onewhoponders

Eucharistic Readings for Sunday Proper 17 Year C

“For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”  (Luke 14:11)

Words by Mac Davis; “O Lord it’s hard to be humble when you’re perfect in every way, I can’t wait to look in the mirror cause I get better looking each day.”  Funny the way humility works.  If you brag about it, it’s lost.  Sorry Mac.

Humility is so lacking in our society today. However, it is very much needed.  We all need people who put community first.  We need more people who want to take a back seat to the needs of the welfare of family, of neighbors and of friends.

Humility is the insistence on my needs being taken care of only after the needs of others have been taken care of.  Humility is putting others first without the thought of recognition or reward for putting others first. It is just a way of life. Once we learn to reduce our needs we are better enabled to tend to the needs of others who may be in more dire straits than ourselves.

Self promoting seems to be the way of the world today. But as Christians we are called to be “other promoting.”  When I look at group photos I try to see who is in the back or partially behind someone.  It’s hard because they are usually blocked by someone “more important.”

Our Church is maintained by the humble. We are maintained by an Altar guild we never see but are cared for by them in the table being set and service materials properly placed.  We are financially functioning because unseen tellers receive, count and account for contributions every Sunday. These are just two of the many “hidden” humble who serve us from the love in their hearts.

Perhaps the most humble act today is just showing up.  You don’t have to be special, you just have to be.  Show up to visit someone sick; show up to take someone to an appointment; show up to attend a meeting.  All of these are selfless acts that are so meaningful to those you serve and remember the words from the letter to the Hebrews: “Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.” (Hebrews 13:1 – 2)

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to and through God’s people. John+

Daily Office Readings for Saturday of Proper 16 Year 1

AM Psalm 20, 21:1-7(8-14); PM Psalm 110:1-5(6-7), 116, 117 1 Kings 7:51-8:21; Acts 28:17-31; Mark 14:43-52

“Let it be known to you then that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.” (Acts 28:28)

Here again is one of those weird quirks in the Bible where there is a missing verse.  There is no verse 29!  Some manuscripts include here “After he said this, the Jews left, arguing vigorously among themselves” There is a verse 30 and 31, (For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ—with all boldness and without hindrance!) What does your Bible say about verse 29?

This pretty much ends Acts.  We started with Luke speaking about Peter’s experiences and we end with Paul and his experiences.  Paul leaves us with the facts that the Gentiles will listen. Ethnically, most Christians today fall into the category of the Nations, or the Gentiles.

But this is more than labels. This is really about who will listen.  And this word listen is more than just hearing; it goes straight to believing and trusting.  It seems that God is more concerned with what we believe than what our biology is.

What I get from Acts is that both Peter and Paul are Israelites who were commissioned to carry the message of eternal life and salvation through Jesus the Son of God to ALL people.  We are given a temporary window of opportunity (this life) to have eternal life and all we have to do as believe, but also, behave in accordance with our Christian beliefs.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to and through God’s people.  John+

Daily Office Readings for Friday of Proper 16 Year 1

AM Psalm 16, 17; PM Psalm 22 1 Kings 5:1-6:1,7; Acts 28:1-16; Mark 14:27-42

“So the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him. There was peace between Hiram and Solomon; and the two of them made a treaty.”  (1 Kings 5:12)

God promised Solomon wisdom and bestowed wisdom upon him.  Solomon then worked with Hiram, king of Tyre and they formed a constructive friendship that had begun with Hiram’s friendship with David, Solomon’s father. It seems to me that part of Solomon’s wisdom was the understanding that he would need other people to accomplish what he wanted to do.  Even Solomon with all his wealth could not build a house to God without the help of people outside his control and his beliefs.  Perhaps this could be our wisdom as well.

There were many levels and all kinds of craftsmen and other workers going about the business of building the House to the Lord.  They had people working with cutting down trees from the forests of Lebanon.  They had ship’s crews transporting the wood to Israel. They had stone cutters and stone finishers such that no tool of iron was heard in and around the assembly site in Jerusalem. But everything went together really well as if by the very hand of God,

I think the same is true today.  In order to have a viable church we must have agreement among the leadership like Solomon and Hiram and we must have influence with the people who have the talent that can bring the church together and continue to maintain it. Some of the support for the church comes from within the church and some from around the church through other community help organizations such as schools, urban ministries, and well known and established charitable organizations like the Red Cross and United Way and others. All such efforts are to the glory of God and there is no need to always re-invent the wheel. 

We just had our “Crank Up.”  This is what we call our annual “fill the needs of the Church” recruitment program.  We will only know the success of our efforts as time goes by. But this recruitment is reaching to people already in the pews.  David went to Tyre. Perhaps today our churches need to humble ourselves and reach to agencies outside its walls that have the shared goal of helping the needy. 

Finally, there is the idea of building a house for God within ourselves.  This should be the first house built.  Solomon already had a house for God within himself before he ventured out. Solomon prayed for understanding and so should we.  We need, inside ourselves, that house not made with hands eternal in the heavens. Once this house is established the brick and mortar house will not be far behind and the one already established will not only be viable, it will have vitality.

Let us ponder anew what the Almighty is doing. John+

Daily Office Readings for Thursday of Proper 16: Year 1

AM Psalm 18:1-20; PM Psalm 18:21-50 1 Kings 3:16-28; Acts 27:27-44; Mark 14:12-26

“Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, ‘Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.”  (Acts 27: 31)

When I read Paul’s words I think of the Titanic!  The situation was reversed.  All who stayed on that ship lost their lives.

Our Church is a ship.  Sometimes this ship travels through rough seas.

I’m still remembering Augustine from last night.  I preached on him at my Healing service.  “Augustine asserted that the Church was “holy,” not because its members could be proved holy, but because holiness was the purpose of the Church, to which all its members are called.”  (Great Cloud of Witnesses for August 28). As I live deeper into both Paul and Augustine I see both the ship and the church as anchors for safety. 

Paul was sent to the Gentiles and it was the centurion and the soldiers he was trying to save in this particular event. This ship motif is a perfect metaphor for extending salvation to those outside Israel.   Augustine proclaims the church, not so much the people ourselves that are holy but the Holy Spirit of God dwelling within the Church that makes it holy.  The church is the gathered community. There is safety in the collective body of Christ

There are some similarities between the ship’s crew and the churches parishioners.  Both come to know their fellow travelers.  Some they get along with, some they don’t.  At some level everybody knows they need each other to make the ship or church work properly.  No one can do it alone.

The temptation to leave the ship or church always lurks in the minds of the frustrated ones.  Paul advises us that unless we stay we cannot be saved. To quote the Hymn, “The Churches one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord.”  Therefore, it is Jesus Christ that we are holding on to, not the brick and mortar structures or even floatation devices that could take the path of the Titanic.

As we come to terms with our mortality and our place in the universe we come to the realization that there is a Master Planner, a Higher Power, the Great Architect of the universe. In every understanding of God there must be an acknowledgement that we are to come together for the unified and agreed purpose of honoring God; this is the Church.  It is a humbling experience. We are admitting that we, in and of ourselves, are not the end-all to our own salvation. We need to come together at some level of agreement about God for our own salvation. We are on a journey and we need to stay on the ship of our choice to be saved even if we are upset with some of the crew or fellow passengers from time to time. I have been stationed aboard naval ships twice.  At sea is sometimes rough, but pulling into port is wonderful.  This is a time of forgiving each other and having a good time. Thank You Jesus.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to and through God’s people. John+

Readings for Augustine of Hippo Bishop and Theologian (28 August 430)

Psalm 87 Hebrews 12:22-29  John 14:6-15

“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.  If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him” (John 14: 6 – 7)

“Augustine, perhaps the greatest theologian in the history of Western Christianity, was born in 354 at Tagaste in North Africa. In his restless search for truth, he was attracted by Manichaeism and Neoplatonism, and was constantly engaged in an inner struggle with his personal morals. Finally, under the influence of his mother Monnica, Augustine surrendered to the Christian faith in the late summer of 386. He was baptized by Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, on Easter Eve in 387.”  (Great Cloud of Witnesses for August 28)

John 14:6 -7 reflects the life of Augustine well as he was a deeply contemplative man who struggled to know who God is. He studied many of the spiritual paths of his day.  Finally his mother, Monnica, was able to convince him to be baptized.  Shortly after he was baptized Monnica died. We should be ever thankful for her contribution to Christian theology; she is another mother who gave us her son. While Monnica was coaxing him into baptism perhaps for his own soul, the Church has benefitted greatly because of her bringing him into the Christian fold.

“Augustine asserted that the Church was “holy,” not because its members could be proved holy, but because holiness was the purpose of the Church, to which all its members are called.”  (Great Cloud of Witnesses for August 28)  Even today we refer to our Church as God’s one holy catholic and apostolic Church.  The Church is here for us sinners.  I thank God that there is a place like the Church for us.

Augustine also said “Do not think that God makes no use of evil.” He contends that “evil will either persuade you join it, or will cause the not-so-evil among us abandon their evil ways and follow you and do good.”  Augustine’s point is that while God does not cause evil, God is watching how we relate to evil. Do we give in and join, or do we resist and draw people away from evil? This message is given every Wednesday in Holy Week here at St Paul’s.  It makes us think about what lurks around us and in us.  We must always be on guard.

 After all his searching and visiting various faith traditions, Augustine finally listened to his mother and was baptized into the Christian faith, and we Christians have benefited from that.  Thanks Monnica. At the time of her death she knew that she would not get back to her home in north Africa. She told Augustine not to worry because the Lord would find her wherever she was. She was a woman of amazing faith.   Augustine of Hippo died on August 28, 430.

Ponder anew what the Almighty can do.  John+

“Therefore, keep awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly.  And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.’ (Mark 13: 35 – 37)

From the Mark Reading for today comes this caution from Jesus, “Keep awake.”  I have read in some translations where this read, “Keep Alert.”  And to that an old friend of mine added “everybody needs a little “Lert.”  It has no particular meaning but somewhat funny to say.

Jesus’ caution however has a very important meaning and Jesus points out that this message is for all people. I think it means to be sober about our daily lives.  I don’t think it literally means to not sleep.  That would not be wise or healthy. I think it has something to do with how we live our daily lives.

Lately I have been pondering that I am the habits I keep and I am the food that I eat.  Now the latter part of this is not new.  Many health enthusiasts have been saying for a long time that we are what we eat.  The implication here is that if we eat junk, we are junk. If we eat healthy foods, we are, or should be, more healthy.  So, from a spiritual perspective, if we eat Holy Food (Communion) we are a Holy People! 

Now the first part has to do with being the habits I keep.  Here is where I try to stay committed to a daily routine of exercise, prayer and study, I really mean every day. Having said that I also, as you can tell from my blogs, I ponder and or study scripture every day.  This study is a form of praying.  It is a way of staying awake and attentive to the Presence of the Holy that dwells in me and in the world out there. Yes, I sleep. I have to. I need it.  But I also need to live a liturgical life.

Just as we have certain ritualistic procedures to perform in the Holy Eucharist so too we should have set ways of conducting our day to day habits. I will use myself as an example.  I rise every day at four am.  I dress for physical success, that is, my sweats. I then go to the kitchen and start the coffee brewing.  While coffee is brewing I go to the garage and workout. Its pushups, pull ups, sit ups, dips, leg lifts, squats, and toe touching bends at the waist.  This is my morning liturgy.  I thank God every time I complete each set of exercises.  So when I finish each I say aloud, “Thank You Jesus.”  It is my first prayer of my daily liturgy.

After this I drink water and take a cup of coffee upstairs to re-chew my pondering cud for my onewhoponders blog.  All of this is “staying awake” to me. I have a set pattern of how I do things.  In this way I live my life in an intentional, liturgical way. There truly is a method to my madness.

I do have free time during the day for family and friends but I am put back on track for guitar and piano practice which I also try to practice every day. Music is another way for me to pray.  I also like operating my model trains before bed.  These set patterns or liturgies keep me grounded while also keeping me awake to what God in Christ Jesus is doing in me and in our world. And our liturgical rhythms should be an integral part of God’s work in the world. We pray, “Let the grace of this Holy Communion make us one body, one spirit in Christ, that we may worthily serve the world in his name.” (BCP p. 372) This is the nexus of where the two liturgies meet; the personal and the communal. Staying awake also means staying awake to what God is doing in you personally. God should happen in you before you happen out there.

Let us ponder anew what the Almighty is doing. John+

A Reflection from Reading Paul’s letter to Philemon

I did  a presentation last night at one of our local, historically African American Episcopal parishes, remembering that it was four hundred years ago that the first slaves were brought to the American colonies from Africa. I was assigned to read and reflect on Paul’s letter to Philemon.

Paul was writing to a person who was indebted to Paul. Paul claims a superior status to Philemon, at least as members of the new Christian Church, and even the congregation that meets in Philemon’s home. Paul says, “I am appealing to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I have become during my imprisonment.”  What if Paul had not been jailed and given a chance to ponder this? Many of the saints that I have studied were imprisoned or under some kind of arrest or convalescing from an illness wherein they received spiritual insight. So Paul’s appealing to Philemon comes from Paul’s own lockdown and opportunity to ponder.

Paul continues, “But I preferred to do nothing without your consent, in order that your good deed might be voluntary and not something forced.”  Paul wants Philemon to change from within, not from without.  This is an opportunity for Philemon to cleanse his soul. This is an opportunity for Philemon to evaluate what it means to walk in the Way of Christian relationship.

Slaves don’t end the desire to have slaves. There may be uprisings and revolts but the real demise of slavery is to destroy it in the heart of folk. The so called slave masters who decide to turn and follow the real Jesus, end slavery, and better yet, end the idea of slavery as immoral and sinful.

Jonathan Daniels, a white seminarian who died saving Ruby Sales in 1965, had every opportunity to not get involved with the racism that was going on in Alabama.  But he returned to that place because of a turning in his heart. And while it cost him his life, he was a major turning of the heart for many white people to take a look at what real Christianity looks like.

Howard Thurman, in his book, Jesus and the Disinherited, (whose grandmother did not care for Paul’s writings) when asked to go and speak to a mostly white audience about racism and discrimination,  asked “why?”  He argued that “Negros did not commit the sin here. I and my kind were the victims in this travesty. But I’ll go.” I think this is what Paul is saying to Philemon. He is having Philemon to look at Onesimus as victim and wants him to be moved from victim to brother. Much of our victimization today is based on skin color, perhaps not so much for Onesimus.

The paradigm of skin color transcends race and is a false god, but unfortunately gained negative traction. This traction is made manifest even within African American Communities. The Brown paper bag test is something I grew up with as a child in Nashville, Tennessee.  As I lived between two predominately African American colleges (Fisk University, and [at the time] Tennessee A&I, later to be Tennessee State University) my mother would say that if the skin color of a student was paper-bag brown or lighter they probably attended Fisk, but if darker, they attended A&I. Most of the time it proved to be true, at least in the 50’s and 60’s. The new Baal for us is Race. And it too is a false god. And it pervades even down through those taught to worship it, even against themselves.

Other gods of discrimination and oppression manifest a modern slavery with their respective masters. There is the slavery of Religion in this country where false Christianity tries to use the whip on other walks of faith. There is Nationality where American citizens consider all other nationalities less than children of God. There is Sexual Orientation where heterosexuals make no room for gays and lesbians to live in comfort. There is Mental Illness where so-called sane people try to overlord those with intellectual or emotional challenges. All of these are manifestations of modern day slavery.

We as Christians are called to break the false gods that enslave people, no matter what our station in life is.  Paul says “in order that your good deed might be voluntary and not something forced.”  Every one of us needs to ponder about who we are enslaving. At some level we all may be Philemon, left to ponder about what to do about our relationship with our Onesimus. And now as Paul ends his letter, so I too close:

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.  Amen.

Blessings, John+

Eucharistic Readings for Sunday Proper 16 of Year C

Isaiah 58:9b-14 Psalm 103:1-8 Hebrews 12:18-29 Luke 13:10-17

 “When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Woman, you are set free from your ailment.” (Luke 13:12)

This is not a new situation for Jesus who continually tells them, and us, that the Sabbath is made for us, not us for the Sabbath.  God brought us into the world without Sabbaths and then saw that we needed down-time in order to put things in perspective, to ponder, and to be thankful.

But this action from Jesus in healing the crippled woman is far more than just a simple healing; it is a metaphor of what Jesus is doing for all humanity.

It shows that God is teaching love to all people AND keeping Sabbaths as commanded. Jesus continues in this formula. “Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.”  (Luke 13:10) This is a time of gathering so as to learn about God and how God wants us to live with one another. If it wasn’t the Sabbath the crippled woman might not have been there in the first place.

And as the situation would have it, an unexpected opportunity appears. “And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight.” (Luke 13:11) This woman represents all humanity made cripple with our spiritual weaknesses.  We cannot straighten ourselves out.

“When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Woman, you are set free from your ailment.”” (Luke 13:12) Jesus makes the pronouncement, the Word says the word.  That that was holding her was no longer in power. She is set free. But after eighteen years one does not just jump up and down in exaltation.  The body is not ready for that. It needs healing hands.

So “When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God.” (Luke 13:13)  St Francis of Assisi said go out and preach the Gospel and when necessary use words.  Do you think this healed woman by just walking around joyfully and praising God is preaching the Gospel?  I do.

Meanwhile, back at hater ranch “the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the Sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, “There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the Sabbath day.”” (Luke 13:14)  This leader of the synagogue could not heal like this on any day. Why then deny anybody healing no matter what day it comes on?  But the light is brought to bear on his hypocrisy as Jesus questions what any rational person would do no matter the day of the week.  Jesus’ words were pleasing to the people “and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that he was doing.” (Luke 13:17)

We must remember that our time of respite is foreordained by God for our mutual benefit and personal healing.  Therefore, Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to and through God’s people. John+

Daily Office Readings for Saturday of Proper 15 Year 1

AM Psalm 137:1-6(7-9), 144; PM Psalm 104 2 Samuel 23:1-7,13-17; Acts 25:13-27; Mark 13:1-13

“By the waters of Babylon we sat down and wept, when we remembered you, O Zion.” (Psalm 137:1)

Psalm 137 is the saddest Psalm in the Bible for me. We never hear it in the Eucharistic lectionary I don’t think (haven’t really done the homework).  But this Psalm ends very sad; something about dashing baby’s heads against stones.  Horrible!

And yet it is genuine in its anger for what has happen to the people of God who had bad leadership.

I think all people are people of the land that they live on, and in the community in which they live their lives.  I was born and brought up in Nashville, Tennessee.  I still love the place although my brother tells me that I would not know the place now, so much has changed.

While I served in the Marines various lands were summed up as “duty stations.”  The comment most often heard is that the best duty station ever was the one you just left, or the one you are going to. It was never the one you were currently assigned.  Today many people are as transit as military folk.  Some places and or communities are more meaningful for us than others. Sometimes it’s the land, sometimes it’s the people.  A caution is served here.  Land pretty much stays the same, the mountain ridges, the valleys, the same annual temperatures with associated rainfall and such. People however, change. And sometimes, people are forcibly changed.

Sometimes whole communities are dragged off to other lands.  This happened as expressed in the Psalm above about the Israelites forcibly taken to Babylon.  And it happened in western Africa in the mid fifteenth and sixteenth centuries as people were taken from their homes and forcibly brought to the Colonies, which became the United States, and made slaves.

I heard long ago that you could take the boy out of the country but you can never take the country out to the boy.  There may be some truth to that. The Israelites longed for their homeland of Jerusalem. They lamented about it and a possible return.  I think also they learned much from their experience in Babylon. I have learned that they first put their ancient history in writing while in Babylon. To that point their history was contained in oral stories. This is something to ponder later.

I think we all can learn to appreciate any place on earth as long as we are in good fellowship with God loving people who strive to create an environment where all have the opportunity to be what God has created us to be. A place not forced on us.  We will sing our old songs and we will create new ones that our children will sing. We will learn to share the joy and create hope for all.

Let is hear what the Spirit is saying to and through God’s People.  John+

Daily Office Readings for Friday of Proper 15 Year 1

AM Psalm 140, 142; PM Psalm 141, 143:1-11(12) 2 Samuel 19:24-43; Acts 24:24-25:12; Mark 12:35-44

“Set a watch before my mouth, O Lord, and guard the door of my lips; let not my heart incline to any evil thing. (Psalm 141:3)

So this verse of Psalm 141 reminds me of James’s letter where in parts of it he informs us about the negative attributes of the tongue. “With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.” (James 3:9 – 11)

I have found in my life that in conversations where feelings are tested, it truly is better to have said nothing than to have said something I will regret later. More times than not I have found myself wishing I had not said something that I shouldn’t have said; than wishing I should have said something I didn’t say. And as I ponder these ideas I learn that if I am going to err, I want to err on the side of not speaking when I should have.  This is just where I am at this moment in my life.  It might be different tomorrow or next week.  You must decide for yourself where you are in this matter of when to speak and not to speak.

Maybe it might be a matter of how much to speak.  For example, when I disagree, I could just let my no, be no rather than adding a defense which often leads to a put-down of the person who differs from me. This is what Jesus said in Matthew, “Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one.”  (Matthew 5:37)

The second part of this verse is important too.  Sometimes a nastiness welds up in my heart that oozes out of my lips and makes me regret I spoke.  Such oozing is not who I am.  But it happens. Sports announcers that I have really liked have been fired for random (so-called racist) statements made on the air.  There was no pardon or forgiveness or even counseling. No, they were just fired and told to leave. In my heart I don’t believe they were bad people.  What they said does not define who they were. We need to do better as a society, and definitely as Christians.

I will say that not everything I say defines who I am.  I make mistakes. I need to be forgiven. And so should others, especially those who have shown to be good people who made one slip.  Forgiving is Christian. It’s what we do.  If what we say that is bad seems “repeatedly” to come from a hateful or unloving heart, then that heart is what needs to be addressed.  This is where we pray “Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of Your Holy Spirit that we may perfectly love you.”  (BCP p. 355)  God did not design us with the capability to repair our own hearts. We must go back to the Manufacturer. The Repairer awaits!

Bottom line: I think we need to run any words that come from the heart through our conscience before releasing them to the lips. And even the “I don’t know, but…” should be quieted and not allowed to have air time until properly screened.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to and through God’s people. John+