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Date: Friday, Mar 31
Contributor: Kathy Ackerman Lectionary Link Today’s theme is “rescue.” Jeremiah was a prime example of Jesus’ comment in Mark that “a prophet is not without honor except in his hometown.” Jeremiah was constantly running afoul of local authorities for preaching against the establishment. In fact, just prior to today’s reading in the book of Jeremiah, the prophet had been beaten and put into stocks by a rival. In that passage, Jeremiah says God is “like a dread warrior; therefore my persecutors will stumble and they will not prevail.” Psalm 18 is a cry to the Lord to be saved from “the breakers of death,” the “torrents of oblivion” and “the cords of hell.” It’s worth noting that even though Psalm 18 is one of the longest in the book of Psalms, we only get the first 7 verses of the Psalm in today’s reading. The rest of the Psalm speaks of God’s highly dramatic deliverance of the Psalmist, and is well worth the read. Then we have the Gospel passage where John depicts Jesus being confronted by an angry crowd who are preparing to stone him for “making yourself God.” After telling the crowd that “believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” And, just as they are about to go after him, he simply leaves, which was more amazing than it sounds. Jesus was surrounded at “Solomon’s Colonnade” (John 10:23), which is a walkway with the Temple on one side, and a steep drop or solid wall on the other. He literally had no way of escaping that crowd. But God does rescue Him, leaving the angry mob behind. (Interesting to think about their reaction to THAT!) Rescue is an odd concept to be thinking about during Lent, which to me has always been about preparing for the grief of the Passion and then the joy of the Resurrection – what Greek Orthodoxy calls the “season of bright sadness.” That sense of oddness increased for me when I realized that these sets of readings are placed two days before Palm Sunday, when we read not only about the triumphant entry into Jerusalem, but also the dark story of the Passion. Palm Sunday isn’t about rescue – whether it was dramatic, like Jeremiah or the Psalmist – or quiet, like Jesus’ evasion of an angry mob in John. Jesus doesn’t get rescued this time – at least not physically. But upon reflection, it’s really not so odd after all. These readings point out that God’s rescue – in the form of the Resurrection – is on its way. Jeremiah, the Psalmist and Jesus all believed in the power of God to rescue them from dire situations, and their faith carried them through. Where and how does God rescue you?
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 Date: Thursday, Mar 30
Contributor: Kathy Hagan Lectionary Link John 8:51–59 Who do you claim to be?” Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, he of whom you say, ‘He is our God,’ though you do not know him. But I know him; if I would say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him and I keep his word. Your ancestor Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day; he saw it and was glad.” Then the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.” So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple. I AM. Simple words holding such incredible, undeniable power. I AM. And yet, with all the power and authority God possesses, he makes and keeps his covenant with us. He provides to us his incredible Grace and promises us eternal life. For me, this is a time to reflect, to listen deeply, to known that my part is to have the discernment and the courage to go forward in what I believe to be his demands. As stated in the collect, to have no fear in his service. Jesus spent a lifetime on earth walking through hardship, pain, humiliation, indignity upon indignity. Through all of his suffering, I am given the promise of his Grace and his love. For this, it is on me to strive to hear, to follow, to be of service to him without fear. I will never be perfect, but each day allows me another opportunity to love. What a wonder. What a blessing. Date: Wednesday, Mar 29
Contributor: Christopher Haack Lectionary Link Daniel 3:14–20,24–28 Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods and you do not worship the golden statue that I have set up? Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, drum, and entire musical ensemble to fall down and worship the statue that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire, and who is the god that will deliver you out of my hands?” Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to present a defense to you in this matter. If our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire and out of your hand, O king, let him deliver us. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods and we will not worship the golden statue that you have set up.” Then Nebuchadnezzar was so filled with rage against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego that his face was distorted. He ordered the furnace heated up seven times more than was customary, and ordered some of the strongest guards in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and to throw them into the furnace of blazing fire. Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up quickly. He said to his counselors, “Was it not three men that we threw bound into the fire?” They answered the king, “True, O king.” He replied, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the middle of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the fourth has the appearance of a god.” Nebuchadnezzar then approached the door of the furnace of blazing fire and said, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!” So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire. And the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together and saw that the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men; the hair of their heads was not singed, their tunics were not harmed, and not even the smell of fire came from them. Nebuchadnezzar said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants who trusted in him. They disobeyed the king’s command and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God. This week I have been reflecting on the story of Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego and King Nebuchadnezzar. And as hard as I tried between the four of them I kept finding myself identifying with old King Nebuchadnezzar. Not because I think the King was remotely correct or legitimized in the course of action he took, but being a person of privilege often I have found myself challenged or more precisely threatened by a point of view or life experience that is different than my own. Even in my professional life beyond the church as a Manager I really don’t like to be seen as somehow wrong, I can’t help but feel in some perverse way to be wrong is a show of weakness or vulnerability. Not very PC of me is it, and there are times I really struggle with that. What gives me hope in this story however, is that even in the flames of my stupidity and ignorance there is still the opportunity for growth. You see, when I was thinking about this lesson I realized that God protected his faithful while still not condemning the ignorant and wrathful Nebuchadnezzar. The king took the chance to be wrong, be vulnerable and grow. Thanks be to God that our God is a loving and forgiving God. All we need to do is to take that opportunity to be humble, vulnerable and seek a closer relationship to them.  ate: Tuesday, March 28
Contributor: Barb Jordahl Lectionary Link I can read passages over and over, think I have captured something, but often am not sure if I got it right.... In this reading from John 8 21-30, I may drill down to a too basic level, but in summary:
You, Lord, are both Lamb and Shepherd
We learned of Christ’s role as the Good Shepherd when we were little children, but it wasn’t until we were older that we truly came to realize what is meant by his other role as the Lamb of God. This hymn text, written especially to be sung to the well-known tune we hear the recorders play in the video, was subtitled Christus Paradox by the Canadian hymnwriter, Sylvia Dunstan. The verses explore the paradox of Christ being both human and divine, lamb and shepherd, earthly and heavenly, and leaves us with the ultimate incongruity of Christ as the “everlasting instant”. There is much to ponder in these verses: You, Lord, are both Lamb and Shepherd. You, Lord, are both prince and slave. You, peacemaker and swordbringer Of the way you took and gave. You the everlasting instant; You, whom we both scorn and crave. Clothed in light upon the mountain, Stripped of might upon the cross, Shining in eternal glory, Beggar’d by a soldier’s toss, You, the everlasting instant; You, who are both gift and cost. You, who walk each day beside us, Sit in power at God’s side. You, who preach a way that’s narrow, Have a love that reaches wide. You, the everlasting instant; You, who are our pilgrim guide. Worthy is our earthly Jesus! Worthy is our cosmic Christ! Worthy your defeat and vict’ry. Worthy still your peace and strife. You, the everlasting instant; You, who are our death and life. Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia. You, who are our death and our life. ~Sylvia Dunstan (1955-1993) Date: Saturday, Mar 25
Contributor: Leslie Norton Lectionary Link Ready, Set, Flow. At the Vestry retreat we learned to think about events and even prayers in thirds. The example was a Rule of thirds in carpentry. Ready- one prepares the space and assembles the tools. Measures and looks at the plans. Set- one cuts the pieces of wood into pieces. Then the Flow is the finished product and tidying up the space. We all thought of our own examples. I envisioned preparing a meal. The Ready was buying and preparing the foods and cleaning the kitchen before starting. The Set is the mixing of ingredients and cooking the foods. The Flow is serving a meal to others and cleaning the space so that it is ready for the next day. Thinking about the process in thirds makes sense. We also looked at scripture and prayer with this in mind. The Ready is preparing our minds to pray and listen to the Psalms. The Set is reading or listening to the Psalms. The Flow is going out into the world and sharing with others and telling the world about St Christophers. Psalm 40:5-6 5 Great things are they that you have done. Oh Lord my God! how great your wonders and your plans for us! there is none who can be compared with you. 6 Oh, that I could make them known and tell them! but they are more than I can count. Date: Friday, Mar 24
Contributor: Mike Sirany Lectionary Link Wisdom 2:1a, 12-24 John 7:1-2,10, 25-30 Psalm 34: 15-22 Wisdom 2:1a,12–24 They reasoned unsoundly, saying to themselves, “Short and sorrowful is our life. “Let us lie in wait for the righteous man, because he is inconvenient to us and opposes our actions; he reproaches us for sins against the law, and accuses us of sins against our training. He professes to have knowledge of God, and calls himself a child of the Lord. He became to us a reproof of our thoughts; the very sight of him is a burden to us, because his manner of life is unlike that of others, and his ways are strange. We are considered by him as something base, and he avoids our ways as unclean; he calls the last end of the righteous happy, and boasts that God is his father. Let us see if his words are true, and let us test what will happen at the end of his life; for if the righteous man is God’s child, he will help him, and will deliver him from the hand of his adversaries. Let us test him with insult and torture, so that we may find out how gentle he is, and make trial of his forbearance. Let us condemn him to a shameful death, for, according to what he says, he will be protected.” Thus they reasoned, but they were led astray, for their wickedness blinded them, and they did not know the secret purposes of God, nor hoped for the wages of holiness, nor discerned the prize for blameless souls; for God created us for incorruption, and made us in the image of his own eternity, but through the devil’s envy death entered the world, and those who belong to his company experience it. Wisdom (or The Wisdom of Solomon) was probably composed late in the first century BCE. Chapters 1-5 deal with the gift of immortality (which generally shows up late in biblical thought). The verses omitted from the above passage (2:2-11) speak of the unrighteous or ungodly reasoning that life is short, and since we are born into it by random chance, with no one ever returning from death, we may as well “live it up” and take full advantage of our time here on earth, even taking advantage of those less fortunate than ourselves, since in the end, nothing else really matters except our own good pleasure. “Come, therefore, let us enjoy the good things that exist, and make use of the creation to the full as in youth. Let us take our fill of costly wine and perfumes…Let none of us fail to share in our revelry; everywhere let us leave signs of enjoyment…let us repress the righteous poor man…” (Wis 2: 6-10). Sounds similar to a beer commercial from a few years back. “You only go around once in life, so live life with all the gusto you can…” This observation from Wisdom over 2000 years ago rings true even today, and might be a good reminder of what a healthy religious or spiritual orientation can offer to the world. And since I have often lived a fairly self absorbed or egocentric life, these words call me during lent to reflect on the times I have failed to love or practice charity as fully as I could have. Fortunately, as Bishop Loya recently said, thank goodness we have a God who loves us unconditionally and everlastingly, and we don’t have to do anything to earn that love. So I pray the Jesus prayer in light of this understanding: “Lord Jesus Christ, son of the living God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” And forgive me for the times I too have focused on my own self-interest, instead of the needs of my brothers and sisters.  Date: Thursday, Mar 23
Contributor: Gayle Marsh Lectionary Link They’re back! A few skyward honks bring to remembrance Mary Oliver’s poem “Wild Geese”. “You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.” Her poem corrects the rigors of approaching Lent as a program for self-improvement. The poem invites us to lay aside journeys of self-punishment in hope of divine reward. Her words caution against giving something up only to grasp it back “after Lent”. Christianity has been plagued for centuries with dualism. Something is dualistic if the “spiritual” is preferred to the “physical body”. This evolves the idea that the MIND/ THOUGHT is GOOD, and BODY is CORRUPT and needs punishment. It is past time for this plague to depart. “The soft animal of my body,” is the tender, instinctual, deeply human part of you and me that loves; the part that of Ash Wednesday’s gospel (Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21) that Jesus calls heart. What do we devote focused attention towards? What do we really cherish? Where are my treasures? Jesus reminds us that heart and treasure cannot be separated. “For where your treasure is, there you heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21). The heart follows one’s treasures. When I name my treasures then I find my heart, that “soft animal” that loves. When we face ourselves, acknowledging the treasures we invest our life energy toward and the subsequent directions that follow, then we are free. It will be easier for the wings of goodness to soar. It will be less painful than inflicting the grueling “walk on [my] knees for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.” Repenting changes the autopilot responses of life, and that takes time to get used to. May we have wisdom to look at attachments we cling to and those that static-cling to us. Some treasures have eternal value and are worth clinging to. Other treasures are flimsy. Much of humanity still suffer from attachment to material gain, self-importance, and the urge to control or dominate others. We are past the midway point in Lent. May our spirits soar as we return “home” knowing God’s approving gaze desires us to fly, to be uplifted in love and self care. Be tender with yourself, your family and friends, share your food. Honor the laughter that jiggles our “soft animal belly”. May we mount up with wings of geese, soaring in formation, with all grace. Gayle Mardene Marsh Fourth Thursday in Lent, March 23. (It just happens to be the 65th anniversary of my baptism). Date: Wednesday, Mar 22
Contributor: Lyn Lawyer Lectionary Link Saying Grace before Meals Psalm 145:16-17. “The eyes of all wait upon you O Lord, and you give them their food in due season. You open wide your hand and satisfy the needs of every living creature.” One of the themes running through today’s scriptures is about food and God’s desire to see us all fed, spiritually and physically. Thus, I immediately thought about saying grace. As a child we always said the same grace before dinner, which most Episcopalians can say in their sleep. “Bless this food to our use and us to thy service and give us grateful hearts for all thy many blessings. Make us ever mindful of the needs of others, Amen”. My father always made us count to ten before we could start eating, I suppose to make us reflect on what we had just prayed. Once when my children needed breakfast before heading out to school we recited the collect for grace. “Lord God, almighty and everlasting Father, you have brought us in safety to this new day. Preserve us with your mighty power, that we may not fall into sin, nor be overcome by adversity; and in all we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose; through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (BCP p.100) After he had heard it enough times our youngest, who I am guessing was about four at the time, interpreted this grace as “Thank you for this food and help us to be good” this has become our restaurant grace ever since. I have a niece who as a child would not eat a cookie without saying a quick thank you to God for the treat. This intrigued me at the time and reminded me that we need to be grateful for all the little things in life all the time. Back in the days of the Rev. Henry Hoover, whenever the parish had a meal together he would always use Psalm 145: 16-17 as a call and response grace. He would call out verse 16 and we were expected to respond with verse 17. The memory of that is what spurred me to think about what are we saying to ourselves and to God when we say grace before a meal. Lately I have been adding at least three specific “thank-yous” to dinner grace as a reminder that we have much more to be grateful for than to fuss about. May Blessings, Peace, Joy, Love and Grace, all gifts from God, pour down on all of us as we prepare for Easter. Date: Tuesday, March 21 Contributor: Sue Triebenbach Lectionary Link O God, with you is the well of life, and in your light we see light: Quench our thirst with living water, and flood our darkened minds with heavenly light; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. Well of Life Living Water How do you feel, see, hear, understand these words? All photos were found on the internet using Bing search engine
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AuthorReflections provided by members of our Faith Familly and compiled by Marion Hunner Archives
April 2023
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