onewhoponders

Daily Office Readings for Monday of Proper 29: Year 2

Morning, Psalm 106:1to18; Evening, Psalm 106:19to48:
Zechariah 10:1to12; Galatians 6:1to10; Luke 18:15to30:

“My friends, if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness,” (Galatians 6:1).

Each and every one of us are in need of forgiveness.  And God, in God’s all knowing wisdom, has given each of us the Spirit to restore a neighbor who, having been found in transgression, the power to restore a brother or sister, back into the fold.

I need it, and you, reading this message, also need it. None of us are beyond needing restoration.  God made us this way on purpose. This is why our Lord Jesus taught us to pray, “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.”

Sometimes those who sin against us do not ask for forgiveness.  This can be for one of two reasons. First, maybe they are in a bad place and were intentional about what they have done to you. Second, perhaps they didn’t realize that they have actually sinned against you.  I’ve experienced both.  In these situations I like to use the word “pardon.”  I can pardon a person without them even knowing it. When I pardon someone I can move on with my life and not sit and simmer about an insult or injury. 

While I am not opposed to informing someone that they have offended me, (in case they didn’t know it), I do not believe in asking someone for an apology.  I feel that once they are made aware that I felt hurt by something they have said or done (or not done), it’s up to their conscience as to what follows. Sadly, I have even seen whole countries insist on an apology from another country for some sad misdeed perpetrated on it.  I think, be it a country or a person, once the sin or any kind of violence has been made known, the apology should be forth coming and in all sincerity.

Once a transgression has been detected, you and I have been given the Spirit that will restore us all to a spirit of love and gentleness with one another.  All we have to do is use it and be thankful.

Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine and Iran.

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

Eucharistic Readings for Last Sunday of Pentecost Proper 29: Christ the King Sunday: Year C

Jeremiah 23:1-6;   Psalm 46;  Colossians 1:11-20;  Luke 23:33-43:

“There was also an inscription over him,“This is the King of the Jews.”  (Luke 23:38)

Wait, what? How did this come to be?  It started roughly a thousand years before the birth of Our Lord Jesus. This was during the time Israel wanted a king for themselves even though God had told them not to be like the other nations.

Here is how it started: “Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, and said to him [Samuel], “You are old and your sons do not follow in your ways; appoint for us, then, a king to govern us, like other nations.” But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to govern us.” Samuel prayed to the Lord, and the Lord said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.  Just as they have done to me,from the day I brought them up out of Egypt to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so also they are doing to you. Now then, listen to their voice; only—you shall solemnly warn them, and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.” (1 Samuel 8:4 – 9)

From this we arrive at the end of the kings of Israel in John’s Gospel:

“Now it was the day of Preparation for the Passover; and it was about noon. He, Pontius Pilate, said to the Jews, “Here is your King!”  They cried out, “Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!” Pilate asked them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but the emperor.”  (John 19: 14 – 15) How sad this statement must have been for God to hear.

Our Lord Jesus was crucified between two criminals. “One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” (Luke 23:39)  I am aware that this writing in Luke guides us into seeing this first crucified criminal as a harasser of our Lord Jesus.  But we don’t know this until we hear the second criminal rebuke him.  In defense of the first speaker, I remind us that he is the first to say, “save yourself, and us.”  It is the “and us” part that stands out for me. None of the other mockersbothered to ask Our Lord Jesus to save them as well, not the Israelites and especially not the soldiers.  Jesus is the One who forgives even those who harm him, not knowing what they are doing.  Sometimes we fit in that category.  So Jesus tells not only that man on the cross but us too, that, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Luke 23: 43)

Let us not be too quick to limit our understanding of scripture only by the way we are guided by the author. If we have the words, then let us ponder beyond the page.

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

Daily Office Readings for Saturday of Proper 28: Year 2

Morning, Psalms 107:33-43, and 108:1-6; Evening, Psalm 33;
Malachi 3:13to4:6; James 5:13to20; Luke 18:9to14

 “But the tax-collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” (Luke 18:13)

I had to mail something to Raleigh the other day that was very important to me. So I went to a local post office to make sure if was correct.  Raleigh, being the capital of North Carolina, I wanted to make sure my U.S. mail was properly sent by a method of tracking.

So I approached the postal clerks with all humility.  And when I heard the next customer called to the next available clerk, I went, when called, with all humility.  I actually said, “I need mercy and patience to help me properly mail this package.” The clerk smiled and told me what I needed to do, and even after I misprinted the “to-from” spaces, she just smiled again and helped me straighten it out.  I could not have moved on in any sense of accomplishment had it not been for the wonderful and compassionate postal worker.

I know that many people approach sales reps and clerks with arrogance and a sense of superiority. They like saying who they are and what they have accomplished, sort of like the Pharisee in our Luke reading for today; but not me.  I knew that if I was going to get anywhere close to what I wanted, it was going to be at the mercy of the postal clerk whom I stood in front of.

So too it is with eternal salvation.  We must ask God to be merciful to us, a sinner. And pray God saves us so that we may get to our eternal homes justified. Justification, in my postal experience, was made manifest in going back to my home with routing numbers and a tracking code on the web.

Arrogance and self promotion has no place in God’s Kingdom.  We must follow the tax collector’s lead in doing the will of God.

Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine, they need us.

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

Daily Office Readings for Friday of Proper 28: Year 2

Morning, Psalm 102; Evening, Psalm 107:1to32.
Malachi 3:1to12; James 5:7to12; Luke 18:1to8:

“Above all, my beloved, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your ‘Yes’ be yes and your ‘No’ be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.” (James 5: 12)

This advice sounds good but rarely do I see it practiced. This is especially true when I witness someone on television being asked a simple “yes or no” question.  I find that after they are done responding, I still can’t figure out whether their response was yes, or no.

James is repeating the same advice given in Matthew where Matthew says, “All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one” (Matthew 5:37). I think the real challenge is deciding where we are inside ourselves.  And we should remember that whether we are a “yes” or a “no,” we are only yes, or no, temporarily. We may change the next minute or the next year.  And even this yes to no; or no to yes, shift, doesn’t mean that we are wishy-washy, but rather, as we are more informed, our perspective changes.

I have great admiration for people who can “up front” respond with a yes or a no, and then explain the why’s. Sometimes they explain only when asked.  Sometime they immediately fill in the why’s so as to explain their position.  But at least they are clear about where they stand at the moment. I think we first have to deal with where we are about any subject deep within ourselves.  And, it’s okay to be unsure. And it’s okay to say, I don’t know. 

To practice the yes or no quick response we might want to start with ourselves.  We can start out by simply asking ourselves easy questions like, “shall I get out of bed now? or, “do I want cereal for breakfast?” Then we can graduate to the more difficult questions like “do I support capital punishment; and how about abortion?”  We might change over time. And that’s alright.  But let us take a stand about where we are right now as for as yes, or no, is concerned, and do it without fear of feeling weak, only open to change if our inside perspective changes.

“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

Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine, they still need us.

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

Daily Office Readings for Thursday of Proper 28: Year 2

Morning, Psalm 105:1to22; Evening, Psalm 105:23 to 45.
Malachi 2:1to16; James 4:13to5:6; Luke 17:20to37:

Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town and spend a year there, doing business and making money.’ Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wishes, we will live and do this or that.’ As it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.” (James 4:13 to 16)

None of us know what tomorrow will bring.  The best we can do is to live the best life we can for this day. By the best life I mean, to the benefit of our community, not to the enhancement of one’s self.  We should never say to ourselves that “I will go and do this or that,” without praying that such an act will be done only if it is the Lord’s will.  Remember the prayer, “Your kingdom come, your will be done.”

Writing this blog has changed my life and the prospect of being a traveler.  I now don’t ever want to be in a place that doesn’t have a good Wi-Fi connection.  I need to be able to get my next day’s blog out, if it is the Lord’s will to do so. So I am content to stay here in Raeford, North Carolina, studying the Word, learning more and more about the World Wide Church that I love, writing the Good News to all who will read it.

How about you?  What is it that the Lord has blessed you to do?  I have read somewhere that where your passion, and your community’s needs meet, is where God wants you to be, and what God wants you to do.  Your passion, if it is a noble vocation, is your ministry.  Pursue it.  We are truly only here for a little while.  But while we are here, we have the Lord’s work to do.

Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine, they need us.

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

Daily Office Readings for Wednesday of Proper 28: Year 2

Morning, Psalms 101 and 109; Evening, Psalm 119:121to144;
Malachi 1:1,6 to14; James 3:13 to 4:12; Luke 17:11to19

“For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind.  But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy.” (James 3: 16 and 17)

Envy, or in its most sinister form, jealousy, always brings about bad relations among people.  If we are different in any outward way, it is only magnified in a negative way by envy or jealousy.  It will occur among people of the same ethnicity as well.  But when there are differences of any kind, the differences take on, as James says, disorder and wickedness of every kind.

But James assures us that in the end, or as we like to say today, “at the end of the day,” It will all be better if we prayerfully regain our moral composure. But this only happens if we learn from wisdom.  He teaches us that wisdom is pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. 

Although James confronts Paul in the, faith versus works arena, he sounds like Paul’s 1^st Corinthians letter when he defines wisdom as Paul defines love: that is, pure, peaceable, gentle, willing to yield and so forth.  Paul says of love that “love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away,” (1^st Corinthians 13: 4 to 8).  There seems to be a difference between knowledge and wisdom. There seems to be a difference between knowing something and good judgment.

Maybe there is a strong correlation between love and wisdom.  Perhaps the path to wisdom is love, or the other way, the path to love is wisdom.  What do you think?

Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine, they need us.

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

Daily Office Readings for Tuesday of Proper 28: Year 2

Morning, Psalms 97 and 99; Evening, Psalm 94;
Habakkuk 3:1to18; James 3:1to12; Luke 17:1to10

“Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. For all of us make many mistakes. Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle. If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies” (James 3:1 to 3).

James’ words suggest that we, at some level, ought to practice what we are taught. Teachers then are probably the most important service providers in any community..  Over the years I have taught many classes and counseled many people with various concerns.  I pray that my words to them are what I also practice, but more than that, it helps them to live better, more faithful lives. 

James is not original in using the metaphor of a bridle as an example of holding the attention of those we are trying to teach. This example appears in the Psalms. “Do not be like a horse or a mule, without understanding, whose temper must be curbed with bit and bridle ,else it will not stay near you; (Psalm 32: 9).

Our very first teachers are our parents. But even school teachers depend on parents to have taught the children the local language and behaviors.  On the very first day in school the child must understand simple instruction such as “sit here,” or “come here,” or “what is your name?”  From there the teacher takes hold of the bit and bridle, the reins, if you will, and guides us into more productive citizenry. 

Another very important person in teaching, and in particular the behavior of a community, is the pastor.  The pastor teacher is a special gift given to some in each community by God as a guide to righteous living.  “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers” (Ephesians 4:11).  The pastor teacher gift is a combined vocation implanted in some of us for the purpose of comforting and guiding the people of God in righteous living.  And as James says, such people will be judged with greater strictness.

All parents are pastor teachers.  Parents are called by God to comfort and guide their children in ways that promote harmony in the family, in their church, in their community, and in the world. Perhaps even bit and bridle is better than leaving them idle.

Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine.

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

New Testament Eucharistic Readings for Sunday of Proper 28: Year C

2^nd Thessalonians 3:6 to 13 and  Luke 21:5 to19:

“They asked him, “Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?”  (Luke 21:7)

This is an apocalyptic (or revelation) sharing about things to come that Jesus is telling them. It is also seen in Mark chapter 13 and Matthew chapter 24. The End Times (Eschaton) is coming.  The time is in Kairos, God’s time, not Chronos, our calendar time.

Sometimes it is not so much about what Jesus says, but what we ask in the first place, that really says what’s important to us. In the case of the End of all things (Eschotology), the question is, when, not if.  There is some sense that if it is not soon, weeks, months or even a few years, we have time to make things right, being the procrastinators that we are. But I think we miss the point.

The real point is not waiting to start, but to start now.  I can remember when I was asked to do something that required physical movement; I would jokingly say that I have already started moving in ways that couldn’t be observed by the human eye.  I would say that my feet have already started shifting in my shoes in preparation for standing.  I was trying to assure the person that I was starting to do the task even though I could not be seen moving; funny me.

The truth is that any step to improve our spiritual lives, no matter how small, is a step toward being prepared for the End Times of which, we have no idea of when.  All we have to do is believe it is coming and then act accordingly. When the End Time comes, acceptance is not so much a matter of what you “have done,” or “did not do,” but rather, where your heart is at that time. 

We must start now, right now, even with tiny, almost indiscernible steps, that inch us ever closer to being saved. And no matter how impossible it seems we must never give up; because while it is impossible for us, nothing is impossible for God. We just have to keep on keeping on.  Jesus says that, “It is by our endurance that we will gain our souls.”

We should never ask Jesus “when.”  We just need to start right now making ourselves better every day.  We do a little bit at a time.  It’s not setting a goal.  It’s just adding more and more righteousness as we go.  When the eschaton (the end of all things as we know it) comes, a new Promised Land comes as well. This is where (and when) not a hair of our heads will be lost. This takes perseverance. And it takes prayer.  So as the profit Malachi says, “But for you who revere my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings,” (Malachi 4:2). I can’t help it.  Let me play with these words. “But for you who revere my name the “Son” of Righteousness shall rise, with healing in His hands.”  Forgive me Malachi, it’s the Christian in me.  

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

Daily Office Readings for Saturday of Proper 27: Year 2

Morning, Psalms 87and 90; Evening, Psalm 136;
Joel 3:9to17; James 2:1to13; Luke 16:10to17:

“So he said to them, ‘You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of others; but God knows your hearts; for what is prized by human beings is an abomination in the sight of God.” (Luke 16:15)

So why does it have to be this way?  Why is it that what is prized by God cannot also be prized by human beings as well?  And we know what that is, right?  It is “to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God,” (Micah 6:8), and, “to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world;” (James 1: 27). We have the Bible as a rule and guide for our behavior fully knowing that it contains all things necessary for our salvation.

All we have to do is read, learn and heed.  Perhaps I am being a little naïve. We first have to believe.  We have to believe what our parents have handed down to us.  I, myself, did not come from a “Churched” family.  And the Bible was not read as a part of our family life.  My father was an over-the-road truck driver.  He was away for much of my up-bringing. My mother was a business woman who operated restaurants for as long as I can remember as a child growing up.  They enrolled me in Catholic School in Nashville, Tennessee.  Both parents seemed interested in me having a belief in God, and in our Lord Jesus in particular, notwithstanding their lack of Church attendance or Bible teachings.

Now, I have both the Church, (not Roman Catholic but Episcopalian), and the Holy Bible. Because I later joined the Church and attended regular services, I followed the guidance of my last priest and discerned a call to the priesthood.  I also have a seminary education now.  I am blessed.

None of us are blessed for our own personal benefit.  When we are blessed, we are blessed to pass it on.  I sincerely pray that I have a loving heart.  Only God knows.  But where I am failing I pray God straightens me out.  God knows every human heart. But regardless of where your heart is, God can make it better.  You cannot, but God can. For God, all things are possible.  But you have to ask for a righteous heart in prayer.  Pray with me:

“Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.”  (BCP 355)

Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine.

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

Daily Office Readings for Friday of Proper 27: Year 2

Morning, Psalm 88; Evening, Psalms 91and 92;
Joel 2:28to3:8; James 1:16to27; Luke 16:1to9:

“You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness.  Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls.” (James 1: 19 to 21)

I love reading the letter of James.  This James was the brother of our Lord Jesus and later Bishop of Jerusalem.  We don’t hear much about him in the Gospel accounts but here he is now sharing his insights and ponderings.  The above verses remind me of the words of the prophet Jeremiah as it pertains to the “implanted word.”  Jeremiah writes, “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”(Jeremiah 31:33) 

My beloved in the Lord, we, (you and I), already have this implanted word written our hearts. When Jeremiah says, “after those days,” he is speaking of the days after our Lord Jesus comes to be with us (this generation) and shows us just how to live by that same word implanted in us. All we have to do is welcome it with meekness as James says.  We must be quick to listen and slow to speak, in person or on social media.  And when we do speak, do so from inclusive love.  And this inclusive love brings with it a certain amount of discomfort.

The inclusive person professes to be receptive to all persons, even those with whom they often disagree. Therein is the discomfort. The “exclusive” person has no such tolerance. The exclusive person makes it clear that only likeminded people are welcome. That is not who Christ wants Christians to be. Jesus ate at the home of Pharisees and healed people of the household of a centurion. Jesus received those who were his own and reached out to those who were of a different perspective, like Nicodemus.  “Therefore, rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls.”  This word that is already written on your heart.

Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine.

 “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 is saying to us, let us live to love, to serve, and to teach, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John