Friday, June 29, 2012

Friday, June 29, 2012 -- Week of Proper 7, Year Two
Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Apostles

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer)
EITHER the readings for Sts. Peter and Paul (p. 998)
Morning Prayer:  Psalm 66;  Ezekiel 2:1-7;  Acts 11:1-18
Evening Prayer:  Psalms 97, 138;  Isaiah 49:1-6;  Galatians 2:1-9

OR the readings for Friday of Proper 7, (p. 973)
Psalms 102 (morning)       107:1-32
Numbers 20:1-13
Romans 5:12-21
Matthew 20:29-34

[Go to http://www.missionstclare.com/english/index.html for an online version of the Daily Office including today's scripture readings.]

I used the readings for Friday of Proper 7

Many years ago I became convinced of something that I couldn't really defend theologically.  I'm not sure that I can defend it systematically to this day.  So I hold to it as a personal conviction and hope rather than as a point of doctrine. 

My experience of the grace and love of God has been so wonderful, that it is virtually unimaginable to me that anyone can escape that immeasurable love forever.  I've become convinced that God's victory will be total.

It seems to me that Paul gets to a similar place in his writing today.  He repeats the crescendo of wonder -- "If this ..., then how much more ...Christ."  If sin came into the world through the one man Adam's sin, how much more is sin defeated through the one man Jesus.  If death exercised dominion from Adam, how much more will life triumph through Jesus.  If judgment brought condemnation, how much more will the free gift bring righteousness and grace.  If Adam brought defeat, how much more has Jesus brought victory. 

"Therefore just as one man's trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man's act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all.  For just as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous."  (Romans 5:18-19)

It is hard to imagine anyone being excluded from Jesus' triumph.  Life for all.  That's what Paul says.  (Or as some of my more literal friends like to say, "The Bible says, 'Life for all!' and that's what it means.") 

If little old Adam's measly sin brought condemnation and death to all, how much more completely effective is the goodness and resurrection of Jesus the Son of God for all.  This is Paul at his most expansive.  His vision of Christ is universal.  The triumph is complete.  That seems to be the way it is when the direction of our vision is cast toward Christ.  His love is so expansive that it fills all.

There are other places where Paul does not seem so expansive.  When he concentrates on human failure and obstinacy, he can get almost morose.  (We're about to enter one of those times in the upcoming passages in Romans.)  But over and over he returns to the wonder of the forgiveness, grace and victory of Christ which has overcome all -- and it is a free gift, not something to be earned.

For Paul (for me) that is motivation for living.  All is given; so how can we keep on living so selfishly, so anxiously?  All is won; so how can we keep living so fearfully, so violently?  All is forgiven;  so how can we keep living so arrogantly, so condemning?  Live into the gift, the triumph, the love.  That's the gospel good news.

[I'm taking about a month off from "Morning Reflections."  For the next two weeks I'll be writing a blog from the General Convention of the Episcopal Church.  That's available from http://generalconvention.blogspot.com.  Then I'll be taking a couple of weeks off from.  I'll be back writing the morning pieces in August]

Lowell
__________

 
Audio podcast:  Listen to an audio podcast of the most recent Morning Reflections from today and the past week.  Go to: http://www.stpaulsfay.org/id244.html

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 http://www.missionstclare.com/english/index.html

Another form of the office from Phyllis Tickle's "Divine Hours" is available on our partner web site www.ExploreFaith.org at this location

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

Thursday, June 28, 2012

The Gift of Peace

Thursday, June 28, 2012 -- Week of Proper 7, Year Two
Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, c. 202

Today's Readings for the Daily Office
(Book of Common Prayer, p. 973)
Psalms 105:1-22 (morning)       105:23-45
Numbers 17:1-11
Romans 5:1-11
Matthew 20:17-28

[Go to http://www.missionstclare.com/english/index.html for an online version of the Daily Office including today's scripture readings.]

[NOTE:  Starting next week I'll be posting from the General Convention of the Episcopal Church.  I won't be doing Morning Reflections, but I will be sharing reflections, insights and events from the Convention from my other blog:  http://generalconvention.blogspot.com.  
Lowell]

Two footnotes in my study Bible caught my attention today and helped flesh out the meaning of a portion of Paul's argument in this section of his letter to the church in Rome.  Here is the footnote that seems to help the understanding of verses seven and eight.  "It is hard enough to die for a generous, good-hearted person, even harder to die for a hard-hearted righteous person.  Christ's death for sinners who are neither good nor righteous shows God's unusual love.  (John 3:16; 1 John 4:10)"

Throughout this opening section of Romans, Paul has focused on the problem with religious people who are confident of their own rightness and condescending toward people of no faith or other faiths.  (Paul's conversation is about Jews and Gentiles, but it has a wider application.)  Paul takes pains to say that a nonbeliever who lives an upright life is more acceptable to God than a religious person who fails to live up to their promises.  The hard-hearted righteous person is harder to die for than a generous, good-hearted person, even if the latter is a nonbeliever.

Paul's conclusion, of course, is that our relationship with God is a gift from God, "we are justified by faith."  To experience salvation as gift, not reward, is to stand in God's grace.  That gift is freely offered to all, religious and non-religious, hard-hearted righteous and immoral sinner alike.

The irony that underlies Paul's conversation is that the non-religious Gentiles are happily embracing this gift of justification and salvation, but many religious Jews are rejecting that gift, relying instead on their traditional belief that observance of the Biblical law gives us standing before God.  So Paul has been challenging their religious perspective and commending those non-religious sinners who readily accept the gift. 

God's love is so remarkable, so universal.  God shows this love through the gift of Christ's willing death for those who are neither good nor righteous.  It's all gift, freely offered.

Paul has found "peace with God" by abandoning the project of trying to earn standing with God by his own moral efforts, a project that only brought him anxiety.  Paul has found "peace with God" simply by accepting the gift of grace -- accepting the fact that we are accepted.  On that gift he can stand.  On that gift is his hope.  It is a deep hope -- "our hope of sharing the glory of God."

His performance anxiety (Am I doing okay God?) is replaced by a profoundly courageous hope that confidently faces suffering, "knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us."

Paul's gospel is an invitation for release from anxiety and judgment for us.  We can live with that same hopeful peace when we deeply know ourselves to be accepted by God.  We do not have to measure up to some external standard, we simply stand in the gift of God's grace.  And we can resist our temptation to judge others -- both the hard-hearted righteous and the more notorious sinners -- because God's love is so wonderful that God is willing to die in Christ for everyone.  Accepting that love allows us the freedom to love, even as God loves.

Lowell
__________________


Audio podcast:  Listen to an audio podcast of the most recent Morning Reflections from today and the past week.  Go to: http://www.stpaulsfay.org/id244.html

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 http://www.missionstclare.com/english/index.html

Another form of the office from Phyllis Tickle's "Divine Hours" is available on our partner web site www.ExploreFaith.org at this location

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

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Daily Bread; Daily Wage

Wednesday, June 27, 2012 -- Week of Proper 7, Year Two
Cornelius Hill, Priest and Chief among the Oneida, 1907

Today's Readings for the Daily Office
(Book of Common Prayer, p. 973)
Psalms 101, 109:1-4(5-19)20-30 (morning)       119:121-144
Numbers 16:36-50
Romans 4:13-25
Matthew 20:1-16

[Go to http://www.missionstclare.com/english/index.html for an online version of the Daily Office including today's scripture readings.]

[NOTE:  Starting next week I'll be posting from the General Convention of the Episcopal Church.  I won't be doing Morning Reflections, but I will be sharing reflections, insights and events from the Convention at my other blog:  generalconvention.blogspot.com .  Lowell]

It is a regular theme of Jesus' parables that in God's kingdom:  Grace abounds.  In many of those parables grace has an economic aspect. 

It is a regular theme of the Hebrew scriptures that God loves the poor and expects God's people to care for them.

In Jesus' parables about the workers, though the workers come at all times of the day, even at the last hour, they all receive the daily wage that they need to provide for themselves and their family.  It is an enacted version of the prayer "Give us this day our daily bread." 

The parable works on both a plain and a metaphorical level. 

Economic care and justice extends to the poor to insure that every person is paid what we might call today a "living wage."  God's economy is generous toward the needy.  All receive their daily bread; debts are forgiven. 

The parable also communicates the metaphorical message that God loves all people and gives abundantly to the latecomer as well as the long-faithful, the prodigal and the elder son.  The full acceptance, forgiveness and grace of God is always available and complete.

Like so many psalms, Psalm 109 sets up a plea for the poor and needy and an accusation toward those who fail to care for them, or worse, who oppress the poor.  The series of bitter curses (optional verses) are directed toward an unknown oppressor, "Because he did not remember to show mercy, but persecuted the poor and needy..."  The psalmist asks for and claims mercy from God, "For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me."  This consistent message of the Hebrew scriptures is sometimes described as "God's preferential option for the poor."

What would our politics and economics look like if our values reflected the values of Jesus' parables and of the Hebrew scriptures? 

Lowell
_________


Audio podcast:  Listen to an audio podcast of the most recent Morning Reflections from today and the past week.  Go to: http://www.stpaulsfay.org/id244.html

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 http://www.missionstclare.com/english/index.html

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.

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

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

What About the Children?

Tuesday, June 26, 2012 -- Week of Proper 7, Year Two
Isabel Florence Hapgood, Ecumenist and Journalist, 1929

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, p. 973)
Psalms 97, 99, [100] (morning)        94, [95] (evening)
Numbers 16:20-35
Romans 4:1-12
Matthew 19:23-30

[Go to http://www.missionstclare.com/english/index.html for an online version of the Daily Office including today's scripture readings.]

I remember how bothered I was as a child when I first read the story of about the rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.  I was at my grandmother's house, reading from a children's Bible.  The book had been my father's when he was a child.  It told the biblical stories in a straightforward way, using vocabulary that was accessible for a younger reader.  There were illustrations, mostly black and white, that were pretty literal and meant to be as historically accurate as possible.  Some of the pictures were pretty scary.

The story of this rebellion in the wilderness was pretty clear.  These three were challenging Moses, but more than that, by challenging Moses, they were disobeying God's intention, since Moses was God's chosen.  The haunting part about it for me was the image of Korah, Dathan and Abiram standing at the entrance of their tents along with "their wives, their children, and their little ones."  Moses prays for God to judge between them, and the earth opens up and swallows them all alive.  Children and all.

I don't remember if there was an accompanying illustration, but I have in my mind a terrible image of their shocked and fearful faces (in black and white) as the earth disappears under their feet and they begin to fall to their living deaths.  I wondered why God, who could do all things, couldn't have thought of another way -- maybe lightning -- to punish just the ones who had done the wrong, not the wives and children.

Yet children are always dragged along into the damnable consequences of their parent's activities and choices.  When "insurgents" meet in a home in Afghanistan and our intelligence learns of the meeting, the drone bomber destroys everyone in the house, wives and children included.  When the Sudanese military bombs a defenseless village and the Janjaweed militia follow through with raids on horse or camelback, women are raped and children are killed or enslaved.  When a Mexican family seeking something better finds a way into this country, their children may grow up from early childhood as Americans, yet find themselves "illegal" when they turn 18 and can't accept the college scholarship they have qualified for.  When a parent drinks into addiction and creates a household of chaos and fear, the children are damaged in a profound way that usually persists into adulthood.  Books and recovery groups for "Adult Children of Alcoholics" seek to help them heal the persistent injuries of their vulnerable childhood.

It is in the nature of things that the consequences of adult rebellion and pride often fall most fiercely upon their children.  It is also the nature of things that children face many of the punishing consequences of our systemic injustices.  A profound proportion of those who live in poverty are children. 

It is the responsibility of the adults to protect the children.  We must think of the consequences to them when we make choices, especially choices motivated by false pride.  What we might be willing to risk for ourselves, are we willing to inflict on our children? 

It is also important for us to give voice to the interests of children in our political debate.  They cannot vote.  They have no power.  If the needs and interests of children are to be represented, it must be the adults that do so.  Thank God for groups like the Children's Defense Fund and my state's Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families. 

I wonder again about that story of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.  What if, just before the earth opened, as they stood before their tents, a group of Hebrew women ran to them, gathered the wives and children and scurried them away from the danger?  Would God have been angry?  Would Moses have stopped them?  I don't know.  But it seems to me it would have been worth the try.  Every time Abraham or Moses challenged God by interceding about a justice issue, God modified the anticipated damage.  (i.e. Abraham in Sodom and Moses in the next section of this reading) 

It is our responsibility to try -- to intercede for justice on behalf of the innocent and vulnerable who are in harm's way because of the choices of the powerful.  Every day there are children who are being swallowed alive.

Lowell
_______________

Audio podcast:  Listen to an audio podcast of the most recent Morning Reflections from today and the past week.  Go to: http://www.stpaulsfay.org/id244.html

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 http://www.missionstclare.com/english/index.html

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.

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, June 25, 2012

The Heart of Paul's Gospel

Monday, June 25, 2012 -- Week of Proper 7, Year Two
either The Nativity of Saint John the Baptist (tr. fm. June 24)
or James Weldon Johnson, Poet, 1938
Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, p. 973)
Psalms 89:1-18 (morning)        89:19-52 (evening)
Numbers 16:1-19
Romans 3:21-31
Matthew 19:13-22

[Go to http://www.missionstclare.com/english/index.html for an online version of the Daily Office including today's scripture readings.]

[NOTE:  I'm experimenting with a different form of prayer in the morning for the rest of this week.  I won't be writing Morning Reflections.  Instead, I'll post reflections from previous years for this day in the daily office.  So if some of these sound familiar, you may have seen them before.  In July I'll start my posts from the General Convention.  Lowell]

Romans 3:28 is a fine summary of Paul's teaching:  "For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law."  Paul knew something about "works prescribed by the law."  In his former life, he was successful.  He zealously obeyed the law, and it brought him only anxiety.  Am I doing right?  What if I mess up?  He became self-absorbed and filled with a kind of performance anxiety.  It drove him crazy.

I had a friend who was smart enough to go through college and make all A's.  It was her motivation.  She worked hard.  She studied conscientiously.  Toward her senior year, she became a bit compulsive about it.  She didn't join her friends if there was a big test coming up.  She was taking an advanced course that semester that was very hard.  She was so worried that she wouldn't ace it that she became almost obsessed with learning everything so she would run any risk.  She was competing with another student who also had all A's.  They were in this same class.

Eventually it got ugly when he got a B on something and she got an A.  She was sure she was going to win a prestigious award that went to the person with the highest grades in their particular major.  But her competition, the other (male) student's father was a very powerful state legislator.  Somehow, he ended up with an A and won the award at graduation.  She's sure she got bumped.  I remember a conversation with her later.  "I wish I had more fun at college.  I studied too hard."

It's a good thing to study and to make A's.  ("Do we then overthrow the law by this faith?  By  no means!  On the contrary, we uphold the law.")  But our "being," our "justification" is not based on our grades.  Our relationship as God's beloved is a gift.  We are accepted because God loves us.  That's that.  God's loving acceptance is God's free unqualified gift to us.  Grace is the word Paul uses.  Accept that gift (faith) and you are in (justified).  Jew or Gentile, doesn't matter.  Passing or failing doesn't affect the offer.

So now we can relax.  You don't have to make all "A's.".  Instead, you can relax and learn.  Learn and grow for the sake of the learning and growing rather than for the grade. 

Jesus makes the same point today.  Riches can do the same thing to you that achieving does.  Riches distract us.  Possessions posses us.  They also promote pride and self-glorification.  Just like an "A-student" may easily think herself better than a "C-student" so a wealthy person so easily may think himself better than a poor person.  It is impossible to enter into the kingdom of heaven so burdened with self-interest, self-importance.  As impossible as for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. 

You can't earn or buy your way into God's graces.  You can only accept it humbly, like everybody else.  "For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law."  It's the heart of Paul's gospel.

Lowell
____________

Audio podcast:  Listen to an audio podcast of the most recent Morning Reflections from today and the past week.  Go to: http://www.stpaulsfay.org/id244.html

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 http://www.missionstclare.com/english/index.html

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.

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
 


Friday, June 22, 2012

Heart Matters

Friday, June 22, 2012 -- Week of Proper 6, Year Two
Alban, First Martyr of Britain, c. 304

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, p. 971)
Psalms 88 (morning)        91, 92 (evening)
Numbers 13:1-3, 21-30
Romans 2:25 - 3:8
Matthew 18:21-35

[Go to http://www.missionstclare.com/english/index.html for an online version of the Daily Office including today's scripture readings.]

It's a matter of the heart.  All three readings today are "heart readings."  In Numbers we have the story of the spies who go into Canaan and return with fearful hearts, except for one, Caleb.  In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus urges us to forgive from the heart, and he has some fairly extreme things to say about that.  But I want to look at Paul's conversation about real circumcision -- a matter of the heart.

In the back of my mind I'm thinking about a conversation I recently had with another minister.  We were disagreeing.  He was certain that the "only way" to God was through Jesus.  I agreed, but I saw Jesus as the Second Person of the Holy Spirit manifested whenever God is manifest throughout history, in every age and culture and religion.  Wherever there is good, truth, or beauty, ...faith, hope, or love, there is the incarnation of God whom we recognize as Jesus.  Not so, he said.  There is only one way, and it is Jesus only as revealed in the Scriptures.  Unless one confesses his name, in a very precise way, the consequences are eternal separation from God.

Paul is having a similar disagreement.  The issue is whether the "only way" to God is through circumcision.  Circumcision is the Biblical sign of one's covenant to follow the Jewish law.  But, Paul says, look what a mess we who are Jews have made of following the law.  We dishonor God with our unfaithfulness.  And what about those Gentiles who are faithful, whose ethics exceed our own?  It is a matter of the heart.  God desires the inner, spiritual transformation of our hearts, not something external and physical.

So, the others say to Paul, it doesn't matter that we are Jews, that God called us as a chosen people.  YES it matters, says Paul.  We were entrusted with a precious gift.  And God will be faithful to the promises to the Jewish people.  In fact, look what God is doing with Jewish unfaithfulness!  God is using our people's unfaithfulness to open God's grace to non-Jews.  If God does something great like that with unfaithfulness, there is no limit to what God can do, especially with any form of faithfulness.

So back away from the distinctions.  We are all the same before God.  All have failed.  God loves all.  And even in the face of universal failure, God's grace abounds.  All that is needed is a little trust, a little heart-faithfulness.  And you can find big hearts among those who are "in" (the circumcised) and those who are "out" (the uncircumcised).  Promote faithfulness-of-heart among all -- big courageous hearts; forgiving hearts.  It's okay to back away from some of those outward boundaries.  What God wants is our inner, spiritual transformation.  The inner faithfulness will then produce outer faithfulness.

A friend of mine says that makes a good church too.  Soft at the edges and strong at the core.  Or as I saw it recently in a logo:  "Deep roots.  Low walls."

Lowell
______________


Audio podcast:  Listen to an audio podcast of the most recent Morning Reflections from today and the past week.  Go to: http://www.stpaulsfay.org/id244.html

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 http://www.missionstclare.com/english/index.html

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.

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

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Cultural Boundaries

Thursday, June 21, 2012 -- Week of Proper 6, Year Two

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, p. 971)
Psalms [83], or 34 (morning)        85, 86 (evening)
Numbers 12:1-16
Romans 2:12-24
Matthew 18:10-20

[Go to http://www.missionstclare.com/english/index.html for an online version of the Daily Office including today's scripture readings.]

The story in Numbers 12 is a fascinating tale of racism.  Moses' sister and brother, Miriam and Aaron "spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married."  Usually the region of Cush refers to Ethiopia (occasionally to Midian).  Moses' wife Zipporah was from Midian.  Ethiopian Africans are black.  The effect of the charge against Moses is not unlike someone calling another's wife a "Nigger" regardless of where she is from, simply because she is dark skinned or foreign. 

God's reaction is swift and unambiguous.  God reaffirms an intimate relationship with Moses, then God makes Miriam unclean with leprosy.  In a gracious act of inclusion and forgiveness, Moses intercedes on Miriam's behalf, and the community pauses on their journey long enough for her to be restored to them.

How much of our human story is marred by racism and prejudice. 

Paul also addresses some racial and cultural boundaries in the portion of his letter to the Romans that we read today.  Paul insists that everyone stands naked before God.  None of us is privileged by reason of our race, religion, or standing.  Everybody has sinned.  And many people behave rightly even though they are outside our religious boundaries.  God honors their goodness regardless of their religious standing.  There is no special privilege accorded to one religion over another.  Especially if the behavior of the religious ones is hypocritical to the values they espouse.  Paul says, "God shows no partiality."

And Matthew's Gospel tells the story of the lost sheep and announces that "it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost."  The little, the lost and the leprous are the ones that God seeks especially.  God will not let anyone out of God's net.

But for those of us who are insiders, when we sin against another, the Gospel gives us a process for truth and reconciliation.  If that process fails, "let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector."  But of course, it is the Gentiles and tax collectors that Jesus says go first into the kingdom of heaven anyway.

So much of the Biblical witness turns our privilege and presumption on its ear.  God's mercy is abundant and extraordinary.  God special outreach is always directed compassionately toward the lost sheep.  The only ones who tend to catch God's particular ire are the proud and those who are pretty certain of their own standing and rightness.  They get jacked around for awhile.  But, Moses and Jesus intercede, and the community will wait on them.  As long as they are able to stand up and join the parade with the outcast and sinners; the lost and little and leprous; the black and the gay and the Moslem -- the parade will welcome them no matter how far back in line they may finally decide to join in the fun.  Come along Miriam and Aaron.  We'll wait on you.

Lowell
________


Audio podcast:  Listen to an audio podcast of the most recent Morning Reflections from today and the past week.  Go to: http://www.stpaulsfay.org/id244.html

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 http://www.missionstclare.com/english/index.html

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.

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

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Two Verses Omitted

Wednesday, June 20, 2012 -- Week of Proper 6, Year Two

Today's Readings for the Daily Office
(Book of Common Prayer, p. 971)
Psalms 119:97-120 (morning)        81, 82 (evening)
Numbers 11:24-33 (34-35)
Romans 1:28 - 2:11
Matthew 18:1-9

[Go to http://www.missionstclare.com/english/index.html for an online version of the Daily Office including today's scripture readings.]

NOTE:  For the rest of the month of June I'm going to be experimenting with another form of prayer in the morning.  I won't be writing Morning Reflections.  Instead, I'll post reflections from previous years for this day in the daily office.  So if some of these sound familiar, well, you may have seen them before.

In July I'll start my posts from the General Convention. 

Lowell


Many years ago I noticed that our Daily Office Lectionary skips two verses in Romans 1, verses 26-27.  They are two of the most controversial verses in the New Testament.  I thought to myself, "Ah, ha!  A little political correctness in the new Prayer Book."  (The new Book of Common Prayer was authorized in 1979).  So I looked up the lectionary in the old book, the 1928 Prayer Book.  The second lesson for Evening Prayer on the 7th Sunday after Trinity is Romans 1:17-21, 28-32.  What do you know?  These verses haven't been used in the lectionary for a very long time, if ever.

But I've heard them quoted more than nearly any other two verses with reference to the church's debate over same-sex relationships.

Yesterday we read the beginning of Paul's argument.  He is setting up to make his case for justification by faith apart from works.  He wants to emphasize that all have sinned -- the Gentiles who followed their futile ways in idolatry and the Jews (his primary audience in this book) who have followed the law in vain.

First he is speaking of the futility of Gentile idolatry.  Yesterday he said they should have known better, because what can be known of God is plain through the creation.  But instead of looking through the created order toward the God who created it, they looked to creation itself and worshipped idols, part of the created order.  The next part (verse 26 on) is Paul's indictment of the Gentile idol worshipers.

Here are the omitted verses that have had so much play recently:
(26) "For this reason God gave them up to degrading passions.  Their women exchanged natural intercourse for unnatural, (27) and in the same way also the men, giving up natural intercourse with women, were consumed with passion for one another.  Men committed shameless acts with men and received in their own persons the due penalty for their error."

This is the most significant passage in all of scripture cited to condemn homosexual behavior.  I've heard at least four interpretations.

1.  It's plain and straightforward.  God, through Paul, condemns all acts of same-sex intercourse. 

2.  The passage is about the rites and rituals practiced in temples of idol worship, which included acts of intercourse with temple prostitutes.  Has nothing to do with the love of committed gay couples.

3.  Paul is using Jewish polemic and caricature about Gentiles to goad and shame his Jewish readers into abandoning circumcision and the law.  This is prejudiced, exaggerated language about Gentiles and their debauchery as motivation for his Jewish readers.  (The nasty litany continues through the end of the chapter.)

4.  Appropriate instructions for heterosexuals.  It is unnatural to have same-sex relationships.  But for someone whose sexual orientation is naturally toward the same-sex, a similar admonition would apply in the other direction. 

I know good, faithful Episcopalians who find themselves convinced by each of these interpretations. (and there are probably other ways of interpreting that I don't know)

A gay friend of mine engaging this section of Romans told me that when he reads this, he doesn't see himself being described.  "I've been gay all my life.  It's as natural for me as I suppose your love for your wife is for you.  And I'm a sinner, all right.  But when I read what Paul has to say about these people -- 'debased mind... filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice.  Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, craftiness, ...gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, rebellious toward parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless...'  Well, I've gossiped before and you could say I'm haughty every once in a while, but that's not me.  That list doesn't describe me or my partner or our relationship together or our lives apart."

A straight friend of mine reading this passage and reflecting on her own experience says of homosexuality, "I think it's wrong.  I just do.  I think its wrong and the Bible condemns it.  It's not natural.  And if someone feels an inclination toward someone of the same sex they shouldn't act on that any more than I should pick up something that doesn't belong to me just because I'm attracted to it."

Most of the letter to the Romans deals with the question:  "How should Gentiles and Jews relate to each other 'in Christ'?"  They come from different worlds, and yet they are bound together in Christ.  During the upcoming weeks reading Romans, we might let our sub-text be "How should Episcopalians with different world views relate to each other 'in Christ'?"  Let's see what we can learn.

Lowell
____________

 Audio podcast:  Listen to an audio podcast of the most recent Morning Reflections from today and the past week.  Go to: http://www.stpaulsfay.org/id244.html

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 http://www.missionstclare.com/english/index.html

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.

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

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

The Temple Tax

Tuesday, June 19, 2012 -- Week of Proper 6, Year Two

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, p. 971)
Psalms 78:1-39 (morning)        //        78:40-72 (evening)
Numbers 11:1-23  
Romans 1:16-25
Matthew 17:22-27

[Go to http://www.missionstclare.com/english/index.html for an online version of the Daily Office including today's scripture readings.]

I'm thinking out loud here.  It may not make any sense when I'm finished. 

The scene is in Capernaum, Peter's hometown and the headquarters for Jesus' ministry.  By now Jesus is known as a rabbi with some following.  Someone approaches Peter to ask about his rabbi's opinion on a topic of rabbinical debate -- the Temple tax.  The tradition called for the payment of a half-shekel (didrachma) tax by all registered adults age twenty and above for the upkeep of the Temple.  From the perspective of Exodus 30:11f it seems to be a one-time donation at one's original registration.  But from the context of Nehemiah 10:32f it sounds more like an annual tax.  Rabbis had various interpretations to defend their views on whether this obligation was annual or singular.  So the question posed to Peter might have been, "Which interpretation does your rabbi teach?"

But there is another interpretation of the question that might have been inserted by Matthew.  After 70 CE, Rome imposed a two-drachma tax on Jews for the upkeep of the temple to Jupiter.  Many Jews found that tax to be humiliating and blasphemous.  So to Matthew the question might have been, "Does your teacher pay the tax to Jupiter's temple or does he promote rebellion?"  Peter's response, "Yes, he does (pay the tax)" works better in this context.  Matthew offers documentation for political cover that Jesus, who was executed as an enemy of Rome, was not a rebel or a threat to the empire's order.  He paid the Roman tax.  The Christian movement is not a threat and is not disloyal to Caesar.  No cause to persecute us.

The conversation that follows between Peter and Jesus has some depth of color.  "What do you think, Simon?  From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tribute?  From their children or from others?"  Easy answer -- from others. 

Here I am poised to go on a rant.  For the past thirty years the wealthy and powerful in this country have consistently manipulated the tax system to their advantage, further concentrating wealth and power in fewer hands.  In our state of Arkansas, it takes a 3/4th majority to pass a progressive tax like the income tax, but only a simple majority to pass a regressive sales tax.  Therefore we end up in the ironic situation where the lowest 20% and the next lowest 20% and the middle 20% all pay about twice the percentage of their income in taxes as the top 1%.

During the first decade of the 21st century, politicians more aligned with the interests of the wealthy than the poor inherited a budget surplus and created a massive federal deficit by not funding two wars, by not funding a needed Medicare drug benefit and passing the expensive version favored by the drug industry rather than by consumers, by creating large tax cuts predominately benefiting the wealthy, and by failing to regulate financial speculation by the super-wealthy.  It all devolved to bust the economic system and create a massive deficit.  Now, those who are largely responsible for the deficit seem to want to lower it by cutting programs that benefit the poor and vulnerable.  "From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tribute?"  [end of rant]

"Then the children are free," said Jesus.  What does that mean? 

This story follows closely upon the heels of the Transfiguration, where we have heard the voice from heaven proclaim, "This is my Son..."  Elsewhere Jesus identifies himself in union with his disciples, especially in John.  The children of God, the King of kings, are free.  There is a higher law, a higher identity, a higher obligation. 

Yet for the sake of community peace, Jesus says:  "However, so that we do not give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook."  Fishing is Peter's business.  It is his work and his source of income.  Jesus sends him to pay the taxes (whether Jewish or Roman) through his working income.  Yet God provides the miraculous catch for Peter the fisherman.  In the mouth of the first fish will be a stater, the equivalent of two didrachmas, the temple tax for two persons (either Jerusalem or Jupiter's temple). 

So, for the sake of community, for the sake of the common good, Jesus pays the taxes without making a statement of judgment about them other than asserting the child of God's ultimate freedom from such things.  Jesus doesn't weigh in on the rabbinical debate about the minimalist once-in-a-lifetime or the more demanding annual Temple tax.  Matthew doesn't form an interpretation for a tax revolt against the hated toll for the temple of Jupiter.  Jesus simply asserts the children's freedom under God, and he then acts for the sake of community peace.

As a free child of God I am particularly pleased to pay taxes when they support the common good and when they go to the cause of creating a healthy and vibrant community.  I want the finest educational opportunities to be available to all, adequate security, modes of public transportation available for all including those who may not afford a car, infrastructure for creativity in business and other human pursuits, parks and museums that welcome everyone, shelter, security in old age, and universal access to health care.  These seem like the building blocks of a healthy and just society.  It takes a temple tax to support a temple. 

I am not so pleased to pay taxes for foolish wars and for the promotion of prejudicial or elitist policies.  But there is no way to parse out the taxes.  So, in order not to give offense, I go fishing every day -- I go to work -- and God provides.  But I do wish that God would provide more for the poor and a more generous spirit among the wealthy and powerful, for the sake of community and the common good.

Lowell
__________
Audio podcast:  Listen to an audio podcast of the most recent Morning Reflections from today and the past week.  Go to: http://www.stpaulsfay.org/id244.html

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 http://www.missionstclare.com/english/index.html

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.

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