The Gift and Goal

Thursday, January 31, 2008 -- Week of 3 Epiphany, Year 2

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, p. 945)
Psalms 50 (morning) [59, 60] or 118 (evening)
Genesis 16:15 - 17:14
Hebrews 10:1-10
John 5:30-47

There is an idea articulated in Hebrews today that is also present in Paul's theology. It has to do with the way we are called to grow into the fullness of Christ and to mature in our relationship with God.

Hebrews is largely a discourse of argument. The writer sets up what for his contemporaries is the established tradition in current religious practice and thought. Then he says, in effect, "If that old way was valid, this new way is so much more so."

Today's chapter goes to the heart of something that was also important to Paul. Here's how Hebrews imagines it. The old covenant gave us a law so that we would be conscious of right and wrong, especially so we would have a consciousness of sin. The old covenant gave us a perpetual practice of animal sacrifice and an annual event of atonement to accomplish the forgiveness of our sins. But those sacrifices must be performed over and over, renewed daily. They do not permanently accomplish our sanctification. They are limited -- finite.

But Christ, Hebrews argues, offered himself once in a perfect sacrifice, taking away permanently the sin of the world. Having completed the one act of atonement, Jesus now sits at the right hand of God making intercession for us as our great High Priest. The sacrifice of Jesus has completed everything that is needed, rendering unnecessary the continued activities of the Temple priests and their sacrifices.

Just as those sacrifices have been trumped and rendered obsolete, he argues, so the law and its purpose as our consciousness-raiser has been made superfluous. Since Christ, the great High Priest has come and finished the reconciliation between God and humanity, all that is necessary of us is our faith in the accomplished work of Christ. We are called to persevere in our faith in Christ.

When we do so, we no longer need the list of laws, because, as the prophets foretold, God has put God's laws in our hearts and has written them in our minds. And God will forgot our former lawlessness. When we live in Christ, we don't need the law as our guide, we have Christ as our guide. ("What Would Jesus Do?") The Spirit lives in us, and we live in the Spirit.

And that is what we do. We live by faith and follow the inner intuition and guidance of Jesus. The expectation is that we will therefore know what to do and do it. Hebrews is so sure of this that the author in one place expects that we will completely triumph over our former condition and sin no more. There is no need for further confession and forgiveness, and (in one verse, he says) no real possibility for further forgiveness. How can you sin when you have received so great a gift?

Paul imagines a similar scenario. We live in Christ, liberated from the law, and grace is our guide. He fully expects our sanctification in Christ so that we live mature lives, free from greed and sin.

That may sound a little intimidating, if you are as conscious of your sin and imperfection as I am, but there is hope. I know people who live in a conscious state of union with God, and who are so conformed to Christ in their relationship with the Divine that they do not sin. They instinctively live in that state that Hebrews and Paul imagines -- our hearts and our minds dwelling in Christ and Christ dwelling in us.

That is our goal. That is also God's gift to us.

Lowell

_____________________________________________

Audio podcast: Listen to an audio podcast of the most recent Morning Reflections from today and the past week. Click the following link: Morning Reflection Podcasts

About Morning Reflections
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


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

Visit our web site at www.stpaulsfay.org

Our Rule of Life

We aspire to...
worship weekly
pray daily
learn constantly
serve joyfully
live generously.

Lowell Grisham, Rector

St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Fayetteville, Arkansas

God's Covenant with Abram

Tuesday, January 29, 2008 -- Week of 3 Epiphany, Year 2

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, p. 945)
Psalms 45 (morning) 47, 48 (evening)
Genesis 15:1-11, 17-21
Hebrews 9:1-14
John 5:1-18

I've never noticed it before, but in the dramatic account of God's covenant with Abram, Abram never walks through the sacrifices. This covenant binds only God, not Abram. It is a unilateral, one-sided promise from God to grant Abram both land and descendants.

The convenant ceremony is very ancient, one might say, primitive. Animals are split in two, and the parties to the covenant declare their the intention of their agreement. Then the parties walk through the middle of the animal carcasses, communicating physically the understanding -- "May I be cut in two like these animals if I do not fulfill my obligation under this agreement."

Abram prepares the animals and fights off the birds of prey. When it is dark, "a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces." These are the signs of God's presence. God walks between the animals and makes a covenant with Abram, communicating, in essence, "May I be cut in two like these animals if I do not fulfill my promises." God speaks to Abram of the gift of the promised land. Nothing is asked of Abram in return.

It may be that Abram's faith, his trusting in God's promise was good enough. Abram trusts; God covenants.

I'm reminded of Paul's theology of justification by faith. God gives salvation, a relationship of intimacy, as God's gift to us "while we were yet sinners." All that is necessary for us is to accept the gift -- faith, or trust.

Lowell

_____________________________________________

Audio podcast: Listen to an audio podcast of the most recent Morning Reflections from today and the past week. Click the following link: Morning Reflection Podcasts

About Morning Reflections
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


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

Visit our web site at www.stpaulsfay.org

Our Rule of Life

We aspire to...
worship weekly
pray daily
learn constantly
serve joyfully
live generously.

Lowell Grisham, Rector

St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Fayetteville, Arkansas

Herod's Official and Jesus

Monday, January 28, 2008 -- Week of 3 Epiphany, Year 2
(Thomas Aquinas, Priest and Friar, 1274)

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, p. 945)
Psalms 41, 52 (morning) 44 (evening)
Genesis 14:(1-7)8-24
Hebrews 8:1-13
John 4:43-54

Jesus returns to Galilee in today's reading from John's gospel. We've followed his journey through Samaria and his fascinating encounter with the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well. He arrives in Cana where he gave to people the first sign of his ministry and identity, where he turned water into wine at a wedding feast.

Word of his return reached Capernaum, a town on the lake, about eighteen miles from Cana. A royal official traveled from Capernaum to Cana to see Jesus. This royal official would have had a position in the service of Herod Antipas, the tetrarch of Galilee who ruled there for forty-two years, including throughout Jesus' ministry. It was Herod Antipas who arrested and executed Jesus' cousin John the Baptist. John had publicly condemned Antipas for his marriage to his half-brother's wife. (In a confusing bit of naming, the wife was Heroditus, wife of Herod, son of Herod the Great.) There is a place in Luke's gospel where a group of Pharisees warned Jesus that Herod Antipas was plotting to kill Jesus as well.

The encounter between the royal official and Jesus is interesting. One wonders if the official might have taken some risks in approaching Jesus on behalf of his dying son. Some among Jesus' group might have suspected some sort of trap. Is this official up to something that would lead to Jesus' arrest? Don't follow him back.

It turns out to be a legitimate request. The man's son is ill. Jesus honors his request, speaking to him, "Go; your son will live." It is important to John to say that the man "believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started on his way." During the eighteen mile journey home, he was met by servants with the news that the child was recovering. The child took a turn for the better at the hour of the conversation with Jesus.

Jesus does good without recourse to the relative merit, or lack of merit, of the royal official. He did not reject the man because he was a servant of Herod Antipas, despite the cruel treatment to John. He did not lecture or correct the man, or demand that he cease his service to Antipas. Jesus did not refuse the heal the child because of the questionable status of the father. (That might be something to reflect on the next time a Christian legislator introduces a policy recommendation to the Arkansas legislature to restrict public medical or educational funds to children whose parents have immigrated here without having gone through the nearly impossible business of being legal about it.)

Jesus offers compassion to the royal official of Herod Antipas. He heals the man's child. How might that instruct the way we relate to those who misuse their power and authority? How might that inform us about our attitude toward our enemies?

Lowell

_____________________________________________

Audio podcast: Listen to an audio podcast of the most recent Morning Reflections from today and the past week. Click the following link: Morning Reflection Podcasts

About Morning Reflections
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


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

Visit our web site at www.stpaulsfay.org

Our Rule of Life

We aspire to...
worship weekly
pray daily
learn constantly
serve joyfully
live generously.

Lowell Grisham, Rector

St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Fayetteville, Arkansas

Ancient Geography

Friday, January 25, 2008 -- Week of 2 Epiphany, Year 2
(Conversion of St. Paul)

Today's Readings for the Daily Office
EITHER (Friday of the week of 2 Epiphany, Prayer Book, p. 945)
Psalms 31 (morning) 35 (evening)
Genesis 11:27 - 12:8
Hebrews 7:1-17
John 4:16-26

OR (Conversion of St. Paul, Prayer Book, p. 996)
Morning Prayer: Psalm 19; Isaiah 45:18-25; Philippians 3:4b-11
Evening Prayer: Psalm 119:89-112; Ecclesiasticus 39:1-10; Acts 9:1-22

I read the lections for Friday of 2 Epiphany


I find myself drawn into the anthropology and geography of these stories today.

In Genesis we trace a great migration. Abraham's father Haran is living in Ur of the Chaldeans, a great, civilized city deep in the fertile crescent on the Euphrates in modern Iraq, south of Baghdad near the ancient shore of the Persian Gulf. Scholars speculate that there was some conflict or instability during the age in question (c. 2000-1800 BCE) that might have motivated Haran to leave Ur. South was the sea, west was desert, east were the feared Elamites. Haran traveled north along the Euphrates. In about a month he would have reached the city of Mari, a major trading center. It is another 250 miles to Haran, up the Euphrates and its tributary the Balikh, in modern Turkey north of Syria. Haran was settled by Amorites on a major trading highway. It had a moderate climate, fertile lands and vast cedar forests.

When Haran died, the clan leadership passed to Abram. He heard a stirring in his soul: "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will b less you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing." Thus begins the migration south into Canaan (around 1850 BCE?). Canaan was a sliver of land squeezed between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. It had fertile valleys and dry heights. For ages it was the connecting route for trade between Egypt and the Fertile Crescent. Abram enters the promised land at Shechem (modern Nablus), and builds an altar to God at the oak of Moreh. He moves further south and settles between Ai and Bethel, a few miles north of Salem, which comes up in our second reading.

The writer of Hebrews wants to trace the lineage of the high priesthood of Jesus, who, he says, is a priest according to the order of Melchizedek, picking up a messianic attribution from the psalms. Melchizedek was the king and high priest of Salem (Jerusalem?). He and Abraham defeated the five kings of the east in a fascinating account in Genesis 14, which comes from a source different from the rest of the Hebrew Scriptures. Abraham gave Melchizedek a tithe (one tenth) of all of his possessions, and Melchizedek blessed Abraham.

The writer of Hebrews uses this event to make an argument about the priesthood of Jesus. Levi, the son of Abraham, is still in Abraham's loins, when Abraham is blessed by Melchizedek and Abraham gives to the priest/king the tithe. This is a transaction, and Melchizedek is the greater who blesses Abraham/Levi. Because there is no ancestry given for Melchizedek and no descendants, he is believed to be a mysterious, maybe divine character, without beginning and without end. It is from Melchizedek that Jesus' priesthood comes, says Hebrews. This is a priesthood far greater than the historical priesthood from Levi. This is an eternal priesthood.

In the final reading from John's gospel, we return to Shechem where Abram first entered the promised land. His descendent Jacob/Israel finally settled in Shechem after his many wanderings and exploits. In Jesus day, it was Samaria, the capital of the hostile relatives, the Samaritans. The Samaritan woman is drawing water from the well of Jacob. His ancestors had been drawing water from Jacob's well for nearly two millennia by that time.

Jesus and the woman are separated by a deep religious and cultural conflict that is five-hundred years old. Jesus invites her into the worship of God in spirit and in truth, and relates to her as her Messiah, not just the Messiah of the "orthodox."

Was it William Faulkner who said "The past is not dead. It's not even past." The roots of the relationships, faiths, and conflicts that engage us in the geography of Abraham, Melchizedek, Jacob, Jesus and a Samaritan woman have their roots in these stories that span four thousand years. What understanding, respect and compassion do we need to be able, like Jesus, to bring the reconciling water of eternal life to our relationship with these ancestors of ours?

Lowell
_____________________________________________

NOTE: NO AUDIO PODCAST TODAY; TRAVELING WITHOUT MICROPHONE
Audio podcast: Listen to an audio podcast of the most recent Morning Reflections from today and the past week. Click the following link: Morning Reflection Podcasts

About Morning Reflections
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


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

Visit our web site at www.stpaulsfay.org

Our Rule of Life

Wells and Towers

Thursday, January 24, 2008 -- Week of 2 Epiphany, Year 2
(Ordination of Florence Li Tim-Oi, First Woman Priest in the Anglican Communion, 1944)

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, p. 945)
Psalms 37:1-18 (morning) 37:19-42 (evening)
Genesis 11:1-9
Hebrews 6:13-20
John 4:1-15

It seems like there is so much in the readings today. I am struck by how elements of the stories and geography of two of the readings are also factors in what we will read in our newspapers today.

Beginning with the story of Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman. It appears that some sort of conflict or hostility has arisen during the baptizing that John and Jesus' (or his disciples) were doing in Judah. Jesus leaves to return to his homeland in Galilee. The direct route is through Samaria.

Five centuries earlier, when the Jewish exiles were working to rebuild Israel under the leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah, those Jewish leaders rejected offers of support and partnership in the rebuilding when their relatives who were living among them in the land offered their friendship. The Jewish leaders banned Samaritans and others from having any part in the renewed community. Thus began bitter divisions that last unto this day.

In an arid land, wells are vital and critical resources, places of life. We have a heritage of great Biblical stories that happen at wells -- Abraham's servant finds a wife for Isaac at a well; Jacob and Rachel meet at a well; Moses meets the daughters of Ruel and finds his family at a well. These are all stories that combine quests with family engagements.

It is noon. The hottest time of the day. Not a time to do the hard chore of carrying water from the well to the home. Jesus meets a woman from Samaria. Five centuries of hostility are underneath their meeting. From the Jewish perspective, she is a heretic; she and her vessels are unclean. From a Samaritan perspective, he is the enemy. Even if she were Jewish, Jesus would be culturally forbidden to speak to an unescorted woman who is not a member of his family. The levels of separation between Jesus and this woman are profound.

Jesus ignores centuries of tradition and religious practice and asks her for water. (Hear the gasps from those who practice their Judaism.) Then Jesus freely offers to share with her the living water from God that he brings as life to the world. Could we ask for a more profound challenge to all the ways we separate ourselves from other human beings on the basis of historical enmity, cultural practice and religious belief?

In Genesis we read the story of the tower of Babel. The setting is Babylon, called the land of Shinar. Today we call it Baghdad in the land of Iraq. In one sense, this is a folk tale, a legend or myth that answers great questions: "Daddy, why do people speak different languages? Why are we scattered all over the earth into different tribes, separated by language and culture?"

It is also a tale of the temptation to power. Knowledge and technology when mixed with human pride and presumption may turn into projects that have a blasphemous character. We will make proud towers that will reach into heaven. We will be like gods.

Knowledge and technology is dangerous power. It can only be used safely when approached humbly, with deference toward how God would have us exercise such powers.

Like so many good stories, this folk tale has a good play on words. The Hebrew word "balal" means "to confuse." The name "Babel" in the language of Babylon means "Gate of God." Maybe you have seen pictures of the ruins and archaeological reconstruction designs of the high pyramid-like structure called a ziggaurat. It was a temple of the gods of ancient Babylon.

In how many ways does the conflict (the confusion) in modern Babylon/Baghdad and modern Samaria/Israel track the cultural divisions these stories reflect. So much of the war in Iraq has its genesis in the dark side of technology. Does Saddam have WMD's? We will overcome them with "shock and awe" -- smart bombs, satellite guided missiles and apocalyptic-like munitions.

How different might our human history be if Jesus at the well had been our core paradigm?

Lowell

_____________________________________________

Audio podcast: Listen to an audio podcast of the most recent Morning Reflections from today and the past week. Click the following link: Morning Reflection Podcasts

About Morning Reflections
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


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

Visit our web site at www.stpaulsfay.org

Our Rule of Life

We aspire to...
worship weekly
pray daily
learn constantly
serve joyfully
live generously.

Lowell Grisham, Rector

St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Fayetteville, Arkansas

The Basics

Wednesday, January 23, 2008 -- Week of 2 Epiphany, Year 2
(Phillips Brooks, Bishop of Massachusetts, 1893)

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Prayer Book, p. 945)
Psalms 38 (morning) 119:25-48 (evening)
Genesis 9:18-29
Hebrews 6:1-12
John 3:22-36

I was struck today by the opening of the reading from Hebrews, where the author lists some of the basic elements of the teaching about Christ. This list includes "repentance from dead works and faith toward God, instruction about baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment."

The first phrase probably refers to a basic contrast between the Christian message and other contemporary faiths, including Judaism. Most (but not all) of the early Christians emphasized that our relationship with God is a gift from God freely given, not something we can earn or attain through right behavior -- moral or ritual actions. All that is necessary is faith -- accept the gift of Jesus that you are accepted by God.

Baptism has been the rite of initiation and identity. One becomes a Christian through baptism, a ritual dying to the old identity and life, washing it away, and a rising to the new identity united in Christ and filled with the Holy Spirit. This is the basic introductory path to the Way of Christianity.

Laying on of hands was a part of the early rite of baptism. It was also a way the spirit was conveyed to empower certain ministries. Laying on of hands with prayer has also been a means for the invocation of God's power and presence for healing and wholeness.

The church spoke of the new life of resurrection as having already been accomplished through Jesus. Although we hope for the resurrection after death, this new life is already a present reality. In baptism we die to the old life and are raised to new life. What God does is bring new life out of all of death's manifestations.

And the church has looked to God in hope to bring a final sense of justice and right to all creation. Through God's generous and healing judgment, all wrongs shall one day be righted.

Our church today lives in these same places that the letter to the Hebrews speaks of. We teach that God is continually reaching out to us with unqualified love that is ours as a gift to claim through faith. We teach about baptism and the lifelong call to live out our Baptismal Covenant (Book of Common Prayer, p. 304. Beginning in February, Chuck Walling will be leading a class on baptism Sunday mornings at 10:00 at St. Paul's in anticipation of the annual great baptismal feast of the Great Vigil of Easter.) We practice the laying on of hands through Confirmation and Ordination, but especially through our healing ministries, including the new Healing Touch ministry. We try to live the resurrection life and trust God (and not ourselves) for judgment. The thought recalls a quote from today's Lesser Feast observance for Phillips Brooks, who wrote, "Whatever happens, always remember the mysterious richness of human nature and the nearness of God to each one of us."

Our reading from John's gospel also underlines the baptismal theme. John and Jesus are both baptizing. It causes a bit of conflict, and John defers to Jesus, the bridegroom.

The readings remind us of our roots, the basics of our faith. We enter into an intimate relationship with God who is revealed to us in the mystery of the Trinity. We promise to "continue in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers; ...(to) persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord; ...(to) proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ; ...(to) seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself; ...(and to) strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being."

This is what we teach as our baptismal faith and what we live out in the resurrection life and what we empower through prayer and laying on of hands. Ancient and ever new.

Lowell

_____________________________________________

Audio podcast: Listen to an audio podcast of the most recent Morning Reflections from today and the past week. Click the following link: Morning Reflection Podcasts

About Morning Reflections
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


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

Visit our web site at www.stpaulsfay.org

Our Rule of Life

We aspire to...
worship weekly
pray daily
learn constantly
serve joyfully
live generously.

Lowell Grisham, Rector

St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Fayetteville, Arkansas

Prayers at Death

Tuesday, January 22, 2008 -- Week of 2 Epiphany, Year 2
Vincent, Deacon of Saragossa, and Martyr, 304

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, p. 945)
Psalms 26, 28 (morning) 36, 39 (evening)
Genesis 9:1-17
Hebrews 5:7-14
John 3:16-21

The first verse of the reading from Hebrews jumped out to me this morning: "In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission."

Yet the answer to Jesus' prayer was not accomplished during his lifetime. He was not saved from death. He was crucified and he died.

We cannot know the interior psychology of Jesus. So we don't know what he understood or thought or hoped as he died. The church has always insisted that Jesus was fully human. The death that he endured, he experienced as any human being would.

Mark's gospel indicates that part of what Jesus felt as he died was the experience of complete abandonment from God -- "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me!" He had placed his hope in God for deliverance, and he realized that he was not going to be saved from death. Very likely he also felt the loss of the intimate relationship with God whom he called Abba (Papa, Da-Da); God had been the motivating center and energy of his life. For Jesus on the cross, God was absent; Jesus was suffering exquisite physical torture; there was no escape; there was no answer; he was dying a humiliating, painful, public death; there was no promise that anything good would come out of this.

"In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries of tears to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission." We know the rest of the story. Jesus was vindicated. Jesus was raised from the dead. Jesus lives. But the living did not happen until after the abandonment and death.

How often do we pray, and we experience no answer. What we have sought from God, that God would save us, is denied, and we feel no sense of response, escape or deliverance. Yet the story of the resurrection reminds us that God brings life out of death. God can accomplish what is beyond our imagination. God surprises us. The scope of God's response can be beyond our horizons.

Today is the feast day of Vincent, a deacon from Spain who was the bold spokesman of Bishop Valarius of Saragossa. In the early fourth century persecution he was martyred because of the boldness of his speech in defense of his faith in Jesus. Legends abound with gruesome descriptions of his torture and the grotesque punishments he endured before dying.

So often when I see the grotesque suffering and senseless killing that fills our globe I feel like my prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who is able to save them from death are futile and hopeless. Nothing is changed. People die daily. Injustice abounds. For so many there is no escape; there is no answer.

Yet I cling to the hope of resurrection. God brings life from death. And I hold on to the conviction that the central reality of creation is God's love for the world. We hear that again from John's gospel today. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life." I've never been convinced that this was a trivial formula for punching a ticket to heaven -- believe and get eternal life; don't believe and go to hell. That notion turns God into such an arbitrary monster. The word "believe" comes from the same place as the word "belove."

I think of those who do not know Jesus, but do know some form of love. Maybe they are somewhere in Kenya or Sudan or Iraq today. Maybe they are being caught up in some form of horrible violence, some terrible threat or torture from which there is no escape. Their love cries out with prayers and supplication, with loud cries of tears to the one who is able to save them from death. Regardless of their "belief," Jesus is with them. Jesus is one with them. Jesus knows and understands their experience. Their blood is their water of baptism. They will be heard, because of his reverent submission.

"Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him."

Lowell

_____________________________________________

Audio podcast: Listen to an audio podcast of the most recent Morning Reflections from today and the past week. Click the following link: Morning Reflection Podcasts

About Morning Reflections
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


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

Visit our web site at www.stpaulsfay.org

Our Rule of Life

We aspire to...
worship weekly
pray daily
learn constantly
serve joyfully
live generously.

Lowell Grisham, Rector

St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Fayetteville, Arkansas

New Beginnings

Monday, January 21, 2008 -- Week of 2 Epiphany, Year 2
(Agnes, Martyr at Rome, 305)

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, p. 945)
Psalms 25 (morning) 9, 15 (evening)
Genesis 8:6-22
Hebrews 4:14 - 5:6
John 2:23 - 3:15

Wherever you go, there you are.

I don't know if all of us fantasize about things in the past. I sure have. ...If I could go back to that time, knowing what I know now, how different I would be; how much better I could handle things. If we could just start over with a clean slate, maybe we would know better and would not make the same mistakes.

The first six chapters of Genesis dramatize a spiraling downward circle of human corruption and failure that reaches a point where God repents of the whole experiment and decides to start over. He chooses Noah and a remnant of all earthly creation, and then lets the watery chaos return to destroy the earth. (For detailed Bible study it is interesting to learn how two different versions of the flood story have been woven together into our present form.)

Then God's wind blows over the earth and there is a new beginning. But you feel the winsome pathos at the end. When God smells the sacrifice that Noah offers,"the Lord said in his heart, 'I will never again curse the ground because of humankind, for the inclination of the human heart is evil from youth...'" God promises not to disrupt the basic order of days and seasons and the agricultural cycle.

Reaching out destructively rarely works. One of the things we remember on this holiday of the birth of Martin Luther King, Jr. is the wisdom that he and Gandhi and others have bequeathed us for a nonviolent alternative in the confrontation with evil and human corruption.

For Christians, Jesus will become God's new answer to the problem of human evil. Rather than summoning legions of angels to conquer with force, Jesus responds to evil and threat only with love and forgiveness. It is a radical and subversive tactic. The writer to Hebrews today celebrates how Jesus has become our high priest whose offering takes away sin and restores us to relationship with God and one another.

In John's Gospel Jesus invites a leading Pharisee to come out of the dark and tentative place and to be born anew, by water and wind/Spirit. (The same word in Greek means wind and spirit.) The perpetually new way that God is breathing life over creation is the wind that "blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes," Jesus tells Nicodemus.

So in this new creation of the Spirit, inaugurated by Jesus, the past is restored by our great high priest, and God is continually renewing the face of the earth. Today as the sun comes up, God's wind blows over the earth and there is a new beginning. I can start again, knowing what I know now. Wherever you go, there you are.

Lowell
_____________________________________________

Audio podcast: Listen to an audio podcast of the most recent Morning Reflections from today and the past week. Click the following link: Morning Reflection Podcasts

About Morning Reflections
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


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

Visit our web site at www.stpaulsfay.org

Our Rule of Life

We aspire to...
worship weekly
pray daily
learn constantly
serve joyfully
live generously.

Lowell Grisham, Rector

St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Fayetteville, Arkansas

Water into Wine

Friday, January 18, 2008 -- Week of 1 Epiphany, Year A
(Confession of Saint Peter the Apostle)

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer)

EITHER: (Friday of 1 Epiphany, p. 943)
Psalms 16, 17 (morning) 22 (evening)
Genesis 6:1-8
Hebrews 3:12-19
John 2:1-12

OR: (Confession of St. Peter, p. 996)
Morning Prayer: Psalms 66, 67; Ezekiel 3:4-11; Acts 10:34-44
Evening Prayer: Psalm 118; Ezekiel 34:11-16; John 21:15-22

I read Friday of 1 Epiphany


For John, signs are important. In his Gospel there are signs that indicate the presence of God in and through the acts of Jesus. In the previous paragraph, Jesus has told Nathanael, "You will see greater things than these." Then Jesus accomplishes the first of his signs in John's Gospel.

The wedding hosts have run out of wine. Within the customs of the Middle East, such a situation would be terribly shaming for the hosts. Jesus' mother (consistently unnamed in John's Gospel) seeks Jesus' help. He is rather curt with her, saying that his "hour has not yet come." Nevertheless, she tells the servants to follow his instruction.

There are large stone jars of water present for the Jewish purification rites. (Their size and number is exaggerated, over 120 gallons of water. This is an extravagant sign.) Jesus turns the water into wine of superior quality. John comments that through this first sign, Jesus "revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him."

The story is a wonderful metaphor for what Jesus brings to our lives. The presence and power of Jesus converts our tasteless, colorless existence. With his Spirit present, our lives become colorful, refreshing, surprising and filled with intoxicating energy. There is also the communal aspect of this miracle. Wine is meant to be enjoyed with others in the company of celebration.

Later Jesus will take the wine at dinner and identify it with his very life's blood, inviting us to partake inwardly of his living spirit. That act will become the characteristic act of Christian worship, uniting us with one another in a company of celebration.

(A postscript about the Genesis reading. Fascinating stuff. Chapter five chronicles ten generations from Adam and Eve to Noah. Each father giving birth to the son in this line of descendants at the age of sixty-five to one-hundred-eighty years. Each of these patriarchs are said to live for hundreds of years.

In chapter six we have this strange account of a violation of the boundary between heaven and earth. The "sons of God" saw that the human women were beautiful, and "they took wives for themselves." So God shortened the life-span of humans to one hundred twenty years.

Born to this mixed human and divine parentage were the "Nephilim," remembered as a superhuman race of warrior heroes. Such heroes are found in many other mythological traditions. I have a friend whose nicknamed his seminary basketball team the Nephilim. He created some smiles.)

Lowell
____________________________________________________________

Audio podcast: Listen to an audio podcast of the most recent Morning Reflections from today and the past week. Click the following link:
-- Morning Reflection Podcasts

About Morning Reflections
"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

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.

Lowell Grisham, Rector

St. Paul's Episcopal Church

The Growing Cycle of Violence

Thursday, January 17, 2008 -- Week of 1 Epiphany, Year A
(Antony, Abbot in Egypt, 356)

Psalms 18:1-20 (morning) 18:21-50 (evening)
Genesis 4:17-26
Hebrews 3:1-11
John 1:43-51

Is it inevitable that with the advancement of civilization there must be a corresponding increase in violence?

Today we read of the descendants of Cain. His son Enoch founds the first city. Four generations later we encounter Lamech, whose children are the ancestors of nomadic shepherds, of musicians and artists, and of the makers of metal tools. Civilization is becoming more skillful and diverse.

But Lamech also announces that he has killed another human for a minor offense, and he has magnified the order of vengeance. "If Cain is avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy-sevenfold." In the mid-1990's Geoffrey Canada wrote his personal history of violence in America, with the provocative title "Fist, Stick, Knife, Gun," narrating his coming-of-age in the South Bronx.

Last week I read an article about the increasing dependence upon air attacks in this phase of the "surge" in Iraq. As American troops encounter suspected hideouts of insurgents or other potential enemies, we are increasingly turning to air strikes to destroy the locations, usually homes. It is far safer for our troops than the risky door-to-door work of infantry combat. But the numbers of civilian and non-combatant dead rises significantly.

Generations have debated the relative value of dropping two atomic bombs on Japanese cities thus ending the Second World War without a bloody invasion of Japan. Would a non-urban setting have sufficed? Was a second city necessary to convince Japan to surrender?

No one knows with certainty. But the potential for violence has certainly increased with the advance of civilization and technology. New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman often writes of the potential for violence that is now available for highly motivated extremists who may be numerically almost invisible.

In the Genesis narrative, there is a spiraling crescendo of violence and corruption that grows until the point when God decides to give up on the project and sends the flood. Yet, that violence did not solve the former violence, and God vowed never to answer with such destructiveness.

For Christians, Jesus is God's definitive answer. He breaks the growing spiral of violence by refusing to strike back. He is a victim of violence. He responds only with forgiveness and love toward those who threaten. He trusts only in God. Resurrection is God's answer.

The passage we read in Hebrews encourages us to be faithful as Jesus was faithful. "Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion." Do not continue to think that greater violence will overcome violence. God says of those who continue on that ancient path, "They will not enter my rest."

I find that Jesus' example of non-violent victimhood in the face of violent threat to be the most radical and most challenging part of his calling. I've never been able fully to embrace his cross. I had enough imagination to say "don't do it" when the Bush administration proposed the Iran invasion, but I thought we were too slow responding in Bosnia a few years before. For several years I've want some military action to intervene in hopes of stopping the genocide in Sudan. I've wondered, could anything have halted the Rwandan holocaust.

My mind wanders to the gospel encounter. Jesus speaks of Nathanael -- "Behold, an Israelite in whom there is no guile." What would an American in whom there is no guile look like? I don't think I qualify.

Lowell
_________________________________________________________

Audio podcast: Listen to an audio podcast of the most recent Morning Reflections from today and the past week. Click the following link:
-- Morning Reflection Podcasts

About Morning Reflections
"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

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.

Lowell Grisham, Rector

St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Fayetteville, Arkansas

Cain and Abel

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, p 943)
Psalms 119:1-24 (morning) 12, 13, 14 (evening)
Genesis 4:1-16
Hebrews 2:11-18
John 1:(29-34)35-42

(Note: The readings from John are also this Sunday's gospel reading.)

Maybe you remember Rogers and Hammerstein's hit musical "Oklahoma." Part of the sub-plot is an historical conflict among settlers of the American West. The chorus sings, "Oh, the farmer and the cowboy should be friends." Then the two groups trade barbs about each other under the tense prescription that they should be friends.

Many different cultures and many epochs of human civilization have periods of bitter, even bloody conflict between peoples of differing lifestyles. Some early humans learned how to domesticate flocks of animals. They led the cattle and sheep to graze in places where there was adequate food and water. The animals could be used to make food and clothing, shelter and tools. The freedom of movement for the wandering herds was critical for their success.

Other early humans learned how to plant and harvest. They became settled in one place long enough for the plants to produce their yield. They too found resources for food and clothing, shelter and tools.

But the potential for conflict was great. Wandering herds could devastate young crops or compromise the water or harvest of the farms. Settled farmers claimed possession of critical wells or water supplies and restricted access to land, usually the most fertile land. History is filled with the stories of conflicts between individuals, communities and tribes competing between these two ways of living.

We have two great brother-stories that preserve elements of these struggles in our patriarchal literature -- Cain and Abel, Jacob and Esau. Cain is described as "a tiller of the ground;" Abel was "a keeper of sheep." ("Esau was a skillful hunter, and man of the field; Jacob was a quiet man, living in tents." Genesis 25) In both stories jealousy leads to betrayal when one brother is favored and the other feels rejection.

Why does God accept the offering of Abel, the firstlings of the flock, and reject the offering of Cain, the fruits of the field? No explanation is given. (Likewise, Abraham prefers the hunter Esau over the tent-dweller Jacob.)

The story implies that Cain would be accepted by God if he would continue living rightly. But Cain allows his resentment to fester. And here we have the first scriptural use of the word sin. "If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it."

Cain fails to master. He lures his brother out into the field and kills him. Although the deed is done in secret, the blood cries out from the ground. God hears, and curses Cain. The ground will no longer yield its strength, and Cain "will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth." Without community, he will be completely vulnerable to the violence of strangers and other tribes. For protection, God marks him with a threat of sevenfold vengeance should anyone kill him.

In story form, the Bible describes our human darkness. Our history of conflict and violence, rebellion and prejudice is recorded in compelling narrative. This is powerful stuff.

Lowell
______________________________________________________

Audio podcast: Listen to an audio podcast of the most recent Morning Reflections from today and the past week. Click the following link:
-- Morning Reflection Podcasts

About Morning Reflections
"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

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.

Lowell Grisham, Rector

St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Fayetteville, Arkansas

The Fall

Tuesday, January 15, 2008 -- Week of 1 Epiphany, Year A

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, p 943)
Psalms 5, 6 (morning) 10, 11 (evening)
Genesis 3:1-24
Hebrews 2:1-10
John 1:19-28

Note: I typed today's reading from Hebrews into yesterday's Morning Reflection; sorry if you are reading Hebrews 2:1-10 twice; yesterday's reading should have been Hebrews 1:1-14

The story of the fall of Adam and Eve is among the most powerful of myths. In a captivating narrative it offers a paradigm and world view that helps create meaning and understanding for some of the basic questions of life. Why are things the way they are? Well, ...once upon a time...

Just a few random thoughts and notes on the text of Genesis 3.

The serpent was just another animal. It is not Satan or some spiritual or alien creature. But it is crafty.

When the serpent asks the woman about the tree, she extends God's original prohibition. God said not to eat of it. She adds, "nor shall you touch it." I wonder about that. How often do we extend, exaggerate or elaborate the moral law? Sometimes creating some tension over approaching something forbidden by imagining a proximate transgression actually makes it easier to move past the tipping point. "...I've already gone this far... I might as well..."

In some sense the fall was inevitable if human beings were to evolve into self-reflective, rational beings. At some point we had to be able to move beyond instinct and learn moral reflection, and the curse of guilt that comes with knowing. Are we the only animal that experiences guilt? Are we the only animal that knows that we shall die?

I love the intimacy of the natural relationship of the couple and God. "They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze..." I know people who have such an intimate relationship with God. From time to time I experience God with that kind of intimacy. There is a certain sense of innocence and openness that seems to characterize such closeness. Much of the time, though, I futilely try to hide from God behind my fig leaves and rationalizations.

Excuses and rationalizations. "Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" The woman told me to; the serpent tricked me. But there are consequences.

The curse of the snake has all of the wonderful qualities of a folk myth. Mamma, why does a snake crawl on the ground instead of on legs and feet? Daddy, I hate snakes? Why is that?

Note how God does not carry out the proscribed punishment. In chapter two God said, "You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die." They do not die on that day. Yes, their innocence dies; their nativety dies; and they learn that they shall indeed die: "By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust and to dust you shall return."

Mamma, why is life so hard? Daddy, why do you have to die?

This great myth gives an answer to those great questions. God mercifully allowed the man and the woman to live, though they must struggle to survive. They will live long enough to bear offspring to provide for future generations.

And, Mamma, why do men have all the power? Child, it wasn't God's intention that it be that way. In the beginning, God made men and women to be partners. But we disobeyed God, and that is why it is so painful for life to come into being and so difficult for us to live in mutual intimacy and so hard to make a living. And that's why we die. Now finish your breakfast and get ready to start your day.

Lowell

_________________________________________________________

Audio podcast: Listen to an audio podcast of the most recent Morning Reflections from today and the past week. Click the following link:
-- Morning Reflection Podcasts

About Morning Reflections
"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

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.

Lowell Grisham, Rector

St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Fayetteville, Arkansas

Two Creation Stories

Monday, January 14, 2008 -- Week of 1 Epiphany, Year A

"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 (Book of Common Prayer, p 943)
Psalms 1, 2, 3 (morning) 4, 7 (evening)
Genesis 2:4-9(10-15)16-25
Hebrews 2:1-10
John 1:1-18

We hear two creation stories today.

Genesis 2 begins with a desert wilderness. Before rain happens, a stream rises from the earth to water the ground. God forms a human from the earth and breathes life into him. (In Hebrew "adam = a man" / "adamah = ground".) God creates a garden with two trees, the tree of life (immortality) and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The human is to work to till the garden and keep it. As a partner, God creates every living creature, but none is fully satisfying, until the woman is fashioned from the man's rib. (In Hebrew, "ish = Man" / "ishshah = Woman".) They live in a pre-conscious innocence, without wisdom, moral discernment, and the knowledge of their own mortality.

The story tells us that we are God's creation, breathed into being by God's Spirit/Breath. We live in partnership with all creatures, and we share stewardship of the earth that God has made. The relationship of the Man and Woman is a genuine partnership -- helper is a word often used to describe God.

The Prologue of John is another creation story. The Word is distinct from God ("with God") and is united in God ("was God"). All comes into being through this God-Word, the light that shines in the darkness. The Word is Jesus, who comes to the world to manifest the light -- "the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth... From his fullness we have all received grace upon grace."

To Adam (Earthling) is given all of the natural world, to work and to till in a cordial relationship. The Man and Woman are one flesh, an equal and cooperative partnership of mutual help. This is the way of nature. The humans ("humus = earth, dirt, ground") live in an intimate, familiar relationship with God.

Jesus is the coming of the fullness of the divine life, the Word, into a particular human life. He brings light to enlighten, to restore us to our status as children of God who receive grace upon grace. We know fully what God is like, for God is like Jesus. Jesus is the human face of God.

With stories like these we communicate our conviction that God intends blessing and union for humanity. God gives us earth; God gives us divinity. Breath and light. God's purpose for us and for creation is intimate and lofty. Let it be.

Lowell
___________________________________________________________

Audio podcast: Listen to an audio podcast of the most recent Morning Reflections from today and the past week. Click the following link: -- Morning Reflection Podcasts About Morning Reflections "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

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

Christ in You, the Hope of Glory

Wednesday, January 9, 2007
(Julia Chester Emery, Missionary, 1922)

"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 (Book of Common Prayer, p 943)
Psalms 121, 122, 123 (morning) 131, 132 (evening)
Isaiah 45:14-19
Colossians 1:24 - 2:7
John 8:12-19

During this week after the feast of the Epiphany we are given a series of metaphors that express how Christ is manifest to the world. (Epiphany means "manifestation," and it is the feast of Jesus' effective presence beyond Israel and the church into the entire creation.)

On Monday the theme was bread -- Christ is the bread of eternal life. On Tuesday the theme was water in the desert -- Christ is the living water. Today the theme is light. Christ is the light of life.

I love today's passage from Colossians. "Christ in you, the hope of glory... I want (your) hearts to be encouraged and united in love, so that (you) may have all the riches of assured understanding and have the knowledge of God's mystery, that is, Christ himself..."

The writer (a later disciple of Paul) speaks of how even our suffering has a part in this great mystery of "Christ in you, the hope of glory." He urges us to grow, to become mature in Christ. His writing is perfect as an Epiphany message. God has been made fully known in Christ. The mystery once hidden is now revealed, not only to the "insiders" but also "among the Gentiles." "God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory."

So, when we ask -- "What is God like?" -- our answer is -- "God is like Jesus." When we look at Jesus we see living compassion -- healing and reconciling. Reaching beyond barriers between nation, tribe and religion.

Part of what this Epiphany message means is that we can look out into the world and see Christ in all people regardless of what part of the Gentile world they may inhabit -- regardless of nation, tribe or religion.

I wonder what it might be like to take from Colossians this mantra -- "Christ in you, the hope of glory" -- and apply it to every face we see, including those on television who may live far away. We pass someone driving in another car -- "Christ in you, the hope of glory." We walk into our place of business and see our familiar colleagues -- "Christ in you, the hope of glory." We notice those who do all of the service jobs that help keep things running smoothly -- "Christ in you, the hope of glory." Each telephone call -- "Christ in you, the hope of glory." Each stranger -- "Christ in you, the hope of glory." Back home with our intimates -- "Christ in you, the hope of glory."

What would happen if we intentionally saw Christ in each person we engage? It might be that we would see "the hope of glory." We would see Christ, the light of life. It might be that the writer's prayer would be answered: "I want your hearts to be encouraged and united in love, so that you may have all the riches of assured understanding and have the knowledge of God's mystery, that is, Christ himself..." ...the light of life.

Lowell
_________________________________________________________

Audio podcast: Listen to an audio podcast of the most recent Morning Reflections from today and the past week. Click the following link: -- Morning Reflection Podcasts About Morning Reflections "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 Discussion Blog: To comment on today's reflection or readings, go to http://lowellsblog.blogspot.com, or click here for Lowell's blog find today's reading, click "comment" at the bottom of the reading, and post your thoughts.

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