Welcoming the Poor

Monday, August 31, 2009 -- Week of Proper 17, Year One
Aidan, 651, and Cuthbert, 687, Bishops of Lindisfarne

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, p. 982)
Psalms 25 (morning) 9, 15 (evening)
2 Chronicles 6:32- 7:7
James 2:1-13
Mark 14:53-65

While reading the exhortation from the epistle of James, I thought of something that happened as I was preaching yesterday. James scolds the congregation for displaying favoritism. "For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in," you find a seat for the fancy one, "while to the one who is poor you say, 'Stand there,' or, 'Sit at my feet..'" James says, "Have you not made distinctions among yourselves...? James continues, "Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him?"

As I was near the end of my sermon yesterday, a young man in a t-shirt and shorts, carrying a back pack, and looking a bit disheveled walked in and stood at the end of the aisle, just inside the doorway. The back of the church was pretty packed. There was no easy way for him to find a seat. So he stood. I wondered how uncomfortable it might seem for him.

I took some solace in one part of his timing, however. Here is what I was saying as he stood there, looking somewhat out of place, a bit more soiled than the others in the congregation.

Our hands are made clean, are made holy, not by washing them, but by getting them dirty. Our hands have been set apart to scrabble in the dirtiness of the world's injustices and impurities on Christ's behalf, to touch with compassion those considered untouchable or unclean by our social mores, cultural divisions, or political commitments. As Teresa of Avila famously put it, "Christ has no body now on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours; yours are the eyes through which God's compassion will look upon the world; yours are the feet with which God will go about doing good; yours are the hands with which God will bless others now." (I was quoting from the Rev. J. C. Austin; a sermon he wrote titled, "Dirtiness is Next to Godliness," 8-31-03)

I hoped that sounded like "good news" to him, not elitism. I ached that there was no place for him to sit, but I was comforted that John Duval was also standing at the back, against the wall not too far away from the young man. He too had not found a seat and was standing for the sermon.

When we stood for the Creed at the end of the sermon, I lost sight of the young man. I couldn't see whether he was welcomed and shown to a place to sit, or whether he left in the shuffle of our standing up.

James insists that to show partiality is a sin. He especially singles out economic partiality. He tells us to offer particular concern and respect toward the poor because God has singled out the poor in a preferential way. "Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him?"

James adds, "Is it not the rich who oppress you?" My mind went to the speculative economics of the unregulated U.S. money markets that provoked the current depression-recession which has caused such suffering worldwide. Yes, those rich bankers and lenders have oppressed us, as have the laws that show partiality toward their wanton economic behavior.

James follows a frequent theme of scripture, that God honors and protects the poor, and that God expects generosity and responsibility from the wealthy.

Our church does much to respond to the needs of the poor. Community Meals feeds more than 200 people some days, and Angel Food makes quality food affordable to anyone regardless of income. The Community Clinic at St. Francis House which we helped start is expanding from Springdale to Rogers and Siloam Springs providing health and dental care to the uninsured, and Seven Hills which St. Paul's founded now offers residential as well as day care for the homeless.

But I wish we were better at welcoming and incorporating the poor into our worshiping community. I know I often encourage visitors to Community Meals to come be with us on Sundays too, but I get the feeling there is a big hump to overcome. We've had more success going to people than bringing them to us, taking the Eucharist to the women's prison and creating a congregation in their space.

How can we follow James' admonition and become a more radically hospitable congregation?

One little thing -- when we notice that the church is filling up, as it regularly does, we could slide more toward the center of the pews and free some space along the aisle for the stranger who may come in after we've begun. And since the back of the church gets more packed than the front, some people might consider moving forward to make some space. But most of all, it will be our attitude -- our alertness and generosity of spirit -- that will let strangers know they are welcomed and valued. Unless we reach out with warm greeting, neither rich or poor will feel welcomed.

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

Convention and Union

Thursday, August 27, 2009 -- Week of Proper 16, Year One
Thomas Gallaudet, 1902, with Henry Winter Syle, 1890

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, p. 980)
Psalms 18:1-20 (morning) 18:21-50 (evening)
1 Kings 3:16-28
Acts 27:27-44
Mark 14:12-26

Things have come quickly to a climax in Mark's gospel. As Jesus gives instructions for his disciples and for their preparation for the Passover Seder, he tells them to go into the city, "and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him" to the place that is prepared for the meal.

Did it jump out to you? "A man carrying a jar of water...?" In the Middle East, men do not carry water. That is women's work. No wonder it was easy for the disciples to spot the secret messenger. He would be the only man in Jerusalem who was carrying water.

There may be more here than meets the eye. We know that Jesus invited Martha's sister Mary to sit at his feet like a male disciple to learn from him and to be in conversation with him. He called her choice "the better part." Anyone observing conventions would have been shocked and outraged. Now we see Jesus telling his friends to follow a man who is betraying his masculine dignity by carrying water.

In some places in the gospel accounts we are told that women traveled with Jesus in his wanderings as he taught and healed. I am told that it would have been very unusual, maybe even scandalous, for women to travel with a wandering rabbi. Yesterday we read of his acceptance and approval of a woman who anointed him with costly perfume while Jesus was at a friend's table for a meal. Her act prompted an angry reaction from the men at that table. Jesus violated Middle Eastern scruples that prohibit conversation with women who are not family when he held a long and intimate conversation with a Samaritan woman at a well. Among his close companions was Mary Magdalene, of whom it was said he had exorcised seven demons. When a woman was about to be stoned having been caught in an inappropriate sexual liaison, Jesus stopped the righteous punishers in their tracks.

Paul received this remarkable tradition about women and established an egalitarian community in his churches. "There is no longer ...male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." According to the letters that are undisputedly Paul's, women prayed and taught in public worship in his congregations.

Jesus' disciples were led to the Last Supper by a man who carried water -- a man who was doing women's work. It is a powerful symbol. Sadly, the church was unable to maintain the egalitarian example that Jesus inspired and Paul established. By the time of the Pastoral epistles (1 & 2 Timothy and Titus) the church was backing away from Jesus' radical equality and returning to cultural patriarchal conventions. We're still struggling with those conventions to this day.

Our reading closes with the heart of Jesus' eucharistic gift: "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.'"

We now participate in that sacred feast, knowing the risen Lord in the breaking of the bread. Letting his life, his body and blood, nurture us, feed us, heal us and make us one. And we have become what we eat. We have become the body and blood of Christ, given for the world. We are constituted by the life of Jesus, mediated to us through the sacrament of bread and wine. In the union created at that table, there is created a profound oneness. The conventions that separate us -- male, female; rich, poor; outsider, insider -- all are dissolved into the profound experience of being one in the divine life given to all people in Jesus. Thanks be to God.

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

What a Waste

Wednesday, August 26, 2009 -- Week of Proper 16, Year One

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, p. 980)
Psalms 119:1-24 (morning) 12, 13, 14 (evening)
1 Kings 3:1-15
Acts 27:9-26
Mark 14:1-11

Extravagant. Wasteful. That money could have helped the poor.

Our gospel story today features an unnamed woman who takes perfume worth a year's wages and pours it on Jesus.

The reactions are swift. Most of the party is outraged. Imagine how this might play out today. What's a year's wage for a common laborer today? If I'm looking at the right number, the current U.S. poverty threshold is just over $10,000 a year. (Side conversation -- what would it be like to live on $10,000? My insurance costs more than that.) Imagine a stranger coming into a dinner party and anointing a guest with perfume worth $10,000. What might the reactions be?

Good, conscientious liberals would be outraged by the waste. $10,000 could feed a roomful of people at Community Meals for over four months.

But Jesus commends the woman and her act. "She has performed a good service for me," he says. He doesn't release the community from their obligation to care for the poor -- "For you will always have the poor with you, and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish..." We are still charged with the responsibility of showing kindness to the poor. But Jesus complements her loving action toward him. "She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for its burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her." Today, we retell the story.

Her's is an extravagant, wasteful act of love. It has little practical value, except to perform a duty of honor and respect toward Jesus. She expresses her love with costly generosity, and her act is to be remembered. Her name is lost to history.

Shortly before I was to move to Fort Smith to start my service at St. John's, I was in town to look for a home and start some orientation. There was a wedding that weekend, and I was invited. I sat in the side chapel. In front of me were two young men. In the mumble of conversation that sometimes precedes weddings, one of them patted the solid oak of the pew. "What a waste," he said disgustedly. "Yeah," said the other, "pity the trees." The wood in the pews of that churcyh could have made furniture for fifty homes, I guess.

Then I thought of the generations before and to come, finding solace, vision, hope and divine love while sitting in those pews. How people would be connecting with God in those pews long after these two young men were gone from this earth. Maybe their great-grandchildren would find their way to those pews, and learn the stories of Jesus and be loved as God's own children.

In years to come, every morning I would sit across from the pew they so disdained, taking my place for Morning Prayer in the chapel. I would watch the light come through an enormous, beautiful Tiffany-style stained glass window that catches the eastern sun. How many hours have I been entranced, uplifted, inspired, gladdened by the beauty of that window. It came from Belgium, sometime around 1900. I can imagine the Vestry conversations. "You want to spend how much for a window? From where? What a wasteful extravagance! That money could be more practically spent for ..."

But somebody had a love and vision like the anonymous woman who anointed Jesus. And I remember and thank them. That widow filled my heart with joy and gratefulness over and over. When I left St. John's, someone framed a photograph of that picture for me as a going-away gift. It hangs in my office.

Thank God for those who set aside the Buffalo River as a protected place of recreation and retreat. And for the people who saved Muir Woods. And for Gully Park. Thank God for the benefactors who commissioned Hank Kaminsky's peace fountain at the Town Center, and the team that plants and tends the landscaping on the Fayetteville square.

Thank God for random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty; for beautiful places to worship, and for the generous kindness that is inspired out of those holy places.

I'm grateful for those who invested in the architecture, windows and beautiful appointments of our little church. Its beauty helps make it holy. Its setting inspires and uplifts. And I am grateful for the kindness and good will that emerges from the worship in that place. From the prayer and communion of our gathered community comes food for the poor, healing for the hurting, hospitality and creativity that touches the lives of thousands who may never walk into that holy place.

"What a waste," the young man said, patting a pew that he figures gets sat in maybe once a week. You could buy a lot of perfume with what it cost to make that pew.

Lowell

Spring Geography

Tuesday, August 25, 2009 -- Week of Proper 16, Year One
Louis, King of France, 1270

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, p. 980)
Psalms 5, 6 (morning) 10, 11 (evening)
1 Kings 1:38 - 2:4
Acts 26:24 - 27:8
Mark 13:28-37

I got sidetracked today wondering about the geography of the story in 1 Kings. David's oldest son, and presumed heir, Adonijah had taken a group of leaders, including General Joab, the priest Abiathar, and all of the king's sons except Solomon, to sacrifice and feast "by the stone Zoheleth, which is beside En-rogel." It appears to be a celebration of Adonijah's coronation as the new king.

Back at the palace, Nathan, Bathsheba, and Zadok conspire to have Solomon named king. They manage to get David's consent, and they have Solomon ride David's mule to Gihon to anoint him king. He is accompanied by David's bodyguard.

From En-rogel, Adonijah's party could hear the sound of the tumultuous celebration for Solomon. Jonathan, the priest Abiathar's son, brings the news of Solomon's accession to the throne, and puts Adonijah's party into panic. They know the tradition -- when a king takes the throne, he kills all his rivals. Adonijah flees to the sacrificial altar to seek sanctuary.

I looked at some maps and images to get some sense of the geography. Jerusalem was founded as a hilltop city because of its accessibility to water. En-rogel and Gihon are both locations for water.

The stone Zoheleth, the serpent stone, is near the fountain of En-rogel in the village of Siloam. It is located not far outside the city walls of David's time. The fountain would have been a place where women would have drawn water for their family's daily use. It was there that Adonijah brought his colleagues to celebrate his coronation.

Gihon Spring is a very significant place in Jerusalem's history. It was the main source of water for Jerusalem. There are three water systems that brought water from the intermittent spring into the city where it could be stored, primarily in the pool of Siloam. The oldest aquaduct dates from the Middle Bronze Age (2000-1500 BCE). The succession of Solomon happened around 970 BCE. One theory says that David originally conjured Jerusalem by having Joab's troops climb through one of the tunnels built for accessing water, but recent excavations showing tower fortifications at that point make that story unlikely. A scribal error probably changed the words about the attack from "with their daggers" to the words "through the water shaft."

Around the year 700, King Hezekiah, fearing siege, had a new tunnel dug to a collection pool. That tunnel is over 1700 feet long, around 1/3 mile, and it can be walked, as tourists sometimes will do today.

The Gihon Spring is much nearer to the hill of Jerusalem than En-rogel is, and that's what got my curiosity going this morning. Where were Andonijah's men when they heard the noise of Solomon's celebration at Gihon? Seen from a map, they aren't far apart. While looking for maps and images, I came across a delightful web site created by Gayln Wiemers from Iowa who has pictures, videos and drawings of the Gihon Spring and Hezekiah tunnel. Here's the link http://www.generationword.com/Israel/jerusalem_sites/hezekiah_tunnel.html

Seeing what he's done makes me want to take some pictures and do some video when I'm on pilgrimage to Israel/Palestine next Lent. Can't wait to see these places in person.

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

Various Thoughts

Monday, August 24, 2009 -- Week of Proper 16, Year One
Saint Bartholomew the Apostle

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

EITHER, the readings for Monday of Proper 16 (p. 980)
Psalms 1, 2, 3 (morning) 4, 7 (evening)
1 Kings 1:5-31
Acts 26:1-23
Mark 13:14-27

OR, the readings for St. Bartholomew, p. 999
Morning Prayer: Psalm 86; Genesis 28:10-17; John 1:43-51
Evening Prayer: Psalms 15, 67; Isaiah 66:1-2, 18-23, 1 Peter 5:1-11

I chose the readings for Monday, Proper 16


I don't find myself focused on a particular moment or theme in today's readings, but a few things in each of them drew some attention.

The succession of Solomon to David's throne must have been filled with conspiracy and intrigue. It would have been expected for David's oldest son Adonijah to be the heir. When David is old, and "he could not get warm," he is tested. They bring a beautiful young virgin, Abishag the Shunammite to his bed to comfort him. "But the king did not know her sexually," the text says. It is an ancient sign among kings. An impotent king is no longer a fit king. It is time for a successor. (This story is 1 Kings 1-5, and for obvious reasons, it isn't appointed for public reading.)

The palace is split, however. General Joab and Abiathar the priest support the presumed legal heir Adonijah. But the prophet Nathan, Zadok the priest, and one of David's wives Bathsheba promote Solomon. Their lives depend upon a plot on behalf of David's appointment of Solomon. One way or another, blood will flow. Whoever becomes king will annihilate all potential rivals.

Maybe it was David's intention to appoint Solomon. Maybe they took advantage of his age and possible senility. There is no record elsewhere of David promising the throne to Solomon, but Bathsheba and Nathan "remind" him of such a promise. And what a strange alliance. The last time we saw these two together, Nathan was challenging David over the circumstances of Bathsheba's becoming David's wife. This is stuff that rivals Henry the Eighth.
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The next time I read Acts, I want to note the parallels between Jesus' passion story and Paul's story. There are very many similarities. Today we have an allusion to Festus' earlier judgment that Paul, like Jesus, had done nothing deserving death. Pilate famously washed his hands of Jesus' judgment. The great contrast between Paul's story and Jesus', is that where Jesus is silent, Paul speaks. Paul's audience is with Herod Agrippa II, son of Herod the king during Jesus' life.

Paul presents himself as an observant Pharisee. The highlight of Paul's testimony, which includes the third account in Acts of Paul's conversion on the Damascus road, is his closing claim that "nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would take place: that the Messiah must suffer, and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles." Although he only mentions his ministry within Judea, it is his strategy of attracting Gentiles away from the Jewish synagogues with the no-circumcision required promise of full inclusion into the new Christian-Jewish movement that has been so controversial among the Jews, provoking their passionate accusations.
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Apocalyptic writing was well known as a form of literary encouragement to communities that feel threatened or powerless. Here's the conventional message of apocalyptic literature: Be steadfast in the face of persecution or hostility, even though things look threatening and chaotic, God is in control. There will be a momentous divine appearance into history, and the good will be rewarded and the evil punished. We find this literature cross-culturally among groups that suffer persecution or who feel themselves to be disenfranchised or powerless to affect their future. Mark's little apocalypse is classic stuff. Familiar and easily recognized at the time it was spoken or written.

Scholars debate over whether or not Jesus was an apocalyptic prophet, or whether the early church adopted the traditional apocalyptic genre as a way of presenting their faith and Jesus' story. Most of the parables of Jesus are pretty mundane, without apocalyptic flavor. But Jesus was close to John the Baptist, and he was a prophet of apocalyptic thinking. We find apocalyptic passages in Paul's earliest writing, 1 Thessalonians, and later here in Mark and the parallels picked up by Matthew and Luke. Matthew adapted Mark's version, interpreting the signs not as the end of the age, but as indications that followers are living according to Jesus' teaching.

Revelation, or the book of the Apocalypse, was a very late addition to the New Testament, and has provoked much controversy and interpretation. Steve Thomason will offer us a four week series about Revelation beginning in mid-September during the 10 a.m. Christian Formation hour.

It seems to me that threatened and marginalized communities, American slaves or the base communities in Latin America, have much more claim to the images and message of apocalypse. It seems inappropriate that most of the fascination (and abuse) of Biblical apocalypse comes from comfortable Sunday morning churches with padded pews, well-suited preachers and fine amplified sound systems. It takes a lot of imagination to believe you are persecuted when you are the largest, wealthiest church in town. But some folks can pull it off. It doesn't sound real to me though.

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

The Poor Widow

Friday, August 21, 2009 -- Week of Proper 15, Year One

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, p. 980)
Psalms 140, 142 (morning) 141, 143:1-11(12) (evening)
2 Samuel 19:24-43
Acts 24:24 - 25:12
Mark 12:35-44

Whenever I read the passage about the poor widow who puts two copper coins into the Temple treasury, so many faces come to my mind. I know so many people who live modestly and yet generously. I know many who do not have enough for their own needs, and yet they give generously to others whom they recognize are in worse shape than they are. I know some who give to God through the church even when they must trust God to provide for them because their own means are inadequate.

I tend to be practical. I've told people who are on the edge of economic survival not to feel obligated to give to the church until their own situation is secure. I've told them that we've got many people with more money than they need who will give generously to provide for the church's needs. Then I've heard this response from people who I think do not have enough for their own livelihood, "But I need to give. I want to give back to God. I love God and God takes care of me. It is important for me to give something back."

I think of a widow I know whose husband's hourly job earned only enough for their basic necessities. When he died he had no pension; no savings. In her 80's, she lived on a fixed income, her only revenue being from social security. It's not enough, I thought. Yet she tithed on that modest amount, and she declared that was so glad to do so.

I think of a couple, one with a chronic illness, the other with occasional hourly labor. They regularly sponsor charity events to raise money for animal shelters.

I think of so many people who are homeless. Over and over I've been amazed and humbled by the kind acts of generosity that occur among those who are the most vulnerable of our neighbors. I've seen people who have nearly nothing virtually empty their pockets to help people who have nothing. A cyclicly homeless friend of mine would consistently give his last dollar if he saw a homeless family with children. "They need it more than me," he would tell me. He knew he could always beg and get enough for his own needs.

Jesus raises up with praise the poor widow, whose two copper coins, worth a penny, are "more than all those who are contributing to the treasury." There is a difference between contributing out of our abundance -- the kind of giving that I do -- and contributing "out of her poverty" as the poor widow in the Temple gives. Jesus recognizes that she "has put in everything she had, all she had to live on." I've seen that. I've seen people do that. I don't understand it, but I am in awe. It is a mystery of profound trust and love. I don't think I have that measure of trust and love. But I respect those people, poor people, who are so much greater than I. They inspire me to greater generosity.

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 Great Commandment

Thursday, August 20, 2009 -- Week of Proper 15, Year One
Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux, 1153

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, p. 980)
Psalms 131. 132. [133] (morning) 134, 135 (evening)
2 Samuel 19:1-23
Acts 24:1-23
Mark 12:28-34

It is all about love. Today we hear Mark's account of Jesus' summary of the law: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. ...You shall love your neighbor as yourself." He finishes with the declaration: "There is no other commandment greater than these."

During our discussion in our 10:00 adult formation class last Sunday, Steve Sheppard quoted from Gottfried Leibniz's definition of justice as the "charity of the wise." "Justice is charity or a habit of loving conformed to wisdom. Thus when one is included to justice, one tries to procure the good for everybody, so far as one can, reasonably, but in proportion to the needs and merits of each; and even if one is obliged sometimes to punish evil persons, it is for the general good." (from Steve's recently published book, "I Do Solemnly Swear: The Moral Obligations of Legal Officials")

There is a positive obligation implicit in Jesus' summary of the law and Leibniz's "charity of the wise." It is more than the avoidance of wrongdoing. It is a duty to do good, to seek charity, to actively love the other. It is a bit more to say, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you," than to say, "Do not do unto others what you would not like them to do unto you."

Steve elaborates Leibniz's model regarding the obligation "to procure the good for everybody... in proportion to the needs and merits of each." Steve says Leibniz harkened to Justinian's three maxims of Roman law -- to do no one harm, give each his due, and live rightly. Steve translates "rightly" from the Latin "honestus," which in its ancient form included a broader sense of honor and integrity than we customarily mean when we use the word honesty. Steve's book attempts to argue that judges, lawyers and other legal officials "must be moral, not just legal," and he places the virtue of charity at the center of his argument.

The word "charity" comes to us from the Latin "caritas" which was the usual Latin translation of the word Greek "agape" -- a word connoting an unlimited loving kindness. Our New Testament is written in Greek. "God is agape" says the Epistle of John. We speak of God the Holy Trinity as a relationship of self-giving and other-accepting love. To love is to live within the very being of God. We have met God who is love. We have been given the summary of the law: Love God, and love your neighbor as yourself; and we have been given the new commandment: love one another. We have seen the relationship of love between the Father and the Son, and we have been grafted into that relationship.

St. Augustine famously said, "Love, and do what you like" -- Dilige, et quod vis fac -- also translated "Love, and what you will, do." Right action flows out of right relationship. Love is at the core of our individual and our corporate relationships and ethics. Love extended into the social fabric is Justice -- "charity conformed to wisdom."

In any given moment, what does love command? Wise love. To procure the good for everybody. To do no one harm, give each his due, and live rightly. It doesn't get any simpler or more demanding than this.

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

Scripture Debates

Wednesday, August 19, 2009 -- Week of Proper 15, Year One

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, p. 980)
Psalms 119:145-176 (morning) 128, 129, 130 (evening)
2 Samuel 18:19-33
Acts 23:23-35
Mark 12:13-27

The Sadducees ask Jesus a question that is designed for ridicule. It was part of a long-existing party dispute. You might characterize the Sadducees as the party of the elite and conservative. They cooperated with Rome in a power-sharing arrangement that gave them great control and influence over the politics and economy of Israel. And they were the "strict constrictionist" religious party, regarding the first five books of the scripture, the Torah as traditionally ascribed to Moses, as authoritative for Jewish practice. For the Sadducees, all of the wild pronouncements of the prophets and the varied theologies of the books of wisdom were secondary to the foundational documents of Moses. Since there is nothing about resurrection in the Torah, the Sadducees did not believe in it.

The Pharisees were the party of the common people. They worked more at the grass roots level, teaching in synagogues, and trying to make the observance of the laws and statutes accessible to everyday folk. They had a wider perspective of scripture and a more speculative theology than the Sadducees. Because some of the later prophets introduced notions of angels and of the resurrection of the dead, the Pharisees embraced belief in such things. Though they held less power and influence among the wealthy and powerful, the Pharisees were important among the kind of people that Jesus attracted.

So we have a story where the Sadducees use one of their stock arguments against the Pharisees on Jesus. They take the Biblical commandment about levirate marriage and create an absurd scenario. Levirate marriage: As a protection of family inheritance and continuation, the Torah requires that the brother of any man who dies before fathering an heir marry the widow and father a child to carry on the dead man's name. The Sadducees imagine a woman who marries seven successive brothers without creating an heir. The brothers have followed the law. "In the resurrection, whose wife will she be? For the seven had married her." That's the trick question. It was part of the stock repertoire in the clash of paradigms between the two parties.

Jesus' answer: You don't know the scriptures or the power of God. Interesting answer. They know the scriptures. It's just that they have a particular tradition for interpreting the scriptures. That is always the case. We all read the scriptures with eyes of interpretation that are shaped by the interpretative paradigm we bring to our reading. As long as we stay with our paradigm, we see what we expect to see in the scriptures. We tend to gloss over the things that don't fit our paradigm. The Sadducees know the content of scriptures, but they read from the paradigm that assumes that there is no resurrection, so they see no resurrection in the scriptures. They don't "know" the scriptures.

Jesus quotes from the Torah, the authoritative portion of scripture for Sadducees. At the burning bush God says to Moses, "I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." The Sadducees have read that for ages. It means nothing to them in reference to resurrection. But Jesus asserts that God "is God not of the dead, but of the living." God IS the God of the patriarchs here and now because in God the patriarchs still live. It's a different twist on the verse. My guess is that it wasn't convincing to the Sadducees. Unless you see it, you still don't see it.

I was brought up in cultural paradigms largely influenced by the theology of the Bible belt -- salvation is about life after death, you've got to believe in Jesus to be saved, to be a Christian is to follow the moral laws, it's mostly about sin, homosexuals are sinners, church should be separate from politics. As each of those paradigms was challenged by faithful Christians who argued from a different perspective, I began to read the scriptures with new eyes. Sometimes they were agnostic eyes -- I'm not sure what I believe, but I'll sustain my inherited opinion for a while and see what I discover. I found the Bible exploded with new meaning formerly hidden from my eyes.

Salvation is about wholeness -- God's work and presence to save us from all that threatens. Jesus is bigger than our little Christian monopoly -- God's Logos is present throughout history and creation. For Paul, Christianity is all about liberation from laws. It's mostly about love. Gay people are children of God. The Bible is full of politics, and we are called to advocate for political principles that reflect the values of Jesus.

"You don't know the scriptures of the power of God." In each of these paradigm shifts, I saw the power of God expand, which opened my eyes to new depths in the scriptures -- the same old word, new meaning.

The Sadducees got stuck in linear thinking. Jesus invited them to new possibilities. God is greater than we can imagine. Life is more than "whose wife is she."

Can infinite love be bounded? Think of the possibilities. Then, every once in a while, think of the impossibilities.

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

Ugly Stuff

Tuesday, August 18, 2009 -- Week of Proper 15, Year One
William Porcher DuBose, Priest, 1928

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, p. 980)
Psalms [120], 121, 122, 123 (morning) 124, 125, 126, [127] (evening)
2 Samuel 18:9-18
Acts 23:12-24
Mark 11:27 - 12:12

It is easy to get completely sick of politics and economic greed. Sometimes you just want to wash your hands of it. It's all so corrupt and disappointing. What can a good person do? The odds are stacked against you. It is easy to slide into cynicism. Cynicism is fun and tempting. You can stand back in smug self-righteousness and hurl snide insults at a system that is really easy to insult. The whole thing is corrupt. People are stupid and self-serving. Why spend the energy to try to fix or help, when it proves so fruitless, over and over?

All three of today's readings are stories of the dirty muck of power and politics. If you thought you'd retreat to the private purity of your sanctuary, turn off the TV and ignore the newspaper, pray and read the scriptures, pray with the Church the Daily Office and mind your own business... Gotcha.

Large portions of the scripture are enmeshed in the mess, and tell the stories of God's people struggling and fighting in the ugly ambiguity and violence of power. You can't escape, at least not if you want to carry your Bible with you.

Today the sordid tale of Absalom's rebellion and coup against his father David comes to a bloody end. Or does it? So much of it starts with the dysfunctional parenting of David. He allows his son Absalom to grow up without healthy boundaries. He does not pass along his servant's spirit. He only passes on David's own Machiavellian temperament to his son. Even as David sends his loyal troops to fight their own brothers in a deadly war, David tells them to deal gently with the instigator of the rebellion. David will receive their sacrifice and triumph with grief that will dishearten the very soldiers who risked their lives for him. It's an ugly tale.

Paul is under a gentle form of arrest as the Romans try to investigate what happened to cause a near riot. Some of Paul's enemies, religious people acting out of loyalty to their beliefs, conspire to assassinate Paul. Paul's nephew hears of the plot. Paul gets the intelligence to the authorities, and they take him under a considerable guard to the capitol to meet the governor. Politics, conspiracy and threats. More ugly stuff.

In the gospel we see Jesus fending off questions from those who aren't really asking questions. They want to trap Jesus. So he turns the tables and traps them with his own lose-lose question. "I'll answer your question if you'll first answer mine. Was John's baptism from heaven or of human origin?" If they answer honestly, they will suffer public disapproval. They believe John was a charlatan, after all John attacked them. But the people loved John. If they save face publicly, Jesus will ask them "Why didn't you respect John?" Jesus plays the political brinkmanship game well.

Then Jesus tells a political parable. It is a metaphor about Israel. It is a story about corrupt leadership. The tenants will not give the landowner his due. It is also a story about the futility of violent rebellion. If some other tenants think they can succeed with violent rebellion, they risk utter catastrophe. Underneath the story is a metaphor about non-violent resistance. It is the rejected stone which actually becomes the cornerstone.

Those of us who are Biblical Christians do not necessarily embrace our tradition when we withdraw from the dirty fray that is politics and economics. We are called to bring our values into those struggles. If we don't, the politics of power and money and fear will trump the politics of Jesus.

Right now we have a Jesus-issue in front of us. Our nation has an opportunity to talk about healing. Jesus spent a major part of his ministry doing the work of healing. How can we improve the way we do our healing work in our nation? Right now, a huge proportion of our population lacks access. Right now, the system runs with money as its primary motivation. Americans spend more money on healthcare than anyone in the world, and our outcomes lag.

But the politics of power, money and fear is dominating the debate. The most disheartening part of this debate is how some in the Republican party are intentionally stoking irrational fears. Some are treating this only as a partisan political debate -- if we can beat Obama on this we can regain power. The real issue -- getting our people the best health care possible in the most efficient manner possible -- is lost in the ugliness.

Welcome to the Biblical world. This is the stuff of David and Jesus and Paul. Threat and violence and conspiracy; corrupt leadership and lack of imagination that thinks only in power terms. The Scripture invites us to bring our values into the struggle, and work the system to help it do the best it can.

Ask the tough questions and play the political brinkmanship game well, like Jesus. Bring the dangerous conspiracies to light, like Paul. Recognize when those we love are tearing the fabric of society apart, and deal with them with healthy self-definition, rather than David's dysfunction. Getting disgusted and withdrawing is an unacceptable option. After all, washing your hands of the whole matter was Pontius Pilate's solution.

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

Confronting Systems

Monday, August 17, 2009 -- Week of Proper 15, Year One
Samuel Johnson, 1772, Timothy Cutler, 1765,and Thomas Bradbury Chandler, 1790, Priests

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, p. 980)
Psalms 106:1-18 (morning) 106:19-48 (evening)
2 Samuel 17:24 - 18:8
Acts 22:30 - 23:11
Mark 11:12-26

A den of robbers or a house of prayer for all people?

It may be that Jesus' attack on the Temple commerce was the turning point that led the authorities to determine to do away with him. His earlier acts of pronouncing forgiveness outside of the Temple monopoly had provoked charges of blasphemy. Jesus offered immediate and free access to God's forgiveness without the need of the Temple and its sacrifices. The Temple sacrifices were big business. They were ancient traditions as well, loved and honored by many of the religious.

Some have argued that Jesus was attacking the commerce in the outer court of the Gentiles where the moneychangers offered a service to Jewish worshipers. For a fee or commission, they would exchange the people's Roman coinage, with its images of Ceasar, for local currency without any offending images. Some scholars believe Jesus' motivation might have had something to do with the economic burden that these exchanges had on poor peasants. Scholar Ched Myers connects this act with Jesus' healing of the leper standing at the begging station (Mark 1:40) and the healing of the woman with a hemorrhage (5:25). All of these are stories of relief from oppression, he says. The cultic system and the political economy doubly oppressed the poor and unclean, relegating them to second class citizenship and then requiring from them reparations for their inferior status, from which the marketers profited. According to Myers, Jesus sought to overturn the entire system, the socio-symbolic order of the Temple and its monopoly. He says that the mountain that must be removed is systemic oppression of the poor.

Jesus interprets his act with words from Isaiah and Jeremiah. Isaiah 56 is a glorious and inclusive vision for the new Temple. "Maintain justice, and do what is right," the Lord says through Isaiah, addressing the exiles who have returned to rebuild Jerusalem. The foreigner and the eunuch who keeps God's sabbaths are to be welcomed into the Temple, a radical shift from earlier practice. "Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples." The prophet continues to call the people to a fast, not of food, but "to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free..." The section concludes with a vision of the multitudes of the nations flowing into a rebuilt and just Jerusalem.

Jesus' words from Jeremiah recall the Temple Sermon, where Jeremiah tells the king and leaders of Jerusalem that they cannot continue to "steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods... and then come and stand before [God] in this house... and say, 'We are safe!'" Their coming into the Temple seeking refuge is like robbers going into a cave.

And one note about the cursing of the tree. The fig tree is a symbol of Israel. Jesus' words are a prophetic sign of the condition of the nation and the city -- it has failed to bear good fruit. It will wither and die. On the road between Jerusalem and Bethany, a mountain dominates the landscape. It is the man-made mountain fortress-castle of Herod. Jesus looks upon it and says that this mountain can also be thrown into the sea.

The picture we get is an image of Jesus' attack upon several versions of systemic oppression. The powerful whether religious, political or economic set the rules for worship, government and commerce to the benefit of the wealthy and strong. The poor and outcast suffer. Jesus turns those tables, moves those mountains and declares God's Temple open for all, God's rule is for the benefit of those oppressed by the systems of injustice.

The story invites us to ask what Jesus would say to our own systems. Do our systems of religion, government and economy seek to protect the interests of the poor and weak, or do they pander to the wealthy and powerful? What would Jesus do to overturn the tables of our systems?
____

A note about today's new commemorations.

Johnson, Samuel, [Oct. 14, 1696-Jan. 6, 1772] Leader of Anglican Church in Colonial
New England, he was one of the "Yale Apostates" -- Congregationalists who left their
church to become Anglicans. Johnson was a missionary in the
Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, a philosopher and founder of the first
Episcopal congregation in Connecticut. Later, he became president of Kings College in NY (later Columbia University).

with Thomas Bradbury Chandler [Apr. 26, 1726-June 17, 1790] Missionary in the
Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, pupil of Samuel Johnson of Yale and defender of having bishops in the American colonies. He was chosen to be the first bishop in the Americas (Nova Scotia) but was too ill to accept the appointment. Chandler was father in-law of Bishop John Henry Hobart.

with Timothy Cutler [May 31, 1684-Aug. 17, 1765]. President of Yale, and one of the
Yale Apostates (Congregational) who became convinced of the importance of bishops
in apostolic succession, and were received into Episcopal orders. (Aug 17)

Collect for the Day
God of your pilgrim people, you called Samuel Johnson, Timothy Cutler and Thomas
Chandler to leave their spiritual home and embrace the Anglican way: We give you
thanks for their devoted service in building up your Church and shepherding your flock in colonial times; and we pray that, like them, we may follow where your Spirit leads and be ever eager to feed the hearts and minds of those entrusted to our care, in the Name of Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Lowell

New Vision

Friday, August 14, 2009 -- Week of Proper 14, Year One
Jonathan Myrick Daniels, Seminarian and Martyr, 1965

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, p. 978)
Psalms 102 (morning) 107:1-32 (evening)
2 Samuel 15:19-37
Acts 21:37 - 22:16
Mark 10:46-52

One of Mark's themes is the blindness of the apostles. Though they are with Jesus day and night, they constantly misinterpret his mission and misunderstand his purpose. Yesterday's story of James and John asking for preferential treatment illustrates the point. Jesus tells them that to follow him is to follow the way of service and sacrifice.

But today we meet someone who understands, someone who sees Jesus more clearly than the disciples. He is the blind beggar Bartimaeus. He identifies Jesus with a Messianic title, "Son of David." Those are dangerous words. Here, in the shadow of Jerusalem, speaking Messianic titles out loud can provoke quick arrest. The crowd tries to silence Bartimaeus.

Jesus asks him to speak. "What do you want me to do for you?" Now that's a question. We could pause right here and ask ourselves how we might answer that question. If Jesus were standing before you, looking you in the eye and asked, "What do you want me to do for you?" -- what would you say?

Bartimaeus knows what he wants. "My teacher, let me see again." It is a bold answer. It sounds impossible. Blind people don't just see again. But Jesus answers him, "Go, your faith has made you well." That trust, the deep trust that Bartimaeus expressed in Jesus brings him his sight, his vision. He gets up and follows Jesus.

The story is meant for us. With deep trust in Jesus, not in our own privilege or power, we will be given vision. We will be able to see enough to follow him. What we know about his path, is that it leads to the cross.

We have another story of healing from blindness in the reading from Acts. Paul has been roughed up and arrested. When he's finally allowed to speak, he tells his story.

A little back story first. What Paul has been doing is controversial. Paul has been traveling to Jewish synagogues around Asia Minor and Greece. In those synagogues he has told the story of Jesus, the crucified Messiah. For many Jews, that is an offensive story. His strategy has been to focus on the Gentile "godfearers," people who are attracted to Jewish monotheism and ethics, but who do not become Jews and do not follow the ritual observances of circumcision and purity laws. Paul tells them that they can be part of a Jewish reform movement without circumcision and without all of the inconvenient laws peculiar to the Jews. That strategy has created enemies for Paul -- enemies among the practicing Jews, because Paul is stealing some of their members and many of their Gentile supporters. Many of the synagogues were built with Gentile money and political influence. Paul also has enemies among the Christians. Many of them are devout, observant Jews. They are bothered that Paul has brought uncircumcised Jews who ignore the law into their Christian fellowship.

Wednesday we read about some of the anxiety within the Church, and how it was settled. After Paul had reported to James and the elders, they said to Paul that there are "many thousands" of Christians who are observant Jews. "They have been told about you that you teach all the Jews living among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, and that you tell them not to circumcise their children or obey the customs."

Paul has caused offense to Jews, whether followers of Jesus as Messiah or not. So the leaders create a process for Paul to publicly present himself as one who observes and guards the law.

It doesn't work, and Paul's presence in the temple and in Jerusalem provokes a response. Pious Jews who intend to defend the tradition attack Paul. The Roman soldiers stop the attack, but they can't make sense of its origin. Paul uses his standing as a Roman citizen to gain the opportunity to speak publicly.

First he tells of his Jewish pedigree as a pupil of the famous Pharisee Gamaliel. He tells them how zealous he has been for the law. He tells how he persecuted the followers of the way of Jesus, until he had a blinding vision of Jesus. A devout Jew named Ananias prayed for Paul, and Paul's sight was restored.

Tomorrow we'll hear the rest of Paul's address. It will be stopped at the mention of Gentiles. When Paul tells them he was sent by God to witness to the Gentiles, the crowd will cry for Paul's blood. The inclusion of the Gentiles is too much to take.

Throughout this re-reading of Acts this season it has struck me that Paul's situation as he attempted to stay in communion with Jerusalem is very similar to the Episcopal Church's situation as we attempt to stay in communion with other Anglicans. Paul faced entrenched tradition, Biblical warrant, and profound anti-Gentile bias as he sought to create an inclusive church. Part of his strategy for gaining friends in Jerusalem was money, the collection for the Jerusalem church that was such a focus of his mission. Another part of his strategy was witness. He told of what he had seen -- the faithfulness of Gentiles who love Jesus. The third part of his strategy was theology. Paul taught that in Jesus all of the dividing walls between people have been brought down: Jew/Gentile, slave/free, male/female.

The Episcopal Church is in the same situation today. We witness to the faithfulness of gay Christians who love Jesus. We are faced with entrenched tradition, a very few Biblical verses, and profound anti-gay bias as we seek to create an inclusive church. Part of our strategy for gaining friends is the money and commitment we show for mission through the Communion. Another part of our strategy is witness. We ask the Communion to hear the stories of GLBT Christians. The other part of our strategy is theology. Jesus' love extends to break down the gay/straight dividing wall as well.

Paul's audience was unable to see the vision he had seen. The drama of his imprisonment will continue. It remains to be seen whether the Anglican Communion can see the vision that the Episcopal Church has seen. I imagine there is plenty of drama remaining in that story too.

One last note. Today we remember Jonathan Myrick Daniels, a young Episcopal seminarian who was in Alabama in the long, hot summer of 1965 working for the Civil Rights movement. He stepped in front of a gun fired in anger at a black woman as his witness that Jesus' love extends to break down the black/white dividing wall. The struggle continues.

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

Traveling

I'm traveling for some meetings. Here are the readings for the next three days. Next Morning Reflection will be Friday

Lowell

Readings for the Daily Office, Book of Common Prayer, p. 978

Tuesday, August 11; Clare, Abbess at Assisi, 1253
Psalms 97, 99, [100] (morning) 94, 95 (evening)
2 Samuel 14:1-20
Acts 21:1-14
Mark 10:1-16


Wednesday, August 12, Florence Nightingale, Nurse, Social Reformer, 1910
Psalms 101, 109:1-4(5-19)20-30 (morning) 119:121-144 (evening)
2 Samuel 14:21-33
Acts 21:15-26
Mark 10:17-31


Thursday, August 13, Jeremy Taylor, Bishop of Down, Connor, and Dromore, 1667
Psalms 105 1-22 (morning) 105:23-45 (evening)
2 Samuel 15:1-18
Acts 21:27-36
Mark 10:32-45

__________

_____________________________________________

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

Cut It Out!

Monday, August 10, 2009 -- Week of Proper 14, Year One
Laurence, Deacon, and Martyr at Rome, 258

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, p. 978)
Psalms 89:1-18 (morning) 89:19-52 (evening)
2 Samuel 13:23-39
Acts 20:17-38
Mark 9:42-50

"If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off;... And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off;... And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out..."

As I read these verses today, a familiar childhood anxiety returned. These were scary verses to me. I knew I did wrongful things with my hand, and I looked in ways I shouldn't. Should I then cut parts off? I finally shrugged it off because I figured there wouldn't be much left if I administered bodily amputation to everything that messed up. But it still left me feeling haunted.

As I was reading these words today, something different struck me. What if I read these as if Paul were writing them? Of what if I read these passages from the perspective of the teaching and theology of Paul? They would sound very different indeed.

For Paul, sin is a condition. Sin is the total life-project of trying to earn your own salvation. Disobedience is to attempt to establish your own justification, to follow God so well that you presume that you've earned something.

In Paul's earlier life, he had been successful at controlling his hand and foot and eye. He had followed the law zealously. And it only left him anxious -- performance anxiety. How am I doing? It also left him angry and resentful. Angry toward God, who seemed like a perfectionist parent. And unable to love others because they were merely impediments or aids to his self-improvement project. That's the prison of death that he was living as he walked down the road to Damascus.

For Paul, liberation came with the realization that his salvation, his justification before God, is a gift. Sheer gift from Christ. There's nothing to do; nothing to accomplish, except to accept the gift. Justification by faith through grace. Simply accept the fact that you are accepted.

Paul's theology turns this passage from Mark on its ear. "If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me" has a different meaning when read from Paul's perspective. If any of you throws a guilt trip on one of these, lays a burden of performance expectation on these little ones, it is like a great millstone, and it would be better around your neck than theirs. Leave them alone. (While you are at it, leave yourself alone.)

And if you start to think that it is by the good deeds of your hands that you will measure up and be counted worthy, cut it out! Give up the improvement project. We all appear before God with empty hands. There's nothing you can take to God to earn your status, because your status has already been given to you as a gift.

To stumble is to pick up the false-self project of trying to achieve something to earn your place. If your hand or foot or eye gets involved in that performance project again, cut it out! Stop performing. Relax. Trust God. Live in Christ. Your life is given to you, so you don't have to earn it.

If you are grasping on to anything, let it go. Otherwise you are grasping on to hell. Death is living in an anxiety producing, demanding life project of trying to earn your own place. That's hell -- holding on to whatever you think gives you worth or merit or standing. Give it up. Cut it off. We all come before God naked. So let go of everything. Accept the fact that you are accepted. Relax. And simply be.

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