Today our second reading for morning prayer comes from Matthew 17 the account of the possessed young boy, which is also the account of the disciples failure, and a lesson in the power of faith. This is an account which is jam packed with things that we could spend several weeks of sermons unpacking, expanding, studing, and analyzing. A sermon could easily come from any of these topics. But today, as seminarians I want us to look at this account in a different light because in here, between the lines, is another set of lessons. Here we see Jesus teaching in a quiet way that speaks directly to our current and future ministries.
No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and Mammon.
Our Gospel reading today opens with these words. Hard words these. They leave no room for quarter. No room for vacillating. As sure as the defenders of the Alamo you are challenged to step over the line in the sand. You cannot straddle this fence. In or out.
From the Reformed Episcopal Church website:
The 52nd General Council of the REC concluded on Friday October 24th. One key motion was passed that is most pressing and is, therefore, provided here.
Forasmuch as the Reformed Episcopal Church has affirmed the teaching of God’s Word that abortion is the taking of an unborn human life, and inasmuch as we have recognized the duty of all faithful Christians to work to protect the unborn and restrain the sin of abortion on demand, we hereby move that the General Council of the Reformed Episcopal Church direct the clergy and laity of the Reformed Episcopal Church to make a political candidate’s position on the Sanctity of Human Life the highest priority in discerning for whom to vote regardless of political party represented or office being sought.
Being a postulant for Holy Orders in the Reformed Episcopal Church, I am especially thankful for the Synod and our Bishops being supportive of bold preaching and teaching for the cause of life. May the Lord richly bless the Reformed Episcopal Church and her Bishops.
Weather junkies pay special attention. With hurricane season upon us you can never be short on cool weather tools. Be sure and check out Storm Pulse for some really great tracking and history study tools regarding hurricanes. Track the latest beastie roaming the high seas or look back in time and see the tracks and info on storms past. The graphics are gorgeous. In addition to Weather Underground this site is sure to get a lot of desktop time this summer.
In 1986 Henri Nouwen, a Dutch theologian and writer, toured St. Petersburg, Russia, the former Leningrad. While there he visited the famous Hermitage where he saw, among other things, Rembrandt’s painting of the Prodigal Son. The painting was in a hallway and received the natural light of a nearby window. Nouwen stood for two hours, mesmerized by this remarkable painting. As he stood there the sun changed, and at every change of the light’s angle he saw a different aspect of the painting revealed. He would later write: “There were as many paintings in the Prodigal Son as there were changes in the day.”
Today, as we consider our readings, we come to realize that like Henri Nouwen, our readings present to us the concept of prodigal in several different lights each with its own unique contribution to our understanding of what it is to be prodigal so that we can avoid it. Given how we usually view the concept of prodigal it is easy to see the younger son, the wild and reckless one, as the prodigal – but what does prodigal really mean? Really.
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