Divine Word and Heart

Monday, February 23, 2009 -- Week of Last Epiphany, Year One
Polycarp, Bishop and Martyr of Smyrna, 156

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, p. 948)
Psalms 25 (morning) 9, 15 (evening)
Deuteronomy 6:10-15
Hebrews 1:1-14
John 1:1-18

Within a few decades, the early Church was very comfortable with some remarkable language and claims about Jesus. While insisting that Jesus lived among us as a human being who ate and drank and slept, and who was shamefully killed by public crucifixion, they also exalted him with words reserved only for God.

Hebrews says that through Jesus, God "created the worlds." Jesus "is the reflection of God's glory and the exact imprint of God's very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word." Hebrews imagines Jesus enthroned "at the right hand of the Majesty on high," exalted above the angels.

The book of Hebrews opens with a series of biblical citations applied to Jesus to make the argument that Jesus is God's Son, worshiped by angels, the eternal ruler who created all things and who lives forever. Jesus will establish God's just and eternal reign, and will defeat God's enemies. That's a big claim for a crucified Palestinian peasant.

John's Gospel begins with echoes of Genesis 1:1 ("In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth...) by placing Jesus, the Word, into the original creative process. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God... all things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being." Jesus is the Word made flesh. The world is the stage for the appearance of Jesus, the Word of God, who is the light which overcomes darkness -- "full of grace and truth... From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace... It is God's only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known." Jesus is the Heart of God.

Tradition holds that a young man named Polycarp was a student of John the disciple identified with the Gospel of that name. We have a trustworthy account of his martyrdom on this day probably in the year 156 in the amphitheater at Smyrna. When the proconsul asked Polycarp to curse Jesus, Polycarp replied, "Eighty-six years I have served him, and he never did me any wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?" Although the magistrate was moved by the gentle, old man, he consented to the mob's insistence that Polycarp be killed along with other Christians that day.

According to the ancient account, before being burned at the stake, Polycarp is reported to have prayed: "Lord God Almighty, Father of your beloved and blessed child Jesus Christ, through whom we have received knowledge of you, God of angels and hosts and all creation, and of the whole race of the upright who live in your presence, I bless you that you have thought me worthy of this day and hour, to be numbered among the martyrs and share in the cup of Christ, for resurrection to eternal life, for soul and body in the incorruptibility of the Holy Spirit. Among them may I be accepted before you today, as a rich and acceptable sacrifice just as you, the faithful and true God, have prepared and foreshown and brought about. For this reason and for all things I praise you, I bless you, I glorify you, through the eternal heavenly high priest Jesus Christ, your beloved child, through whom be glory to you, with him and the Holy Spirit, now and for the ages to come. Amen."

Marcus Borg writes that "one of the defining characteristics of Christianity is that we find the revelation of God primarily in a person... Jesus is what can be seen of God embodied in a human life. He is the revelation, the incarnation, of God's character and passion -- of what God is like and of what God is most passionate about. He shows us the heart of God." (from The Heart of Christianity, p. 80-81)

Through Jesus, we have an intimate, personal relationship with the God who created all things and pours divine life into being. We are incorporated into God's divine life through Jesus who makes himself one with us in his Spirit. Thus, the exalted claims for Jesus become our claims as well. We share Polycarp's confidence that we "may be accepted before [God] today" and "share in the cup of Christ, for resurrection to eternal life."

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