Scripture in Everyday Life
Lectionary readings for November 16th
Zephaniah 1:7, 12-18; Psalm 90:1-8, (9-11), 12; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11; Matthew 25:14-30
Gospel Text: Matthew 25:14-30
Jesus said, "For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money. After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. Then the one who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five more talents, saying, `Master, you handed over to me five talents; see, I have made five more talents.' His master said to him, `Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.' And the one with the two talents also came forward, saying, `Master, you handed over to me two talents; see, I have made two more talents.' His master said to him, `Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.' Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, `Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.' But his master replied, `You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents. For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' "
Four questions, culminating in one final question,
leading toward a future that continues to break in upon us
A reflection on the Parable of the Talents
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ABSTRACT: The struggle to get beyond our perverted notions of God and how life is to be lived may begin when we ask ourselves under what form of desire do we want to live. The parable of the talents may well be an illustration of three forms of desire. It is fair to say that none of these three forms of desire serve us well. It would appear, and this will come as a surprise to many of us, that the third servant because of the desire to minimize fear, may have provided the most accessible place for his awakening to the Lord’s presence of love, forgiveness, health, and the flourishing of life, and from a different base than that of the world’s (man’s) order, and even from the place of his outer darkness.
First Question: Who is the master in this parable?
Keep in mind that the master is defined for us as a “man, ” (anthropos). At no time in this parable is the actor presented as God. It is man and the way in which he has ordered our common life who is the actor. It is the worldly order that rewards the first two servants and punishes the third.
Second Question: What kind of desire is being manifested by the actors in the parable?
The desire of the master To increase his wealth, power, and security
The desire of the first servant To maximize wealth, regardless of risk (Wall Street prior to September 08)
The desire of the second servant To maximize wealth, but with some degree of prudence (following the principle of a balanced portfolio, prudence in making ones career choice, and living simply, avoiding conspicuous consumption)
The desire of the third servant To minimize fear, given the knowledge he had of the master it seemed wise to bury his talent and way of living in this world’s order by building a protective shell around himself, all the while aware of his fear, and a terrible unmet need to live in a most inhospitable world.
Third Question: With whom does your God and Lord identify as manifested on the cross and his being raised to life?
This is a question each of us needs to ask and work on.
Fourth Question: But with whom does he have access or with whom has a place become available, i.e., whose situation makes possible an opportunity for presence, the presence of surprise?
If one is finding some measure of reward within the world’s present order and has some measure of control over the uncertainties of life, what need is there for the Lord? I would suggest that the one whose conditions provides the maximum place for the presence of the Lord is the one cast into the outer darkness, who has no place in the set ups of our worldly order, and its pursuits for wealth, power, and security. The fact that he did not participate in the use of the world’s talents, albeit out of fear, brought the wrath of the world’s powers down upon him. He was not a player, and by virtue of that has no place within the way in which the world operates. CAST HIM OUT!
Final Question: “Where do you find the Messiah? You find him amongst the poor and the wounded, outside the gates of the city…”
So it has happened. I suspect that were it not for our continuing lingering hubris (pride) more of us would recognize just how poor and wounded we truly are. And for those who have ...
We share with you where we have found our Messiah. We have found Him upon a Cross outside the gates of the city, arms outstretched in love and forgiveness for us all, even for us who have as yet provided little or no place for him in our world of self-satisfaction. Though it would appear now in this post September ’08 world, there may be more of us who in this experience of the harshness of our world’s order may make a more hospitable place for the presence of the Living Lord.
Are we not today in the process of encountering anew the brokenness of our world's order and operations, and in the midst of this, at one and the same time encountering our poverty and wounds. (cf. Henri Nouwen, and his story “The Wounded Healer.”)
Another take on this same Parable of the Talents
Sarah Laughed: Dylan’s Lectionary Blog
http://www.sarahlaughed.net/lectionary/2005/11/proper_28_year_.html
[The material below was prepared in 2005, yet it has an uncanny timeliness given the context of our last several months from Wall Street to Main Street. rdw]
This Sunday's gospel is yet another reason to get out of the habit of seeing all of Jesus' parables as allegories in which one character represents God or Jesus. That isn't what's happening here. Take a hard look at the behavior of the master: he's an absentee landlord who doesn't do any work himself, but lives off of the labor of his slaves. Take a look at the behavior this master wants of his slaves: the profit-making that the master demands would be seen in Jesus' culture would of necessity come at the expense of other more honest people; it would be seen as greedy and grasping rather than smart or virtuous. The master tells the slave whom he treats most harshly that the punishment is specifically for refusing to break God's commandment against usury (Matthew 25:27), a practice consistently condemned in both the Hebrew bible and the New Testament. And the Greek word for "talent" very specifically means a unit of money; it has no relationship whatsoever to the word for an ability, so this is NOT a parable about us being the best we can be, no matter how much our culture of achievement wants to twist it into that. There are versions of that message that can be helpful, but it just isn't what the parable is about.
So what's the message of the story, if it isn't about us using the abilities God gave us? Jesus gives it to us explicitly in verse 29: "to all who have, more will be given, but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away." In other words, "the rich get richer, and the destitute lose everything."
Is the behavior of the master in the parable something that God would commend, let alone imitate? Is this kind of behavior what Jesus expects of God's people? Heck no! If you've got any doubts of that, read what comes immediately after this story: read the prophesy (it isn't a parable) of the sheep and the goats, which tells us that when the Son of Man comes, judgment will not be on the basis of how much money we made, or for that matter on how religious we were or whether we said a "sinner's prayer," but rather on whether we saw that the least of our sisters and brothers in the human family, whether in or out of prison, had food, clothing, and health care. We serve Jesus himself to the extent that we do these things, and we neglect Jesus himself to the extent that we don't.
In short, PLEASE don't tell people that the message of this Sunday's gospel is anything along the lines of "make the most of the talents you've got," as its message is much closer to "care for those whom the world would leave destitute." Reading the parable in the context in which it appears in Matthew tells us how Jesus finishes that thought: We shouldn't be like the master in the parable because the world in which people like that come out on top is passing away. Jesus will bring his work in the world to completion; God's kingdom will come and God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven, as Jesus taught us to pray. You know that wave I talked about last week? Jesus' parable in this Sunday's gospel is telling us that we should line ourselves up to ride it. It's coming -- bank on that, not on what our culture says is most profitable!
The live question for us, I think, about this Sunday's gospel is whether we can really believe that, if we really can trust in that enough to risk living as Jesus taught us rather than according to the demands of those who try to set themselves up in Jesus' place as our lord, who try to enslave us to wordly standards by telling us that our security is in acquiring resources for ourselves and striking out at our enemies.
I believe we can. We can because it's Jesus who told us this, and Jesus is absolutely trustworthy. And as we inch toward Advent, I want to encourage y'all to look for the signs that Jesus was right, the signs happening in the world right now that the Spirit Jesus sent is living and moving and active in the world to accomplish Jesus' work among us.
They're out there: large and small signs. Here's a large one: over two million Americans have signed the ONE campaign's pledge to use their vote and their voice to eliminate extreme poverty in this generation. By 2008, it's expected that over five million will have signed, making this campaign bigger than the National Rifle Association, speaking good news to the poor not only with the moral authority of the cause, but with the power in numbers to make it happen.
I remember when the Berlin Wall came down. That was big. People were dancing in the street; students at the seminary I was at were leaving in droves to dance on the Wall itself as it came down, bringing graffiti-covered chips home to remember the moment. It was big -- the moment of a lifetime, some people would say. But I believe that a moment bigger than that is on its way. It's not a pipe dream; many of our world's top economists think it's attainable in our lifetime. Imagine with me for a moment what the party is going to be like in streets around the world when we're celebrating the end of poverty. Imagine telling your children or grandchildren about that.
That's a vision that made me want to dance, much as it made Mary want to sing:
"Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
His mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants for ever."
That's what Jesus came to do among us. It's what we pray for when we pray as Jesus taught us. And it's the future we can bank on.
Thanks be to God!
Lectionary readings for October 19th
Exodus 33:12-23; Psalm 99 or Isaiah 45:1-7; Psalm 96:1-9, (10-13); 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
Matthew 22:15-22
SUNDAY'S GOSPEL AND THE COIN QUESTION
The coin question in this coming Sunday’s Gospel is a question of what trumps what. I share with you these thoughts.
What trumps what provisionally? As the news these last weeks have made clear, it is the state that trumps economics; and it is the nations of this world that trump the multinational corporations. All at this level begins, proceeds, and ends provisionally.
Thus, a more fundamental question needs to be asked.
What trumps what triumphantly and eternally?
It is the Cross, and the one who accepted its reality with arms outstretched in forgiveness, mercy, and agapaic love (kenosis).
This is the rock. He, this God/man, is the rock.
Could it be that the stone the builders rejected has become the chief building stone? Yes, indeed it has.
Shall we play the game we played as children again? The game I am speaking about is “Paper, Scissors, Rock.” As children we played it in innocence. But now, as adults, we may recognize that it was a game played as a rehearsal. It was played so that we might be ready when in the midst of the crisis of life we would know what trumps what.
In short the sovereignty of God, present from the beginning, and now made even more clear through the Incarnation, death, resurrection, and the outpouring of the Spirit both defines and demonstrates what trumps what, and where this rock is to be found.
The question arises: Where is this Messiah, this rock, to be found?
In the story of the wounded healer we hear these words, “You always find the Messiah where he is to be found. He is outside the gates of the city, amongst the poor and the wounded, saying to himself, I must be ready, someone may need me.”
God in his Son, wounded, healed, ready, available, outside the gates of the city, arms outstretched, He is the Rock, and there he is found, with us in our woundedness, in the midst of the crisis of our lives.
In Him, the wounded healer, we are so modeled, yes, "imaged" to use the ancient language, inescapably, for we stand here in our woundedness, aware or unaware, upon this rock.
This is the rock upon which all creation and its unfolding history is embedded with the capacity for being and living as now “the called ones alongside,” Parakaleo, and with our arms outstretched in forgiveness, mercy, and love.
Lord, assist us continually in moving into our woundedness, that with you, we may be part of your Body as healers , restorers of trust, where we are, in our respective neighborhoods.
Fr. Ron
Lectionary readings for October 12th
Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost
Isaiah 25:1-9, Psalm 23; Philippians 4:1-9; and Matthew 22:1-14
The Parable of the Wedding Feast
This week I ran across two essays presenting an alternative interpretation for the Parable of the Wedding Feast. Each essay identified the poor fellow who was cast out because he failed to have proper attire as the one with whom our Lord identifies and is present, arms outstretched, ready to embrace as one of His own. If that is an interpretation of merit, then the closing statement, "many are called, few are chosen," is another example of irony, doubling back upon itself, again and again and again. The very worldly and violent king, wrecking revenge with any and all who fail to do his bidding, calling many, but with the results of only one being chosen, and he is the one who is thrown out. We have here a foreshadowing of Golgatha.
The first essay is by Marty Aiken, "The Kingdom of Heaven Suffers Violence: Discerning the Suffering Servant in the Parable of the Wedding Banquet." Her paper begins
"I propose in this paper a new reading of the parable of the wedding Banquet in Matthew (Matt. 22:1-14) My proposal is that Jesus uses this parable to declare to the ruler’s representatives, and the world, that Jesus’ authority will be the authority of the suffering servant. Jesus does this by structuring the parable so that he can introduce into the parable the figure of “suffering servant’ from Isaiah, especially Isaiah 52:13-53:12. The servant figure in the parable with whom Jesus identifies is the man without the wedding garment who suffers expulsion, and worse, at the hand of the king.
"The universally accepted reading of this parable comes to the exact opposite conclusion. The king introduced at the beginning of the parable is understood as a reference to God, and the violence the king calls down upon the unrobed man is interpreted as sacred violence levied in judgment for the man’s absolute recalcitrance at accepting God’s invitation into his kingdom.
I will make no effort to harmonize these two readings, largely because I see no way they can complement each other. I want to caution the reader to be aware of the enormous inertial pull of the accepted reading. Gravity is the effect one body exerts on another, and the accepted reading has acquired such mass that it almost transforms Jesus’ words and Matthew’s text into a black hole that pulls into itself any attempt to read the parable differently. If I can be forgiven for being caught up in my own imagery, I’d like to show that it is possible for there to be a new sun that could shine a new, different light on this text."
"The Kingdom of Heaven Suffers Violence:Discerning the Suffering Servant in the Parable of the Wedding Banquet." by Marty Aiken, Racine, Wisconsin, 2003, 23 pages, martyaiken@aya.yale.edu, innsbruck2003_Aiken_Paper.doc
The second essay is by Frederick A Niedner, "Bride and Groom from the Dungpit." It links Isaiah 25:1-9, the Old Testament reading for Oct. 12th, but with the addition of verse 10 and 11, and as the essay indicates, with good cause.
A paragraph from "Bride and Groom from the Dungpit:"
"Perhaps, we can place the crucified Christ in this parable also. In the traditional reading, which sees this parable as an allegory about the destruction of Jerusalem as God's punishment for the rejection of Jesus, the crucified Christ would appear among the servants whom the invited guests abused and killed. Oddly enough, given what finally happened to Jesus, the treatment he received makes him most like the man at the end of the parable, the one thrown out. In another way, however, the Christ remains absent from the story because this parable lacks its two most important characters, namely, the bride and the groom. Enter, then, the crucified and risen Christ as the groom. And the bride? That's you, and me -- all of us."
This essay appears in a booklet of homiletic reflections called "Proclaiming the Cruciform Eschaton," from the Institute of Liturgical Studies, Valparaiso University, April 1998.
We are the ones invited to be without the world's attire, qualifying to be thrown out! Or, better yet, to be discerning what we put on and what we leave off. Ah yes, echoes of transforming imperatives, "be-attitudes" ....
“BE – ATTITUDES” that result in changes in how we act.
EXPERIENCING - BE ATTENTIVE
UNDERSTANDING - BE INTELLIGENT
JUDGING - BE REASONABLE
DECIDING - BE RESPONSIBLE
ACTING - BE LOVING
Bernard Lonergan argues that the canons of the “Be-Attitudes” are inherent in the operations we spontaneously experience as humans. The spontaneous desires of our hearts and minds impel us
• to be aware rather than oblivious;
• to be intelligent rather than stupid;
• to have reasons for what we choose and do, rather than doing and choosing for no reason at all;
• to accept responsibility for our choices and actions;
• to act lovingly rather than apathetically, selfishly or hatefully.
Excerpt from “Cultural Barriers,” Richard G. Malloy, S.J.,
Saint Joseph’s University, March 2007
http://www.prrucs.org/pdfs/PRRUCS_CulturalBarrier.pdf
I would suspect that for most of us, as we have probed into the depths of our life stories, we will find ourselves with a memory or two of those times when we were outside the centers of power for having failed to be properly attired in the ways of the world. And, should we have an inclination to choose to be in opposition again with the ways of this world, lacking proper attire, we can anticipate the results. To not be in compliance with the ways of the world is to be cast out. Sometimes it happens subtly, sometimes, not so subtly, but there in this world beyond, we find the Christ with us, expelled long before, and even more raised, alive, awaiting us in the true Eucharistic Feast of the Age to Come.
Yes, let us sing, "Crucem tuam, Adoramus Domine!"
Both essays are referenced at http://girardianlectionary.net/year_a/proper23a.htm This is an excellent resource with weekly reflections on the propers for the coming Sundays.
Lectionary readings for September 7th
Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost
Exodus 12:1-14; Psalm 149; Romans 13:8-14; Matthew 18:15-20
Greetings to all,
I found myself struggling with the Gospel text for Sunday, September 7th. The reason for the struggle is because of what's omitted before and after. Even the whole of chapter 18 requires consideration for what precedes it and follows after it. Here are my notes which I will use in someway to address what's said and what is not at St. Martin's Sunday, 9 AM.
Matthew 18:1-35
An excerpt from Raymond Brown on Chapter 18 from An Introduction to the New Testament, p. 191f.
This somewhat disparate collection of ethical teaching, much of it once addressed to Jesus’ disciples, has been given a perspective that makes it strikingly suited to an established church, the type of church that only Matthew has Jesus mention (16:18)…. [E]ven if a structured church becomes the way in which the tradition and memory of Jesus are preserved, Matthew recognized the danger that any structure set up in this world tends to take its values from the other structures that surround it. This chapter is meant to insure that those values do not smother the values of Jesus. To readers who struggle with church issues today, this may be the most helpful Matthean discourse. (cf. W.G.Thompson, “Matthew’s Advice to a Divided Community.”)
For these values of Jesus not to be ‘smothered’ in legalistic and arrogantly held doctrinal formulations, it requires that we also keep the fullness of the Gospel disclosed, not only in the whole of chapter 18, but with what precedes and what follows. This includes not only the continuing movement of the Spirit in the four Gospels, but also in the work and writings of Paul, James, Timothy, John, but also in the work of the Spirit down through the ages and now resting upon each of us here, in our lives and conflicts, and abroad throughout the conflicts of the whole planet.
And so the Spirit rests (dwells) and is received as we practice what grace makes possible --- openness, humility, hospitality, compassion, and yes, forgiveness, radical, unbelievable, forgiveness, continuously!
Herein lies our charge as disciples then and now. We are charged by Jesus not to build shelters around any expressed notion and language that we may have latched hold of. We are charged to listen to the movement of God’s Spirit of grace and forgiveness in the language of the other, and rejoice in having heard, yes even among Gentiles and tax collectors and all the other outsiders of any age. “Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there.” In listening we are gathered, and are the church.
Outline of Chapter 18
- Dispute about who’s the greatest in the Kingdom [18:1-5]
- Condemnation of scandals and temptations [18:6-9]
- Importance of seeking out the lost [18:10-14]
- Instruction on reproving one’s brother and sister [18:15-20]
- Peter’s question about forgiving the other, how many times? [18:21-22]
- The answer is offered by the parable of the unforgiving servant [18:23-35]
As the community of believers, seeking to listen to Jesus speaking to his disciples in this chapter, His Spirit will be known to be alive in us as our arms are outstretched in forgiveness for the other and ourselves. In so doing we are picking up our cross, in forgiving the other, and in forgiving ourselves, where they/we are, as they/we are.
Listening, Fr. Ron Whitmer
Lectionary readings for August 24th
Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Exodus 1:8-2:10; Psalm 124; Romans 12:1-8; Matthew 16:13-20
Sunday Morning
Who do you say I am?
Daily Reading for August 24 • The Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost
What saddens me these days is how many Christians I meet who identify themselves as “heretics”—jokingly if they are still in churches and defiantly if they are not. For some, the issue is that they believe less than they think they should about Jesus. They are not troubled by the thought that he may have had two parents instead of one, or that his real presence with his disciples after his death may have been more metaphysical than physical. The glory they behold in him has more to do with the nature of his being than with the number of his miracles, but they have suffered enough at the hands of other Christians to learn to keep their mouths shut.
For others, the issue is that they believe more than Jesus. Having beheld his glory, they find themselves better equipped to recognize God’s glory all over the place, including places where Christian doctrine says that it should not be. I know Christians who have beheld God’s glory in a Lakota sweat lodge, in a sacred Celtic grove, at the edge of a Hawaiian volcano and in a Hindu temple during the festival of lights, as well as in dreams and visions that they are afraid to tell anyone else about at all. These heretics not only fear being shunned for their unorthodox narratives; they also fear sharing some of the most powerful things that have ever happened to them with people who may ridicule them.
Given the history of Christians as a people who started out beholding what was beyond belief in the person of Jesus, this strikes me as a lamentable state of affairs, both for those who have learned to see no more than they are supposed to see as well as for those who have excused themselves from traditional churches because they see too little or too much. If it is true that God exceeds all our efforts to contain God, then is it too big a stretch to declare that
dumbfoundedness is what all Christians have most in common? Or that coming together to confess all that we do not know as we reach out to one another is at least as sacred an activity as declaring what we think we do?
From “Way Beyond Belief: The Call to Behold” by Barbara Brown Taylor,
quoted in Shouts and Whispers: Twenty-One Writers Speak about Their Writing and Their Faith,
edited by Jennifer L. Holberg (Eerdmans, 2006). [ www.episcopalcafe.com/thesoul ]
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In this week's gospel text from Matthew, Jesus asks his disciples two questions. The first question is "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" and the second, "But who do you say that I am?"
The first question is somewhat academic and enables the disciples answering the question to maintain a certain distance between themselves and their answer. However, the second question completely removes this distance, and requires each of them to consider their response. He asks for their answer, no one else.
Shall we not hear that it is the second question that is also put to us? What basis do we have for making our answer, however, incomplete, however primitive in terms of its adequacy?
Peter, who gave answer to the second question, has as a basis for his answer. He has had several years of being with Jesus, listening to his teachings, his parables, witnessing to healings, and just the week prior dramatically being pulled out of the water when his faith gave out in the midst of the storm on the Sea of Galilee. At the conclusion of that episode the disciples, to a person, had said, "Truly you are the Son of God." Yes, Peter had a basis for his reply to this second question. "You are the Messiah (the Christ), the Son of the Living God."
As we will discover next week, the words were correct, but the understanding of his words was not. What I find most fascinating here is that for all of Peter's short comings, the Lord remained with him, and not only with him, but with all his disciples. He remained with them as they are where they are.
So, I draw this conclusion, not as a final reflection, but appropriate as to where I am today: To be disciples means to be part of an on-going learning community, as we are, where we are. Our Lord remains with us through the Spirit, alongside, and through this presence, we grow and our maturing continues. It is this relationship that forms the basis for proffering what answers we can, as we can. I would add this is so whether we are aware of this relationship or not.
Yes, indeed, some of us are disciples, unawares. Whenever there is the taking of a second look, fraught with a desire to understand, there is present a relationship, we don't move toward some degree of understandings in a vacuum. Whenever there is an act of kindness and compassion, for another, for ourselves, there is being witnessed the presence of ourselves as members of a community. In such ways as this we are provided a basis for furthering our learning, our continued growth, and it leads toward the flourishing of us all together.
We are all members together in this on-going learning community by this fundamental basis of the presence of God with us, continuing his relationship with us where we are.
Lectionary readings for August 17th
Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Genesis 45:1-15; Psalm 133; Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32; Matthew 15: (10-20), 21-28
-----------------------
WHAT MAKES A "GREAT FAITH"?
The Canaanite woman is described by Jesus has having a "great faith" (v. 28). This is the only occurrence of that adjective describing faith in Matthew. Yet, she didn't walk on water, as Peter did last week. She didn't move a mountain. She probably had never been to church in her life. She certainly had never read the Bible. What's so great about her faith?
Brian Stoffregen, Exegetical Notes,
http://www.crossmarks.com/brian/matt15x10.htm
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COLLECT: Almighty God, you have given your only Son to be for us a sacrifice for sin, and also an example of godly life: Give us grace to receive thankfully the fruits of his redeeming work, and to follow daily in the blessed steps of his most holy life; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Genesis 45:1-15
Joseph could no longer control himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out, "Send everyone away from me." So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it. Joseph said to his brothers, "I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?" But his brothers could not answer him, so dismayed were they at his presence.
Then Joseph said to his brothers, "Come closer to me." And they came closer. He said, "I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years; and there are five more years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God; he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt. Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, `Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not delay. You shall settle in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children's children, as well as your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. I will provide for you there-- since there are five more years of famine to come-- so that you and your household, and all that you have, will not come to poverty.' And now your eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see that it is my own mouth that speaks to you. You must tell my father how greatly I am honored in Egypt, and all that you have seen. Hurry and bring my father down here." Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck and wept, while Benjamin wept upon his neck. And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them; and after that his brothers talked with him.
Psalm 133 Page 787, BCP
1 Oh, how good and pleasant it is, *
when brethren live together in unity!
2 It is like fine oil upon the head *
that runs down upon the beard,
3 Upon the beard of Aaron, *
and runs down upon the collar of his robe.
4 It is like the dew of Hermon *
that falls upon the hills of Zion.
5 For there the LORD has ordained the blessing: *
life for evermore.
Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32
I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew.
For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. Just as you were once disobedient to God but have now received mercy because of their disobedience, so they have now been disobedient in order that, by the mercy shown to you, they too may now receive mercy. For God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may be merciful to all.
Matthew 15: (10-20), 21-28
[Jesus called the crowd to him and said to them, "Listen and understand: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles." Then the disciples approached and said to him, "Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?" He answered, "Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if one blind person guides another, both will fall into a pit." But Peter said to him, "Explain this parable to us." Then he said, "Are you also still without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach, and goes out into the sewer? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile."]
Jesus left Gennesaret and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, "Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon." But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, "Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us." He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." But she came and knelt before him, saying, "Lord, help me." He answered, "It is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs." She said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table." Then Jesus answered her, "Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish." And her daughter was healed instantly.
Lectionary readings for August 10th
Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28; Romans 10:5-15; Matthew 14:22-33
Theme: We need not be give in to our fears. There is another center from which we are invited to live.
Following the readings a reflection or two will be posted.
Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28
Jacob settled in the land where his father had lived as an alien, the land of Canaan. This is the story of the family of Jacob.
Joseph, being seventeen years old, was shepherding the flock with his brothers; he was a helper to the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his children, because he was the son of his old age; and he had made him a long robe with sleeves. But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him.
Now his brothers went to pasture their father's flock near Shechem. And Israel said to Joseph, "Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them." He answered, "Here I am." So he said to him, "Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock; and bring word back to me." So he sent him from the valley of Hebron.
He came to Shechem, and a man found him wandering in the fields; the man asked him, "What are you seeking?" "I am seeking my brothers," he said; "tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock." The man said, "They have gone away, for I heard them say, `Let us go to Dothan.'" So Joseph went after his brothers, and found them at Dothan. They saw him from a distance, and before he came near to them, they conspired to kill him. They said to one another, "Here comes this dreamer. Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; then we shall say that a wild animal has devoured him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams." But when Reuben heard it, he delivered him out of their hands, saying, "Let us not take his life." Reuben said to them, "Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him" -- that he might rescue him out of their hand and restore him to his father. So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the long robe with sleeves that he wore; and they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.
Then they sat down to eat; and looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels carrying gum, balm, and resin, on their way to carry it down to Egypt. Then Judah said to his brothers, "What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh." And his brothers agreed. When some Midianite traders passed by, they drew Joseph up, lifting him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.
Howard Wallace provides an excellent intro in this and next week's reading on the Joseph saga. cf. http://hwallace.unitingchurch.org.au/WebOTcomments/OrdinaryA/Pentecost13.html
Romans 10:5-15
Moses writes concerning the righteousness that comes from the law, that "the person who does these things will live by them." But the righteousness that comes from faith says, "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?'" (that is, to bring Christ down) "or 'Who will descend into the abyss?'" (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say?
"The word is near you,
on your lips and in your heart"
(that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. The scripture says, "No one who believes in him will be put to shame." For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. For,
"Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved."
But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"
William Loader, a United Methodist Theologian, Murdoch University, Perth, Australia, offers this reflection of Paul's insight of Christ's presence within us "liberating us for life." http://wwwstaff.murdoch.edu.au/~loader/AEpPentecost13.htm
Matthew 14:22-33
Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, "Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid."
Peter answered him, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water." He said, "Come." So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me!" Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?" When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."
Link of the Week:
"Don't Be Afraid,"
Rev. Todd Weir, bloomingcactus, 2005.
"Fear comes in many forms, private and public.
It knows no ideological boundaries
and none of us are ever completely free of it in making decisions.
Letting go of fear and facing ourselves
is as frightening as the thought and stepping out of our safe boats
and walking across the water as if it were dry land."
------
".... My inner dialogue is full of fear. As I council my homeless residents at Hillcrest, I fear I will not have good answers for them and I am inadequate to help. As I read the paper in the morning, I fear where the world is going. I fear that my work isn’t making a difference in face of the world’s problems, I fear offending people, I fear people won’t like me if they know who I really am. Most of the time these fears flash through my mind almost unnoticed and influence my decisions great and small throughout the day. They are each like little moments of facing death, the ultimate fear. They are moments when I, like Peter, lose sight of Jesus and begin to sink in the waves and need help. Who am I to think I could walk on water anyway?
"Most of the residents at Hillcrest House, where I work, are recovering from drug addictions. When they are fearful about the future, they often do irrational and self-destructive things (like any of the rest of us.) Fear launches a blame game. People start pointing fingers and accusing others and being the source of their predicament. If a resident starts making noise about everyone else is relapsing and using drugs, it is often a sign that they are headed in that direction. We will pull them in, give them a drug test and remind them to keep the focus on what they need to do to live a sober lifestyle. Keep to the 12 steps, get back in touch with your higher power, focus on what you can do to change and let go of what you can’t control. Perhaps we should also say, “Do not be afraid.”
"Dealing with fear and anxiety lies at the core of faithful living. Fear is the hidden slave-driver that often controls us and robs us of our God-given freedom. The New York Times recently had an editorial about this glitch in human nature. (See Scarring Us Senseless by Nassim Nicholas Taleb on Sunday, July 24) Taleb says that the great fallacy of Western thought from Aristotle through the Enlightenment is that we are always rational beings. Neurobiologists accurately show that our risk avoidance behavior is governed by our emotional system, not our intellect. Taleb writes, “This emotional system can be an extremely naive statistician, because it was built for a primitive environment with simple dangers. That might work for you the next time you run into a snake or a tiger. But because the emotional system is impressionable and prefers shallow, social and anecdotal information to abstract data, it hinders our ability to cope with the more sophisticated risks that afflict modern life.” This is why we might be more dissuaded from riding a motorcycle by the death of one person we know than by a reasoned article about the dangers of riding a motorcycle. It is also why people will pay more money for “terrorism insurance” before a flight than for regular insurance, which covers the same thing. Fear is a powerful irrational motivator....
"Fear comes in many forms, private and public. It knows no ideological boundaries and none of us are ever completely free of it in making decisions. Letting go of fear and facing ourselves is as frightening as the thought and stepping out of our safe boats and walking across the water as if it were dry land. I’m not sure Jesus really expected Peter to walk on water and I certainly don’t expect to walk on water any time soon. I struggle to have faith and to honestly face my fears. But I’m willing to believe that there is life outside the boat, constantly rowing into the wind. I trust in faith that Jesus point the way to the shore. With Jesus near me, the rising seas of my fears will not have me."
To read more, go to http://bloomingcactus.typepad.com/bloomingcactus/2005/11/matthew_142233_.html
August 9, 2008
Gathering the broken pieces
Daily Reading for August 9, Episcopal Cafe/Speaking to the Soul
There is a great waste of power in our failure to appreciate our opportunities. ‘If I only had the gifts that this man has I would do the large and beautiful things that he does. But I never have the chance of doing such things. Nothing ever comes to my hand but opportunities for little commonplace things.’ Now, the truth is that nothing is commonplace. The giving of a cup of cold water is one of the smallest kindnesses anyone can show to another, yet Jesus said that God takes notice of this act amid all the events of the whole world, any busy day, and rewards it. It may not be cabled half round the world and announced with great headlines in the newspapers, but it is noticed in heaven. We do not begin to understand what great waste we are allowing when we fail to put the true value on little opportunities of serving others. Somehow we get the feeling that any cross-bearing worthwhile must be a costly sacrifice, something that puts nails through our hands, something that hurts till we bleed. . . .
When the great miracle of the loaves had been wrought, Jesus sent his disciples to gather up the broken pieces, ‘that nothing be lost’. The Master is continually giving us the same command. Every hour’s talk we have with a friend leaves fragments that we ought to gather up and keep to feed our heart’s hunger or the hunger of others’ hearts, as we go on. When we hear good words spoken or read a good book, we should gather up the fragments of knowledge, the suggestions of helpful thoughts, the broken pieces, and fix them in our hearts for use in our lives. We allow large values of the good things we hear or read to turn to waste continually because we are poor listeners or do not try to keep what we hear. We let the broken pieces be lost and thereby are great losers. If only we would gather up and keep all the good things that come to us through conversations and through reading, we would soon have great treasures of knowledge and wisdom.
From The Book of Comfort by James Russell Miller, quoted in The Westminster Collection of Christian Meditations, compiled by Hannah Ward and Jennifer Wild (Westminster John Knox Press, 1998).
Posted by Vicki K. Black on August 9, 2008 4:00 AM
August 7, 2008
Last evening at the gathering at Holy Spirit in Bellevue we began to imagine our future in mission and ministry in the South Omaha area as a work to be done together. In what form this may take, no one at this stage of our journey knows. What we do know is that a first step was taken to share and to listen as to where we are in the respective settings of St. Martin's of Tours, South Omaha, Holy Spirit, Bellevue, and St. Martha's, Papillion. A second gathering is now scheduled for us to continue exploring how we may do mission / ministry together. This meeting will be Saturday, September 6th, at St. Martha's. [For addition details on these meetings see "Our Mission and Goal" under the News section of this web site.]
It is clear that we must begin with relationship building. We have stories that need to be shared. We have careful listening to do. From such a work as this, there may arise new understandings, new forms and ways to be and do mission and ministry not as separate churches, but as a more integrated and collaborative effort in this southern part of metro Omaha.
In the opening phase of the meeting last night, we were asked to share what energizes us most about the church. Dean Ernesto spoke of the joy he experiences when we encounter God in our reading of Scriptures and in our daily experiences. It was this comment that triggered for me, a need to have a page on our web site where we share precisely this kind of "excitement."
This week's contribution comes from an exchange between my older brother and myself. Marlin was the founder of Scripture Ministry in Daily Life, some 9 years ago. It continues as a marvelous resource for reflecting on Scripture in Everyday Life. Here is a sample.
Further reflections on Matthew 13 and his parables: Nudgings of the Spirit arising from sharing, listening, leading toward new understandings, new ways to witness the in-breaking of the Kingdom of God.
To: SCRIPTURE-MINISTRY@yahoogroups.com
From: outreach@gmtel.net
Date: Thu, 7 Aug 2008 07:57:58 -0500
Subject: Re: [SCRIPTURE-MINISTRY] Parables of Matthew
Greetings All on August 7, 2008
I am still stalled out on Matthew 13. Or said another way, I am mining the message.
People in a crisis situation move familiar words to the describe the unfamiliar. I heard people do this over and over as a hospital chaplain. Jesus does the same in Matthew 13. In chapters 11 and 12 he is rejected by the religious authorities and by the home town folks. To cope with what is happening and what lies ahead he moves familiar everyday stories and experiences to the unfamiliar.
The parables are metaphors housing the dynamics of this process....
(As noted in a) previous reflection, this makes the repetition of the orientation metaphors of hear (13) and understand (7) even more characteristic.
The methodology of Lambeth conference followed the same process with the small groups where in Bible study, the stories of Scriptures were related and personal stories shared.
Ron shared with me a comment by Bishop Pachard, Bishop for the Armed Forces and Chaplaincy.
“+George Packard, Bishop for Chaplaincies, TEC, argues that it is the stories learned from other Bishops that will have lasting influence:
‘On this last day of the Conference our bible study ended with the question, "How can the glory of God and the wounds of crucifixion be reflected in us as we are sent in Jesus' name?" I needed help with this...personal frailties, wounds, I can account for easily...but glory? A brother from Brazil said he felt that there is glory in the life stories we have shared during during our days together. That appealed to me because nothing will make eyes glaze over quicker at home--or out visiting chaplains--than going on and on about the Windsor Report, the Covenant, and the general tinkering with all things Anglican for 17 days. Indeed, it's the stories.’ “
Or we could say, it’s the parables. We remember them more than the conflict leading to their telling in the midst of a crisis.
Shalom, Marlin
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I replied as follows:
Marlin and all,
Marlin, in regard to your reflection below on the importance of continuing to mine these parables of Matthew --- metaphors for transformation and the ushering in of the Kingdom --- and the comment from Bishop Pachard coming out of Lambeth that it will be the stories "that will have lasting influence," I have another piece of feed back to reinforce "hearing or listening," "understanding," and transformation. This piece comes from a Bishop from the Northern region of India:
Phil Groves, who led the Listening Process for the Anglican Communion Office received this letter and permission to share it:
From: Pradeep Kumar Samantaroy Sent: 02 August 2008 20:35 To: Phil Groves Subject: Love Unites
Dear Phil,
It was nice to talk to you this evening. I thank God for your ministry of listening. I know it is one of the most important yet challenging ministries of the Church today. I wish to share some of my thoughts with you.
I am serving the people of the Diocese of Amritsar, Church of North India, in the states of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir. I came to attend the Lambeth Conference with lot of questions in my mind about the issue of human sexuality as I knew this issue has threatened the unity in the Anglican Communion. Coming from a conservative back-ground I was not even prepared to listen to any person who supported the gay and lesbian people. However, the Indaba experience has changed my opinion. After listening to the stories of bishops coming from different cultural contexts I have become aware of the pain and agony people have bear because of our attitude towards each other. Further, I am convinced that despite their different and often opposite positions all are committed to live and grow within the Anglican family. The binding force in a family is love. If we love one another we learn to transcend our differences and don't hesitate to sacrifice our own interests for the sake of the family unity. This is possible only when we are willing to listen to each other. The amount of sacrifices I make is dependent on the depth of my love and intimacy of my relationship.
As for me I have decided not to be hasty in judging the gay and the lesbians. I wish to learn more about their life and problems. I have also decided to regularly pray for them. I wish to encourage the other members of the Anglican Communion to do the same.
You may share my thoughts with other like-minded persons.
Prayerfully, Bunu (Bishop P. K. Samantaroy)
P.S. Please feel free to edit my letter as English is not my first language
Posted by Jim Naughton on August 7, 2008; Episcopal Cafe/Lead
This is not only a letter reflecting having listened, but it now reflects this bishop living forward his being one of the called ones alongside (parakaleo) where prior to Lambeth he saw no way to warrant such a way of being present.
Shalom indeed, one step at a time, one relationship at a time,
Ron