onewhoponders

Daily Office Readings for Friday of Proper 26: Year 1

Morning, Psalm 69: ; Evening, Psalm 73;
Ezra 7:27 to 28, 8:21-36; Revelation 15:1 to 8; Matthew 14:13 to 21:

“When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.’ Jesus said to them, ‘They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” (Matthew 14:15 and 16)

I think the disciples forgot one of the most important of Jewish codes of conduct; the hospitality code. Our Lord Jesus has extended this hospitality requirement to not only the disciples, but to all of us who follow him, to all who call themselves Christian.

In modeling this hospitality code Jesus teaches us to depend on God to assist us.  After our Lord takes the food, he blesses it before dividing it up and handing it out. We are not alone in caring for others. There is no one we can help whom God does not love. And this hospitality code is not limited to food.

Assisting the needy with a place to shower and sleep (at a safe location), with medical care, and transportation to any of these places is equally important. What we need, all people need. It matters not about where we are or how little we have.  God is not about what little we have.  God is about how much we care.

Since the beginning of creation God has brought us into a “shared” world; a world in which we humans were the last to arrive and share with creation what was already here. Thus, we are trusted to share with one another to the best of our ability, within reason, and we are not to look for easy excuses to deny others. We must feed them, clothe them, house them and heal them. Let us take our Sabbath rest and ponder what these lessons might mean for us who listen to our Lord Jesus.

“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 Reading for Thursday of Proper 26:Year1

Morning, Psalm 71; Evening, Psalm 74;
Ezra 7:1to 26; Revelation 14:1 to 13; Matthew 14:1 to 12:

“For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach the statutes and ordinances in Israel.” (Ezra 7:10)

Our Ezra reading for today reports a long list of fathers that led to Ezra. I find this paternal lineage very impressive. His lineage is from Aaron the original chief priest. It is hard to find this kind of fatherhood today. And, it’s problematic. Irresponsible fatherhood can lead to neglected children.

For my own lineage, I am John, some of Tom, son of Dinky Guy.  I don’t know much more than that.  However, I do have a son who is also John. The point to be made is that faithful fatherhood for sons is so important.  It is more important for a son to be the faithful offspring of a good father than being his biological offspring. I believe responsible fatherhood will curve the number of starving children all over the world.

Faithful fatherhood is also very important for the raising of girls also. I have daughters. Some biological, some not, all loved very much.  In the end, it is only love that matters. Young women who had loving fathers look for loving men to partner with should they be heterosexual. But regardless of sexual orientation, sons and daughters are able to live into all that God wants them to be if they are raised by good fathers. They may not “set their hearts to study the law of the Lord, and do it,” as did Ezra, but there is a greater chance of them being good people and good citizens and good parents themselves.

All of us should be proud to identify ourselves as sons or daughters of whoever our parents were. If not, then we have all the more reason to begin a good and faithful lineage so that our sons and daughters will identify as being from us. Sometimes we just have to start something good.

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

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Daily Office Readings for Wednesday of Proper 26: Year 1

Morning, Psalm 72; Evening, Psalm 119:73 to 96;
Nehemiah 13:4 to 22; Revelation 12:1 to 12; Matthew 13:53 to 58:

 “He came to his home town and began to teach the people in their synagogue, so that they were astounded and said, ‘Where did this man get this wisdom and these deeds of power? Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all this?’ (Matthew 13: 54 to 56)

Every time I read this passage it reminds me to not leave God out of the equation.  His hometown folk did know who Jesus was as he grew up among them, but they, and often I, fail to craft the question correctly. It is not “Where” did this man get this wisdom and these deeds of power?  The correct question is, “From whom” did this man get this wisdom and these great deeds of power?

God can, and often does use any one of us to do great deeds of power. The sooner we accept that all great deeds of power come from God, and that God is always using someone among us to do or speak great deeds, we will then stop being critical of one another and appreciate God working through us, for us. When this acceptance happens, hopefully we will stop being critical of people we have known only because we have known them. We must always ask, “What is God doing now?”

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Today we remember Richard Hooker (Priest and Theologian November 3, 1600)

Readings for the Remembrance of Richard Hooker

Psalm 37:1 to 9; 1^st Corinthians 2:6 to16; John 17:18 to 23 

“Yet among the mature we do speak wisdom, though it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to perish.” (1^st Corinthians 2:6)

Throughout my blogging year I mention Richard Hooker several times. I often refer to his three legged stool, his metaphor of our Anglican faith that is fed by Scripture, Tradition and Reason.”  He was a spiritually mature person who sought after divine wisdom. To borrow the lesson from part 1 of today’s blog, Richard Hooker is such a one whom God gifted with understanding beyond his own studies. It is from such people as Richard Hooker that we are able to ponder the deeper meaning of our faith walk.

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

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Daily Office Readings for Tuesday of Proper 26: Year 1

Morning, Psalms 61 and 62; Evening,  ;Psalm 68:
Nehemiah 12:27 to 31a, and 42b to 47; Revelation 11:1 to 19; Matthew 13:44 to 52:

“The earth shook, and the skies poured down rain, at the presence of God, the God of Sinai, at the presence of God, the God of Israel.  You sent a gracious rain, O God, upon your inheritance; you refreshed the land when it was weary:” (These are two verses from Psalm 68)

I just watched a video where people (many women and children of southern Madagascar) are starving due to global climate change. For them climate change is not political, it is life, or should I say, the ending of it.  To read these words of a gracious rain in today’s Psalm 68 I thought how wonderful it would be for God to have it rain for these people, even in spite of the ecological negligence the rest of us perpetrate on them and others like them.

That God would have me catch this television article on the day of the words of Psalm 68 is no coincidence. That I am sharing these words with you is also no coincidence. You and I need to advocate for the downtrodden and our planet, this fragile earth our island home.`

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All Souls / All Faithful Departed

Psalm 130, Wisdom 3:1 to 9, 1^st Thessalonians 4:13 to 18, and John 5:24 to 27: 

“Very truly, I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come under judgment, but has passed from death to life.” (John 5:24)

I like the part where it says, “does not come under judgment.”  I have many deceased friends who did not claim a specific denomination nor attend Church regularly.  But God knows their faith.  We are not to judge them. That will be God’s job.  These are the Faithful Departed which we remember today.

I like that our Church has set aside a day of remembrance for people we have lost to death. Some died of natural causes or disease. Some were victims of mass murder such as a school shooting or shootings at a public gathering; some were victims of terrorist attacks such as the attacks of 9/11.  We should not let the evil plan of a sinful person or group determine when we mourn our loss. Our Church has a day for this. It is today. We remember them today and again give them to God Almighty where they have “passed from death to life.”

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

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Daily Office Readings for Proper 26: Year 1

Morning, Psalms 56 and 57; Evening, Psalms 64 and 65;
Nehemiah 6:1 to 19; Revelation10:1 to 11; Matthew 13:36 to 43

“I will confess you among the peoples, O Lord; I will sing praise to you among the nations.” (Psalm 57)

For me, “confessing God” means giving God proper credit for the good that happens to us as we journey through life.  I know that the good that has happened to me was not of my own doing. There have been opportunities and breaks in my life that were beyond anything I could ask or imagine. There have been military or government rules or regulations that were broken or changed  that favored my further progression as a servant of God. And for all this I am so truly thankful.

I talk God up whenever I am with others in order that they understand that my progression in life is not my strategy conceived and built by me but rather by God.  I want people to put their trust in God again. We are not on our own to love. We are owned by Love.

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Today is All Saints Day! 

Eucharistic Readings for this day are Wisdom of Solomon 3:1 to 9; or Isaiah 25:6 to 9; Psalm 24; Revelation 21:1 to 6a; and John 11:32 to 44:

Too few people are aware of this annual remembrance. Most know about Halloween or, All Hallows Eve, the night before all Saints Day but have no idea about the day we set aside to remember the saints of old.  There are many. We have the apostle saints, Matthew, John, James, Peter and the others. We have the post resurrection saints, a list that we are still adding to, like Saints Paul, Francis, Mary (Mother of Jesus) and Mary Magdalene, Teresa and many, many others

The saints made great personal sacrifices while living out their godly lives. Many were martyred like Joan of ark and Martin Luther King Jr. and many others. Others also suffered in the teachings of God’s love but they maintained their faith no matter what, setting for us examples of righteous living. “Having been disciplined a little, they will receive great good, because God tested them and found them worthy of himself:” (Wisdom of Solomon 3:5).  Remember from part 1 of today: “I will confess you among the peoples, O Lord; I will sing praise to you among the nations.” (Psalm 57)

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

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Daily Office Readings for Sunday of Proper 26: Year 1

Morning, Psalms 24 and  29; Evening,  Psalms 8 and 84:
Nehemiah 5:1 to 19; Acts 20:7 to 12; Luke 12:22 to 31:

“A young man named Eutychus, who was sitting in the window, began to sink off into a deep sleep while Paul talked still longer. Overcome by sleep, he fell to the ground three floors below and was picked up dead.  But Paul went down, and bending over him took him in his arms, and said, ‘Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him.’ Then Paul went upstairs, and after he had broken bread and eaten, he continued to converse with them until dawn; then he left. Meanwhile they had taken the boy away alive and were not a little comforted.” (Acts 20: 9 to 12)

As a preacher, I try hard not to preach anyone to death.  Jokes aside, Paul stops and goes down to the young man and proclaims “his life is in him.”  If we go to sleep in a Gospel reading, or a Gospel hymn, or a spiritual reading as an end to our day, our life is still in us even if we die. And angels will take us away alive.

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New Testament Eucharistic Readings for Sunday of Proper 26: Year B

Hebrews 9:11-14 and Mark 12:28-34

“Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”  (Mark 12: 29 to 31

Different biblical English translations have different wordings being asked of our Lord Jesus. Some ask, “which is the greatest of the Commandments?”  Some ask, “Which is first of the Commandment?  And, some ask, “Which is the most important of the Commandments?  However, in all of them, it seems the asker is looking for a single commandment answer. Our Lord Jesus gives a compound response. First is to love our Creator God with all that we are, in strength, in mind, in soul and in heart. And then, as if either not concerned about it being a one or two point answer; or, that the part two is so closely attached to the first that it cannot be separated, Jesus informs us that we are to then, and only then, love other human beings as we love ourselves. And yes, we are to love ourselves as a fellow human being but only after loving God first.

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 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