Brief thoughts

Friday, October 13, 2006 -- Week of Proper 22

"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 location -- http://explorefaith.org/prayer/fixed/index.html


Today's Readings for the Daily Office (p. 987)
Psalm 140, 142 (morning) // 141, 143:1-11(12) (evening)
Micah 3:9 - 4:5
Acts 24:24 - 25:12
Luke 8:1-15

There are moments in each of the three readings today that invite comment.

We probably hear from two different prophets in the book of Micah today. At the end of chapter three, Micah gives the third of his prophecies against the ruling elite indicting Jerusalem's political and religious leaders. He speaks what some would have regarded as treason, predicting the fall of Jerusalem. The prophet Jeremiah used Micah's words 100 years later as a precedent for his defense when he was tried for treason. It is not treason, or unpatriotic (in our day), to speak critically to power or to predict its downfall.

As we get to chapter 4 we are probably hearing words from a different prophet in a different time. But this is an important passage. Isaiah preserves almost the same oracle. It anticipates a future eschaton, when God will bring justice to a fallen world. Zion will be the center of learning and peace. God will be the world's judge. Universal peace will reign and all will live in economic security -- "they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees, and no one shall make them afraid." Even the religions will live peacefully, "For all the peoples walk, each in the name of its god, but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God." This is one of the great visions of scripture. Though justice is thwarted by humanity, God will bring about a kingdom on earth. It will be a kingdom of peace. Jesus' teaching about the kingdom of God drinks from this tradition. (In contrast, the vision of Revelation imagines a violent end with the annihilation of the Roman enemies. The two visions are not compatible.)
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We have a brief study in Roman law and order in Acts today. Felix is the governor, a Roman official. Like several previous rulers in Israel, he is married to a Jewish wife as a political asset for his rule in this Jewish region. Paul speaks of faith in Jesus Christ, a non-violent expression of Messianic Judaism. Verse 25 says they discussed "justice, self-control, and the coming judgment." Rome imposed justice by force. Jews looked for justice from God in a coming judgment. Each vision had a tradition of self-control. Justice and self-control meant different things to Romans and Jews, and the Jewish conviction that Messiah would bring God's coming judgment was a particularly sensitive topic to Roman ears.

Felix kept Paul in prison for two years. No charges. No legal process. (No habeas corpus.) Acts implies that some money in the right place would have greased the wheels for Paul's case. Two years of confinement pass. Then a new governor Festus succeeds Felix. Paul's situation becomes more vulnerable. It appears that the new governor wants to start off by making friends with the elites in Jerusalem. They've got it in for Paul. He lets them make their case. It's understood -- we'll bring Paul to Jerusalem for a hearing. Paul knows the gig is up. He exercises his rights as a Roman citizen and appeals to the emperor. We'll learn later his appeal might have been unnecessary had he had opportunity to appear before King Herod Agrippa rather than the governor.
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Luke's version of the parable of the sower. I like to think of the field as my own life. The seed is sowed in my mind, emotions, body, time... all parts of my life and being. There are parts where the seed takes deep roots. But there can be situations where I fail in testing, and I can certainly be "choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life." That field is me. How can I better nurture the seed of God's word that has been planted in me?
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Lowell

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