Friday, June 30, 2006

Total Victory

Friday, June 30, 2006 -- Week of Proper 7 (St. Peter & St. Paul)

"Morning Reflections" is a brief thought about the scripture readings from the Daily Office of Morning and Evening Prayer according to the practice found in the Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church.

Morning Prayer begins on p. 80 of the Book of Common Prayer.
Evening Prayer begins on p. 117

An online resource for praying the Daily Office is found at www.missionstclare.com
Another form of the office from Phyllis Tickle's "Divine Hours" is available on our partner web site www.ExploreFaith.org at this link -- http://explorefaith.org/prayer/fixed/index.html

Today's Readings for the Daily Office
(p. 973)
Psalms 102 (morning) // 107:1-32 (evening)
Numbers 20:1-13
Romans 5:12-21
Matthew 20:29-34


Many years ago I became convicted of something that I couldn't really defend theologically. I'm not sure that I can defend it systematically to this day. So I hold to it as a personal conviction and hope rather than as a point of doctrine. My experience of the grace and wonder of God has been so wonderful, that it is virtually unimaginable to me that anyone can escape that immeasurable love forever. I became convinced that God's victory will be total.

It seems to me that Paul gets to a similar place in his writing today. He repeats the crescendo of wonder -- "If this ..., then how much more ...Christ." If sin came into the world through the one man Adam's sin, how much more is sin defeated through the one man Jesus. If death exercised dominion from Adam, how much more will life triumph through Jesus. If judgment brought condemnation, how much more will the free gift bring righteousness and grace. If Adam brought defeat, how much more has Jesus brought victory.

"Therefore just as one man's trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man's act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all For just as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous."

It is hard to imagine anyone being excluded from Jesus' triumph. Life for all. That's what Paul says. (Or as some of my more literal friends like to say, "The Bible says, 'Life for all!' and that's what it means.")

If little old Adam's measly sin brought condemnation and death to all, how much more completely effective is the goodness and resurrection of Jesus the Son of God for all. This is Paul at his most expansive. His vision of Christ is universal. The triumph complete. That seems to be the way it is when the direction of our vision is cast toward Christ. His love is so expansive that it fills all.

There are other places where Paul does not seem so expansive. When he concentrates on human failure and obstinacy, he can get almost morose. (We're about to enter one of those times in the upcoming passages in Romans.) But over and over he returns to the wonder of the forgiveness, grace and victory of Christ which has overcome all -- and it is a free gift, not something to be earned.

For Paul (for me) that is motivation for living. All is given; so how can we keep on living so selfishly, so anxiously? All is won; so how can we keep living so fearfully, so violently? All is forgiven; so how can we keep living so arrogantly, so condemning? Live into the gift, the triumph, the love. That's the gospel good news.

Lowell
_________________________


Anyone may subscribe to receive "Morning Reflections" by email.
Send a regular email to the following address: lowell-request@arkansasusa.com
Then, type the following command in the main body of the email:
JOIN lowell your-email-address (example: JOIN lowell JaneDoe@aol.com)

I also send the upcoming Sunday scripture readings to this same list.

The Rev. Lowell Grisham
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Fayetteville, Arkansas

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Preferential Options for the Poor

Wednesday, June 28 -- -- Week of Proper 7 (Irenaeus of Lyons)

"Morning Reflections" is a brief thought about the scripture readings from the Daily Office of Morning and Evening Prayer according to the practice found in the Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church.

Morning Prayer begins on p. 80 of the Book of Common Prayer.
Evening Prayer begins on p. 117

An online resource for praying the Daily Office is found at www.missionstclare.com
Another form of the office from Phyllis Tickle's "Divine Hours" is available on our partner web site www.ExploreFaith.org at this link -- http://explorefaith.org/prayer/fixed/index.html

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (p. 973)
Psalms 101, 109:1-4(5-19)20-30 (morning) // 119:121-144 (evening)
Numbers 16:36-50
Romans 4:13-25
Matthew 20:1-16


It is a regular theme of Jesus' parables that in God's kingdom, grace abounds. In many of those parables grace has an economic aspect.

It is a regular theme of the Hebrew scriptures that God loves the poor and expects God's people to care for them.

In Jesus' parables about the workers, though the workers come at all times of the day, even at the last hour, they all receive the daily wage that they need to provide for themselves and their family. It is an enacted version of the prayer "Give us this day our daily bread."

The parable works on both a plain and a metaphorical level. Economic care and justice extends to the poor to insure that every person is paid what we might call today a "living wage." God's economy is generous toward the needy. All receive their daily bread; debts are forgiven. The parable also communicates the metaphorical message that God loves all people and gives abundantly to the latecomer as well as the long-faithful, the prodigal and the elder son. The full acceptance, forgiveness and grace of God is always available and complete.

Like so many psalms, Psalm 109 sets up a plea for the poor and needy and an accusation toward those who fail to care for them, or worse, who oppress the poor. The series of bitter curses (optional verses) are directed toward an unknown oppressor, "Because he did not remember to show mercy, but persecuted the poor and needy..." The psalmist asks for and claims mercy from God, "For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me." This consistent message of the Hebrew scriptures is sometimes described as "God's preferential option for the poor."

What would our politics and economics look like if our values reflected the values of Jesus' parables and of the Hebrew scriptures?

Lowell
_________________________


Anyone may subscribe to receive "Morning Reflections" by email.
Send a regular email to the following address: lowell-request@arkansasusa.com
Then, type the following command in the main body of the email:
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I also send the upcoming Sunday scripture readings to this same list.

The Rev. Lowell Grisham
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Fayetteville, Arkansas

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Faith / Circumcision // Love / Marriage

Tuesday, June 27, 2006 -- Week of Proper 7

"Morning Reflections" is a brief thought about the scripture readings from the Daily Office of Morning and Evening Prayer according to the practice found in the Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church.

Morning Prayer begins on p. 80 of the Book of Common Prayer.
Evening Prayer begins on p. 117

An online resource for praying the Daily Office is found at www.missionstclare.com
Another form of the office from Phyllis Tickle's "Divine Hours" is available on our partner web site www.ExploreFaith.org at this link -- http://explorefaith.org/prayer/fixed/index.html

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (p. 973)
Psalms 97, 99, [100] (morning) // 94, [95] (evening)
Numbers 16:20-35
Romans 4:1-12
Matthew 19:23-30

(I typed in today's Gospel for yesterday's reading. Yesterday's reading was supposed to be Matthew 19:13-22. Since I skipped it yesterday, that's what I'm reading today, but 23-30 is the correct lesson for today.)


The argument that Paul is making has some parallels for those of us who wish to extend the church's recognition and blessing to our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters. What is the defining character of righteousness? Paul looks to the origins and source, Abraham, the first patriarch, who was "reckoned as righteous." Was Abraham's righteousness defined by his faith and trust in God or by his circumcision? Paul says it was Abraham's faith that was defining. Abraham had faith, so God declared him righteous. (Gen. 15) Later (Gen. 17) Abraham was circumcised as a sign of the covenant.

Therefore faith is fundamental. Abraham is the ancestor to all who trust God, not just the ancestor to all who are circumcised as Jews. The promise of many ancestor is a promise that passes on to all people of faith, not just to those who follow the law, the covenant of circumcision. So, says Paul, Gentiles who accept the gift of God's acceptance and blessing by trusting God in faith are also inheritors of the blessing of Abraham. Righteousness is primarily about faith, not circumcision.

We might ask a similar question about our human relationship. Is the defining relationship of marriage the couple's commitment of faithful love or their maleness and femaleness? Which is more defining, their sexual differentiation or their love? People answer that question differently, but for me, it is the love which is more essential and defining. Marriage is primarily about the commitment of faithful love.

Just as Paul has seen the presence of faith in the uncircumcised, so I have seen the presence of faithful love in people of same-sex orientation. Paul struggled mightily to have Gentiles included in the congregation of the faithful; it was his primary issue of conflict throughout his ministry. It continues to be a struggle to include gay and lesbian Christians in the full life of blessing in the church.

For me it looks like a similar struggle to the one Paul engaged in. Will ours be a community of law or or faith, law or love? Will we observe the outward form or the inner reality? It's an ancient question for the church.

Lowell

_________________________

Anyone may subscribe to receive "Morning Reflections" by email.
Send a regular email to the following address: lowell-request@arkansasusa.com
Then, type the following command in the main body of the email:
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I also send the upcoming Sunday scripture readings to this same list.

The Rev. Lowell Grisham
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Fayetteville, Arkansas

Monday, June 26, 2006

The Heart of the Gospel

Monday, June 26, 2006 -- Week of Proper 7

"Morning Reflections" is a brief thought about the scripture readings from the Daily Office of Morning and Evening Prayer according to the practice found in the Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church.

Morning Prayer begins on p. 80 of the Book of Common Prayer.
Evening Prayer begins on p. 117

An online resource for praying the Daily Office is found at www.missionstclare.com
Another form of the office from Phyllis Tickle's "Divine Hours" is available on our partner web site www.ExploreFaith.org at this link -- http://explorefaith.org/prayer/fixed/index.html


Today's Readings for the Daily Office (p. 973)
Psalms 89:1-18 (morning) // 89:19-52 (evening)
Numbers 16:1-19
Romans 3:21-31
Matthew 19:23-30

Romans 3:28 is a fine summary of Paul's teaching: "For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law." Paul knew something about "works prescribed by the law." In his former life, he was successful. He zealously obeyed the law, and it brought him only anxiety. Am I doing right? What if I mess up? He became self-absorbed and filled with a kind of performance anxiety. It drove him crazy.

I had a friend who was smart enough to go through college and make all A's. It was her motivation. She worked hard. She studied conscientiously. Toward her senior year, she became a bit compulsive about it. She didn't join her friends if there was a big test coming up. There was an advanced course that was very hard. She was so worried that she wouldn't ace it that she became almost obsessed with learning everything so she would run any risk. She was competing with another student who also had all A's. They were in this same class.

Eventually it got ugly when he got a B on something and she got an A. She was sure she was going to win a particular award that went to the person with the highest grades in their particular major. His father a very powerful state legislator. Somehow, he ended up with an A and won the award at graduation. She's sure she got bumped. I remember a conversation with her later. "I wish I had more fun at college. I studied too hard."

It's a good thing to study and to make A's. ("Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.") But our "being," our "justification" is not based on our grades. Our relationship as God's beloved is a gift. We are accepted because God loves us. That's that. God's loving acceptance is God's free unqualified gift to us. Grace is the word Paul uses. Accept that gift (faith) and you are in (justified). Jew or Gentile, doesn't matter. Passing or failing doesn't affect the offer.

So now we can relax. You don't have to make all "A's.". Instead, you can relax and learn. Learn and grow for the sake of the learning and growing rather than for the grade.

Jesus makes the same point today. Riches can do the same thing to you that achieving does. Riches distract us. Possessions posses us. They also promote pride and self-glorification. Just like an "A-student" may easily think herself better than a "C-student" so a wealthy person so easily thinks himself better than a poor person. It is impossible to enter into the kingdom of heaven so burdened with self-interest, self-importance. As impossible as for a camel to go through the eye of a needle.

You can't earn or buy your way into God's graces. You can only accept it humbly, like everybody else. "For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law." It's the heart of the gospel.

Lowell
_________________________


Anyone may subscribe to receive "Morning Reflections" by email.
Send a regular email to the following address: lowell-request@arkansasusa.com
Then, type the following command in the main body of the email:
JOIN lowell your-email-address (example: JOIN lowell JaneDoe@aol.com)

I also send the upcoming Sunday scripture readings to this same list.

The Rev. Lowell Grisham
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Fayetteville, Arkansas

Saturday, June 24, 2006

Sermon: Boats in a Storm

After the readings and sermon of each morning's General Convention Eucharist, we had a brief time for conversation at the tables where we had been randomly assigned. My table was number 141. One morning we were asked to remember a time when Jesus was especially present to you through the community of the church.

A woman who was there for the Triennial meeting of the Episcopal Church Women told of her experience of being trapped in a flash flood. Her home was severely damaged. Her husband and son held on to a slender tree only a few inches in diameter for nearly an hour while the water came up to their necks. She said her baby was nearly washed out of her arms. As she recalled that moment of terror, I noticed her eyes briefly dilate and her body jerked subtly. "It's a miracle that we all lived," she said. After they were cleared medically, she returned to the remains of their home, where people had already begun collecting her possessions, cleaning and salvaging them for her, and were starting the demolition and clean-up work necessary to begin rebuilding. They were people from her church and other churches, already there, caring for her before she could even care for herself.

An alternate deputy from Los Angeles told about his church's presence and support during his partner's illness from AIDS-related complications about fifteen years ago. He said his partner had pretty much given up on church, but when they were welcomed despite his illness, they spent his partner's final year embraced by the support and love of a caring congregation, and by the peaceful center of prayer and Eucharist that connected them with the support and love of a caring God.

For these friends, the presence of Jesus in the storm times of their lives was incarnate through the presence of their church community. I like those kinds of stories, but that's not always the way it happens. I've also heard so many stories of how a church failed to come through when needed or even added a layer of judgment or censure at a painful time. Sometimes it is very necessary to distinguish between the ever-present unconditional love of the God of Jesus Christ, and the sometimes-present occasionally conditional love of the church that is still seeking to grow into his likeness.

History shows that growing into the fulness of Christ is a stormy process, for individual Christians as well as for the corporate church body. As Paul says, we see through a mirror, dimly. Or as today's reading from Job speaks poetically of our human attempts to grow up, to do right and to be wise: "Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?" What do we really know? So little. The best that human ingenuity, creativity and reason can produce is often the disorienting turbulence of conflictive waves colliding, jostling, shaking and rolling our storm tossed boat back and forth, up and down.

I lived in that boat being tossed by the conflictive waves of the affective values of our church's treasured relationship with the Anglican Communion on the one hand, and our embrace of the fruits of the Spirit manifestly present in our gay and lesbian members on the other hand. Our church tried to sail in those troubled waters during this past fortnight.

As we walked from one meeting to another, I remember saying to a friend something like this. "I know what I want. I want a church where both Kendall Harmon and Bonnie Perry can be treasured members who exercise the passion of their ministries and meet together at communion, reconciled to the God they both serve and the church they both love."

Kendall Harmon is a wonderful priest. We served together on a committee at the previous General Convention. He is a theologian. Passionate, articulate, utterly committed. He paces nervously, pensively across the back of the convention floor during debate. He is an outstanding spokesman for what could be called a conservative or traditionalist position. When I needed the best available references for our parish conversations last year, I called Kendall for recommendations and reprinted one of his articles as part of our reference material.

Bonnie Perry is a wonderful priest. She took a congregation which was on the brink of closing and lead it into becoming a vibrant, growing, energetic church that is reaching into their community in service and care. She is a pastor. Also passionate, articulate, utterly committed. She springs with bounding energy across the convention floor connecting, talking with others, raising questions. She was nominated, but not elected Bishop of California in their recent process, a closely watched election because she was one of three nominees who each lives in an open same-gender committed relationship. She is a gifted Christian leader. One day, God willing, she will be for some diocese an excellent bishop.

Kendall Harmon and Bonnie Perry are outstanding leaders in our church. Kendall Harmon and Bonnie Perry also make waves. At this General Convention Kendall wanted us to reverse completely the decisions we made at the previous convention, repent, and declare an absolute moratorium on further elections and consecrations of bishops who are in a committed same-gender relationship and an absolute moratorium on same-gender blessings until there is an Anglican consensus in favor of such things, which means, hopefully never. And Bonnie wanted us to reject any resolution that would limit the Holy Spirit's call on the ministry of leaders like her. Neither Kendall nor Bonnie were happy about the General Convention decisions. But both of them remain in the boat, committed to the church they love.

In our gospel story we hear the story of the fearful disciples, their boat being swamped by the wind and the waves. Jesus is there -- in the back of the boat, right near the tiller. He is so unanxious that he is sleeping peacefully right through the storm. When the disciples turn their attention away from the waves and wind and toward the quiet presence of Jesus with them, they hear his words spoken to the turbulence. "Peace! Be still! Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?" And there is calm.

The church will be fine. How much harder must it have been for Paul, trying to coax a Jewish reform movement into including Gentiles. It took him years. We hear him speak in our reading today of "afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger." Imagine how conflicted it must have been in the 16th century with reformation in the air. And look what emerged out of that? Us. The Anglican Church and our own expression of that, The Episcopal Church.

How do we negotiate our ship in stormy times? A wise sailor is one who carefully observes the realities of the wind and waves, the powerful tides and the dangerous rocks. A wise sailor is one who commits to reality, dealing with the contending forces as they are. A wise sailor doesn't waste energy cursing the wind or challenging the waves as though they have no moral right to exist. Nor does a wise sailor simply ignore the weather, dismissing the clouds as distant and far-off, preferring instead to tidy-up the cabin where, we imagine, at least here I have a comfortable degree of control. A wise sailor works with the turbulence to keep the ship afloat and everyone safely aboard until there are calmer seas.

My boat is so small and the ocean is so big. We know so little. And sometimes the best that human ingenuity, creativity and reason can produce is the disorienting turbulence of conflicting waves colliding, jostling, shaking and rolling our storm tossed boat back and forth, up and down.

But beyond our knowing is the stillpoint of all creation. The presence of Christ, God with us, peacefully quiet in the midst of our anxieties. A woman whose house was flooded returns to where work has already begun to create her new home. A man whose partner was ill lives through death into resurrection and a full life in community for these fifteen years. Bonnie won't be in another bishop's election for at least the next three years, and Kendall will negotiate fiercely about how to be Episcopalian and Anglican. Winds and waves will come and go; storms will still to a whisper. Even in our doubt and anxiety and unknowing we will all strive to grow into the fulness of Christ. And beyond our knowing remains, the stillpoint of all creation, the presence of Christ, the unconditional love of God with us, peacefully quiet in the midst of our anxieties, who rises up when the need is greatest and says, "Peace! Be still! Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?"

Friday, June 23, 2006

Forgiveness for a Hangover

Friday, June 23, 2006 -- Week of Proper 6

"Morning Reflections" is a brief thought about the scripture readings from the Daily Office of Morning and Evening Prayer according to the practice found in the Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church.

Morning Prayer begins on p. 80 of the Book of Common Prayer.
Evening Prayer begins on p. 117

An online resource for praying the Daily Office is found at www.missionstclare.com
Another form of the office from Phyllis Tickle's "Divine Hours" is available on our partner web site www.ExploreFaith.org at this link -- http://explorefaith.org/prayer/fixed/index.html

Today's Readings for the Daily Office
(p. 971)
Psalms 88 (morning) // 91, 92 (evening)
Numbers 13:1-3, 21-30
Romans 2:25 - 3:8
Matthew 18:21-35

It's good to be home, and back to my morning routine.

My reading of the office lessons is colored by a bit of General Convention hangover. Not the drinking kind, the other kind of hangover from a bad encounter; one that leaves your mind foggy and unsettled, your feelings murky and blocked, and a bad taste in your mouth.

When we came to the most controversial decision time of the Convention, I voted to impose a restraint on our church (and to my thinking, a restraint on the work of the Spirit) for the sake of future conversations with the Anglican Communion, and a hope that the Spirit can intervene in that context to bring about unity in our diversity. My vote violated my own sense of God's will, however. It violated my beliefs and principles. It was a compromise that brings me no peace, but rather turbulence. I didn't listen to the Calebs among us (Numbers 13:30). I said to myself that my vote was one for hope, but I wonder how tinged it was with fear also.

So it is like a thirsty man longing for water that I read Matthew's stories of forgiveness. Jesus teaches us infinite forgiveness. For me today that includes forgiving myself for violating my values. The price of not forgiving myself would be to live a choked, compromised, ever-hungover life, "conscience doth make cowards of us all," as Shakespeare wrote. I've also got some forgiving to do to those who have made us so fearful, those in our Anglican Communion who threaten to separate from us because we understand God's graceful presence differently.

I've got a bit of control over those two forgivings. But I know I yearn for forgiveness from those I feel I have betrayed, especially one friend in particular who will make some diocese a great bishop, but not in these next three years. And the whole gay and lesbian community in the Episcopal Church who once again has been hurt and treated unjustly.

Paul writes today, "But if our injustice serves to confirm the justice of God, what should we say? ...But if through my falsehood God's truthfulness abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner?" Our hope is in God. Not in the Church or the General Convention or the Anglican Communion. Humans and our human institutions are unreliable, but God is trustworthy. And God uses our human injustice to display God's faithfulness. That's what the cross is all about.

So I am going to take some cleansing breaths today, put this whole mess into God's hands (and my whole mess into God's hands), and start over trying to do the best I can. But I want to protect this sourness in a place in my memory. It is motivation for me never again to make a choice that seems so contrary to my values and my sense of God's will.

Lowell
_________________________


Anyone may subscribe to receive "Morning Reflections" by email.
Send a regular email to the following address: lowell-request@arkansasusa.com
Then, type the following command in the main body of the email:
JOIN lowell your-email-address (example: JOIN lowell JaneDoe@aol.com)

I also send the upcoming Sunday scripture readings to this same list.

The Rev. Lowell Grisham
St. Paul's Episcopal Church

Thursday, June 15, 2006

Early Thursday morning

Thursday, June 15 -- The Feast of Evelyn Underhill (early morning)

(note, the two previous posts from yesterday are in reverse chronological order)

It strikes me as I get ready to start work this morning that I left out one piece of background info concerning the Episcopal Church's response to the Windsor Report, and that is to mention what we have already done to that end. (for some, this is old news)

I'm not certain of the date, but about two years ago the House of Bishops declared a moratorium on the consecration of bishops in the Episcopal Church up until this General Convention and declared a moratorium on the approval of public rites blessing of commitments of same-gender couples. The church also responded to the Windsor request to explain why we made the decisions we did in 2003 with the report "To Set Our Hope On Christ," a document that describes the Episcopal Church's 30 year conversation about the placed of gay and lesbian Christians in the church and establishes a Biblical, theological, scientific and pastoral rationale for the decisions of the previous General Convention. (That publication is available through St. Paul's bookstore. This was one of the documents we used during our parish conversation process last year.) The Episcopal Church also voluntarily withdrew its representatives from the interim meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council and sent its deputation a listeners rather than voting participants.

The report of the Special Commission that we had hearings about last night is the latest offering. It is the container for the beginning of the 2006 General Convention's deliberations about how to respond to Windsor. By the way, that report from the Special Commission is titled "One Baptism, One Hope In God's Call." One other technicality. The Special Committee #25 of the General Convention which is charged with handling the resolutions concerning Windsor and the Anglican Communion is different from the Special Commission. The Special Commission was an interim body which crafted the report; the Special Committee is the General Convention body which is charged with the Convention's work on the report. There are several members of the interim Commission who serve on the General Convention Committee.

At this point, the Committee's work is to discuss what they heard from last night's public hearing, revise and amend the resolutions crafted by the Commission, and present to the General Convention the resolutions that we will debate. The three C's -- Commission, Committee, Convention. It takes a little concentration to keep that clear. (I tried to do so in my report from last night, but it was late.)

I'm getting ready to leave for our Prayer Book and Liturgy Committee's 7:30 a.m. meeting when (if I've got the time and date right this time) Marion Hatchett, Louis Weil, Lionel Mitchell and Carolyn Westerhoff will appear to testify about a resolution that would make Baptism full initiation into the church. The effect of this legislation would be to remove Confirmation as a requirement for holding office or for exercising any other ministry in the Church. I'm pretty excited about hearing these scholars. These are people whose books I've read for more than 25 years.

Lowell

To add your voice to the conversation, please post a comment. Click the "comment" below.

Keep us in your prayers.

Friday, June 09, 2006

Eyes on Jesus, Open Heart, Unafraid

June 9, 2006 -- Week of Proper 4 (Columba of Iona)

For Today's Prayer in the Octave of Prayer for General Convention
go to our Home Page www.stpaulsfay.org and click the link at the top of the page.


NOTE: Beginning Monday my "Morning Reflections" will be replaced by reports from the General Convention of the Episcopal Church.

"Morning Reflections" is a brief thought about the scripture readings from the Daily Office of Morning and Evening Prayer according to the practice found in the Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church.

Morning Prayer begins on p. 80 of the Book of Common Prayer.
Evening Prayer begins on p. 117

An online resource for praying the Daily Office is found at www.missionstclare.com
Another form of the office from Phyllis Tickle's "Divine Hours" is available on our partner web site www.ExploreFaith.org at this link -- http://explorefaith.org/prayer/fixed/index.html



Today's Readings for the Daily Office (p. 969)
Psalms 40, 54 (morning) // 51 (afternoon)
Ecclesiastes 5:1-7
Galatians 3:15-22
Matthew 14:22-36


A boat has long been a symbol for the church. It was pointed out to me as a child that the exposed beams of our church in Oxford looked like the inside of a boat, as if we were riding upside down.

As I anticipate leaving for General Convention this Sunday, the image of a boat, battered by the waves, having difficulty getting to the destination because the winds are blowing threateningly, feels like an apt image for the church. There are great waves and there is much wind. And there is much fear within the church's vessel.

Sometimes in the church, even the sight of Christ is frightening and unrecognized. Though Jesus is walking toward the disciples, they take him for a ghost and are terrified.

Always when Jesus appears, Jesus says, "Do not be afraid." That is his greeting in all of the post-resurrection appearances, "Fear not." He adds to that for his disciples in the storm, "Take heart, it is I."

The church, in the person of Peter, wants to walk on the water with Jesus. We step out in faith. When we keep our eyes and faith on Jesus, we remain safe. But it is easy to become distracted by the waves and the storm, and begin to sink. Yet, Jesus is there, within arm's reach. And Jesus has power over the storms.

The church is always safer, healthier when it keeps its eyes on Jesus, when it takes heart, and when it is not afraid. Eyes on Jesus, open heart, unafraid. That's a good spirit for entering the boat of the General Convention.

Tomorrow we will celebrate the ordination of Suzanne Stoner to the priesthood. If she's like I was, there will be some butterflies in her stomach and a bit of wavy dizziness. She'll be fine. She's one of those who habitually keeps her eyes on Jesus, open heart, unafraid.

Eyes on Jesus. Open heart. Unafraid. Let's go.

Lowell
_________________________


Anyone may subscribe to receive "Morning Reflections" by email.
Send a regular email to the following address: lowell-request@arkansasusa.com
Then, type the following command in the main body of the email:
JOIN lowell your-email-address (example: JOIN lowell JaneDoe@aol.com)

I also send the upcoming Sunday scripture readings to this same list.

The Rev. Lowell Grisham
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Fayetteville, Arkansas

Thursday, June 08, 2006

Cynicism and Life

Thursday, June 8, 2006 -- Week of Proper 4

For Today's Prayer in the Octave of Prayer for General Convention
go to our Home Page www.stpaulsfay.org and click the link at the top of the page.


NOTE: Beginning Monday my "Morning Reflections" will be replaced by reports from the General Convention of the Episcopal Church.

"Morning Reflections" is a brief thought about the scripture readings from the Daily Office of Morning and Evening Prayer according to the practice found in the Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church.

Morning Prayer begins on p. 80 of the Book of Common Prayer.
Evening Prayer begins on p. 117

An online resource for praying the Daily Office is found at www.missionstclare.com
Another form of the office from Phyllis Tickle's "Divine Hours" is available on our partner web site www.ExploreFaith.org at this link -- http://explorefaith.org/prayer/fixed/index.html


Today's Readings for the Daily Office (p. 969)
Psalms 50 (morning) // [59, 60] or 8, 84 (afternoon)
Ecclesiastes 3:16 - 4:3
Galatians 3:1-14
Matthew 14:13-21

The world-weary cynicism of the Teacher comes through strongly today. Human beings are no better than the animals. We all die. We all go down to the dust. Who knows if there is anything after death? he asks. No one knows, he answers. And when you look at the oppressions that happen everywhere and the tears of the oppressed, a wise and sensitive person would conclude that it were better not to have lived. (I've seen this passage as an oblique biblical endorsement of abortion when children will be born unwanted.)

He returns to his theme. As you can, enjoy your work while you are alive.

Paul speaks with a passionately cynical voice today. He is furious that opponents have returned to the moralisms and legalisms of a life of following rules and ethical precepts. It's impossible, he says. Try to live up to all of the rules and you will fail, becoming anxiously preoccupied with your self and your performance and judgmental about others in the process. It's all a curse. Even Christ was cursed because he was hung on a tree. You can't get free by good behavior.

He returns to his theme. Freedom is the free gift of loving acceptance from God. Just accept the gift. Then live in spontaneous loving friendship.

Jesus faces the cynicism of his disciples. Jesus trusts God for abundance. It is like a mini-Exodus scene. Jesus crosses the water by boat to a deserted, wilderness place. Crowds follow him. He returns to his theme: he has compassion on them and he cures the sick. "Send them away," say the disciples, there is not enough food. "They need not go away; you give them something to eat." They sit down, and something happens. All are filled.

I recently finished reading Jeffrey Sach's book "The End of Poverty." He says the same thing Jesus says. Though 20,000 people die daily because of the effects of extreme poverty, "They need not go away; you give them something to eat." We have the resources and technology to end extreme poverty in our lifetime. It is within our reach if we have the will. It's less expensive than, say, the war in Iraq. For those oppressed by poverty, freedom would be our loving acceptance of them as our brothers and sisters, not as animals who just die and go down to the dust.

After all, our life has been given to us. Why can't we give life too? Why can't we freely embrace Jesus' theme, to have compassion and cure the sick? We don't have to say "send them away, there's not enough food." Actually, there is enough. All it takes is for us to embrace our true identity as the beloved recipients of the gift of abundant life, and to live in the freedom of that Spirit.

Lowell

(for some info about what you can do, go to www.e4gr.org -- Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation and learn more about the Millennium Development Goals)

_________________________


Anyone may subscribe to receive "Morning Reflections" by email.
Send a regular email to the following address: lowell-request@arkansasusa.com
Then, type the following command in the main body of the email:
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I also send the upcoming Sunday scripture readings to this same list.

The Rev. Lowell Grisham
St. Paul's Episcopal Church

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

Circumcision and Homosexuality / The Present Moment

Wednesday, June 7, 2006 -- Week of Proper 4

For Today's Prayer in the Octave of Prayer for General Convention
go to our Home Page www.stpaulsfay.org and click the link at the top of the page.


NOTE: Beginning Monday my "Morning Reflections" will be replaced by reports from the General Convention of the Episcopal Church.

"Morning Reflections" is a brief thought about the scripture readings from the Daily Office of Morning and Evening Prayer according to the practice found in the Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church.

Morning Prayer begins on p. 80 of the Book of Common Prayer.
Evening Prayer begins on p. 117

An online resource for praying the Daily Office is found at www.missionstclare.com
Another form of the office from Phyllis Tickle's "Divine Hours" is available on our partner web site www.ExploreFaith.org at this link -- http://explorefaith.org/prayer/fixed/index.html


Today's Readings for the Daily Office
(p. 969)
Psalms 119:49-72 (morning) // 49, [53] (afternoon)
Ecclesiastes 3:1-15
Galatians 2:11-21
Matthew 14:1-12

Today Paul recounts when he challenged Peter who ate unkosher food with the Gentiles until the arrival of conservative Jews (the circumcision party). "But after they came, he drew back and kept himself separate for fear of the circumcision faction."

For some time I've been using "The Access Bible" NRSV for my daily reading. I like its footnotes and articles. Today there is a footnote for Galatians 2:14. The original verse reads (in translation, of course) "If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?" The footnote reads, "How can you meet gentiles half way (not keep food laws), then require them to go the whole way (be circumcised)?"

It struck me how similar this dispute is to what we will be facing at General Convention. We say that homosexual persons are children of God with a claim on the pastoral ministry of the church. But some of us say that homosexual persons cannot act upon their sexual orientation, but must remain celibate or become as heterosexuals. Many will say that while freely admitting that they cannot live as celibates. I hear the echo of Paul's question: How can you meet homosexual persons half way (you are a child of God), then require them to go the whole way (but you must remain celibate forever)? If you, a heterosexual, cannot live as a celibate, how can you compel homosexuals to do so?

I know that will not be convincing to those who believe same-sex orientation is disordered. I'm not expecting to change minds. But I am struck how similar it feel to me to be one of those who is urging the church to apply the same high standards of faithfulness and commitment to homosexuals that we apply to heterosexuals in our intimate relationships. I also want the church to offer to gay people the same blessing of support that we offer to straight people.

Paul argued similarly for full inclusion of Gentiles into the church, as people equally called, redeemed and challenged. The Gentiles are to be part of the body of Christ without having to become circumcised "like us Jews." Paul's great struggle was just this. Can Gentiles be admitted to the church on an equal footing with Jews? Or will Gentiles be required to be circumcised and adopt the Jewish laws? In other words, to live like Jews. Paul forcefully said the Gentiles are to be freely included and incorporated into the Church. No double standards.

_________________

A quick note about Ecclesiastes. Today we read the famous "To everything there is a season" passage. (I always hear the Byrds "Turn, turn turn" song underneath this passage.) The Teacher's point is that there is a time appointed by God for every extreme and every situation, but human beings know little, if anything about those times. The Teacher includes not just the good times, but also all of the evils and tragedies of life in those divine appointments. And he insists that our knowledge of any of this is extremely limited.

Therefore says the Teacher, trust God in the present, and enjoy life as much as you can enjoy it, given the limitations of circumstance and the near inevitability of death.

His counsel is not unlike that of Jean Pierre de Caussade whose 18th century teaching is often titled "Abandonment to Divine Providence." Accept the circumstances of the present moment with complete abandonment and trust, says Caussade. God is fully present to you in the "sacrament of the present moment." Do not judge the goodness or badness of your circumstances. Accept these circumstances as the form that God is present to you now. The past is done; the future is not; all that is, is in the present moment. Here only is God.

Even if the moment seems evil, simply accept this as the context of God's presence working with you for good, and commit yourself singularly simply to do God's will as it presents itself in the present moment. That is perfect life, says de Caussade. Or as he might say in the language of the Teacher, "all else is vanity."

Lowell
_________________________


Anyone may subscribe to receive "Morning Reflections" by email.
Send a regular email to the following address: lowell-request@arkansasusa.com
Then, type the following command in the main body of the email:
JOIN lowell your-email-address (example: JOIN lowell JaneDoe@aol.com)

I also send the upcoming Sunday scripture readings to this same list.

The Rev. Lowell Grisham
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Fayetteville, Arkansas

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Work and Toil

Tuesday, June 6, 2006 -- Week of Proper 4

For Today's Prayer in the Octave of Prayer for General Convention
go to our Home Page www.stpaulsfay.org and click the link at the top of the page.


"Morning Reflections" is a brief thought about the scripture readings from the Daily Office of Morning and Evening Prayer according to the practice found in the Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church.

Morning Prayer begins on p. 80 of the Book of Common Prayer.
Evening Prayer begins on p. 117

An online resource for praying the Daily Office is found at www.missionstclare.com
Another form of the office from Phyllis Tickle's "Divine Hours" is available on our partner web site www.ExploreFaith.org at this link -- http://explorefaith.org/prayer/fixed/index.html


Today's Readings for the Daily Office
(p. 969)
Psalms 45 (morning) // 47, 48 (afternoon)
Ecclesiastes 2:16-26
Galatians 1:18 - 2:10
Matthew 13:53-58


There is a common theme in today's readings. (That's pretty unusual.) The Teacher of Ecclesiastes speaks of the vanity of "all the toil and strain with which they toil under the sun. For all their days are full of pain, and their work is a vexation; even at night their minds do not rest." After one has worked so hard, everything you have worked for will be taken away from you at death and given to another, who may be a fool. "This also is vanity," he says.

But then the Teacher settles. Enjoy life as much as you can, remembering the nearness of death. Eat and drink. And find enjoyment in your toil. Be wise. Die. That's about as good as it gets. Be satisfied with that, he says.

He seems to modify his thoughts about work. Work becomes its own end. One doesn't work to become rich -- you can't take it with you and a fool may get it when you die. One doesn't work to create something great or become powerful. You'll die like anyone else. But as you can, find enjoyment in the work you do for its own sake. That's enough.

We see Paul in a major conflict about whether his life's work will continue and be affirmed. He's writing to the church in Galatia because opponents of his gospel are teaching that Christians must maintain their faithfulness to the Torah and the observation of the Old Testament laws. Gentile converts to the church must become Jews, they are teaching. Paul is furious about that. He vigorously defends his position -- he was called by God to be an apostle to the Gentiles and that call was confirmed by Peter and John and James the brother of the Lord. Freedom in Christ is through grace -- a free gift -- not through following the law. Paul sees the seriousness of this conflict. If he loses this debate, his work seems to be for naught. Life in Christ would be just as trapped as his former life under the law.

Finally we read of Jesus and his visit to his hometown where they take offense at him. Who does he think he is? We know him. We've known him since he was a child. We know his family and upbringing. "Where did he get all this?" His work is fruitless in his own hometown.

Most of us have experienced these situations in our work environments. I have worked too hard so that it has felt like "a vexation" and even at night my mind would not rest. I have left the fruits of labor that were subsequently lost or unraveled. I've been in conflicts that I felt could seriously damage the church that I love. I've tried my best and found that it just didn't work in some settings.

There is great wisdom in the modest resigned acceptance that the Teacher advises. Too much attachment to ends creates anxiety and tempts controlling behavior. There is peace in enjoying the work that the day brings, and letting go at that. I feel so lucky to have a job that I enjoy. Day in and day out, I love my work. I think that's pretty unusual. It is easier for me to find pleasure in my toil, easier than Brother Lawrence who worked in a kitchen all day. But Brother Lawrence let his pots and pans sing out the praises of God as he scrubbed to the glory of God.

Some work is oppressive. Some work environments are abusive. Sometimes the oppression is in our minds. Some times we face conflicts that truly matter. Sometimes the best we can offer doesn't produce. It's all there. We live in the same world as the Teacher and Paul and Jesus. Good companionship.

Lowell
_________________________


Anyone may subscribe to receive "Morning Reflections" by email.
Send a regular email to the following address: lowell-request@arkansasusa.com
Then, type the following command in the main body of the email:
JOIN lowell your-email-address (example: JOIN lowell JaneDoe@aol.com)

I also send the upcoming Sunday scripture readings to this same list.

The Rev. Lowell Grisham
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Fayetteville, Arkansas

Monday, June 05, 2006

All is Vanity

Monday, June 5, 2006 -- Week of Proper 4 (Boniface)

For Today's Prayer in the Octave of Prayer for General Convention
go to our Home Page www.stpaulsfay.org and click the link at the top of the page.


"Morning Reflections" is a brief thought about the scripture readings from the Daily Office of Morning and Evening Prayer according to the practice found in the Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church.

Morning Prayer begins on p. 80 of the Book of Common Prayer.
Evening Prayer begins on p. 117

An online resource for praying the Daily Office is found at www.missionstclare.com
Another form of the office from Phyllis Tickle's "Divine Hours" is available on our partner web site www.ExploreFaith.org at this link -- http://explorefaith.org/prayer/fixed/index.html


Today's Readings for the Daily Office (p. 969)
Psalms 41, 52 (morning) // 44 (afternoon)
Ecclesiastes 2:1-15
Galatians 1:1-17
Matthew 13:44-52


I was in my twenties. Baby-faced, earnest and sincere, but in over my head. I was training as a chaplain in a hospital in New York City. Making my rounds I quietly went into a room where a man lay unresponsive. He was a large man, tall and distinguished looking. I figured him to be in his late 50's. There was no one in the room with him and nothing on my printout that identified him other than by name. He lay on his back, alive but expressionless. Not having anyone I could speak to and not wanting to presume too much, I prayed silently by him and left.

He was like that the next day as well. I wondered briefly, who is he. But I moved on. There were so many others to see.

The third day I started to enter his room, there was a woman outside. She was crying. It was a particular kind of lost crying that contains so much grief. She was very beautiful; a mature woman with dark eyes. It took her a moment to focus on me, a child standing in front of her in a clerical collar. "Do you know what happens? Where is he? Do you know anything about strokes? What happens when the mind disappears? That man is one of the most brilliant men in the world. Known and respected internationally. There is so much inside of his brain. Where is it? Does that knowledge go somewhere?" She looked at me, realizing her folly of asking a child such questions. "Why?" she moaned. "This is so wrong." Her last words were a fierce accusation.

The Teacher of Ecclesiastes opens his treatise with three experiments. We read of the first two today. In the first experiment he successfully pursues pleasure, riches and extravagance. No human exceeded his experience of pleasure. Yet, though he had everything his heart desired, "all was vanity and a chasing after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun."

His second experiment was to become wise. Wisdom is better than folly. And though he becomes a person of unexcelled wisdom, he realizes he will be as forgotten and ephemeral as the fool. Same result: "all is vanity and a chasing after wind."

His eventual modest message will be that it is good to enjoy life, its moderate pleasures and learnings, but always remember that you will die. All you have will disappear and go to another, maybe a fool. All you know will disappear into nothing. And you will be forgotten. So for now, enjoy as you may.

Paul is in a different place. He too has experienced frustration, the vanity of chasing after wind. For him, that vanity was his earlier life when he was trying to measure up, trying to earn life or prove himself by learning and by following the divine law perfectly. He found that life only left him anxious -- a kind of performance anxiety. For him freedom came through a gift. He was saved when he accepted the unmerited and unqualified gift of grace through Jesus. God loves me. All is forgiven. That's that. And the resurrection of Jesus promises something more beyond.

I knew that Paul stuff when I faced the grieved woman outside the room of the silent brilliant man. I didn't know what to say, though. It felt "so wrong" to me as well. All I could do was to share her grief.

A few minutes later she looked again at this naive child wearing a collar. "You believe there's something after we die, don't you?" "I do," I nodded. She silently shook her head as if to say, it seems so impossible, so far-fetched. "He didn't," she nodded in the direction of the bed. "All that brilliance. Gone. How can it be?"

Lowell
_________________________


Anyone may subscribe to receive "Morning Reflections" by email.
Send a regular email to the following address: lowell-request@arkansasusa.com
Then, type the following command in the main body of the email:
JOIN lowell your-email-address (example: JOIN lowell JaneDoe@aol.com)


The Rev. Lowell Grisham
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Fayetteville, Arkansas

Saturday, June 03, 2006

Sermon: Dancing With God

Pentecost Sunday

When our first child Allison was little, about three years old, we used to waltz together. I would put a Strauss tune on the stereo, pick her up, and sweep her in broad circles around the room to the three-four time. For her it must have felt like a flying carpet roller-coaster ride. Her eyes got wide, her mouth opened into a gaping grin, and she would squeal with delight to the ups and downs and arounds of the dance.

Friday I was driving from the hospital and listening to KUAF. They played the Blue Danube waltz, and I found myself smiling and swaying even before I consciously recalled the joy of those memories. Whenever I hear one of those waltzes, I feel good inside. In some wonderful way I am eternally connected with my lovely daughter through the spirit of the waltz that delighted us both.

Matthew Gunter, the chaplain to the upcoming General Convention of the Episcopal Church, describes God this way: "God is a dynamic dance of mutual self-giving and receiving and delighting in which there are three givers, but one giving." * The theological word we have for this notion is perichoresis, which literally means something like "they dance around together." One of the ancient metaphors we have for God the Holy Trinity is God as a divine dance of loving friendship.

God the Father is the source and creator of the dance. God says, "Let there be light," and the universe flies into space and time. God says, "Let there be Lowell," and something unique and creative comes into being. Everything that is, is an expression of God's love and truth and exuberant joy. God calls everything into being in the great universal dance. God looks at what God has created and pronounces it good. Our purpose, our joy, is to join the dance of God.

Jesus came dancing, the perfect image of the eternal dance, the perfect image of God. In the life of Jesus of Nazareth, we see God dancing perfectly in human life. Jesus danced the way of God, living God's love and truth and joy. In Jesus, God's Word is consistent with God's Being, embodied in the movement and life of Jesus. We watch Jesus in the stories that have been passed on to us, and we see the friendship dance of the divine. A dance that rotates and spins even unto death, when Jesus embraces the dark, minor chords of sin and evil and cruelty, holds all of that in the exquisite slow dance of the cross, descends into hell itself, and leaps out of the grave on Easter in the thrilling pirouette of the resurrection. Now Jesus spins to look us each in the eye and offer to us most intimately our invitation to join the dance. Jesus is God's invitation to join the dance of God's love and truth and exuberant joy.

The Holy Spirit is the power of God living in us, moving our feet, our hearts, our arms and eyes and minds around the eternal dance of love and truth and joy. The Spirit is the choreographer of our participation in the dance of life; the Spirit is the energy of our dance. That Spirit of Loving Friendship is universal, present in all places and at all times and in all people, eternally immanent and wondrously transcendent with and above all that is.

I seem to be saying a lot of things about God, but a word of caution is in order. In truth, I don't know squat about God. To imply that I do would be incredibly presumptuous. Some of what we may know about God we have as wonderful clues through the life and Jesus and the work of the Holy Spirit within creation. And out of our experience of those clues, comes the Trinitarian language I have been using in this metaphor of the dance. Archbishop Rowan Williams has said famously of Trinitarian language, "It's the least worst language for God we have." God is so much more than anything we can say.

Although we can't say very much that is meaningful about the mystery which is God, we can know and experience God in a deeply personal way. God overflows into human life. That is the work of the Son, the presence of God incarnate from before time and forever. Our receiving of God's overflowing is the Holy Spirit. So love and truth and joy flows from God into creation; through the Spirit we experience love and truth and joy, and every time we do we can be conscious of being taken up into the divine eternal dance of the Holy Trinity. When we are awake to the presence and rhythm and movement of God's being, God's dance, our eyes open wide, our spirits gape wide with love, and sometimes we squeal, audibly or inaudibly, with deepest joy.

God grabs us and dances with us. Breathing life into our being. In God's intimate life there is always room for otherness. God makes space for us -- space for relationship, intimacy and belonging. This is more than doctrine or teaching. We're not given some information about God, we are given the Son. We are not given some theological content demanding intellectual consent, we are given the Spirit. It's all about relationship. Decartes got it wrong. It's not "I think, therefore I am." In God it is "I am in relationship, therefore I am; I am loved, therefore I am; I am in love, therefore I am."

Today through baptism we engage new partners in the dance. The Spirit of God enters and incoporates the baptized into the life of the Holy Trinity, the dance of mutual giving, of sharing and receiving. The Hebrew word for Spirit is ruach, the same word we translate as wind and breath. Invisible, yet so very real. Powerful and life-giving. The nearness of compassionate, self-giving love. The God in whom we live and breathe and have our being. Involved in everything yet overwhelming nothing. The Spirit is the very energy of our life. In the Spirit we are dance partners with God.

I remember the look in Allison's eyes as we whirled around the room to the pulse of the Blue Danube. She flew through the air with absolute trust. She knew the truth of her father's arms. The love and joy flowed palpably between us, a Spirit that I can still taste with the vividness of timeless memory.

Maybe you can feel the secure power of your being held securely in God's eternal arms. Maybe you can sense the unqualified love that is being poured out toward you in overflowing measure. Maybe you can surrender to the joy that is the energy of this dance of life in the Spirit. This is the eternal giving and receiving which is the very heart of God. It is in this that we breathe and move and have our being -- the open eyes and hearts of those who are alive to the glorious, radiant and splendid Sacred Presence. We are invited to join the dance of loving friendship; we are invited into the very life of God.

_________________________
* The Dance of Love, printed in The Living Church, June 4, 2006. I'm borrowing liberally from Fr. Gunter's fine article.


The Mission of St. Paul's Episcopal Church is to explore and celebrate
God's infinite grace, acceptance and love.

For information about St. Paul's Episcopal Church and it's life and mission, please contact us at
P.O. Box 1190, Fayetteville, AR 72702, or call 479/442-7373

This sermon and others are on our web site at www.stpaulsfay.org
Please visit our partner web ministry also at www.ExploreFaith.org

Friday, June 02, 2006

Martha and Mary and de Caussade

Friday, June 2, 2006 -- Week of 7 Easter (The Martyrs of Lyons)

"Morning Reflections" is a brief thought about the scripture readings from the Daily Office of Morning and Evening Prayer according to the practice found in the Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church.

Morning Prayer begins on p. 80 of the Book of Common Prayer.
Evening Prayer begins on p. 117

An online resource for praying the Daily Office is found at www.missionstclare.com
Another form of the office from Phyllis Tickle's "Divine Hours" is available on our partner web site www.ExploreFaith.org at this link -- http://explorefaith.org/prayer/fixed/index.html


Today's Readings for the Daily Office (p. 965)
Psalms 102 (morning) // 107:1-32 (afternoon)
Jeremiah 31:27-34
Ephesians 5:1-20
Matthew 9:9-17


Mary's actions were counter-cultural and somewhat scandalous. She was a woman. Women were not supposed to study Torah or become disciples. They were not allowed to sit at the feet of a rabbi. Martha was behaving more appropriately, being the good host, doing the necessary work of preparation and hospitality.

In their culture, Martha would have been respected for her part. Mary's actions would have turned heads. She would have been regarded at best as strange, possibly scandalous or even subversive. She was making waves. But Jesus accepted and honored Mary's decision and unconventional role.

Jesus said that Mary was choosing "the better part." In some competitive corporate climates, taking time for prayer, meditation, spiritual reading or study, or for retreat might be counter cultural. In other places setting boundaries because of faith can turn heads.

The reading from Ephesians encourages us to high standards, especially in secrecy or in the dark. It picks up a repeated theme in the Epistles to be thankful at all times and in everything. "Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord. ...understand what the will of the Lord is." Jeremiah imagines a day when no one will need to be instructed about God, for each of us will know God in our hearts.

I'm reminded of the advice of the 18th century spiritual director Jean Pierre de Caussade who taught that we can completely accept the circumstances of the present moment as the sacrament of God's presence, and in those circumstances we can with an inward glance, intuit what is the will of God for us in this moment. It is either to do some present duty, or to enjoy some present consolation, or, occasionally, to suffer something for the sake of God.

What will be the "better part" for us to choose today, being thankful in all things, following God's will through the Spirit that dwells in our hearts?

Lowell
_________________________



Anyone may subscribe to receive "Morning Reflections" by email.
Send a regular email to the following address: lowell-request@arkansasusa.com
Then, type the following command in the main body of the email:
JOIN lowell your-email-address (example: JOIN lowell JaneDoe@aol.com)

I also send the upcoming Sunday scripture readings to this same list.

The Rev. Lowell Grisham
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Fayetteville, Arkansas