hs3rd

my miscellany

Author: Howard Stringfellow III

A Priestly Word — 27 Jul 18

A Priestly Word

/Howard Stringfellow III

The Epistle on Sunday continues our reading of the Epistle to the Ephesians (3:14-21) wherein St Paul describes his prayer for those Ephesians whom he addresses in his letter. He prays that they may, with the rest of the church, grow in understanding of God’s plan of salvation in Christ.

God’s plan of salvation I have mentioned before as a major subject of the letter.

The plan, St Paul asserts, affects the entire universe with the “breadth and length and height and depth” (3:18) of God’s love in Christ or possibly the universe in each of its dimensions. He prays that they may perceive the redemptive love of Christ for them and thus be totally immersed in the fullness of God. St Paul ends the prayer with a doxology to God: “to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen” (3:21).

Also, I want to let you know that for the next five Sundays we shall leave the proclamation of Saint Mark’s Gospel for proclamations of Saint John 6 that include two important miracles (or signs) and discourses that elaborate especially the multiplication of the loaves. The other miracle is Jesus’ walking on the water. We return to Saint Mark on the first Sunday in September.

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A Priestly Word — 20 Jul 18

A Priestly Word

/Howard Stringfellow III

Sunday’s portion of the Epistle to the Ephesians (2:11-22) conveys St Paul’s stunning insight into the mission and purpose of Christ’s ministry and that of the church. Christ and the church broke down the wall separating Jews and Gentiles, reconciling “both groups to God in one body through the cross” (2:16) and giving both groups “access in one Spirit to the Father” (2:18).

Formerly, the Gentiles had “no hope” “without God in the world” (2:12). The Gentiles lacked Israel’s messianic expectation, the several covenants God made with Israel, and hope of salvation and knowledge of God. But through Christ all these divisions have been transcended by the abolition of the Mosaic law for the sake of uniting Jew and Gentile in a single religious community imbued with the same Holy Spirit and worshipping the same Father. The Gentiles are now included in God’s household as it arises from the foundation of the apostles and those endowed with prophetic power. With Christ as the “cornerstone” (2:20), Jews and Gentiles together are being built “into a holy temple in the Lord” (2:21). The Ephesians themselves are built spiritually in that temple, itself “a dwelling place for God” (2:22).

The implications of St Paul’s insight are enormous though in truth, however large they are, they themselves are but a part of God’s entire design or plan in Christ, announced to the shepherds, to deliver “on earth peace among those whom he favors” (St Luke 2:14).

Pentecost 8, 2018 — 15 Jul 18

Pentecost 8, 2018

/Howard Stringfellow III

RCL Year B Proper 10
Amos 7:7-15, Psalm 85:8-13, Ephesians 1:3-14, Saint Mark 6:14-29

When you think about it, the Gospel today concerns Jesus only by analogy. King Herod hears of Jesus and his disciples, the Gospel begins.[1] And then we hear the story of the death of Saint John the Baptist by way of the rumor that Jesus is Saint John risen from the dead.

The Gospel really concerns Saint John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus and a major messenger of God. As God’s messenger, John has told Herod that it is not lawful for him to take his brother’s wife, Herodias, as his own wife. For this message from God Herod throws John into prison, and Herodias bears a grudge against John. She satisfies that grudge by suggesting to her daughter that she ask for John’s head on a platter, since Herod has offered to give her anything she wants. Herod keeps his promise, and John is beheaded. And we see what happens to God’s messenger.

Something similar happens to Amos when he delivers God’s message about King Jeroboam. Amaziah misrepresents Amos’ message to Jeroboam and runs Amos out of town, commanding him to earn his daily bread in Judah not Israel. Prophesy there, why don’t you? If Amos and Saint John’s stories resemble the truth, being God’s messenger isn’t such a cushy and hotsy-totsy vocation after all.

You’ve heard the expression, “Don’t kill the messenger.” But that expression is current, because it tells the truth. People kill messengers often enough to give the expression full meaning.

I began by saying that the Gospel today concerns Jesus only by analogy. John and Jesus are God’s messengers, and people kill them both because of their identity as God’s messengers.

Which brings me to the heart of the Gospel today. You and I work both sides of the message street. We claim to be part of the Jesus Movement, as the Presiding Bishop likes to call it. And, at the same time, our sins nailed Jesus to the cross. Part of what it means to be a foot-soldier in the Movement is a certain ambivalence about the Movement. We see nothing ambivalent in Amos, in John, or in Jesus. And yet we want to stay on both sides of the street. My prayer for you and for me is that we all grasp our calling a little more fervently and a little less ambivalently. For to do that is our journey, a journey leading to salvation. God help us along the way.

[1] Saint Mark 6:14

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