Beginning With Power

Tuesday, January 13, 2009 -- Week of 1 Epiphany, Year 1
Hilary, Bishop of Poitiers, 367

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, p. 942)
Psalms 5, 6 (morning) 10, 11 (evening)
Isaiah 40:25-31
Ephesians 1:15-23
Mark 1:14-28

There is much good news in today's readings.

The prayer of thanks that the writer of Ephesians offers is well worth claiming. "I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power." This is the power of the resurrection, the apostle says.

That prayer is worth some time. It bears slow, heartfelt repetition.

We go backwards to see how the beginning is consistent with this end. In our reading from Mark's gospel we see Jesus call the core of his team of disciples, Andrew and Simon, James and John. Jesus speaks to them and he teaches in the synagogue with authority, casting out the unclean spirits. He gives vocation, meaning, direction and congruity. He is manifesting the power that will be fulfilled in the resurrection. The same qualities that the writer of the Ephesians prays over us are present at the beginning of Jesus' ministry.

The glory that the later apostle celebrates and the power that the early disciples witnessed are consistent with the Hebrew prophets' experience of God. Second Isaiah speaks in lyrical strains of the power of the Holy One. "Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable." All is within God and God is in all and God is greater than all.

What Isaiah says that God does for us is consistent with what Jesus gives to his disciples and what the writer of Ephesians prays for us: "[God] gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint."

As we pray, waiting quietly, patiently for God, our strength is indeed renewed. It is like the eagle, perched motionless upon the high cliff, waiting, watching. Then the wind is stirred, the breath of the spirit, and the eagle needs to do nothing more than to open its wings to be lifted up and carried aloft.

From that perspective we have legs that can run and not be weary, feet that can walk and not grow faint.

That is the power that is ours. It's time to soar into the day.

Lowell

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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