onewhoponders

Daily Office Reading for Monday of the 3^rd Week of Lent: Year 1

 Morning Psalm 80; Evening Psalm 77:
Jeremiah 7:1 to15; Romans 4:1 to 12; John 7:14 to 36:

“Restore us, O God of hosts; show the light of your countenance, and we shall be saved.” (Psalm 80)

This verse shows up three times in Psalm 80. It asks for restoration and the light of God’s countenance.

It appears in different English verbiage depending on which Bible translation you read.  But the message is the same; we Christians need restoration, but this can only be accomplished if we receive the light of God’s countenance. Such a light is revealed to us only as God wishes to do so. We can’t figure it out or achieve it. But we can show God that we believe by the way we live out our lives.  I have observed that God has blessed those who discipline themselves with the light of God’s countenance as God did with Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3). God also walked with Abraham and revealed many signs to him.

“He [Abraham] received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the ancestor of all who believe without being circumcised and who thus have righteousness reckoned to them, and likewise the ancestor of the circumcised who are not only circumcised but who also follow the example of the faith that our ancestor Abraham had before he was circumcised.” (Romans 4: 11 and 12).  This is Paul reflecting on the importance following in faith and how important it is.  So for me, circumcision was never necessary, and therefore, God’s inclusiveness was always open to women.

This is the long way around the elbow in order to reach my point, and that is, God finds us if we prepare a place to receive God and live our lives open to accept the hints and nudges from God, and to see the burning bush in our own lives. God even went to Saul/Paul not because Paul figured everything out; in fact Paul was wrong about what he thought  God wanted.  He thought he was doing what God wanted until God, in the Risen Lord, stepped into his life and changed him and Christians everywhere, forever.

The message is clear. The light of God’s countenance will restore us if we walk in the light of God’s countenance in prayer and love. I would also recommend studying the lives of the saints of God. We have such wonderful examples in our Church history. Such study is not “figuring it out,” but rather, creating a space, a stepping stone for God to enter your life and change you forever.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to, and through, the saints of God, and then ponder anew what the Almighty can do.  John

Part 1 of 2

Daily Office Readings for Sunday of the 3^rd Week of Lent: Year 1

Morning Psalms 93 and 96; Evening Psalm 34;  
Jeremiah 6:9 to 15; 1^st  Corinthians 6:12 to 20; Mark 5:1 to 20

“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own?”  (1^st Corinthians 6:19)

I have to be honest about picking these words.  I picked this verse from our Morning Prayer reading because it shares the light of our Gospel reading from the Gospel according to John in our Eucharistic reading for today which follows in Part 2 of 2 below.

Leading to this insight about our bodies being temples of the Lord, Paul, is on a tirade about fornication, which is good advice. But he reminds us that deep within us is the soul, the temple resting place of God. It is a sacred place in us specifically set aside as the dwelling place of God.  It should be taken care of and maintained with prayer and devotion to God.

Part 2 of 2

Eucharistic Readings for the 3^rd Sunday of Lent: Year B

Exodus 20:1 to17;  Psalm 19;   1st Corinthians 1:18 to 25;   John 2:13 to 22;

“ He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!”” (John 2:16)

This all started within reason. Worshipers could not afford to bring sacrificial animals to the temple trusting that the sacrifice animals would be okay on the journey. So, “businesses” were set up to satisfy the need to offer healthy animals for sacrifice according to the Law of Moses. But like many good ideas, things that start out with good intentions sometimes end up to be self-serving.

Jesus uses his own body as a metaphor for his own resurrection. As our Lord Jesus uses his body as an example, so too should we look at our own bodies as temples to the Lord. Within us is a space sacred to the Lord.

We have choices.  If we do not reserve our inward temples for the Lord, something else will move in and occupy it. What moves in may not be pleasant or in our best interest. This morning’s Gospel reading was about Legion, the multiple demons that possessed a man. Let us choose Jesus because Jesus can, and will, save us and keep us in heaven for all eternity; so say the saints of God.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to, and through, the saints of God, and then ponder anew what the Almighty can do.  John

Daily Office Readings for Saturday of the 2^nd Week of Lent: Year 1

Morning Psalms 75 and 76; Evening Psalms 23 and 27;
Jeremiah 5:20 to 31; Romans 3:19 to 31; John 7:1 to13:

“For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law.  Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one; and he will justify the circumcised on the ground of faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.” (Romans 3:28 to 31)

So Paul says we are justified by faith apart from works prescribes by the law. I think one of those laws is to remember the Sabbath and keep it Holy. Paul does not annul the law, only says that works are apart from, separate from, but in addition to the faith requirement, and still viable. Sometimes I think Paul needs balance..

He also asks if God is concerned for people outside the “Law People?”  The answer is, “Yes.” God is very concerned for all people. Nobody is wasted. He, Paul, also points out that this faith we have is the same faith of both Jew and Gentile. There is no “them,” or “us.” We are both and, not or. God loves us all.

For us who are Christian, our Lord Jesus has summed up the Law into “Love God with all that we are,” and this is shown by both private prayers and public worship, the latter not to be confused with keeping the Sabbath; and, to love one another. This is the Law handed down to us from our Lord Jesus. So none of us should think that we can just do away with the law to love God and to love one another, and all the faith works that the Lord’s Law requires.

The saints since the time of Jesus have all had the quality of prayer, charity and journaling.  It is this last quality that informs us today about what it means to be a follower of our Lord Jesus. From Perpetua to Mother Teresa, we should all read the words of the saints of God. I think they give St Paul balance and gives us direction.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to, and through, the saints of God, and then ponder anew what the Almighty can do.  John

Daily Office Readings for Friday of the 2^nd Week of Lent: Year 1

Morning Psalms 95 and 69; Evening Psalm 73;
Jeremiah 5:1 to 9; Romans 2:25 to 3:18; John 5:30 to 47

“Rather, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and real circumcision is a matter of the heart—it is spiritual and not literal. Such a person receives praise not from others but from God.” (Romans 2:29)

I’m going to run the risk of offending some of you today.  I truly hope that I do not. Some Christians do not like Jews. Such attitudes make me sad. They claim to love the Jew named Jesus, who kept all the Jewish traditions, but at the same time, the same Christians refuse to give his tradition an honest look.

I see Judaism as a faith not a race. I don’t believe in race. Sorry, it’s just me. The Jewish people were the displaced Israelites who escaped bondage under the Pharaoh of Egypt.  They were probably mixed with Egyptian blood as well, after all, Joseph, son of Jacob (Israel), married the daughter of an Egyptian and had two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh.  They became Tribes of Israel even though they were half Egyptian.  My whole point is that we are what we practice, not who we claim as biological ancestors, but rather, who we claim as our spiritual ancestors.  Abraham himself came from the place that is now known as Iraq.  So what is being a Jew inwardly as Paul tells us?

Being a Jew at heart for me really means practicing the faith and worship of one God, the Creator of all that is, and lover of life, all life.  Further, I see Christianity as a path within Judaism, not a totally different way of honoring God. I am a U.S. Marine (retired) but I don’t get upset when people reference my conection with the U.S. Navy. Marines come under the Department of the Navy.  We Christians try to follow Jesus the Jew in all that he commands us.

There is one caution about the word Jew I feel I must remind us. When we read “the Jews” in the Gospel, especially, the Gospel according to John, let us be advised that that the evangelist is really talking about the Temple authorities, not the regular Jewish people. Too many Christians have taken the wrong use of this word to sanction anti-Semitism.

Mad at me yet?  I hope not. If we aspire to be a people of love we can’t harbor any hatred or malice towards those who differ from us. We must strive to love all people. Thank You Jesus.

For this evening and tomorrow day my friends; Shabbat Shalom

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to, and through, the saints of God, and then ponder anew what the Almighty can do.  John

Daily Office Readings for Thursday of the 2^nd Week of Lent: Year 1

Morning Psalm  71; Evening Psalm 74;
Jeremiah 4:9 to 10 and 19 to 28; Romans 2:12 to 24; John 5:19 to 29

“When Gentiles, who do not possess the law, do instinctively what the law requires, these, though not having the law, are a law to themselves.  They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts, to which their own conscience also bears witness; and their conflicting thoughts will accuse or perhaps excuse them on the day when, according to my gospel, God, through Jesus Christ, will judge the secret thoughts of all.” (Romans 2:14 to 16)

This just goes to show that all humanity, Jew or Gentile (the Non-Jew Nations), all have a sense of what is right and what is wrong. And according to later writings in Jeremiah which says, “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.  No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the LORD,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.” (Jeremiah 31:33 and 34)

God, in Christ Jesus, has written this on the human heart, whether we know it or not. I think we do know it however.  We don’t need a list of written laws for right and wrong to obey, or enforce. We already have an innate sense of the right thing to do or say. It has been given to us by God. It is called our conscience. We all have it or we perhaps suffer from some kind of anti-social psychosis which may have been known as demonic possession in the day of Jesus.

We truly should let our conscience be our guide. I think too that we all have secret thoughts. These secret thoughts will be judged by our Lord Jesus at our judgment day.  Personally, I think we will be judged on whether or not we carried out our dark thoughts, or subdued them as demons trying to possess us. It is possible to subdue our passions but it might take being a part of a society greater than one’s self: a church family or a benevolent fraternity or sorority bent on doing good; perhaps a combination of both church and fraternity or sorority or other benevolent associations.

But as our reading from Romans points out, all of us have some God-given sense of what is good and right so to do.  Let us remember the caution from St Paul, “Conflicting thoughts will accuse or perhaps excuse [us] on the day when, according to my gospel, God, through Jesus Christ, will judge the secret thoughts of all.”

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to, and through, the saints of God, and then ponder anew what the Almighty can do.  John

Daily Office Readings for Wednesday of the 2^nd Week of Lent: Year 1

Morning Psalm 72; Evening Psalm 119:73 to 96;
Jeremiah 3:6 to 18; Romans 1:28 to 2:11; John 5:1 to18

“Or do you despise the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not realize that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” (Romans 2:4)

At one point in my life I was training to be a machine shop operator.  After our school training was completed places of employment were found for us. I was hired at a printing machine company. My supervisor’s name was Clyde Hampton, (I don’t know if he is still with us), and he was very patient and kind with me at a time when I had low moral values.  I had a poor work ethic even though my dad had raised me to work for what I needed.  I was in my late teens, rebellious and thought I could outsmart Mr. Hampton. It was later in life that I realized how patient and kind Mr. Hampton was with me. He never threatened me with firing me even after I had been repeatedly late for work. His kindness and patients I remembered later in life and was truly sorry for not being a better worker for him. Lent is a time of spiritual maturation.

I think if my machine shop supervisor tried to use intimidation on me it would have resulted in an adversarial employee relationship, one which would not have favored me and I would have been fired. As it turned out, albeit much later, I repented of my callous ways and begin to take work responsibilities more seriously. I matured both morally and spiritually.

God brings us in with kindness and patience. Wrath may be in store for some, but we have choices. Let us not behave only to avoid wrath, rather, let us be brought to our knees in tearful sorrow and the need to amend our lives. Sadly, we can learn a lot about ourselves through experiences we can’t go back and change. However, we can learn from them and make a real change in the way we go about our lives moving forward. I have learned this from my dad, from Clyde Hampton and from the stories of our saints in Christ Jesus.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to, and through, the saints of God, and then ponder anew what the Almighty can do.  John

Daily office Readings for Tuesday of the Second Week of Lent: Year 1

Mornings Psalm 61 and 62; Evening Psalm 68;
Jeremiah 2:1 to 13; Romans 1:16 to 25; John 4:43 to 54

“The father realized that this was the hour when Jesus had said to him, ‘Your son will live.’ So he himself believed, along with his whole household. Now this was the second sign that Jesus did after coming from Judea to Galilee.” (John 4: 53 and 54)

Jesus has just complained about the people not believing unless they saw signs and wonders. In fact, he had just said it to this royal official and father of a dying child. I find it strange that the word faith is not mentioned in the Gospel of John in any English translation, at least not one that I have seen. My thought is that faith was too mild a word and a noun. The tellers of the Gospel of John wanted an action word, a verb. Faith is something you have, or don’t have. Believing is something you do, or do not do. What you believe is made manifest in your action or inaction; or is should be.  

I know that for me, I try hard to live into what I believe, which is based on my faith and I also have hope, a lot of hope.  Today we do not get to talk to a human Jesus. We do however, get to talk to a Risen Jesus. It’s the same Jesus. The signs and wonders still happen today.

The father in today’s reading verified his so-called belief by inquiring about the time the healing happened. When he got scientific proof, he felt more comfortable in his belief. Perhaps this is the way it should be. Maybe we first believe and then let science back it up. 

Sometimes however, science disputes what the ancient writings have said, to wit: the earth is not flat nor is it the center of a universe that revolves over it. But then I remember, the father in this story didn’t base his belief on the ancient writings but rather on the very word of our Lord Jesus. I pray too that I first believe and then let science substantiate my faith, hope, trust, love and belief. Thank You Lord Jesus. Where are you in this story?  Do you believe no matter what?

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to, and through, the saints of God, and then ponder anew what the Almighty can do.  John

Daily Office Readings for Monday of the Second Week of Lent: Year 1

Morning Psalms 56 and 57; Evening Psalms 64 and 65;
Jeremiah 1:11 to 19; Romans 1:1 to 15; John 4:27 to 42

“The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, “One sows and another reaps.” I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”  (John 4:36 to 38)

I must have read this passage containing the story about the woman at the well at least a hundred times, and yet, I am getting a whole new message now. 

I study the saints of God. Many of them are my spiritual heroes. They were the sowers of my faith. They labored in the spiritual fields. I read their works and benefited from their labors. I am so thankful.

Jesus talks about eating the instructions of God as his food.  He lives to obey God. It seems Jesus and the saints eat to live; I, on the other hand, too often, live only to eat my next meal. I can, and will, do better.

I like thinking that I have entered into the labor of those holy people I have read about, and there are many. They planted, I harvested. I entered with them in their labor, in the work God has assigned “us” and this pleases me. I look through “A Great Cloud of Witnesses: A Calendar of Commemorations; by Church Publishing;” everyday.  It is a starting point that I use to go deeper with other sources.

Whose spiritual shoulders have you stood on?  Do you alter your life on the words of Evelyn Underhill, or Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. or Bede, or Richard Hooker, or Anselm as do I? If so, you have joined with them in their labor. You are one with them in Christ Jesus. What an honored place to be. Listen to their testimony, their words, their life. Hear what these saints are telling you. They have planted, they have sown, you are now reaping. But if you listen to them and amend your life with their help you are with them as one in Christ Jesus. What a wonderful place to be.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to, and through, the saints of God, and then ponder anew what the Almighty can do.  John

Part 1 of 2

Daily Office Readings for Sunday of the Second Week of Lent: Year 1

Morning Psalms 24 and 29; Evening Psalms  8, and 84;
Jeremiah 1:1to10; 1 Corinthians 3:11 to 23; Mark 3:31to 4:9

“See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.” (Jeremiah 1:10)

Jeremiah’s call from God is to continue in God’s plan to bring all nations, all people to God. Jeremiah is called even before he is born. I think many of us today are also called before we are born but fail to hear God’s call. We say we are only a child, or that we can’t, and cannot possibly do such important work. But God says to you, “Do not say you can’t anymore.”

Part 2 of 2

Eucharistic Readings for the Second Week of Lent: Year B

Genesis 17:1 to 7 and 15 to16; Psalm 22:22 to 30; Romans 4:13 to 25; Mark 8:31 to 38

“I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.” (Genesis 17:7)

So it seems that God has always had a plan to bring the whole world to God’s self. God starts with Abraham, making an everlasting covenant. Paul continues along this line in our Romans reading for today: “For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith.” (Romans 4:13)

We too often want a “made for movie,” way of life with personal benefit for ourselves. Peter even wanted a better outcome for Jesus. “But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan!  For you are setting your mind, not on divine things, but on human things.”  (Mark 8:33)

When Jesus turns away from Peter, he turns away from the Symbolic Church, just announced. He then calls for the attention of all his students (disciples). He tells us that we, the church, must not circumvent the divine plan of God. God’s Will, will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. This has been established from the time of Abraham. It is still God’s plan today. We too must work through our troubles with steadfast resolve. God is with us and will never abandon us. Praise Jesus!

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to, and through, the saints of God, and then ponder anew what the Almighty can do.  John

Daily Office Readings for Saturday of the First Week of Lent: Year 1

Morning Psalm; 55; Evening Psalms; 138 and 139:1 to17;  
Deuteronomy 11:18 to 28; Hebrews 5:1 to 10; John 4:1 to 26 

“God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”  (John 4:24)

For me, this verse is the most profound in all Scripture, and that is, that God is Spirit, not male or female. God is not only beyond any human identifier, God is beyond anything we can begin to understand. Anselm, (Archbishop of Canterbury 1109), rightly proclaimed, “God is that than which nothing greater can be thought.” Anselm is so correct. I think we are so proud of God’s creation of us, that we began to think God was looking in a mirror in creating us. I don’t think so.

I believe the Spirit of God was patient enough to see how the God-Spirit host would evolve and then, in the fullness of time, God would come among us regardless of what we look like, or how many variations we are. It’s weird I know. And while none of us can capture the concept of God, as Anselm informs us, that also means none of us can be refuted. First and foremost, “God is Spirit, and those who worship [God] must worship in spirit and truth,” to the very best of our ability.

Today we also remember George Herbert, Priest 1633.

“Herbert, served faithfully as a parish priest, diligently visiting his parishioners and bringing them the sacraments when they were ill, and food and clothing when they were in want. He read Morning and Evening Prayer daily in the church, encouraging the congregation to join him when possible, and ringing the church bell before each service so that those who could not come might hear it and pause in their work to join their prayers with his. It is said even those tilling the soil would stop and attend o prayer.” (Great Cloud of Witnesses for February 27)

George Herbert is one of my Anglican heroes. I follow his pattern of Morning and Evening Prayer in our Book of Common Prayer, albeit at home. I do encourage others to do so as well.  I want people to know that I am praying for them and for their loved ones on a daily basis. Thomas Bray, Anselm, George Herbert and a few others are my spiritual guides and are the saints to whom I give ear for good spiritual counsel regularly. Who do you read regularly, beyond the Bible, for guidance and support?  Such people are the saints of God.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to, and through, the saints of God, and then ponder anew what the Almighty can do.  John