onewhoponders

Part 1 of 2

Daily office Readings for Sunday of Proper 12: Year 1

Morning, Psalm 24 and 29; Evening, Psalm 8 and 84;
2^nd  Samuel 1:17 to 27; Romans 12:9 to 21; Matthew 25:31 to 46:

“Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me;” (Matthew 25: 40)

In Matthew, this is the separation of the sheep from the goats. It is a metaphor.  In this metaphor goats represent those of us who do not see ourselves as the family of Jesus. Sheep however, are identified as members of the family of Jesus.  This metaphor suggests that the real identification is one of a caring heart rather than an indifferent one. The good news is that we can be transformed from goat to sheep without harsh surgery or DNA injections.   We just have to have a change of heart. This we can do if we really want to.

Part 2 of 2

Eucharistic New Testament Readings for Sunday of Proper 12: Year B

Ephesians 3:14 to 21  and  John 6:1 to 21:

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

Jesus will testify that he came to serve and not to be served.  He also does not want to continue the failed idea of having a king even though he was also fully God. The king paradigm had to be destroyed. It was wrong when they asked for Saul to be king, and it’s wrong today.  Jesus will have no part of it. Also, monarchies suggest that child heirs will be as good a ruler as were their parents. But history has shown different.  The best leaders are elected from the midst of the people, and for a limited time.  

God is our king. Also, God in Christ Jesus is our king. The Kingdom of God is not one of physical might but rather, of love, compassion and mercy. Love, compassion and mercy will transfer us to eternal life because they are the essence of eternal life.  Mighty physical power is temporal. It will decompose and return to the nothingness from whence it came.  But love, compassion and mercy are forever and without end.

Let us live to love, rather than just live to live, listening to what the Spirit is saying to, and through the saints of God, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Saturday of Proper 11: Year 1

Morning, Psalm 55; Evening, Psalms 138, and 139:1 to 17;
2^nd  Samuel 1:1 to 16; Acts 15:22 to 35; Mark 6:1 to 13:

“He left that place and came to his home town, and his disciples followed him.  On the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, ‘Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands!  Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?’ And they took offence at him.” (Mark 6:1 to 3)

And sadly, this was on the Sabbath, like today for us.

This kind hometown response to the works of our Lord Jesus comes to us from the Gospel accounts frequently. This lesson reminds us that God can, and does, work through anyone. It is understood by we Christians today that this however was not just anyone, it was God Incarnate, our Lord Jesus in the flesh.

But we must also understand that God can bring us a message through the lips of anyone.  The person delivering you the message may not even be aware of the content of the message.  But it will hit home with you.  Just because you know a person, and the family they come from, or how poorly they did in school, does not mean that God can’t use them for your good and the good of your community.

When we refuse to listen to what God is bringing us because of who is bringing it, we are saying that God is not able to use such a person for good use.  I recall the little story of Jonah.  Jonah did not want to do anything to help Nineveh.  He did not like them. But God loved them. So, when Jonah finally gave in and, (I think), half heartedly delivered the message of repentance, the people of Nineveh listened and repented despite the message coming from someone that they knew didn’t care for them. We can never guess who God will use for our own good.

Because the people of Nazareth knew the returning Jesus, and his family who were still among them, they made the hasty decision that he can’t be all that special.  They didn’t consider what God might be doing.  Let us not fall in the same way. Let us keep an open heart and an open mind and be accepting and thankful for any good coming from anyone.  All good comes from God regardless of who delivers it.

Let us live to love, rather than just live to live, listening to what the Spirit is saying to, and through the saints of God, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily office Reading for Friday of Proper 11: Year 1

Morning, Psalms 40 and 54; Evening, Psalm 51;
 1^st Samuel 31:1 to 13; Acts 15:12 to 21; Mark 5:21 to 43:

“Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years. She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, for she said, ‘If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well:” (Mark 5:25 to 28).

In this Gospel account our Lord Jesus is on his way to attend to the daughter of Jairus, the leader of the synagogue. While in route a woman of strong faith who has been suffering for a long time applied her faith to the healing goodness of Jesus and was healed even without him being aware. We can do the same. The healing goodness of Jesus is available to all of us. I have learned to call this incidental healing an unexpected opportunity. Most of us are busy. But let’s not be too busy to stop and help someone if we can.

 After healing the woman, Jesus makes his way to the home of Jairus where doubters are poisoning the minds of others with their unbelief. “But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue, ‘Do not fear, only believe:” (Mark 5: 36).  Belief was what worked for the woman who was hemorrhaging.  For extra faith-power Jesus took with him his own trusted believers. “He allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James:” (Mark 5: 37).  I call these three his executive counsel.  These are the same three he takes with him on the Mount of Transfiguration and to other special occasions. With this added faith, he cures the little girl. Faith is the most powerful healing tool we have access to.  We just need to use it more.  Jesus even heals on the Sabbath.  And while this occasion was not on the Sabbath, he is known to do so.

Before I close I feel the need once again to remind us about the importance of the Sabbath.  We Christians rightly worship on the First Day of the Week (Sunday) in remembrance of the Resurrection. However, our Lord Jesus never removed the Seventh Day as the Sabbath, a gift from God for us to take seriously as a gift of rest. I will again share with you a YouTube down load about the Sabbath which features some words from Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel in his book The Sabbath, whom I learned of while mentoring EfM; What is Shabbat? Intro to the Jewish Sabbath – YouTube .  All you have to do is control click on the site and you are there. I am Christian forever but I remember our Hebrew roots and honor what I believe is God’s command to remember the Sabbath and keep it Holy. So, for this evening and tomorrow day my friends, Shabbat Shalom.

Let us live to love, rather than just live to live, listening to what the Spirit is saying to, and through the saints of God, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Thursday of Proper 11: Year 1

Morning, Psalm 50; Evening, Psalms 8 and 84;
 1^st Samuel 28:3 to 20; Acts 15:1 to 11; Mark 5:1 to 20:

“Moreover, the Lord will give Israel along with you into the hands of the Philistines; and tomorrow you and your sons shall be with me;”  (1^st Samuel 28:19).

Samuel has died. But the spirit of Samuel has been brought to the presence of Saul by a medium.  This is a Hebrew (Old) Testament acknowledgement that there is at least some sort of spiritual existence after death.  Now, Saul has been told that he and his sons will join him (Samuel) in this form of life on the next day.

My beloved of the Lord, all of us will be raised before the great throne, believers and non believers alike.  The biggest concern we should have is “what happens next?” 

Because we will be raised to some new form of awareness does not mean that we will absolutely remain that way for all eternity.  There will be judgment. Saul is discovering this in the scripture. You and I are also learning this now.  We, each of us, have the living responsibility now to live our lives to the best of our moral ability. We do this best by making for ourselves a “Rule of life.”

My personal creed or rule of life is stated thus: “I Trust in the Creating Word through the Holy Spirit of the Incarnate Word, in whom we live and move and love and have our being, and to whom we must give an account.”  I had to work in the words, “must give and account” part. Everything in scripture leads me to believe that there will be a resurrection for each of us and there will be  judgment for us in our resurrection.  We should make it easy on ourselves now while still in this life.  The old saying still holds true, “Forewarned is forearmed.” 

Saul and his sons are joining Samuel in death with short notice.  But I’m here to tell you all, that this very night is not promised to us. We know not when our mortality is required of us. The time to start getting ready was yesterday, but today is not too late. We want our mortality to become our immortality. And through our Lord Jesus it can happen. We however must do our part with Christ.

I know it sounds corny, but the one way to begin a change in our lives is to strive to love others as best we can.  This was hard for Saul.  He was jealous of David and jealous of how much the people loved David. Only near the end of his life did he come to terms with his shortcomings. But I suppose that’s better than never.  Are you jealous of anyone?  Is there anything in your heart pushing love out?  It’s not too late to change. If we need anyone to come back from the dead as did Samuel, then we have our Lord Jesus who did it for our sake. Thank You Lord Jesus.

Let us live to love, rather than just live to live, listening to what the Spirit is saying to, and through the saints of God, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Wednesday of Proper 11: Year 1

Morning, Psalm 119:49 to 72; Evening, Psalm 49;
 1^st Samuel 25:23 to 44; Acts 14:19 to 28; Mark 4:35 to 41:

“He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, ‘Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” (Mark 4: 39 and 40)

As one who ponders, I ponder about what “rebuking” language our Lord Jesus might have used to still the wind and the sea. Did the writers of our Gospel put human, regional words in the divine mouth of God Incarnate so as to make it more palatable for us?  Remember that our Lord Jesus spoke in Aramaic.  This was translated into Greek as originally written in our New Testament, and then later the Greek into Latin, and the Latin into the tongues of various peoples across the known world.  How much was lost? How much was miss-translated? How much was added to make it more palatable?

Our Lord Jesus being fully God and fully human only has to wish it done, and it is done. Of all in creation, humanity is the only being that God attempts to reason with.  We are the only ones who God tries to appeal to, to reckon with. And for us, and for our sakes, our Lord Jesus does indeed use our words when speaking directly to us. I’m still curious about how God addresses creation outside of humanity.

God could have made us as subservient as the wind and the sea and all others in creation. But obedience then would not have been our choice so much as a God-given instinct. But we have autonomy and in our autonomy a little piece of God dwells in us.  God wants to see how that little piece of God in us makes us different from all else in creation, and hopefully, in a good and loving way.

That little piece of God in us is what we English speakers call faith. (I invite non English speakers to examine their own word for faith). Why then do we too often fear one another and other forms of existence in creation? We, all humanity, are connected through the divine Presence of God that dwells in us.  And nothing, within or outside of humanity, can separate us from the love of God. We are God’s own, in this world, and with faith, in the next world as well. This is why our frustrated Lord Jesus asks, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?”

Let us live to love, rather than just live to live, listening to what the Spirit is saying to, and through the saints of God, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Tuesday of Proper 11: Year 1

Morning,  Psalm 45; Evening,  Psalms 47 and 48;
 1^st Samuel 25:1 to 22; Acts 14:1 to 18; Mark 4:21 to 34:

“And when an attempt was made by both Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to maltreat them and to stone them, the apostles learned of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding country; and there they continued proclaiming the good news:” (Acts 14:5 to 7).

Normally I am not one to be scared off when the going gets rough. But maybe, this is God’s way of getting the Word of God to more, and different places.  Sometimes we just have to move on. Perhaps it’s a way of “shaking the dust off your shoes as a testimony against them.”

There are several places in the Bible where God believing people have had to flee only to continue in the faith.   Moses, David, Elijah, Paul and others have had to relocate in order to perpetuate the word.

In more near modern times, The Amish of Europe were all but exterminated. But they fled to America and even then had to settle in Pennsylvania in order to continue in their faith. Sometimes we have to choose to run away in order to live and teach another day,

So it’s not a matter of being scared off.  It is more a matter of recognizing that the current people around you are not ready to receive the Good News. But God knows that there are people very near you who long for sustaining words. We just have to keep moving. We are not to give up, or give in.  We are to move on.

Such moving on is not always a physical location.  In our time of “E” relationships, moving on could just be a matter of deselecting one group and selecting another. In this blog I have reached people all over the globe who have selected me.  My words do not always fall on ears of welcome. But again, I’m not scared off, I just knock the dust off and keep sharing. Somewhere, someone is moved by the words that God is speaking through me.

I receive God’s words as words of love and inclusion. I also know when God holds me in silence because the words that come to me are not God’s but mine. It is perhaps more important today in our “E” community to discern what is from God and what is not, before one hits the send, or publish button. I strive to be one of the communicating saints of God and I invite all the selfless saints to be filled with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and join me in spreading the Word to all who are longing for it.  It is so much easier today to just move on if there is no love found in a few for what God is trying to do through you.

Let us live to love, rather than just live to live, listening to what the Spirit is saying to, and through the saints of God, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Monday of Proper 11: Year 1

Morning, Psalms 41 and 52; Evening, Psalm 44;
1^st Samuel 24:1 to 22; Acts 13:44 to 52; Mark 4:1 to 20:

“Again he began to teach beside the lake. Such a very large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat on the lake and sat there, while the whole crowd was beside the lake on the land:” (Mark 4: 1)

These teachable moments in the Bible are staying with me a little longer. I am starting to look at stories that are acts of teaching that I really didn’t see it before.  David teaches Saul in our 1^st Samuel lesson today.

David says to Saul, “This very day your eyes have seen how the Lord gave you into my hand in the cave; and some urged me to kill you, but I spared you. I said, “I will not raise my hand against my lord; for he is the Lord’s anointed:” (1^st Samuel 24). David is showing Saul how important he, (Saul) is, because beside his faults, he was anointed by the Lord. The lesson here is to respect what the Lord has done even if you find it troubling in your life. There is also some responsibility for us who want to learn.

Saul reasons that David is the better person and a wise teacher. And he concedes, “When David had finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, ‘Is that your voice, my son David?’ Saul lifted up his voice and wept. He said to David, ‘You are more righteous than I; for you have repaid me good, whereas I have repaid you evil. Today you have explained how you have dealt well with me, in that you did not kill me when the Lord put me into your hands. For who has ever found an enemy, and sent the enemy safely away? So may the Lord reward you with good for what you have done to me this day:” (1^st Samuel 24:16 to 19). Of course the lesson here for all who are serious about their faith is not to return evil for evil. We are taught by a just God and we are better than that.

So my lens now is looking at my faith tradition, and scripture in particular, as it tries to teach us valuable lessons about how we are to live today.  These teachings are timeless. They apply to us today. Our Lord Jesus taught from a boat to people more starved for Godly guidance than for bread. We have people around us today who are also starved for Godly guidance. You are the teacher. The lesson that Jesus teaches the teacher is to place yourself in such a way so as to reach as many as possible.  And then teach with compassion.  The people listening are like sheep without a shepherd.  You, my beloved in the Lord, are their teaching shepherd. Love them, teach them.

Let us live to love, rather than just live to live, listening to what the Spirit is saying to, and through the saints of God, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Part 1 of 2

Daily Office Readings for Sunday of Proper 11: Year 1

Morning, Psalms 63:1 to 8 and 98; Evening, Psalm 103;
1^st  Samuel 23:7 to 18; Romans 11:33 to 12:2; Matthew 25:14 to 30:

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect:” (Romans 12:2).

Being transformed by the renewing of my mind is why I ponder. It seems the more I learn, the more I find the need to learn more.  I am so far from who I was raised to be. I am not blaming parents or schools or even friends. If anything, I actually give myself a little credit for seeking answers to life changing questions. In this way I continually renew my mind.

Part 2 of 2

New Testament Eucharistic Readings for Sunday of Proper 11: Year B

Ephesians 2:11 to 22 and Mark 6:30 to 34 and 53 to 56;

“The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught:” (Mark 6:31).

Reading these words and yet, not seeing totally what it says, happens to me often.  The apostles return, and in this Gospel, they boast about all they had done and taught.  They were traveling teachers.  I think teaching is more important than feeding, or even healing.  If a person is properly taught, they may never starve. If people are properly taught they may be able to avoid sickness, like Covid, or sexually transmitted diseases, or any other life threatening disease. Teaching is so important.

Aside from healing, this is what Jesus did, he taught people the meaning of life and he taught them about their relationship to God. In this Gospel it says, “As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things:” (Mark 6: 34).

Again, our Lord Jesus is teaching.  That is what we are called to do as well. We are not called to teach people “what” to think, but rather, “how” to think. Sadly, some of us just wait for others to tell us what to think.  In the same way, we are not called to teach people “who” to love, but rather, how to love all people. Thank You Lord Jesus for teaching us the Way.

Let us live to love, rather than just live to live, listening to what the Spirit is saying to, and through the saints of God, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Saturday of Proper 10: Year 1

Morning, Psalms 30 and 32; Evening,  Psalms 42 and 43;

1^st  Samuel 22:1 to 23; Acts 13:26 to 43; Mark 3:19b to 35:

“The king said to the guard who stood around him, ‘Turn and kill the priests of the Lord, because their hand also is with David; they knew that he fled, and did not disclose it to me.’ But the servants of the king would not raise their hand to attack the priests of the Lord” (1^st Samuel 22:17).

I was an active duty U. S. Marine for thirty years.  I must admit that while I was often told to do something that I did not want to do, I was never ordered to do something immoral or against my faith as I understood my faith.  I also belong to a fraternity which makes it very clear that before I swear to an obligation, that obligation will not conflict with my duty to God, my country, my neighbor or myself.  I can live with this understanding.

I have the utmost respect for the guards who refused to obey Saul and kill Ahimelech, priest of the Lord. At some point in each life we must listen to our conscience. Our conscience resides in our souls.  This is where God speaks to us. Any government or ruler who requires of us to go against our conscience, our soul, our God, must not be obeyed.  Who knows? There may be others around you who are on the fence about what to do, but witnessing your steadfastness about what is right to do, helps them to do the right thing also. When confused about what is right to do, try to err on the side of love, compassion and mercy.

Today we also remember the Right Reverend William White: Bishop of Pennsylvania and  the first Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church. He died July 17, 1836.

The two acts of courage that I like to bring up about Bishop White is first, his resolve to follow the defeated British ships back to England where he requested to be Consecrated a Bishop. He with Samuel Provost of New York were in fact ordained bishops. This was allowed to happen because Parliament had change the wording of ordination in the last three years not requiring allegiance to the king. This didn’t happen for Samuel Seabury who had to go to Scotland to be ordained a Bishop.

The second act of courage has to do with ordaining Absalom Jones, an African American and former slave, to the Deaconate and then Priesthood in God’s one holy catholic and apostolic Church.  No one can ordain themselves to Bishop or priest.  I clearly see William White following the lead of God in both  traveling to an angry England as well as pushing aside racist attitudes and ordaining a black man to the priesthood.  And while the ordination of Absalom Jones was for the purpose of presiding over an Episcopal Church of color, the laying on of hands and liturgy is the same as for anyone. 

In the end it is the same. If we are going to err, let us err on the side of love, compassion and mercy.

Let us live to love, rather than just live to live, listening to what the Spirit is saying to, and through the saints of God, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Friday of Proper 10: Year 1

Morning, Psalm 31; Evening, Psalm 35;
1^st  Samuel 21:1 to 15, Acts 13:13 to 25; Mark 3:7 to19a

“When he had removed him [Saul], he made David their king. In his testimony about him he said, “I have found David, son of Jesse, to be a man after my heart, who will carry out all my wishes.” Of this man’s posterity God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised;” (Acts 13:22 and 23).

In Acts, Paul sums up all that we have been reading, and continue to read in 1^st Samuel.  The Hebrew people demanded to be like the other nations even after God warned them not to be like them.  But God was patient with them and allowed Saul to be their king.  This worked until Saul became self-absorbed and God then moved the kingship to David, son of Jesse.

From the house of David God brought forth from Mary a Son, whose name was Jesus, the Savior of our souls from the temporal world.  It is this Jew named Jesus who I believe was God Incarnate then, and maintains His Spiritual presence for the continual enhancement of human life on earth now, and more importantly, for all eternity.

The Israelites were called to spread the word that there is only one God. We, humanity, are to love God with all our being and also to love our fellow human beings as God loves each one of us.  This was the message of God to all humanity that was to be carried out into the world by the descendants of Abraham.  This was the message of love and inclusion that was supposed to be passed on to us by the Israelites to all nations, but the effort failed, until God gave us our Lord Jesus.

It is by the teachings and love of our Lord Jesus that we still live and move and have our being. There is but one faith regardless of how it is understood.  There is an almighty God. God is good. God is love.  God desires peace to prevail among us. Let us not let the effort to get the word out about God’s desire for us to love one another fail again. God’s introduction, resurrection and ascension of our Lord Jesus and the coming among us of the Holy Spirit is God’s final plan for us and our deliverance. We must not only receive this word, but pass it along as well.

For this evening and tomorrow day my friends; Shabbat Shalom.

Let us live to love, rather than just live to live, listening to what the Spirit is saying to, and through the saints of God, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John