Saturday, February 28, 2015

Saturday, February 28, 2015

Hebrews 5:1-10

A priest is someone who stands with and represents people before God, who intercedes for them, bringing their sacrifices and offerings to God, who knows and sympathizes with the weakness of the people and deals gently with those who are ignorant or wayward.  Our reading today introduces the ministry of Christ as our great high priest, and the study of Christ’s priesthood in Hebrews then continues right through to chapter 10.

The author begins on familiar ground for his Hebrew readers by describing the ideal high priest who would be found serving in God’s Temple.  Such priests (v. 4) were successors to Aaron, whom God called as the first high priest of the Hebrew people.  Similarly, the author continues, Christ did not become high priest by his own volition, but was called and authorized by God.  How?

First, the author tells us in Heb. 5:5, Christ is the Son of God. His statement is a quotation directly from Psalm 2:7-9, where the Lord says:

“You are my son; today I have begotten you.  Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.  You shall break them with a rod of iron, and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”

What a strange thing to tell us about Christ’s priesthood!  Psalm 2 is about the Messiah, the one appointed by God to be the eternal King of Israel, to exercise power and authority and judgement over all nations to the ends of the earth.  In Psalm 2, God commissions the Messiah, the Son of God, to exercise Kingly power, not the priestly weakness of which the author of Hebrews spoke in vv. 2 and 3.

Immediately (v. 6), the author provides a quotation from Psalm 110:4 that he expects will clear up the matter for his readers, and then, in vv. 11-14, he gently chides them for not catching on as he thinks they should. The author of Hebrews would have been an outstanding university professor: He knows his sources forwards and backwards; his many quotations drop lots of hints for his students; but he leaves his students to figure out a great deal on their own.  After this, he hopes, they may come to know the sources as well as he does.  Let’s give it a try.

The quotation from Psalm 110:4 does, at least, mention priesthood:

“You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.”

But who is this Melchizedek?  And why is there any connection with the Messiah-King-Son of God from Psalm 2?  To answer the second question first, we need to read the whole of Psalm 110.  When we do so we will, the professor expects, immediately recall that 110:1 was used by Jesus himself to establish that he was the Messiah (see Luke 10:41-44) and by Peter as the forceful conclusion of his great Pentecost sermon (Acts 2:34-36).  The whole of Psalm 110, we will find, is talking about the Messiah’s great Kingly power, authority, and judgement.  It says nothing at all about priesthood except for the one strange statement (110:4) that the professor quotes.

To be fair, we should note that the first-century readers of Hebrews may have had more opportunity to think about Melchizedek than we usually do.  Melchizedek was perhaps discussed in some of the rabbinic writings of their time; indeed, one of the Dead Sea Scrolls (11QMelchizedek) expounds ideas about him.  But the Bible itself mentions Melchizedek in only three places:  here in Hebrews 5 and 7, in Psalm 110:4, and in the mysterious, ancient short story found in Genesis 14:17-20.  

It’s this last reference—which the professor doesn’t even mention here in ch. 5—that provides the key.  Gen. 14:18 tells us that Melchizedek was both King of Salem (that is, King of Peace) and Priest of God Most High.  Thus Melchizedek, in his own person, embodies King and Priest together.  Actually, the professor (after leaving us mystified for a further chapter and a half) helps us out greatly in Heb. 7, where he discusses these things, points out that Melchizedek was even greater than Patriarch Abraham, and asserts that he resembles the Son of God (7:3), continuing as a priest forever. In this, the professor hints at the unanswerable question:  Did Melchizedek reveal God’s Messiah as King-Priest in this very ancient time?

The conclusion is that Christ Jesus is both God’s all powerful Messiah-King of the world and an all gracious eternal Priest like Melchizedek.  Christ Jesus is merciful, sympathetic, compassionate to all in need, sorrow, ignorance, or error.  Although Jesus “was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.” (Heb. 5:8-9)

This is the Gospel of Christ, which the unbelieving world can never understand.  The Gospel indeed brings glory, triumph, and reward, but these lie through and beyond the path of suffering, obedience, even death.

Lent has as prototype the suffering of Jesus during his forty days in the wilderness at the beginning of his public ministry, when he fasted and stood against the temptations of the devil.  Jesus’ suffering continued all through his ministry and culminated in his Passion and sacrificial death (a priestly act) on the cross for us.

Let us this Lent meditate both on the suffering our Lord Christ endured for us and on the great victory and joy that now are his.  Let us meditate too on the call that he extends to each of us to walk in his same path.  “For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps.” (1 Peter 2:21)

“Let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1-2)

– Robert Kruse

Friday, February 27, 2015

Friday, February 27, 2015 (George Herbert, 1633)  

John 11:55-12:8

What would you offer from your Life's Journey to God?

A year ago I was asked to reflect on George Herbert, and I prepared the following thoughts for Renew, which I revisted and after some thought, submit again for this year's commemoration. 

Today's scripture passage  is about a visit of Jesus to the home of his friends: Mary , Martha and Lazurus, sisters and brother. This took  place in Bethany, a small village just outside the walls of Jerusalem, in the immediate time just before his arrest, that  we now know as Holy Week. There,  in that safe home provided by Lazurus, Jesus was received for dinner. Martha was in the kitchen doing that thing which she knew best, preparing the meal. And then there was Mary, who being a gracious host, tended to the washing the dust and grime off Jesus' feet, and then as a finishing touch, used some expensive perfume to "anoint his feet". All this did not go unnoticed by Judas, who then  proceeded to question Jesus. Jesus in return  replied that her gift might well be considered as a gift,  foretelling what she might well be doing... at Jesus burial. For Jesus appreciated whatever those around him had to offer.

On this 27th day of February, The Anglican Calendar for the Church Year encourages us to give thanks for the life of George Herbert, an English priest of the early 17th Century.  He was assigned to the small rural parish of Bemerton England. In that setting  George faithfully served his people. He also was given to writing poems. After his death a collection of  them were published as The Temple: several of these poems were later set to music and now two of them have  became very popular as hymns: "Let all the world in every corner sing", and "Come, my Way, my Truth, my Life."

We note that this promising ministry of George in the service of His Lord had been cut short, for like many of that period he contracted TB and after a couple years as parish priest, he died  just short of his 40th birthday in early 1633, .

And here's what I think is the point  of this commemoration: 

No matter who we are, ( we've heard about Mary,  Martha, and  Lazarus, and also now about George,  a poet as well as a pastor), no matter who we are, each of us can take some time to pause, to reflect and to discover that in fact within our own lives, there is always something special that each of us  can seize, and offer to God. It might well be it our time, or perhaps a talent or even perhaps some activity. For you see, Jesus really appreciates each one of us, who we are and what we have to draw upon, and to offer and to share. Just think, what  we do now, this very day, may not only affect our time right now, but also may well playout against the backdrop of Eternity in new ways!  

  - Archdeacon Ken Cardwell

Thursday, February 26, 2015

Florence Li Tim-Oi, 1992

The Florence Li Tim-Oi Memorial Reading Room and archives are housed at Renison University College in Waterloo where I have the privilege of working. Sometimes, although not often enough, I sit in the reading area honouring her, catch my breath, and give thanks for her remarkable life.

Li Tim-Oi was the first woman to be ordained to the priesthood in the Anglican Communion. 

"For All the Saints" tells us that:

"She was made deacon in 1941, and was given charge of the Anglican congregation in the Portuguese colony of Macao, thronged with refugees from war-torn China. When a priest could no longer travel from Japanese-occupied territory to preside for her at the eucharist, the Bishop of Hong Kong asked her to meet him in Free China, where on January 25, 1944 he ordained her “a priest in the Church of God.” To defuse controversy, in 1946 she surrendered her priest’s license, but not her Holy Orders, the knowledge of which carried her through Maoist persecution. For the next 39 years, she served faithfully under very difficult circumstances, particularly after the Communists took over mainland China. In 1983, arrangements were made for her to come to Canada, where she was appointed as an honorary assistant at St. John’s Chinese congregation and St. Matthew’s parish in Toronto. The Anglican Church of Canada had by this time approved the ordination of women to the priesthood, and in 1984, the 40th anniversary of her ordination, Ms. Li was, with great joy and thanksgiving, reinstated as a priest".  

To learn more about her remarkable story, and ongoing legacy, see It Takes One Woman.

I invite you to pause, catch your breath, and pray the collect for her memorial day: 

Loving God, giver of all good gifts, 

fill us with your grace, that we, like your servant Li Tim-Oi, 

first woman to be ordained an Anglican priest, may entrust you with our destiny. 

May we, with her same forbearance in the face of adversity, witness to you in all things; through Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, 

one God, now and forever. Amen.  

Quote and Prayer from For All the Saints: Prayers and Readings for Saints’ Days According to the Calendar of the Book of Alternative Services of the Anglican Church of Canada

Marilyn Malton

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

John 2:23-3:15

What does it mean to listen? To receive the words of another? We confront in a moment the need to be humble before the other, to sit at their feet and be taught, without needing to interject. In a certain moment, Nicodemus visits Jesus with the intention of learning what he means in his testimonies. But Nicodemus has not come to receive what Jesus says; his first words to Jesus are a statement of who Jesus is, instead of a simple greeting. He does not take the time to listen, especially to one who he has recognized as something greater. 

A few weeks ago as part of a global sacred music class, I gathered with my classmates in Keffer Memorial Chapel at Waterloo Lutheran Seminary to spend an hour and a half together in a drum circle. We had brought instruments small and large: drums, frogs, tambourines. For a while we simply played; someone would start and we would follow. But there came a point when we were asked to “support” one drummer. It took some time before we could do that, because it meant stripping away our needs to do certain things and to give one person the opportunity to speak through their drum. We needed to listen, to hear what rhythms that person worked, and to fall back so that those sounds could express “our” sound. 

Jesus does not shy away from speaking to us. But in order for us to truly receive what he says, we must learn to listen to the other. To the one who speaks strange things. To the one who says words that are different. To the one whose opinion is not our own. 

And then, before we decide who they are, let us wait and let them tell us. 

- Joshua Zentner-Barrett

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

[Lindel Tsen, 1954; Paul Sasaki, 1946]

On this day, the Church recognizes two leaders of the Anglican Church in Asia.  Paul Sasaki was the Primate of the Anglican Church in Japan (the Nippon Sei Ko Kai, or NSKK) during World War II, and resisted the government’s initiative to combine all Protestant churches into one national church. 

     Fifty years after the end of the war, the NSKK issued a statement reflecting on the legacy of Paul Sasaki and seeking forgiveness for their collective responsibility for atrocities during the war.  I quote from their resolution called “Statement on War Responsibility of Nippon Sei Ko Kai”:

            The Nippon Sei Ko Kai, after 50 years since the end of World War II, admits its responsibility and confesses its sin for having supported and allowed, before and during the war, the colonial rule and the war of aggression by the State of Japan. In 1945, The Nippon Sei Ko Kai was at a historic turning point – the end of Japan’s invasion and colonial rule in the Asia-Pacific region. At the special session of the 21st General synod held in the same year, Bishop Paul Shinji Sasaki expressed the church’s repentance for what it had done during the war period, and pointed out that the Church had chosen to comply with the government policy and had forgotten its mission. At that moment, the General Synod, as well as the House of Bishops, the Dioceses and Parishes should also have deeply repented for not having fulfilled their prophetic role. They should also have made a sincere apology to their neighbours whom Japan had invaded and ruled, and should have sought a truly reconciled relationship with them. Since establishment, The Nippon Sei Ko Kai has been making compromises with the idea of a Tenno (God in Heaven) ruled nation and militarism which go against the Gospel, and has not been able to resist strongly against, or refuse those principles. The Nippon Sei Ko Kai was oppressed by the authorities, and some priests and lay people experienced the struggle of faith. But despite these bitter experiences, our Church has not been able to stand beside those who are oppressed and suffering. Despite its more recent internationalism, our Church has not been able to see Japan as an aggressor in the war. In fact, using the ‘Special Prayer for the China Incident’ and ‘Special Prayer for the Greater East Asia War’ (WWII), our Church has justified Japan’s rule over other ethnic groups and supported the war under the name of Christianity. We have been a closed Church close main concern is the expansion of the membership and the retention of the institution, this being unable to serve as the salt and for the earth as indicated in the Gospel.” (http://www.nskk.org/province/document/war_responsibility.pdf)

During this season of Lent, we have chance to reflect on our own church and the Anglican Church of Canada.  Are we more concerned with “the expansion of the membership and the retention of the institution” or do we “stand beside those who are oppressed and suffering?”

- David Shumaker

Monday, February 23, 2015 (Polycarp)

Monday, February 23, 2015 (Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, 156)

Hebrews 2:10-18

For the suffering he himself passed through while being put to the test enables him to help others when they are being put to the test. (Hebrews 2:18)

Today as we read the Letter to the Hebrews’ counsel to endure our sufferings, knowing that our Saviour himself underwent betrayal, persecution, and death, we remember Polycarp, a bishop in the early Church. According to two other prominent Church Fathers, Irenaeus and Tertullian, Polycarp was a follower of St. John. Echoing the message of today’s Bible passage, Polycarp wrote to the Jesus-followers in Philippi that “In Him, endurance went so far as to face even death for our sins; but God overruled the pangs of the grave, and raised Him up to life again.”*

Polycarp would become a martyr for his faith. The account of his death recounts that he prayed with confidence in his last moments. 

'O Lord God Almighty, Father of thy blessed and beloved Son Jesus Christ, through whom we have been given knowledge of thyself; Thou art the God of angels and powers, of the whole creation, and of all the generations of the righteous who live in thy sight. I bless thee for granting me this day and hour, that I may be numbered amongst the martyrs, to share the cup of thine Anointed and to rise again unto life everlasting, both in body and soul, in the immortality of the Holy Spirit. May I be received among them this day in thy presence, a sacrifice rich and acceptable, even as thou didst appoint and foreshow, and dost now bring it to pass, for thou art the God of truth and in thee is no falsehood. For this, and for all else besides, I praise thee, I bless thee, I glorify thee; though our eternal High Priest in Heaven, thy beloved Son Jesus Christ, by whom and with whom be glory to thee and the Holy Ghost, now and for all ages to come. Amen.'**

O God, the maker of heaven and earth, you gave your venerable servant, the holy and gentle Polycarp, boldness to confess Jesus Christ as King and Savior, and steadfastness to die for his faith: Give us grace, folllowing his example, to share the cup of Christ and rise to eternal life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.***

- Matthew Kieswetter

* Maxwell Staniforth and Andrew Louth, eds, Early Christian Writings (1968; repr., London: Penguin Books Ltd., 1987), 119. 

** Ibid., 129-130. 

*** Holy Women, Holy Men: Celebrating the Saints (New York: Church Publishing Incorporated, 2010), 239. 

Sunday, February 22, 2015

Sunday February 22, 2015     

1 Corinthians 1: 17 – 31

“So where can you find someone truly wise, truly educated, truly intelligent in this day and age?”  That question is as real today as it was for Paul’s readers.  Whether we look at world situations – Middle East, Ukraine, Nigeria, to name a few, or whether we look closer to home in our family relationships and challenges, the choices we know we must make demand wisdom and understanding.  The consequences of our choices and actions are not always clear, and they can be devastating if the choice is wrong.

I saw a play in Ottawa a week ago, called “Stuff Happens”, that explores the history that led to the bombing and invasion of Iraq.  It became obvious that actions resulted from individuals’ varying points of view and values.  When those were ego-centric, when “my” security or well-being is the top and even only priority, the choices obviously led to others’ pain and suffering being acceptable collateral damage!!

Paul is talking about that kind of thinking.  He says that people like that are “hell bent on destruction” ( The Message 18) Obviously they do not think they are!!.  His point is that God’s way is totally different, so much so that it seems like foolishness to us.  How could God possibly think that Jesus being tortured and killed would mean victory?  We have had 2000 years to ponder this and to have a “head” understanding of it.  BUT, until we are able to live that truth, to walk the way Jesus did, it still remains wisdom far beyond our own.

Humbly acknowledging that God is infinitely more wise than we are is a start.  Recognizing that “everything we have – right thinking and right living, a clean slate and a fresh start – comes from God by way of Jesus Christ” (30) helps us orient ourselves.  Practising the way of Jesus, a daily checking of our viewpoints and values with those of God, can help us in our individual daily life choices, and in the choices we make collectively in our world relationships.

Let us all this week, this Lent, pray for ourselves, each other and our leaders – that we will choose to acknowledge God’s way and that we will seek to do as He would do.  Perhaps that is the meaning of “Your will be done on earth as in heaven.”

Blessings

Ann Kelland

Saturday, February 21, 2015

Saturday, February 21, 2015

Titus 3: 1-15

“But when the goodness and kindness of God our Saviour appeared, [God] saved us…through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.”

Alicia Batten gave a wonderful introduction to Titus in her post (February 19), so I won’t duplicate that information here. Titus and the other Pastoral Epistles show a concern for decorum and institutionalization in the emerging Jesus Movement. As Christianity spread around the Mediterranean basin, local churches sought to accommodate and assimilate to the surrounding culture by absorbing the Household Code, the underlying political and social philosophy of the ancient world (men rule over women, parents over children, masters over slaves). We see the Household Code most evidently in Titus chapter 2.  

     From our perspective, do we find this ancient code quaint, at best, or unjust, at worst? Meditating on these texts today holds up a mirror to our own, often implicit assumptions about the church and our relationship to the wider culture.  Have we adopted and adapted any unhealthy or unjust societal norms? Or, are we constantly renewed by God’s Holy Spirit, as our text in Titus 3 promises?

- David Shumaker

Friday, February 20, 2015

Friday, February 20, 2015

Deuteronomy 7:12-16

A few months ago I bought an edition of the Bible called “The Green Bible.” Printed on recycled paper with eco-friendly inks, this edition highlights in green any passages that might relate to the environment. Verses 12 and 13 in particular highlight God’s blessings; the generosity of God comes in the promised abundance of nature. This is particularly poignant since the Hebrews were still wandering through the desert, relying on simple food and scant water to stay alive. The promised blessings must have seemed both a great reward and a horrible mirage while they withered in the harshness of the desert. 

But faith is not faith unless there is extreme doubt. The covenant with God requires struggle; in the narrative, the Hebrews struggle against the same forces of nature that promise to give them abundance. The focus, for us, is the struggle, and how it resonates with our own environmental struggles. Against the increasing violence of nature (brought on by own our disobedience to the earth), the faith required to hope for something good seems all but impossible. 

Our task, as echoed in Deuteronomy, is to understand the earth as God, not only as Creator but also as Renewer of the abundance. God promises such to the Hebrews, and that same promise remains alive to us today. But just as the Hebrews had to take the first action, so too must we take action and work to renew the earth. 

- Joshua Zentner-Barrett

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Titus 1:1-16

This letter is grouped as one of the “pastoral epistles” together with 1 & 2 Timothy and shares many dimensions of the form and content of 1 Timothy in particular. For centuries, many have doubted that this letter was authored by Paul, but written in his name, as taking Paul’s identity would give the letter much more legitimacy and authority. After an introduction, the writer delves immediately into several “pastoral” issues, including an outline of the requisite qualifications for elders and bishops. Such descriptions reveal that this particular church in Crete has established some of its leadership positions, as well as “sound doctrine” which, according to the author, should not be refuted (v. 9). It took time for such things to develop, which is another reason why many doubt that the letter came from Paul, who wrote in the mid-first century. The latter half of the passage (vv. 10-16) refers to “rebellious people” whom the author wants silenced. We even encounter an unfortunate ethnic slur with the comment about Cretans beings “liars, vicious brutes, lazy gluttons” in verse 12; a slur thought to date back to an earlier time. We do not know who these `rebellious` people are, but the author associates them with “Jewish myths” which suggests that they be a group who are attracted to aspects of ancient Judaism.

Texts such as this remind us that the early church was fraught with bureaucratic difficulties, concerns about leadership, and worries regarding dissension, for which this author, at least, did not have much tolerance. But with this letter, we only hear one side of the discussion, for no doubt others in the church had different ideas. I would like to know what the `rebellious` people were thinking. It is perhaps helpful to remember, however, that there was never a golden age when everyone got along perfectly, or saw eye to eye. 

- Alicia Batten

Ash Wednesday

Wednesday, February 15, 2015

Ash Wednesday

Amos 5:6-15

               Today there may be a moment when you will feel the cool ash placed in the shape of the Cross on your forehead. So the Season of Lent 2015 begins.

               You have made a choice to be reminded of the frailty and uncertainty of human life. You have made a choice to begin your personal observance of the Season of Lent 2015 with an ancient sign of penitence. You have made a choice to move into the days ahead responding to the call of the Prophet Amos with a personal desire to choose good and not evil.

               The gentle reminder of the ash upon your forehead may get wiped off immediately and washed down the drain. Some people choose to wear their ashes to make a statement and to let those around them know that as a follower of Jesus, part of this day has been given over to a time of worship and a time of commitment.

               In different parts of our global village there are people of faith, just like you, whose identity as a follower of Jesus puts them into the front lines of violence. The voice of the Prophet Amos rings through the ages. “Hate evil and love good, establish justice…” These are choices in life which do not always lead to greater levels of popularity or safety. These choices may also lead to suffering or death.

               When we look beyond our own lives or even the life of our community of faith we see a world which needs to have individuals step forward and declare their commitment to the love which Jesus would have us proclaim. It is through us that the unjust structures of society will be transformed. It is through us that every kind of violence will be challenged. It is through each and everyone of us, through our own words and actions, that peace and reconciliation will be pursued.

               Let each one of us individually, and all of us collectively respond to the call of the Prophet Amos and, "Seek the Lord and live…”

- The Reverend Canon Christopher B. J. Pratt

Rector

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

John 1:19-28

The Gospel of John exhibits what is called a ‘high christology,’ that is, Jesus’s divinity is very clear. A tricky thing for the first generation of Christians was the matter of Jesus having been baptized by John the Baptist. How curious, the God-Man being baptized by a human being. While the three synoptic gospels live with this conflict, John actively works to neatly solve the problem. In the fourth gospel we don’t actually read about Jesus being baptized by John the Baptist. In John’s gospel John the Baptist isn’t even compared to the great prophet Elijah, in contrast to the other gospels (see Matthew 11:14 and Luke 1:17). 

I share these few thoughts to point to the complex world behind the gospels. Our stories give us a glimpse into the past -- or bring the past into the present -- but not always the whole story. Sometimes it is helpful to think of the world in which the gospels were written: the smell of fish in the air, the feeling of frustration at the ruling Roman authorities. We should also include the theological issues that were handled by the writers of the New Testament. It seems that for a mystic like the writer of the fourth gospel, historical facts (or historical questions) were handled in a way to express the greater theological truth of God as revealed in the person of Jesus. Our heads tend to mash up all four gospels into a single story, in similar fashion to how Christmas pageants combine Matthew and Luke’s accounts. But careful reading will make us more sensitive to the many voices in the Bible. Their differences and contradictions aren’t simple mistakes or oversights; the scriptures were very carefully crafted and edited. Instead, they reflect the many personalities and traditions at play, all witnessing to an experience of a God who is active in history.

- Matthew Kieswetter

Monday February 16, 2015

John 1:1-18

We heard the words from the beginning of John's gospel at Christmas; but today, in these last days before the season of Lent and the journey to the cross begin, we are hearing them again.  

Try simply reading these verses aloud slowly.  Maybe get lost in the wonder of the images and poetry.  Maybe reflect on one word that catches your attention.

Maybe consider what questions this text raises for you, for example, what does it mean to you that "the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it"?  Do you hear this statement differently now that the days are getting longer again as compared with when you heard it in the soft candlelight at Christmas?

Marilyn Malton






  

Sunday, February 15, 2015

Sunday, February 15, 2015

Deuteronomy 6:1-9

Love the Lord Your God

It is now Valentine’s Day in our culture. In the church, a few folks know of the story of St. Valentine and that is understandable. In one of the most popular stories, Valentine was a prisoner for his faith, who was said to have healed the jailer’s daughter of blindness before his execution. His last note to her was signed, ‘from your Valentine’. In another story, an almond tree with pink blossoms blooms near the jail where he met his end. 

There are several St. Valentines. Some were bishops. Some were said to have healed blindness or deafness. The jailer’s daughter often appears in the tales. All their stories are mere fragments, with no clear narrative. The real Valentine is so lost in the fog of history that the Catholic Church does not include him on their main list of saints. He continues on local lists, and of course, he continues in popular culture, largely due to the work of Geoffrey Chaucer and other creators of ‘romantic legends’. But scripture too has a few things to say about ‘love’.

In the reading for Feb. 15^th Deuteronomy 6: 1-9 outlines some of the most familiar elements of the Jewish faith (Shema), and by extension, of Christian belief:

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 

Love the Lord your God with all your heart 

And with all your soul and with all your strength.”

Much has been written about this passage. I am still struck by the obvious. We are to love God with our hearts – our emotional selves; with our soul – our spiritual selves and with our strength – our physical selves. All the full aspects of being human in this life are to be offered to God and none of our humanity is unworthy of him. When I reflect on some church worship that concentrates almost entirely on the spiritual self and ignores or shuns the physical or emotional self, I am reminded of this passage. God welcomes our whole selves and is not ashamed of any of it, if we offer it reverently to God.

As I looked into the passage, I discovered a few commentaries that said this section of Deuteronomy may well have been written nine centuries after the time of Jesus. So, it actually could have been the work of scholars and not the words of Moses at all. Scripture comes to us from many sources, but I have always believed that if the story has truth in it, it can stand as an inspiration to many, including those who have no belief in any god. So, Deuteronomy 6: 1-9 has lifted many from an unclear path and set them on a more focused journey. 

In the story, Moses says these words as the Children of Israel are about to enter the Land of Canaan. Knowing they will be tempted to take on false gods in that land, he is teaching his people to keep their hearts and minds devoted to God alone. Moses has young children in mind as he speaks.

“Impress them on your children. Talk about them 

when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, 

when you lie down and when you get up. 

Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.(shel yad) 

Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. (mezuzah)”

Moses is very specific here. His words have been taken both figuratively as metaphors and literally in the centuries since, as customs developed around keeping these commands. But the essence of the ideas carries much weight. Keep the Lord God in your mind and heart throughout the day and every day. Remember and keep his commandments and make sure your children do the same. And there is a promise implied in Moses’ words:

“…so that you may enjoy long life. Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey
so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land
flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you”

This is not pure cause and effect. But implied in the obedience is the happy results – long life and plenty of food. The consequences of ignoring God are the opposite. And the Old Testament is full of stories of those who wandered away from obedience to and love of God and suffered.

Coming back to more recent times … Chaucer and the chivalric romances of the Middle Ages are in themselves a metaphor for the daily devotion to God that fills this passage. The search for the Holy Grail in many ways was the search for unity with God. The Muslim custom of prayer with forehead pressed humbly to the ground five times a day is in the same tradition of obedience and devotion to God. As is the practice of Meditation in many religions and cultures. And Daily Bible reading, lighting candles and use of prayer beads all fall into this same tradition. 

And, as for St. Valentine … the legend resounds with a strong thread of devotion and dedication. Whoever Valentine was, he followed a discipline not unlike that Moses describes in Deuteronomy 6. I’m spending St. Valentine’s Day performing for veterans with my drama group. And yes, there will be secular Valentine’s Day treats, but later, at home I may find time to rethink the idea of ‘Devotion’.

Peter Mansell February 13, 2015     

Saturday, February 14, 2015

Saturday, February 14, 2015

Mark 10:46-52

This passage of Mark concerns the healing of the blind beggar, Bartimaeus. This is the second instance in which the writings attributed to Mark referred to healing a blind person. The first instance was in Mark 8:22-26, and Jesus was reported to have put his saliva on the eyes of a person whose vision was very significantly impaired and this resulted in the healing of the man’s sight.

In the second healing of Bartimaeus, this blind man boldly ignores his low social status and the attempts of others to silence his pleas for help from Jesus, whom he identifies as the Son of David. According to some, this appellation of “son of David” was associated with one who would restore the fortunes of ancient Israel as king in the Hebrew Bible’s 2 Samuel 5: 1-5. Bartimaeus’ courage is rewarded with Jesus responding to his distress calls by asking what this man wanted. The blind man replied: “My teacher let me see again.” Jesus simply answered: “Go; your faith has made you well.”

Perhaps we may appreciate that these two blind men, who apparently had an impairment that prevented them from literally seeing, and by implication confined them to a low social status in their time, were not prevented from realizing or knowing an important spiritual truth about Jesus. Both blind men had to “screw up” enough courage to defy the social mores of their times and feel confident that they had the right to break social barriers and seek the help of Jesus. Perhaps in these stories of social action of the “healing of the blind men” we might also identify that in barrier breaking small social actions can accumulate over time to permit many people to participate in co-constructing a new reality inspired by the life of Jesus? What obvious cries for help do we hear but effectively silence in our daily lives to avoid the need to act in our world differently? These are difficult ideas to contemplate and then “screw-up” enough courage to act upon in our times. 

- Terry Rothwell

Friday, February 13, 2015

Friday February 13 2015  

Isaiah 61:1-9

We may recognize this passage from Isaiah as one recited by Jesus as he stood to read in the synagogue at Nazareth.  It is a signature passage for proclaiming social justice – bringing good news to the poor, binding up the broken-hearted, proclaiming liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners.  Although we don’t know from the text the identity of the one who is speaking here, we can assume that it is the prophetic voice of the one called Isaiah.  From the context of these verses and others around it, biblical scholars and teachers believe that it reflects the time in Israel’s history after the period of exile in Babylon.  Cyrus and the Persians have replaced the Babylonians; Cyrus, a more benevolent ruler, has released the people of Israel from their bondage and encouraged them to return to their own country, to rebuild Zion (Jerusalem) and the Temple.

With this perspective, we may come to see that “those who mourn in Zion” are indeed the people of Israel, returning to find that the former Temple cannot be replaced.  Frustration and the discouraging feelings of defeat are the result.

However, in spite of this low point, they are subjected to words and sentiments that may serve to pull them out of their lethargy, and set their sights on the work of restoration to the best of their ability.  And it is the God who supports them, who encourages the bringing of good news, and the binding up of the broken-hearted, and the proclamation of liberty, who will see them through these dark times.

The kingdom, or realm, of God is an upside-down kingdom – putting the last first, making the weak strong, enabling the poor to be rich.  This reading from Isaiah’s prophecy reminds us of this truth.  But even more, it call us to share in the anointing of the spirit which enables us to be healers, and enablers, and ones who care deeply for the oppressed and downtrodden.  How will we respond?

- Reverend Paul Kett