Daily Office Readings 

Psalm 121 : 1
” I lift up my eyes to the hills; * from where is my help to come?”

Psalm 121 is the psalm we use in Women’s Bible Study every Tuesday.  We use the Service of Noon Day Prayers from our Book of Common Prayer to start our study.  Currently we are studying the Apocrypha. 

This Psalm is dear to me because every time it comes up in any church service I remember the wonderful women sitting around the table as they learn for themselves (and teach me) about what God has done, and is doing.  Over the last thirteen years we have come a long way. Not just through the scriptures, but also in our bonding and relationship.

So in my personal studies or any occasion when this psalm is read it brings sweet memories to me. We all should have some piece of scripture that causes us to reflect on the goodness that God is doing in our midst.

The words of the opening of this psalm invites us to know that our help in the world must come from a Source beyond ourselves. We often can’t fix our selves, and it is very okay to look out over the horizons in your life, over the landscape of your troubles and say “I lift up my eyes to the hills; from where is my help to come?”  Because the Psalmist goes on to say, “My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.”

Hear what the Spirit is saying to God’s people.

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From the Gospel of John

“One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, ‘Do you want to be made well?’” (John 5: 5 – 6)

What a question to ask.    Does he want to be made well?  The obvious answer would be, “of course.”   But I have met many people who have grown comfortable with their discomfort. Many are struggling with addiction but often are not ready to do the work necessary for being clean.  It’s hard work and one has to be really committed to recovery and all the steps that come with it.

Some of my friends have physical disabilities that, with rehab, can achieve some degree of improvement.  Sometimes when I visit them in Rehab or in their homes there is much lamentation regarding physical therapist. “It’s too hard” or “it hurts” they cry.  It is at those times that I want to use Jesus’ words, “Do you want to be made well?”

Being well applies to more than just the observable sick. I have a very dear friend in Alabama who suffers from severe migraine headaches.  You can’t tell from looking at her that she is suffering horrible pain. It doesn’t show.  I also feel like our church’s next big challenge is that of fully including those who are psychologically disadvantaged or mentally ill.  They truly can be in a situation where they don’t know if they want to be made well.  But if we love them we want them to be made well.  We have many stories in the Gospel where Jesus healed on behalf of others who loved them, and from a distance.  The truth is, being made well has to be wanted and asked for either by the person, or by someone on his or her behalf.  Then Jesus does his work.

Hear what the Spirit is saying to God’s people.

Wednesday night Healing Service

JULIA CHESTER EMERY,

LAY LEADER AND MISSIONARY (9 JAN 1922)

Psalm 67;Romans 12:6-13 Mark 10:42-45 

From Romans

“Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.” (Rom. 12: 12, 13)

Julia Emery certainly heard the message of St Paul to the Romans. She certainly persevered in prayer and contributing to the needs of the needy.  We need more like her. She did more than just see the need, she felt the need. And then she did something about it.

Julia’s sister, Mary, was National Secretary of the Women’s Auxiliary of the Board of Missions for its first four years, from 1872 to 1876.  At this point, Julia took over, and was National Secretary of the Auxiliary for forty years, from 1876 to 1916. (James Keifer)

She visited every diocese in the United States (James Keifer).  Asking for money is not exactly my strong suit.  I admire her tenacity that took her across the country and the world.  She recognized her call to do what others dared to do for the sake of those who were in great need 

It was Julia who invented the United Thank Offering (UTO). This works (or used to work — my political instincts tell me that not everyone today would be comfortable with the original arrangement) by giving each woman a small box with a slit in the top (a cardboard piggy bank), and encouraging her to drop a small contribution into it whenever she feels thankful about something.    (James Keifer) 

I love those little blue boxes.  Sometimes they show up at our Diocesan Convention.  The Bishop has no objection to the “folding” kind of money going into those boxes. Let’s give God thanks for her dedicated work in fighting poverty.

Hear what the Spirit is saying to God’s people..

Daily Office Readings

AM Psalm 117, 118; PM Psalm 112, 113  Isa. 59:15-21; Rev. 2:8-17; John 4:46-54 

This exchange between Jesus and the royal official really demonstrates how Jesus uses what we believe for our own good.  Jesus goes deeper than what we say we believe – Jesus goes straight to what’s in our hearts.  Jesus sees how we act – how we behave.  We must remember that to Jesus all hearts are open, all desires known and from him no secrets are hid.  (BCP p. 355)

We are a creedal people. God bless us!  We have what we say we believe, and we have what we really believe.  In our Nicene Creed we profess that we believe in God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Within this declaration there is therein contained the history of Jesus’ birth from Mary and his death from Pontius Pilate. There is also the Easter message of “He rose again on the third day and ascended and will return to judge the living and the dead.”

So do we really believe that at some point we will indeed stand before the Judge?  What’s that going to look like?  What should we be doing now so as to make that time a pleasant experience? We must Go!  Just like the royal official, we must go on about our business and at the same time believing these three things: 1^st God IS, always has been and always will be.  2^nd God is good, always has been, always will be.  And lastly God loves us humans particularly.  This is made evident in God’s decision to come down to us as one of us.  God has placed in us the power of belief. We don’t use it near enough.

In the words of Bishop Anselm (one time archbishop of Canterbury) speaking on what it means to believe.  He writes, “I do not seek to understand that I may believe, but I believe in order that I may understand.  For this, too, I believe, that unless I first believe, I shall not understand.”  (page 240 of Lesser Feast and Fast 2006)  Anselm informs us that there is a distinct difference between understanding something believing something.  There is a teaching in some Christian circles that suggests that we must first understand so that we will believe.  It tries to have us understand why all things happen so that we might believe.  This is not what Jesus or Anselm showed. The royal official was rewarded because he believed not because he understood, and so will we if we just believe.

Hear what the Spirit is saying to God’s people.

Daily Office Readings emihidden0

AM Psalm 103; PM Psalm 114, 115 Isa. 52:3-6;  Rev. 2:1-7;  John 2:1-11

“When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’ And Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.’  His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’    (John 2: 3 – 5)

Among other differences of John’s Gospel to that of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, is that John never mentions the mother of Jesus by name. But thanks to the synoptic Gospels we know who she is. She is Mary.  If this is the first sign or miracle that Jesus does, then Mary has a big part in it.  It is not the changing of water into wine, something we cannot do. But rather, it is doing whatever Jesus tells us to do, which is something we surly can do, and ought to do.

If we consider ourselves to be “servants of Jesus” then we are preached to by the Mother of Jesus who tells us to do whatever he tells us to do. Notice that while Jesus fusses about “My hour has not yet come” his Mother turns to the servants of Jesus (to us) and gives us this instruction to obey him.

Mary has lived with Jesus for thirty or more years and in all that time she has never gone without.  She has lived with God Incarnate!  She has lived with One who can multiply loaves and fishes and when desired, turn water into wine in the privacy of their own home.  So she is absolutely sure of his ability, and she is just as sure of His love for her. She has never been denied.  So she is not concerned about his humanness fussing about whether or not his hour has come. She has asked him to do something for the benefit of people dear to her and she has every confidence that he will make it happen.

Now Mary is looking beyond the pages of scripture directly into our eyes – the servants of Jesus and telling us to do whatever He tells us.  She doesn’t know how, but she knows that he will command it, and if we follow him, great things will happen.

This is true today!  Mary preached that very first sermon of obeying Jesus. Like Mary, we too must be sure that Jesus is both willing and able to do as we ask knowing that we are asking for the benefit of those we love, and great things will happen!

Hear What the Spirit is Saying to God’s People. “

Eucharistic Readings

Isaiah 60:1-6   Ephesians 3:1-12  Matthew 2:1-12  Psalm 72:1-7,10-14

Matthew 2: 1 – 2

“In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising and have come to pay him homage.” (Matthew 2: 1 – 2)

I find it amazing that a non-Jewish people, albeit a studied group of ancient scientist, came to the realization that an astronomical power favored human existence and pointed the way through the means of their studies – the stars – to where this existence is taking place.  It should not surprise me however because the same thing happened with the shepherds.  In Luke’s Gospel, Shepherds tending their flocks were visited in their vocation by celestial beings and pointed to where God was at work in a baby. 

These wise men let go of any ethnic pride they might have had in order to see what God was doing.  This meant they had to go where their studies led them, in this case to Judea and specifically, to Bethlehem. If we are wise people today we must do like-wise.  God can appear in any people, anywhere at any time. Here’s the thing.  God always “points” to where God is.  And God often does this within the very way we make a living.  We just have to be aware and follow the clues no matter where they lead. The clues may lead to the incarcerated, the terminally ill, to non-English speakers or even to people we don’t particularly like. Moses was led back to Egypt where he was guilty of murder. But he followed the instructions of the burning bush that pointed him back to Egypt.

This ancient (clue-dropping) God loves us and is trying to add light to our lives.  This is the theme of Epiphany, the season of light.  As light is added to coming light let us follow God’s leading light wherever it may lead us as we too go in search of what God is doing for us today in this new 2019.

Blessings.

On this 12^th Day of Christmas our Scripture brought to us the gift of love born in human form.

AM Psalm 2, 110:1-5(6-7)Joshua 1:1-9;  Heb. 11:32-12:2;  John 15:1-16

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” (John 15:12) 0 \lsdu

I personally prefer John’s Commandment to love over the Synoptic version of “love your neighbor as you love yourself.”  There is an assumption in Matthew , Mark and Luke that one loves one’s self.  Not everybody does, they should, but not everybody does. Self loathing can then be justification for other-loathing.  But Jesus’ command in John’s Gospel makes us realize that we are to love others not as we love ourselves, but as Jesus loves us. And that includes self.

Jesus went to the cross for us, every one of us, whether we believe in him or not.  He died for the whole world, to redeem the whole world.  He did this for the world then, the world now, and the world to come – for our children’s children yet unborn. So let’s review:

Day 12;Thank you God for Your Love, born of a human mother, for the salvation of the world.

Day 11; Thank You God for Your living Word born to us

Day 10; Thank you God for the birth of the Gate

Day 9; Merry Christmas in our Church Traditions

Day 8; Merry Christmas in thanksgiving for Your Holy Name

Day 7; Merry Christmas for the Gift of Reconciliation

Day 6; Merry Christmas for adoption into the Divine Family

Day 5; Merry Christmas in Patience for the Holy Spirit

Day 4; Merry Christmas for Holy Innocents

Day 3; Merry Christmas and thanksgiving for the gift of believing

Day 2; Merry Christmas and thanksgiving for the gift of Your Church

Christmas Day we give thanks for the Birth of our Savior and for our Families                    

Merry Christmas

On this 11^th Day of Christmas our Scripture brought to us the very Word of God.

AM Psalm 85, 87; PM Psalm 89:1-29 Exod. 3:1-12; Heb. 11:23-31; John 14:6-14 l7

 “Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works.”  (John 14: 10)

So from Jesus’ words we hear directly from God. It is perhaps more important to listen to Jesus than to watch him. This somewhat validates the red print Bible because we can quickly focus on what Jesus is saying – what Jesus is commanding – what Jesus is asking us to look deeper into.

In our first Gospel Matthew reminds us that “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Matt. 4:4.  Chapters 5, 6 and 7 of Matthew should be read no less than once a week as it contains spiritual medicine for our souls.  In these chapters we find the beatitudes, instruction about interpreting the Hebrew Testament and how we should go forth into the world.  Good stuff.

Much of what is in Mark is also found in Matthew and Luke. Luke however has the most parables all which are teaching tools for morality, not the least of which is chapter 15 (that I like to call the “lost chapter” because Luke talks about the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son or prodigal son). It teaches us about divine priorities.

St John’s Gospel really drives home that Jesus is Word of the Creator.  John opens with “in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. Then this Gospel lets us hear Jesus’ words. Chapters 14 through 17 of John’s Gospel have Jesus’ Words of compassion, instruction and prayer for us, and to us.

Again from St. John, “Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works.”  (John 14: 10)  We cannot do what Jesus does. But we can hear what Jesus says.  Jesus is Word of the Father. In the ancient ways, to hear IS to obey. Let’s go back to hearing the Word and then doing like-wise.  Thank You God for Your living Word born to us.

Merry Christmas

So, be it gate for the sheep or top of the tank, Jesus is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6) and is the only Way to the One outside of the tank who takes great pleasure in our co-existence and harmony.  Therefore we should be doing all we can to live lives of supporting more different cultures, ethnicities, languages and even different ways of worship – of different ways of appreciating the One outside the tank who takes pleasure in our collective beauty.

Merry Christmas in thanksgiving for the birth of the Gate.

Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, ‘If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.

In seminary I learned that Gregory of Nazianzus was one of three Cappdocian Fathers that we were asked to do a short paper on and I chose him.  What amazed me most was his articulation of God creating everything from nothing!  Still does. However, Gregory’s greatest challenge was probably defending our Christian faith that holds the belief that Jesus the Logos, is God in every sense of its meaning and that Jesus is not some afterthought from God. This is where our Church is today in our Nicene Creed crafted in the year 325. It’s who we are still.

This continued challenge with many offshoots of Arian theology is present today in many of our Christian faiths, many of whom are not familiar with the history or theology of what our Christian faith has suffered.  But nothing declares more about who we are than how we treat the less fortunate among us.  If people want to fuss and fight about who Jesus really is rather than care for the needy in our midst we have already lost sight of Who Jesus really is.

As I write this I am preparing to meet with fellow parishioners and members of Cedar Creek Baptist Church and feed the less fortunate.  All of us, both congregations, are trying to live into who Jesus wants us to be. We say who we are in God by our actions.  I know that when God brings the poor before us, it is not the poor God is watching, but us! 

Therefore, in the words of Richard Hooker, we are blessed with the gifts of Scripture, Tradition and reason. This is our Gold, frankincense and myrrh.

Merry Christmas in our Church Traditions ;\lsdsemihidden

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton