"Then he said to him, 'Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.' " (Luke 17:19)

Welcome to Prime Timers, the best 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, a three year cycle of Bible readings used throughout the Anglican Communion and by many Protestant denominations worldwide. You are invited to join us in the Parlor near the church offices, Sunday after the 9:00am service, 10:15am to 11:00. Keep up to date with our Lectionary based readings at the bottom of this page!

The Angel's Gabriel and Michael, windows 25a and 25b in St. Martin's church. In addition to heralding the coming of Jesus, Gabriel appears to the prophet Daniel to explain his visions of the destruction of the Temple (Daniel 8:16-26; 9:21-27). The Angel Michael defends the souls of humankind against Satan. (Daniel 10:10-21, 12:1; Jude 1:9; Revelation 12:7)

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. Marty gave thanks for getting over the gout and the wonderful weather we have in Houston this week.

Being Good Servants

Carol Hartland is the Prime Timers teacher today, as we read about being good servants! The reading from Luke gives us the message that it is not the quantity of faith but the quality that matters. Faith the size of a mustard seed can move mountains! Lynn asks if this is the parable of the mustard seed. Not exactly. The one she is thinking of is in Matthew 13:31-32 "He put before them another parable: 'The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; ³²it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.' " Or similarly in Mark 4:31-32.

Prime Timers is one of the smallest groups at St. Martin's. If you read about the church being the largest Episcopal congregation in the U.S. and think you will get lost in the numbers or not make a difference, give our group a chance! We are a core of about twelve or thirteen people, small enough that everyone gets a chance to be heard. Today the group is split due to the "Children at Risk" program in Bagby Parish hall, so we are even smaller! This makes for a serendipitous session. For instance, Lynn asked our teacher Carol how she got so involved with the Bible, how does she know so much about it, did she study the Bible since she was young? Carol replied that she was not that concerned about the Bible in the past, and a lot of her knowledge comes from preparing for the week's lesson. Marty mentions how he doesn't really remember much about Sunday school when he was little, even though his parents took him every week. He remembers more about the times he "escaped" on his own and explored the places in the church he had not seen!

Lynn compliments your reporter on his writings here, and I tell her how I devote my Sunday evening preparing it, but far from a Biblical scholar I have the events of the class and the Internet to help with research. I guess we are all pilgrims in Prime Timers.

Carol asks what jumps out from the reading in Luke. Marty heard the master and slave description and thought of the book he is reading on the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer, by James L. Swanson. Did you know that John Wilkes Booth organized a conspiracy on that night to kill not only Lincoln, but also Vice-President Johnson and Secretary of State Seward? The book is hard to put down as you learn the moment-to-moment details of that terrible night. The South had surrendered literally that day, it was Good Friday and some pastors criticized Lincoln for going to the theater that day instead of attending services!

Told you it was serendipitous today. Jesus' message in the parable concludes with words about doing "only what we ought to have done!" (Luke 17:10) This means that the apostles, or us when we feel we are walking in the steps God has laid out for us, have no special claim on God. We should perform our duties with humility and faith that we are doing the right thing.

Marty mentions listening to one of Joel Osteen's sermons on an internet podcast. Mr. Osteen's point was that speaking is a way of blessing the future. We may have doubts or think we are bad parents or will not get that promotion, but as soon as we speak it we are paving the way for failure. So hold that bad feeling in, talk up what is positive, or what you want to happen, it just might!! Not bad advice.

John Rollefson is John Rollefson is pastor of Lutheran Church of the Master in the Westwood area of Los Angeles. He wrote in The Christian Century (Sept. 21, 2004):
"Our Gospel text addresses another pastoral issue regarding faith that is still very much with us: whether the degree and depth of our faith are adequate to life's circumstances. The concern here is voiced by Jesus' own followers whom he sternly commands to beware of causing little ones to stumble, but also to be generous in extending forgiveness even to chronic sinners who continue to repent. For once, 'the apostles,' as Luke calls them, seem to have grasped the difficulty of what Jesus is teaching and plead with him: 'Increase our faith!' Jesus replies rather obliquely, 'If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, Be uprooted and planted in the sea, and it would obey you.' Apparently faith isn't about capacity; it is an orientation. Faith is beyond measurement. You've got it or you don't, Jesus goes on to suggest. Having it is being like the slave who simply does what is commanded, who knows his or her place and does what needs doing."

Carol concludes class with a short prayer.

The Readings for Sunday, October 10th are from Lectionary Year Three, Proper 23-C, "Mercy and Healing"

The Readings for this week are Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7; Psalm 66:1-12; 2 Timothy 2:8-15 and Luke 17:11-19. The text this week is from the New Revised Standard Version.

Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7

¹These are the words of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the remaining elders among the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. It said: ⁴Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: ⁵Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. ⁶Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. ⁷But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.

Psalm 66:1-12

To the leader. A Song. A Psalm.

¹ Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth;
² sing the glory of his name;
give to him glorious praise.
³ Say to God, 'How awesome are your deeds!
Because of your great power, your enemies cringe before you.
⁴ All the earth worships you;
they sing praises to you,
sing praises to your name.'
Selah

⁵ Come and see what God has done:
he is awesome in his deeds among mortals.
⁶ He turned the sea into dry land;
they passed through the river on foot.
There we rejoiced in him,
⁷ who rules by his might for ever,
whose eyes keep watch on the nations—
let the rebellious not exalt themselves.
Selah

⁸ Bless our God, O peoples,
let the sound of his praise be heard,
⁹ who has kept us among the living,
and has not let our feet slip.
¹⁰ For you, O God, have tested us;
you have tried us as silver is tried.
¹¹ You brought us into the net;
you laid burdens on our backs;
¹² you let people ride over our heads;
we went through fire and through water;
yet you have brought us out to a spacious place.

2 Timothy 2:8-15

⁸ Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David—that is my gospel, ⁹for which I suffer hardship, even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But the word of God is not chained. ¹⁰Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, so that they may also obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. ¹¹The saying is sure:
If we have died with him, we will also live with him;
¹² if we endure, we will also reign with him;
if we deny him, he will also deny us;
¹³ if we are faithless, he remains faithful—
for he cannot deny himself.
¹⁴ Remind them of this, and warn them before God that they are to avoid wrangling over words, which does no good but only ruins those who are listening. ¹⁵Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved by him, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly explaining the word of truth.

Luke 17:11-19

¹¹ On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. ¹²As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, ¹³they called out, saying, 'Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!' ¹⁴When he saw them, he said to them, 'Go and show yourselves to the priests.' And as they went, they were made clean. ¹⁵Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. ¹⁶He prostrated himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. ¹⁷Then Jesus asked, 'Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? ¹⁸Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?' ¹⁹Then he said to him, 'Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.'

NRSV