Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Lydia's Baptism

Tuesday, July 31, 2007 -- Week of Proper 12
(Ignatius of Loyola, Priest, Monastic, and Founder of the Society of Jesus, 1556))

"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

Audio Podcasts of today's "Morning Reflection" and those from the past week are available from http://www.stpaulsfay.org/id244.html (go to St. Paul's Home Page www.stpaulsfay.org and click "Morning Reflection podcast")


Today's Readings for the Daily Office (p. 976)
Psalms 61, 62 (morning) 68:1-20(21-23)24-36 (evening)
2 Samuel 3:6-21
Acts 16:6-15
Mark 6:30-46

Today we read of the gospel's entrance into Europe. Paul had a vision during the evening of a man from Macedonia in Greece calling to him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." Their ship crossed the Aegean Sea to the port of Neapolis. From there Paul's group went to the city of Phillippi. Phillippi was on the famous Roman road the Egnatian Way, which was like an ancient interstate highway. The road connected the Bosphorus Strait with the western coast of Greece, a short crossing to the Appian Way which leads to Rome.

On the Sabbath day Paul and his companions went outside the city gate to a place of prayer where a Jewish community gathered by the river. Several years ago I visited Phillippi where there is an extensive archeological site from the Roman period. Not far outside the city is the traditional location that is mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles. There is a small river there, not more that 20 feet across.

At that place, Paul spoke to the women who had gathered (leading to the speculation that this was not a synagogue proper). The text says, "A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, 'If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.' And she prevailed upon us."

This is the first baptism in Europe. Today there is a church near the traditional location. It is a place of pilgrimage that many come to for baptism. The river has a convenient diversion that also allows access, and the river itself is a continuing site for baptism. I brought some water home from both the river and the font in the church. When we bless our Holy Water which we place in our font near the chancel steps, we put a few drops of these ancient waters of baptism into our water here in Fayetteville. I like that sense of connection to the roots of our Christian history.

Some interesting details. The description of her as "a worshiper of God" is ambiguous. She could have been either Jewish or Gentile. As a dealer in expensive purple cloth, she was someone who did business with the wealthy and may have been relatively wealthy herself. Lydia is a woman and Paul teaches her as if she were a man. The church began in Phillippi as a house church in Lydia's home. It says that she and her household were baptized. Like the story of the baptism of Cornelius and his household and of the jailer in the next chapter, it appears normal that an entire household might be baptized along with the household leader, presumably including children and infants if there were any. That tradition is one of the grounds for the practice of infant or childhood baptism.

The evidence from the early church of Paul is that women shared in leadership with men. In addition to the house church of Lydia, in Romans 16 Paul refers to a woman Junia as being "prominent among the apostles" and the couple Prisca and Aquila "who work with me in Christ Jesus." It is significant that the first church in Europe was begun on the foundation of the faith and hospitality of Lydia in Phillippi.

Lowell
______________________

To Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the "Morning Reflections" email list,
go to our Subscriptions page -- http://www.stpaulsfay.org/id137.html

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

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

See our Web site at www.stpaulsfay.org

Our Rule of Life:
We aspire to...
worship weekly
pray daily
learn constantly
serve joyfully
live generously.

Monday, July 30, 2007

Strategy or Hypocricy?

Monday, July 30, 2007 -- Week of Proper 12
(William Wilberforce)

"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

Audio Podcasts of today's "Morning Reflection" and those from the past week are available from http://www.stpaulsfay.org/id244.html (go to St. Paul's Home Page www.stpaulsfay.org and click "Morning Reflection podcast")


Today's Readings for the Daily Office (p. 976)
Psalms 56, 57, [58] (morning) 64, 65 (evening)
2 Samuel 2:1-11
Acts 15:36 - 16:5
Mark 6:14-29

Change and reform never seems to happen in a straight line.

Paul is renowned for his gospel of justification by grace. We've just read the story of the famous Apostolic Council in Jerusalem that accepted Paul's argument that Gentiles might belong to the church without having to become Jews. The central presenting issue was circumcision. Should Gentiles who belong to the Christian community be circumcised? The council answered "no."

We know from Paul's writing how passionate he was about this issue. He believed that circumcision was the sign of one's obedience to the Jewish law, and he had experienced faith in Jesus as his liberation from the law. He had been justified as a gift from Christ rather than as an accomplishment through obedience to the law. His letters often address his conviction that circumcision is meaningless. Even more seriously, according to Paul, circumcision and its attendant subjection to the law nullified the core of the gospel that Paul taught. (see especially the letter to the Galatians)

But today we have Paul circumcising Timothy his assistant in his mission work. Timothy's mother is Jewish, his father is Greek. Despite his convictions that circumcision is not required of Christians, Paul performs the rite in order to allow Timothy to join him when Paul visits the synagogues of Asia Minor and Greece. Timothy becomes a Jew.

It is a strategic decision. Paul's primary method for growing the church was to go to a town and to speak to the congregation assembled at the synagogue. He spoke as a Jew, arguing that Jesus is the promised Jewish Messiah. Some Jews were convinced by his words, but not many. He usually encountered strong opposition from the synagogue. His greatest success tended to be with the Gentiles who attended synagogue but were not Jews themselves. They were called "Godfearers." Typically these were people who were drawn to Jewish monotheism and high ethic, but who did not take the ultimate step to become Jews and to be circumcised. Paul offered them an appealing religion with a comparable ethic and no circumcision.

But in order for Timothy to gain access to the synagogue along with Paul, he was circumcised. Interesting. Some might charge Paul with being hypocritical or at least inconsistent. Is Paul being deceptive? Is he practicing something he doesn't believe in so that he can misrepresent Timothy to the Jewish community? Or is this just a necessary compromise for the sake of the larger goal?

Today is the feast of William Wilberforce, a politician. Wilberforce served in the English House of Commons for forty five years. He is best known as an opponent of slavery and slave trade. Slave trafficking was abolished in 1807 by Parliament in the middle of Wilberforce's service and was ended in the empire just after he died in 1833. My mind goes to Thomas Jefferson, the great articulator of American freedom. He and the good leaders who crafted the instruments of our union believed it necessary to compromise on slavery in order to accomplish the founding of our new nation. It took a war to finish their unfinished work. Even today the scars and reality of racism continue to plague our nation's health.

We live in ambiguous circumstances. We have principles and beliefs to which we commit ourselves. When do we compromise? When do we act strategically? When are we being unfaithful or duplicitous? Change and reform never seems to happen in a straight line once and for all.

Lowell

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To Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the "Morning Reflections" email list,
go to our Subscriptions page -- http://www.stpaulsfay.org/id137.html

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

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

See our Web site at www.stpaulsfay.org

Our Rule of Life:
We aspire to...
worship weekly
pray daily
learn constantly
serve joyfully
live generously.

Friday, July 27, 2007

Harmony

Friday, July 27, 2007 -- Week of Proper 11
(William Reed Huntington)

"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

Audio Podcasts of today's "Morning Reflection" and those from the past week are available from http://www.stpaulsfay.org/id244.html (go to St. Paul's Home Page stpaulsfay.org and click "Morning Reflection podcast")


Today's Readings for the Daily Office (p. 976)
Psalms 40, 54 (morning) 51 (evening)
1 Samuel 31:1-13
Acts 15:12-21
Mark 5:21-43

Whenever numbers appear in the scriptures, pay attention. Numbers always have a symbolic meaning and communicate something important. Twelve is a mystical number. It is the product of three times four. Three represents heaven, divinity or the spiritual order. Four represents the earth or the created order (four winds, four directions, four seasons...). Twelve represents the fullness or perfection of the human order within the divine will. There are twelve tribes of Israel and twelve apostles. Twelve is a number of harmony.

Jesus heals a woman who has been hemorrhaging for twelve years. Jesus brings the divine touch and healing so that she can be whole. It is likely that her bleeding was vaginal or uterine bleeding. It left her ritually unclean and physically unable to bear children. Jesus restores her in her twelfth year to fecundity and fellowship. Harmony.

Jesus raises the child of Jarius. She is twelve years old, at the age of accountability and maturity. She is at the age when her menses will start and now she will be able to marry and bear children. She is restored physically to be able to carry out the divine intention for her life. Harmony.

What represents wholeness for each of us? How does our life in its creaturely dimension fulfill the divine intention for us? That is our harmony. When we are living within the intention and will of God, we are living in harmony with the divine. What would that look like today? How can God's creativity and human fellowship be expressed through us today?

Lowell

______________________

To Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the "Morning Reflections" email list,
go to our Subscriptions page -- http://www.stpaulsfay.org/id137.html

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

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

See our Web site at www.stpaulsfay.org

Our Rule of Life:
We aspire to...
worship weekly
pray daily
learn constantly
serve joyfully
live generously.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

The Church's First Big Decision

Thursday, July 26, 2007 -- Week of Proper 11
(Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary)

"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

Audio Podcasts of today's "Morning Reflection" and those from the past week are available from http://www.stpaulsfay.org/id244.html (go to St. Paul's Home Page stpaulsfay.org and click "Morning Reflection podcast")


Today's Readings for the Daily Office (p. 976
Psalms 50 (morning) [59, 60] or 66, 67 (evening)
1 Samuel 28:3-20
Acts 15:1-11
Mark 5:1-20

(for a sermon based on Luke's version of today's Gospel, go to http://www.stpaulsfay.org/id248.html)

Jesus was a Jew. He remained a faithful, practicing Jew all of his life. All of the early Christians were Jews. Their community began as a reform movement within Judaism. Their teaching that the crucified Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah was not convincing to many Jews, however, and found more receptive response, especially for Paul, among the Gentiles who had some familiarity with Judaism and its traditions of monotheism and ethical religious behavior.

When Gentiles began to seek acceptance into the fellowship of the followers of Jesus, it provoked a crisis. Should they become "like us"? Should Gentiles be admitted into the fellowship? If so, should Gentiles be taught the traditions of Jewish practice and circumcised as a sign of their belonging to our tradition?

The traditional, Biblical answer would be that Gentiles should be circumcised and taught the traditions of Jewish faith, practice and obedience to the Torah. This has been the path of faithfulness and righteousness for Jews for centuries. But that was not the decision of the early church.

To allow Gentiles to become members of the Church without having to become Jews was the most significant decision in the early history of the Christian movement. Without that decision, the followers of Jesus would have remained a sect of Judaism, and might not have thrived.

Imagine the tension and debate that the story of Acts 15 represents. For some, the departure from tradition would have seemed like apostasy. The Bible is clear. The tradition is cherished. From Jewish perspective, God's relationship with God's chosen was sealed in circumcision and realized in obedience to the law given by God to Moses. It has been that way for all of our people's history. But the traditional argument did not carry the day.

What persuaded the early church to make such a radical change? Peter explains (as did Paul) that they had witnessed the same gifts of the Holy Spirit in the Gentiles that they had known among themselves. They also admitted humbly, that they had not been able to follow the law, why should they force such an expectation upon the Gentiles. This story from the Acts of the Apostles shows the church in deliberation making a radical decision of inclusion. It was a decision that changed the history of the church, allowing it to become an enduring religion rather than a reformist sect of Judaism.

Not everyone agreed with the decision. For the first couple of centuries we know of the presence of Jewish Christians, called Ebionites. Their writings have been repressed and destroyed. We know of their existence and teachings largely through the writings of the church fathers Irenaeus and Epiphanius, who branded the Ebionites as one of the heresies of the church.

The Ebionites followed the Jewish laws of kosher diet, sabbath and circumcision, and proclaimed Jesus as the Jewish Messiah who was the savior of the Jewish people. They taught that Jesus had made the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world, and therefore no further Temple sacrifice was necessary. They saw themselves as the inheritors of the tradition of James, the brother of our Lord, who was reputed to be a man of impeccable character among the Jews. They objected strongly to the teachings of Paul. They saw themselves as the authentic expression of Christian faith.

There have always been various interpretations and expressions of Christianity. I think it is significant that among the first decisions that formed the early church was a decision to recognize the presence of the Holy Spirit in the unexpected person and a willingness to honor God in a new way through a path of inclusion.

Lowell

______________________

To Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the "Morning Reflections" email list,
go to our Subscriptions page -- http://www.stpaulsfay.org/id137.html

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

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

See our Web site at www.stpaulsfay.org

Our Rule of Life:
We aspire to...
worship weekly
pray daily
learn constantly
serve joyfully
live generously.

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

David the Gangsta

Wednesday, July 25, 2007 -- Week of Proper 11
(St. James the Apostle)

"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

Audio Podcasts of today's "Morning Reflection" and those from the past week are available from http://www.stpaulsfay.org/id244.html (go to St. Paul's Home Page stpaulsfay.org and click "Morning Reflection podcast")

Discussion Blog: To comment on today's reflection or readings, go to http://lowellsblog.blogspot.com, find today's reading, click "comment" at the bottom of the reading, and post your thoughts.


Today's Readings for the Daily Office

EITHER

the readings for Wednesday of Proper 11 (p. 976)
Psalms 119:49-72 (morning) 49, [53] (evening)
1 Samuel 25:23-44
Acts 14:19-28
Mark 4:35-41

OR
the readings for St. James Day (p. 998)
Morning Prayer: Psalm 34 // Jeremiah 16:14-21 // Mark 1:14-20
Evening Prayer: Psalm 33 // Jeremiah 26:1-15 // Matthew 10:16-32

I chose to read the lessons for Wednesday of Proper 11

The story of David, Nabal and Abigail is fascinating. Scholars believe the original version comes from what some call the "republican" or "Samuel" source, a tradition of stories from a perspective that favors a tribal confederacy form of governmental organization for Israel rather than a monarchy. Saul and David are not portrayed in an attractive light in that tradition. Most of 1 & 2 Samuel are from the "monarchical" or "Saul" source, a tradition seeing God's hand in the calling of the kings.

In this story David and his men act something like a gang offering protection for businesses in their "hood." When Nabal harvests the wool, which is a time of festival and feasting, David's men come for their payment for not harming, or for "protecting" Nabal's shepherds. When Nabal refuses, accusing David of being a runaway slave from his master Saul, David intends to kill him and every male of his estate. Such bloodshed would have been wrongful violence on David's part.

David is saved from his temper by the only person from Nabal's household who could have safely approached David, a woman. Abigail brings generous gifts and treats David with elaborate courtesy and respect. She convinces him that to shed innocent blood by killing all of Nabal's men would be a blot on David's honor. She also offers herself for future marriage, "When the Lord has dealt well with my lord, the remember your servant."

Nabal drinks and eats excessively at the feast, and in the morning when his wife tells him of his narrow escape, he has something like a stroke. Eventually he dies, and David sends to Abigail with a proposal of marriage. Yes, it sounds like a scene out of "Godfather" or a gang movie.

One of the attractive characteristics of the Hebrew scripture tradition is that they had such respect for their ancient stories and texts that the redactors who collected and composed the Torah sometime during the Persian period (between 540 BCE and 333 BCE) preserved versions of their texts that sometimes conflict with one another in detail, theology or interpretation. Our scripture record is immensely enriched by their willingness not to be slaves to consistency.

So today and yesterday, we have a story about David that is not particularly flattering. Elsewhere we have Samuel warning the people of disobeying God by appointing a king. We also have different voices in scripture reverencing David as the man after God's own heart and regarding the monarchy as God's own chosen anointed, a divine gift.

Our religious ancestors were not uncomfortable with such tensions and alternatives. Religious conversation within Judaism has always embraced the power of dialectic. Such an approach helps preserve the humility of our limited human vision before the mystery of God and God's ways.

It is un-Biblical, non-traditional and dangerous to believe that humans can contain the truth objectively. The original sin in the Garden was the desire to know right from wrong. The fatal flaw of literalism or other religious schemes making claims to certainty is that they try to reduce the divine mystery to something that can be objectified or known. The bible warns of the dangers of idolatry, reducing the mysterious living God to something made by hands, including texts. When God revealed the divine Name to Moses on Mount Sinai, the name YHWH reinforces God's free and mysterious character. "I am" or "I am who I am" or "I will be who I will be" or (there are lots of attempts to translate, and none is completely satisfying).

The Bible is far richer for being a diverse reflection of our experience as a people with our God and not something that has reduced God to one thing or one interpretation. Each generation learns anew who God will be in our day. We are forever in conversation with the knowledge and love of God in the past and in our present.

Lowell
______________________

To Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the "Morning Reflections" email list,
go to our Subscriptions page -- http://www.stpaulsfay.org/id137.html

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

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

See our Web site at www.stpaulsfay.org

Our Rule of Life:
We aspire to...
worship weekly
pray daily
learn constantly
serve joyfully
live generously.

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Seeds & Organic Growth

Tuesday, July 24, 2007 -- Week of Proper 11
(Thomas a Kempis, priest 1471)

"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

Audio Podcasts of today's "Morning Reflection" and those from the past week are available from http://www.stpaulsfay.org/id244.html (go to St. Paul's Home Page stpaulsfay.org and click "Morning Reflection podcast")


Today's Readings for the Daily Office (p. 976)
Psalms 45 (morning) 47, 48 (evening)
1 Samuel 25:1-22
Acts 14:1-18
Mark 4:21-34

I am drawn to the image of the seed. It is first sown and then quietly, invisibly germinates. Eventually it sprouts, but you usually cannot tell what it will become. Then, with time, it begins to grow and become visible. Finally, it brings forth fruit. Mark combines that metaphor with the related image of the mustard seed, which is very small, yet produces a significant bush. (Though the description of large branches with birds' nests seems exaggerated.)

Most things in the spiritual life have such an organic nature about them. The same might be said for many other things that grow -- health, wisdom, children, even money.

When we begin to embrace the practices of spiritual life, we usually do so quietly, even invisibly. Usually not much happens at first. Spiritual practice needs to become grounded (pun intended). With regular attention to a practice, it begins to take root. The regularity is important. A friend of mine likes to say of prayer, "You've got to show up." The spiritual life needs regular sun and water, consistent care and exercise to begin to grow.

Eventually, a practice begins to have a more substantial reality. You don't have to struggle so much to show up. It comes out of the ground and begins to grow. But maybe you can't see what it is leading you into just yet. You just know that this prayer, this discipline is becoming habitual. It is something you can see is happening.

With time and faithful repetition, a habit grows in strength until eventually it becomes a virtue. The long, slow work begins to yield fruit. You become formed by the prayer or study, and it begins to nourish and enrichen your life. You find that you have new gifts to be of service to God and to God's creatures. You are able to give shade or nurture to others, sometimes so naturally that it is almost out of your own field of recognition. You've grown and become fruitful.

It takes patience and discipline to nurture such organic growth. Farmers are good models for us. For most of us, embracing spiritual disciplines like going to church, practicing some form of personal prayer, studying the scripture and spiritual traditions, or changing a bad personal habit is an organic process that takes time before it really blossoms in a way that is satisfying and apparent. It is easy to get discouraged and give up when the work is tedious and the rewards slow to manifest. Most good things in life are that way, however.

Lowell

______________________

To Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the "Morning Reflections" email list,
go to our Subscriptions page -- http://www.stpaulsfay.org/id137.html

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

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

See our Web site at www.stpaulsfay.org

Our Rule of Life:
We aspire to...
worship weekly
pray daily
learn constantly
serve joyfully
live generously.

Monday, July 23, 2007

Whose Side Would I Have Taken?

Monday, July 23, 2007 -- Week of Proper 11

"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

Audio Podcasts of today's "Morning Reflection" and those from the past week are available from http://www.stpaulsfay.org/id244.html (go to St. Paul's Home Page stpaulsfay.org and click "Morning Reflection podcast")

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (p. 976)
Psalms 41, 52 (morning) 44 (evening)
1 Samuel 24:1-22
Acts 13:44-52
Mark 4:1-20

Sometimes I wonder which side I would have supported when I read of the great struggles and conflicts in the stories from scripture.

Saul was the establishment figure in the great Saul-David saga. Tall and distinguished, anointed Israel's first king by the prophet Samuel, Saul was a powerful leader, with an established royal household, army and the God-given authority to rule. David was one of Saul's generals, a charismatic leader but nevertheless subject to Saul's authority. The most conservative interpretation of the situation would be that David is acting in a treasonous or rebellious way against acknowledged authority. To the public, it might have looked like David fled following a failed palace coup. It's obvious to us today, reading the history written during the reign of David and Solomon, that David is the more attractive contender. Would I have perceived that and preferred David had I been living as these events were happening?

Paul comes to the Jewish synagogues of Asia Minor and is invited to speak and teach. The story he tells is pretty fantastic. The longed for Messiah has come, he says. But the expected messianic reign of peace and Jewish triumph is not part of it. In fact, the Jewish religious leaders accused him of blasphemy and turned him over to the occupying Romans for execution. He was "hanged on a tree," a sign of cursing from God. But these witnesses tell of seeing him alive, having risen from the dead. The effect of his death and resurrection is to open forgiveness to all. It is also to free everyone from the traditional obligations and practices of following the Torah and the Law, the fundamental identity that sets apart Jews from other peoples.

Had I been a member of the synagogue in Antioch of Pisidia, would I have been convinced by this story from Paul? The Jewish establishment and religious authorities disputed and rejected Paul's tenets. So Paul called the members of the synagogue "unworthy of eternal life," and turned toward proselytizing the Gentiles who attended synagogue but were not Jews. He invited them to join his movement, where they would not have to obey the Law or be circumcised. The Gentile "God-fearers", as they were called, responded. Some left their accustomed place of observation in the back of the synagogue, presumably with their money and considerable community influence. Paul's message provoked a challenge to the synagogue that was more than just a religious dispute. We're talking big pledgers and community standing. Would I have taken kindly to Paul's Gospel? Would this story of a crucified Messiah made sense to me if I had been brought up in that culture?

Part of the appeal of the parable of the sower that we read today in Mark is that the sower is so profligate with the seed. This is not efficient farming. The sower throws seeds everywhere -- on the path, in the rocks, among the thorns, in good soil. There are seeds of God's work everywhere. Some of it germinates and grows; some of it doesn't take root.

Imagining how I might have sided with Saul and the establishment in the Saul-David conflict or with the synagogue and traditional religion in the Paul-synagogue conflict makes me wonder what works of God am I missing today. How is God challenging what I think to be settled or stirring up new things that will upset the old things? Will I have the openness to be good soil for whatever God is sowing today?


Lowell
______________________

To Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the "Morning Reflections" email list,
go to our Subscriptions page -- http://www.stpaulsfay.org/id137.html

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

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

See our Web site at www.stpaulsfay.org

Our Rule of Life:
We aspire to...
worship weekly
pray daily
learn constantly
serve joyfully
live generously.

Friday, July 20, 2007

The Hero's Journey

Friday, July 20, 2006 -- Week of Proper 10
(Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Amelia Bloomer, Sojourner Truth, and Harriet Ross Tubman; Liberators and Prophets)

"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

Audio Podcasts of today's "Morning Reflection" and those from the past week are available from http://www.stpaulsfay.org/id244.html (go to St. Paul's Home Page stpaulsfay.org and click "Morning Reflection podcast")

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (p. 974)
Psalms 31 (morning) 35 (evening)
1 Samuel 21:1-15
Acts 13:13-25
Mark 3:7-19a


I enjoyed Grady Jim Robinson's column in the Northwest Arkansas Times Thursday when he talked a bit about the mythology of the hero's journey. Frequently the stories of the heroes include their going out on a journey where they must defeat a great opponent, overcome obstacles and return with new knowledge and power. Many hero stories have a tale of the hero's taking a disguise, and most stories also narrate a flaw or failure in the hero's life.

In today's reading from 1 Samuel, David has fled from the royal court of Saul. At the shrine of Nob he recovers the sword of Goliath, the great opponent he had defeated as a young boy. In Gath he feigns madness. "He scratched marks on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle run down his beard." In the ancient world, to be mad was seen as being touched by the gods. The Philistines would leave such a madman alone so as to avoid divine wrath. David is on the hero's journey.

In our reading from the Acts of the Apostles, we also see Paul on the move to Asia Minor to witness to Jesus as the promised Messianic descendent of David. Within this account is the mention of the departure of John (John Mark). We'll learn later that the dispute over his leaving will cause a separation between Paul and his colleague Barnabas. Our Gospel reading from Mark finds Jesus widening the geography of his mission, curing diseases and defeating the unclean spirits. He calls to himself the twelve apostles; among them is Judas Iscariot, who will betray him.

Today is also the feast day of four women who were prophets and liberators of the 19th century. Each of them left on the hero's journey and battled great opponents. Elizabeth Cady Stanton left her strict Calvinist family and called both the church and the society to account for oppressing women. Amelia Jenks Bloomer joined the temperance, anti-slavery and women's rights movements, engaging clergy in debate about scriptures which were used to subordinate women and justify slavery. Sojourner Truth escaped slavery and became a traveling preacher who would ask to speak to white tent revivals and would leave them mesmerized as she advocated abolition of slavery and full rights for women. Harriet Ross Tubman also escaped slavery to Canada, but returned during the Civil War, serving as a cook, a spy and a scout. She led 300 black troops on a raid which freed over 750 slaves, making her the first American woman to lead troops into military action.

It strikes me as I write this that every one of these heroes were motivated by faith and supported by their love of the scripture and its stories. But every one of these had to overcome religious tradition, usually grounded in some interpretation of Biblical writings. In today's reading David broke the Torah provisions for the reservation of the holy bread of the presence. Paul will argue that Jews and all men are free from circumcision and from obedience to the law. Jesus was accused of violating the sabbath and convicted of blasphemy. All four of the women remembered today had to debate male clergy about conventional interpretation of scripture that allowed the subordination of women and slaves.

Grady Jim would say we are all on the hero's journey. Sometimes the geography is an interior journey. What have you left and where have you gone? What great opponent have you fought? Where have you been supported and challenged by the scripture and its interpretation? The hero's journey is everyone's journey.

Lowell

______________________

To Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the "Morning Reflections" email list,
go to our Subscriptions page -- http://www.stpaulsfay.org/id137.html

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

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

See our Web site at www.stpaulsfay.org

Our Rule of Life:
We aspire to...
worship weekly
pray daily
learn constantly
serve joyfully
live generously.

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Wind Beneath Wings

Thursday, July 19, 2007 -- Week of Proper 10
(Macrina, Monastic and Teacher, 379)

"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

Audio Podcasts of today's "Morning Reflection" and those from the past week are available from http://www.stpaulsfay.org/id244.html (go to St. Paul's Home Page stpaulsfay.org and click "Morning Reflection podcast")



Today's Readings for the Daily Office (p. 974)
Psalms 37:1-18 (morning) 37:19-42 (evening)
1 Samuel 20:24-42
Acts 13:1-12
Mark 2:23 - 3:6

Macrina is a favorite saint. Today is her feast day.

There is a ballad that Bette Midler made popular titled "Wind Beneath My Wings" that speaks of a friend's quiet strength, wisdom and support that was the foundational power behind a stronger, more public personality. Macrina was a powerful teacher, theologian and friend. Though no writings of hers exist, her famous brother St. Gregory of Nyssa pays tribute to her in his "Life of St. Macrina." He says that she is the spiritual and theological intelligence beneath the wings of her siblings who had notable careers in the Church.

Her brothers St. Gregory of Nyssa and St. Basil the Great were two of the three Cappadocian fathers who were the champions of the church's 4th century theological work that articulated the Doctrine of the Trinity that led to the final composition of the Nicene Creed. Two other brothers, St. Peter of Sebaste (bishop) and Naucratious (hermit) were strongly influenced by her. All four of her siblings, especially Basil, were taught and strongly influenced by Macrina.

Using their family estate, Macrina founded a monastery that served the poor, picking up young women who lay in the road starving. Basil and Peter wrote a Rule for community life that preserved Macrina's ideas and became a strong influence in the monastic rules, particularly in the Eastern church.

Other than the delight in having such a strong female figure to venerate among the early church fathers and mothers, I also am drawn to Macrina because one of my spiritual teachers is also named Macrina. A Benedictine sister at St. Scholastica Monastery in Fort Smith, Macrina Wiederkehr is a popular retreat leader and has published five notable spiritual books. In her first book, "A Tree Full of Angels," she write a bit about her own meditation on her name saint. Sr. Macrina was my spiritual director when I lived in Fort Smith, and she led me into the practice of Centering Prayer, which has been a source of spiritual peace and strength for me.

I'd like to share some wisdom from Sr. Macrina on St. Macrina's day. This comes from Macrina's home page.

These Things I Have Learned:
-All work (even menial tasks) can become a joy rather than a burden.
-“Practice” is one of the most important words in the spiritual life.
-It is harmful to my soul to judge others.
-All moments of waiting can become moments of keeping vigil.
-The book of the earth is as holy as the book of scripture.
-I am happiest when I am able to surrender my own will.
-If I am not happy with what I have, I probably won’t be happier with more.
-Even if I don’t agree with someone I can learn much by listening to them.

Here Is One Way Of Describing Myself:
-I am creative, restless, joyful, spiritual, forgiving, loyal.
-I love morning, good books, good coffee, the earth, movies, lectio divina
-I feel intense, hopeful, lonely, overwhelmed, open-minded
-I need words, silence, God, friends, laughter, tears, questions
-I fear prejudice, violence, quarreling about religion, gossip
-I would like to be a blessing, another Christ, a servant leader, a disciplined disciple


Lowell
______________________

To Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the "Morning Reflections" email list,
go to our Subscriptions page -- http://www.stpaulsfay.org/id137.html

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

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

See our Web site at www.stpaulsfay.org

Our Rule of Life:
We aspire to...
worship weekly
pray daily
learn constantly
serve joyfully
live generously.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Political, Social & Religious Intrigue

Wednesday, July 18, 2007 -- Week of Proper 10

"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

Audio Podcasts of today's "Morning Reflection" and those from the past week are available from http://www.stpaulsfay.org/id244.html (go to St. Paul's Home Page stpaulsfay.org and click "Morning Reflection podcast")


Today's Readings for the Daily Office (p. 974)
Psalms 38 (morning) 119:25-48 (evening)
1 Samuel 20:1-23
Acts 12:18-25
Mark 2:13-22


Political, social and religious intrigue track our readings again today.

The alliance between Jonathan and David has profound effect on the rule of government in Israel. Normally one would expect the king's son to give absolute loyalty to his father, not only because of the Fifth Commandment to honor one's father, but also the patriarchal norms of Mediterranian culture. Finally, the son was the supposed heir to the throne. This is a plot that would have been judged treason by conventional standards and a violation of the respect owed to a father by religious and social norms. Jonathan elevates his relationship with David above his paternal relationship. He plots with David a bit of royal intrigue that will lead to something like a civil war and the fall of a political dynasty.

The beginnings of the Christian movement are deeply part of the political scene of the age. Herod Agrippa executed James, the brother of John and arrested Peter. Herod saw the followers of Jesus to be a political problem worthy of persecution and death. In fact, the message and teaching of the early church was pointedly confrontational and antagonistic toward the claims of the Empire. To say that Jesus is Lord is to say that Caesar is not. Much of the language and the practice of the early church reflects its self-perception as an alternative and superior authority to that of the state. (The story about Herod's speech and the people's acclamation that he was divine, followed by his sudden death is a story that we also find in Josephus' "Antiquities.")

We read in Luke that among Jesus' first disciples was Levi, a tax collector. Jesus went to dinner at Levi's house. This is behavior that would have been scandalous to Jewish religious leaders. Tax collectors were collaborators with the occupying Romans and were notorious for their extortionary practices. To eat with such a person would be interpreted as compromising to Jewish interests. To eat with sinners, people who do not observe the Torah law, would have been compromising to religious practice. We see Jesus eating and accepting into his circle people who are scandalous. We see that those observing him were also troubled by his level of partying and feasting.

Then we read an account of Jesus breaking one of the Ten Commandments, at least as it was interpreted by common custom. "Remember to keep the Sabbath Day holy" is the fourth commandment. To pluck heads of grain was to perform an act of harvesting, working in violation of the Sabbath. For his defense, Jesus cites David who, when he and his men were hungry, ate the sacred Bread of the Presence which was reserved only for the priests.

Jesus then quoted an interpretation of Sabbath practice, "The sabbath was made for humankind, not humankind for the sabbath." That was the teaching of the school of Gamalial, the Pharisee. Today's modern reform and conservative movements in Judaism trace their lineage through Gamalial. During Jesus' day, his was a minority interpretation. The more common interpretation was that of the school of Shammai, "humankind was made for the Sabbath." Shammai's was the more strict, conservative tradition; Gamalial's was the more contextual, liberal tradition. But even Gamalial would have been shocked by Jesus' eating with tax collectors and sinners.

It is interesting that today we have the interplay of religion and politics in our daily newspapers, motivating many of the large events that shape the conflicts of our world. We have the intertwining of religious and political leaders and the question of whether to bless or to challenge the activities of the state. We have interpretive debates over the significance of the Ten Commandments and of proper moral codes. Pretty normal Biblical stuff, I would say.

Lowell
______________________

To Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the "Morning Reflections" email list,
go to our Subscriptions page -- http://www.stpaulsfay.org/id137.html

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

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

See our Web site at www.stpaulsfay.org

Our Rule of Life:
We aspire to...
worship weekly
pray daily
learn constantly
serve joyfully
live generously.

Monday, July 16, 2007

Tuesday, July 17, 2007 -- Week of Proper 10
(William White, Bishop of Pennsylvania, 1836)

"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

NEW-- Audio Podcasts of today's "Morning Reflection" and those from the past week are available from http://www.stpaulsfay.org/id244.html (go to St. Paul's Home Page stpaulsfay.org and click "Morning Reflection podcast")


Today's Readings for the Daily Office (p. 974)
Psalms 26, 28 (morning) 36, 39 (evening)
1 Samuel 19:1-18
Acts 12:1-17
Mark 2:1-12


Jesus didn't seem too bothered with the notion of a human being taking divine prerogatives. Over and over when he could have simply healed, he declared the forgiveness of sins. The Christian religion has passed that privilege on through the priesthood. Priests are set aside to proclaim the forgiveness of sins. Elsewhere in the scripture it is said that people marveled that such power had been given to human beings to forgive sins.

There are many instances where Jesus insists that everything that he does in the Father's name is also something that the rest of us can do in the Father's name. In John's gospel he says that "even greater things than these" will be done by regular, ordinary people, because Jesus has gone into the Godhead.

Jesus said that we are one with him and one with God. Jesus passed on the power to forgive. I've seen so many examples of healing after prayer that the New Testament miracles are no longer mysterious, exotic and intimidating. That stuff happens every day.

I know I am human. I am a creature. I feel and recognize my limitations daily. But I also experience an intimation of eternity. I have tasted the absence of time and space; the contemplative sense of all in all; I've felt myself to be one with God and with all creation. I've pronounced the forgiveness of sins and known bread and wine to be the Body and Blood of Christ. I've sensed such peace that it passes understanding.

These hints and intimations are an experience of God. We are one with God; when we are open and awake, we know ourselves to be one with God.

The sense of peace has rightness that seems to be part of the afterglow of union with the divine is self-authenticating and appropriately humbling. It doesn't feel out of place to accept simply one's union with the divine as part of the human condition. Why is it so remarkable that humans can declare forgiveness? It's what God does, and it is what God wants us to do for one another.

Sometimes the line between the human and the divine tends to disappear. Jesus was pretty comfortable with that. In him, we are invited to welcome that transformation as well.

Lowell
______________________

To Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the "Morning Reflections" email list,
go to our Subscriptions page -- http://www.stpaulsfay.org/id137.html

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

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

See our Web site at www.stpaulsfay.org

Our Rule of Life:
We aspire to...
worship weekly
pray daily
learn constantly
serve joyfully
live generously.

The Pressures of the Day

Monday, July 16, 2007 -- Week of Proper 10

"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

NEW-- Audio Podcasts of today's "Morning Reflection" and those from the past week are available from http://www.stpaulsfay.org/id244.html (go to St. Paul's Home Page stpaulsfay.org and click "Morning Reflection podcast")


Today's Readings for the Daily Office (p. 974)
Psalms 25 (morning) 9, 15 (evening)
1 Samuel 18:5-16, 27b-30
Acts 11:19-30
Mark 1:29-45


There seems to be a tension within Jesus' ministry that may feel like a familiar tension to many of us. He has his message and his work of teaching that is central to his sense of calling. He also has his work of healing that fills up much of his time and tends to draw crowds and attention. There are only so many hours in a day. There are so many needs. How are things kept in balance?

We see Jesus beginning his work at the end of the sabbath, at sundown. "The whole city was gathered around the door" of Peter's house. Jesus "cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons... In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed."

Work and prayer. Mark gives us a picture of one of the ways that Jesus balances the demands and call upon his life. But there is something furtive about this prayer. Peter and the others hunt Jesus. "Everyone is searching for you," they say when they find him. Apparently there are more people who need his healing.

But Jesus sets a boundary, saying, "Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for this is what I came out to do." Jesus leaves one place, where there are still people who are sick and expressing their need for his healing power. He goes to another place, especially so he can teach and "proclaim the message." He emphasizes that this proclaiming "is what I came out to do."

But the next thing that happens is that a leper begs him, and Jesus makes him clean. Back to the healing. More than that, Jesus' pity reached across some important boundaries when he "stretched out his hand and touched" the man with leprosy. Such a touching would have made Jesus ritually unclean. It was forbidden by scripture. It might risk contagion. Yet, Jesus touches the man to heal him.

Then Jesus speaks again, telling the man to keep quiet about the healing and to present himself to the priest, following the instructions in the Torah for examination of leprosy and the public restoration to the worshipping community. But the man who was healed does not do as Jesus has told him. The man spreads the word of his healing. The public response is so energetic, that it interferes with his teaching. Jesus becomes so popular as a healer that he cannot go into a town openly, but must stay in the country. They want and need his healing. But are they willing to listen to his teaching?

How might this have impacted Jesus? He wants to proclaim the message -- "that is what I came out to do." But the demands of the crowd focus on his healing. His healing is good and important work too. And there are only so many hours to the day. When will he have the time and solitude to pray?

Such pressures and questions may feel pretty familiar to many people in our century. There are things we want to do, things we feel called to do. And there are other needs that we respond to, things we need to do. So often there is more to do than we can do in a day. In the center of it all, there is prayer -- our need for prayer, especially when we feel pressured.

I forget which Teresa it was -- maybe Saint Teresa of Avila or Sister Teresa of Calcutta -- but I recall her saying something like this. I have so many more duties that press upon me, I can't do it all. I'll just have to add another hour of prayer in order to respond to everything effectively.

Lowell
______________________

To Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the "Morning Reflections" email list,
go to our Subscriptions page -- http://www.stpaulsfay.org/id137.html

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

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

See our Web site at www.stpaulsfay.org

Our Rule of Life:
We aspire to...
worship weekly
pray daily
learn constantly
serve joyfully
live generously.

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Listening to Women

Tuesday, July 10, 2007 -- Week of Proper 9

"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

NEW-- Audio Podcasts of today's "Morning Reflection" and those from the past week are available from http://www.stpaulsfay.org/id244.html (go to St. Paul's Home Page stpaulsfay.org and click "Morning Reflection podcast")


Today's Readings for the Daily Office (p. 974)
Psalms 5, 6 (morning) 10, 11 (evening)
1 Samuel 15:24-35
Acts 9:32-43
Luke 23:56b - 24:11


"These words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them."

There is something powerful about the fact that the resurrection is first revealed and proclaimed by women. Although the accounts from the gospels differ from one another in details, there is a consistent memory that it was the women on Easter morning who first experienced Jesus as alive. Mary Magdelene's presence is a consistent feature of the story, leading to her traditional title in Eastern Orthodoxy as "the first apostle."

"Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen," the women are told by the two men in dazzling clothes. Over and over in this last chapter of Luke's gospel those who recognize the resurrection will be told to "remember," and they will realize how much they had misunderstood. The effect is as if to say, "All of those divine hints at wonderful possibilities -- they are true! It's all better than you think. Don't be afraid."

But no one believed "the first apostles." After all, they were women. Irony abounds here. One of the most distinctive characteristics about Jesus was that so many women were among his traveling companions. In the story about Martha and Mary, Jesus honors Mary's calling to act as a man, to sit at the rabbi's feet and to learn as a student. Including women students was unheard of among rabbis of Jesus' day. Jesus spoke to women in public, a violation of Middle Eastern custom and values. He welcomed and blessed women who showed up uninvited at his table. The presence of women and their acceptance as companions is one of the features that made Jesus stand out as different, or scandalous, among religious teachers in his day.

On Easter, it is the women who first realize that he is alive. I think that it is important for us to acknowledge and honor the fact that God chose first to reveal the resurrection to women. It was our chance to raise their social standing and balance the imbalance of centuries of custom. It is important to realize that the men did not pay attention to and trust the women. "These words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them." The church missed its first chance to celebrate the resurrection.

Later in the day, as we will read tomorrow, Jesus will appear to two male disciples. They will not recognize him, but they will tell him that "some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see them."

Jesus will respond to these men: "Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared!" (They will know Jesus finally in the breaking of the bread. Another distinctive characteristic of his fellowship.)

How different might our history have been had we listened to the women and allowed them their full voice and place in the church from the beginning. The church still is so foolish and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared. It seems that God must continually surprise us by revealing the divine presence and activity in the unexpected way, the unexpected place, the unexpected person.

Lowell
______________________

To Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the "Morning Reflections" email list,
go to our Subscriptions page -- http://www.stpaulsfay.org/id137.html

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

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

See our Web site at www.stpaulsfay.org

Our Rule of Life:
We aspire to...
worship weekly
pray daily
learn constantly
serve joyfully
live generously.

Monday, July 09, 2007

Obeying God

Monday, July 9 -- Week of Proper 9

"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

NEW-- Audio Podcasts of today's "Morning Reflection" and those from the past week are available from http://www.stpaulsfay.org/id244.html (go to St. Paul's Home Page stpaulsfay.org and click "Morning Reflection podcast")


Today's Readings for the Daily Office (p. 974)
Psalms 1, 2, 3 (morning) 4, 7 (evening)
1 Samuel 15:1-3, 7-23
Acts 9:19b-31
Luke 23:44-56a


In the weeks following the attacks of September 11, I sought to learn more about Islam. I was helped by a teacher on campus who was Muslim and who taught comparative religion. He shared with me his faith and introduced me to portions of the Qur'an (Koran). My experience of him was so encouraging. He was a person of good heart and spirit, disciplined and compassionate. His love of God was evident and the scriptures that he shared with me were inspiring. We spoke somewhat briefly about passages of the Qur'an that were more troubling, implying the possibility of hostility toward non-Muslims. He balanced each of these readings with other, more compelling admonitions toward peace and compassion. His interpretation of the sacred Qur'an was always in the service of peace and compassion.

He said to me that my own scriptures in the Bible also have some violent and troubling passages. He asked me how I deal with those. Today's reading of the disobedience of Saul could have been one of those references.

The prophet Samuel sends Saul to fight the Amalekites in the Name of the Lord. "Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have; do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey." Saul disobeyed the command of God. He killed all of the people, but took King Agag alive, returning him as a prisoner. Saul and his army also spared "the best of the sheep and of the cattle and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was valuable, and would not utterly destroy them; all that was despised and worthless they utterly destroyed."

Samuel hears the following from God: "I regret that I made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me, and has not carried out my commands." Samuel confronts Saul. This disobedience will cost Saul his blessing from God as King.

Does God command an army to annihilate a people, it's women, children and animals? I know conscientious Christians who uphold the authority of scripture and answer "yes." If God said it, it was just and right. God said utterly destroy; Saul was wrong to disobey.

I think they misunderstand God. I think Samuel got it wrong.

Today we also read of Jesus' death on the cross and his burial in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. Rather than conquering by violence, Jesus conquers by love, absorbing the violence and death into his own body rather than striking out militantly. I think Jesus understands God. I think Jesus got it right.

Some months after September 11, I was with some other pastors. One was telling of his series of sermons against Islam. He spoke of our calling to undertake a holy war against their falsehood on behalf of God in the name of Jesus. When I shared with him my conversations with my Muslim friend and what I had learned from him about the Qur'an, the other pastor said, "Well, let me show you what the Qur'an says." He began to turn to the Qur'an's most extreme passages of polemic against non-Muslims. Passages not unlike our own Biblical word of the Lord to Saul about the Amalekites. "That's what we're fighting against," he said. "It's us against them."

I suggested that Christians have similar passages in our scriptures, and we have learned to moderate our reading by the application of the more compassionate and peaceful commandments. I suggested that Muslims have the same options. Wouldn't we do better by joining those like my friend who work within Islam to promote a moderate expression of their tradition. "It's us with them. Both of our traditions need to read our scriptures with eyes of compassion and peace." His answer was "no." Our scriptures were right when they reveal God's calling to Saul, he said, and their scriptures are wrong because they are not the revealed word of God in the Bible. We are in a holy war, he said.

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

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

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