"Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy." (1 Peter 2:10)

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 Good Shepherd, by James Powell, 1888

Many thanks to Free Christ Images website for this reproduction of religious art.

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. Martin gave thanks for his cousin's daughter Stephanie, who performed in a dance recital at her high-school. All the more amazing because she battled cancer this past year and is now in remission. Murray's daughter is getting married this month and our best wishes go with her as well.

The Good Shepherd

George Laigle conducted class while our leader Carol is recuperating from a knee replacement. Today is Good Shepherd Sunday, the reading from John is the familiar one of Jesus using sheep and the shepherd as a metaphor to the Pharisees. You can't have Good Shepherd Sunday without the 23rd Psalm, and while the reading from our class materials uses modern phrasing, George has trouble with it since he is more familiar with the classic King James version. Me too!! Let's recite it together:

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.

George is reading A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains, by Isabella Bird. This describes an amazing adventure by a woman who wants to see the Rocky Mountains in 1879! George says that she certainly needs Psalm 23 as a comfort in some pretty wild territory! If you are interested you can click on the title above, the entire book is online.

In the reading from John, Jesus uses the sheep metaphor but the Pharisees do not get it, so Jesus expounds again to make his meaning clear. A class member mentions how the disciples and others very often seem somewhat dense as Jesus teaches. Marty thinks this may be the way the writers of the book make a point clear.

The last line of the passage from John is often used as an excuse for "Prosperity Churches": (John 10:10) "... I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." For some this means the prosperity of material possessions. But Jesus is speaking of the abundance coming from a life of spiritual fulfillment. George mentions how we sometimes forget how fortunate we are in this country relative to some places in the world. While we gripe that our children spend too much time with their iPods and GameBoys, in the National Geographic this month there is an article on life in Bangladesh, a country of 160 million people in a space about the size of Utah, where the rivers flood so regularly that people have houses that can be quickly disassembled and moved to avoid the flood. A particularly memorable photo is a family preparing dinner, in a foot a water!

Edgardo Antonio Colon-Emeric is studying theology at Duke Divinity School in Durham, North Carolina. He wrote in The Christian Century:

“Founded by the love of the shepherd for the sheep, the church is held together by the love of the sheep for the shepherd and for each other. It is for this reason that schism has long been labeled a sin against love, and why without love, all other marks of the church are like a noisy gong or a clashing cymbal. In short,
the way to unity and fidelity is the way of love.”

George concluded class with a short prayer.

Lectionary readings

The Readings for Sunday, May 22nd are from Lectionary Year One, Easter 5-A, "Dwelling in Christ": Acts 7:55-60; Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16; 1 Peter 2:2-10 and John 14:1-14. The text this week is from the New Revised Standard Version.

Acts 7:55-60

⁵⁵But filled with the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. ⁵⁶‘Look,’ he said, ‘I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!’ ⁵⁷But they covered their ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against him. ⁵⁸Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him; and the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. ⁵⁹While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ ⁶⁰Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’ When he had said this, he died.

Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16

To the leader. A Psalm of David.

¹ In you, O Lord, I seek refuge;
do not let me ever be put to shame;
in your righteousness deliver me.
² Incline your ear to me;
rescue me speedily.
Be a rock of refuge for me,
a strong fortress to save me.

³ You are indeed my rock and my fortress;
for your name’s sake lead me and guide me,
⁴ take me out of the net that is hidden for me,
for you are my refuge.
⁵ Into your hand I commit my spirit;
you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.

¹⁵ My times are in your hand;
deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors.
¹⁶ Let your face shine upon your servant;
save me in your steadfast love.

1 Peter 2:2-10

²Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation— ³if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

⁴ Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and ⁵like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶For it stands in scripture:
‘See, I am laying in Zion a stone,
a cornerstone chosen and precious;
and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.’
⁷To you then who believe, he is precious; but for those who do not believe,
‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the very head of the corner’,
⁸and
‘A stone that makes them stumble,
and a rock that makes them fall.’
They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

⁹ But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.
¹⁰ Once you were not a people,
but now you are God’s people;
once you had not received mercy,
but now you have received mercy.

John 14:1-14

¹‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. ²In my Father’s house there are many dwelling-places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? ³And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. ⁴And you know the way to the place where I am going.’ ⁵Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’ ⁶Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ⁷If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.’

⁸ Philip said to him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.’ ⁹Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, “Show us the Father”? ¹⁰Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. ¹¹Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. ¹²Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. ¹³I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.

NRSV