Daily Lesson for the Day of Visitation, May 31, 2019

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from 1 Samuel chapter 1 verses 1 through 3 and 9 through 20:

There was a certain man of Ramathaim, a Zuphite from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah son of Jeroham son of Elihu son of Tohu son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. 2He had two wives; the name of one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.

3 Now this man used to go up year by year from his town to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of hosts at Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests of the Lord.

9 After they had eaten and drunk at Shiloh, Hannah rose and presented herself before the Lord. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the Lord. 10She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord, and wept bitterly. 11She made this vow: ‘O Lord of hosts, if only you will look on the misery of your servant, and remember me, and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a male child, then I will set him before you as a nazirite until the day of his death. He shall drink neither wine nor intoxicants, and no razor shall touch his head.’

12 As she continued praying before the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. 13Hannah was praying silently; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard; therefore Eli thought she was drunk. 14So Eli said to her, ‘How long will you make a drunken spectacle of yourself? Put away your wine.’ 15But Hannah answered, ‘No, my lord, I am a woman deeply troubled; I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord. 16Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman, for I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation all this time.’ 17Then Eli answered, ‘Go in peace; the God of Israel grant the petition you have made to him.’ 18And she said, ‘Let your servant find favour in your sight.’ Then the woman went to her quarters, ate and drank with her husband, and her countenance was sad no longer.

19 They rose early in the morning and worshipped before the Lord; then they went back to their house at Ramah. Elkanah knew his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered her. 20In due time Hannah conceived and bore a son. She named him Samuel, for she said, ‘I have asked him of the Lord.’

Today is the Day of Visitation in the Liturgical Calendar, the time when Mary visited Elizabeth after the angel is said to have appeared to Mary and promised a divinely conceived child in due time. 

The phrase, “In due time,” is found in today’s Lesson from the Hebrew Bible and is a wonderful little string of words. Hannah has been hoping and praying for a child and anguishing over her and her husband Elkanah’s inability to conceive together. The frustration and disappointment was heart wrenching. Yet she continued to pray, bringing her sorrows and her heartache to the LORD, and in due time she conceived. 

There’s a danger in the text that must be avoided. Hannah is celebrated for her faithfulness. But faithfulness is never a guarantee that what we hope and wish for might happen. She was faithful in her barrenness. It is for this that she is a model, because she was faithful even amidst her sorrow and disappointment. 

Conception is a mystery. Life is a mystery. The due time of anything is always hidden in the mystery of God. The times we know not of. Our task for the time being then is always to work, to wait, to hope, and to pray. The future is in God’s hands. The day of birth for something new is unknown. The advent of God’s work is unrevealed and in the words of the Hymn of Promise “something God alone can see.”

God alone knows the due date for all things. And so to us belongs this day which we can rejoice and be glad in or sing psalms of longing and lamentation. In either case there is faithfulness, and hope in the one who in the end is always the Giver of Life. 

Daily Lesson for Ascension Day, May 30, 2019

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Matthew chapter 28 verses 16 through 20:

16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. 18And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Today is Ascension Day in the liturgical calendar, when we remember how Jesus ascended into heaven 40 days after Easter. This is a day of empowerment, coming at the time of graduation and commencement.  It is a day when Jesus says to us what we say to young people walking the stage to receive their diploma — “Now, you’ve been taught. You know everything you need to know for now. Life will reveal the rest along the way. So now go, and be not afraid.”

I love what the Lesson says today. When they saw Jesus “they worshipped him; but some doubted.” Isn’t that is? We worship. We profess. We believe. But we also doubt. We doubt ourselves. We doubt our readiness. We doubt our words. We doubt we’ll know what in the world to do. We doubt God. But Jesus doesn’t seem to be too much bothered by those doubts. All he says, “Now go; get at it.”

In the beginning of his time with the disciples three years before Jesus said, “Come and see.” Now he says, “Go and see.”  “Go and see for yourself. Go and see that you are enough. Go and see that this way and life is true. Go and see that God is true. Go and see and discover along the way that, behold, I’m with you always.”

And the next thing they knew the disciples had their diploma in one hand and a license to teach in the other . . .

Daily Lesson for May 29, 2019

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from 2 Kong’s chapter 2 verses 1 through 15:

Now when the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. 2Elijah said to Elisha, ‘Stay here; for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel.’ But Elisha said, ‘As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.’ So they went down to Bethel. 3The company of prophets* who were in Bethel came out to Elisha, and said to him, ‘Do you know that today the Lord will take your master away from you?’ And he said, ‘Yes, I know; keep silent.’

4 Elijah said to him, ‘Elisha, stay here; for the Lord has sent me to Jericho.’ But he said, ‘As the Lordlives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.’ So they came to Jericho. 5The company of prophets*who were at Jericho drew near to Elisha, and said to him, ‘Do you know that today the Lord will take your master away from you?’ And he answered, ‘Yes, I know; be silent.’

6 Then Elijah said to him, ‘Stay here; for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.’ But he said, ‘As the Lordlives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.’ So the two of them went on. 7Fifty men of the company of prophets* also went, and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan.8Then Elijah took his mantle and rolled it up, and struck the water; the water was parted to the one side and to the other, until the two of them crossed on dry ground.

9 When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, ‘Tell me what I may do for you, before I am taken from you.’ Elisha said, ‘Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit.’ 10He responded, ‘You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it will be granted you; if not, it will not.’ 11As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven. 12Elisha kept watching and crying out, ‘Father, father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!’ But when he could no longer see him, he grasped his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.

13 He picked up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. 14He took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and struck the water, saying, ‘Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?’ When he had struck the water, the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and Elisha went over.

15 When the company of prophets*who were at Jericho saw him at a distance, they declared, ‘The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.’ They came to meet him and bowed to the ground before him.

“He picked up the mantle.”

This is one of the most powerful and inspiring sentences in all of Scripture. Elisha picked up the mantle of his mentor Elijah. One generation took up the work and witness and the cause of holy trouble that the former generation began. 

I admire Elisha. He did not allow his doubts and fears keep him from taking the baton. He did not shrink from his own time. When his day came he stepped into it. When the mantle fell he picked it up and tried it on. He dared to believe in himself. He dared to believe that the Spirit that was on Elijah might also be on him. 

Daily Lesson for May 28, 2019

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Deuteronomy chapter 8 verses 1 through 10:

This entire commandment that I command you today you must diligently observe, so that you may live and increase, and go in and occupy the land that the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors.2Remember the long way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, in order to humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commandments. 3He humbled you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you with manna, with which neither you nor your ancestors were acquainted, in order to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. 4The clothes on your back did not wear out and your feet did not swell these forty years. 5Know then in your heart that as a parent disciplines a child so the Lord your God disciplines you. 6Therefore keep the commandments of the Lord your God, by walking in his ways and by fearing him. 7For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land with flowing streams, with springs and underground waters welling up in valleys and hills, 8a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, 9a land where you may eat bread without scarcity, where you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron and from whose hills you may mine copper. 10You shall eat your fill and bless the Lord your God for the good land that he has given you.

Paula D’Arcy says, “God comes to us disguised as our life.”

Life always brings us into the wilderness. There is no other way around it. We cannot skip the wilderness if we want to get to the Promised Land. And that is because it is in the wilderness that we are shaped and formed and become a people.  It’s in the wilderness that we learn to depend upon God. God comes to us disguised as our wilderness way — uncertain, challenging, frustratingly long; yet also character and community-building, and faith-forming. In the wilderness we learn to give thanks for our daily bread and look deep within for springs of life. In the wilderness we learn to walk under the cloud each day and rest beside the pillar of fire each night.

The wilderness should never be romanticized. It’s hard. Many falter. If there were another way we’d take it. But there is no other way. There is no way other way other than struggle and doubt and the path of insecurity. No; we don’t know what tomorrow will bring. But we trust God will come to us — disguised as a narrow path through a dry and weary land. 

Let’s stick to it . . .

Daily Lesson for Memorial Day, May 27, 2019

Today is Memorial Day and we remember the sacrifice of those who in Lincoln’s words gave “the last full measure of devotion” to our nation.

Yesterday in service I referenced a memorial plaque at Broadway with the names of 22 Broadway-related men who lost their lives in WWII and the Korean War. Another plaque beside records the name of an additional Broadway member who was killed in the Vietnam War. Beneath the words of WWII and Korean memorial plaque are these words: “Lest Ye Forget”.

Memorial Day is about not forgetting. More than glib patriotic speeches and saccharine salutes, Memorial Day is our reminder of the ultimate sacrifice some on behalf of a nation dedicated to freedom and justice for all and a constitution which guarantees equality under the law for all people — from the pauper to the president. We remember today, forgetting not the soldiers, sailors, and Marines who have nor what they died for — defending the Constitution of the United States against all enemies — foreign and domestic.

At the dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetery Lincoln said the ground itself had already been hallowed by the blood of the fallen; it was now rather the living who must be dedicated “that government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the earth.”

It remains our duty to be so dedicated — to uphold this American experiment of democracy and all its traditions of rights and protections and the rule of law, and to keep striving to make it, in Jefferson’s words, “a more perfect union”.  This is what Memorial Day is about; it’s about remembering the ultimate sacrifices of others and also dedicating ourselves to the same good and noble fight.

Lest we forget, we remember. So let us remember well and always. 

Daily Lesson for March 24, 2019

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Luke chapter 8 verses 40 through 55a:

40 Now when Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him. 41Just then there came a man named Jairus, a leader of the synagogue. He fell at Jesus’ feet and begged him to come to his house, 42for he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, who was dying.

As he went, the crowds pressed in on him. 

43Now there was a woman who had been suffering from haemorrhages for twelve years; and though she had spent all she had on physicians, no one could cure her. 44She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his clothes, and immediately her haemorrhage stopped. 45Then Jesus asked, ‘Who touched me?’ When all denied it, Peter said, ‘Master, the crowds surround you and press in on you.’ 46But Jesus said, ‘Someone touched me; for I noticed that power had gone out from me.’ 47When the woman saw that she could not remain hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before him, she declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed. 48He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.’

49 While he was still speaking, someone came from the leader’s house to say, ‘Your daughter is dead; do not trouble the teacher any longer.’ 50When Jesus heard this, he replied, ‘Do not fear. Only believe, and she will be saved.’ 51When he came to the house, he did not allow anyone to enter with him, except Peter, John, and James, and the child’s father and mother. 52They were all weeping and wailing for her; but he said, ‘Do not weep; for she is not dead but sleeping.’ 53And they laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. 54But he took her by the hand and called out, ‘Child, get up!’ 55Her spirit returned, and she got up at once. 

Earlier this year a Netflix documentary about the stigma of menstruation in India won an Oscar. The film, “Period. End of Sentence”, tells the story of several Indian women fighting to change perceptions that menstruation is an uncleanness and/or an illness. Their work includes efforts to stop making women retire from society during their periods and also to make low-cost sanitary products accessible for all.

I tell you this because in today’s Lesson the woman in the story with the bleeding issue has a menstrual disorder. She has bled for 12 years without ceasing and her condition has left her both financially bankrupt and also socially shunned. She is perpetually unclean. Now, another young girl is ill. She is the daughter of the synagogue leader.  She is twelve years old. And because her age is mentioned and because her story is told intertwined with the story of the bleeding woman, many Biblical scholars believe she has begun her own menstruation. And now seeing her own 12-year-old bleeding body and knowing the social shunning the bleeding woman has faced for all those 12 years, the young girl falls into a deep fear-induced, psycho-social illness. Having now entered into the world of ritual uncleanness, she would rather die than be shunned.

Jesus, for his part however, touches and allows himself to be touched by both the unclean woman and girl. Jesus undoes the stigma associated with both and restores them each back into the community.

These stories are about so-called “womens issues”. But the one with the real issue is the community. Like the work of the women in India, the story is told to change perception, to de-stigmatize, and to bring about acceptance. Menstruation is natural.  A woman’s body and its functions are natural. They should never be seen as gross, stigmatizing, or socially-excluding. And their functions should never be used as excuses to ostracize, demean, disempower, or control. 

Period. End of sentence. 

Daily Lesson for May 23, 2019

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Romans chapter 14 verses 1 through 11:

Welcome those who are weak in faith, but not for the purpose of quarrelling over opinions. 2Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables. 3Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgement on those who eat; for God has welcomed them. 4Who are you to pass judgement on servants of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall. And they will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make them stand.

5 Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. 6Those who observe the day, observe it in honour of the Lord. Also those who eat, eat in honour of the Lord, since they give thanks to God; while those who abstain, abstain in honour of the Lord and give thanks to God.

7 We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. 8If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. 9For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

10 Why do you pass judgement on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgement seat of God. 11For it is written,

‘As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,

   and every tongue shall give praise to God.’

There is a wonderful little Latin saying which at its core seems to well-summarize today’s Lesson:

“in necessariis unitas, in dubiis libertas, in omnibus caritas.”

It means, “in certain things unity; in doubtful things liberty; in all things charity.”

We can split hairs all day and argue about how many angels can dance on the head of a pin or fight over who can be a priest, pastor, deacon, or member of the church.

But in certain things unity; in doubtful things liberty; in all things charity.

Here are the certain things. God is love. We are to love God and neighbor with the same love with which we are loved. This love with which we love is the Spirit of God in Christ in us.

St Augustine said, “Love God and do as you please.”

There is freedom in Christ to do as we please. We make it so hard and controversial for one another. We argue and quarrel about tiny things. It’s a big, big cosmos out there (I’m reminded of that because today is the feast day of Copernicus); why argue over small things? 

Why not live and love and let love and let God be the judge?