Sunday, March 17, 2024

The Order of Melchizedek

This Sunday's reading from Hebrews 5:5-10 hearkens back to Genesis,

 So also Christ did not glorify himself in becoming a high priest, but was appointed by the one who said to him,

‘You are my Son,

   today I have begotten you’;

as he says also in another place,

‘You are a priest for ever,

   according to the order of Melchizedek.’

In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him, having been designated by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

Who was Melchizedek? Go back to  Genesis 14:17-20, NIV,

After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley).  Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High,  and he blessed Abram, saying, "Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. And praise be to God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand." Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

Melchizedek seems to be the first priest of God, and he was a king. His order is mentioned in Psalm 110:4,

The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: "You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek."

In researching how this applies to Jesus, I came across this comment in a discussion group, 

"...the name Melchizedek, like most Biblical names is also a regular word, in this case two words «Melech-Tzadik», meaning roughly «King-Priest». The significance of Jesus belonging to the order of king-priests, or holy-kings is that he, as the Messiah would ultimate replace both kingly and priestly orders existing at his times, by combining the two in himself."

Agreed.

I hope that clears things up.

 

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

When Does Life Begin?

 The recent decision by the Alabama Supreme Court that frozen in vitro blastocysts (approximately 58 cells), commonly called embryos but perhaps better termed pre-embryos, have personhood has led to considerable debate about everything except the underlying problem of determining when does human life begin. 

I am not going to solve that problem here today, but I am reminded of a joke. 

A major disaster occurred and thousands of people showed up at the Pearly Gates all at once. The angel in charge decided to process the priests, ministers, and rabbis first in hopes that they would be easy to judge. The angel brought three forward and told them that they would have to answer a simple question correctly or go back to the end of the line. First up was the Catholic priest, and the angel asked him, "When does life begin?" The priest answered, "I know that one. It is at the moment of conception." "Wrong, go to the back of the line," said the angel. Next up came the rabbi to whom the angel asked the same question. The rabbi responded, "I know this. It is at the moment the baby takes its first breath after leaving the womb." "Sorry, go to the end of the line," said the angel. The protestant minister was next, and after hearing the same question and the last two wrong answers said, "For me it was after the dog died and the kids moved out." The angel laughed and said, "Nice try but back you go too." The angel looked at the line of people and asked if any mere Christians were there. One couple came forward. The angel looked at them, glanced down at the Book of Life, and asked, "When does life begin?" The man and woman looked at each other, nodded, and replied, "Lord knows." The horns blew, the Pearly Gates swung open, and they entered into their heavenly reward.

Okay I added the couple to the joke.

From a scientific standpoint, the blastocyst should be considered a potential baby (or babies if twins or more form after implantation). In the course of in-vivo fertilization, implantation, and development of the placental blood supply a lot of things can and do go wrong. Only the Lord knows how many failed conceptions occur in the course of an individual woman's reproductive years, but scientists believe it is a high number. 

Oral contraceptives and intrauterine devices prevent implantation. Do they run afoul of  Alabama law?

I think the Catholic Church was right back in the 1960's when they warned us that the birth control pill would open us up to all sorts of potential problems down the road. The least of which is that we now play God with reproduction, and this becomes obvious in the case of in-vitro fertilization although most obvious in the case of elective abortion. 

At the present time there is no universal consensus as to the answer posed by our hypothetical angel in the joke above. The Alabama Supreme Court ruling sounds like the judgement that I myself might make if I were to sit in a human court, but the mere Christian answer is probably the best one that I could come with if my soul was on the line.

Sunday, March 10, 2024

The gift of God

 This Sunday's reading from Ephesians 2:1-10 is packed so study it well.

You were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else. But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.

As Protestants, we tend to focus on being saved by the grace of God and brought into faith, and we are not saved not by good works. We sometimes have to remind our Roman Catholic brethren that true good works will be done because of faith. 

I once knew a man named Dieu-donne Guidry whose name in Cajun French means "God's gift". While he was a great man, and to his mother he was God's gift, we know that the real gift God gives us in His loving grace.

Wednesday, March 06, 2024

Episcopal News Service Site Deemed Dangerous by Norton

 The other day I heard that the Episcopal Organization was going make disciplinary charges against its bishops more transparent. I thought the Episcopal News Service had the report so I tried to go to that site, but my Norton anti-virus program blocked me with the following warning, 

!

This site contains deceptive content

Web Shield has detected a variety of phishing items on static.addtoany.com that might attempt to trick you into installing harmful software on your computer and revealing your sensitive personal information, such as passwords, bank account information, etc.

 How true.

If you want to see who is under investigation right now, go to the Episcopal Organization's pages here.

This is the current list,


PB Curry huh?

Poor Bishop Howard, his Title IV complaint alleged discrimination against LGBTQ clergy. 

I wish I had filed Title IV complaints about my former Episcopal bishop for failure to guard the faith after he decided to allow same-sex blessings just to see how quickly my complaint would have been squashed in comparison to how seriously complaints from LGBTQ clergy are taken.

Sunday, March 03, 2024

Cœli enarrant (The Heavens Explain)

 Psalm 19 is called Cœli enarrant after the first line of the first verse. Enarrant means "explain" or "describe" which I think is a better way to represent what looking at the night sky can do for a person. 

1 The heavens declare the glory of God, *

and the firmament shows his handiwork.

2 One day tells its tale to another, *

and one night imparts knowledge to another.

3 Although they have no words or language, *

and their voices are not heard,

4 Their sound has gone out into all lands, *

and their message to the ends of the world.

5 In the deep has he set a pavilion for the sun; *

it comes forth like a bridegroom out of his chamber;

it rejoices like a champion to run its course.

6 It goes forth from the uttermost edge of the heavens

and runs about to the end of it again; *

nothing is hidden from its burning heat.

7 The law of the Lord is perfect

and revives the soul; *

the testimony of the Lord is sure

and gives wisdom to the innocent.

8 The statutes of the Lord are just

and rejoice the heart; *

the commandment of the Lord is clear

and gives light to the eyes.

9 The fear of the Lord is clean

and endures for ever; *

the judgments of the Lord are true

and righteous altogether.

10 More to be desired are they than gold,

more than much fine gold, *

sweeter far than honey,

than honey in the comb.

11 By them also is your servant enlightened, *

and in keeping them there is great reward.

12 Who can tell how often he offends? *

cleanse me from my secret faults.

13 Above all, keep your servant from presumptuous sins;

let them not get dominion over me; *

then shall I be whole and sound,

and innocent of a great offense.

14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, *

O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.

Sometimes when I am outside stargazing, I like to think that the Earth on which I am standing is upside down, and I am looking down into space with my feet held to the ground by what scientists call gravity. 

That's when I appreciate what the heavens are describing.

Wednesday, February 28, 2024

Not Even Variable Geometry Can Hold the Anglican Communion Together

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, should know that the Anglican Communion that he inherited is not going the same Anglican Communion that he hands over to his successor. Separation of the orthodox from Canterbury is inevitable barring a miracle such as seeing the Organization (that calls itself a Church) of England, the Episcopal Organization, and the Canadian Anglican Organization all repent and don sack cloth and ashes. Still, the Archbishop tries to hold things together. This time he looks to something called "variable geometry" which was not something you studied in High School math class. Maybe the creators of "Transformers" use it, but should religious organizations?

Anglican Futures gives a timeline of Justin Welby's prior attempts to put into words a way forward and this newest iteration,  

 Yesterday, he chose to look to the political sphere for a new solution, which he intends to put to those Primates of the Anglican Communion who are willing to meet with him in Rome in April.

“There”, he said, “we will look at what the communion could do to remain in a variable geometry of unity, but also an unvarying commitment of love in Christ. Those two expressions vary in geometry of unity and unvarying commitment of love in Christ offer us all a way forward in holy obedience to God".

I had to search for what this new term means over at "Feeling Europe",

"Variable geometry may not only refer to ways to alter the shape of an aircraft's wings in flight in order to alter their aerodynamic properties but also to a concept for multi-speed Europe, a proposed strategy for European integration, next the forms of multi-speed Europe and Europe a la carte."

"'Variable-geometry' Europe is the term used to describe the idea of a method of differentiated integration which acknowledges that there are irreconcilable differences within the integration structure and therefore allows for a permanent separation between a group of Member States and a number of less developed integration units. DI is considered to be a tool to achieve common aims and policies in politics, social fields, economy, legislation and institutional issues to strengthen sovereignty or to enhance effective capacity."

Back to Anglican Futures to sum it up,  

The Archbishop of Canterbury assumes that both the progressive and the orthodox understandings of sexuality and marriage can be described as showing “unvarying commitment of love in Christ” and “holy obedience to God”, despite being diametrically opposed to one another.  

And that is the problem.  His quest for unity has led the Archbishop to a position where the ultimate expression of holiness is a Church which holds together completely contradictory positions on fundamental issues, on which the bible speaks clearly.  

Variable geometry may work great in supersonic aircraft and in science fiction movies, but it won't hold the sinking ship that is the Anglican Communion together. 

 

Saturday, February 24, 2024

Is the Revised Common Lectionary Antisemitic?

I have often commented on the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) and how the editors delete certain verses from the Sunday and daily Bible readings. This Sunday's reading from Genesis 17:1-7,15-16 has caught my eye before because the omitted sections talked about a subject that might be too touchy for sensitive Sunday pewsitters, and that would be "circumcision". This time I noticed the one other verse, verse 8, that got the ax, and left me wondering about the motives of the lectionary editors. I Genesis 17:1-16 and highlighted in red all of the omissions, but pay attention to verse 8 and see what you think.

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, ‘I am God Almighty;* walk before me, and be blameless. 2And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous.’ 3  Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him, 4 ‘As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. 5 No longer shall your name be Abram,* but your name shall be Abraham;* for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. 7 I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring* after you. 8 And I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land where you are now an alien, all the land of Canaan, for a perpetual holding; and I will be their God.’

9 God said to Abraham, ‘As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. 10 This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 Throughout your generations every male among you shall be circumcised when he is eight days old, including the slave born in your house and the one bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring. 13 Both the slave born in your house and the one bought with your money must be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. 14 Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.’

15 God said to Abraham, ‘As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 16 I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.’

 We cannot let the pewsitters hear that God gave "all the land of Canaan, for a perpetual holding" to his chosen people especially during these times. Were the RCL editors being antisemitic when they cut out verse 8 from the Sunday reading?

God gave Abraham's offspring the land, but He never said it was going to be easy.