onewhoponders

Daily Office Readings for Tuesday of Proper 16: Year 1

Morning, Psalms 5 and 6; Evening,  Psalms 10 and 11;
1^st Kings 1:38 to 2:4; Acts 26:24 to 27:8; Mark 13:28 to 37:

“While he was making this defense, Festus exclaimed, ‘You are out of your mind, Paul! Too much learning is driving you insane:” (Acts 26:24)

I am an advocate of life-long learning.  So I argue that not learning, and allowing ignorance to rule our minds will make us more “out of our minds.” We must be open to our truths being reinterpreted.  Saul’s leaders were okay with him as long as he agreed with their narrative. But when his truth was reinterpreted by our Lord Jesus and he was renamed Paul, they say, it’s too much learning.

For me, learning is the second “L” in my five L pattern of following Christ. First, there is simply listening. We must listen in order that we give the speaker the opportunity to be heard, and maybe even understood. When we listen, we learn. Learning then is the second L.

The third L is Love.  If we have really listened we will either see and understand the speaker’s perspective (or misunderstanding), or, if we admit it, we will come to understand that we ourselves have made false assumptions.  Either way, love will find a way to resolve our differences.

The fourth L is for living. Paul has done this. Paul has gone off and lived his new truth in Christ Jesus.  We too must put on whatever new development we are made aware of as if it were a new suit of clothes. We must adjust and feel comfortable in our new understanding of our relationship with God and one another.

The fifth L is for leading, if we get that far and are invited. Paul felt that he was called to teach, inform, or lead the nations (Gentiles) about our Lord Jesus. But this could only be done after he fully accepted Jesus and believed himself in the Way.  We too after living our lives based on the love of Christ are called to lead those uninformed people, or misinformed people about the real and inclusive love of God as made known in Christ Jesus. 

So, its not that it’s too much learning for Paul or us.  Paul had not received any continued formal education after his diverted trip to Damascus.  He received learning from our Lord Jesus. Such revelation supersedes all human schools of learning. Jesus teaches us to listen, learn, love, live and when called, to lead. But human life really begins with the love of listening.  Too many of us want to be heard but do not want to listen. Paul’s accusers did not want to listen to him. We have the same problem today. At some point our mouths must remain closed so that our ears (and hearts) will open.

Today our Church remembers Simeon Bachus, The Ethiopian Eunuch, Evangelist in Africa N. T.  and his information may be found at: The Ethiopian Eunuch.

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

Let us pray:

O Almighty God, You created us with ears with which we may hear Your divine Word of love. Be with us O Lord as we listen, learn, learn to love, live, and perhaps live to lead others in the Way of Your unconditional love through Jesus Christ our forever Lord, Amen.

Daily Office Readings for Saturday of Proper 15: Year 1

Morning, Psalm 137:1to 6, and Psalm 144; Evening,  Psalm 104:
2^nd Samuel 23:1to  and,13-17; Acts 25:13 to 27; Mark 13:1to 13:

“When they bring you to trial and hand you over, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say; but say whatever is given you at that time, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.” (Mark 13: 11)

Mark 13 is the Eschaton or “Last Days” chapter of the Gospel according to Mark. Each Gospel has its own version of the signs of the end of days.  I am often asked the question, “when we die, do we go immediately to heaven or do we wait for the last day?”  To which I go out on a shaky limb here and answer, “when a person sleeps or even is hospitalized for several days, perhaps the first thing they want to know when they awake is the current time (or date if in the hospital).  This is why we see the current date on a board in most hospital rooms. The point is, once they come back to consciousness, the time away makes little difference.  We resume where, and when, we are. Being brought before God might be the same way. We will see the next and final presence of our selves.

Maybe the more important words for me in our reading for today are the words for not worrying about what to say when it is time to preach.  Nowadays, I just outline the points that I think need to be made from the Gospel we have for the day, or the designated scripture for the purpose of the gathering, and then really, “Let go and let God.”  I depend on the Holy Spirit to use my voice for the spiritual benefit of the listeners.  It is voice to ear, and ear to soul, and soul to action in love and service.

The Holy Spirit, at some level, depends on us to have some language skills whereby we can talk or write to our neighbors.  Many of the early followers did both.  Luke, Paul and the Apostles, all talked (preached), and wrote to the various churches about the love of God in Christ Jesus. And there was that time in Acts, chapter 2, when the Holy Spirit gifted the apostles with the languages necessary to give understanding to the people. This was the Day of Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit among us, our Church.

This still happens today.  We only need to be still and give God the time to be with us. God wants every soul to be with God in eternity. Heaven is not a scarce resource. There is space for all.  Our Lord Jesus still says to us today, “Follow Me.” To this I say, “Lead Lord, Lead.”

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

Let us pray: For all Christians in their vocation (BCP p. 256)

Almighty and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of your faithful people is governed and sanctified: Receive our supplications and prayers, which we offer before you for all members of your holy Church, that in their vocation and ministry they may truly and devoutly serve you; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Daily Office Readings for Friday of Proper 15:Year 1

Morning, Psalms 140 and 142; Evening, Psalms 141, 143:1- 11;
2^nd Samuel 19:24 to 43; Acts 24:24 to 25:12; Mark 12:35 to 44:

“Now if I am in the wrong and have committed something for which I deserve to die, I am not trying to escape death; but if there is nothing to their charges against me, no one can turn me over to them. I appeal to the emperor.’ Then Festus, after he had conferred with his council, replied, ‘You have appealed to the emperor; to the emperor you will go:” (Acts 25: 11 and 12).

Paul is not afraid of death because he believes in the resurrection.  Perhaps he does not want to give his Jewish brethren the joy of killing him.  He uses his Roman citizenship to appeal to the emperor and it works.  Festus says, ‘You have appealed to the emperor; to the emperor you will go.’

No matter how good we might feel today, death is inevitable. It can be a matter of days, weeks, months, or years.  But inevitably, we will die.  Whom then do we appeal to?  The final Judge is the One who gave us life in the beginning. Let us recall the words from the Gospel according to John; “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life,and the life was the light of all people.”  (John 1:1 to 4)

Our citizenship is with our Creator and Word through Whom all life came into being. We must know that our appeal is to our Creator. The author of life will decide our fate after death has delivered us to the Holy Presence.  At least one way to sway the Creator is to be found with genuine love in our hearts.  Such love cannot be pretended. It must be truly genuine.

“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done” (Genesis 2:1 and 2). So, for this evening and tomorrow day my friends, Shabbat Shalom. 

What is Shabbat? Intro to the Jewish Sabbath – YouTube

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

As I write this blog I am in Birmingham, Alabama attending my reaccreditation for Education for Ministry, so I feel called to pray For Schools and Colleges ( BCP p. 824).

Let us pray:

O Eternal God, bless all schools, colleges, and universities and especially Education for Ministry of The School of the South at Sewanee, Tennessee, that they may be lively centers for sound learning, new discovery, and the pursuit of wisdom; and grant that those who teach and those who learn may find you to be the source of all truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Daily Office Readings for Thursday, of Proper 15: Year 1

Morning, Psalms 131, 132, and 133; Evening, Psalms 134 and 135;
2^nd Samuel 19:1 to 23; Acts 24:1 to 23; Mark 12:28 to 34:

“I have a hope in God—a hope that they themselves also accept—that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous:” (Acts 24: 15).

After his accusers use their smooth talk by buttering up Felix the Governor, trying to persuade him to execute Paul, Paul now speaks and states his case about how he has not changed the Hebrew Law and still believes in what they believe, to include the resurrection.

Paul proclaims that there will be a resurrection of both the Good and the bad – the righteous and the unrighteous.  And just as he stood before Felix then, all humanity will stand before the Great Throne of God where the Judge with gaze upon the content of our hearts.

I believe what is found in our hearts will state our case far more than whatever our earthly actions were. Our earthly witnesses may have seen us do or say something that they considered sinful, or even evil. But God looks upon us and loves us and sees the “why” of our ways. Back when Paul was Saul, he went about doing what he thought in his heart, was what God wanted of him.  It was not until our Risen Lord Jesus met him on the Road to Damascus that he was changed forever.

Our Lord Jesus teaches us that God knows our hearts and has mercy on us.  Our only hope in the resurrection is that God in Christ Jesus has mercy on us, forgives us, and accepts us into eternal glory. But like Saul to Paul who stands before Felix, we stand before our Lord. We can’t fix ourselves. We need our Maker to fix us but we have to want it first. 

We must understand that we will be raised from the dead.  Of course, I don’t know what that will be like. I haven’t been there.  It doesn’t really make any difference how we die or how our end of life is remembered, be it cremation, traditional burial, drowned at sea or blown to smithereens.  God will bring us before the Great Throne. There we will be judged. It is important that we believe this and in believing it, we conduct our lives now in accordance with a righteous heart. We do this with the help of our Lord. And the Lord of lords will help us if we just try to love one another.

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

Let us pray: BCP p. 355 

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

Daily Office Readings for Wednesday of Proper 15: Year 1

Morning, Psalm 119:145 to 176; Evening, Psalms 128, 129 and 130;
2^nd Samuel 18:19 to 33; Acts 23:23 to 35; Mark 12:13 to 27:

“And they came and said to him, ‘Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality, but teach the way of God in accordance with truth:” (Mark 12:14)

Our Daily Office Lectionary Reading of Mark is long for today and has two components. There is the issue of whether or not they, or we, should pay the tax.  Then there are the Sadducees who do not believe in the resurrection. This is why they are “SAD-U-SEE!”  I will try to deal with both.

Jesus walks into human history about five thousand years after we have been using money.  Money, especially metal coins have a pretty long shelf life, the coins will last several human life times and therefore can be handed down from generation to generation. And pretty much as long as we have had money we have had public servants who do not work fields or ply the craftsman’s trades.  Such public officials are the governing body from Cesar himself right down to the lowest soldier enforcing Roman, or whatever national law or constitution, he or she is instructed to enforce.  We need these public servants. We would be hard-pressed to have a community life without them. We also need a reserve for those who have no income.  So yes, we should pay the tax.  However, our Lord Jesus is right; God does not want the tax.  God wants our hearts and souls to be with God for all eternity; which brings us to the next issue, the Resurrection.

Jesus refuses to use the example put before him by the Sadducees regarding the woman who married several brothers, all of whom died, and finally she died as well.  The question put before Jesus is, “Whose wife will she be in the Resurrection?”  Jesus informs them that they don’t understand the scriptures.  Life in the Resurrection is independent of human traditions and laws. We are all God’s own in the Resurrection without having the limitations of our mortal restrictions. Jesus uses God’s words about being the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.  God does not say He “was” the God of them, but rather, He IS, the God of them.  They still Live!

I think they spoke correctly when they approached Jesus in the beginning. “And they came and said to him, ‘Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality, but teach the way of God in accordance with truth:”  There was no need to go any further after saying that.  Since Jesus teaches the Way of God in accordance with the truth; then they, and we, should be done with any further questions. There should be nothing further to discuss. We should just listen to Him and obey the commands to love God and neighbor.

Today our Church remembers Bernard of Clairvaux, Abbot, Theologian and Poet (August 20,1153) and his information may be found at: Bernard of Clairvaux.

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

Let us pray: BCP p. 824

O God, you have bound us together in a common life. Help us, in the midst of our struggles for justice and truth, to confront one another without hatred or bitterness, and to work together with mutual forbearance and respect; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Daily Office Readings for Tuesday of Proper 15: Year 1

Morning, Psalms 120, 121, 122, and 123; Evening, Psalms 124, 125, 126 and 127;
2^nd Samuel 18:9 to 18; Acts 23:12 to 24; Mark 11:27 to 12:12:

“What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others:” (Mark 12:9).

Reading Marks version of this vineyard parable is somewhat confusing.  Let us review Matthew’s version of the same parable.  In Matthew we read Jesus saying, “When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons:” (Matthew 21:40 and 41).  We can clearly see in Matthew’s version of this parable that it is the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders who are saying that God will destroy those who killed the son of the owner of the vineyard.  Why does our justice, in too many cases, have to have others suffer? I fully support incarceration of those deemed too dangerous to allow to go free. But I am totally against abusing people in some kind of retribution.

I ponder much from this lesson. First, why is it that too many of us want to bring violent judgment on those we find guilty? This is especially troubling when we remember that all of us have some guilt even if only a little.  If we live long enough perhaps we will grow up and never sin again. We want to wreak havoc on those we find guilty, we want to justify it by saying “[God] will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others:” Could we not just say, “God will come and give the vineyard to others?

But even after hearing the parable and passing judgment on the people of the parable, the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders now want to harm Jesus for telling the parable against them.  Do we ever learn? If we hear something, perhaps a story wherein we can see ourselves in the story in an unflattering way, perhaps this then is the opportunity to repent and change.  This is what pondering does for me. It opens me up to seeing myself in the parables and other stories, not only of the Bible, but in any story.  I want to be the good guy, but it takes work; it takes pondering about love; love even for those who are undoubtedly guilty, just as I have been. We should take retaliation and revenge off the table of how to respond to unpleasant acts done by others and ourselves.

We need to replace retaliation and revenge with love, compassion and mercy, even as we acknowledge that some of us must be restrained for the safety of our communities.  It is the loving care of our vineyard that produces the fruit that the owner wants when he returns.

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

Let us Pray: A Prayer attributed to St. Francis (BCP p. 833)

Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.

Daily Office Readings for Monday of Proper 15: Year 1

Morning, Psalm 106:1 to 18; Evening,  Psalm 106:19 to 48;
2^nd  Samuel 17:24 to 18:8; Acts 22:30 to 23:11; Mark 11:12 to 26:

“When Paul noticed that some were Sadducees and others were Pharisees, he called out in the council, ‘Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. I am on trial concerning the hope of the resurrection of the dead.’ When he said this, a dissension began between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. (The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, or angel, or spirit; but the Pharisees acknowledge all three.)” (Acts 23: 6 to 8)

Perhaps our Risen Lord Jesus selected Saul/Paul because he was born and raised as a Pharisee. The Pharisee believed in the resurrection, in angels, and in the Holy Spirit.

The scribes of the Pharisees then asked a very important question; we read, “Then a great clamor arose, and certain scribes of the Pharisees’ group stood up and contended, ‘We find nothing wrong with this man. What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?” (Acts 23:9).  This is what we all should be asking ourselves today if and when we hear someone witnessing an experience beyond what scripture reveals, and beyond our limited understanding of what God wants of us, and what God is doing in our very midst.

Even the asking of the question by the scribes is some evidence that the Holy Spirit of God is at work in the human situation. But the stubbornness of some will not allow room for the Spirit to work. The dissension became violent and the soldiers had to intervene. Even the intervention of the tribunes might have been a way in which God was acting.

I found that when I went to The Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem in 2018, there was dissension among the various Christian Churches about how to divide up the times each would have for worship in this sacred Church building. They gave authority to a Muslim family to manage which Church would worship and when. So for just over 500 years ago, descendants of a Muslim family still manage which Christian Church worships at what time.  An outside family acts as God’s regulatory hand amidst the dissension.

We too often argue about issues that we don’t follow ourselves because we are not living them out. God is watching. God wants community love for all communities. And God will cause it to happen within, or without of the community, with angels or the Holy Spirit or outside people acting in God’s interest.

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

Let us pray:

Continue with us Lord Christ as we struggle with those who believe differently than we do. Help us to love all people regardless of what they believe as beliefs sometimes change, even ours. Let us always see Your hand at work in the world about us making life better no matter who’s hand it is, as long as it is doing Your work, Amen.