"Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds." (Matthew 14:19)

Prime Timers is a Christian Education 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. Next week's readings are right here, at the bottom of the page! You are invited to join us in the Parlor near the church offices, Sunday after the 9:00am service, 10:15am to 11:00.

The Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes
Les Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, c. 1413, Illuminated Manuscript by the Limbourg brothers, Paul, Hermann and Jean.

Prime Timer Good News!

A Prime Timer tradition is hearing what others are up to, and charging a dollar for the privilege! Currently we donate the money we collect to the Amistad Mission in Bolivia, helping underprivileged kids. Marty gave an update on our Amistad fund, we are approaching a nice milestone!

Valuing God's Kingdom

George Laigle led the Prime Timers today while our leader Carol Hartland is out recovering from knee replacement surgery.

In today's gospel, Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52, Jesus uses several parables to describe the Kingdom of Heaven. From mustard seeds growing into great trees, to leavening flour for bread, to the merchant finding a pearl of great value and selling everthing he has to buy it, to the fishermen with a great catch sorting the good from the bad there are seven parables in all in Matthew's discourse, and Jesus tells us five here. George notes that in church this morning the first lesson was 1 Kings 3:5-12 and that this was not in our class lectionary guide. Class is using the Revised Common Lectionary while the Episcopal Common Lectionary includes the passage from Kings along with the Revised readings!

Linda just returned from England, where they are celebrating the four hundreth (!) anniversary of the King James Bible. Click the name for the official website. This bible, or one of its close revisions, is the one that most of the Prime Timers grew up with. Of course today we have a multitude of bibles to choose from. In Psalm 105 the New Revised Standard version in verse four tells us "Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually." The King James says "Seek the LORD, and his strength: seek his face evermore." While the New International Version says "Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always." Small differences perhaps, but you can see the effort to make the Bible more accessible and to express the Word in modern language.

Maybe it is the mustard seed, or the pearl of great value but class discussion turned to animal reproduction under difficult situations. An Emperor Penguin, for instance, needs to keep the eggs on his feet for several months or else they will freeze! George tells about an Animal Planet show about fish who lay their eggs on palm fronds (if you click the link there is a 20 second ad to sit through) to avoid predators, and then have to keep the floating "raft" moist so the eggs don't dry out!

Elizabeth recounts a touching story of how proud she was of one their children (the ornery one!) who gave the eulogy for a family friend recently. George has memorized the 23rd Psalm, here is the King James version in case you forgot:

¹ The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
² He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
³ He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
⁴ Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
⁵ Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
⁶ Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

Demetrius Dumm, former Rector of St. Vincent's Seminary, wrote in Flowers in the Desert: A Spirituality of the Bible (Paulist Press, 1987):
“Faith begins with an overture from God. It may be an immediate experience of divine graciousness, but it is more likely to be mediated through the love and kindness of another human being or even through the beauty and bounty of nature. When this happens there is an experience of gift. The angels hold their
breath to see what will happen next! For this gift can be received with caution or suspicion as if it were merely an accident, an exception to the general experience of competitive violence. Or it can be received as the promise and earnest of ever greater gift, in which case it becomes the first step in an adventure that leads
to the discovery of the Gift of gifts.”

When we encounter hints of the treasure of God’s Kingdom, how will we respond?

Linda concluded class with a short prayer.

Lectionary readings

The Readings for Sunday, July 31st are from Lectionary Year One, Proper 13-A, "The Bountiful Feast": Genesis 32:22-31; Psalm 17:1-7, 16; Romans 9:1-5 and Matthew 14:13-21. The text this week is from the New Revised Standard Version.

Genesis 32:22-31

²² The same night he got up and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. ²³He took them and sent them across the stream, and likewise everything that he had. ²⁴Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. ²⁵When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket; and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. ²⁶Then he said, ‘Let me go, for the day is breaking.’ But Jacob said, ‘I will not let you go, unless you bless me.’ ²⁷So he said to him, ‘What is your name?’ And he said, ‘Jacob.’ ²⁸Then the man said, ‘You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed.’ ²⁹Then Jacob asked him, ‘Please tell me your name.’ But he said, ‘Why is it that you ask my name?’ And there he blessed him. ³⁰So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, ‘For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved.’ ³¹The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip.

Psalm 17:1-7, 16

A Prayer of David.

¹ Hear a just cause, O Lord; attend to my cry;
give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit.
² From you let my vindication come;
let your eyes see the right.

³ If you try my heart, if you visit me by night,
if you test me, you will find no wickedness in me;
my mouth does not transgress.
⁴ As for what others do, by the word of your lips
I have avoided the ways of the violent.
⁵ My steps have held fast to your paths;
my feet have not slipped.

⁶ I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God;
incline your ear to me, hear my words.
⁷ Wondrously show your steadfast love,
O saviour of those who seek refuge
from their adversaries at your right hand.

¹⁵ As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness;
when I awake I shall be satisfied, beholding your likeness.

Romans 9:1-5

¹I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience confirms it by the Holy Spirit— ²I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. ³For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my own people, my kindred according to the flesh. ⁴They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; ⁵to them belong the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, comes the Messiah, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.

Matthew 14:13-21

¹³ Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. ¹⁴When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. ¹⁵When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.’ ¹⁶Jesus said to them, ‘They need not go away; you give them something to eat.’ ¹⁷They replied, ‘We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.’ ¹⁸And he said, ‘Bring them here to me.’ ¹⁹Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. ²⁰And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. ²¹And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

NRSV