Above:  A Corn Field

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Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), of The Episcopal Church, contains an adapted two-years weekday lectionary for the Epiphany and Ordinary Time seasons from the Anglican Church of Canada.  I invite you to follow it with me.

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Hebrews 6:10-20 (Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition):

For God is not so unjust as to overlook your work and the love which you showed us for his sake in serving the saints, as you still do.  And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness in realizing the same assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

For when God made a promise to to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore to himself, saying,

Surely I will bless you and multiply you.

And thus Abraham, having patiently endured, obtained the promise.  Men indeed swear by a greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation.  So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he interposed with an oath, so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible that God should prove false, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us.  We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, and a hope that enters into the inner shrine behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest for ever according to the order of Melchizedek.

Psalm 111 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):

1 Hallelujah!

I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart,

in the assembly of the upright, in the congregation.

2 Great are the deeds of the LORD!

they are studied by all who delight in them.

3 His work is full of majesty and splendor,

and his righteousness endures for ever.

4 He makes his marvelous works to be remembered;

the LORD is gracious and full of compassion.

5 He gives food to those who fear him;

he is ever mindful of his covenant.

6 He has shown his people the power of his works

in giving them the lands of the nations.

7 The works of his hands are faithfulness and justice;

all his commandments are sure.

8 They stand fast for ever and ever,

because they are done in truth and equity.

9 He sent redemption to his people;

he commanded his covenant for ever;

holy and awesome is his Name.

10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;

those who act accordingly have a good understanding;

his praise endures for ever.

Mark 2:23-28 (Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition):

One sabbath he was going through the grainfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain.  And the Pharisees said to him,

Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?

And he said to them,

Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him; how he entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the showbread, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?

And he said to them,

The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath; so the Son of man is lord even of the sabbath.

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The Collect:

Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light of the world: Grant that your people, illumined by your Word and Sacraments, may shine with the radiance of Christ’s glory, that he may be known, worshipped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

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The Pharisees (most, not all of them) are among the bete noires of the canonical Gospels.  These very publicly pious people criticize Jesus, his Apostles, and even some people he healed again and again.  In all likelihood these critics did what they understood righteousness to require of them.  I prefer to extend to them the benefit of the doubt; they were wrong, but sincerely so.  They did not wake up each morning and plot how to be difficult spiritually, although much of what they did and the Gospels report to us constituted such.

Indeed, I think that we need to check ourselves for signs of being contemporary counterparts of the Pharisees.  Christian denominations have built up traditions over thousands and hundreds of years.  Many of these are functional and constructive, even beautiful.  Yet even something useful and beautiful can become an idol, if we transform it into that.  And ossification of tradition can occur easily, rendering us inflexible in the habits of our minds.  The stories of Jesus teach us many valuable lessons, including the importance of avoiding such ossification.

Consider this day’s reading from Mark.  Jesus and his Apostles violated many sabbath laws observant Pharisees kept.  There were many arcane sabbath laws, which split hairs more finely than any Philadelphia lawyer.  Taken together, the sabbath laws permitted preventing an emergency situation from getting worse yet forbade making it better.  For example, one could apply a plain bandage but not ointment to an injured finger on the sabbath.  So you should not be surprised to learn that plucking and eating corn was illegal on the sabbath.  Doing so remedied hunger, but that meant making something better.

This is a twisted way to think about the sabbath, is it not?  It transforms the sabbath, which is supposed to a gift and a marker of freedom (slaves did not get days off) into a burden and something to manage with the help of a very long checklist of forbidden activities.  Puritans did it too, and many observant self-professing Christians and Jews continue to treat the sabbath in this way.  We should not neglect the sabbath, of course, but we ought not treat it like a burden and an occasion of legalism, either.

Back to our story….

Jesus reminded his critics of scriptural precedents for what he had done.  In 1 Samuel 21:1-6, Exodus 25:23-30, and Leviticus 24:9 we find the relevant information about David and the showbread.  Mentioning David, the revered king, was powerful rhetorical tool, although it certainly did not impress hyper-critical Pharisees.  It did, however, point out the hypocrisy of Jesus’ critics, who were not the intended audience for the Gospel According to Mark.  So the comment finds its target even today, at least some of the time.  I wonder, though, how often well-intentioned Christians miss the power of this story, perhaps more out of a “I know that story already” attitude, if nothing else.

William Barclay, in his insightful commentary on the Gospel reading, points out that

Religion does not consist in rules and regulations

and

The best way to use sacred things is to use them for men.

In other words, it is sinful to refuse to apply religious laws to prevent starving and very hungry people from eating–sabbath or not.  This principle applies to physical realities beyond hunger; it pertains to helping people with whatever distresses them.  Barclay concludes his section of the reading from Mark with this sentence:

The final arbiter in the use of all things is love and not law.

I could not have said it better.

We have a loving God and Lord.  The works of God are marvelous and utterly spectacular.  And Jesus became not only our priest but our passover lamb.  That demonstrates love, does it not?  So we ought to display love, as well, and not hide behind laws which reinforce self-righteousness and make excuses for oppressing people and not helping them.   We have a mandate from God to care for others and to love them as we love ourselves.  God has commanded us to care for the vulnerable among us.  We might make excuses for why we fail to do this, but that does not erase our sin in the eyes of God.

One of my favorite deceased people was the actor Andreas Katsulas (1946-2006).  He played the one-armed man in the film version of The Fugitive.  He also portrayed Commander Tomalok on Star Trek: The Next Generation and Ambassador G’Kar on Babylon 5.  Katsulas was a practicing Greek Orthodox and an excellent chef.  Part of his Sunday ritual involved cooking meals for homeless people.  This would have violated the Pharisees’ sabbath codes, but it did demonstrate love.

May we compete with one another in demonstrating love for our fellow human beings every day of the week.  Let us lay aside tendencies toward one upsmanship, self-righteousness, and public displays of piety meant to make us look good.  May we listen to one another more and more often, and shout at each other less and less often.  May we love one another in attitudes, words, and deeds.  May that be our law.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF CHURCHILL JULIUS, ANGLICAN ARCHBISHOP OF NEW ZEALAND

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Adapted from this post:

http://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2010/09/23/week-of-2-epiphany-tuesday-year-1/

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Above:  Paralytic at Capernaum

The Paralysis of Unbelief

JANUARY 14, 2011

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Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), of The Episcopal Church, contains an adapted two-years weekday lectionary for the Epiphany and Ordinary Time seasons from the Anglican Church of Canada.  I invite you to follow it with me.

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Hebrews 4:1-5, 11 (Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition):

Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest remains, let us fear lest any of you be judged to have failed to reach it.  For good news came to us just as to them; but the message which they heard did not benefit them, because it did not meet with faith in the hearers.  For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said,

As I swore in my wrath,

‘They shall never enter my rest,’

although his works were finished from the foundation of the world.  For he has somewhat spoken of the seventh day in this way.  “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.”

And again in this place he said,

They shall never enter my rest.

Let us therefore strive to enter that rest that no one fall by the same sort of disobedience.

Psalm 78:3-8 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):

3 That which we have heard and known,

and what our forefathers have told us,

we will not hide from their children.

4 We will recount to generations to come

the praiseworthy deeds and power of the LORD,

and the wonderful works he has done.

5 He gave his decrees to Jacob

and established a law for Israel,

which he commanded them to teach to their children;

6 That the generation to come might know,

and the children yet unborn;

that they in their turn might tell it to their children;

7 So that they might put their trust in God,

and not forget the deeds of God,

but keep his commandments;

8 And not be like their forefathers,

a stubborn and rebellious generation,

a generation whose heart was not steadfast,

and whose spirit was not faithful to God.

Mark 2:1-12 (Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition):

And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home.  And many were gathered together , so that there was no longer room for them, not even about the door; and he was preaching the word to them.  And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men.  And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and when they had made an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic lay.  And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic,

Child, your sins are forgiven.

Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts,

Why does this man speak like this?  It is blasphemy!  Who can forgive sins but God alone?

And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit what they questioned like this within themselves, said to them,

Why do you question like this in your hearts?  Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your pallet, and walk’?  But that you too may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins

–he said to the paralytic–

I say to you, rise, take up your pallet, and go home.

And he rose, and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying,

We never saw anything like this!

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The Collect:

Father in heaven, who at the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan proclaimed him your beloved Son and anointed him with the Holy Spirit: Grant that all who are baptized into his Name may keep the covenant they have made, and boldly confess him as Lord and Savior; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

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He who blasphemes the name of the LORD shall be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him; the sojourner as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.

Leviticus 24:16 (Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition)

This is the passage the critics of Jesus had on their minds when they accused him of blasphemy for forgiving sins.

Let us pause and catch up with the narrative in the Gospel According to Mark.  Jesus had healed a leper and instructed to follow the germane rituals of the Law of Moses.  Instead the man had told everyone he could what Jesus had done for him.  So Jesus had to remain in the wilderness for a while until the excitement died down.  Then he returned to his home at Capernaum, on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.  And people flocked to him there, in his house.  Four men had to cut out a portion of the flat roof of Jesus’ house and lower a paralyzed friend on a pallet, so Jesus could heal him.  We have no account of the paralyzed man’s faith, but that of the four friends is obvious.

Jewish orthodoxy of the time held that physical suffering, such as paralysis, flowed from sin.  One needed forgiveness from God before healing could occur.  Jesus, who had divine authority his critics did not recognize, forgave the man first then healed him.  Whatever the mechanics of how this happened, the story describes that is occurred.  William Barclay, in is volume on this Gospel, suggests a psychological cause of both the paralysis and the healing.  The man, Barclay writes, may have been paralyzed because he knew he was a sinner, and Jesus’ forgiveness was all the man needed to be whole again.  Maybe so, but I think the result more important than the process or the cause.

And, as Barclay writes in his commentary on this passage from Mark, “The experts in the law were hoist on their own petard.”  Jesus had forgiven and healed.  The man’s healed state was evidence of forgiveness of sin, in the standard theology of the time.  So could the elders of the Sanhedrin claim that God had not forgiven him and that Jesus was a blasphemer who deserved death by stoning without being hypocrites?

The men who wrote the canonical Gospels did so decades after the life of Jesus.  They know how the story ended, and so they planted foreshadowing in these documents.  They emphasized details they deemed germane to the development of the narrative.  We have such foreshadowing here.  It is about to get dangerous for Jesus.

These religious experts were rebelling against God, perhaps without knowing it.  The guardians of tradition were the disobedient ones.  God was doing a new thing, and they either did not perceive it or welcome it, or both.  They were frozen in place, stuck in the paralysis of their own tradition.  Sometimes trust in God requires us to abandon tradition and to accept the evidence we see with our own eyes.

I have watched all episodes of a 2002-2004 series called Jeremiah.  The events of the series occur in 2020-2021, 15 and 16 years after “The Big Death,” a virus that killed almost all post-pubescent humans within half a year.  Our heroes, headquartered at Cheyenne Mountain, are competing with other factions to rebuild the United States politically and otherwise.  Jeremiah, for whom the show is named, is angry with God, blaming the deity for letting all the unfortunate events occur.  One of the most interesting characters is Mister Smith, who claims that God speaks to him.  One day, Mister Smith passes along an invitation from God.  Those who to a certain place on a certain date and who wait long enough will receive a miracle of their choosing.  Jeremiah refuses to go along, but a few others agree to go with Mister Smith to the designated place.  Yet only Mister Smith remains long enough to receive his miracle.  He asked for the restoration of the use of one arm, paralyzed in a recent accident.  And only Mister Smith receives his miracle.  He tells the others that they should have stayed.

God might not make sense to us, but that is our problem, not God’s.

Here ends the lesson, for now.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

SEPTEMBER 19, 2010 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT THEODORE OF TARSUS, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY

THE FEAST OF FIORELLO LAGUARDIA, MAYOR OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK

THE FEAST OF THOMAS JOHNSON, JOHN DAVY, AND THEIR COMPANIONS, MARTYRS

THE FEAST OF WILLIAM CHALMERS SMITH, SCOTTISH PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER

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Adapted from this post:

http://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2010/09/19/week-of-1-epiphany-friday-year-1/

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