onewhoponders

Daily Office Readings for Saturday of Proper 25: Year 1

Morning, Psalm 55; Evening, Psalms 138 and 139:1 to 17;
Nehemiah 4:1 to 23; Revelation 7:4 to17; Matthew  13:31 to 35:

“After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands:” (Revelation 7: 9).

In this scene in Revelation we have many people of all walks of human life.  And while they are representative of almost all aspects of human life, there is one category not mentioned; religion.

All nations, tribes and voices of humanity are brought before God without mention of how they got to God. I think this is important, very important.  And here is the good part, “They will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat; for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes:” (Revelation 7: 16 and 17).

God knows all there is to know about us no matter our religion as expressed in Psalm 139 for today:

1. Lord, you have searched me out and known me;
you know my sitting down and my rising up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.

2. You trace my journeys and my resting-places
and are acquainted with all my ways.

3. Indeed, there is not a word on my lips,
but you, O Lord, know it altogether.

4. You press upon me behind and before
and lay your hand upon me.

5. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is so high that I cannot attain to it.

6. Where can I go then from your Spirit?
where can I flee from your presence?

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 25: Year 1

“So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well.” (Matthew 13: 26)

God has made all things very good as we learn in the opening of Genesis. But soon to follow is evil.  Why?  Please note that evil does not begin and then good follows. No, first there is good, and then evil follows. This doesn’t have to be.

In today’s parable Jesus tells of the wheat sown and then an enemy plants weeds among the wheat. It seems that evil only wants to spoil the goodness for evil’s sake. We start with Creation and proceed to a fall because of evil and sin. We have homes and employment and then comes foreclosure or termination, respectively.  If the first didn’t exist, the second couldn’t exist. Evil only has its existence in corrupting goodness. If we are aware of this, then being forewarned is being forearmed.

The lesson for us today is to be alert. We are not to wait for evil, but we are to understand that evil lurks at the door and its desire is to consume us but we must master it. (Genesis 4:7)

God created us very good. But we must be on the alert for the evil and sin that shows up in community, in our Church, in our friends, in our family and in our selves. We must be vigilant.  When, (not if), you see evil, call it out; even in yourself. We must separate ourselves from any evil that tries to infest itself in us. And like in the parable, as we grow in spiritual maturity, the evil will be as distinguished as weeds among wheat, and be better identified so as to be removed.

Let us ponder all that God has made good, and very good, including our Sabbath rest.

“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. 

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

What is Shabbat? Intro to the Jewish Sabbath – YouTube

Daily Office Readings for Thursday of Proper 25

Morning, Psalm 50; Evening, Psalm 103;
Nehemiah  1:1 to 11; Revelation 5:11 to 6:11; Matthew 13:18 to 23:

“When I heard these words I sat down and wept, and mourned for days, fasting and praying before the God of heaven:”  (Nehemiah 1:4)

Nehemiah broke down in tears upon hearing about the trouble and shame of those left behind and the destruction of the wall and gates of Jerusalem.  All of it was human on human violence.  He couldn’t bear it.

Weeping is prayer.  From Hagar and Ishmael (Genesis 21), to Mary Magdalene at the tomb of our Lord Jesus (The Gospel of John 20), and many points in between, like the one we have for today, God’s ears hears tears.

When it comes to crying, it does not matter about one’s faith or even if one has a faith. God has hardwired us to connect with God whenever we cry. Therefore, even if one claims to be an atheist, but whose heart has moved him or her to crying, God is notified and acts in only the way God sees fit.

I have heard it said that real men don’t cry.  That’s Balderdash. If real men have real souls, (and they do), then something emotionally painful will cause their tears to flow.  And the super sensitive ears of God will definitely hear those water droplets flow down his cheeks, regardless of surrounding noise, and respond in ways that only God can.

There is too much sadness all around today.  We have natural disasters, Covid fears and deaths, military threats, and we still have human on human violence and many other sad situations that cause all of us to come to tears as it did to Nehemiah. But God will never abandon us. “Weeping may spend the night, but joy comes in the morning,” (Psalm 30). This is because God’s ears hears tears.

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 Wednesday of Proper 25, Year 1

Morning, Psalm 119:49 to 72; Evening,  Psalm 49;
Ezra 6:1 to 22; Revelation  5:1-10; Matthew 13:10 to 17:

“With joy they celebrated the festival of unleavened bread for seven days; for the Lord had made them joyful, and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria to them, so that he aided them in the work on the house of God, the God of Israel.” (Ezra 6:22)

God often intervenes in the thinking of people around true believers. It has happened long ago, and it happens today. God influenced king Darius to assist the Israelites in the rebuilding of their place of worship.  Darius spared no resource in assisting the displaced people of God. He decreed,  “Moreover, I make a decree regarding what you shall do for these elders of the Jews for the rebuilding of this house of God: the cost is to be paid to these people, in full and without delay, from the royal revenue, the tribute of the province Beyond the River. (Ezra 6:8).

The heart of king Darius was so moved to help the Israelites that he also put words in his edict that warned those who might resist their work. He wrote, “Furthermore, I decree that if anyone alters this edict, a beam shall be pulled out of the house of the perpetrator, who then shall be impaled on it. The house shall be made a dunghill: (Ezra 6 11). There is something about the Marine in me that admires the determination of king Darius to see God’s work done without interference.

All said and done, God still works through the hearts of the people around we believers in order to help us.  All we have to do is keep believing, keep loving, and remain determined in building God’s spiritual house, that spiritual house not made with human hands, eternal in the heavens.

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 Tuesday of Proper 25: Year 1

Morning, Psalm 45; Evening,  Psalms 47 and 48;
Ezra 5:1 to 17; Revelation 4:1 to 11; Matthew 13:1 to 9:

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

I think what we are supposed to listen to with our ears is that our heart and minds should be like the good soil.  I have never heard it preached this way, “We are to be the good dirt.”

We must notice that all the seed is the same and therefore good.  What really matters is where it lands. These seeds are like the gifts of God and faith in God, given to us to bring forth a harvest pleasing to God.

But like the diverse terrain upon which some of the good seed falls, some of us are not conducive to making the most of  God’s gifts to us.  Some of us have faith that is too shallow and provide no foundation for God’s gifts to us.  Some of us are too occupied with worldliness to make good use of God’s gifts to us, which would actually make the world we are transfixed by a better place. Some of us misuse our gifts for personal gain thus let our gifts go as if taken away by birds.

We are called to be absorbent soakers of God’s seed putting everything else aside. It is in this way that we will do what is pleasing in God’s sight, thirty, sixty, and a hundred fold.

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 Monday of Proper 25: Year 1

Morning, Psalms 41 and 52; Evening,  Psalm 44;
Zechariah 1:7 to 17; Revelation 1:4 to 20; Matthew 12:43 to 50:

“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it wanders through waterless regions looking for a resting-place, but it finds none. Then it says, “I will return to my house from which I came.” When it comes, it finds it empty, swept, and put in order.  Then it goes and brings along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and live there; and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So will it be also with this evil generation:” (Matthew 12: 43 to 45).

Our Lord Jesus speaks of various evil spirits that will inhabit us should they find a vacancy in us.  They can be driven out, but if we don’t work at finding worthwhile, good spirits to make a home in us, the evil spirits will return and be even worse.

It seems we humans are made to be led by one kind of spirit or another. All spirits or longings make themselves manifest in us by the way we think, our attitudes towards others, and our charitable, or self –serving greed. We have choices.

The only choice we do not have is to stay void of any spirit at all. Every person I have ever met pushes towards some desire, the good or the bad. When I say good I include everything from studying birds, or the universe, or medicine, or theology, or anything godly that keeps us occupied with learning that may help or inform others in a good way.  When I say bad, it tends to be all practices that bring harm, hurt or death to our neighbor. The bad practices may include, but are not limited to, identity theft, the illicit sell of drugs, any desire of trying to take something that does not belong to us, and any harm we wish to have done to others, even in the name of so called justice.

We need to monitor our emotions and desires. Are they good or bad?  If accomplished, will the spirit of our desires bring others wholeness; or new helpful information; or a way to start their own search for goodness?  We must “be” those we are in any kind of relationship with. Any notion in us that has us to not care about our neighbor is the manifestation of an evil spirit that is lurking around looking for a vacancy. We must fill our desires with ambitions that build up our neighbor and our Church. Good and positive spirits do not have to appear religious but will still have a charitable and loving outcome.

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

Part 1 of 2

Daily Office Readings for Sunday of Proper 25: Year 1

Morning, Psalm 63:1 to 8, and Psalm 98; Evening,  Psalm 103;
Haggai 1:1 to 2:9; Acts 18:24 to 19:7; Luke 10:25 to 37:

“Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?’ He said, ‘The one who showed him mercy.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go and do likewise.” (Luke 10: 36 and 37)

This is the conclusion of the parable of the Good Samaritan. Most of us Christians have heard this parable. It starts with the lawyer who is trying to get out of caring for people not like himself.  “Who is my neighbor?” he asks.  Jesus tells him of both a Levite and a priest who pass the injured man by, not wanting to chance touching someone who may be dead and defile themselves, and so be excluded from temple worship. But the Samaritan truly put compassion before Church, The message of the Church is to have compassion for all people. The Samaritan got it. And he did it. How about us?  Hearing the parable is one thing.  Going, and doing likewise, is another.

Part 2 of 2

New Testament Eucharistic Readings for Sunday of Proper 25: Year B

Hebrews 7:23 to 28 and Mark 10:46 to 52  (Reprinted from April 4, 2020)

“So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus.” (Mark 10:50)

This is the healing story of blind Bartimaeus son of Timaeus who asks for his sight again.  What is often kind of glossed over is Bartimaeus throwing off his cloak.  Think about it, if you are blind you become well aware of keeping up with things so that you can put your hands on it again. I have my sight and still, I lose things all the time, my keys, my phone, my glasses, many things.

Bartimaeus, knowing he has the opportunity to stand (or kneel) before our Lord Jesus, throws off his cloak.  He lets go of his “security blanket” knowing that being before Jesus will make all things new and secure.

The same is true for us today. The only way we can put our whole trust in our Lord Jesus is to let go of false security.  Our Lord Jesus asks us today, What is it that we want Him to do for us?  What say yee? 

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 Saturday of Proper 24: Year 1

Morning, Psalms 30 and 32; Evening, Psalms 42 and 43;
Ezra 4:7 and 11 to 24; Philemon 1 to 25; Matthew 12:33 to 42:

“My soul is athirst for God, athirst for the living God; when shall I come to appear before the presence of God?” (Psalm 42:2)

While all the readings for today have good messages of sound ministry, sometimes I find that the words in a Psalm more readily resonate with me. Verse 2 of Psalm 42 speaks of how my soul longs for the Lord. My cloaked or veiled soul is struggling to be in the presence of God. But as my soul approaches the Holy Presence of God, it brings the rest of me with it. This makes me nervous.

My day to day life is not perfect. I sometimes do stupid stuff, stuff I regret.  My life during this time is the day time of my life.  And at my passing, I will enter my night time. This understanding makes me ponder about verse 10 of Psalm 42:  “The Lord grants his loving-kindness in the daytime; in the night season his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.” (Psalm 42: 8 or 10 Depending on Translation)

Every morning I play and sing hymns to my God.  These hymns go to bed with me every night. I keep this discipline as it feeds my soul. My soul that is athirst for God, athirst for the living God. I can often feel the heaviness of my soul. It might even cause a rise in my blood pressure. I too ask myself, “Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul? and why are you so disquieted within me?” (Psalm 42). May my soul, as it speaks to God, it also struggles to make me behave and live the most godly life I can.

So, as we try to listen to God, It might be good to listen to our souls as they try to bring us to God. After all, God has given us our souls as the God-spark which guides us along right pathways for His Namesake, (Psalm 23).  My advice to all is to: “Put your trust in God; for I will yet give thanks to him, who is the help of my countenance, and my God.” (Psalm 42: last verse)

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 24: Year 1

Morning, Psalm 31; Evening, Psalm 35;
Ezra 3:1 to 13; 1^st  Corinthians, 16:10 to 24; Matthew 12:22 to 32:

“When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments were stationed to praise the Lord with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, according to the directions of King David of Israel; and they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord, ‘For he is good, for his steadfast love endures for ever towards Israel.’ And all the people responded with a great shout when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid.”  (Ezra 3: 10 and 11)

This brick and mortar foundation reminds me of my spiritual foundation which was laid in me in my early elementary years at Saint Vincent de Paul Catholic School.  The Sisters there spoke of the steadfast love of God that endures forever. I remember liking and needing that very much.

The priests and the sisters dressed everyday in their vestments and in fact did station themselves at designated points throughout the school awaiting our arrival every day.  This spiritual foundation would not be realized until I reached my late twenties.  So while a spiritless edifice was built on top of my spiritual foundation, it crumbled over time because of bad decisions, but the foundation held strong. It is of the upmost importance to have a strong spiritual foundation established as early in life as possible.

It was not my parents that built my spiritual foundation, but rather the priests and sisters of St Vincent.  I had some sad moments at this school as well; there was unfair treatment of me first, and then my sister later as she caught up with me during my repeat of second grade.  But the love of the sisters and the priests far over shadowed the cruelty of the one lay teacher who I found out later, didn’t care for my mother and made my sister and me her way of revenge.

At a point in my life when my first marriage was failing I asked a friend about seeing a priest.  He told me that I could talk to his priest. I informed him that he was not catholic and therefore could not have a priest.  He said, “follow me.”  He took be to St. Anne’s Episcopal Church in Memphis, Tennessee, where I was eventually baptized. I did not know of priest outside of Roman Catholicism, and now I am one. There is nothing more important than establishing a strong spiritual foundation in our children. Later in life it will save them even if they drift away for a while. Now, let us drift into a Holy Sabbath.

“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.  

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

What is Shabbat? Intro to the Jewish Sabbath – YouTube

Daily Office Readings for Thursday of Proper 24: Year 1

Morning, Psalm 37:1 to18; Evening,  Psalm 37:19 to 42;
Ezra 1:1 to 11; 1^st Corinthians 16:1 to 9; Matthew 12:15 to 21:

“On the first day of every week, each of you is to put aside and save whatever extra you earn, so that collections need not be taken when I come. And when I arrive, I will send any whom you approve with letters to take your gift to Jerusalem:” (1^st Corinthians 16: 2 and 3).

Thus Paul begins the Sunday collection. Sunday has always been known as the First Day of the Week.  And so, we Christians, meet together for our traditional morning worship of our Lord Jesus, as we should.  This is a morning in remembrance of the Resurrection of our Lord so it truly is a re-living of Easter every week throughout the year.  But it is also a weekly collection of the fruits of our labors, that is, some of our money.  And we should do this also. Our Church needs money to pay its bills and staff including its clergy and administrative support. But Sunday is work, not a Sabbath Day in my humble opinion. The Sabbath should still be acknowledged and set aside on the Seventh Day, Saturday. However, I am aware that we have grown away from this.

In our readings for today they all seem to have either a money component or an invitation to the Gentiles, that is the Nations, to come and believe in the One True God. And in the case of the Gospel, to follow our Lord Jesus, to include the Gentiles.

Let us start with money and the Holy Place.  After king Cyrus takes over from king Nebuchadnezzar he assists the Israelites by letting them rebuild the house of the Lord with whatever money of the day that they needed. He says, “and let all survivors, in whatever place they reside, be assisted by the people of their place with silver and gold, with goods and with animals, besides freewill-offerings for the house of God in Jerusalem:” (Ezra 1: 4). Cyrus is not an Israelite himself,. He is a Persian, of the nations or Gentiles outside of Israel. And then we have Paul.  Paul tells the Church in Corinth in our New Testament reading to collect early so as to expedite the transfer of money to Jerusalem, that city that kills the Prophets. (Luke 13: 34)

In the Gospel according to Matthew, our Lord Jesus knows what the Pharisees are up to and keeps his distance. He does his works of healing and salvation from the fringes and so opens himself to the Gentiles, the Nations. We too are called to care for those outside ourselves. And we are not to value money in any of its forms more than we value God or the body of Christ, that is, the Church. When it comes to the love of Jesus our Lord, there is no “us/them.”  All believers are one body in Christ Jesus. Nothing separates us, not ethnicity, nor country of origin or its language, nor sex or its orientations, and certainly not money. We are a believing body of both the rich and the poor together.

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