The Incredulity of Saint Thomas, 1601-02, Caravaggio, Oil on Canvas at the Schloss Sanssouci, Potsdam.

Prime Timers Pilgrimage

Prime Timers are attending Rev. Levenson's (and others) class "Basic Bible Study." This week class was led by Rev. Zimmerman on "Religion and False Religion." The text is from Paul's letter to the Galatians. Here is Galatians 5:1-12:

¹For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

² Listen! I, Paul, am telling you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you. ³Once again I testify to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obliged to obey the entire law. ⁴You who want to be justified by the law have cut yourselves off from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. ⁵For through the Spirit, by faith, we eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. ⁶For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything; the only thing that counts is faith working through love.

⁷ You were running well; who prevented you from obeying the truth? ⁸Such persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. ⁹A little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough. ¹⁰I am confident about you in the Lord that you will not think otherwise. But whoever it is that is confusing you will pay the penalty. ¹¹But my friends, why am I still being persecuted if I am still preaching circumcision? In that case the offence of the cross has been removed. ¹²I wish those who unsettle you would castrate themselves!

Rev. Zimmerman went through this passage line by line, and don't worry, it is really not just about circumcision! Jesus sets us free so we don't have to follow a rigid set of rules to "get in good with God," rather we are free to do good through the Holy Spirit coming from within.

Lectionary readings

The Readings for Sunday, April 22th are from Lectionary Year Two, Easter 3-B, "Resurrection Appearances": Acts 3:12-19; Psalm 4; 1 John 3:1-7 and Luke 24:36b-48. The text this week is from the New Revised Standard Version.

Acts 3:12-19

¹²When Peter saw it, he addressed the people, ‘You Israelites, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk? ¹³The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. ¹⁴But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, ¹⁵and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. ¹⁶And by faith in his name, his name itself has made this man strong, whom you see and know; and the faith that is through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you.

¹⁷ ‘And now, friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. ¹⁸In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer. ¹⁹Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out,

Psalm 4

To the leader: with stringed instruments. A Psalm of David.

¹ Answer me when I call, O God of my right!
You gave me room when I was in distress.
Be gracious to me, and hear my prayer.

² How long, you people, shall my honour suffer shame?
How long will you love vain words, and seek after lies?
Selah
³ But know that the Lord has set apart the faithful for himself;
the Lord hears when I call to him.

⁴ When you are disturbed, do not sin;
ponder it on your beds, and be silent.
Selah
⁵ Offer right sacrifices,
and put your trust in the Lord.

⁶ There are many who say, ‘O that we might see some good!
Let the light of your face shine on us, O Lord!’
⁷ You have put gladness in my heart
more than when their grain and wine abound.

⁸ I will both lie down and sleep in peace;
for you alone, O Lord, make me lie down in safety.

1 John 3:1-7

¹See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. ²Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. ³And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

⁴ Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. ⁵You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. ⁶No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him. ⁷Little children, let no one deceive you. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.

Luke 24:36b-48

^36bJesus himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ ³⁷They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. ³⁸He said to them, ‘Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? ³⁹Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.’ ⁴⁰And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. ⁴¹While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ ⁴²They gave him a piece of broiled fish, ⁴³and he took it and ate in their presence.

⁴⁴ Then he said to them, ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.’ ⁴⁵Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, ⁴⁶and he said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, ⁴⁷and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. ⁴⁸You are witnesses of these things.

NRSV