Having Faith When Life Is Not Fair

22  Pentecost, Cp24, October16, 2016

Jeremiah 31:27-34 Psalm 119:97-104

 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5   Luke 18:1-8a

Lectionary Link

  Sometimes when the parables of Jesus are interpreted, we try to make them make them too literal.   The parable about the nagging widow and the heartless judge reveals not the literal condition between actual people, it provides us insights about the conditions that we dealing with in our lives of faith.
  What is one of the greatest human dilemma in life?  How many times do we think, or say or shout, "It's not fair!"  Life is not fair.  Life does not distribute equally the fortunes and misfortunes which can occur to human beings.
  How many of you have ever felt that life is not fair?  The experience of the unfairness of life probably has been blamed for creating agnostics, atheists and people who think the belief in a loving God is just plain silly.
  Let do the logic.  God is loving.  God is all powerful.  Life is unfair especially to the innocent sufferers.   If God is all loving, then it would be God's nature to want to enforce universal fairness.  If God is all powerful then God is able to enforce fairness and justice in life.  But it is the case that unfairness occurs in this life so that means it would be logical to deny the nature of God as either being all loving or all powerful.
  How do we maintain our belief in an all loving God in light of the unfairness in life?  How do we have faith in a God who apparently is not all powerful?
  Jesus posed the wisdom question about faith.  When the Son of Man comes will he find faith?  When the entire history of humanity is taken into account, will faith in God be the significant character of humanity?
  The parable about the widow and the judge hides within it the insights about this dilemma of injustice in life.  How do we continue to have faith in face of this life often being just unfair?
   In the parable, we are told that the judge did not respect God or people?  What does the judge represent in our human experience?  The judge represents the negative probability of what can happen when freedom is genuine.  God as the creator is one who allows genuine freedom, and that freedom is permissive of probable negative outcomes.  The parable personifies negative fate as a judge, because that is how it often feels when bad things happen to us.  We take it personally; we may think someone is punishing us.  In a world of genuine freedom, injustice can happen.  Negative probable outcomes can seem to be like the unyielding judge.  The judge is saying, "Don't hassle me about injustice; I am just the by product of genuine freedom. My position of permitting the negative probable outcomes of injustice is one of the attending results of genuine freedom."
  What do you and I do in face of the truth of negative probable outcomes, including injustice and innocent suffering?
  "That's it, God.  I'm quitting because this whole system is rigged against me.  I'm going to give up and quit.  Or, if it is all "a dog eat dog fight" with such conditions of freedom, I am going to be Darwin's fittest and not just survive but push and shove all weaker free agents out of the way.  If I can be hurt in this system of freedom, then I might as well be a bully and take as much as I can."
  When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith?
  Faith is the secret that Jesus is hinting at.  Don't subscribe to fatalism.  Don't subscribe to the view that everything already predestined.  Have faith.  And if we are faced with the unfairness of life, we are encouraged to have a "nagging" faith.
  "Nagging" is generally considered to a negative persuasive technique.   As parents we know that sometimes it does work.  My baby child wants candy at the store and she screams and nags at the checkout line and I buy her the candy to stop the nagging or keep me from being embarrassed in public.  In marriage we put sweetness on nagging; we call it "honey do."
  The Bible is full of holy nagging.  Why?  Because the Bible deals with lots of people facing misfortune, oppression and injustice.  Re-read the book of Psalms; read the prophets.  These are some of the world most talented holy, nagging complainers.
  Why and when is prayer as holy nagging admirable?  Holy nagging is admirable and permissible when one is faithfully nagging about justice, health, love, kindness and good things.  Why is it admirable?  It is because we believe in a loving and good God and in this belief we believe that goodness, justice, kindness and freedom from pain is what is normal and good.  Whatever deviates from goodness and justice is a deprivation of goodness and justice.  But in the permissiveness of the conditions of genuine freedom, deprivations and injustice occur.
   So what is desirable response?  If the conditions of freedom permit all things, then we as human being need to freely exercise our faith.  If freedom is the dominant condition of life; we need to exercise our freedom of faith as much as we can.  We need to fill up the overall environment of freedom with free acts of faith expressing that our belief in God's love and justice will turn the tide and tip the scales in favor of justice and goodness, health and kindness coming to prevail.
  So what is the message?  We truly have freedom and it is very important that we exercise our freedom.  We need to overcome evil and injustice with the energy of faith driving our strong commitment to God's justice and love.
  Because freedom is genuine, the free exercise of our faith really matters.  If we multiply the total number of faithful acts then we will influence the overall balance in the arena of freedom where both negative and positive outcomes can prevail.
  We should always pray and never lose heart.  When the Son of Man comes will he find faith?
  It is election season and your vote counts.  In our election you can only legally vote once.  But in the life of faith, we need to "vote early and vote often."  We need to flood the ballot box of overall freedom with our nagging prayers of faith toward love and justice.
  Don't give up; on anything in life we need to vote with prayers and deeds of faith.  We may be the vote which tilts the arena of freedom toward a 51% majority and turn the tide toward the good goals of love and justice.  And as we win and the image of God as loving and powerful and the creator of freedom is maintained to characterized the genius of the moral and spiritual miracle of the human experience, not just an experience, but a moral and spiritual adventure.
  The parable of Jesus today reveals to us that you and I are really crucial and significant players in real outcomes in life and so we need to take up holy nagging with new intensity.
  So today, I say, "Holy naggers unite!  Let us keep up our nagging toward tipping the balance in the arena of freedom towards justice and love."  Amen.

Sunday School, October 16, 2016 22 Pentecost C proper 24

Sunday School, October 16, 2016    22 Pentecost, C proper 24

Sunday School Theme

Prayer as “Nagging”

Does anyone know what “nagging” is?  It is not supposed to be a good thing to do.  When your friend or family members does not want to do or give you something that you want, and you just keep asking and begging over and over again, this is what is called nagging.

Nagging is when we keep asking even though we know that that the people we ask don’t want to do what we want.  Why do we nag?  Because sometimes it works.  Sometimes we get what we want.  You can be shopping with mom or dad and you see something you want and so you ask a hundred times, “Mom can I get that new toy?”  Sometimes you might wear mom out and she gives in and buys you what you want.

The Bible is full of “nagging” prayer.  Prayer is asking God for things over and over and over again.  Even in the Lord Prayer, we ask again and again, “Give us this day our daily bread.”  Can you imagine a starving child praying this prayer every day?  “Please God, give me and my family enough to eat today.”

Nagging is a bad behavior but it can be made into a good behavior.  How can that be done?  If you and I are nagging about wanting good things for ourselves and our world, then nagging is a good thing.

Jesus told a story about a nagging widow.  This woman only wanted justice.  She just wanted fairness.  And she just kept asking and asking and asking the judge to do the right thing.  The judge didn’t want to help her but he got tired of her nagging and so he gave him.

In our world there is lots of freedom.  Freedom means lots of bad things can happen, like pain, suffering, hunger and starvation.

Jesus reminds us that in a world of freedom, we have the freedom to have faith and to pray.  In our prayers we can continually nag God about good things.  We can nag God about people having enough food, about war to end, about safety in a storm or hurricane, about fairness for everyone.

Nagging is a good thing and a good way to prayer because if we strongly want really good things to happen for our world, then it is good to pray over and over again.

Why should we do this?  Because if we have enough people nagging God about making this world better then we will begin to see good things happen in our world.

So, today, don’t nag your parents and friends too much, unless you want really good things.  And let us nag God in our prayers for justice, love and kindness to win in our world.

Active discussing

Have children discuss when they have nagged their parents and friends.

Have them look in the Psalms and show them how the Psalmist is nagging and complaining in the prayers about the bad things in the world.

Sermon

  What would happen if you didn’t ever wash dishes at your house?

What would happen if your clothes were never washed?   What would happen if your house was never cleaned?

  Would you run out of dishes?  Would you run out of clean clothes to wear?  Would your house get so dusty and dirty, that it would be very hard to live in your home?

  Is it fun to clean the house?  Wash the clothes?   Wash the dishes?

  Maybe it is not fun, but it has to be done.  Because if it is not done, dirt and dust and germs would all take over.  So one of the roles that everyone has to have in life is the role of a cleaner.  If we don’t clean, then dirt and dust will take over and keep us from living healthy lives.

  You and I have to be clean toward God too.  You know that just like dirt and dust can take over our lives if we don’t clean, so too, in this world bad things, evil and misfortune can take over our lives if we don’t learn how to be clean toward God.

  How do we get clean toward God?  We do so by learning to pray and asking for God’s help at all time to over come the bad things and the unfortunate things this world.

  Jesus told a story about a woman whose husband had died….some people were trying to cheat her so she went to a judge.  That judge was a bad judge who wouldn’t help her.  But she didn’t quit.  She kept going to the judge and even though he was still a bad judge, he got tired of the woman coming to him, so he helped her get her money back.

  Jesus told us this story to let us know that bad things and misfortunate things are going to happen in this life, but we cannot accept bad things as what is normal in life.  Goodness is what is normal and that is what we should always practice and expect.

  God needs people who are going to pray and asks over and over for good things until those good things happen and overcome the bad things in life.

  So Jesus teaches us a lesson about prayer.  We should always pray and not get discouraged when sad and bad things happen to us.

  Let us remember always to pray, because it is a sign to God that we truly love what is good, fair and lovely in this life.

   So remember, always to pray and don’t get discourage even when good things don’t happen.  Just keep praying because it is a sign that we believe in God and goodness, and it means that we will recognize the good things that God gives us in the answer to our prayers.

So let us always remember to keep on praying.  Amen.

St. John the Divine Episcopal Church

17740 Peak Avenue, Morgan Hill, CA 95037

Family Service with Holy Eucharist

October 16, 2016: The Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost

Gathering Songs: I’ve Got Peace Like a River, Peace Before Us, The Lord is My Light, Soon and Very Soon

Liturgist: Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

People: And blessed be God’s kingdom, now and forever.  Amen.

Liturgist:  Oh God, Our hearts are open to you.

And you know us and we can hide nothing from you.

Prepare our hearts and our minds to love you and worship you.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Song: I’ve Got Peace Like a River   (Christian Children’s Songbook # 122)

1-I’ve got peace like a river, I’ve got peace like a river, I’ve got peace like a river in my soul.      I’ve got peace like a river, I’ve got peace like a river, I’ve got peace like a river in my soul.

2-I’ve got love…..  3-I’ve got joy…..

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

Almighty and everlasting God, in Christ you have revealed your glory among the nations: Preserve the works of your mercy, that your Church throughout the world may persevere with steadfast faith in the confession of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Litany of Praise: Alleluia

O God, you are Great!  Alleluia

O God, you have made us! Alleluia

O God, you have made yourself known to us!  Alleluia

O God, you have provided us with us a Savior!  Alleluia

O God, you have given us a Christian family!  Alleluia

O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Alleluia

O God, you brought your Son Jesus back from the dead!  Alleluia

A reading from the Second Letter to Timothy

As for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 121

I lift up my eyes to the hills; * from where is my help to come?

My help comes from the LORD, * the maker of heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot be moved * and he who watches over you will not fall asleep.

Litany Phrase: Thanks be to God!

Litanist:

For the good earth, for our food and clothing. Thanks be to God!

For our families and friends. Thanks be to God!

For the talents and gifts that you have given to us. Thanks be to God!

For this day of worship. Thanks be to God!

For health and for a good night’s sleep. Thanks be to God!

For work and for play. Thanks be to God!

For teaching and for learning. Thanks be to God!

For the happy events of our lives. Thanks be to God!

For the celebration of the birthdays and anniversaries of our friends and parish family.

   Thanks be to God!

Liturgist:         The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke

People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

Jesus told his disciples a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, `Grant me justice against my opponent.' For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, `Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.'" And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.

People:            Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon – Father Phil

Children’s Creed

We did not make ourselves, so we believe that God the Father is the maker of the world.

Since God is so great and we are so small,

We believe God came into our world and was born as Jesus, son of the Virgin Mary.

We need God’s help and we believe that God saved us by the life, death and

     resurrection of Jesus Christ.

We believe that God is present with us now as the Holy Spirit.

We believe that we are baptized into God’s family the Church where everyone is

     welcome.

We believe that Christ is kind and fair.

We believe that we have a future in knowing Jesus Christ.

And since we all must die, we believe that God will preserve us forever.  Amen.

Litany Phrase: Christ, have mercy.

For fighting and war to cease in our world. Christ, have mercy.

For peace on earth and good will towards all. Christ, have mercy.

For the safety of all who travel. Christ, have mercy.

For jobs for all who need them. Christ, have mercy.

For care of those who are growing old. Christ, have mercy.

For the safety, health and nutrition of all the children in our world. Christ, have mercy.

For the well-being of our families and friends. Christ, have mercy.

For the good health of those we know to be ill. Christ, have mercy.

For the remembrance of those who have died. Christ, have mercy.

For the forgiveness of all of our sins. Christ, have mercy.

Youth Liturgist:          The Peace of the Lord be always with you.

People:                        And also with you.

Song during the preparation of the Altar and the receiving of an offering

Offertory Song: Peace Before Us (Wonder, Love & Praise,  # 791)

Peace before us, peace behind us, peace under our feet.  Peace within us, peace over us, let all around us be peace.

Love before us….3. Light before us…. 4. Christ before us….

Doxology

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures here below.

Praise Him above, ye heavenly host. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Prologue to the Eucharist

Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, for to them belong the kingdom of God.”

All become members of a family by birth or adoption.

Baptism is a celebration of birth into the family of God.

A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.

The Holy Eucharist is the special meal that Jesus gave to his friends to keep us together as the family of Christ.

The Lord be with you

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.

It is right to give God thanks and praise.

It is very good and right to give thanks, because God made us, Jesus redeemed us and the Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts.  Therefore with Angels and Archangels and all of the world that we see and don’t see, we forever sing this hymn of praise:

Holy, Holy, Holy (Intoned)

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of Power and Might.  Heav’n and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. 

Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the Highest.

(All may gather around the altar)

Our grateful praise we offer to you God, our Creator;

You have made us in your image

And you gave us many men and women of faith to help us to live by faith:

Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachael.

And then you gave us your Son, Jesus, born of Mary, nurtured by Joseph

And he called us to be sons and daughters of God.

Your Son called us to live better lives and he gave us this Holy Meal so that when we eat

  the bread and drink the wine, we can  know that the Presence of Christ is as near to us as  

  this food and drink  that becomes a part of us.

The Prayer continues with these words

And so, Father, we bring you these gifts of bread and wine. Bless and sanctify them by your Holy Spirit to be for your people the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Bless and sanctify us by your Holy Spirit so that we may love God and our neighbor.

On the night when Jesus was betrayed he took bread, said the blessing, broke the bread, and gave it to his friends, and said, "Take, eat: This is my Body, which is given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me."

After supper, Jesus took the cup of wine, gave thanks, and said, "Drink this, all of you. This is my Blood of the new Covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me."

Father, we now celebrate the memorial of your Son. When we eat this holy Meal of Bread and Wine, we are telling the entire world about the life, death and resurrection of Christ and that his presence will be with us in our future.

Let this holy meal keep us together as friends who share a special relationship because of your Son Jesus Christ.  May we forever live with praise to God to whom we belong as sons and daughters.

By Christ, and with Christ, and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory

 is yours, Almighty Father, now and for ever. AMEN.

And now as our Savior Christ has taught us, we now sing,

Our Father: (Renew # 180, West Indian Lord’s Prayer)

Our Father who art in heaven:  Hallowed be thy name.

Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done: Hallowed be thy name.

Done on earth as it is in heaven: Hallowed be thy name.

Give us this day our daily bread: Hallowed be thy name.

And forgive us all our debts: Hallowed be thy name.

As we forgive our debtors: Hallowed be thy name.

Lead us not into temptation: Hallowed be thy name.

But deliver us from evil: Hallowed be thy name.

Thine is the kingdom, power, and glory: Hallowed be thy name.

Forever and ever: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Breaking of the Bread

Celebrant:       Alleluia, Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast.  Alleluia.

Words of Administration

Communion Song: The Lord Is My Light (Renew! # 102)

The Lord is my light, my light and salvation: in Him I trust, in Him I trust. 

Post-Communion Prayer

Everlasting God, we have gathered for the meal that Jesus asked us to keep;

We have remembered his words of blessing on the bread and the wine.

And His Presence has been known to us.

We have remembered that we are sons and daughters of God and brothers

    and sisters in Christ.

Send us forth now into our everyday lives remembering that the blessing in the

     bread and wine spreads into each time, place and person in our lives,

As we are ever blessed by you, O Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Closing Song: Soon and Very Soon (Renew! # 276)

Soon and very soon, we are going to see the King.  Soon and very soon, we are going to see the King.  Soon and very soon, we are going to see the King, Hallelujah, hallelujah, we’re going to see the King.

No more dying there, we are going to see the King.  No more dying there, we are going to see the King.  No more dying there, we are going to see the King, Hallelujah, hallelujah, we’re going to see the King.

Repeat first verse

Dismissal:   

Liturgist: Let us go forth in the Name of Christ.

People: Thanks be to God! 

Aphorism of the Day, October 2016

Aphorism of the Day, October 14, 2016

Why is the nagging prayer of faith important within the freedom of injustice being a persistent reality of life?  If injustice is an expression of freedom, faith and prayerful faith is also a persistent freedom.  It is almost like Jesus is suggesting that when a majority of occasions of faithful prayer makes injustice a minority, then injustice must respond to the events of faith overcoming it.  In a system of Freedom, it is important to cast many votes of faith to attain the majority over the freedom of injustice to prevail.

Aphorism of the Day, October 13, 2016

When the Son of Man come, will he find faith?  The presence of injustice and the uneven distribution of luck and misfortune throughout the world can result in people not having faith.  Injustice and oppression can be reason not to have faith.  Conversely, if one lives in the lap of luxury one might not have faith because such easy comfort does not require the growth of any "faith muscles."  Cynicism and anger about how unfair life is and entitlement make be threatening circumstances for living with faith.  Faith is the attitude of inner contentment which rests upon a vision of hope inspiring positive actions in the "now."  Though each person needs to have faith, faith necessarily has collateral salutary effects for one's community.

Aphorism of the Day, October 12, 2016

The freedom of an infinite number of things, events and occasions happening always, already in the now means that our lives can experience things which are beyond our direct control and sometimes the "fate" of things beyond our direct control can be experienced by us as injustice particularly if we believe that other personally directed forces are against our well-being.  Prayer is how we use our language to relate to the ultimate Freedom that we live in.  Can we still believe ultimate Freedom is a Divine Being which honors us by letting human worth be authenticated by participation in this freedom?  Or because there can seem to be an uneven distribution of the events of negative events of freedom, do many decry Freedom as a Fatal Determining Being who seems to have favorites for no reason at all?  Prayer is a language of faith of us constituting ourselves and responding to what is happening to us, even as we know we are not exempt from uneven distributions of the weals and woes of what can happen.  The reason prayer as faith discourse is important is that it is a talking cure to adjust us to the reality of what is and that adjustment is not just passive paralysis but hopeful response in the best way given the limitations of the situation.  Lots of people are crushed in bitterness by not knowing or seeking the recipe for lemonade.

Aphorism of the Day, October 11, 2016

The parable of the persistent widow presents prayer as holy nagging.  There is an entire book which consists of lots of "nagging prayer" about how unfair life is.  It called the book of Psalms.  Prayer as holy nagging is perhaps psychologically healthy; God as the very big ear Therapist listening to endless nagging about how life is unfair to me.  God as the Therapist on the other side of our "talking cure prayers" is probably good for social health since God is big enough to take our nagging and our nagging does not do much for relationship with family, friends and colleagues.  So let it all out; the Sigmund Divine is ever attending and saying, "uh-huh, and how did that make you feel?"

Aphorism of the Day, October 10, 2016

"Life is not fair."  This experience was illustrated in the parable of the widow who continually pleads to a judge for justice.  It could be that the only way that life is fair is to say that freedom is fair, freedom is just.  Freedom is perhaps the most awesome justice since the free conditions of the world involve people being inhumane with each other and often in harm's way to the terrors of natural events.  Freedom assumes time and change and if justice is conceived as a "static" final state, it is incompatible with freedom.  Great notions like love and justice need to be explicated within the condition of freedom because human beings cannot rest upon the past events of love and justice; they are continually beckoned to the present and future of love and justice within the conditions of freedom.

Aphorism of the Day, October 9, 2016

The conditions of change in the world means that states of being are continually in flux and crucial events of change are marked in language with words such as birth, sickness, recovery and death.  How can life be regarded as healthy in the midst of the changes which are always already inevitable?   Faith is the expression of being well, being healthy, being "saved" within the conditions of time=change.  There is an unrealistic notion of health and wellness which denies time and change; a holding onto a "static state of perpetual comfort" as the condition of health.  Jesus said, "Your faith has made you well."  The leper had faith when he was a leper and when he was not one so faith is the "wellness" which embraces all conditions of life.  The proverbial Job was "well" with faith, even when all appearances of health and fortune were missing. 

Aphorism of the Day, October 8, 2016

For Jesus in the Gospel, being "well" means having faith.  The diverse conditions of "health" befall us all in very uneven ways.  It is wrong to just present Jesus as one who heals or cures and makes us all better.  If healing was permanent, we would never die.  This is why we need to look to the Gospel teaching of having faith as the condition of being "well."  People with terminal illnesses can still be well.  Another Gospel teaching of Jesus about being well is the active faith of the community in including all people with welcome and care.  Community faith and community wellness means that we include with care all people in need.


Aphorism of the Day, October 7, 2016

The mention of Samaria and Samaritans in the Luke-Acts writings probably means that early churches included Samaritan members and church gatherings could be found in Samaria.  The Gospels as a storied presentation of the life of Jesus to mirror the practices of the early churches means that there is an origin discourse for the encounter of Samaritans with Jesus Christ.  Writing Samaritan acceptance of Jesus into the Gospel narrative would express the living oracle of the Risen Christ encountering the Samaritans who actually claimed to have a traditional "Israel" lineage dating from the time of Joshua.  The Samaritans in the New Testament are an indication that the Gospel of Christ was appealing to a variety of sects and groups, including Zealots, Pharisees, followers of John the Baptist and Sadducees, plus the Gentiles.  Ironically, a Samaritan convert to Christ and a Jewish follower of Christ could say in healing of their ancient division, "In Christ, there is no Jew or Samaritan."

Aphorism of the Day, October 6, 2016

Jesus said to the thankful Samaritan leper who was healed: "Your faith has made you well."  This encoded the notion of salvation wellness in the early churches.  This was contrasted with the notion of physical and spiritual health being the condition of being certified by the authorities in the classification system of the purity code in Judaism.  St. Paul proclaimed that Samaritan and Gentiles could have Abrahamic faith which is what made them well, i.e. saved and acceptable by God.  Gentile Christian "wellness" challenged the exclusive system of the purity code for determining salvation wellness.

Aphorism of the Day, October 5, 2016

Under the ritual purity codes, a leper was "unclean" and thus quarantined from society.  The ritual purity code functioned as a religious public health taxonomical system.  The public needs to be "protected."  It is a valid impulse except one of the outcomes was the loss of access of "ritually impure" people to the health of the community.  The healing Jesus was first of a person who violated quarantine rules and in his state of healthiness he welcomed those who had been unwelcomed due to the quarantine.  Health is not just about a physical "cure;" it is about health as a caring community.

Aphorism of the Day, October 4, 2016

The Gospel stories about Jesus actually encode the dynamics of what was happening in the early churches.  10 lepers were healed by Jesus; only the "foreign" leper returned to say thanks to Jesus.  The "foreigners" in the church were ritually impure and segregated from the synagogue and yet these "foreigners" were thanking Jesus for making them clean and pure and acceptable to be included in the fold of God.  The ritual meal in the inclusive churches was called "Eucharist" which means "thanksgiving."

Aphorism of the Day, October 3, 2016

The most blatant anachronism of the Gospel writers is the embedding of the Gentile  Christianity within the narrative of the life of Jesus.  How do the writers artfully try to be true to the Jewishness of Jesus in his own time and yet include in this presentation the subtle suggestion that Jesus was already reaching out to the Gentiles?  The writing purpose of the early Christian writers in the way they presented Jesus vis a vis foreigners has to be included in what is regarded to be "inspired."  The Gentile mission "inspired" the presentation of the narrative of Jesus in the Gospels.

Aphorism of the Day, October 2, 2016

When the disciple requested of Jesus, "Increase our faith,"  he essentially said, "Do it yourself."  Do it through small individual deeds of faith which collect to become the "increase" of faith that is so desired.  There is no easy way for faith to become the character of our lives; we have to practice it so that the quantity of actual faithful deeds result in being the character of our lives and in the uncanny results which can happen because of sustained faithfulness.

Aphorism of the Day, October 1, 2016

Increase our  faith."  The classical Greek word "pistos" was the goal of rhetoric.  "Pistos" means persuasion.  Fast forward to the koine Greek of the New Testament and "pistos" means "faith."  So what is the relationship between persuasion and faith?  Faith is the expression of the constituting motivation of one's life which expresses the degree of persuasion toward the motivating focus.  In the Christian community faith was the cumulative constituting faith acts motivated by the hopeful belief in God in Christ such that an undivided persuaded person attained the character of faith to achieve the uncanny results of faith.

Quiz of the Day, October 2016

Quiz of the Day, October 14, 2016

Who wrote the following: "Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours.  Yours are the eyes through which He looks compassion on this world.  Christ has no body now on earth but yours?"

a. John of the Cross
b. St. Francis
c. St. Teresa of Avila
d. Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Quiz of the Day, October 13, 2016

Which of the following might be the Wisdom lesson of the story about the prophet Jonah?

a. God loves people beyond one's own country and religion
b. God chooses one nation over another
c. God controls nature even big fish
d. Jonah was written as preparation for the message about Jesus

Quiz of the Day, October 12, 2016

What is the most common reference to the afterlife in the Hebrew Scriptures?

a. heaven
b. hell
c. Hades
d. Sheol

Quiz of the Day, October 11, 2016

The metaphor in the life of which Hebrew Scripture person is used for the three days in the tomb of the body of Jesus?

a. Moses
b. Abraham
c. Jonah
d. Jeremiah

Quiz of the Day, October 10, 2016

How many accounts of the conversion of Paul are found in the Acts of the Apostles?

a. 2
b. 3
c. 4
d. not accounts, since there is only one

Quiz of the Day, October 9, 2016

Which Apostle wrote to his church, "In Christ Jesus, I became your father...?"

a. Clement
b. Paul
c. Peter
d. James

Quiz of the Day, October 8, 2016

Agrippa, Festus and Felix were involved in the legal hearings for what early church leader?

a. Peter
b. Barnabas
c. Paul
d. James of Jerusalem


Quiz of the Day, October 7, 2016

In the parable of the Sower, which of the following is not one of the growing environments for the "seed?"

a. path
b. rocks
c. water
d. good soil
e. thorns

Quiz of the Day, October 6, 2016

Who was responsible for the English translation of the Psalter in the first book of Common Prayer of 1549?

a. William Tyndale
b. Thomas Cranmer
c. Miles Coverdale
d. John Wycliffe

Quiz of the Day, October 5, 2016

What saved the Apostle Paul from prosecution?

a. his being a rabbi
b. his Roman citizenship and appeal to the Emperor
c. the intervention of influential friends
d. his judge became a Christian convert

Quiz of the Day, October 4, 2016

How did St. Francis receive his name, since he was born with the name Giovanni di Bernardone?

a. he took the name Francis as a novice in the order of his own name
b. he received the name in the vision when he received the stigmata
c. his father gave him the nickname, "the Frenchman" Francesco
d. he admired a holy man of the same name and so he took the name
Quiz of the Day, October 3, 2016
When Paul appeared before the tribune of the High Priest Ananias how did he rhetorically divide the parties of the Pharisees and Sadducees?

a. he claimed that he was defending the temple
b. he claimed that he was defending John the Baptist
c. he claimed that he was defending the resurrection from the dead
d. he claimed that he was defending ritual purity

Quiz of the Day, October 1, 2016

Which Gospel records Jesus as saying, "Blessed are the poor," and not "Blessed are the poor in spirit?"

a. Matthew
b. Mark
c. Luke
d. John

Quiz of the Day, October 2, 2016

How did John the Baptist die?

a. old age
b. on a cross
c. he was beheaded
d. he drown

Faith as Being Well

21 Pentecost, Cp23, October 9, 2016

Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7 Ps.66:1-11

2 Tim. 2:8-15   Luke 17:11-19    

Lectionary Link

  The writer of the Gospel of Luke also wrote a companion book, the Acts of the Apostles.  Luke was an educated man and he was a physician.  In the Acts of the Apostles, it is recorded the spread of the Gospel mission into Samaria, so we can assume that there were early Samaritan churches.  Luke as a Gospel writer was one who recorded the message presentation of the early churches to their members.  Luke was one who believed that in Christ, there was no Jew and no Samaritan.  And that was quite a contrary view in first century Palestine.

  The Samaritan religion was a rival faith community to the Jews.  They had their own Torah based religion.  They believed that Mount Gerizim was the holy place and not Jerusalem.  They traced their history to the time of Joshua, Eli the priest and to several of the northern tribes of Israel.  Since they had inter-married with the Assyrians they were not regarded to be pure in their heritage by the Jews.  They had compromised with the Greeks conquerors to survive and the Jewish military leader John Hyrcanus had destroyed the Samaritan temple on Mount Gerizim in 125 BCE.  There was no love lost between the Jews and the Samaritans.  They were enemies with a history even though they shared common roots in the Mosaic tradition.  In 2015, Wikipedia reports that there were still 777 members of the Samaritan community living today. 

  The Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Zealots, the Samaritans, the community of John the Baptist and the followers of Jesus of Nazareth had all received the Abrahamic,  Mosaic and prophetic traditions.  But each of these communities were doing something different with the Abrahamic, Mosaic and prophetic traditions.  The Zealots wanted a revolt against the Romans.  The Sadducees wanted to retain the safety of the Temple for the continued offering of the animal sacrifices.  The Pharisees wanted to retain the synagogue traditions which had developed in the Exile with their expanded acceptance of the other writings of the Hebrew Scriptures.  The community of John the Baptist promoted more of an individual experience of Judaism rather than the automatic group identity of simply being born a Jew.  One had to authenticate one's religion by repentance.  After the Roman armies crushed Jerusalem and the surrounding areas in the year 70, all of the groups which inherited the Abrahamic, Mosaic and prophetic traditions had to scramble to maintain their very existence.  The early churches were followers of Jesus who preached Christ-centered  Judaism but adapted it to the acceptance in people who were not members of the synagogues.  Converts to the message of Christ included Samaritans, who were enemies to Judaism and also Gentiles who lived impure lives bereft of the benefit of the ritual purity life style code of Judaism.

  Luke as a physician was interested in health.  But New Testament health is not just about physical health.  Luke as a writer brought to the narrative about Jesus the addition of the reality of the Christian churches in the last quarter of the first century.  What is the reality?  The reality is that Christ-centered Judaism had moved beyond the synagogue and the ritual purity practices of Judaism.  The Christian movement was making an appeal to Samaritans, Pharisees, Sadducees, followers of John the Baptist, Zealots and to Gentiles.  Paul and Peter and other early Christian leaders had to make a decision in the last half of the first century.  They believed that something new had happened which brought about the possibility for people of diverse backgrounds to become members of a new community of faith.  What happens when diversity is embraced?  The groups which cannot tolerate the diversity have to reject the new diversity and inclusive movement.

  This Gospel story today is a mirror of what was happening within the early churches.  The Samaritan, a hated enemy of the Jews is presented as the one who offers thanksgiving to Jesus for his restoration to health.  The other 9 Jews are presented as those who did not offer thanksgiving.

  Jesus is shown to approach lepers in contradiction of the quarantine required by the ritual purity codes of Judaism.  Jesus was shown to be one who could show lepers to be whole and healthy.  Jesus is seen as the one who welcomes the outsider and the quarantined.

What happened in the early churches?  The churches included former enemies of Judaism, the Samaritans and the Gentiles who gave thanks for the salvation, the health of the soul offered by Jesus.

  What was the message of St. Paul?  How was one saved?  In the view of St. Paul, one was not saved by adherence to the Judaic law or the purity code; one was saved by having faith in God's grace.

  How did the message of Paul sound as it was presented by Luke through the words of Jesus?  Jesus said to the thankful Samaritan:  "Your faith has made you well."  Faith is the evidence of one's salvation.

  You and I are the inheritors of this inclusive tradition of Jesus Christ.  It was the presentation of the Risen Christ as including anyone who wanted the salvation of Jesus Christ known through the presence of the Holy Spirit.  We know that in the history of Christianity, many Christian groups have made Christ very exclusive to their own practices.  But let us be reminded today by the thanksgiving and faith of the Samaritan:  It is the inclusive invitation to saving faith which is the genius of the message of Jesus Christ.  Let us be those who offer this saving faith to all.  Amen.