Author: John Thomas Frazier

New Testament Eucharistic Readings for Sunday of Proper 14: Year A

Romans 10:5-15:  Matthew 14:22-33

“Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”  He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus.  But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!”   (Matthew 14: 28 – 30)

There are several places in the Gospel accounts when people take their eyes off Jesus, and when they do, they fall from faith or lose grace.  When Martha stares at Mary her sister sitting at Jesus’ feet, she complains about having to do all the work herself (Luke 10: 38 – 42).   In that same house from another perspective, (another Gospel account), Judas complains about an expensive perfume used to anoint Jesus’ feet by the same Mary, (John 12: 1 – 8). Again, Judas was not looking at Jesus himself but rather at Mary anointing the feet of Jesus, – a distraction.  Folks, we must maintain our focus on the Lord.

Distractions abound.  We must focus on our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, everyday.  If not, we get lost. We lose faith. We fall from grace. We can remind ourselves of our daily focus on Jesus through scripture readings, gazing up the cross, through prayer beads, through pictures, paintings and icons.  We can use our daily office as found in the Book of Common Prayer. There are so many ways to keep our Lord Jesus at the center of our being.  But the first thing we must do is “Want To!”  If we go to bed with a prayer on our lips, we wake with Christ on our minds.  Dreams work this way.

Peter took his eyes off of Jesus and sank into the water.  He then prayed, “Lord Save Me! And of course, our Lord did, but at the same time, reminded him, and us, of our lackluster faith.  We must stay focused.  Even when the winds hurl and toss the storms of our lives to and fro, we must still stay focused. Let us never take our eyes off the Prize.

Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine, Russia, and our schools.

As we listen to what the Spirit of God is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Saturday of Proper 13: Year 1

Morning, Psalms 87 and 90; Evening,  Psalm 136;
2^nd  Samuel 12:15 to 31; Acts 20:1 to 16; Mark 9:30 to 41:

“Then his servants said to him, ‘What is this thing that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while it was alive; but when the child died, you rose and ate food.’ He said, ‘While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, “Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me, and the child may live.” But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me:” (2^nd Samuel 12: 21 to 23).

David models for us the position that we should have as we go to God on behalf of a loved one. We pray, and perhaps we should pray with much fasting and tears as we beg God to intervene in the downward spiral, hardship or sickness, or circumstance a loved one is going through.

While David wanted the child to live, he also knew that God’s will, will be done. But more than that, David says something very truthful:  “I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.” 

We all have lost loved ones that have gone on before us.  They will not come back to us. However, we too will one day pass away.  When we do, we will join those who have gone before us. My beloved of the Lord, this life is not the end. David was so correct in saying “I shall go to him.”

However, it is especially difficult to experience the passing of an infant or a young child. So our prayer for David and for any of us who have lost a child might be: “Most merciful God, whose wisdom is beyond our understanding: Deal graciously with us in our grief. Surround us with your love, that we may not be overwhelmed by our loss, but have confidence in your goodness, and strength to meet the days to come; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.” (BCP 494)

When these kinds of sad things happen the only thing we have left is prayer. David went into deep consultation with God but in the end, God did not spare David’s son.  And as we know, God did not spare His only Son either. Love has unknown limits as part of its makeup. Death, even the death of an innocent, cannot be a reason to leave the love and judgment of God. In the end as David said, “I shall go to him, but he will not return to me:” We shall go to them, but they will not return to us.

Today our Church remembers Florence Nightingale.

Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine, Russia, and our schools.

As we listen to what the Spirit of God is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Friday of Proper 13: Year 1

Morning, Psalm 88; Evening,  Psalms 91 and 92;
2^nd  Samuel 12:1 to 14; Acts 19:21 to 41; Mark 9:14 to 29:

“You are the man!”  (2^nd Samuel, 12:7)

When Nathan, the Prophet of God, came and told David the metaphor about the rich man who took a poor man’s only little lamb to slaughter for his guest rather than slaughtering one from his own of many sheep, David was furious and said, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die; he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity:” (2^nd Samuel 12:5 and 6).

This is when Nathan breaks out of the metaphor and informs David that, “He is the man!” and then explains how God has looked after him all his life and has given him much including many wives and yet he saw fit to go and take Uriah’s only wife to bed, and then have him killed. So after hearing Nathan’s story, David realized he passed judgment on himself.

 David was sorry for what he had done and said to Nathan, “‘I have sinned against the Lord.’ Nathan said to David, ‘Now the Lord has put away your sin; you shall not die. Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child that is born to you shall die:” (2^nd Samuel 12: 13 and 14). The child dies. I have learned not to try to hold God in judgment.  God will do what God will do. This is what it means to be the Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.

Perhaps the biggest take-away for me is not to put David, or any mortal on a pedestal. We all fall short, all that is, except our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  And it is our Lord Jesus whom we go to for forgiveness for he is our Redeemer and Advocate.  Thank you Jesus.

Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine and Russia, and our schools.

 “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done” (Genesis 2:1 and 2). So, for this evening and tomorrow day my friends, Shabbat Shalom. 

What is Shabbat? Intro to the Jewish Sabbath – YouTube

As we listen to what the Spirit of God is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Thursday of Proper 13: Year 1

Morning, Psalm 34; Evening, Psalms 85 and 86;
2^nd  Samuel 11:1 to 27; Acts 19:11 to 20; Mark 9:2 to 13:

“In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah.  In the letter he wrote, ‘Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, so that he may be struck down and die:” (2^nd Samuel 11:14 and 15)

What an evil sandwich this is.  Because of the lust he had for the wife of one of his military member’s wife, and her subsequent pregnancy, the almost honorable David, king of all Israel and Juda, has stooped to the betrayal and murder of one of his own.

And, if this was not bad enough, he has enlisted the aid of Joab his commander, to assist him in this sinful act.  In this case, the bottom and top pieces of bread for this sandwich are the sinful parts; David and Joab his commander of the military.  In the center, between the bread, is the honorable lamb, Uriah, who would not comfort himself while Joab and all his military peers were waging war and sleeping when, and where they could, on the ground.  I have to say, as a U. S. Marine, a military man of thirty years, I have the utmost respect and admiration for Uriah. And I recall from this scripture, they were fighting for God’s desires as they understood it.

I can remember when President Bush (41) was told by someone during the Liberation of Kuwait, that “God was on our side”: the President responded, “I pray that we are on God’s side.”  I don’t think David was on God’s side in his self-serving lust and sinful murder of Uriah.  I also hold Joab equally as guilty for his participation in the killing of Uriah. It’s too late for me now, but I pray that if I had any ungodly proposition presented to me while in uniform, I would do the honorable thing, and also, that if witnessing immoral and ungodly acts, that I would give it all up for the sake of decency and morality. As far as I can recall, no such dilemmas occurred with me during the time and places I served.

There is heavy sadness in this story. Uriah is given his own death certificate unknowingly. I ponder if any eye-contact was made between Joab and Uriah as Joab read the letter ordering him to leave Uriah unprotected.  What kind of sick allegiance would have Joab follow this sinful betrayal of his subordinate?  Did he not love his troops as he did his king?  Real love forbids such acts of betrayal. I hope that if I was in Joab’s place, I would have hidden the letter and later faced David with it. The Love of those placed in our charge must be a greater priority than the love of those in whose charge we have been placed. We must love down in order to be lifted up.

Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine, Russia, and our schools.

As we listen to what the Spirit of God is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Wednesday of Proper 13: Year 1

Morning,  Psalm 119:97 to 120; Evening, Psalms 81and 82;
2^nd  Samuel 9:1to 13; Acts 19:1 to 10; Mark 8:34 to 9:1;

“He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me:” (Mark 8:34).

Our Lord Jesus calls those who are far from him, but who want to be like those who are close to him, closer to what’s really important.  I don’t know if Jesus actually knew he would die on a Roman cross, but he did know that if he kept up his reflections of the love of God with humanity, jealous humanity would kill him by whatever means necessary, to include the Roman cross.

With this invitation, he opens the door to those out there who may have been yearning for a deeper understanding of truth about God and eternal life. I think the deepest truth is the call to deny one’s self.  The cross carrying, is metaphor for any of life’s situations that we must contend with as we journey toward the day we are called to our final home.

The real truth is that most of us (particularly Americans) have far more than we need in terms of what is required for a comfortable life. Most of us have the resources for food, shelter, clothing, communications (phones), and even transportation (public or private).  How we choose to use the resources at our disposal is where more self-denial may need to be considered. 

I have met people who have come to me for money or food with an expensive hairdo, fancy fingernails, a really nice car, or one with detailed work not necessary for basic transportation, while living well within an established bus route.  I fully agree that it is their business about how they spend their money. But when they don’t have money for food, for themselves or their children, I see very little self-denial in these professed Christians.  Self-denial is not just about how we can spend less on ourselves. Some of our discretionary spending could be used to help someone in more desperate straits than ourselves.  This is the Christian self-denial that Jesus speaks of..

The cross we carry is the pain we suffer as we maintain our faith to the very end. This could be any of various terminal sicknesses, a financial debt that we may never be able to overcome, and even the knowledge that we are falsely convicted of something we know we didn’t do. It could also be something that we did do, but are sorry for, and regret for the rest of our lives. God knows our sorrow and feels the pain that our cross puts on us.  We are not to deny our cross, but instead, to take it up and bare it. In all of this, for ourselves, or, against ourselves, we must live to love through it, as Jesus loves us.

Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine, Russia, and our schools.

As we listen to what the Spirit of God is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Tuesday of Proper 13: Year 1

 Morning, Psalm 78:1 to 39; Evening,  Psalm 78:40 to 72;
2^nd  Samuel 7:18 to 29; Acts 18:12 to 28; Mark 8:22 to 33

“Now there came to Ephesus a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria. He was an eloquent man, well-versed in the scriptures.  He had been instructed in the Way of the Lord; and he spoke with burning enthusiasm and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John:” (Acts 18: 24 and 25).

My initial thought about Apollos’ baptism of John is that that is the only baptism that Jesus himself knew. Now John the Baptist did talk of a baptism by fire and the Holy Spirit by Jesus, but there is no record of any baptism by Jesus himself, although he did set the example for all who choose to follow him by being baptized.

It was the 17^th Century Anglican Priest, Richard Hooker, who said as Anglicans we have Scripture, Tradition, and Reason as our three-legged stool.  And, unlike other Christian traditions of faith, we acknowledge that if any one of the three legs were missing, the stool would topple. Not only that, each leg must be the same length or there is unbalance.

Baptism breaches the line between Scripture and Church Tradition.  It is Scripture that has been interpreted by the Church in many different ways depending on one’s particular Christian faith tradition. While everyone in the Bible were consenting adults, at least the individuals we read about, there are occasions where like with Lydia’s “household” being baptized, we don’t know the makeup of such households.  There are other cases where households were moved to being baptized due to miraculous signs by the apostles.  It is the Acts of the Apostles that really begins our Christian Church no matter what stripe we are.  Baptism is the making of the Christian.

We must acknowledge however, that Apollos, in our Acts reading for today, “was an eloquent man, well-versed in the scriptures.”  And, he was baptized.  So as far as he was concerned, he had done everything right.

The Acts story continues, “[Apollos] 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:” (Acts 18: 27). This still happens today. People move around from Church to Church as they grow in the faith.  Apollos listened to Priscilla and Aquila and their teaching made sense to him. He already had the gifts, they just needed to be focused. Later, he greatly helped those who through grace had become believers.  Grace then is the love component poured on us by God.

Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine, Russia, and our schools.

As we listen to what the Spirit of God is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Monday of Proper 13: Year 1

Morning, Psalm 80; Evening, Psalm 77;
2 Samuel 7:1-17; Acts 18:1-11; Mark 8:11-21:

“I commune with my heart in the night; I ponder and search my mind. (Psalm 77: 6)

As most all of my readers know, my ponderings are reflections derived from the Daily Office readings of the 1979 Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church. My ponderings are theological and meant to share for the theological enhancement of all who may read what I share.

Rarely do I attempt to connect a theme with all the readings for a given day.  But today is an exception.  For some reason I think I see something of the nature of God. I’m just pondering.

I am moved by the number of repeats in our different readings for today.  Let me give you some examples. In our first Psalm recommended for the morning, Psalm 80, we read, “Restore us, O God of hosts; show the light of your countenance, and we shall be saved:” (Psalm 80: 3 times this is said).  We do need the light of God’s countenance.  And it is only with it that we will be saved. 

In Psalm 77 recommended for the evening I catch the repeated “pondering” that goes on. We read, “I think of God, I am restless, I ponder, and my spirit faints. (Psalm 77:3).  And again, “I commune with my heart in the night; I ponder and search my mind. (Psalm 77: 6).  And once more, “I will meditate on all your acts and ponder your mighty deeds:” (Psalm 77:12).

Our God seems to be and outdoorsy kind of God.  God is with us in tents in 2^nd Samuel and with tent makers in the Acts of the Apostles

In our 2^nd Samuel reading, God doesn’t seem to want a house but then says later that God does want one, but it will be built by an ancestor of David.  This is thought to be Solomon.  But what if, I ponder, the house is not one built with hands, but a house of faith, eternal in the heavens.  Eternal in the heavens, now that’s very outdoorsy. 

Paul is outdoors during most of his preaching and teaching. It is revealed that he never loses his vocation of tent making. I like that.  I have always felt the those of us who teach and preach for God should also carry their own weight in community occupations like everybody else.  Ironic that while Paul’s preaching and teaching is mostly outdoors, his vocation is one of covering people with tents. It’s okay, he’s got us covered in more ways than one.

God in Christ Jesus is with us in boats in our Gospel for today.  But if we care to notice, much of our Lord Jesus’ activity is in, or around, boats. Jesus reveals the outdoorsy nature of God.

I ponder that maybe being outside might often bring us closer to God as we are saved by the light of God’s countenance, in a tent or in a boat; but mostly, in the ponderings of our minds.

Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine, Russia, and our schools.

As we listen to what the Spirit of God is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Eucharistic Readings for the Transfiguration August 6

Exodus 34:29-35; Psalm 99; 2 Peter 1:13-21; Luke 9:28-36

“Then from the cloud came a voice that said, ‘This is my Son, my Chosen;listen to him!” (Luke 9:35)

This Gospel reading tells us that Jesus takes with him Peter, James and John up a mountain and is Transfigured before them.  They got to see the reality of who Jesus is.  They got to see Moses and Elijah, the Law and the Prophets, stand before Jesus, God Incarnate.

Peter is so moved by this experience that he speaks out of his hysteria about making booths to represent the three of them, Moses, Elijah and Jesus.  The Presence of God touched all of their senses.  The cloud overshadowed them causing them to breathe in God as well as touch their skin.  The vision of what was taking place pierced their eyes making an indelible mark on their minds. And finally, the very voice of God spoke, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!”

Peter never forgot this event. Even though he would claim not to know Jesus at the arrest of Jesus, but the knowledge of who Jesus is, was never forgotten.  Later in his second letter Peter wrote, “For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, ‘This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.’ We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven, while we were with him on the holy mountain.” (2 Peter 1:16 – 18)

The Gospel according to Matthew (Mt. 3:17) and according to Mark (Mk. 1:11) also carry the words “You are my Son in whom I am well pleased,” but the words seem to be directed at Jesus only. In any case, we have the additional words today of “Listen to him.”  This listen to him is understood to be obey him, in the Hebrew context, and I might add, ours as well.

This validation of who Jesus is has been handed down to you and me. This Gospel always comes up on the last Sunday of Epiphany as a segue into Lent regardless of the Year (Matthew17:1 to19; Mark 9:2 to 9; and Luke 9: 28 to 36).  For many years I preached the “Pilot Light” sermon wherein I told of the cleaning of an old gas stove used in my mother’s restaurant in the 1950’s.  In this restaurant we catered mostly to college students. But there was always a Summer slowdown when school was out.  This was a time for cleaning the old stove.  The stove had to be disassembled to make a thorough cleaning.  I was young then but I was shown the “Pilot Light.”  I was amazed that from this little flicker of light that resembled a small candle burning in a cave, made possible the cooking of all the foods for the whole year for students who came from two universities. It was during the cleansing and the de-greasing of that stove that the light was carried to start other lights in order that they might do their work.  How appropriate for coming to Lent. Also, how appropriate to see who Jesus really is, the Light revealed.  I like singing “This Little Light of Mine” when I use this sermon.  Let us then listen to him, and obey him. If we listen and obey the we too will be Transfigured.

Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine, Russia, and our schools.

As we listen to what the Spirit of God is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Saturday of Proper 12: Year 1

Morning,  Psalms 75 and 76; Evening, Psalms 23 and 27;
2^nd  Samuel 5:22 to 6:11; Acts 17:16 to 34; Mark 8:1 to 10:

“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)

These words above seem to refute our 2^nd Samuel reading where the Presence of God was in dwelling in a work of art made by human hands. The 2^nd Samuel reading says, “David and all the people with him set out and went from Baale-judah, to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the name of the Lord of hosts who is enthroned on the cherubim. (2^nd Samuel:” 6:2)

As a Christian I believe that God truly did dwell among us but not in any work of art that we made. No, The Great Creator was pleased to dwell in the person of our Lord Jesus. And since then the continuing words of Paul ring true:“For “In him we live and move and have our being”; as even some of your own poets have said, “For we too are his offspring.” (Acts 17:28)

I recall roughly the words of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel in his book The Sabbath.  He basically said,  “it is not places or things that are holy, but rather we have holy times:” (not a word for word quote but the meaning is exact). Rabbi Heschel was talking about the importance of the Sabbath (today). But within his words we learn that while we have precious jewelry and crafts, and beautiful stained glass windows, and Icons, and even our Bibles and Prayer Books, the Presence of God does not reside in them.  All of these are the works of human hands by which we humans may direct our prayers and worship to God. We do not pray to them, we pray through them.  The time we spend with such objects is more holy than the objects themselves.

I spend time daily with scripture, Christian music, and faith groups.  In these times I pray and try to connect to God in prayer.  God is Good, all the time. While I am aware that I am still a work in progress, it is progress. I am gaining more insight as I slowly move along.  Faith in the One in whom we live and move and have our being is life saving and sustaining. My message to everyone of us is to find something that puts you in a spiritual mood, and then find a place that is soothing and comfortable for you, and at the junction of thing and place and within the time you have made there, God will visit you through your efforts.

Love is the most powerful force in the universe. And Guess what? God is love.  If given the time, the love of God will transform you. It is written somewhere in scripture that the Altar is more holy than the things put on it to be blessed.  Our Time is our personal Altar. What will you put on it to be blessed?

Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine, Russia, and our schools.

As we listen to what the Spirit of God is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Friday of Proper 12: Year 1

Morning, Psalm 69; Evening, Psalm 73;
2^nd  Samuel 5:1to 12; Acts 17:1 to 15; Mark 7:24 to 37

“But she answered him, ‘Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.’ Then he said to her, ‘For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.’ So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone:” (Mark 7: 28 to 30)

This is probably one of the greatest examples of humility in the Bible. The Gentile (Syrophoenician) woman and mother of a young possessed daughter will go to whomever she can in order to rid her daughter of a demon.

The lesson for us is to not boast about our ethnicity, race, culture or ancestry.  I continue to preach that it is not “what” you are the means anything, but rather, “who”: you are.  The only blood relationship that mattered to the Syrophoenician woman is her direct offspring, her daughter. Will her daughter appreciate her mother’s courage and devoted love for her when she is old enough to realize what her mother did to save her?  Who knows?

I agree with the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who said “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” It is the content of one’s character that determines who a person really is.

Our Lord Jesus felt the faith, love and humility of the Syrophoenician mother.  Our Lord Jesus still feels the faith love and humility of each of us no matter our race, country of origin, language, or ancestry.  We, all of us, are people, brought forth in the spiritual image of the Creator.

We were brought forth by love, to love. All barriers set up by humankind such as race, language, nationality, and sexual orientation, have their origin in the desire to disrupt our God-given gift of love for one another. We are most especially gifted to love those who differ from us in looks and desires.  Too often, what a person looks like and, or, what they want in life, makes us judge them harshly.  This ought not to be.  Let us look upon our brothers and sisters as they express their joy in their vocations, their hobbies, their love of family, or their significant other.  We should not want anybody to be sad or miserable. When our neighbor is joyful, we can share in their joy.  Sharing in the healthy joy of others shows God the content of our character.

Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine and Russia, and our schools.

 “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done” (Genesis 2:1 and 2). So, for this evening and tomorrow day my friends, Shabbat Shalom. 

What is Shabbat? Intro to the Jewish Sabbath – YouTube

As we listen to what the Spirit of God is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John