"...O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you for ever." (Psalm 30:12)

Come On In! It's Cool Inside!

Welcome to Prime Timers, a Christian Education Group at St. Martin's for Episcopalians aged fifty and above. Don't let that stop you, though. We are following a course of study based on the Revised Common Lectionary and 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 Rose Window at St. Martin's Church.

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. Jean is thankful that her step-daughter is pregnant. Marty is thankful for his twenty-fourth thirty-ninth birthday. George is preparing a property he owns for sale and says he's cut down at least a hundred trees, and that he finally learned how to sharpen a chain saw! Jim's fifth grand-child is a girl! Jim says she is the last grand-child, well we'll see.

Answering God's Call

Carol Hartland led the Prime Timers as Jesus' leads his disciples to Jerusalem. The route takes them through the territory of the Samaritans. Carol told us that the Samaritan's were an alien branch of Judaism, with roots dating back to 600 BC. She read from Oxford professor George Caird's work on the Samaritans, "they" are the Jews: '"They regarded 'neighbor' as a term of limited liability,"—lawyers take note!—"and [they] endlessly debated what classes [of people] were excluded by it from the scope of the commandment." The usual answer was that the Gentiles were excluded, and that meant "everybody who isn't us." The Samaritans had once been among the chosen, but were now lawless heretics whose scripture reading was flawed and whose worship was in the wrong place.'

The Samaritans believe that theirs is the true religion, dating back to ancient Samaria, and that Judaism is an altered version of this true religion. They believe that Mt. Gerizim is the center of true faith and so reject Jesus, who "set his face to go to Jerusalem." (Luke 9:51) When James and John are ready to "command fire to come down from heaven and consume them" (Luke 9:54) Jesus rebukes them. The prophet Elijah might bring fire down on his enemy but Jesus message is of forgiveness and salvation.

In Galatians 5 Paul tells us we do not need to follow the law if we have the spirit in Christ to guide us. Then he lists a number of failings of the flesh as examples of things preventing us from having this freedom of faith. In 2 Kings 2 Elijah is taken by the whirlwind, but not before bestowing his mantle of authority on Elisha. This is the only example of an Old Testament prophet choosing his own successor.

Jesus presents us with some difficult concepts in Luke 9:51-62. When a follower wants to bury his father first, Jesus says (Luke 9:50) 'Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.' To another who wants to wrap up his affairs at home before coming with Jesus, Jesus says (Luke 9:62) 'No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.' This prompted Marty to say that we need a clergy person to help get a handle on these actions, they seem on the face somewhat cold. We finally decided that Jesus is making it clear that following in His new way is a lifetime commitment.

Carol asked if any of us had any religious turning point moments. Jean said the birth of her son would qualify. Carol was married to a man who had Lou Gehrig's Disease and when he was on his deathbed the nurses asked him if he wanted morphine to make his final moments less painful, but all he would say was "no problem." Carol felt this was the hand of God on her husband.

George figures it was divine intervention that caused him to go to Rice instead of Texas A&M, "like a true country boy." If he had not gone to Rice he would not have met his wife of fifty years! Elizabeth was about fifteen when she found out her mother, who was ailing at the time, was pregnant again. Elizabeth feared the worst, that the pregnancy might result in the death of her mother! Elizabeth says this is when she learned how to pray. The pregnancy went all right and now she had a brother! All of them, including her husband George, are very close and have annual meetings. George says it turned out ok, "except that he (the brother) turned out to be a Democrat!"

Our notes for these classes usually conclude with a quote from a religious authority, and today we have William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1942-44:

"While we deliberate, God reigns; when we decide wisely, God reigns; when we decide foolishly, God reigns; when we serve God in humble loyalty, God reigns; when we serve God self assertively, God reigns; when we rebel and seek to withhold our service, God reigns—the Alpha and the Omega, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty."

Carol concluded class with a short prayer.

The Readings for Sunday, July 4th are from Lectionary Year Three, Proper 9-C, "The Seventy are Sent"

The Readings for this week are 2 Kings 5:1-14; Psalm 30; Galatians 6:(1-6) 7-16 and Luke 10:1-11, 16-20. The text this week is from the New Revised Standard Version.

2 Kings 5:1-14

¹Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man and in high favour with his master, because by him the Lord had given victory to Aram. The man, though a mighty warrior, suffered from leprosy. ²Now the Arameans on one of their raids had taken a young girl captive from the land of Israel, and she served Naaman's wife. ³She said to her mistress, 'If only my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.' ⁴So Naaman went in and told his lord just what the girl from the land of Israel had said. ⁵And the king of Aram said, 'Go then, and I will send along a letter to the king of Israel.'
He went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of garments. ⁶He brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, 'When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you my servant Naaman, that you may cure him of his leprosy.' ⁷When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, 'Am I God, to give death or life, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Just look and see how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me.'
⁸ But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king, 'Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come to me, that he may learn that there is a prophet in Israel.' ⁹So Naaman came with his horses and chariots, and halted at the entrance of Elisha's house. ¹⁰Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, 'Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean.' ¹¹But Naaman became angry and went away, saying, 'I thought that for me he would surely come out, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and would wave his hand over the spot, and cure the leprosy! ¹²Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them, and be clean?' He turned and went away in a rage. ¹³But his servants approached and said to him, 'Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, "Wash, and be clean"?' ¹⁴So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean.

Psalm 30

A Psalm. A Song at the dedication of the temple. Of David.

¹ I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up,
and did not let my foes rejoice over me.
² O Lord my God, I cried to you for help,
and you have healed me.
³ O Lord, you brought up my soul from Sheol,
restored me to life from among those gone down to the Pit.

⁴ Sing praises to the Lord, O you his faithful ones,
and give thanks to his holy name.
⁵ For his anger is but for a moment;
his favour is for a lifetime.
Weeping may linger for the night,
but joy comes with the morning.

⁶ As for me, I said in my prosperity,
'I shall never be moved.'
⁷ By your favour, O Lord,
you had established me as a strong mountain;
you hid your face;
I was dismayed.

⁸ To you, O Lord, I cried,
and to the Lord I made supplication:
⁹ 'What profit is there in my death,
if I go down to the Pit?
Will the dust praise you?
Will it tell of your faithfulness?
¹⁰ Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me!
O Lord, be my helper!'

¹¹ You have turned my mourning into dancing;
you have taken off my sackcloth
and clothed me with joy,
¹² so that my soul may praise you and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you for ever.

Galatians 6:(1-6) 7-16

¹My friends, if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. Take care that you yourselves are not tempted. ²Bear one another's burdens, and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ. ³For if those who are nothing think they are something, they deceive themselves. ⁴All must test their own work; then that work, rather than their neighbour's work, will become a cause for pride. ⁵For all must carry their own loads.
⁶ Those who are taught the word must share in all good things with their teacher.
⁷ Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow. ⁸If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit. ⁹So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up. ¹⁰So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith.

Final Admonitions and Benediction

¹¹ See what large letters I make when I am writing in my own hand! ¹²It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh that try to compel you to be circumcised—only that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. ¹³Even the circumcised do not themselves obey the law, but they want you to be circumcised so that they may boast about your flesh. ¹⁴May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. ¹⁵For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything; but a new creation is everything! ¹⁶As for those who will follow this rule—peace be upon them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.

Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

¹After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. ²He said to them, 'The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest. ³Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. ⁴Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. ⁵Whatever house you enter, first say, "Peace to this house!" ⁶And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. ⁷Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the labourer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. ⁸Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; ⁹cure the sick who are there, and say to them, "The kingdom of God has come near to you." ¹⁰But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, ¹¹"Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near."

¹⁶ 'Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.'
¹⁷ The seventy returned with joy, saying, 'Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!' ¹⁸He said to them, 'I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. ¹⁹See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. ²⁰Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.'

NRSV