onewhoponders

Daily Office Readings for Friday 5 April 2019: Week 4 of Lent: Year 1

AM Psalm 95* & 102; PM Psalm 107:1-32Jer. 23:1-8; Rom. 8:28-39; John 6:52-59

Romans

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)

My Pondering

Paul shares his conviction that nothing will separate us from the love of God.  The next step is to realize that God is love. (1John 4:16)   Therefore what‘s really going here is that nothing will separate us from God.

This should be Good News!  However, if we have not been preparing to meet God, that great appointment when kept (and it will be), may not be so pleasant. The next step in life for us will be our essence being raised into a new kind of life.  But in that next existence we will retain some kind of memory of deeds past. How do we want our earthly primate story to close as we move on to the next phase of our ontological self?

There is no stopping the shift that we will undergo and as Paul says, nothing, but nothing, will separate us from God.  Meeting God is a “must happen” event.  But we can prepare for it.  This is not a time for procrastination. It is the time for preparation. Let’s make a story that we will be happy to share with our future companions in that world beyond, from where no traveler returns, the very point in this life where we finally “got it.”  We will say, “This is the point when I saw the light and changed.”

Every now and then I feel it is time to review my personal living creed.  It is a work in progress as I read and learn and evolve.  My revised creed has been influenced by the words of Diana Butler Bass in her book “Christianity after Religion.”  Trust is a truer word than believing.  Also, I find that “Creating Word” is a more accurate term for the way I now understand God to be.  So here it is: I Trust in the Creating Word through the Holy Spirit of the Incarnate Word, in whom we live and move and love and have our being, and to whom we must give an account.

I believe there will be an accounting.  We will meet the Creating Word (God). Nothing will separate us from this future event.  The good news is that the Creating Word is all about love and mercy. Thank you Jesus.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying through and to the people of the Creating Word and “Ponder anew what the Almighty is doing.”  John Thomas Frazier Sr.

Daily Office Readings for Thursday week of 4 Lent: Year 1

AM Psalm 69:1-23(24-30)31-38; PM Psalm 73Jer. 22:13-23; Rom. 8:12-27; John 6:41-51

“They were saying, ‘Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, “I have come down from heaven”?” (John6:42)

My Pondering

They think they know Jesus.  They don’t.  In fact, none of us knows anybody unless we know God first. They didn’t ask themselves “Is God being known in this person and if so what is God dong in this person we call Jesus?”  They think if they know Jesus and his family, they are qualified to decide if God will work through him or not. So this is not judging Jesus, it’s judging God and what God will do and who God will use. To use an old Tennessee expression, “That dog don’t hunt.”

Once we realize that there really is a God, and that God can be anywhere, at any time, we must always ask ourselves the question, “Is what I’m experiencing of God?”  Just as we cannot say where God is, in the same way, we can’t say where God is not. Sometimes God uses the most unlikely messenger to bring you a message. It may be someone you respect. But it also maybe someone you detest.  Don’t refuse the gift because you don’t like the way it’s wrapped. Unpack the message.  Discern if it is from God.  If it is not, heave it.  If it is, heed it.

There is a part two to this God using people message.  You too can, and will, be used by God to deliver a message to someone.  It may be to someone you truly want to help, a loved one or close friend.  But you also may be called upon to take a message to someone you’d really rather not help.  You must remember, this is God’s work not yours. Do that work you’ve been given to do to the best of your ability.  In the end we are going to stand before God.  We don’t need moments of regret to stand between us and glory.

When the people said that they knew who Jesus was, they were really saying they had no idea of who God is.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying through and to the people of the Creating Word and “Ponder anew what the Almighty is doing.”  John Thomas Frazier Sr.

Daily Office Readings for Wednesday 3 April 2019 Year 1: Week 4 of Lent

AM Psalm 101, 109:1-4(5-19)20-30; PM Psalm 119:121-144 Jer. 18:1-11; Rom. 8:1-11; John 6:27-40

Jeremiah

“Can I not do with you, O house of Israel, just as this potter has done? says the Lord. Just like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.”  (Jeremiah 18: 6)

My Pondering

In Jeremiah God orders Jeremiah to go to a place where he sees a potter at work re-fashioning a clay pot that was spoiled in the potter’s hand.  The potter is now reworking the clay to suit a new purpose.  God is using this to show Jeremiah the prophet how God can re-tool the Israelite people to do whatever he chooses for them.  God is the Creating Potter of the universe. God makes us and re-makes us to suit God’s wishes.

This lesson is important to me as I look at my life.  While God was talking about a whole nation, I think God also does this same kind of re-purposing on the individual person as well.  In the Bible many have been re-shaped for different vocations to suit God’s purposes and God’s purposes are always for the benefit of God’s people.  God took Moses from the sheep through the burning bush to go back to Egypt for the benefit of the Israelite people. God called Amos from being a herdsman and dresser of sycamore trees to prophecy in Israel.  Even God in Christ Jesus put down his role as a carpenter’s son to fulfill the role of the Salvation of the world.

In my own life I have been a truck driver that moved families across the country.  I have been a United States Marine for thirty years doing my part in defending the country.  Then God re-purposed me into the priesthood of the Episcopal Church for the benefit of St Paul’s in the Pines Episcopal Church.  I pray that in the years to come God calls me into new shapes for God’s divine purpose for the benefit of God’s people.  At this writing I don’t know what that looks like.

As the Master Potter, God has the right to reshape us into whatever shape God deems necessary.  Our job is to not get spoiled as the clay did in the Jeremiah passage.  If we stay pliable God will re-shape us for the benefit of people who may not even know God. We are all the clay of the Master Potter.  Let us go forth into the world wanting to be fashioned and re-fashioned in a way that is pleasing to God for the benefit of those God puts in our path.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying through and to the people of the Creating Word and “Ponder anew what the Almighty is doing.”  John Thomas Frazier Sr.

Daily Office Readings for Tuesday 2 April 2019 Year 1: Week 4 of Lent

AM Psalm 97, 99, [100]; PM Psalm 94, [95]Jer. 17:19-27; Rom. 7:13-25; John 6:16-27

John

“Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land towards which they were going.” (John 6:21)

My Pondering

This verse in the Gospel of John is so different from other versions of Jesus walking on the water.  We don’t have words that say that Jesus actually got into the boat, but perhaps it’s not a stretch to assume he did.  The big point here is that it was their desire to want Jesus in the boat that got them to Capernaum. In this version we don’t have the storm being quieted as in the Synoptic Gospels.

Maybe that’s what we Christians should be doing when we want something.  We should first want Jesus. Then maybe our desire for Jesus will assist us in achieving those secondary things we want. I am reminded of the first verse of Hymn 711 of our 1982 Hymnal which sings “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and its righteousness, and all these things will be added onto you…..”  It is about having a God-first priority.

I also like noticing the fact that the storm did not stop in this version of John.  Sometimes our prayers should not so much be about stopping the storm, but rather, getting us through the storms of our lives. God does not say that nothing bad will happen to us. What God says is that God will never abandon us.  God in Christ Jesus will walk with us through whatever comes.   We just need to want Jesus in our boat.  Often Jesus uses the faith that’s already in people to heal them.  Now we have the desire that is in his followers (us included) working as an instrument of success. Our desire for Jesus may not stop the storms in our lives but it will surely get us through them.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying through and to the people of the Creating Word and “Ponder anew what the Almighty is doing.”  John Thomas Frazier Sr.

Daily Office Readings for Monday, 1 April 2019 4 Lent Year 1

AM Psalm 89:1-18; PM Psalm 89:19-52Jer. 16:10-21; Rom. 7:1-12; John 6:1-15

John

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

My Pondering

Jesus has just fed the multitudes, about 5000. And because of this they want to make him King.  Jesus is not looking for that.  Jesus wants to teach people about the love of God and has shown God’s love in sharing whatever we have, even if it doesn’t seem to be enough. He shows them and us a better way, a better direction to travel.

I personally find this introvert personality trait of Jesus attractive.  I too like to withdraw into a quiet place and get away from people so as to recharge.  I’ve had people tell me I’m an extrovert but I don’t believe it.  I have been so gratified when I have turned the leadership of something over to whoever was replacing me.  It is good to just be freed from things for a while. 

Jesus shuns the idea of being in charge as a king. He doesn’t want to command, he wants to commend, to teach and to heal. Teaching is where real power is.  It is the same old story about the fish.  Give someone a fish and you have fed them for a day, teach them to fish and you have fed them for life. When Jesus meets and recruits his fishing followers on the coasts he tells them he will make them fishers of people. Jesus is more the medicine man in the towns and villages rather than the mayor or governor.

Jesus wants to coach people into being better by making them realize what’s important in life. He wants them, and us, to know that God loves us and wants us to love one another.  One does not have to be the official in charge to do that.  But you do have to be someone that people will listen to and respect.  There was a time that such a person was the parent, pastor and/or teacher.  Now more and more it seems to be social media and uninformed peers who also have no better guidance. It is better to go in the right direction alone that in a crowd headed in the wrong direction.  And if someone does see that you are going in a better direction and wants to put you in charge because of that, it may be time to withdraw to the mountain by yourself.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying through and to God’s people and “Ponder anew what the Creating Word is doing.”  John Thomas Frazier Sr.

Eucharistic Readings for the 4^th Sunday in Lent Year C

Joshua 5:9-12  Psalm 32  2 Corinthians 5:16-21  Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Luke

“But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger!”  (Luke 15:17)

My Pondering

This is a very popular parable in the New Testament and unique to Luke.  I like to call chapter 15 of Luke the lost chapter.  This is not that the chapter was lost but that it is about lost possessions.  First a sheep is lost.  Next a coin is lost.  And lastly, we have the lost son.

Within the Lost Son (or Prodigal Son) parable there are several points that can be preached on, for example the two sons can represent God’s promise to Israel in the older son; the older son’s attitude is yet another topic.  The Father welcoming back the wayward son is still another.  But my focus is on the younger son “coming to himself.”

I have an adult child who suffers from addiction.  My wife and I suffered greatly with the trials and tribulations we went through wanting her to live a sober life.  We wanted it for her (and just maybe for us too).  It was not until she decided that enough was enough that she got help and turned her life around.  I thank Jesus every day for her continued recovery.  I also let her know all the time how proud we are of her.  She has siblings that also support her in this process.  However it was not until she “came to herself” that she was able to say to herself I will go and get help and stop this tragic life I’m living.  And she was received with open arms by her support group and by her mother and me.

In life many of us will get out of sync with how God has made us. It’s like  a car being out of timing.   Sometimes I think it’s a matter of moving faster or slower than the natural pace God has timed us with.  And sometimes it’s a matter of the bad influences of addiction or wayward people or both.  In any case, we fall out of sync. We fall away from our natural rhythms and need to be tuned up.  We often can’t do it ourselves but just knowing we need adjustment is a good beginning.  The self-talk that the lost son did is a good example of acknowledging we are going in the wrong direction and need to turn around and go home or to a recognized place of safety.  It’s a personal thing but each of us needs to ponder anew what we are doing.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying through and to God’s people and “Ponder anew what the Creating Word is doing.”  John Thomas Frazier Sr.

Readings for John Donne: Priest, Poet, and Preacher (31 March 1631)

Psalm 16 Wisdom 7:24–8:1 John 5:19-24

Wisdom

“Although she is but one, she can do all things, and while remaining in herself, she renews all things; in every generation she passes into holy souls and makes them friends of God, and prophets;” (Wisdom of Solomon 7:27)

Words of John Donne:

“Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind. And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls: It tolls for thee.”

“These words are familiar to many; their author, John Donne, though less well known, is one of the greatest of English poets. In his own time, he was the best-known preacher in the Church of England.”   (From Great Cloud of Witnesses)

My Pondering

John Donne’s day is 31 March (Tomorrow at this writing).  But that is a Sunday this year and I will do the Eucharistic Readings on tomorrow the 31^st.  So I thought I would go ahead and ponder about John Donne today.

From James Keifer we get, “But the evidence of (Dunne’s) poetry is that, long before his ordination, and probably beginning with his marriage, his thoughts were turned toward holiness, and he saw in his wife Anne (as Dante had earlier seen in Beatrice) a glimpse of the glory of God, and in human love a revelation of the nature of Divine Love. (James Keifer http://satucket.com/lectionary/John_Donne.htm)

While The Wisdom of Solomon speaks of Wisdom as feminine, it must be remembered that when God was planning the arrival of Jesus it began through a woman, Mary.  And throughout the Bible there were women who changed the direction of our relationship with God from human ways to God’s way. I think of Rebecca switching out Esau for Jacob in Genesis and Rahab assisting Joshua’s spies, and many others. We men have for too long turned a blind eye to what God is doing for all people specifically through the faith, devotion and love of women.

John Donne realized this in his wife Anne. And God worked through her to John Dunne. The Spirit of Wisdom is still as active as she ever was, moving through us and to us if we, like Dunne, listen and wake up to the alarm bell and really understand for whom the bell tolls.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying through and to God’s people and “Ponder anew what the Almighty can do.”  John Thomas Frazier Sr.

Daily Office Readings for Friday; Week 3 of Lent; Year 1

AM Psalm 95[*] & 88; PM Psalm 91, 92 Jer. 11:1-8,14-20; Rom. 6:1-11; John 8:33-47

John

“Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now I am here. I did not come on my own, but he sent me.” (John 8:42)

My Pondering

If God was our Father we would love Jesus, and all God’s Children.  Moving beyond Christianity, any faith or religious tradition that considers the Creator is the Parent of all creation and especially humanity, must understand that God is all about love. And this love is for all creation. We are the work of the Creator.  The Creator loves the created and wants the created to love the extent of creation. This is why Jesus says that if we recognized God as our Father we would love Jesus.  Not necessarily because he is Jesus but because we can see him as another child of God.

The other part of this sentence is that people are put in our path to love.  “He sent me.” Jesus said. People may not necessarily be put in our path to love us.  But rather, they are put in our path for us to love them.  Jesus spoke to people who knew that the Law required them to love one’s neighbor as one loves one’s self.  They failed to do that.  And Jesus points that out.  By not loving him, they are in violation of the Law of Moses.

Jesus further points out that He (Jesus) is not from here but is visiting.  He had to tell them that because they could not tell that he was different.  They should have because not like other people Jesus was loving to everybody.  That’s odd.  It was odd then and is odd today.  We just don’t see people who love everybody no matter what. They could not tell that Jesus was an “alien” from heaven. And it might have been the plan from heaven all along, that because they could not tell he was different, heaven was expecting them to receive Jesus and love him as they would all of the human population, as God’s beloved. But it was not to be.

Today’s truth is that we Christians are “grafted” into the heavenly body by the very body and blood of Jesus as he asked us to do as often as we remember him. This is what St Paul said in his First Letter to the Corinthians, “For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body that is foryou. Do this in remembrance of me.”  In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”  (1^st Cor.11:23 – 25) This “grafting” us into Christ’s body and blood has made us aliens of the earth and citizens of heaven as he is.  We are sisters and brothers of Jesus and daughters and sons of God.  And as children of God we are naturally created to love everybody!  It’s who we are.  Nothing more, nothing less.  So there is no “if” we are God’s children, we are.  God is our Parent.  Therefore we must love Jesus and everybody else.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying through and to God’s people and “Ponder anew what the Almighty can do.”  John Thomas Frazier Sr.

Readings for James Solomon Russell: Priest: (December 20, 1857- March 28, 1935)

1 Kings 5:1–12Psalm 127John 14:8–14

John

“Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.”   (John 14:12)

My Pondering

This verse has always bothered me.  How can people who come after Jesus, who is God Incarnate, do greater works than he?  I think I missed the point of the close  of  the statement, “because  I am going to the Father.”  When Jesus goes back to where he was in the beginning he then carries out the work of salvation and reconciliation on a much broader scale.  Today we remember The Rev. James Solomon Russell, an Episcopal Priest and educator of People of Color.

“Russell and his wife began teaching African Americans in a room at the tiny new church. This expanded and eventually became Saint Paul Normal and Industrial School. Due to his enthusiasm and aggressive fund-raising, it expanded its enrollment and curriculum. In 1893, Rev. Russell was named Archdeacon of the newly formed Diocese of Southern Virginia and charged with working among African Americans.” (the Episcopal Archives.)

The lesson here is that we can do so much more than a single Jesus could have done by simply stretching out to the hearts of others no matter who they are. James Russell’s  enthusiasm and aggressive fund-raising enabled him to accomplish much more than he or others ever dreamed for the benefit of emancipated slaves, of which, he  was one.

We of today (regardless of race or ethnicity) do not have the obstacles that Russell or Jesus had.  But we still have Jesus’ word that we are able to do greater works because Jesus is at the helm just waiting through our prayers to enable us to do great things. All we have to do is utter “Help Me Jesus.”  And watch what happens!

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying through and to God’s people and “Ponder anew what the Almighty can do.”  John Thomas Frazier Sr.

This is part two of Wednesday 27 March 2019. The first part for this day is below.

AM Psalm 119:97-120; PM Psalm 81, 82 Jer. 8:18-9:6; Rom. 5:1-11; John 8:12-20

Further Pondering from today’s

Jeremiah

“Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the health of my poor people not been restored?” (Jeremiah 8:22)

My Pondering

Physical healing seems to be very important to God.  The same was true for Jesus as some of his first actions in his ministry in Galilee was to cure the sick.  What does this insight say to us about our Creator?

I believe it is important to God because physical health is foundational for mental health, which is foundational for spiritual health.  And as we know, “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24).  Physical health has always been important to me.  Even as I entered the priesthood  I continued to maintain my physical health as best I can.  For me, it is a discipline as dogmatic as morning prayers.  Every morning its push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups and more.  I give thanks to God for my health but I realize I have some responsibility in maintaining it. 

I also keep in proper perspective that my physical health is temporal and only with me for a short time and is for the ultimate purpose of my spiritual health. The physical health will diminish over time; the spiritual health, I pray, is eternal. Thank You Jesus.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying through and to God’s people and “Ponder anew what the Almighty can do.”  John Thomas Frazier Sr.