Thursday, February 28, 2013

What the Trinity is Doing

Thursday, February 28, 2013 -- Week of Lent 2 (Year One)
Anna Julia Haywood Cooper and Elizabeth Evelyn Wright, Educators, 1964, 1904

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

Today's Readings for the Daily Office

     (Book of Common Prayer, p. 952)
Psalms        [70], 71 (morning)     //       74 (evening)
Jeremiah 4:9-10, 19-28
Romans 2:12-24
John 5:19-29

As you read today's passage from John's gospel, think of the dynamic life of the Trinity -- God pouring out the divine life completely in love for the Son; the Son receiving fully the divine love and responding by a similar emptying of love toward the Father; the Spirit realizing the ultimate value in relationship as the very love that unites. "Whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise."

And what is it that the Father and the Son are doing in the Spirit? Our catechism sums it up in the word "reconciling." God is reconciling the world. Sometimes we use the word "salvation" to describe what God is doing to reconcile the world. Salvation comes from the Latin word for "wholeness" or "healing', like the word "salve", a healing ointment.

Marcus Borg has a helpful list of the various meanings of salvation found in Scripture.

Salvation is:
  Light in our darkness
  Sight to the blind
  Enlightenment
  Liberation for captives  
  Return from exile
  The healing of our infirmities
  Food and drink
  Resurrection from the land of the dead
  Being born again
  Knowing God
  Becoming "in Christ"
  Being made right with God ("justified")
(from The Heart of Christianity, p. 175)

That list is what the Holy Trinity is up to. Pouring out the divine life, the energy of love and being, healing and reconciling the world.

A friend told me a story about a mutual friend of ours who hates boring meetings. But, like most of us, she's got to sit through some of them. Before one meeting that she anticipated would be especially long and boring, she conspired to play a game with several others who would be attending. She gave them each a list of everyday words that wouldn't usually show up in the conversation of their committee -- (I forget the illustration, but it was something like "refrigerator," "dog food," etc.). Every time someone could work one of those words into the committee conversation, they would get a point. But, they had to use the word in a normal way so that no one would suspect they were playing. Whoever used the most words from their list won. She said it made a boring meeting much more enlivening.

How about this? Take the list of Biblical meanings of salvation, and see how many you can spot happening sometime today. It might make an otherwise ordinary day more enlivening.


Lowell
___________


Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Personal Holiness and Corporate Justice

Wednesday, February 27, 2013 -- Week of Lent 2 (Year One)
George Herbert, Priest, 1633
[Go to http://www.missionstclare.com/english/index.html for an online version of the Daily Office including today's scripture readings.]

Today's Readings for the Daily Office
     (Book of Common Prayer, p. 952)
Psalms        72 (morning)     //       119:73-96 (evening)
Jeremiah 3:6-18
Romans 1:28 - 2:11
John 5:1-18

Paul says today that there is a single ethic for all people.  He criticizes the presumption of religious people who claim to occupy a place of privilege because of their faith and then do the very things they condemn in others.

The list of sins that Paul describes in this passage mainly describes behavior that destroys meaningful relationships in families and in society:  "wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice,... envy, murder, strife, deceit, craftiness," gossip, slander, God-hating, insolence, haughtiness, boasting, inventing evil, rebellion toward parents, foolishness, faithlessness, being heartless and ruthless.  Rough list.  Paul says he sees evidence of such behavior among the religious as well as the non-religious and pagan.

The prophet Jeremiah is also occupied with a critique of the religious.  He uses the metaphor of adultery.  He is writing at the turn of the sixth century BCE.  Two hundred years ago the faithless wife Israel betrayed her husband God and was cast off, invaded, defeated and sent into exile by Assyria.  Jeremiah now tells the surviving southern kingdom of Judah that she has learned nothing from Israel's failure, and that Judah is now behaving in a similar, adulterous manner.  Jeremiah speaks a word of hope and reconciliation toward the first wife Israel.  He is prophesies judgment upon the second wife Judah.

The failures that the prophets like Jeremiah and the apostle Paul articulate have two dimensions.  There is the dimension of personal faithfulness and holiness-of-life which is the goal of each believer.  There is also the dimension of social justice and compassion which is the goal of corporate life.  In both dimensions they commend special attention and care on behalf of the poor and vulnerable.  The Biblical writers also note with approval acts of justice and compassion by those who are outside the circle of faith.

We are all called to personal holiness and to corporate justice.  That calling is a single ethic, for believer and non-believer alike.  We don't get a pass just because we are Christians.  God offers "glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek.  For God shows no partiality."  (Later Paul will distinguish between ethical calling and salvation, which is a gift freely given, not dependent upon ethical works.  In Paul's theology, the gift of salvation motivates spontaneous acts of goodness.)


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

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

The Next Step

Tuesday, February 26, 2013 -- Week of Lent 2 (Year One)
Emily Malbone Morgan, Prophetic Witness, 1937

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

Today's Readings for the Daily Office

     (Book of Common Prayer, p. 952)
Psalms        61, 62 (morning)     //       68:1-20 (21-23) 24-34 (evening)
Jeremiah 2:1-13
Romans 1:16-25
John 4:43-54

The two verses that open our reading from Romans summarize the whole letter.  Paul speaks of his confidence in the power of the gospel, the good news.  It is his vision that this message brings wholeness to all people -- Jews first and now Gentiles.  All that is necessary is active trust in this liberating message, living faithfully within the vision of that relationship.  God is with us.  Paul uses his favorite word for all of this -- faith.  His vision is faith; his active trust is faith; his responsive living is faith.

In the other readings we have examples of what faith is.  John tells of Jesus' return to his home district of Galilee.  He is in Cana.  A royal official, probably a retainer serving Herod Antipas, asks Jesus to come to his home to heal his son.  He is from Capernaum, about 18 miles away.  Jesus speaks, "Go; your son will live."

The man believed Jesus.  He acted with faith.  He trusted what Jesus told him.  Instead of insisting, "No.  Jesus you must come with me," he turned and began the long walk home.  On the way his slaves met him to bring word that his child was recovering.  The fever broke at the hour he had been speaking with Jesus.

We can't know how completely the man was convinced that Jesus would heal his son.  He may have been completely sure -- 100%.  Or he might have been doing that kind of mental wrestling that is so common in us -- I believe, but I'm so afraid.  ...what if it is not true.  Maybe it's possible, but, oh, it might not be.  What will happen?  Can this man heal my son?  Or is it just my desperation clinging to the impossible?  Help. 

We're not told of his inner geography, but only of the direction of his feet.  He hears Jesus' word of hope -- "Go; your son will live."  And he turns his feet in the direction of active trust.  He begins the long walk home, not knowing that his son's fever has just been relieved.

That is faith.  It is trust.  Our active trust is to take our next step as if the vision of Jesus were already accomplished.  As if the world really is loved and saved.  As if God is making all things new and reconciling everything to God's own self.  The next step in that direction is faith.  Continuing to walk in that direction is faithfulness.  Keeping the dream alive in the midst of our inevitable doubts is faith. 

It comes down to a relationship.  There was something in the relationship between the royal official and Jesus that gave him enough confidence to turn back toward home.  Jesus invites us into such a relationship.  Can we trust him?  Can we put our confidence in him?  Can we believe his story enough to take the next step in his direction, and then to keep moving that way despite whatever anxieties and fears threaten us?  The rest of Paul's letter and John's gospel are written to encourage us to do just that.


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

Monday, February 25, 2013

A Couple of Things

Monday, February 25, 2013 -- Week of Lent 2 (Year One)
John Roberts, Priest, 1949

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

Today's Readings for the Daily Office
     (Book of Common Prayer, p. 952)
Psalms        56, 57, [58] (morning)     //       64, 65 (evening)
Jeremiah 1:11-19
Romans 1:1-15
John 4:27-42

Here are a couple of interesting little details from today's gospel reading.

First, in this little epilogue from the wonderful story of Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well, it seems interesting that she leaves her water jar right there at the well as she returns to the city.  She is a woman who is coming at the hottest time of the day to get water.  Maybe that is because of some remarkable need, or maybe it is because she is shunned and ostracized because of her past, and so she avoids the well in the cooler morning when many other women would be present.  In an arid climate, her errands is crucial.  Water is essential and precious.

Her conversation with Jesus focused on water as a metaphor for his gift of eternal life -- a life that quenches our deepest thirsts.  In Jesus she finds life-giving water.  Then she leaves, not needing the water jar, and she speaks to her community of the mysterious man she has met. 

Maybe her leaving the water jar behind is a metaphor for her leaving behind the hurt and guilt of her past.  Maybe it is a sign of her being fulfilled and quenched with new refreshment.  What freedom she must have felt!  Maybe she will no longer need to lug that heavy jar at mid-day, symbol of all of her burdens.

The other little thing that caught my attention was that Jesus stayed two days in the Samaritan village.  That's remarkable.  Jewish travelers going from Galilee to Jerusalem customarily would go to great lengths to avoid traveling through Samaria, crossing the Jordan into another country, making a long, circuitous route rather than taking the direct road through Samaria.  They were avoiding not only the ritual uncleanness that incurred over having an encounter with the Samaritans, but they were also avoiding the frequent inhospitable clashes and hostilities that commonly flared between Jews and Samaritans.  A proper Rabbi would never stay two days in Samaria. 

The story is another sign of Jesus' remarkable willingness to reach beyond cultural, religious and moral barriers to connect compassionately with human beings of diverse circumstance.  


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

Friday, February 22, 2013

Core Themes

Friday, February 22, 2013 -- Week of Lent 1 (Year One)
Eric Liddell, Missionary to China, 1945

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

Today's Readings for the Daily Office

     (Book of Common Prayer, p. 952)
Psalms        40, 54 (morning)     //       51 (evening)
Deuteronomy 10:12-22
Hebrews 4:11-16
John 3:22-36

"So now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you?"  Today's Deuteronomy passage opens with a summary of the law.  We've just read the story of the tablets of the ten commandments.  What follows will be more expansive instructions for us to be faithful to God's commandments.  The teaching begins with the charge that we are to reverence, obey and love God "with all your heart and with all your soul," and to keep the commandments.  We are told that the purpose of these commandments is "for your own well-being."

Centuries later Jesus will take part of this charge and summarize the entire law under the single rubric of love:  Love God with all your heart and with all your soul, and love your neighbor as yourself. 

The Deuteronomic editor says that it all began with love.  God loved our ancestors and "set his heart in love" on them.  So, love God.  So much that follows from here will be a more specific description of what it means to love God, neighbor and self.

It is significant that the first two instructions about how we are to love others concern first, justice for the orphan and the widow, and second, support for the stranger. 

The first specific instruction about our responsibilities to our neighbor in this important tract on the law enjoins us to care for the weak, poor and vulnerable, and to care for the alien.  The second:  "You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in Egypt."  The word "stranger" is usually translated "alien."  These two commandments will continue to be central issues for the Hebrew scripture.  To obey these commandments is a big part of God's charge to us to "execute justice."

Centuries of Christian lawmakers and political policies have seen these two commandments of justice to be at the core of our communal responsibilities.  When we make laws today, if they are going to reflect the original laws of God, they will need to promote the welfare of the poor and vulnerable and they will need to make provision for hospitality for the stranger.  These are core expectations throughout the witness of scripture.

That is why is seems so shocking to me that people who characterize themselves as Christians sometimes make it central to their political philosophy to oppose laws that give equal and supportive power and security to the poor and vulnerable, to orphans and widows. 

How can anyone who accepts the name "Jewish" or "Christian" ever support punitive and inhospitable laws toward the alien or the stranger?  To do so violates a core theme of the scripture and of our identity as God's people.


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