"For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery." (Galatians 5:1)

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.

St. Paul on the stained glass windows in St. Martin's Church.

Prime Timers Good News

Each week we hear our members good news, but it costs a dollar! We collect these dollars and currently donate the money to the Amistad Mission in Bolivia. Murray is thankful that his wife made it back home safely to Calgary, Canada.

Jesus' Healing Power

Carol Hartland led the Prime Timers in our exploration of Jesus ability to cast out demons and heal. In our reading from Luke Jesus is casting out the demons in an unclean swineherd who is out of his mind and lives in a cemetery! Jesus heals him and tells him to go home and spread the word of his redemption. This is an example of discipleship. It doesn't matter who you are, you can spread the good word of Jesus.

Our Old Testament reading from 1 Kings 19 continues the story of Elijah and Jezebel. Jezebel in our last reading from 1 Kings 21 had Naboth stoned to death on a phony charge in order for her husband Ahab to acquire Naboth's land. Here she is after Elijah for killing the prophets of Baal. Elijah flees for his life and looks for the voice of the Lord. After mighty winds, earthquakes and fire Elijah finds the voice in a "a sound of sheer silence." (1 Kings 19:12)

Psalms 42 and 43 are sometimes considered the same Psalm as they both deal with a "cast down Soul" looking for God. This led class discussion to the current disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, with George wondering how many people are questioning the Lord, how many are wondering why bad things happen to good people? This question is of course at the very center of our faith. How could a "loving God" allow something so horrible to happen? St. Martins' former Rector Dr. Gipson used to give a sermon about how God established the rules of nature and the cosmos and how inappropriate it would be to start altering these for specific events. The other question is free will. If we want God to start monkeying with our lives then would we really have free will?

George calls on a distant relative who is serving a long term in prison. He is discouraged with the lack of progress he sees in showing this relative God's love. Other class members reassured him that he is doing the right thing and that while in the short term things may look bleak reaching out to this man is certainly better than leaving him alone with only the company of other prisoners.

Paul's letter to the Galatians re-affirms that we are all one as children of God in Jesus Christ. It is not through following many laws, with all the chances of being tripped up by one or the other, that we are redeemed, rather it is by our faith in the Lord.

David Rhoads is a Professor of New Testament at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. He wrote in Currents in Theology and Mission (Aug. 2004): "Paul was giving to the Galatians a new identity as children of Abraham. In so doing, he was giving them a new God, a new ancestry, a new history, a new set of kinship relationships, and a new national identity—an identity that, by virtue of being metaphorical, did not nullify their identity as Galatians. By implication, it did not nullify the identity of any other ethnic group, as gentiles. [A] household of faith is created by grace from an action of God external to all these groups and not on the basis of distinctions that separate and divide human individuals and groups and that serve to justify domination."

In Christ there is freedom, respect, equality, hope for all.

Carol concluded class with a short prayer.

The Readings for Sunday, June 27th are from Lectionary Year Three, Proper 8-C, "Answering God's Call"

The Readings for this week are 2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14; Psalm 77:1-2, 11-20; Galatians 5:1, 13-25 and Luke 9:51-62. The text this week is from the New Revised Standard Version.

2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14

¹Now when the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. ²Elijah said to Elisha, 'Stay here; for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel.' But Elisha said, 'As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.' So they went down to Bethel.
⁶ Then Elijah said to him, 'Stay here; for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.' But he said, 'As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.' So the two of them went on. ⁷Fifty men of the company of prophets also went, and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan. ⁸Then Elijah took his mantle and rolled it up, and struck the water; the water was parted to the one side and to the other, until the two of them crossed on dry ground.
⁹ When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, 'Tell me what I may do for you, before I am taken from you.' Elisha said, 'Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit.' ¹⁰He responded, 'You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it will be granted you; if not, it will not.' ¹¹As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven. ¹²Elisha kept watching and crying out, 'Father, father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!' But when he could no longer see him, he grasped his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.

Elisha Succeeds Elijah

¹³ He picked up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. ¹⁴He took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and struck the water, saying, 'Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?' When he had struck the water, the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and Elisha went over.

Psalm 77:1-2, 11-20

¹ I cry aloud to God,
aloud to God, that he may hear me.
² In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord;
in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying;
my soul refuses to be comforted.

¹¹ I will call to mind the deeds of the Lord;
I will remember your wonders of old.
¹² I will meditate on all your work,
and muse on your mighty deeds.
¹³ Your way, O God, is holy.
What god is so great as our God?
¹⁴ You are the God who works wonders;
you have displayed your might among the peoples.
¹⁵ With your strong arm you redeemed your people,
the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.
Selah

¹⁶ When the waters saw you, O God,
when the waters saw you, they were afraid;
the very deep trembled.
¹⁷ The clouds poured out water;
the skies thundered;
your arrows flashed on every side.
¹⁸ The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind;
your lightnings lit up the world;
the earth trembled and shook.
¹⁹ Your way was through the sea,
your path, through the mighty waters;
yet your footprints were unseen.
²⁰ You led your people like a flock
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

Galatians 5:1, 13-25

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

¹³ For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. ¹⁴For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, 'You shall love your neighbour as yourself.' ¹⁵If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.
The Works of the Flesh
¹⁶ Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. ¹⁷For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want. ¹⁸But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law. ¹⁹Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, ²⁰idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, ²¹envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
The Fruit of the Spirit
²² By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, ²³gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. ²⁴And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.

Luke 9:51-62

⁵¹ When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. ⁵²And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; ⁵³but they did not receive him, because his face was set towards Jerusalem. ⁵⁴When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, 'Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?' ⁵⁵But he turned and rebuked them. ⁵⁶Then they went on to another village.

Would-Be Followers of Jesus

⁵⁷ As they were going along the road, someone said to him, 'I will follow you wherever you go.' ⁵⁸And Jesus said to him, 'Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.' ⁵⁹To another he said, 'Follow me.' But he said, 'Lord, first let me go and bury my father.' ⁶⁰But Jesus said to him, 'Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.' ⁶¹Another said, 'I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.' ⁶²Jesus said to him, 'No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.'

NRSV