"Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." (Matthew 11:11)

Prime Timers is a small group at St. Martin's for Episcopalians aged fifty and above. We are following a course of study based on the Revised Common Lectionary, the three year cycle of Bible readings used throughout the Anglican Communion and by many Protestant denominations worldwide. You are invited to join us in the Parlor near the church offices, Sunday after the 9:00am service, 10:15am to 11:00. Keep up to date with our Lectionary based readings at the bottom of this page!

During the season of Advent the Prime Timers class will be suspended several times as we celebrate the events of this wonderful time of year, however this page will continue to update the Lectionary readings class or no class.

The Jesse Tree at Chartres Cathedral in Northern France.

A Jesse Tree Miniature, Jacques de Besançon, Paris, c.1485. Showing 43 generations from Jesse (Isaiah 11:1-10) to Jesus.

Prime Timers Good News

The Prime Timers hear members Good News each week at the start of class. We charge a dollar and currently donate the money collected to the Amistad Mission in Bolivia. Lynn gave thanks for the weather! Bishop John Goodwin and his wife Ammona Sue gave thanks for their daughter, who is one step closer to receiving treatment for epilepsy caused by malaria.

Prime Timers Christmas Dinner!

Christmas is a very busy time of year and getting everyone together for events gets more difficult as we get closer to Christmas. The Prime Timers Christmas dinner will be on Tuesday, December 7, 6:30pm at Masraff's new restaurant, 1753 Post Oak Boulevard, (713) 355-1975. Dinner organizer Lynn Swaffar needs to know if you are coming as soon as possible, you can call her at (281) 495-3832, or email to lynnswaffar@yahoo.com. Many Prime Timers remember our last event at Masraff's old location, we were one of the last groups to eat there, and the new location promises to be a very special evening.

John's Challenge

The Prime Timers are very fortunate to have George Laigle teach this week. George had surgery earlier in the week but came and led the class anyway. All the Prime Timers are grateful for George's service, what a trooper!

It's Advent season and today's reading from Matthew is the story of John the Baptist prophesying the coming of the Messiah, and proclaiming the Pharisees and Sadducees as a "brood of vipers!" (Matthew 3:7) John is wearing camel's hair clothing and eating locusts and wild honey. Bishop Goodwin explains that this shows John took a vow of poverty. John is creating quite a stir as would anyone challenging the status quo of the religion of his time. Remember the Pharisees and Sadducees are arbiters of the many rules of the Old Testament, and were following them perfectly. For someone to call them vipers is a direct challenge to their authority.

Reading from the book of Isaiah our Advent theme of "something coming" is heralded by Isaiah's "A shoot shall come from the stock of Jesse," (Isaiah 11:1) Jesse is the father of David, the great King of Israel, the slayer of Goliath. This passage is full of incredible imagery, with the Lord coming in full glory, predatory animals living in harmony with their prey, babies playing with snakes, etc.

The Tree of Jesse refers to the genealogy of Christ. Descending from Jesse gives Jesus a noble lineage. In Medieval times the idea of a tree representing lineage became widespread, see the pictures at the top of this page. The stained glass window at Chartres Cathedral in France represents the most elaborate representation of the Jesse tree. Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel paintings represent the genealogy of Jesus without the Jesse Tree.

The idea of animals getting along with their natural enemies intrigues the class, and Bishop Goodwin reminds us that this is the idea of restoring our dominion over the Garden of Eden. This idea of the "peaceable kingdom" recurs often in art, currently in a Traveler's insurance commercial, and the Chronicles of Narnia series.

Class discussion centers around the state of religion today and the idea that with all the "noise" today we could very well miss the second coming! We are reminded that focusing solely on the second coming is itself problematic. We should be living Jesus' message and not waiting for magical signs. George tells a story of a trip to England, wanting to go to church on Sunday, and finding the church locked up! On Sunday! Bishop Goodwin tells a story closer to home. In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania there are several magnificent cathedrals, and there is one with a capacity of two thousand, and a membership of twenty!!! Each generation needs to discover Christ on their own, and in their own way, or no matter how magnificent the facility it can be empty. Lynn tells a story from our own church's past, where children were cruel to other children, and no supervision intervened. Lynda remembers her own children no longer attending church when they were on their own. Early experiences can affect you for a lifetime. We are all thankful for Rev. Levenson's emphasis on young people, and his ambitious plans for better facilities for them.

Anglican Bishop John A. T. Robinson wrote in Christ Comes In (London: A.R. Mowbray & Co., Ltd., 1960):
"The Advent call is to watch, to discern the signs of the times, to be alert and obedient to what God is saying to us. … Jesus charged the Jews with their failure to know the signs of the present time, to understand what was happening about them, and so to perceive what God was doing in their midst. … Nothing is more fatally easy as we read the paper, or hear a remark, or make a choice, than to miss the Christian issue involved, not to discern the knock of the Son of Man amid the clangor of the world. It is pious humbug to say we are watching for the Second Coming, if when the Lord comes we are unable to recognize him. Christ, indeed, will come into everything—that is the assurance which the vision of a last glorious Coming is there to maintain. But let us beware of confining this expectation so exclusively to a single cataclysmic event at the end of history, that we fail to see it operating in the events through which the Son of Man comes to our generation. Otherwise we shall be in danger of so fixing our gaze on the skies that we miss the judgments of God which are abroad in the earth."

The Readings for Sunday, December 12th are from Lectionary Year One, Advent 3-A, "More Than a Prophet"

The Readings for this week are Isaiah 35:1-10; Psalm 146:4-9; James 5:7-10 and Matthew 11:2-11. The text this week is from the New Revised Standard Version.

Isaiah 35:1-10

¹The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad,
the desert shall rejoice and blossom;
like the crocus ²it shall blossom abundantly,
and rejoice with joy and singing.
The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,
the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.
They shall see the glory of the Lord,
the majesty of our God.

³ Strengthen the weak hands,
and make firm the feeble knees.
⁴ Say to those who are of a fearful heart,
'Be strong, do not fear!
Here is your God.
He will come with vengeance,
with terrible recompense.
He will come and save you.'

⁵ Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
⁶ then the lame shall leap like a deer,
and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.
For waters shall break forth in the wilderness,
and streams in the desert;
⁷ the burning sand shall become a pool,
and the thirsty ground springs of water;
the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp,
the grass shall become reeds and rushes.

⁸ A highway shall be there,
and it shall be called the Holy Way;
the unclean shall not travel on it,
but it shall be for God's people;
no traveller, not even fools, shall go astray.
⁹ No lion shall be there,
nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it;
they shall not be found there,
but the redeemed shall walk there.
¹⁰ And the ransomed of the Lord shall return,
and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
they shall obtain joy and gladness,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

Psalm 146:4-9

⁴ When their breath departs, they return to the earth;
on that very day their plans perish.

⁵ Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord their God,
⁶ who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them;
who keeps faith for ever;
⁷ who executes justice for the oppressed;
who gives food to the hungry.

The Lord sets the prisoners free;
⁸ the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
the Lord loves the righteous.
⁹ The Lord watches over the strangers;
he upholds the orphan and the widow,
but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

James 5:7-10

⁷ Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. ⁸You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. ⁹Beloved, do not grumble against one another, so that you may not be judged. See, the Judge is standing at the doors! ¹⁰As an example of suffering and patience, beloved, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.

Matthew 11:2-11

² When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples ³and said to him, 'Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?' ⁴Jesus answered them, 'Go and tell John what you hear and see: ⁵the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. ⁶And blessed is anyone who takes no offence at me.'
⁷ As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: 'What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? ⁸What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. ⁹What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. ¹⁰This is the one about whom it is written,
"See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way before you."
¹¹Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

NRSV