long Island, an attempt to transplant families into an intentional utopia for poor inner-city people. ” …… Muhlenberg and Ayres died in 1877 and 1896, respectively.” (A Great Cloud of Witnesses April 8)

Muhlenberg and Ayres exemplified the pastor-teacher gift that God so graciously gave them.  They both cared for and taught in their communities and made time to tutor young ones in school as well as minister to the hospitalized.  “Ayres helped Muhlenberg found St. Johnland, in King’s Park, Long Island, which was intended to be a rural utopia for poor inner-city people.” (A Great Cloud of Witnesses April 8)

Many of us are called to be pastor-teachers.  One does not have to be ordained to do this work. We just need to hear God’s call on our lives and recognize this very important gift of ministry.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying through and to the people of the Creating Word and then let us “Ponder anew what the Almighty is doing.”  John Thomas Frazier Sr.

Eucharistic Readings for Sunday 7 April 2019: 5^th Sunday of Lent Year C

Isaiah 43:16-21 Psalm 126  Philippians 3:4b-14 John 12:1-8

John

“Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?” (John 12: 5)

My Pondering

This reading from John about Mary is like the one in Luke about Mary.  Judas’s intention is explained to us by the evangelist.  The evangelist informs us that Judas is not concerned about the poor.  He writes that Judas kept the common purse and would steal from it.  How the Evangelist knew this opens up another discussion. He may have even taken his eyes off Jesus for a moment.  It is easy to pick on Judas because in all of the Gospel stories Judas is identified as the traitor who sold out Jesus.

But in this particular setting, in the home of Martha, Mary and Lazarus, we have Judas who took his eyes off Jesus for a moment to look upon Mary and what she was doing for Jesus.  And when he did this he had nothing good to say about her.  He was critical of her use of money.  Judas failed to look at Mary through the heart and eyes of Jesus.

This Gospel story is like the end of chapter 10 of Luke’s Gospel where Martha takes her eyes off Jesus and looks at her sister Mary and becomes angry because Mary is sitting at the feet of Jesus and not helping with the preparations for serving Jesus and the guests that are with him. She says to Jesus, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.”  (Luke 10:40)  Of course Jesus tells her that Mary is making the best us of her time.

Both of these reflections took place in the same house in Bethany.  They are witnessed from two different perspectives.  But both are examples of what happens when we look upon another person without seeing them through Jesus. The heart and eyes of Jesus softens our hard edges and brings out our compassion.  We must always recognize Jesus in the room and see the others in the room through Jesus. That’s why we have Jesus – so that we might love one another better.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying through and to the people of the Creating Word and then let us “Ponder anew what the Almighty is doing.”  John Thomas Frazier Sr.

Daily Office Readings for Saturday 6 April 2019 Week 4 of Lent Year 1

AM Psalm 107:33-43, 108:1-6(7-13); PM Psalm 33Jer. 23:9-15; Rom. 9:1-18; John 6:60-71

John

“When many of his disciples heard it, they said, ‘This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?’” (John 6:60)

 “It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.”  (John 6:63)

“Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life.” (John 6:68)

My Pondering

There is a difference between simple and complicated, just as there is a difference between easy and difficult.  But it is possible to be both simple and difficult.  To love everybody is a simple command. To carry it out is often very difficult.

Jesus has just told the people about the tradition he wanted us to keep after he is gone, that is, Holy Communion.  Simple, then he said, the one who eats this bread will live forever.” (John 6:58)  This proved to be too difficult to understand because it sounded like cannibalism, and so it was also too difficult to continue following him.  Although receiving Holy Communion is really simple.

Jesus breaks down the relationship between the simple yet difficult by telling them that it is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless.”  He also explains that “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” The meaning is simple; just continue remembering me in the sacrament of the body and blood that I will leave you.  Trusting it is simple. Understanding it is very difficult.

After many left, not to ever follow him again, Jesus asked his closest followers if they would stay.  It was to this that Simon Peter answered, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life.”  Eternal life is the invitation we all receive. A simple RSVP is required.  That RSVP is activated through the sacrament of Holy Communion.  Jesus said for us to do this in remembrance of him. It is in this way that He will remember us.  This is so Simple to do, and yet so difficult to understand.  But we are not called to understand.  We are called to love, trust and obey, and to keep on following.  As Peter said, to who else could we go for eternal life?

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying through and to the people of the Creating Word and “Ponder anew what the Almighty is doing.”  John Thomas Frazier Sr.

Daily Office Readings for Friday 5 April 2019: Week 4 of Lent: Year 1

AM Psalm 95* & 102; PM Psalm 107:1-32Jer. 23:1-8; Rom. 8:28-39; John 6:52-59

Romans

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)

My Pondering

Paul shares his conviction that nothing will separate us from the love of God.  The next step is to realize that God is love. (1John 4:16)   Therefore what‘s really going here is that nothing will separate us from God.

This should be Good News!  However, if we have not been preparing to meet God, that great appointment when kept (and it will be), may not be so pleasant. The next step in life for us will be our essence being raised into a new kind of life.  But in that next existence we will retain some kind of memory of deeds past. How do we want our earthly primate story to close as we move on to the next phase of our ontological self?

There is no stopping the shift that we will undergo and as Paul says, nothing, but nothing, will separate us from God.  Meeting God is a “must happen” event.  But we can prepare for it.  This is not a time for procrastination. It is the time for preparation. Let’s make a story that we will be happy to share with our future companions in that world beyond, from where no traveler returns, the very point in this life where we finally “got it.”  We will say, “This is the point when I saw the light and changed.”

Every now and then I feel it is time to review my personal living creed.  It is a work in progress as I read and learn and evolve.  My revised creed has been influenced by the words of Diana Butler Bass in her book “Christianity after Religion.”  Trust is a truer word than believing.  Also, I find that “Creating Word” is a more accurate term for the way I now understand God to be.  So 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 believe there will be an accounting.  We will meet the Creating Word (God). Nothing will separate us from this future event.  The good news is that the Creating Word is all about love and mercy. Thank you Jesus.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying through and to the people of the Creating Word and “Ponder anew what the Almighty is doing.”  John Thomas Frazier Sr.

Daily Office Readings for Thursday week of 4 Lent: Year 1

AM Psalm 69:1-23(24-30)31-38; PM Psalm 73Jer. 22:13-23; Rom. 8:12-27; John 6:41-51

“They were saying, ‘Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, “I have come down from heaven”?” (John6:42)

My Pondering

They think they know Jesus.  They don’t.  In fact, none of us knows anybody unless we know God first. They didn’t ask themselves “Is God being known in this person and if so what is God dong in this person we call Jesus?”  They think if they know Jesus and his family, they are qualified to decide if God will work through him or not. So this is not judging Jesus, it’s judging God and what God will do and who God will use. To use an old Tennessee expression, “That dog don’t hunt.”

Once we realize that there really is a God, and that God can be anywhere, at any time, we must always ask ourselves the question, “Is what I’m experiencing of God?”  Just as we cannot say where God is, in the same way, we can’t say where God is not. Sometimes God uses the most unlikely messenger to bring you a message. It may be someone you respect. But it also maybe someone you detest.  Don’t refuse the gift because you don’t like the way it’s wrapped. Unpack the message.  Discern if it is from God.  If it is not, heave it.  If it is, heed it.

There is a part two to this God using people message.  You too can, and will, be used by God to deliver a message to someone.  It may be to someone you truly want to help, a loved one or close friend.  But you also may be called upon to take a message to someone you’d really rather not help.  You must remember, this is God’s work not yours. Do that work you’ve been given to do to the best of your ability.  In the end we are going to stand before God.  We don’t need moments of regret to stand between us and glory.

When the people said that they knew who Jesus was, they were really saying they had no idea of who God is.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying through and to the people of the Creating Word and “Ponder anew what the Almighty is doing.”  John Thomas Frazier Sr.

Daily Office Readings for Wednesday 3 April 2019 Year 1: Week 4 of Lent

AM Psalm 101, 109:1-4(5-19)20-30; PM Psalm 119:121-144 Jer. 18:1-11; Rom. 8:1-11; John 6:27-40

Jeremiah

“Can I not do with you, O house of Israel, just as this potter has done? says the Lord. Just like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.”  (Jeremiah 18: 6)

My Pondering

In Jeremiah God orders Jeremiah to go to a place where he sees a potter at work re-fashioning a clay pot that was spoiled in the potter’s hand.  The potter is now reworking the clay to suit a new purpose.  God is using this to show Jeremiah the prophet how God can re-tool the Israelite people to do whatever he chooses for them.  God is the Creating Potter of the universe. God makes us and re-makes us to suit God’s wishes.

This lesson is important to me as I look at my life.  While God was talking about a whole nation, I think God also does this same kind of re-purposing on the individual person as well.  In the Bible many have been re-shaped for different vocations to suit God’s purposes and God’s purposes are always for the benefit of God’s people.  God took Moses from the sheep through the burning bush to go back to Egypt for the benefit of the Israelite people. God called Amos from being a herdsman and dresser of sycamore trees to prophecy in Israel.  Even God in Christ Jesus put down his role as a carpenter’s son to fulfill the role of the Salvation of the world.

In my own life I have been a truck driver that moved families across the country.  I have been a United States Marine for thirty years doing my part in defending the country.  Then God re-purposed me into the priesthood of the Episcopal Church for the benefit of St Paul’s in the Pines Episcopal Church.  I pray that in the years to come God calls me into new shapes for God’s divine purpose for the benefit of God’s people.  At this writing I don’t know what that looks like.

As the Master Potter, God has the right to reshape us into whatever shape God deems necessary.  Our job is to not get spoiled as the clay did in the Jeremiah passage.  If we stay pliable God will re-shape us for the benefit of people who may not even know God. We are all the clay of the Master Potter.  Let us go forth into the world wanting to be fashioned and re-fashioned in a way that is pleasing to God for the benefit of those God puts in our path.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying through and to the people of the Creating Word and “Ponder anew what the Almighty is doing.”  John Thomas Frazier Sr.

Daily Office Readings for Tuesday 2 April 2019 Year 1: Week 4 of Lent

AM Psalm 97, 99, [100]; PM Psalm 94, [95]Jer. 17:19-27; Rom. 7:13-25; John 6:16-27

John

“Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land towards which they were going.” (John 6:21)

My Pondering

This verse in the Gospel of John is so different from other versions of Jesus walking on the water.  We don’t have words that say that Jesus actually got into the boat, but perhaps it’s not a stretch to assume he did.  The big point here is that it was their desire to want Jesus in the boat that got them to Capernaum. In this version we don’t have the storm being quieted as in the Synoptic Gospels.

Maybe that’s what we Christians should be doing when we want something.  We should first want Jesus. Then maybe our desire for Jesus will assist us in achieving those secondary things we want. I am reminded of the first verse of Hymn 711 of our 1982 Hymnal which sings “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and its righteousness, and all these things will be added onto you…..”  It is about having a God-first priority.

I also like noticing the fact that the storm did not stop in this version of John.  Sometimes our prayers should not so much be about stopping the storm, but rather, getting us through the storms of our lives. God does not say that nothing bad will happen to us. What God says is that God will never abandon us.  God in Christ Jesus will walk with us through whatever comes.   We just need to want Jesus in our boat.  Often Jesus uses the faith that’s already in people to heal them.  Now we have the desire that is in his followers (us included) working as an instrument of success. Our desire for Jesus may not stop the storms in our lives but it will surely get us through them.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying through and to the people of the Creating Word and “Ponder anew what the Almighty is doing.”  John Thomas Frazier Sr.

Daily Office Readings for Monday, 1 April 2019 4 Lent Year 1

AM Psalm 89:1-18; PM Psalm 89:19-52Jer. 16:10-21; Rom. 7:1-12; John 6:1-15

John

“When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.” (John 6:15)

My Pondering

Jesus has just fed the multitudes, about 5000. And because of this they want to make him King.  Jesus is not looking for that.  Jesus wants to teach people about the love of God and has shown God’s love in sharing whatever we have, even if it doesn’t seem to be enough. He shows them and us a better way, a better direction to travel.

I personally find this introvert personality trait of Jesus attractive.  I too like to withdraw into a quiet place and get away from people so as to recharge.  I’ve had people tell me I’m an extrovert but I don’t believe it.  I have been so gratified when I have turned the leadership of something over to whoever was replacing me.  It is good to just be freed from things for a while. 

Jesus shuns the idea of being in charge as a king. He doesn’t want to command, he wants to commend, to teach and to heal. Teaching is where real power is.  It is the same old story about the fish.  Give someone a fish and you have fed them for a day, teach them to fish and you have fed them for life. When Jesus meets and recruits his fishing followers on the coasts he tells them he will make them fishers of people. Jesus is more the medicine man in the towns and villages rather than the mayor or governor.

Jesus wants to coach people into being better by making them realize what’s important in life. He wants them, and us, to know that God loves us and wants us to love one another.  One does not have to be the official in charge to do that.  But you do have to be someone that people will listen to and respect.  There was a time that such a person was the parent, pastor and/or teacher.  Now more and more it seems to be social media and uninformed peers who also have no better guidance. It is better to go in the right direction alone that in a crowd headed in the wrong direction.  And if someone does see that you are going in a better direction and wants to put you in charge because of that, it may be time to withdraw to the mountain by yourself.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying through and to God’s people and “Ponder anew what the Creating Word is doing.”  John Thomas Frazier Sr.