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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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