Today's Scripture Readings
Isaiah 49:1-7 (NRSV)
Listen to me, O coastlands,
pay attention, you peoples from far away!
The LORD called me before I was born,
while I was in my mother's womb he named me.
He made my mouth like a sharp sword,
in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me a polished arrow,
in his quiver he hid me away.
And he said to me, "You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will be glorified."
But I said, "I have labored in vain,
I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity;
yet surely my cause is with the LORD,
and my reward with my God."
And now the LORD says,
who formed me in the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him,
and that Israel might be gathered to him,
for I am honored in the sight of the LORD,
and my God has become my strength--
he says,
"It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and to restore the survivors of Israel;
I will give you as a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth."
Thus says the LORD,
the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One,
to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nations,
the slave of rulers,
"Kings shall see and stand up,
princes, and they shall prostrate themselves,
because of the LORD, who is faithful,
the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you."
Psalm 71: 1-14 (BCP, p. 683)
1 Corinthians 1: 18-31 (NRSV)
The message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written,
"I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart."
Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength.
Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God. He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, in order that, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord."
John 12: 20-36 (NRSV)
Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.
"Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say-- `Father, save me from this hour'? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name." Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again." The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, "An angel has spoken to him." Jesus answered, "This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die. The crowd answered him, "We have heard from the law that the Messiah remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?" Jesus said to them, "The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going. While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light."
Blog Reflection
Holy Week continues to unfold. The tensions between Jesus and those opposing him is growing. Where does it all go from here?
St. Paul gives us a glimpse into the compassion of God. He tells us of how God can turn what looks like one thing, upside down to be something completely different. The cross, an instrument of shame, torture, death and foolishness if you do something to get put on one if all you see is the cross. When we look upon the cross and see Jesus nailed there and all of his life slowly, but surely being suffocated out of him, what looks like a defeat and loss for Jesus, is the gain for the hope of salvation. It is because of Jesus' death on the cross that it is our hope and salvation. Emmanuel, "God with us" shows how God is with us in Jesus Christ even to the last breath of life. In the midst of our shame, injustices, oppression, experiencing betrayal and the loss of everything that we had clung to. God does not abandon us. In Christ, God's arms are out, waiting for us and ready to embrace God's prodigal children.
Jesus is telling his disciples about a grain of wheat falling to the ground and dying. If it does not, no new life can come from it. New life comes from surrendering the old. Glorifying God often means letting go of our own glorification among people. Letting go of our giving in order to receive in return. To just giving, because it is for the benefit of the other that we have given.
St. Benedict makes use of the last sentence in today's Gospel reading in the Prologue to The Rule. He makes two changes to the text. He writes:
Run while you have the light of life, that the darkness of death may not overtake you. (RB 1980: p.159).
St. Benedict's text creates a sense of urgency with the word run. To have the light is a matter of life, and the danger of darkness is the possibility of death if we do not take advantage of the moment before us.
These words highlight the necessity of doing now what must be done in the Name of Jesus Christ.
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court is hearing the arguments in the Prop. 8 and DOMA cases. An article appeared in The New York Times that suggests what the ruling on those cases could mean. These cases are not just about marriage equality. They represent a movement in both the Church and society that has been progressing away from seeing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people as disordered or dangerous. Now LGBT people are being more and more viewed as good people who want the opportunity to make a life time vow of love, commitment and responsibility to each other in marriage. Nothing in there is a threat to the marriage between a man and a woman for the purpose of raising children. Nothing that recognizes marriage as a matter of the love shared between those who are in it, regardless of gender, threatens the family or civilization. All this means is that society will stop seeing people with same-gender sexual orientation are no longer second class citizens when it comes to civil marriage.
The time to address the need for social change for a better and safe society on the issue of economic equality, dangerous weapons regulation, and better health care, education and possibilities for people in need, is now. Today we have the light of day. Tomorrow, we may never know what we will have missed.
As we continue to go along on this Holy Week, may we all pray together that we will make now the reason to run while we have the opportunity. That we will run with the Light of Jesus Christ to create atmospheres of new life for all who live in darkness and the shadow of death.
Amen.
Prayers
O God, by the passion of your blessed Son you made an
instrument of shameful death to be for us the means of life:
Grant us so to glory in the cross of Christ, that we may gladly
suffer shame and loss for the sake of your Son our Savior
Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy
Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Prayer for Tuesday of Holy Week, Book of Common Prayer, p. 220).
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