Three Women Ministers

Today we commemorate three people who were coworkers with the apostles. There are lots of threes in the Bible: Abraham Isaac and Jacob; Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; Saul, Jonathan, and David: Mary, Joseph, and Jesus; Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar; Peter, James, and John; Paul, John Mark, and Barnabas, among others. We seldom see women in threes, although many women are mentioned in the New Testament, both by name and unnamed. Today we have three, who were mentioned in the Gospels and in Acts, who played important parts in the establishment of a growing church and who made their contributions in different ways. Lydia, Dorcas, and Phoebe were from different places and performed different ministries. We celebrate those ministries today.

Lydia was mentioned as a seller of purple, or a person who dealt with purple dye which was rare and expensive. Lydia ran her business apparently quite successfully. Her business acumen combined with her earned wealth, made her a financial contributor to the growing church and with her whole household, she was baptized into the new faith, Paul and his companions were invited to stay in her house when they were in Philippi, and made her house their headquarters.

Dorcas was an early Christian in the town of Joppa. Dorcas (her Greek name) was also called Tabitha (in Aramaic). She was known for her charitable works, especially in making garments and donating them to needy widows, a group of people that Jesus (and his Jewish tradition) encouraged his followers to care for, among others. When she died, Peter came to her bedside and raised her back to life. Lutheran women are part of DORCAS (Diaconal Outreach, Care and Services), whose acronym reminds us of the ministry of the Dorcas we commemorate today.

Phoebe was from the eastern seaport of Corinth and was given the title diakonos of the church in Chenchreae. She served as an assistant, servant, or a deacon, depending on the translation. She could have possibly been a deaconess, which was a different position than that described by the word deacon. Whatever her title actually meant, she was a close coworker in the city of Corinth with Paul and his companions. Corinth was a sea port, one where sailors had shore leave after having dragged their ships across the isthmus that connected northern Greece, southern Greece, and the world beyond. The isthmus was not completed for many centuries, so in Phoebe’s time, ships were taken out of the water, put on rollers, and then hauled by the sailors across the dry isthmus and into the water again at Corinth. It is thought that Paul wrote more frequently about sexual sins in his letters to the Corinthians because of the shore leave given to the sailors after such an endeavor. Phoebe was probably very much needed to minister to the women of Corinth.

Three women, three different ministries, all dealing with churches and groups of men who also worked with the churches. Part of their importance is that they are women, not women who were in direct contact with Jesus but who nonetheless heard and believed the message and worked to pass it on. These three women have names, but there many others in the New Testament whose work and witness impacted the lives of those around them and brought them into the fold of the new the new faith. We seldom hear their stories, like Lydia, Dorcas and Phoebe, in the sermons or the readings on Sunday; there quite often relegated to a weekday. However, the need to be remembered as representatives of all the women in the Bible, named and unnamed, who do not always get the same amount of recognition as their male counterparts.

This isn't a bid for feminism and equality per se, although I would like to see more emphasis placed on the women of the Bible and their contributions. Seldom during the church year (except at Christmas and Easter) do we hear of or mention the women that were such important parts of the scenario. We know of Mary and Elizabeth at Advent and Christmas, and then Mary, Mary Magdalene, Mary of Clopas, Mary the mother of James and John, and Salome at the base of the cross and the women who went to the tomb after the Sabbath. We know those stories, and we know those names, but we often forget there are others who are worthy of remembrance and emulation.

This week I need to think about Lydia, Dorcas, and Phoebe. I admit, Phoebe is easier, since my little girl cat is also named Phoebe, and she is assiduous in her ministry of being a loving bundle of fur whose purr ministers to me so well as a calming ministry. As for the humans, I'm not much of a businesswoman, I could make hats and scarves for the homeless women that I see around, and I could be a little more active in service to both the churched and the unchurched. It's just gonna take a little more effort.

May we remember these women and all the others as heroes of the faith and example examples of what Christianity is about.

God bless.


Originally published at Speaking to the Soul on Episcopal Café Saturday, January 27, 2018.

An Insight from Someone Special

Very truly, I tell you, whoever keeps my word will never see death.’ ⁵²The Jews said to him, ‘Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, and so did the prophets; yet you say, “Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.” ⁵³Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets also died. Who do you claim to be?’ ⁵⁴Jesus answered, ‘If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, he of whom you say, “He is our God”, ⁵⁵though you do not know him. But I know him; if I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him and I keep his word. ⁵⁶Your ancestor Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day; he saw it and was glad.’ ⁵⁷Then the Jews said to him, ‘You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?’^{* 58}Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.’ ⁵⁹So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple. – John 8:51-59

 I always think of John as the most difficult gospel to understand. It seems like he uses a more mystical way of saying something instead of just coming out and saying it in plain language. Of course, that's my thinking.

There are people who have no difficulty with John. I will admit that there are parts of John that I love hearing, especially the first few verses of the first chapter of the gospel. But when John tells a story he does not tell the story so much as he gives a dialogue of what was said. The gospel reading for the Eucharist kind of goes in that pattern, and I have to say, the first sentence rather brings me up short, especially today.

"Very truly, I tell you, whoever keeps my word will never see death." It sounds very simple, whoever keeps God’s word will never see death. But then the reality sinks in -- everyone dies. Some never draw a breath of air while others live to 100 and beyond. Yet they all die. No matter how good they were, there is always an end.

This week I got news that a very, very dear friend of mine had died last weekend. Margaret was 97 years old, and had had a long, full life, despite advancing age and health challenges. I have known her ever since I can remember. I knew her from church, and I got closer to her when we both sang in the choir. I drove her crazy because as she tried to sing the alto, I would be singing whatever part I did not hear well enough to balance the sound. She helped me make a formal for my senior prom, and she taught me to cook some lovely food that our home economics class never did. I do not think Jesus would never have passed over someone who really needed a chair repaired or hugging a child who really needed it.

I spent many happy hours at her house, especially after the death of my adoptive mother, and, in a way, took over as a combination big sister, foster parent, and best friend. She and her husband had a daughter of their own, but there is always room for me to sleep on their couch all weekend and be part of their family, which I loved. She was also a big help to my adoptive father, struggling to make a living and trying to understand the mysteries of a teenage girl that puzzled and quite often frustrated him. Margaret took care of that for both of us.

Over the years, we grew a little apart, mostly caused by distance, but whenever we talked on the phone, within a minute or two it was like we had never been separated. We had some along conversations, and those conversations were about exchanging information, but more than that, it was about building a bridge. That bridge was something I counted on, no matter what was going on in my often-chaotic life.

Margaret was a firm believer in Jesus, and very conscious of the things Jesus taught. During her lifetime, she helped people and she tried to live her life, so the glory was reflected to God. She was a child of God, in every sense of the word, and just looking at her smile, which was radiant, it was like seeing God smile. She died last Sunday, and the world is a poor place because of her absence.

I go back to John and consider the part about the people who keep God's word will never see death. Margaret was fervent in prayer, constant in reading the Bible, faithful in attendance at Sunday school and church, and a practitioner of what she heard and understood from the Bible. And yet she died. It's hard to reconcile Jesus's words with the reality of life, especially a life as exemplary as hers.

During this epiphany season I've been looking for insights, ways of looking at things through different lenses than I usually do, and seeking to view things from a different point of view. Sometimes it's very simple, but sometimes it is almost impossible. In thinking about Margaret's life and death, I think the insight that I got from her was that she did not look for praise or wealth, or even pats on the back. She lived her life and did her ministries with enthusiasm and great love, not only in the church, but in the greater world. The insight comes when I think of all the time and love that she gave me when I was growing up and beyond. She did her best to live up to all the things that Jesus required, but she never spoke of it; her actions showed it. She gave to charity, she supported the church, she performed her ministries to the best of her abilities, and she was a dear friend to so many people. I have a feeling that the Baptist church at home today will be full of people who loved her and whom she loved, gathered as a community to remember her and to give thanks for her life and witness.

So, in all, I guess the insight is that there is joy and value in living the Christian life, one that accepts people as they are, one who helps those in need, one who puts the love of God above all. Margaret has given me a prime example of what that means. And although she has now seen death, I know she did not fear it, but rather saw God’s open arms waiting to embrace her. That would be her greatest reward.

Rest in peace, Margaret, and most assuredly you will rise in glory.  I will miss you, and will love you for all that you meant to me.

Until we meet again,

God bless.

Originally published at Speaking to the Soul on Episcopal Café, Saturday January 20, 2018.

Epiphany Fireflies

The tree is down, the lights have been put away, the kings have gone to the stable and left their gifts, and here we are. But just because we celebrated Epiphany on January 6, it doesn't mean that we can now forget about it. We're in a whole season called Epiphany, and sometimes we forget just what that means.

An epiphany, per the dictionary, is more than just a day or a season on the liturgical calendar. It also represents a manifestation, like the manifestation of Jesus being born in human form. It can mean a kind of insight or realization that sometimes seems to come out of nowhere but that clarifies a thought or series of thoughts or beliefs that have been running through the brain consciously or unconsciously. It's like a little lightbulb going off in the head, one that says, "Aha!" And here we have a whole season before us where we are encouraged to look for these little epiphanies, these little manifestations, these insights.

Years ago, the writing bug bit me badly. I wrote a letter to God nearly every day, and I talk I just talked about what I was thinking or feeling. I often found myself describing a thought or a phrase or a situation, then exploring it in terms of what the world would think if what I thought were plastered on the front of the newspaper, or what the Bible, the lives of the saints, and tradition Christian tradition would say about such thoughts. I also thought about where I stood in relation to that thought or belief, and finally what I was motivated to do because of the insight that I gained from this exercise. Come to find out, there was a name for this process, and that was theological reflection, or TR.

I heard the term first in a group called Education for Ministry (EfM). It took me a long time to figure out what a TR with all about, but after years of reading everything I could find, and struggling to understand what this process was all about, I had an insight. I already knew how to do a TR, because I had been doing it when I was writing. I got insights, and I explored different aspects of this nebulous thing that was running through my mind. I didn't need books, I just needed to know that these insights that I worked to get were the result of a very definite process, and a very useful one too.

Insights are an important thing in life. Most often we don't really think about them. Suddenly though, something happens, or someone says something, or something in a book strikes us as something we'd never considered before, and suddenly that little lightbulb goes off. Instead of a dark spot, there's a pool of light surrounding whatever it was that we, until a few minutes ago, hadn't had a clue about.

The story of Jesus, the stories of the Old Testament, stories of the saints, hymns, theological writers, all are part of expanding our world and allowing us to see with different eyes. It was rather insightful for me to find out that Old Testament shepherds lead their sheep rather than going behind them and driving them. I found biblical social science and it made so many things so much easier and so much more sense. I could read the Bible with more clarity as to what the people hearing these stories for the first time would have found familiar instead of trying to place them over 2000 years later in a culture very far different. Those insights have been both interesting and educational.

Insights can come because of just being aware. I remember one evening, standing outside my office while across the street a homeless man was pushing his worldly goods in a grocery cart. He came out of the darkness walked across a pool of light and then disappeared in the darkness on the other side. I only saw him for a second or two, but in that second or two I learned to see him in a different way. He was no longer a nuisance, a panhandler, perhaps a criminal. He became a child of God to me and in that flash of an instant, I loved that man with my whole heart, without knowing a single thing about him except that he was walking in a pool of light, pushing his cart, and was beloved of God despite what problems he had had or caused or been the victim of. It became easier for me to realize that God loved me too. After years of my childhood church teaching me that I was a miserable sinner and that God hated sinners, I suddenly believed God still loved me, a concept I found extremely hard to understand, but in that one instant I knew and believed it. That insight was a great new understanding for me.

So, to celebrate the Epiphany season, I think I'll go back to that practice of looking at something and trying to see what kind of insight I can gain from it. Whether it's an advertisement in a magazine, a video on the computer, an encounter on the street, a sentence or paragraph out of a book, or a conversation with a neighbor, insights can come from anywhere, but I must be aware that it is often a fleeting thing. Like a firefly, a brief flash of light goes out all too quickly and doesn't reappear in the same spot again. I must go looking for another elsewhere.

I haven't seen fireflies in years, but I think it's a good symbol for me to consider this Epiphany. I need to learn to find the little flash that can produce an insight that can change a great many things or even just a small change. Insights don't have to be huge to be helpful. I will also think of that firefly in terms of how my culture with see that little insect and its bioluminescence, how tradition could be illustrated by that flash of light all of a sudden. I can also think of what that little flash of light tells me and means to me, as well as what action it can spark in my way of doing things that would make them more in line with what God wants me to do.

I think this Epiphany is going to be a firefly season. It's going to be beautiful, and is going to be interesting. I think it may also be very productive.

God bless.


Originally published at Speaking to the Soul on Episcopal Café  Saturday, January 13, 2018.

Epiphany Gifts

Then Herod secretly called for the wise men^* and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. ⁸Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, ‘Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.’ ⁹When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising,^* until it stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰When they saw that the star had stopped,^* they were overwhelmed with joy. ¹¹On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure-chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. ¹²And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road. – Matthew 2:7-12

Today is the feast of the Epiphany, a day that celebrates the visitation of the wise men, or Magi, bearing gifts to the Christ child. It is also the beginning of a new liturgical season, one marked by a search for new epiphanies or insights that help us on our spiritual journey. It is also the day when those who continue to celebrate Christmas finally take down the tree and the Christmas ornaments and sadly put them away for another year.

In the Epiphany story, there are wise men coming from their homelands far to the east. The word Magi not only means “wise man" but also "astrologer,” which gives them a reason to be following an unusual star that has led them for miles to where the baby was, Normally, we make it part of our Christmas play, although some churches and Sunday schools will save this part of the story for its own separate presentation.

The wise men represent wisdom and a desire to increase their understanding. They also represent a kind of royalty because court astrologers were very highly sought in royal courts, and many decisions relied primarily on the insights brought to the king by his court astrologers. These were highly selected men, and possibly women, although none are mentioned, who had studied the stars since childhood and who were able to interpret various things using the position of the stars and constellations. A lot of people today still consult astrologers for everything from when their true prince will come for them to whether they should study mathematics or poetry, or even whether they should take a trip at a certain time or not. One of the interesting parts of many newspapers is the astrology column, which people read faithfully and sometimes follow the given advice. It is believed that the stars can tell us what we need to know, if we read them correctly.

We believe there were three magi, not named in the gospel, but who have been given the names Melchior, Balthazar, and Caspar. Maybe there were three, maybe there were ten, or possibly only one or two. We just do not know. We use the number three because of the gifts that were brought, gifts that were symbols as well as somewhat practical items. Their symbolic meaning, however, is probably of more importance to us in the story then perhaps their actual usage.

One gift was gold. Now that was a very practical gift, one which would be needed when Joseph answered the dream from the Angel about rushing away from where they were because Herod was planning to kill all the boy babies of a certain age. Mary and Joseph needed had to move quickly to save his life, so the gold would come in extremely handy until Joseph could find work and earn a living for his small family. The frankincense was a key component of the incense used in rituals as both a purification symbol and as a symbol of prayer rising to the heavens with the smoke. It was a symbol of sanctity and, probably, a recognition of the sanctity of this child to whom this this gift was presented.

Myrrh was a stranger gift because it was traditionally used in the preparation of a dead body for burial. It offered a form of preservation, but also a cleansing and help to disguise some of the less favorable scents that accompany death. It is usually accepted that this gift was a foretelling of Jesus's death, a rather strange gift for a new a young child, but perhaps not. Young children in those days have a high mortality rate. Luckily, Jesus did not need the myrrh at that time in his life, nor did he have a use for it at the end of his life.

I often wonder if one or more magi showed up at my door on a given day, why would they be there and what would they be bringing? Gold is always useful, especially among those of us who have a very real lack of it. It would be practical, but would it be the most important thing we could be given? Sanctity might be a good gift. it would be a nice scent, and useful for symbolic cleansing, which, I am sure, I need daily and I suspect others do as well. Myrrh might be a good gift, given my age and my health, but I think there are other gifts that might be a little more appropriate. I would really like to receive wisdom, not just the wisdom of the world and how to make money, create my own gold as it were, but wisdom of truly important things like peace, serenity, knowledge, compassion, understanding, and other such things. Now those would be handy. I think if I had that gift of wisdom I could work well in this world and create perhaps a better world for people around me, which could spread outwards much like the ripples in a pond.

I like to think that each of us is born with a special gift from God at the time of our birth. Salvation would be a gift many would choose, and that is assured to us in our creeds and in our baptismal vows and encouraged by our sermons and bit and scriptural readings about the requirement for us to believe. I could choose grace, which I think would be a perfectly wonderful gift, and one which, I also believe, God has given all of us at the time of our birth, it is just that many of us do not realize it until much later in life, if ever. Grace is there for us to accept and all we must do is believe it. That would be a very good gift for us to learn to accept.

The other thing I wonder is if we were one of the Magi and were bringing a gift to the Christ child, what gift could we offer? We could offer ourselves, which is a great gift; however, the problem with giving ourselves, is that many of us want to take it back almost immediately. Not everybody, mind you, but many of us would want to take it back periodically. So, what else could we bring?

There are some who have the gift of hospitality, and a wonderful gift that is, whether it is extending hospitality from their home, or their church, or in the civic groups to which they belong. The gift of hospitality often gives them the opportunity to show the teachings of Jesus rather than simply preaching them. Some might offer the gift of education, not only teaching spiritual values, but also human values that teach that all people are deserving of respect and, if not love, at least respect for their being children of God every bit as much as we ourselves are. There are some who make it extremely difficult for us to think of them in this way, but Jesus never said this was going to be easy. There is the gift of service, of sanctity, of constancy, and other things that would make this world more of the kingdom place than we can currently claim.

This week I think I'm going to concentrate on gifts — gifts that I was given at birth that maybe I have not developed as much as I could, and gifts that I can give, whether directly to Jesus or to God's people who surround me. In either event, it is going to require a few epiphanies, a few new insights, and a little bit of wisdom added like salt in an almost perfect dish. I really think I'm going to work on this this week.

Epiphany is a great season for this kind of thought. Maybe you'd like to join me in this quest? It is free, and it is rewarding.

God bless.


Originally published at Speaking to the Soul on Episcopal Café Saturday, January 6, 2018.

The Importance of Anna

Luke 2:36-40

There are lots and lots of stories in the Bible. Most of them deal with kings and priests and judges and prophets and patriarchs, all doing more or less great (and some of them very nefarious) deeds. They are intended to be stories about how things came to be the way they were, and stories meant to inspire those hearing them to do great deeds like David or Samson or Moses or any one of many heroes. Women on the other hand usually get a lot less publicity. We get Eve occasionally, we get Mary, especially around Christmas, but a lot of times, at least in the past, stories about women seldom showed up in the Sunday readings or even daily readings. That has been changing, and it is a very good thing.

We have a story today in the Eucharistic readings from Luke. Mary and Joseph have brought the 40-day-old Jesus to the temple as required by Jewish law, to make a sacrifice to God for the life of the boy. The first person that greets them is an old priest named Simeon who launches into what we call Nunc dimittis, “Lord now let thy servant depart in peace according to thy word, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation." It's a prayer done at every vespers, compline and evensong.

But there was a second person there, a woman named Anna, who was considered a prophetess. She lived in or near the temple, and was in the temple almost continuously fasting, praying and prophesying. She was a very old woman, probably somewhere between 84 and 105 in years. She had been married, but her husband lived only seven years before dying, leaving a young wife and seemingly no children. Some references claim that she remained alone for 84 years while others other translations put her at 84 years old when the story occurred. However it was, her age was one reason for her being so revered by the people while her wisdom and piety also set her apart as special.

She saw the little family come in and she began speaking to the people around her about this marvelous child, and she was praising God for having sent the child and for letting her see him. We do not have her exact words like we have Simeon’s. Anna's job was done, and she disappeared into the mists, never to be heard of again.

It seems that in the world of the Bible some people were born simply to fulfill one thing, one gesture or one speech, one action, or one presentation of themselves. Anna seems to be this kind of person. She is there one minute gone the next, but she seems to have accomplished what she was supposed to do, namely speaking to the people about the redemption of Israel and the coming of this child who had a lot to do with that.

We seldom think of people in terms of one moment in time. We have so much information available that often we drown in information about someone who either said or did something remarkable. We know the names of doctors and scientists who made significant contributions to bettering the health of people, and will remember them for hundreds of years. We remember famous musicians and composers, and writers and poets, philosophers and theologians, but not usually for just one moment in time. We have information about the span of their entire lives in most cases, so there's it is hard to pick out that epiphany moment when something that they said or something that they did immediately makes a change in our thinking and our actions.

Have you ever had a moment where your mind was a bit muddled or you were trying hard to actually come up with something nebulous that has been teasing your brain for a while? Then suddenly you hear or read something and suddenly something clicks, the fog rolls away, and you now have a clarification of what you have been trying to come up with in the first place? It happens, and it happens quite often, but we seldom really take note of it. We are in a hurry to get that thought down on paper before we forget it, or work out that calculation and get it to someone higher up the food chain who is been waiting for this breakthrough. It might have been in the middle of a speech and, if we are lucky, the media will pick up on that one thought, but how much more of the speech goes by the wayside because someone else decided something in that speech was more important than the one little bit that might have been what someone needed to hear or read. It happens a lot.

We do seem to condense things into sound bytes, which is convenient, but which loses many of the nuances and some of these thinking points that we might be using for something that we have been searching for. A lot of people have been awakened during a sermon by hearing a Scripture verse that they might have forgotten that suddenly lights a lamp in their mind and something that was cloudy becomes clear. It happens quite frequently. Anna is one of those people who presents something that people need to hear and that is why we remember her, although we don't know precisely what she said.

I think my challenge this week is to keep my ears open and eyes open for one of those tiny epiphanies that clarify something I might not even be aware of its cloudiness. Maybe it's something that someone does that opens a window that I had no idea was even there. Maybe this week I should look for the Anna who calls attention to something and brings a message that someone else needs to hear, namely me. 

It's going to be an interesting week, that's for sure.

God bless.


Originally published at Speaking to the Soul on Episcopal Café on Saturday, December 30, 2017.