Revised Common Lectionary Strikes Out Again

In this Sunday's reading from Mark 7:1-8,14-15,21-23 once again we see the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) delete some of Jesus' words. I have put them back in (the red letter verses), 

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.’

9 And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ 11 But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban”’ (that is, given to God)— 12 then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, 13 thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”

Then he called the crowd again and said to them, ‘Listen to me, all of you, and understand: 15there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.’ 

17 And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. 18 And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, 19 since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) 20 And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him.

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.’

Why do the makers of the RCL take it upon themselves to re-write the Gospel? 

In many cases it is to avoid offending people. 

Perhaps in this instance, Jesus' reference to human excrement might be something Sunday pewsitters shouldn't hear. 

In other cases, I just don't get it. 

Dropped by Your Ally/Partner

When Judy Collins wrote this song, she could not imagine that it might relate to how our country dropped its allies in Afghanistan. It was more of an allegorical song about a broken trapeze artist who had crashed to the ground, and is left wondering when the clowns will be sent in to distract the crowd. It was a lover's lament that makes me tear up to this day. I cry today for the Afghani Christians who are left facing the terror to come.

 Isn't it rich?

Are we a pair?

Me here at last on the ground,

You in mid-air,

Where are the clowns?

Isn't it bliss?

Don't you approve?

One who keeps tearing around,

One who can't move,

Where are the clowns?

There ought to be clowns?

Just when I'd stopped opening doors,

Finally knowing the one that I wanted was yours

Making my entrance again with my usual flair

Sure of my lines

No one is there

Don't you love farce?

My fault, I fear

I thought that you'd want what I want

Sorry, my dear!

But where are the clowns

Send in the clowns

Don't bother, they're here

Isn't it rich?

Isn't it queer?

Losing my timing this late in my career

But where are the clowns?

There ought to be clowns

Well, maybe next year

"Go on, wearing hope as a helmet..."

This Sunday's reading from Ephesians 6:10-20 is all about being heavily armored to combat cosmic evil powers,

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Put on the whole armour of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armour of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints. Pray also for me, so that when I speak, a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it boldly, as I must speak.

The first Anglican Bishop of Liverpool, J.C. Ryle (1816 – 1900), takes the ball and runs with it,

"Go on, then, to your journey’s end, “rejoicing in hope of the glory of God.” (Rom. 5:2) Go on, rejoicing in the thought that though you are a poor sinner Jesus is a most gracious Saviour, and that though you have trials here for a little season, heaven shall soon make amends for all.

Go on, wearing hope as a helmet in all the battles of life,—a hope of pardon, a hope of perseverance, a hope of acquittal in the judgment day, a hope of final glory.

Put on the breast-plate of righteousness: take the shield of faith; have your loins girt about with truth: wield valiantly the sword of the Spirit. But never forget—as ever you would be a happy Christian—never forget to put on the “helmet of hope.” (1 Thess. 5:8)

Go on, in spite of an ill-natured world, and be not moved by its laughter or its persecution, its slanders or its sneers. Comfort your heart with the thought that the time is short, the good things yet to come, the night far spent, the “morning without clouds” at hand. (2 Sam. 23:4) When the wicked man dies his expectation perishes; but your expectation shall not deceive you,—your reward is sure.

Go on, and be not cast down because you are troubled by doubts and fears. You are yet in the body: this world is not your rest. The devil hates you because you have escaped from him, and he will do all he can to rob you of peace.

The very fact that you have fears is an evidence that you feel you have something to lose. The true Christian may ever be discerned by his warfare quite as much as by his peace, and by his fears quite as much as by his hopes.

Go on, and “hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1 Pet. 1:13) Yet a little time, and faith shall be changed to sight, and hope to certainty: you shall see even as you have been seen, and know even as you have been known.

A few more tossings to and fro on the waves of this troublesome world,—a few more battles and conflicts with our spiritual enemy,—a few more years of tears and partings, of working and suffering, of crosses and cares, of disappointments and vexations,—and then, then we shall be at home.

The harbour lights are already in view: the haven of rest is not far off. There we shall find all that we have hoped for, and find that it was a million times better than our hopes.

There we shall find all the saints,—and no sin, no cares of this world, no money, no sickness, no death, no devil. There, above all, we shall find Jesus, and be ever with the Lord! (1 Thess. 4:17)

Let us hope on. It is worth while to carry the cross and follow Christ. Let the world laugh and mock, if it will; it is worth while to have “a good hope through grace,” and be a thorough decided Christian.

I say again,—Let us hope on."

--J.C. Ryle, "Our Hope," Old Paths: Being Plain Statements of Some of the Weightier Matters of Christianity (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1877/2013), 111-113.

Without Faith, there can be no Hope. 

Where Jesus is, there is Hope.

 

Pray

 The rapid return to power of the Taliban in Afghanistan has shocked and angered many.  People are speculating what should have been done. Could we have done more? 

I confess that I did not include the Taliban and the Afghan people in my prayers, and I should have. 

It might have made a difference.

Praying for your enemies is hard, and I failed.

I pray now that Jesus might open their eyes to see Him and unstop their ears so that they might hear His voice. 

Over at Voice of the Martyrs are some prayer suggestions,

1. PRAY FOR GOD’S PROTECTION. The situation on the ground is fluid right now. Pray for God’s protection over His people.
2. PRAY FOR WISDOM. Ask God to bless our brothers and sisters with discernment as they decide whether to stay or go and even with whom they should talk.
3. PRAY FOR FELLOWSHIP. Believers in Afghanistan often must keep their faith a secret — even from family members. Pray that God will help each Afghan believer to connect and fellowship with at least one other believer in person, by phone or through some other technology. Pray that God will remind them that they are not alone, but are part of the global body of Christ.
4. PRAY FOR SAFE PASSAGE. Pray that God will provide safe passage to those who feel led by God to leave Afghanistan and provide for their immediate needs in their new location.
5. PRAY THAT MUSLIMS WILL MEET CHRIST. The Taliban claim to be “true Muslims,” strictly adhering to Sharia (Islamic law). As Muslims in Afghanistan see this cruel face of Islam, pray that they will be drawn to Jesus Christ, the shepherd Savior who doesn’t oppress but instead chose to lay down His life for His sheep.
6. PRAY FOR CHRISTIANS TRYING TO HELP. For decades, VOM has provided help and encouragement to Christians in Afghanistan. Pray for the wisdom of front-line workers, and pray that God will open new pathways for them to continue their work under Taliban control.

Words to the wise and the unwise

This Sunday's reading from Ephesians 5:15-20 contains words that are well worth living out,

Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil. So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 I admit that I have not always made the most of the time.

I have been foolish.

A couple of time I have been drunk and adopted a faux English accent.

And I have sung, at times not to the Lord in my heart, but mostly choir and choral works dedicated to God. 

In all these things, even in choir, we can try to put God in "timeout" as we go about wasting time, acting foolish, partying, etc. 

God doesn't stay in the timeout chair.

He is always there. 

Do we live like He is?

Abortion Rate in U.K. Hits 25.2%

From Premier Christian News comes this sad report,

New figures released by the Office for National Statistics has revealed a quarter of pregnancies in England and Wales resulted in abortion in 2019.

More than 200,000 pregnancies out of 821,809 recorded by residents of England and Wales in 2019 were aborted.

The ONS said: “The percentage of conceptions leading to a legal abortion among all women in England and Wales increased from 24 per cent in 2018 to 25.2 per cent in 2019, the second year in a row this has increased for all age groups”.

Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson said: “It is a tragedy that over a quarter of all pregnancies in England and Wales ended due to abortion in 2019”.

“Every one of these abortions represents a failure of our society to protect the lives of babies in the womb and a failure to offer full support to women with unplanned pregnancies”.

“This significant rise in abortions in 2020 will likely mean that this statistic will be even higher for 2020. This is especially worrying given that the introduction of the home abortion scheme has put so many women at risk of complications, and has facilitated a number of illegal abortions past the legal term limit for ‘at home’ abortions. We are therefore calling on the UK and Welsh Governments to end these ‘DIY’ home abortion schemes immediately”.

"Don't let the sun go down on your anger"

This Sunday is our wedding anniversary. After worship at church, we plan a big South Carolina BBQ for the neighbors at our place with the pig butts having been Q'ed by our priest. Pewsterspouse and I have been blessed with a long marriage for which we give all the glory to God, and today's reading from Ephesians 4:25-5:2 contains many of the reasons for our decades together. 

"So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbours, for we are members of one another. Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not make room for the devil. Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labour and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy. Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."

Did you ever hear the advice, "Never go to bed angry?" We did that, and it goes right back to St. Paul. 

"Live in love, as Christ loved us..." should be the mantra we all say as we go to bed.

I don't know how couples can stay together without Christ being present in their marriage.

May the Lord be with you and yours. 

 

Male Inmates in Women's Prison: What could possibly go wrong?

Thanks to laws in California that allow people who change their gender (a feat that only requires a verbal statement) to be housed in the prison of their preferred pronoun,  200 male inmates have requested transfers to women's prison, and the transfers have already begun.

The story was in The Christian Post, 

Writing in the Santa Monica Observer earlier this month, Amber Jackson, who is incarcerated, asserted in an op-ed that what supporters of the bill allowing men to be housed with women under the banner of “gender identity” thought would never happen did happen almost immediately after the policy was implemented.

“The one man I saw up close looked unhealthy and possibly diseased. I have little doubt these transwomen are positive for communicable diseases. Very little. This is a disgusting time to be in prison,” she said.

An update to Jackson’s July 10 op-ed claims that three out of the four trans-identifying men that she wrote about are HIV-positive, according to a CIW officer. The department’s push to distribute condoms to the prison population for the purposes of avoiding liability was too late. 

“The condoms were not yet available when the sex began even though CDCR knew these three transwomen had HIV, and it was possible to spread through sexual intercourse. Most of the population does not know this as it is protected by Federal HIPPA [sic] legislation,” the update read.

In 2015, access to condoms became law in the Golden State. It was the second state in the nation, after Vermont, to allow all state prisoners to have access to condoms even though sex between prisoners is unlawful. 

Jackson wrote Tuesday, again in the Santa Monica Observer, that female inmates have become “prey for men.”

“What kind of human being would intentionally cause harm by placing a number [of] HIV-infected, anatomically male prisoners among the female prisoners?” she asked, adding that the general public is not aware that this is happening.

She continued: “Nobody is making this known. Nobody cares about us. We are in danger here. Make no mistake. Prison rape is nothing new. However, until now, there were never live males with full male anatomy sharing showers with us in a group shower room. We have male officers who have to announce their presence when they even walk down the hall! In case we're undressed! Yet, now men can share our showers.”

“Call yourself a 'woman' all you want. But when you have man, with a penis, that works as it was designed to do, that's a problem in a women's prison group shower room. That's a problem.”

They say that when they made the state, they tilted America to the left, so that all the nuts would roll downhill and wind up in California.

I think the only way California can fix this is to build two new classes of prison. One for males who claim to be female, and another for the reverse situation. 

But then they would have to make prisons for all twelve genders. The ones for the "gender fluid" and the "gender expansive" would be the most problematic. 

Where will this madness stop?

 

Give Us Another Sign: Do You Really Need One?

The crowd following Jesus after the miracle of the loaves and fishes were still unconvinced as related in this Sunday's reading from John 6:24-35,

So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.

When they found him on the other side of the lake, they said to him, ‘Rabbi, when did you come here?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.’ Then they said to him, ‘What must we do to perform the works of God?’ Jesus answered them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.’ So they said to him, ‘What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, “He gave them bread from heaven to eat.” ’ Then Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’ They said to him, ‘Sir, give us this bread always.’

Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

Does it seem hard to believe that witnesses to one miracle would demand another? Not really. Most of us "need convincing", and the scientific method requires reproducible results. 

So, if Jesus appeared today and worked a miracle, what would people say? 

How about you and me? Would we need him to produce another one before we believed?