Readings and Reflections

Collect

O God, our teacher and guide,
you draw us to yourself
and welcome us a beloved children.
Help us to lay aside our envy and selfish ambition,
that we may walk in your ways of wisdom and understanding as servant of your peace. Amen.

Readings

Proverbs 31: 10-31

A capable wife who can find?
She is far more precious than jewels.
The heart of her husband trusts in her,
and he will have no lack of gain.
She does him good, and not harm,
all the days of her life.
She seeks wool and flax,
and works with willing hands.
She is like the ships of the merchant,
she brings her food from far away.
She rises while it is still night
and provides food for her household
and tasks for her servant-girls.
She considers a field and buys it;
with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.
She girds herself with strength,
and makes her arms strong.
She perceives that her merchandise is profitable. Her lamp does not go out at night.
She puts her hands to the distaff,
and her hands hold the spindle.
She opens her hand to the poor,
and reaches out her hands to the needy.
She is not afraid for her household when it snows, for all her household are clothed in crimson.
She makes herself coverings;
her clothing is fine linen and purple.
Her husband is known in the city gates,
taking his seat among the elders of the land.
She makes linen garments and sells them;
she supplies the merchant with sashes.
Strength and dignity are her clothing,
and she laughs at the time to come.
She opens her mouth with wisdom,
and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
She looks well to the ways of her household,
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children rise up and call her happy;
her husband too, and he praises her:
‘Many women have done excellently,
but you surpass them all.’
Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
Give her a share in the fruit of her hands,
and let her works praise her in the city gates.

Psalm 1

James 3: 13-4:3, 7-8a

Mark 9: 30-37

There are definitely weeks that when look at the scripture readings they sort of jump off the page and slide into some good words for a reflection or sermon. That is not in my opinion what we have this week. Nothing jumped anywhere. How do priests do this each week and still give us good information?

The Proverbs reading is one that I looked at earlier in the week and wondered how could I possibly write anything in a good light on a virtuous wife. What comes to mind here is a fairy tale? What woman has time to do all this and have a life too. This is 2021 after all. and yes, I do realize that this was written many years ago. When I read this I think of Mrs. Cleaver from the old show, Leave it to Beaver or Mrs. Brady from the Brady Bunch. Both of these characters from television shows were home in dresses with smiles on their faces and just seemed to be happy most of the time, rarely a hair out of place. So like I said, fairy tale type.
But, is this the only way we can look at this reading. I am going to take it in an entirely different direction and I apologize in advance if you think I am stretching things. In a sermon not long ago, Sheila mentioned that sermons are opinions, so this is my opinion only.

If we look at the happy, dutiful wife and change it to a happy, dutiful Christian, how does that work?

When you have a moment read the scripture passage again thinking Christian and not a wife. Some lines will work and others not so much.

Starting at the first line. “A capable wife who can find” …

I have heard people who have said something similar to this about Christians. That some can be a bit two sided. Christians in the church but not outside the church. We need to make sure we are not that way in our lives.

Many of the lines in this reading can be translated in a “person doing things for Jesus” and not a husband. God trusts each of us to do what Jesus was put on this earth to teach us to do. We all need to do things that show God’s love for everyone and it is not a part time job. It should not be switched off like a light switch when it isn’t convenient for us to follow Je- sus. It isn’t always easy but as long as we are truly trying then we are in the right direction. We have to believe in ourselves that we are equipped to be a good Christian and with prayer and the strength of God behind us we can do more than we can even imagine.

The reading has a line “she opens her mouth with wisdom and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue”. We have the knowledge to keep being good Christians, sometimes we have to think twice about what we may say or how we say it.

I always remember as a kid, when my mother would get angry with me for what I had said. I would look at her and say “What did I say that was so wrong?” Her answer would be that it wasn’t what I said but it was the tone I said it in. A tone can make the whole conversation different than how it was intended.

It isn’t always tone that can get us into trouble, but also how we do things. I have done jobs in the past because they needed to be done, however I wasn’t always happy about doing some of them and it is possible that the way I did the task showed that I wasn’t quite thrilled to be doing it. I think if we all, when taking on any job, we do it with as much joy as we can, remembering that Jesus himself had some lesser than pleasant jobs to do, but did so with respect for all.

So let’s all work towards being virtuous Christians. That is… striving for honesty, courage, compassion, generosity, integrity and self-control as we pick up our crosses and follow Jesus.

Collect

Wisdom of God,
from the street corners and at the entrances to the city
you proclaim the way of life and of death.
Grant us the wisdom to recognize your Messiah,
that following in the way of the cross,
we may know the way of life and glory. Amen.

Readings

Proverbs 1: 20-33

Psalm 19

James 3: 1-12

Mark 8: 27-38

Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that I am?’ And they answered him, ‘John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.’ He asked them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Peter answered him, ‘You are the Messiah.’ And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.

Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, ‘Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.’

He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.’

Who do you say I am?

In the gospel reading today from Mark, Jesus asks his disciples, “Who do people say I am?” and their answers refer to the fierce warrior prophets, John the Baptist, Elijah or someone like Jeremiah. These were men fearful to look upon and listen to, who shouted dire warnings and condemnation at the people for their sinful ways and their abandonment of God. The people in his time perceived Jesus in the tradition of the prophets and saw him as a prophet. Jesus too spoke of himself in this light: “Prophets are not without honour, except in their hometown.” (Mark 6:4) In the opinion of others and in his own consciousness, Jesus was like the prophets of the Jewish Bible. Like them, his calling and passion as a prophet came out of his experience of God. When Jesus asks the disciples, “who do YOU say that I am?” Peter’s answer rings out loud and clear: “You are the Messiah.” In Luke’s version of this incident, he adds the words, “of God,” and Matthew’s version adds, “Son of the Living God.”

The changes in Peter’s cry from Mark to Luke to Matthew reveal the developing tradition around Jesus and points to the early Christian community’s central conviction, that the Jesus whom they experienced and remembered is the decisive revelation of God.

In Matthew Jesus confirms that Peter’s insight has come from divine inspiration: “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven.” Jesus affirms that he is not the kind of Messiah that other people, “flesh and blood,” imagined and longed for. Throughout the gospels Jesus teaches his followers that he is a different kind of Messiah than expected, than we often still expect; he is “gentle and humble in heart,” not the warrior Messiah long hoped for by the children of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses, a hero to lead in battle and victory against oppressors. In Mark’s telling of this moment, Jesus “began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.” Notice Peter’s reaction: “Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him,” no doubt explaining to Jesus that the scenario he outlines just won’t do. In Matthew’s gospel Jesus praised Peter for his insight that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah: “Peter, you are favoured indeed, for you did not learn that from mortal man; it was revealed to you by my heavenly Father.” But now, it is Peter’s turn to be rebuked for “thinking as men think, not as God thinks,” because he does not understand or want to accept the type of Messiah which Jesus is called to be. Peter was no doubt hoping, as were many of his contemporaries, for a warrior Messiah who would free the Jewish people from bondage to Rome, just as Moses had led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt.

Christ is not a warrior king, but a servant, the image coming from the second half of Isaiah, one who identifies and suffers with the oppressed, one who does not resort to violence to set his people free. We’re always living in violent times, as the news certainly makes quite plain. The familiar story of Jesus’ birth emphasizes that he too was born in violent times; however, as the Christ he assumed the mantle of a suffering servant, offering freedom and love. He was not a warrior but a shepherd, and his model of and for peace still waits to be unlocked on this “rock” by his people who have been given “the keys of the kingdom.” Jesus would have us follow his example to be good servants, to care and love all God’s people and God’s world, all of creation. Such a selfless sacrifice is graphically seen in Christ’s passion and death, and in the sacrifice of Christian martyrs, people called to stand up for their beliefs, but the majority of us are called to practice Christ’s way of loving in our lives, “daily,” as Matthew and Luke put it, and that too requires that self often be denied. To practice love requires that we put others before ourselves. In so many troubled relationships or situations, such as the violence erupting during this election campaign, the root cause is so often a selfish attitude, or several selfish attitudes clashing head on, each person vying for self-interest. It takes a spiritual effort to lose self, to find within oneself patience, kindness, mercy, or compassion in the face of anger and violence. These ideals of Christian behaviour are not always attainable, but we are to strive to uphold such ideals in a world sadly in need of compassion and direction. Our model is the selfless sacrifice of Christ, the never-failing love of God, “who so loved the world that he gave . . . life.” To be a follower of Jesus is to live Christ’s way of selfless love so that others might live abundantly.

It is much easier, for writers and filmmakers—and political candidates for the highest office in the land—to attract audiences with adventurous tales of violent heroics. A story of spiritual strength and inner peace just doesn’t gain much notice. The newscast needs the excitement of violence to improve ratings, pictures of war and rumours of war, but the quiet peaceful diplomacy of men and women of God, like Desmond Tutu in South Africa or the Dalai Lama of Tibet, do not often or easily make headlines. Christ offers his followers a way to freedom and love, to fullness of life, when they work together, guided by his teachings and principles of peace and goodwill. Peace comes when we make choices in tune with God’s purposes. Peace comes when we are at peace, with God and ourselves. Taking the risk to “choose life” and dedicating ourselves to God’s service can at times be extremely difficult, but we who profess to follow the Master must keep striving, within ourselves, with each other, with our society and world, to follow the path of peace, to serve others in the name of freedom and love.

Collect

Holy Lord, maker of us all,
you call us to love our neighbours as ourselves
and teach us that faith without works is dead.
Open us to the opportunities for ministry that lie before us,
where faith and words and the need of our neighbour
come together in name of Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen.

Readings

Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23

Psalm 125

James 2:1-10, 14-17

My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favouritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ? For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, ‘Have a seat here, please’, while to the one who is poor you say, ‘Stand there’, or, ‘Sit at my feet’, have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonoured the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into court? Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you?

You do well if you really fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ But if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill’, and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

Mark 7:24-37

From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, ‘Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’ But she answered him, ‘Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.’ Then he said to her, ‘For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.’ So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, ‘Ephphatha’, that is, ‘Be opened.’ And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. They were astounded beyond measure, saying, ‘He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.’

“Faith without works is dead”. This is a well-known quote from our reading today from the Letter of James.

Now, this phrase is often viewed as controversial, particularly in contrast to the writings of St. Paul whose theology is that we are “ Justified (saved) by the grace (or gift) of God”. This is taken to mean that we can do nothing of our own to earn salvation or become entitled to salvation. For Paul, Abraham was justified by his works. In contrast, for those who followed the teachings of Jesus, faith alone was sufficient.

However, if we take James to mean what he said, why would he write Faith without works is dead?

Faith, Works…do they fit together? What do they mean for us?

If you put faith into a search engine like Google, things start to get complicated –you will get over 37 million hits—just a few along the line of my search about religious faith, others being ‘Faith on Amazon, Faith Hill, Improve your Faith’ etc. Some definitions and references, however, may be helpful.

“Faith may be defined briefly as an illogical belief in the occurrence of the improbable” [H.L. Mencken Prejudices: Third Series] “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” Bible: Hebrews. From the Britannica: Faith: an inner attitude, conviction, or trust relating human beings to a supreme God or ultimate salvation. In religious traditions stressing divine grace, faith is the inner certainty or attitude of love granted by God himself.

The Catholic Encyclopedia offers up 17 pages starting in Old Testament times exploring faith objectively and subjectively as the faith of God in man and man in God. Basically, it is saying that faith is given by God. (Note that the term faith is used here to define faith which is a bit like saying blue is the colour blue). In religious literature faith is often referred to as ‘the faith’. For example, the Pope sees his role as upholding ‘the faith’ and the clergy as teaching ‘the faith’. The catechism sets out the faith.

James is fairly explicit about Works. He writes about feeding the hungry, clothing naked— all reminiscent of Jesus teaching “I was hungry and you gave me food; thirsty and you gave me something to drink; a stranger and you welcomed me; sick and you took care of me” (Matt. 25:34-45). I think James means that if we say we have faith, then these works will flow forth. Otherwise, the faith is barren. In other words, we need to think of faith as verb—that faith is expressed not in the recitation of creed or statement of a fact but as actions in our everyday lives.

Thus, kindness and compassion are expressions of faith. Feeding the hungry and clothing the naked are expressions of faith. Seeking justice for all people and creation is an expression of faith.
These ‘works’ are not done to court favour with God, but rather to express our love of God and love of neighbour.

If we look at the Bible, terms like salvation and justification are very prevalent in the Hebrew (Old) Testament and relatively absent from the Gospels. The good news of the Gospels is that God and the Kingdom are in our midst, that there is a new order that seeks justice, sets the oppressed free, and shares the bounty of creation with all. Just think of the actions and teachings of Jesus.

Some of the prayers for today echo these themes. As we prayed in the collect for today:
Stir up, O lord, the wills of you faith people, that richly bearing the fruit of good works, we may by you be richly rewarded.

(Some of you may remember from years gone by, this collect which was appointed for the last Sunday before Advent was affectionately called ‘Stir up Sunday’)

And in the prayer over the gifts:
Accept our offering of labour and love
And in the prayer after Communion:
Your word and sacrament give us food and life. May we who share holy things bear fruit to your honour and glory.

To sum up, quoting from Marcus Borg’s “The Heart of Christianity”:
Compassion and justice are the primary ethical fruits of the Christian Life.
And that life is found in the words and deeds of those who call themselves Christian.

Collect

Blessed are you, O Lord and Lover,
source of beauty and depth of passion.
Strengthen and inspire us to do the word we hear
and live the faith we confess. Amen.

Readings

Song of Solomon 2: 8-13

Psalm 45: 1-2, 7-10

James 1: 17-27

Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. In fulfilment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures.

You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness. Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls.

But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act—they will be blessed in their doing.

If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

Mark 7: 1-8, 14-15, 21-23

Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders; and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it; and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.) So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, ‘Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?’ He said to them, ‘Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written,

“This people honours me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me;
in vain do they worship me,
teaching human precepts as doctrines.”
You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.’

Then he called the crowd again and said to them, ‘Listen to me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.’ For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.’

There is so much good advice and wise council in both the letter from James and in the gospel of Mark. Both passages we read today are about taking ownership for our lives and where they are headed and how we are living them out as well as very practical advice about being a good human being, never mind a good Christian.

Jesus says in Mark’s gospel, ‘Listen to me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.’ And then continues, ‘It is what comes out of a person that defiles. For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.’

Another way to look at it is that Jesus is saying that it is not what is done to you or said to you that hurts your relationship to God but what you do and say. Jesus is always very clear that life, our relationship with God, our relationship with ourselves, with others and with the created world does not go wrong because of others but because of what we have done or said. What we believe God has done to us, or what our parents said to us, or how someone hurt us or the situation we find ourselves in is less important than how we react to the situation, because we always have the ability to choose. To choose how we will react, what we will say, how we will process and understand what happens to us. God is with us in every circumstance and every moment of our lives, through Jesus we have an example of how to choose the good and with the Holy Spirit we have a presence which strengthens and encourages us if we but ask. I think of Jesus on the cross forgiving those who are crucifying him, because he has chosen to do this, to choose the good even in the face of great evil.

James’ letter also takes that approach, that faith and religion are about actions, actions inspired by and directed by our faith and religion but actions none the less. In other words, what we do. James writes,

“But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act—they will be blessed in their doing.”

It is one thing to ‘think’ about being kind or forgiving but if we are not actually practicing it on a regular basis, we have forgotten whose we are. The way we remember and show others that we are followers of Christ is by acting on our beliefs, giving generously without thought to what the receiver may or may not do with the gift. Forgiving people who will not forgive us, being kind in the face of nastiness, these are all ways that we recall that we are children of God and followers of Jesus, it is not entirely for the benefit of others but also for ourselves.

Finally, one of the wisest things James says is’ ‘let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness.’ If we only practice this, we surely are walking in the footsteps of Jesus. Listening is far more important than speaking, thinking deeply about what we will say before we say it, and that anger belongs to God because we do not handle anger well or use it in ways that are helpful rather than just hurtful.
Take some time this week to read over the above passages slowly, carefully, and prayerfully. God’s Holy Word can transform us if we truly listen and open ourselves to it. Amen.