"... we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found." (Luke 15:32)

Prime Timers is a St. Martin's Adult Christian Education group, a.k.a. Adult Bible Fellowship. We are age 50 and beyond, and invite everyone to come to the Parlor near the Church Offices each Sunday from 10:15 am to 11:00. We are following the Revised Common Lectionary this year. The Lenten season is underway, why not spend some of your forty days with us?

Prime Timers Celebrate Good News

We celebrate our members Good News at Prime Timers with a $1 contribution to Henny Penny, our Good News chicken. Periodically Henny donates the money she collects to a charity, currently the Amistad Mission in Bolivia. Elizabeth gave thanks for George, who took her car to head up to Huntsville to visit with a relative. George called saying he was glad she didn't drive, because he had a flat! Anne and Marty checked out the Hotel Granduca and their Ristorante Cavour over the weekend as a possible site for one of our monthly dinners. This is located about a mile from the church and is something to see. Stay tuned! Anne's computer died over the weekend and the diagnosis was just a burned out power supply that can be replaced for a lot less than a new computer!

Camp Good News

PrimeTimers is participating in an outreach project with Camp Good News, a camp for children who have a parent in prison. The outreach project will be writing letters or cards of encouragement or inspiration to these children who receive very little mail. The camp session is the first part of June and more information will be forthcoming. Click on the Camp Good News name for more information about this organization.

A Call to Repent

The Prime Timers were led by Carol Hartland today in our Lectionary based class as we tried to get a handle on repentance, with some help from Exodus, Paul and Luke. We began by reading Luke 13:1-9 where people are asking Jesus about some horrific events and whether these are due to God's vengeance. First up is a slaughter by Pilate's men of some Galileans who are making sacrifices. Then people perishing in the collapse of the tower of Siloam. Jesus will not say that all these people are any greater sinners than anyone else, and tells the people present that if they do not repent they will perish the same way.

Jesus tells the parable of the fig tree, where the owner wants the gardener to pull out a tree that did not bear fruit for three years. The gardener asks for one more year, during which time he will take care of and nurture the tree, and if the tree is not bearing fruit by then, take it down. The fig tree metaphor is often used to represent Israel, and the implication is clear: clean up your act or perish!

Carol asked what we meant by repentance; is it just talk or are actions required to make it real? Jesus clearly indicates that unless we really take the message of repentance to heart we are in trouble!

The story of Moses and the burning bush is next. There is no clearer description of the divine call in scripture than this. Here is Moses confronting the holy, and God calling on Moses to lead his people out of Egypt. As our new Curate the Rev. Katherine F. Picot said in her sermon, Moses in today's vernacular says "you've got to be kidding!"

Finally we have Paul in 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 restating as only Paul can the idea that Jesus is the Christ, our redeemer, and while we are all subject to the same temptations in life, if we don't repent and lead a chaste life we will reap the whirlwind! Then again, while we will be tested God will give us a way out.

Our supporting materials for the lesson often have quotes from prominent theologians to clarify our readings. Dr. Thomas Grier Long is the Bandy Professor of Preaching at Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. He wrote in The Christian Century (March 7, 2001):

“The signs of this new reality breaking in and summoning us to a new way of life are all around us. But what are we looking for? … “‘You haven’t a clue,’ Jesus said, ‘about how to interpret the present time.’ No sooner had Jesus issued this challenge than some in the crowd stepped forward. ‘Don’t say we cannot read the times. How about that terrible incident in the temple, the one where Pilate’s police
slaughtered some innocent worshipers from Galilee?’ ‘No,’ Jesus responded,
‘it isn’t a sign. And don’t bother bringing up the tragic case where the tower of Siloam collapsed, killing 18 people,’ he added.

‘That is not the kind of sign I mean either.’ “What is the sign of God’s pregnant time? We must watch closely and faithfully, or we will miss it. To sharpen our vision, Jesus tells a parable about an orchard owner who was frustrated by a barren fig tree and ordered the gardener to cut the tree down. ‘Sir,’ pleads the
gardener, ‘let’s nurture it, care for it and give it one more year.’ “That’s it. That is the sign of the times, the clue to the breaking in of God’s reign. … Not wars or rumors of war, but instead the gracious and patient hand that reaches out to halt the ax, the merciful gesture woven into the fabric of life that stays all that would give up on the barren and the broken, the merciful voice that says, ‘Let’s give this
hopeless case one more year.’ ‘Even now,’ cried John the Baptist, ‘the ax is lying at the root of the trees.’ But Jesus said, ‘The Spirit of the Lord has sent me to bring good news to the poor and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. Let’s give this one more year.’”

Carol concluded class with a short prayer.

The Readings for Sunday,March 14th are from Lectionary Year Three, Lent 4-C, "The Lost Son"

The Readings for this week are Joshua 5:9-12; Psalm 32; 2 Corinthians 5:16-21; and Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32. The text is from the New International Version.

Joshua 5:9-12

⁹ Then the LORD said to Joshua, "Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you." So the place has been called Gilgal to this day.

¹⁰ On the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, while camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, the Israelites celebrated the Passover. ¹¹ The day after the Passover, that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land: unleavened bread and roasted grain. ¹² The manna stopped the day after they ate this food from the land; there was no longer any manna for the Israelites, but that year they ate of the produce of Canaan.

Psalm 32

¹ Blessed is he
whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered.

² Blessed is the man
whose sin the LORD does not count against him
and in whose spirit is no deceit.

³ When I kept silent,
my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.

⁴ For day and night
your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was sapped
as in the heat of summer.
Selah

⁵ Then I acknowledged my sin to you
and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, "I will confess
my transgressions to the LORD "—
and you forgave
the guilt of my sin.
Selah

⁶ Therefore let everyone who is godly pray to you
while you may be found;
surely when the mighty waters rise,
they will not reach him.

⁷ You are my hiding place;
you will protect me from trouble
and surround me with songs of deliverance.
Selah

⁸ I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you and watch over you.

⁹ Do not be like the horse or the mule,
which have no understanding
but must be controlled by bit and bridle
or they will not come to you.

¹⁰ Many are the woes of the wicked,
but the LORD's unfailing love
surrounds the man who trusts in him.

¹¹ Rejoice in the LORD and be glad, you righteous;
sing, all you who are upright in heart!

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

¹⁶So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. ¹⁷Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! ¹⁸All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: ¹⁹that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. ²⁰We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. ²¹God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

¹Now the tax collectors and "sinners" were all gathering around to hear him. ²But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them."

³Then Jesus told them this parable:

The Parable of the Lost Son

¹¹... "There was a man who had two sons. ¹²The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them.

¹³"Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. ¹⁴After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. ¹⁶He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

¹⁷"When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! ¹⁸I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. ¹⁹I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' ²⁰So he got up and went to his father.

"But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

²¹"The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'

²²"But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. ²³Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. ²⁴For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate.

²⁵"Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. ²⁷'Your brother has come,' he replied, 'and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.'

²⁸"The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. ²⁹But he answered his father, 'Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. ³⁰But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!'

³¹" 'My son,' the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. ³²But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' "

NIV