Monday, March 31, 2008

Show us Love

Monday, March 31, 2008 -- Week of 2 Easter
(St. Joseph, transferred from March 19)

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, page 959)
Psalms 1, 2, 3 (morning) 4, 7 (evening)
Exodus 14:21-31
1 Peter 1:1-12
John 14:(1-7)8-17

Philip said to Jesus, "Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied."

What level of proof will satisfy our questioning hearts? Last week one of our readings was a post-resurrection appearance of Jesus at the end of Matthew's gospel. The eleven disciples are in Galilee, at the mountain that Jesus had told them to go to, where he would show himself to them. The resurrected Jesus appears to them. Matthew writes, "When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted." Even at the resurrection, there is doubt among the closest of Jesus' followers.

Had Jesus answered Philip directly and in some direct way showed them the Father, would they have been satisfied? Jesus invites them to look at him. His words and his deeds, he says, are enough. They show that the Father is in Jesus and Jesus is in the Father. Maybe that's too hard, Jesus says. Then forget about me, just look at the deeds. They are good deeds. Deeds of love. His actions have been those that heal and connect people, acts that have congruence and compassion. Isn't that enough? When you see good deeds like that, you are seeing the works of the Father, the works of God. Isn't that enough?

So, to make sure they get the drift, the teacher goes on to make the main thing the main thing. Love. "If you love me, you will keep my commandments." In the next chapter he will make it even more explicit. "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you." It's all about love.

Show us the Father? Jesus shows them love. Himself as love incarnate. The deeds that he does, which are the deeds of love. If you want to look for God, look anywhere that love is manifest. Jesus invites them to ask God for anything "in my name." To ask in Jesus' name, is to ask in the Spirit of love. "If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it," he promises.

Jesus has told them to abide in love. He promises to send "another Advocate" (or "Helper") who will be with us. The Spirit. The Spirit will do the same deeds that the Son has done in the Father's name, namely Love. "This is the Spirit of truth." The Spirit will abide with us and be in us, Jesus says.

So when we abide in love and love abides in us, when we love one another, we have been shown God, and can rest satisfied. Wherever love is, there is God. And when we look around this earth, we see love manifest everywhere. In all times and all places, in all cultures and in all religions. Whenever we see love, we are being shown God.

As Dame Julian said so eloquently in her Divine Revelations: "Wouldst thou learn thy Lord’s meaning in this thing? Learn it well: Love was His meaning. Who shewed it thee? Love. What shewed He thee? Love. Wherefore shewed it He? For Love. Hold thee therein and thou shalt learn and know more in the same. But thou shalt never know nor learn therein other thing without end. Thus was I learned that Love was our Lord’s meaning."

Lowell

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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

Friday, March 28, 2008

Speculations of the End

Friday, March 28, 2008 -- Friday of Easter Week

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, page 959)
Psalms 136 (morning) 118 (evening)
Exodus 13:1-2, 11-16
1 Corinthians 15:51-58
Luke 24:1-12

In the last part of 1 Corinthians 15 Paul offers an imaginative vision of the expected time of Jesus' return. Those who have already died will be raised. He has spoken of their resurrection body as a spiritual body which is imperishable. Those who are still alive, he says, will not die, but will be changed, and will also put on an imperishable body. Death will then be swallowed up in victory. In a similar passage in 1 Thessalonians, Paul imagines both the dead and those who are alive will meet the returning Jesus in the air. Forming a great procession, all will join to welcome Jesus and to celebrate his return to the earth to initiate the Kingdom of God on earth.

Paul then combines words from Isaiah and Hosea to declare the fulfillment of their hopes: "Death has been swallowed up in victory." "Where, O death is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" Then Paul offers a touch of commentary: "The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." Paul's gospel continually proclaims that Christ has broken the stranglehold of sin, death and law in Jesus' death and resurrection. The sin of Adam that introduced death to all humanity and which exercised its power through the law of Moses has been broken for all. As in Adam all died, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. The perishable will inherit imperishibility, and all the earth will dwell with Christ in peace.

Paul's vision is a beautiful one. It is consistent with the hope of the early church for the imminent return of Jesus to fulfill the dream of the Kingdom of God that he spoke of. That expectation caused two sets of problems for the early church. One set of problems had to do with how the church might live now when everything will be changed so soon. No need to marry, Paul said. But, those who have quit work need to get back to their employment. ("Anyone unwilling to work shall not eat.")

The other set of problems came with the delay of Jesus' return. Some of the New Testament is written to counter the disillusionment that grew as time passed and Christ did not return as expected. Some of the motivation for developing organizational structures and written remembrances, teachings and policies were the result of the postponed return. As we get further from the events of Jesus' life, we get more concern with institutional things. We see that development especially in the later writings of Titus and 1 & 2 Timothy a generation or so after Paul.

After twenty centuries the church has adjusted its vision to focus on living faithfully in our generation, caring for the earth and the church with the likelihood that it will continue for the foreseeable future.

There are those who focus on the "end times." There are raging theological battles between post-tribulation premillinialists and pre-tribulation premillianialists and postmillianialists and amillianialists. And then there are the dispensationalists who try to fix problems with these interpretations by inventing different values (dispensations) for different ages on the way to the end. Some of the best selling books of our lifetime are from the imaginations of the pre-trib folks. One of the best selling Bibles is the Schofield Bible that makes wild speculation look like scholarship.

My sense of these movements is that they seem like a waste of time and energy to me. Trust God for the end -- our own and the universe. Whatever God wants is fine with me. My focus is in the meantime. I've got the here-and-now to be with the Risen Lord and to be and do what God would call me to be and do. That's plenty for me. The foretaste of resurrection and the dream of the Kingdom of God is plenty for me to orient my life and give myself to something fulfilling. I'm just trying to be faithful in the present, I'll leave the future to God and the speculation about the future to others.

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

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Exodus and Tibet

Thursday, March 27, 2008 -- Thursday of Holy Week

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, page 959)
Psalms 146, 147 (morning) 148, 149 (evening)
Exodus 13:3-10
1 Corinthians 15:41-50
Matthew 28:16-20

Rites and rituals are so important. They help us remember who we are. They recall to the present key elements of our heritage. Right in the middle of the narrative about the Hebrew's great Exodus from Egypt, we read the instructions for the keeping of the Festival of Passover. For seven days you will eat unleavened bread to remind you of the haste with which your ancestors fled Egypt. On the seventh day there shall be a Passover festival to the Lord. The Seder supper is structured as a ritual reminder, teaching God's people about their liberation from Egypt and reminding them to be a people conscious of freedom.

Being able to practice our rites and rituals is important to our identity as a people. Being faithful to our practice is important to our health as a people.

It strikes me that at the heart of this story of Exodus is the desire of a people to worship. Moses asks Pharaoh to let God's people go, that they may worship. Pharaoh refuses. Also at the center of the story is the oppression that the people suffer under Pharaoh. They cry out because they suffer from both an economic and a cultural oppression.

We see a similar cry for liberation today from the people of Tibet. If anything, the oppression of China toward Tibet is even more radical than that of Pharaoh toward the Hebrew people. In 1950 armed forces from China invaded Tibet and annexed it into the Peoples' Republic of China. By 1962 only 70 of the original 2500 monasteries were left after 93% of the monks had been forced out. Chinese immigrants have flooded into Tibet, displacing the native people and taking control of the economic and political structures. The systematic oppression of Tibetan religion and traditions has been called "cultural genocide."

In a particularly cruel act, thirteen years ago (1995) the Chinese kidnapped a six year old boy who had been identified as the next Panchen Lama. He has not been seen since; he would be just over 18 years old now. We remember that Pharoah also aimed his violence at the vulnerable children of the Hebrews.

The Dalai Lama is the traditional spiritual and political leader of Tibet. He fled his homeland in 1958 during an unsuccessful uprising against Chinese rule. The Dalai Lama has accepted Chinese sovereignty over Tibet while insisting that Tibetans have actual autonomy over their religious and cultural life. Tibetans wish to be able to practice their religion and to observe their cultural rites and rituals. That is the demand recently expressed in marches and demonstrations on the eve of the Beijing Olympics.

This cry for religious and cultural freedom should be familiar to our ears. It is a motivation that we understand as Americans because so many of our ancestors came to this land seeking such freedoms. Shouldn't all the world be rising with the Tibetans to cry out against the oppression they suffer? What would happen if the world community let China know its participation in our economy and its place on the international stage was dependent upon its behavior toward Tibet? What if our neighbors in Bentonville used the leverage of the world's largest company, looking for suppliers other than China until they grant religious and cultural autonomy to Tibet. If the world demanded, might it be possible for the Dalai Lama to return to his home and worship at his own monastery for the first time in fifty years?

May a new Exodus for Tibet be part of our prayers during this season of Pascha and Passover. Ask God to do for Tibet what God has done for the Hebrew people. "Moses said to the people, 'Remember this day on which you came out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.'"

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

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Matthew's Version

Wednesday, March 26, 2008 -- Wednesday of Holy Week

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, page 959)
Psalms 97, 99 (morning) 115 (evening)
Exodus 12:40-51
1 Corinthians 15:(29)30-41
Matthew 28:1-16

Today we move to Matthew's version of the resurrection. Matthew had access to Mark's gospel and used some parts of it word for word. Comparing the resurrection appearances helps us see a common form of development in the story of Jesus. Matthew adds some dramatic elements -- a great earthquake, and angel who rolls away the stone, fearful guards. In Mark, the women at the tomb meet a "young man dressed in a white robe." In Matthew, it is an angel with an ""appearance like lightning and clothes white as snow." The women get the same instruction -- to tell the disciples Jesus has risen and will meet them in Galilee." Unlike Mark's account, where the women are afraid and tell no one, the women of Matthew's story run with fear and joy to tell the disciples. Mark's account ends with these words: "So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid." But in Matthew's version, Jesus appears to the women, they take hold of his feet and worship him, and he speaks to them.

In Biblical narratives as well as in our everyday life, stories tend to accumulate details and more drama as they are repeated over time. Sometimes repetition will invite exaggeration or creative elaboration. An earthquake adds drama. A young man becomes an angel. The women's fear and silence becomes a joyful reunion with the Risen Lord.

As the early church developed its teaching and story, the church looked to the past to interpret their present. Early on the church saw in Isaiah's suffering servant a tradition that helped them to interpret the death of Jesus, after all, it was a more common expectation that the Messiah/Christ would be a triumphant leader who would expel Israel's enemies and establish the nation as the greatest of nations. In finding interpretations to help them understand the meaning of Jesus' death and their experience of his resurrection, the early preachers incorporated some elements of the Hebrew Biblical narrative and prophecy into their story of Jesus. Some elements of detail and elaboration came into the story because they showed how Jesus was the fulfillment of scripture. So Matthew adds to Mark's simpler account a detail about the soldiers dividing Jesus' clothes among themselves and casting lots, drawing upon the words of Psalm 22: "they divide my garments among them; they cast lots for my clothing."

One of those places of debate and conversation among scholars is the question of how many of these details that we have in our gospels are "history remembered" or "prophecy historicized." Such studies make for great sport among scholars. I'm satisfied to read with devotion the various accounts that we have been given, to honor them as the faithful preaching of our evangelist ancestors, to draw meaning from it all, and not to get too exercised over the unknowable question of "what really happened" in detail. After all, does it really matter whether or not little George Washington really did cut down the cherry tree? What matters is that he was an honest man. The story tells us that truth, whether it is history remembered or a metaphorical fiction.

Matthew and Mark are addressing two different audiences and in many ways are doing two different things. We can be thankful that our ancestors preserved both accounts for our benefit and didn't try to edit or exclude because of inconsistencies in their stories. We are richer for the inconsistencies.

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

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Snakes & All Live

Tuesday, March 25 -- Tuesday in Holy Week
(Note: The Feast of the Annunciation is transferred to April 1)

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, page 959)
Psalms 103 (morning) 111, 114 (evening)
Exodus 12:28-39
1 Corinthians 15:12-28
Mark 16:9-20

Today we get to read "The Longer Ending of Mark," a passage that does not appear in most of the ancient sources. It is likely that sometime in the second century, some Christian scholars who were troubled by the abrupt ending of Mark's gospel composed another ending, drawing on scenes from the other gospels. It is significant that this tradition retains the primacy of Mary Magdalene as the first witness to the resurrection. In the Eastern Orthodox tradition she is celebrated as the First Apostle and given the title "Equal to the Apostles."

This "Longer Ending" also is the source of the practice of snake handling and of drinking water laced with strychnine, arsenic or other poisons, mostly in Pentecostal holiness churches. Verse 17 reads: "And these signs will accompany those who believe: by using my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes in their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover." Luke 10:19 also says, "Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you." For some, these have been important texts for confirming their faith in Jesus.

It makes me wonder. How different might my life and my faith have been had I been raised in a family with such practices? I was raised in an Episcopalian household, and I know that influenced me profoundly in the direction of my own spiritual temperament. I've met so many people who have come to the Episcopal Church after having been traumatized by their earlier religious experiences. I also know a few people who found that our quieter, more understated style of religious expression was not fulfilling for them and discovered new life and energy in the more dramatic piety of Pentecostal faith or found comfort in the more certain, absolute beliefs of literal or fundamentalist traditions.

We are deeply formed by our early experiences. Our religious origins create powerful foundations, and they also create needs for further healing and growth.
_________________

I don't have a good transition here, but it strikes me as we read from Paul's powerful chapter 15 of First Corinthians that there is a thrilling proclamation of the total triumph of Jesus. Paul says poetically, "for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ." Paul is picking up an ancient tradition that says that death is the penalty of Adam's sin, a penalty that affects every human being. All die. But the triumph of Jesus completely reverses that penalty, "so all will be made alive in Christ." All live.

My own experience of the glory and wonder and power of God in Christ has the same kind of fullness that Paul expresses. It seems impossible to me that anyone or anything can escape the immeasurable love of God. It seems hard to imagine that God will fail, or that anyone could resist the wonder of God's love forever. I join Paul in that confidence that in Christ, ALL will be made alive. Alleluia!

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


Monday, March 24, 2008

The Day after Easter

Monday, March 24 -- Monday of Easter Week

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, page 959)
Psalms 93, 98 (morning) 66 (evening)
Exodus 12:14-27
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Mark 16:1-8

Ahh. It was nice to sleep late on the first day after Easter. And the Daily Office greets us with wonderful treats -- two triumphant psalms, the Exodus instructions about the Passover and unleavened bread, Paul's wonderful account of the "creed" that he inherited and has lived, and the exquisite end of Mark's Gospel.

Paul gives us the earliest written summary of Christian teaching that we have about the Passion of Jesus. The key moments are "died, buried, raised, appeared." Paul tells the church in Corinth that he is handing on the "good news" that he received and now proclaims. (the word "Good News" = "Gospel") Paul lists the appearances -- first Cephas (Peter), then the twelve apostles. "Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of who are still alive, though some have died. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me."

We know more directly about the appearance to Paul than about any of the other resurrection appearances. It was a vision of Jesus who spoke to Paul in such an extraordinary way, that he reversed his mission to persecute Christians and became one.

It is interesting that in the gospel stories women have a more prominent role. Today we read Mark's enigmatic version of Easter day. Mary Magdelene, and Mary the mother of James and Salome bring spices to anoint the body, since the sabbath had interrupted the preparations on Friday.

There is debate about the identification of the women at the tomb, and the various gospel accounts are inconsistent. "Mary the mother of James" has been identified variously as the mother of James the Younger (or James the Less, or Son of Alphaeus) or as the mother of James and John.

Some have identified Salome with the other unnamed woman at the tomb in Matthew's account or as Jesus' aunt (Mary's mother) who is present at the crucifixion in John's account. One tradition calls her Mary Salome of Cleophas. Salome is a significant character in some of the extra-canonical early Christian writings.

Mark's gospel ends with the women seeing a young man dressed in a white robe who tells them Jesus has been raised and will meet them in Galilee. Here is the last verse of Mark's gospel (16:8) as we have it in the oldest and most authoritative sources: "So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid."

After that sentence, most Bibles have lots of footnotes and extra paragraphs -- The Shorter Ending of Mark, The Longer Ending of Mark."

I think the ending at verse eight makes complete sense when it is read in the context of Mark's entire gospel. Mark has emphasized Jesus' suffering, not Jesus' glory, throughout his story. The disciples have been confused and baffled throughout, never quite understanding the significance of what they are experiencing. It is likely that the congregation Mark writes to is a struggling one, maybe facing some form of conflict or persecution. The tone of his entire gospel would match their situation -- a tone of unknowing and fear. And yet, the story is one of triumph through suffering. That is Mark's message to them. They too will triumph through suffering, like Jesus. They know the glorious stories of their heroes, the apostles. Those heroes are no different than they are -- simple human beings with fears and confusion. Yet they are our heroes and models. They persevered and triumphed. So can you,

Subsequent redactors were uncomfortable with this ending and tried to paste on some other texts. Some scholars opine that the original ending may have been lost. One theory says that John 21 is the original ending for Mark.

Part of our inheritance is a rich tapestry of stories about the appearances of Jesus following his death. Those appearances continue, as Paul lists, to his experience more than a decade after Jesus' crucifixion, "as to one untimely born" he says of himself. Those appearances continue to this day. Many of us have seen or felt or heard or touched the presence of the Risen Christ who has appeared to us and been known by us. His living continues. And we are invited to follow in Paul's tradition, to work "harder than any of them" to continue the mission and presence of Jesus, who has taught us how to live the abundant life of love, courage and compassion.

Alleluia! Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!


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

Friday, March 21, 2008

Good Friday

Friday, March 21, 2008 -- Good Friday

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, page 957)
Psalms 95* & 22 (morning) 40:1-14(15-19), 54 (evening)
Lamentations 3:1-9, 19-33
1 Peter 1:10-20
John 13:36-38 (morning) John 19:38-42 (evening)

The emotions seem to fly all over the place. Good Friday, we call the day. Yet nothing can match its sadness.

The poetry of Lamentations becomes a singular voice, an individual cries out in anguish. "...against me alone he turns his hand, again and again, all day long. He has made my flesh and my skin waste away, and broken my bones... He has walled me about so that I cannot escape..." And then, with no change of circumstances, the same voice cries out, "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 'The Lord is my portion,' says my soul, 'therefore I will hope in him.' ...It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. ...For the Lord will not reject forever..."

In the first letter of Peter, an unknown author writes to Christians who are undergoing persecution, probably during the rule of Trajan (97-117). In the voice of the apostle, using Trinitarian language, he addresses the readers as being under divine patronage and protection: "chosen and destined by God the Father and sanctified by the Spirit to be obedient to Jesus Christ and to be sprinkled with his blood: May grace and peace be yours in abundance." He tells them the resurrection is their inheritance, therefore rejoice, "even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials." He tells them they share Christ's suffering, "Therefore, prepare your minds for action; discipline yourselves; set all your hope on the grace that Jesus Christ will bring you when he is revealed." Hope and trial. Trial and hope. They may not survive; they are safe in Christ.

In our reading from John's Gospel, Peter offers to follow the one he loves. His request is denied. "Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you." He is completely sincere. He speaks with ever fiber of his being. Jesus answers Peter, "Will you lay down your life for me? Very truly, I tell you, before the cock crows, you will have denied me three times." We know it is true. Peter will utterly fail the one he most loves. What is the old saying, "We only hurt the ones we love."

Today we will walk the way of the cross. Millions will fast, the modest self-denial for a day. Millions will recommit themselves to walking in the way of Jesus -- the way of humble, self-giving, sacrificial love, willing to be hurt rather than hurt, offering compassion without bounds. Some will suffer, some willingly, many more unwillingly. Today millions of us will deny Jesus at least three times, living out of our protective self-centeredness rather than the example of the cross. We will feel shame, like Peter. Hopefully, like him, we will renew our trust and let him recommission us to feed his lambs.

It is Good Friday. The day of death. A day to see the example of Jesus as a lesson in dying that teaches us how to live. Trial and hope. Hope and trial. We will not survive; but we are safe in Christ.

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

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Last Chance

Thursday, March 20, 2008 -- Maundy Thursday

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, page 957)
Psalms 102 (morning) 142, 143 (evening)
Lamentations 2:10-18
1 Corinthians 10:14-17, 11:27-32
Mark 14:12-25

You can sense the tenseness in the air. First, there is the tension and energy of the Passover feast. Throngs of visitors clamored into Jerusalem. There would have been an enormous crowd at the Temple that afternoon where the Paschal lambs were sacrificed and distributed to the people for their Seder suppers that evening. This is the annual Jewish remembrance of their delivery from slavery and oppression. The Roman military was on high alert. Jewish aspirations for freedom and liberation were never so fevered as during Passover. Maybe this would be the year God delivers his people again.

The second tension is the anxiety that is present among the friends and followers of Jesus. He is a marked and hunted man. On Sunday he hit the radar of the Romans, entering Jerusalem in the exact way that the prophets had imagined the coming of the new Messianic King. No one missed the imagery. The peasants had picked up on it immediately, grabbing palm branches and crying, "Hosanna! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!" Now the Romans have him on their watch list for potential sedition. They'll react swiftly and violently if there is any hint of challenge. There is no king but Caesar.

On Monday Jesus attacked the Temple. He disrupted the profitable commerce in certified, inspected, unblemished sacrificial animals for the rituals necessary for the forgiveness of sins. He overturned the tables of the moneychangers who exchanged the profane secular Roman coinage with its offensive image of Caesar. The Temple made a nice profit on this service to supply acceptable, non-idolatrous currency for religious use. Jesus insulted the entire Temple system and its authorities. This cannot be allowed. Powerful interested have determined, they want him dead.

The arrangements for the Passover meal for Jesus and his friends sound like a spy story. Two of the disciples will go into the city and look for a man carrying water. That won't be hard to spot. Carrying water is women's work. Follow him, say the code sentence at the door, and they will let you in. Make the preparations there.

It is tense. This may be the last time Jesus can gather safely with his friends. Betrayal is in the air. What will he do? This is his last chance to teach, to reinforce the message that he has been living all this time. How will he leave them with enough for them to make it through the upcoming challenges?

"While they were eating, he took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to them, and said, 'Take; this is my body.' Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks, he gave it to them, and all of them drank from it. He said to them, 'This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly I tell you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God."

That's it. That's his last gift to them. It will capture, summarize and symbolize everything he taught and everything he is. Through the lens of the broken bread and cup poured out the disciples will interpret his death. In the breaking of the bread they will recognize his resurrection. In the shared bread and wine, they will know him to be present with them forever. In the shared meal, they will know themselves to be one with each other. They will be fed, nourished, healed, unified and strengthened from this table. For centuries. To the end of time.

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

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Falls

Wednesday, March 19 -- Wednesday in Holy Week

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, page 957)
Psalms 55 (morning) 74 (evening)
Lamentations 2:1-9
2 Corinthians 1:23 - 2:11
Mark 12:1-11

Sometime in the wake of the establishment of David's monarchy and the golden days of his son Solomon's reign, with the building of the first Jerusalem Temple, it became a part of orthodox or conventional religious belief that God's covenant with David and the Temple was permanent: the scepter would never pass from David's line; the Temple, God's footstool, would stand forever. God had fulfilled the promises and hopes of the Exodus from Egypt by establishing Israel in the Promised Land so wonderfully, that it became impossible to imagine the opposite scenario.

Part of what makes the Lamentations so tragic and sad is the utter incredulity of the situation. God "has humiliated daughter Zion!" destroying without mercy, the poet exclaims. The poet imagines God using the right hand, the hand that carries the weapon in warfare, to loose deadly arrows upon God's people like they were God's enemy. The poet speaks the unimaginable: it is God who has destroyed city, Temple, people, priests, prophets and king. The poet laments.

How amazing is this writer's trust. Faced with the destruction of his civilization, he doesn't blame an enemy. He blames his own people and their failure even as he credits God with the destructive acts. He cries out to God in profound grief.

The early church has a similar interpretation. Mark's Gospel is written sometime during or after the Jewish rebellion against Rome, a rebellion that was put down violently with the destruction of the second Temple and much of Jerusalem. Again, God did not bring triumph to God's people, but rather ruin. The parable of the vineyard, whatever its original version, became a metaphor for the church's interpretation of that tragedy. Echoing the earlier interpretations of the fall of the first Temple, the parable credits God with destroying the vineyard and giving it to others. The cause of this catastrophe, the tenants killed the beloved son. It closes with one of the early church's favorite quotes from the Psalms: "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone." The vineyard, the parable claims, has been given to new owners, the followers of the beloved Son.

Living in these days when the United States is the pre-eminent Empire in the world, when there is no military or economic power that compares with us, it is easy to adopt triumphalist attitudes. We are God's chosen. We are the blessed nation. God made us this great. God will continue to sustain us. Who dares challenge us? We will smash them, in God's name.

Might we be as blind as Solomon's generation or as the "tenants" of Jesus' generation. How might we be angering God? How might we be participating in our own downfall? How might we be rejecting the stone that should be a cornerstone?

Usually it is the prophets who speak to us of our failure and unfaithfulness. The prophets generally rail against corruption, greed and immorality, especially among the powerful. They afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted. They warn leaders who put their trust in military might rather than in God. They demand justice, especially for the weak, poor, widowed, orphan and alien. They announce when the earth itself rebels because of injustice, and the dependability of the agricultural cycle becomes disrupted. Religiosity without just action will do no good. They declare the expectations of God: "to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God." And they demand that "justice roll-down like water and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream."

The prophets speak in God's name, "Thus says the Lord," if you do not change your ways, God will bring judgment and catastrophe upon you. The experiences of the sixth century BCE and first century CE should be sobering and humbling. Pride goeth before the fall.

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

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

By What Authority?

Tuesday, March 18, 2008 -- Tuesday in Holy Week

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, page 957)
Psalms 6, 12 (morning) 94 (evening)
Lamentations 1:17-22
2 Corinthians 1:8-22
Mark 11:27-33

Jesus has attacked the Temple in the name of God. He has reasserted the ancient prophetic vision that the Temple be a house of prayer for all people. He has turned out the established system of sacrifices, with the profitable business of exchanging unclean for clean, claiming, again in God's name, that they had turned the Temple into a den of robbers. By what authority? That's the questions the authorities have.

From their perspective, they know where their authority comes.

First, they know that their authority comes from scripture, and from their traditional interpretation of the Bible. All of the business about unclean and clean animals comes from the scripture. The entire sacrificial system for righting wrong is spelled out in detail in the Bible. The prohibition against common Roman coinage is a defense of the first commandment against graven images. Caesar claims to be divine, the Son of God. It would be blasphemy to bring his image into the holy Temple. These religious authorities know their Bible. They quote it and enforce it with energetic intention, believing in their hearts that they are defending God.

Second, they know that they have the authority of recognition from the acknowledged establishments of religion and state. The Temple is given permission by the Roman governor to carry out its religious practice. The ordering of the Temple has oversight from the religious authorities. This is the traditional, structured way that this people has carried out its corporate religious practice for centuries. It is established tradition.

Scripture and established tradition -- that's where the authority comes from for the Temple magistrates.

But who is this Galilean rebel and where does he get the gumption to walk in here and nearly start a riot, attacking the established foundations of the Temple? They ask him to declare his grounds.; "By what authority are you doing these things?"

Jesus could have answered them. He could have said, "By the authority of God." But they would have answered back, we have God's authority; who do you think you are? We are the recognized, established authorities of God.

Jesus could have said, "Because of what is written in the Scriptures." He could have continued to quote the prophets and declare God's intention that the Temple be radically open and inclusive -- a house of prayer for all people. He could have quoted from all of the stories and psalms and prophets about God's preferential regard for the poor. But they would have answered back, shooting Bible bullets to reference and defend every practice that Jesus attacks.

There's no talking with them. It won't help. Some folks won't be budged. Not if they've got Bible and tradition behind them.

So Jesus asks them a trick question. What about John the Baptist? Of course, they didn't like him either. But the people did. The people loved him and thought he was a prophet. They were afraid. Either they were afraid to risk the scorn and unpopularity of the crowd. Or they were afraid to admit an uncomfortable truth that didn't fit with their comfortable traditions.

So they didn't answer Jesus. They quit talking. They quit listening. They weren't going to change. It was too costly. It would cost them the entire system they had been living for. It would cost them the comfort of knowing they were right, the comfort of a belief that had been, well, comfortable. It would cost them their security, because their money came from their system of belief. It was too far to go. So they abandoned the uncomfortable consideration of uncomfortable truths. They quit talking; they quit listening; they started plotting how they could undermine this troublemaker, if necessary, with violence.

Every social movement that has challenged the established privileges has met the same kind resistance. Every economic reform that has challenged the established interests has met the same kind of resistance. Every new discovery that has broken with the conventional paradigm has met the same kind of resistance.

It's almost impossible to attack entrenched power straight-on. It must be undermined. Usually its destructive power has to be brought out into the open where everyone can see its brokenness. But that means victims. Dogs on the bridge at Selma. Witches drowned and gay people burned (fagged). Union organizers busted. Sick people without access to medicine letting their suffering be filmed on TV. Illegal pictures of body bags. Homeless people in your face. A gay bishop who isn't invited to Lambeth.

"By what authority?" the authorities demand, as they shut down and shut up the uncomfortable ones.

Most of the time now, the answer from the challengers is, "Jesus." By the authority of Jesus. By his example of compassion and healing and forgiveness and generosity and love. By the authority of Jesus the victims confront the abusive and violent. He's tipped the scales forever.

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

Monday, March 17, 2008

Tree, Temple, and Mountain

Monday, March 17, 2008 -- Monday in Holy Week

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, page 957)
Psalms 51:1-18 (19-20) (morning) 69:1-23 (evening)
Lamentations 1:1-2, 6-12
2 Corinthians 1:1-7
Mark 11:12-25

Many commentators interpret the fig tree that frames our gospel reading as a symbol of Jerusalem. As Jesus travels toward Jerusalem, he sees a fig tree without figs. "May no one ever eat fruit from you again," Jesus says. He goes into the Jerusalem Temple where he drives out those who were selling and buying and overturns the tables of the moneychangers. On the evening's return, they pass by the fig tree again, and it has withered.

Mark's gospel is being written in close proximity to the destruction of the Second Temple and much of Jerusalem in the war against Rome, 66-70 CE. Some Christian-Jews interpreted the destruction as a judgment from God against Jerusalem because, like the tree, it had failed to produce fruit, and had killed the Messiah.

Such an interpretation is consistent with the reading we have today from Lamentations, mourning the destruction of Jerusalem and the First Temple in 586 BCE. "How lonely sits the city that once was full of people! How like a widow she has become, she that was great among the nations!" The poems of Lamentations repeatedly claim that God has made her suffer. "Jerusalem sinned grievously, so she has become a mockery; all who honored her despise her, for they have seen her nakedness... Her uncleanness was in her skirts; she took no thought of her future..."

After the tragic destruction of September 11 in our country, some Christian commentators turned to these prophetic traditions to challenge America, charging our policies and greed with producing the alienation that led to our attack. Some even said that this was punishment from God, a wake-up call for a people in need of a return to justice. Speaking in such a way is very consistent with the Biblical tradition. It is also speech that can create conflict and resentment, as Jesus and Jeremiah learned so dramatically.

We read today that Jesus went into the Temple and drove out everyone doing business in providing certified, inspected, clean animals for sacrifice and those who offer their for-profit service of exchanging Roman coinage with its image of the Emperor for Jewish coinage which was suitable for religious purposes in the Temple. From the Temple perspective, they were simply servicing the religious needs of their people. It happened to be a very profitable multinational business.

From Jesus perspective there were several problems. First, Jesus claimed free access to God and to God's forgiveness for every person, challenging the Temple monopoly on forgiveness. Second, the coin exchange and animal inspection-certification process tended to prey on the poor. Like contemporary pay-day loans or sales taxes, the Temple policies squeezed the peasants. The wealthy had access to Jewish coinage, and their animals were likely to pass inspection as clean or unblemished. The Temple business practices favored the wealthy, as business practices often do.

Jesus closed their shops and tossed them out, opening the Temple to all who would come in empty handed. Reminding the people of their prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah, Jesus spoke, saying, "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations, But you have made it a den of robbers." For this affront to their business, their pride and their piety, the powerful religious authorities sought from this point to do away with Jesus.

On the way back to Bethany, as they take note of the withered fig tree, Jesus says to the startled disciples, "Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you." The mountain that dominates the road between Jerusalem and Bethany was not a natural mountain. It was the man-made fortress of Herod, a defensive castle that had been built on the top of a huge hill transported shovel-by-shovel into the middle of the plain. It might be seen as a symbol of perseverance and hard work. Jesus' words could also be interpreted as revolutionary political talk. If you truly believe, and persevere with hard work, you can take Herod's mountain and throw it, and him, into the sea.

These activities with tree and Temple and mountain are all prophetic challenges against the political and religious powers. These are the kinds of activities that led to Jesus' execution as an enemy of the established religion and an enemy of the state. The political waters begin to deepen on the Monday of Holy Week.

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

Friday, March 14, 2008

Paul's Triumph

Friday, March 14, 2008 -- Week of 5 Lent

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, page 957)
Psalms 95* 22 (morning) 141, 143:1-11(12) (evening)
Exodus 9:13-35
2 Corinthians 4:1-12
Mark 10:32-45
*for the invitatory

Paul has been describing the ministry he experiences as a gift from God. He has been speaking of his boldness and his hope, of the freedom he knows because of the glory of God he has seen reflected in Christ, "who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."

We remember the story of Paul's being blinded by the light of Christ on the road to Damascus. In many places he reflects on that experience of enlightenment. The core of that experience is that he realized that his pursuit of happiness and of a satisfying relationship with God changed dramatically. Instead of anxiously trying please God by following every rule and law of the scriptures and tradition, Paul realized that in Christ, the job of pleasing had already been accomplished. Jesus extended to him God's unqualified grace, acceptance and love. All Paul needed to do is to accept the gift. Relax. God loves you more than you can imagine. For Paul, that is "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." His freedom, confidence and hope is grounded upon that conviction of justification by faith through the love of God. That realization was a death and resurrection experience for Paul. He died to his old life -- anxiously trying to justify himself -- and he was raised into the light of God's renewing love.

The realization that God loves and accepts him before Paul ever has earned that loving acceptance changes everything. The light from God empowers him. He describes the difference God makes in his life: "We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed..." In each of these circumstances, the difference is everything. It is not uncommon for us to experience affliction and perplexity; there are some who also experience persecution and being struck down. For Paul, the light of the triumph of God through the cross of Jesus sustains him so that, despite these problems, he is not crushed, not driven to despair, not forsaken, not destroyed. He can weather the challenges that threaten to undo us.

Instead of struggling to overcome these problems, Paul has already surrendered in trust to the loving power of God manifest in the resurrection of Jesus which has already overcome all. He know he will share in the triumph of that resurrection, even if he looks outwardly as desperate as Jesus on the cross. Paul let his old life die with Jesus on the cross. Now he lets the life of Jesus be made visible in his life through his ministry and service. It is why he can so freely give himself away in service to the congregation at Corinth and his other friends. He is bullet-proof -- confident, hopeful, secure. That's why he can give himself away.

Paul is living the servant-leader role that we see Jesus teaching his disciples in Mark's gospel today. "Whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many." Paul understands. He stopped worrying about himself, soaked in the loving acceptance that is his as a gift from God in Christ, and found himself free to respond in joyful service. And when that service provoked affliction, perplexity, persecution and attack, he got through it just fine. He has already overcome all through Christ. Nothing can threaten him now, even himself. The grace, acceptance and love of God in Christ overcomes all.

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

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Divorce & Remarriage

Wednesday, March 12, 2008 -- Week of 5 Lent
(Gregory the Great, Bishop of Rome, 604)

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, page 957)
Psalms 119:145-176 (morning) 128, 129, 130 (evening)
Exodus 7:8-24
2 Corinthians 2:14 - 3:6
Mark 10:1-16

Where are the limits to love and the boundaries to resurrection?

Today we have a debate in Mark's gospel. The issue is divorce. Some biblical scholar-pastors come to Jesus armed with authority -- Deuteronomy 24:1-6, the teaching of Moses, the author of the law and the traditional author of the first five books of the Bible. Read that passage carefully:

Suppose a man enters into marriage with a woman, but she does not please him because he finds something objectionable about her, and so he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house; she then leaves his house and goes off to become another man's wife. The suppose the second man dislikes her, writes her a bill of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house (or the second man who married her dies); her first husband, who sent her away, is not permitted to take her again to be his wife after she has been defiled; for that would be abhorrent to the Lord, and you shall not bring guilt on the land that the Lord your God is giving you for a possession.

I'm pretty sure that's not a passage that the lectionary has us read in public worship. The concerns are for the protection of property and for purity, from a male perspective. Property and purity are important, even primary values for the community of Moses and for vast portions of the Hebrew scripture. These are values that Jesus debunks in several places. Jesus reinterprets scripture or transcends it in the name of God -- especially the scripture laws about property and purity. Jesus challenges those laws on behalf of higher values. He reinterprets them from the perspective of the Kingdom of God.

Jesus says that it was men's hardness of heart that motivated this commandment from the Torah of Moses. So Jesus offers a higher vision, quoting from Genesis. The intention of marriage is that the two shall become one flesh forever. "Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate."

Then Mark adds some clarification in a private conversation with the disciples, declaring that all remarriage is adultery.

So the church took these words and made a new law, and administered it with a good bit of hardness of heart. Divorce? Impossible. Remarriage for any reason? Impossible as long as the former spouse is alive. The intent is good -- to protect and support marriage. The affects are often tragic, in conflict with Jesus' mission which he defined "that you might have life, and have it more abundant." Couples become trapped inside of loveless, even abusive relationships. People who have suffered the trauma of a failed marriage are doomed to a solitary life without a partner.

It was too much for Matthew to take. When he was writing his gospel, with a copy of Mark's on his desk, he added the words "except for unchastity" to the divorce ban. "And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another commits adultery."

In succeeding centuries, the church has followed the tradition of Matthew, and I would argue, the tradition of Jesus. As we have lived with the prohibitions on divorce and remarriage, we have recognized that although they can serve to support and protect marriage, they can also produce tragic injustice that blocks the redeeming power of love and resurrection.

Most of the Christian church has recognized that there are times that a marriage relationship dies beyond reclaiming. Sometimes a marriage can turn toxic or abusive. To require a couple to live in such circumstances is unjust and damaging, not life abundant. Most of the Christian church has recognized that sometimes after divorce, healthy and life-giving love can happen again. The witness of divorced Christians who remarried, sometimes outside the church, and the fecundity of their relationships helped the Episcopal Church reverse its ban on remarriage in 1973. The church saw the fruit of the spirit in the lives of some of its divorced and remarried members -- "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things." (Galatians 5:22f) For some who have lived through the death of divorce, remarriage was the experience of resurrection.

So the church followed the model of Jesus, taking a law that had been intended for good effect -- to protect marriage (with its property and purity issues) -- and the church reinterpreted it to be more open to redeeming effects of love and resurrection. The church raised up the values of the Kingdom of God as its witness to such a change. And though we always see through a mirror, dimly, we hope the more compassionate interpretation will bring to God's people life, and life abundant.

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