Jesus Speaks Like the Prophets

Friday, June 14, 2013 -- Week of Proper 5, Year One
Basil the Great, Bishop of Caesarea, 379

[Go to http://www.missionstclare.com/english/ 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. 970)
Psalms    69:1-23 (24-30) 31-38 (morning)    //    73 (evening)
Ecclesiasticus 45:6-16 (found in the Apocrypha)
2 Corinthians 12:11-21
Luke 19:41-48

This will be my last Morning Reflection for the time being.  I started posting these in September, 2003, almost ten years ago.  I’ve enjoyed the privilege of having the Speaking to the Soul blog on EpiscopalCafe.com picking up my posts four days a week for two years now.  Thanks for the great opportunity, Jim.

It all started during a sabbatical when I was reading the Daily Office on my own instead of with others at the church.  I missed those conversations about what we had just read, so I started making up my own conversations with myself by journaling.  Then the Internet opened up that conversation to others.  Posts from 2006 to now will remain available, archived on this blog.

But now, I need to be able to be a granddad in the mornings.  How many days my granddaughter has come in wanting my attention when I’ve been writing or posting.  It’s the best time of the day for a priceless opportunity.  I need to embrace that chance.

I’m so glad that my associate the Rev. Dr. Lora Walsh will be writing on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.  She’s a wise and gifted priest.

Many thanks to you, my friends, who have shared the Daily Office and these morning thoughts with me.  The gift of your time and attention toward my little thoughts leaves me in wonder.

I am so grateful for the encouragement and challenge I’ve had from so many people who’ve read these posts and offered their comments.  I’ve learned so much, and I feel like I’ve got friends galore.
__________

The prophets speak again through the voice of Jesus today as he enters Jerusalem in tears.  He echoes Jeremiah's words describing the siege which predicted the first destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians.  Jesus sees similar judgment facing the contemporary city.  He enacts the hope spoken in the last verse of Zechariah that there be no more traders in the Temple.  And he speaks from the vision of Isaiah that the holy precincts be a house of prayer not a den of robbers.  Jesus challenges the entrenched powers and speaks of the ideals of a just reign of God.  The common people respond from their hearts, but those who are in charge are angry and deaf to his idealism.  They will conspire to silence Jesus and to manipulate the people to their will.

I can imagine Jesus speaking similar words today.  Our is such an abusive time.  Hostility and greed dominate.  Power is abused and abusive.  The two streams meet when money buys power.  Religion is compromised and fails to speak the prophetic call to holiness and justice.

Jesus invites Jerusalem, the seat of political and religious power, to reclaim the vision of the prophets.  The prophets insisted upon justice -- honesty in all things; equality and dignity for people; special compassion for the poor, the widow, and the alien.  The prophets insisted upon holiness -- humble obedience to God and God's ways, right relationships among people, integrity of character.  The prophets insisted upon generosity -- fair distribution of property and wealth, humility from the powerful, compassion from all.

That's what I want -- from Jerusalem and Washington, D.C. and all the other centers of political and religious power.  How different might our nation and world be if we embraced the values of the prophets and the ideals of Jesus.  What would he say as he reads today's newspaper?  What would he say upon entering our Capitol?  Our Temples?

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

Dark Clouds

Thursday, June 13, 2013 -- Week of Proper 5, Year One
Gilbert Keith Chesterton, Apologist and Writer, 1936
[Go to http://www.missionstclare.com/english/ for an online version of the Daily Office including today's scripture readings.]

[Note:  I'll be suspending writing Morning Reflections at the end of this week.  I've been doing these for almost ten years, and it's time for a break.  It seems that this early-morning time of writing is also the time when my 2-year old granddaughter most needs my attention.  I need to take up that wonderful opportunity.  Tomorrow will be my final posting, at least for the time being.  I'm delighted that my associate the Rev. Dr. Lora Walsh will begin posting Morning Reflections on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, which will be picked up on the Speaking to the Soul blog on Episcopal Cafe as well.  All but the first few years of my posts will remain archived on my blog -- lowellsblog.blogspot.com.]

Today's Readings for the Daily Office
     (Book of Common Prayer, p. 970)
Psalms       [70], 71 (morning)    //    74 (evening)
Ecclesiasticus 44:19 - 45:5 (found in the Apocrypha)
2 Corinthians 12:1-10
Luke 19:28-40

Today we pick up reading a section of Ecclesiasticus (also known as the Wisdom of Jesus, son of Sirach, a Jerusalem scribe who lived around 180 BCE).  Our reading begins with his famous Hymn in Praise of the Ancestors.

Ben Sira has an interesting phrase in his passage about Moses: "He [God] allowed him to hear his voice, and led him into the dark cloud."  One word-association for "dark cloud" implies the kind of experience that feels oppressive.  When we feel like we are living in a dark cloud we have little energy or direction.  It is a depressive existence. 

But the dark cloud that Ben Sira references is Moses' direct experience of God.  On Mount Sinai, Moses entered the dark cloud of God's presence and communed with God "face to face."  It was within the dark cloud that God gave Moses the commandments, "the law of life and knowledge."  An anonymous Christian mystic of the 14th century speaks of the contemplative experience of communion with God as the "cloud of unknowing."

These clouds have their similarities.  Both the dark cloud and the cloud of unknowing are places where we exercise little energy or direction.  Whatever energy and direction is present is of God.  And they can both be fearful places.  But the cloud of Sinai and the cloud of unknowing are each a dazzling darkness that is filled with God's presence.  They are life giving. 

In today's reading Paul speaks of an experience of revelation that happened to him.  "I know a person in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven -- whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows."  He doesn't seem to have words to describe his experience.  But linked to this exhilarating spiritual revelation is another kind of darkness.  "Therefore, to keep me from being too elated, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated.  Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, but he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.'"

Paul relates together the ecstatic revelation and the thorn in the flesh.  He is given both gift and challenge.  Weakness seems to be a catalyst for each.  The revelation of being caught up into an altered state of consciousness is a gift that bypasses even his awareness of his body.  The fleshly thorn in the flesh is something he is powerless to overcome.  Yet Paul finds both to be mediators of God's presence.  The revelation for encouragement, the thorn for humility to trust.

Dark clouds are places of encounter with the divine.  That's especially good to remember when the dark cloud feels more like the thorn in the flesh than like the third heaven.

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

 

The Parable of the Whistle-blower

Wednesday, June 12, 2013 -- Week of Proper 5, Year One
Enmegahbowh, Priest and Missionary, 1902

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

[Note:  I'll be suspending writing Morning Reflections in the near future.  I've been doing these for almost ten years, and it's time for a break.  It seems that this early-morning time of writing is also the time when my 2-year old granddaughter most needs my attention.  I need to take up that wonderful opportunity.  As soon as the Speaking to the Soul blog on Episcopal Cafe finds my replacement, I'll suspend the Morning Reflections emails, podcast and blog.]

Today's Readings for the Daily Office
     (Book of Common Prayer, p. 970)
Psalms 72 (morning)      //     119:73-96 (evening)
Deuteronomy 31:30 - 32:14      
2 Corinthians 11:21b-33      
Luke 19:11-27

Jesus' parable of the nobleman and the three slaves is a subversive one.  It is like several others that expose the injustice and exploitation of the rural agrarian economy.  It is not easy to interpret, and scholars have various ways of thinking about this story.  I prefer to call it the "parable of the whistle-blower."

The nobleman was part of an elite class who owned and controlled most of the property and wealth of the land in Jesus' time.  These aristocrats had large holdings and were frequently absent.  They functioned through retainers.  Jesus calls the retainers "slaves," a sarcastic word in this setting, much like calling the franchise manager for a major retail chain a "slave."  In the first century economy, the aristocrats and their retainers controlled about 98% of the annual income.

In Jesus' story, the master gives each slave money to manage during his absence.  (My NRSV translates "mina" as "pound."  It seems like it is not that much money, $20 perhaps, but a pound represents about three months' wages for a laborer.)  Jesus knew (and his hearers knew) that the expectation would be that the slave/retainers would double the master's investment and keep whatever "honest graft" they could accumulate above that amount.  Under the laws of Hammurabi the minimum acceptable profit was 100%.  Anything less was considered a default.  Profits above that could be kept by the retainer.  Such high levels of profit can only be accomplished through exploitation.  Retainers did the dirty work of the powerful.  They were hated by the oppressed peasants whom they exploited.

The two successful slave/retainers do the expected thing.  They've squeezed 100% profit for the nobleman.  He rewards them.  It was a system, like so many others, where the rich indeed grow richer.  But the third slave/retainer is the focus of the story.  He behaves in an unexpected way.  He opts out of the abusive system of exploitation.  He takes the money out of circulation.  By doing that, he has prevented the power of that money from exploiting the peasants. 

His language is very different from the courtesies of the first two ("Lord, YOUR pound has made ten more pounds.")  He speaks the truth to the nobleman.  "I was afraid of you, because you are a harsh man; you take what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow."  That's smack talk.  It is public insult and shame, if the man could be shamed.  He describes the aristocrat as an exploiter who lives off of the productive labor of others.  The aristocrat monetizes the wheat others have winnowed.  It is a judgment not only on the nobleman, but on the whole system.  This slave/retainer is a moral man and an economic whistleblower. 

And everyone knows what happens to whistleblowers?  The master attacks him.  He is banished.  His fate is predictable -- poverty, misery and certain death.  That's the life of a day-laborer.  And because of his former status as one who oppressed the peasants, he will be helpless when thrown into their world, vulnerable to their resentment.  That's the lesson of the powerful.  Threaten power and suffer the consequences.

But what is Jesus' point?  It's hard to know exactly, but it may be a way of reframing the economic picture in order to promote more honesty and community.  What if such a third slave/retainer had acted in such a way?  He's as much a victim of this system of exploitation as the peasants.  These hated retainers really are slaves.  And what if some of them began to mess with the aristocrats' system?  Would the people (the peasants listening to Jesus' story) have compassion?  Could they receive the whistleblower into their community with acceptance and forgiveness?  The ruling elite are just using the animosity between the retainers and the peasants to control them both.  If retainers are to do the right thing, if whistleblowers are going to expose corruption, they will need some support and cover when they receive the inevitable punishment from the powerful.

It's dangerous work to expose the abuse and corruption of the powerful.  How will we treat those who have been part of that corruption but then take the risk to bring the truth to light?  We know the powerful will attack them?  What will the community do?

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

Zacchaeus

Tuesday, June 11, 2013 -- Week of Proper 5, Year One
Saint Barnabas the Apostle

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

[Note:  I'll be suspending writing Morning Reflections in the near future.  I've been doing these for almost ten years, and it's time for a break.  It seems that this early-morning time of writing is also the time when my 2-year old granddaughter most needs my attention.  I need to take up that wonderful opportunity.  As soon as the Speaking to the Soul blog on Episcopal Cafe finds my replacement, I'll suspend the Morning Reflections emails, podcast and blog.]

Today's Readings for the Daily Office
     (Book of Common Prayer)
EITHER the readings for Tuesday of Proper 5, p. 970
Psalms 61, 62 (morning)      //     68:1-20(21-23)24-36 (evening)
Deuteronomy 30:11-20      
2 Corinthians 11:1-21a      
Luke 19:1-10

OR the readings for St. Barnabas, p. 998
Morning Prayer:  Psalms 15, 67 //  Ecclesiasticus 31:3-11 // Acts 4:32-37
Evening Prayer:  Psalms 19, 146 // Job 29:1-16  //  Acts 9:26-31

I chose the readings for Tuesday of Proper 5

There is something wonderful about how Zacchaeus responds to Jesus.  Maybe he is a good model for all of us.

Let's set the stage.  First -- Zacchaeus knows his "short-comings."  (Bad pun.)  He is a tax-collector.  He knows that he is a sinner.  He is outside the circle of acceptance.  But he is drawn to Jesus.  There is something wonderfully attractive that compels him to climb a tree in order to get a glimpse of Jesus passing by among the crowd.

To some extend, we are all like Zacchaeus.  We know many of our own short-comings.  We recognize some of our failures and self-centeredness.  But we are drawn to goodness and to God.  We would like to be in that circle of those who know themselves to be comfortable with God, at peace with themselves and the world.

Jesus responds to Zacchaeus with an unqualified acceptance and an offer of friendship.  "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today."  That is the offer and invitation Jesus gives to each of us.  Jesus wishes to be with us, to eat with us and to visit with us today. 

Zacchaeus' response is a joyful one.  He is so happy that he responds with an extravagant, nondefensive, free generosity.  He gives half his possessions to the poor and promises to return four-fold to those he has overcharged in taxation.  His actions are not reluctant or forced.  This is what he wants to do to make amends.  It is also what he recognizes will free him from the greed and dishonesty that has previously bound and haunted him.  When Jesus loves and accepts him, Zacchaeus spontaneously responds with joyful, generous gladness.

When you know you are completely loved, completely safe and completely accepted, you are free to be who you are.  You can live non-defensively -- openly and generously.  Zacchaeus is a great model.

In some sense, Zacchaeus fulfills what the law says today in Deuteronomy.  "Surely, this commandment that I am commanding you today is not too hard for you, nor is it too far away....  No, the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe."  Zacchaeus did not have to struggle or debate to decide what to do, what was right for him.  He responded to his heart's deepest direction.  He knew intuitively what was good, and he chose it.

In every given moment, we can sense within our heart and intuition what is called for.  The 19th century spiritual director Jean Pierre de Caussade says that each present moment carries with it the demands and opportunities of that moment.  It can only one be three things:  1. to do some present duty; 2. to enjoy some present joy; 3. to suffer something that is necessary.  Pretty simple. 

If we know ourselves to be completely loved, safe and accepted, we can be free of guilt, fear or compulsion in our choice.  We can choose spontaneously and generously whatever the moment brings to us.  Whenever we choose that way, Caussade says we are completely within the will of God, cooperating fully with what God is doing for the healing of the world.  We are doing all that is within our power to promote God's reign right now in this present moment.  Caussade says it doesn't get any better than 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

-- 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