The Corinthians reading grabbed me again. In the working out of grace (for me this week it was the working out of a sermon for Homiletics) a word search had me looking at the Greek word for spirit. The dictionary explaining the Greek talked of spirit as relating to wind and air. I thought of the breath of God preceeding the creation and God "breathing" life into the clay of adam. In the NT there is the spirit which greets Jesus at his Baptism and Jesus breathing his last on the cross.
The spirit is also that which Jesus grants to the disciples. The spirit is that which continues on after the body passes away. Today's epistle talks of discipline and controlling the body. It connected for me with the description of spirit because in the dictionary it talked of Pauls understanding of body and spirit. We are called to pursue the spirit and things of the spirit because it is this that will go on after death. By ignoring the things of the spirit (God, faith, prayer) and only aligning ourself with the body we are aligning ourselves with that which will die. It's not that the body is bad. We need it. It needs to be taken care of. It helps with our spiritual path. The problem is that it simply does not last. So to spend all our time on protecting the body (money, food, pleasure, etc) will produce only a limited existence. Maybe this was what Jesus means when at judgement He may say "I knew you not".
Saturday, February 04, 2006
Thursday, February 02, 2006
BCP - Make it Difficult
"Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, 'Wash and be clean'?"
Why do we make it so difficult? Elisha, a prophet of the Lord, knew just how easy this faithful living thing could be. Namaan in true human fashion however didn't.
I've spent a year and a half here at VTS wishing someone would make it difficult. I've felt that if God has called me to his service I need to suffer some to get there. And for this goal, I have indeed suffered. While some here suffer academically, I have been blessed to find the course load energizing. While some here find seminary to be a time of great spiritual depth, I have at times forgotten the God I came to serve. We each came with expectations, hopes, and dreams. These inevitably make things difficult, especially if what the reality is (as we percieve it) doesn't live up to our hopes. Why do I have to make things difficult? Why can't I trust God to make me clean by washing 7 times in the Jordan?
The answer for me is the same as it was for Namaan, pride. I really think I know what's best. I really think I know how things work? I really haven't got a clue, and neither did Namaan. We both want things to be difficult. We both want our way to be God's way, our thoughts to be God's thoughts, and be it thousands of years BCE or today the problem remains the same, we forget God knows best and we make things difficult.
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
BCP - Grace comes first
I'm tired and I don't think this is going to make much sense. Getting back to this is harder than I thought it would be, but having people to keep me accountable is certainly helping.
Tonight as I read the OT and Gospel passages a contrast struck me. In the story of Elisha healing Naaman, Naaman is many things. He is an outsider. He is of the royal court. He is a leper. Namaan has many reasons why he shouldn't be healed. Elisha tells Naaman what he is required to do before he can become clean. Namaan pitches a fit, but does it and is healed.
Move to the Gospel where Jesus heals the man before requiring him to do anything. The man doesn't do what he is told, and yet remains healed. This seems strange. This creates a problem for me, but yet it doesn't. When God is directly involved (see Abraham, Jacob, the people Jesus touched) grace comes first. (I'm not sure the followng is univerally true, but...) Interestingly, when humans are the agent by which God works (see Elisha) those who seek help are required to do some work first. God does amazing things, without us deserving it in any way. God works through people today, but requires trust from both healer and those seeking to be healed. Yet what seems to be a problem works for me in the fact that God continues to work, no matter what. Thanks be to God!
Tonight as I read the OT and Gospel passages a contrast struck me. In the story of Elisha healing Naaman, Naaman is many things. He is an outsider. He is of the royal court. He is a leper. Namaan has many reasons why he shouldn't be healed. Elisha tells Naaman what he is required to do before he can become clean. Namaan pitches a fit, but does it and is healed.
Move to the Gospel where Jesus heals the man before requiring him to do anything. The man doesn't do what he is told, and yet remains healed. This seems strange. This creates a problem for me, but yet it doesn't. When God is directly involved (see Abraham, Jacob, the people Jesus touched) grace comes first. (I'm not sure the followng is univerally true, but...) Interestingly, when humans are the agent by which God works (see Elisha) those who seek help are required to do some work first. God does amazing things, without us deserving it in any way. God works through people today, but requires trust from both healer and those seeking to be healed. Yet what seems to be a problem works for me in the fact that God continues to work, no matter what. Thanks be to God!
BCP- Don't think about it, do it
"Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean." But Naaman became angry and went away, saying, "I thought that for me he would surely come out, and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, and would wave his hand over the spot, and cure the leprosy! Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them, and be clean?" He turned and went away in a rage. But his servants approached and said to him, "Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, `Wash, and be clean'?"
This leapt out at me the first day. First off was the clear connection between Elisha here in numbers and Jesus in the Gospel. The difference of course is that Jesus does not send someone to the Jordan (but I dig the Jordan baptism connection) but simply pronounces people clean.
I think there is a connection here two with the Epistle and the reality that discipline is more concerned with what I do rather than thinking about what I am to do. Here Elisha commands the man to go to the Jordan to become clean. The Epistle speaks of the need to have self control over the body as an athlete. Self control is not always easy and it becomes easy to justify our reasons for not doing what we set out to do. (What is interesting as I want to develop toward a disciplined rule of life I find that it is often these things which get thrown out the window first when dealing with life. It is easier or at least it seems easier to finish tasks like papers, bills, assignments, and emails. They are tangible.)
At the center of the above reading is the son speaking to the father. The father is mad because Elisha's answer to him did not match (I guess) what the father wanted him to say. I find it humorous (because I identify with such idiotic thinking) because the father wants Elisha to simply wave his hand. He then goes on to complain about the river selection.
Then reality hits. The son reminds the father. Just do it. Do what he says. Intention may help action but it never replaces it.
This leapt out at me the first day. First off was the clear connection between Elisha here in numbers and Jesus in the Gospel. The difference of course is that Jesus does not send someone to the Jordan (but I dig the Jordan baptism connection) but simply pronounces people clean.
I think there is a connection here two with the Epistle and the reality that discipline is more concerned with what I do rather than thinking about what I am to do. Here Elisha commands the man to go to the Jordan to become clean. The Epistle speaks of the need to have self control over the body as an athlete. Self control is not always easy and it becomes easy to justify our reasons for not doing what we set out to do. (What is interesting as I want to develop toward a disciplined rule of life I find that it is often these things which get thrown out the window first when dealing with life. It is easier or at least it seems easier to finish tasks like papers, bills, assignments, and emails. They are tangible.)
At the center of the above reading is the son speaking to the father. The father is mad because Elisha's answer to him did not match (I guess) what the father wanted him to say. I find it humorous (because I identify with such idiotic thinking) because the father wants Elisha to simply wave his hand. He then goes on to complain about the river selection.
Then reality hits. The son reminds the father. Just do it. Do what he says. Intention may help action but it never replaces it.
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
BCP - proclaim it freely
But [the leper] went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the word, so that Jesus could no longer go into a town openly.
At St. James' we talk a lot about evangelism. Two blocks down the road there are over 600 units of highrise apt and condo buildings being built, and nobody knows what to do about them. The evangelism commission has spent hours talking about this strategy and that strategy to bring this new group of people into the church. I have not been privy to this conversation as it isn't within my learning goals for the semester, but I can imagine what they sounded like.
- We should advertise in the local paper.
- Our signage needs to be updated
- We should post flyers in the supermarket
- etc.
I've heard these strategies a thousand times. We should do this or that to bring people into the church. But I can't help but wonder with the old cliche' "What Would Jesus Do?"
In Mark's Gospel, Jesus uses miraculous acts to prove his authority, just as his teaching proved his acts to not be that of a traveling magician. Here he chooses to heal the leper out of pity for one man. This one man, in turn, is moved to "proclaim freely" what Jesus has done out of his personal experience on that day. What about my personal experience with Jesus? Why am I so reluctant to draw on that as I go into the world. Why am I not proclaiming Jesus in such a way that I can't walk about town without someone stopping me to learn more about this Jesus I know and love?
At St. James' we talk a lot about evangelism. Two blocks down the road there are over 600 units of highrise apt and condo buildings being built, and nobody knows what to do about them. The evangelism commission has spent hours talking about this strategy and that strategy to bring this new group of people into the church. I have not been privy to this conversation as it isn't within my learning goals for the semester, but I can imagine what they sounded like.
- We should advertise in the local paper.
- Our signage needs to be updated
- We should post flyers in the supermarket
- etc.
I've heard these strategies a thousand times. We should do this or that to bring people into the church. But I can't help but wonder with the old cliche' "What Would Jesus Do?"
In Mark's Gospel, Jesus uses miraculous acts to prove his authority, just as his teaching proved his acts to not be that of a traveling magician. Here he chooses to heal the leper out of pity for one man. This one man, in turn, is moved to "proclaim freely" what Jesus has done out of his personal experience on that day. What about my personal experience with Jesus? Why am I so reluctant to draw on that as I go into the world. Why am I not proclaiming Jesus in such a way that I can't walk about town without someone stopping me to learn more about this Jesus I know and love?
Trying not to run aimlessly
BCL
Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one. So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air; but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified.
This is a daunting little piece of scripture coming out of the Epistle. As one moving toward ordination this speaks to me. It speaks of moving into a greater rule of life. It speaks of spending more time in prayer. It speaks of a spiritual life that one grows into. I heard this yesterday from a friend but it applies here. He said "one of our difficulties is in training disciples. This is because being a disciple is difficult. The root word of disciple is discipline." Discipline is difficult. Paul wrote (and I may be paraphrasing) "the things I don't want to do I do" Discipline is difficult yet it rewards. As Christians in a culture that has a love hate relationship with the body we would be better served by a learyness of the body. (would a culture that really loved the body promote breast augmentation, liposuction, face lifts, tummy tucks, etc. etc or is this more a sign of self loathing?) I write this not to create a dichotomy between the spirit and the body. I'm not a Gnostic. God was enfleshed in the same body as I am enfleshed in. I write this in that my pursuit of the bodily needs can become the primary focus. One can only serve one master. How do I as a disciple, keep in check the instincts which I have? "Self-Control" is an answer. Self Control based in the faith that recognizes the giftedness of creation and also recognizes that when I loose sight of self control and begin to live for self over and above God I limit the gift for others.
Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one. So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air; but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified.
This is a daunting little piece of scripture coming out of the Epistle. As one moving toward ordination this speaks to me. It speaks of moving into a greater rule of life. It speaks of spending more time in prayer. It speaks of a spiritual life that one grows into. I heard this yesterday from a friend but it applies here. He said "one of our difficulties is in training disciples. This is because being a disciple is difficult. The root word of disciple is discipline." Discipline is difficult. Paul wrote (and I may be paraphrasing) "the things I don't want to do I do" Discipline is difficult yet it rewards. As Christians in a culture that has a love hate relationship with the body we would be better served by a learyness of the body. (would a culture that really loved the body promote breast augmentation, liposuction, face lifts, tummy tucks, etc. etc or is this more a sign of self loathing?) I write this not to create a dichotomy between the spirit and the body. I'm not a Gnostic. God was enfleshed in the same body as I am enfleshed in. I write this in that my pursuit of the bodily needs can become the primary focus. One can only serve one master. How do I as a disciple, keep in check the instincts which I have? "Self-Control" is an answer. Self Control based in the faith that recognizes the giftedness of creation and also recognizes that when I loose sight of self control and begin to live for self over and above God I limit the gift for others.
Monday, January 30, 2006
And I questioned putting the Psalm in the readings? What was I thinking?
Grace continues to show that what I think is relatively unimportant. Today I am incredibly grateful for the psalm.
I have wanted to do something like this (ie the practice) for some time. I find synchroncity that in our beginning that this psalm stands out.
This seems to me proof that all of our leanings are seeking to better know our creator. "As the deer longs for the water-brooks, *so longs my soul for you, O God. "
This was the line that Dr. Jung highlighted to Bill W in a short communication. Dr. Jung, unknowingly, was a part of the creation of AA. The man who had helped Bill W get sober was helped by Ebby T. Ebby T had joined the Oxford Movement in the United States after Dr. Jung had told him that his only chance of ever quitting drinking was a complete transformation that could only be produced by a spiritual experience. Years later when Bill W contacted Dr. Jung for unknowingly helping them in the creation of AA, Dr. Jung commented to Bill that he believed the underlying root of alcoholism is the desire to know God. This desire goes astray through the pursuit of the earlthly "spirit" of booze. Dr. Jung in his letter quoted this Psalm, specifically "As the deer longs for the water-brooks/ so longs my soul for you, O God" to describe the alcoholic's central dilemma and opportunity.
What does this have to do with me today? I find it comforting that ten years later, pursuing a calling that I could not have imagined ten years ago, that in the beginning of an important work that this is the psalm that shows up first.
God is good.
Grace continues to show that what I think is relatively unimportant. Today I am incredibly grateful for the psalm.
I have wanted to do something like this (ie the practice) for some time. I find synchroncity that in our beginning that this psalm stands out.
This seems to me proof that all of our leanings are seeking to better know our creator. "As the deer longs for the water-brooks, *so longs my soul for you, O God. "
This was the line that Dr. Jung highlighted to Bill W in a short communication. Dr. Jung, unknowingly, was a part of the creation of AA. The man who had helped Bill W get sober was helped by Ebby T. Ebby T had joined the Oxford Movement in the United States after Dr. Jung had told him that his only chance of ever quitting drinking was a complete transformation that could only be produced by a spiritual experience. Years later when Bill W contacted Dr. Jung for unknowingly helping them in the creation of AA, Dr. Jung commented to Bill that he believed the underlying root of alcoholism is the desire to know God. This desire goes astray through the pursuit of the earlthly "spirit" of booze. Dr. Jung in his letter quoted this Psalm, specifically "As the deer longs for the water-brooks/ so longs my soul for you, O God" to describe the alcoholic's central dilemma and opportunity.
What does this have to do with me today? I find it comforting that ten years later, pursuing a calling that I could not have imagined ten years ago, that in the beginning of an important work that this is the psalm that shows up first.
God is good.
Sunday, January 29, 2006
daily office....bcp lectionary..or revised common...?
A question... are we reflecting on the Daily Office Lectionary, or on the Sunday Lectionary in the Episcopal Church....?
Another, related question is whether anyone is using the Revised Common Lectionary at their field sites (mine does), so if this blog is specifically the BCP lectionary, let me know if you're using the RCL and maybe we can start up our own "breakaway" blog....(I refrained from calling it a network for obvious reasons ;) )
Peaceout,
Peter
Another, related question is whether anyone is using the Revised Common Lectionary at their field sites (mine does), so if this blog is specifically the BCP lectionary, let me know if you're using the RCL and maybe we can start up our own "breakaway" blog....(I refrained from calling it a network for obvious reasons ;) )
Peaceout,
Peter
Mmmm, Hebrews...
Having been following the lectionary through most of January, I just want to put a shout out to Melchizadech (sp?). Gotta love the letter to the Hebrews...
Matt
Matt
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