When Miracles Test Belief

 Last Sunday we heard about Jesus calming a storm. In this Sunday's reading from Mark 5:21-43, Jesus heals a woman and raises a child from the dead. 

When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered round him; and he was by the lake. Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet and begged him repeatedly, ‘My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live.’ So he went with him.

And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him. Now there was a woman who had been suffering from haemorrhages for twelve years. She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, for she said, ‘If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.’ Immediately her haemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, ‘Who touched my clothes?’ And his disciples said to him, ‘You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, “Who touched me?” ’ He looked all round to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.’

  While he was still speaking, some people came from the leader’s house to say, ‘Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?’ But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue, ‘Do not fear, only believe.’ He allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. When they came to the house of the leader of the synagogue, he saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. When he had entered, he said to them, ‘Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping.’ And they laughed at him. Then he put them all outside, and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, ‘Talitha cum’, which means, ‘Little girl, get up!’ And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement. He strictly ordered them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.

What are we to make of these miracles? All too many people these days dismiss them as myths or misinterpretations of what actually happened. People cannot believe that any person could perform such feats. 

I find that people who believe in an omnipotent God are much more willing to accept miracles than those who either believe in a god of limited power and interest in intervening in human affairs or who do not believe in God at all.

I think therein lies the crux of the problem with people accepting Jesus as God's son, and that is a theology gap. 

Let's consider theology, 

Theology is the study of God, God’s character, God’s actions in relation to the cosmos, and especially God’s relationship to humanity (the character and history of humankind) in its responsive relationship to God within the panorama of the world and history, space, and time. (Grace Theological Seminary)

 Those who study the God of the Bible, Jesus of Nazareth, his resurrection, and the Acts of the Apostles who died refusing to deny that they were witnesses to that miracle, usually come to the conclusion that anything, even miracles, is possible when talking about God. 

Even that Jesus was God's son.

 

 

Praying for Steve Wood

 This Sunday we said a special prayer for our bishop, Steve Wood, who was elected Archbishop of the ACNA. I first heard about Steve Wood several years ago during the Episcopal war of secession when his large church decided to leave the Episcopal organization. I was friends with him on Facebook at the time. After a while he deactivated that Facebook profile and became a bishop in ANCA. He then became my bishop when I joined an ACNA parish. 

I have been reading some negative comments about him from those  who are strongly opposed to women's ordination (W.O.).  I do consider the issue of W.O. to be an important unresolved question for the ACNA. I understand the concern that by ordaining women into the priesthood, the door is open for women to be rectors and then for them to demand to be bishops. We shall see if that happens, but I think that as long as ACNA leadership follows biblical principles, we are not going to go down that slippery slope.

I do not think that anyone has to worry that W.O. will be imposed upon them by the new Archbishop given the current structure of ACNA. 

So, pray for Steve Wood as he takes on his new role in ACNA.

To better understand the W.O. problem and Steve Wood's election please listen to the Stand Firm podcast from this past Sunday. 

When the Lord is with you

 In this Sunday's reading from Mark 4:35-41, Jesus calms the sea.

On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side.’ And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great gale arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’ He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, ‘Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?’ And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?’

Just like us, the disciples waited until the last moment to beg Jesus to save them. 

When we sailed the Sea of Galilee with a Christian tour group a couple of years ago, we were blessed with calm seas, but it was easy to tell those waters could get rough enough to sink a small vessel. 

 

The Lord was with us on that trip. 

On Wedding Photography

 As Pewsterspouse and I approach our 43rd year of marital bliss, I came across an article in the Guardian about modern day wedding photographers and how complicated things have become for them. It seems that some are upset that vicars tell them not to intrude during the marriage ceremony while at the same time young couples are demanding increased documentation and stylized shots. The poor photographers have to spend much more time filming everything, and they have to compete with the ubiquitous cell phone cameras wielded by wedding guests. 

Forty three years ago our wedding photographer was permitted to take one shot during the ceremony from a balcony, with no flash, and no shutter noise. Father Comfort (yes that was his name) insisted also that any intoxicated bridesmaids would be sent out. 

This was the shot,

I believe the absence of the photographer made the ceremony more God centered rather than us centered. I am not so sure that today's couples care to keep God in the center of their marriage.

Of course, there were the usual pictures taken before and after the ceremony that we had to choose to go in our wedding album (which currently lies undisturbed on a shelf in an outbuilding), but  this was nothing compared to the thousands of images and videos taken at today's weddings. 

I have attended several weddings recently none of which were held in a church, and I think it is an indication of our society's walk away from God.

It takes God and the Church to bind two as one and to keep them together, not pictures.

 

Kingdom Parables

 This Sunday's reading is from Mark 4:26-34,

He also said, ‘The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.’

He also said, ‘With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.’

 With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.

Notice that these kingdom of God parables do not say that this is a kingdom that is grown by people. God is in charge and he grows His kingdom in mysterious ways. 

Resisting Pride

This Pride Month craziness has many businesses waving the rainbow flag in hopes this will protect them from retaliation by those marching through the streets. Where in history have we seen that before? 

Is resistance futile?

For many years I have supported a certain non-profit organization that serves both North and South Carolina, and more recently I have served on its Board of Directors. In order to secure grant money from large corporations it became necessary a couple of years ago to demonstrate that the non-profit had a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policy (DEI), and that the organization could demonstrate that its governing board and employees were representative of the diversity of the population being served. Board members had to endure DEI training one morning which was for me a waste of time and money as I have been the minority partner a large part of my working life. I am all for diversity, but the equity and inclusion bits are coded messages that open the door for what happens next. 

Now the non-profit's web page features its DEI program in rainbow colors, and its social media pages proudly wave the LGBTQietc flag in support of "Pride Month". I notified the CEO that the organization had strayed from its primary mission. I suspect an employee posted these without the knowledge of the part time CEO placing the CEO in a bind: take the post down and incur the wrath of the LGBTQietc police and potentially lose big corporate donors, or support it and maybe lose a board member.

Needless to say, the CEO's response was in full support of the social media messaging. 

After consulting with Pewsterspouse and my priest, I made my decision.

Scratch one board member. 

As I explained to the Chairman of the Board, Pewsterspouse and I can no longer support an organization that steps outside of its primary mission statement and starts to advocate for those who push for puberty blockers for children, genital mutilating surgeries, and all of the other harmful and shameful things that "Pride" represents. 

I'm outta there. 

A House Divided Will Not Stand

 This Sunday's reading is from Mark 3:20-35,

and the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat. When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, ‘He has gone out of his mind.’ And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, ‘He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons.’ And he called them to him, and spoke to them in parables, ‘How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come. But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered.

 ‘Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin’— for they had said, ‘He has an unclean spirit.’

 Then his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him. A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, ‘Your mother and your brothers are outside, asking for you.’ And he replied, ‘Who are my mother and my brothers?’ And looking at those who sat around him, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and mother.’

The current way of looking at issues is to not really look at them but instead to divide houses into opposing factions, and to be forced to take sides. Usually people do come together when facing a national emergency, but remember how polarized we became during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

I wish we could all come together and agree that the real enemy is Satan, and that he is working to tie up our strong man (Jesus) by turning people away from him and to false prophets, false religions, and other gods such as the self worship evident in this month's "Pride" parades.

We know from Revelation that this earthly kingdom will fall. Until that time, divisions will never cease.

In Your Face

The Episcopal organization (TEO) based in New York City has updated its shield to be more inclusive for "Pride Month".  

I don't see any element in the new shield that includes the marginalized and oppressed minority of orthodox Christians who might lurk in the shadows of this organization. 

Diversity and inclusivity in TEO is, like their fancy vestments, miters, and episcobabble, a sham. 

There is little to be proud of.

 I can only hope that someone somewhere in TEO will open their Bible this month and inwardly digest these verses before joining the parade,

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. 1 John 2:15-17 ESV

And,

We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. Isaiah 64:6 ESV 

Revised Common Lectionary Strikes Again

This Sunday's psalm is 81 Exultate Deo, but the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL)  shortens it to verses 1-10 only,

1 Sing with joy to God our strength *
and raise a loud shout to the God of Jacob.

2 Raise a song and sound the timbrel, *
the merry harp, and the lyre.

3 Blow the ram's-horn at the new moon, *
and at the full moon, the day of our feast.

4 For this is a statute for Israel, *
a law of the God of Jacob.

5 He laid it as a solemn charge upon Joseph, *
when he came out of the land of Egypt.

6 I heard an unfamiliar voice saying, *
"I eased his shoulder from the burden;
his hands were set free from bearing the load."

7 You called on me in trouble, and I saved you; *
I answered you from the secret place of thunder
and tested you at the waters of Meribah.

8 Hear, O my people, and I will admonish you: *
O Israel, if you would but listen to me!

9 There shall be no strange god among you; *
you shall not worship a foreign god.

10 I am the Lord your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt and said, *
"Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it."

All well and good until we get to the parts the lectionary cut out, 

11 And yet my people did not hear my voice, *
and Israel would not obey me.

12 So I gave them over to the stubbornness of their hearts, *
to follow their own devices.

13 Oh, that my people would listen to me! *
that Israel would walk in my ways!

14 I should soon subdue their enemies *
and turn my hand against their foes.

15 Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him, *
and their punishment would last for ever.

16 But Israel would I feed with the finest wheat *

and satisfy him with honey from the rock. 

Ironic that "And yet my people did not hear my voice" was cut because they certainly did not hear it this Sunday in churches that use the RCL.

This is yet another example of how the RCL sanitizes the Bible in order to make it more palatable to the Sunday pewsitters.