"...all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted." (Luke 18:14)

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!

Jan van Eyck, The Ghent Altarpiece: The Just Judges, 1427-30 Oil on wood, Cathedral of St Bavo, Ghent.

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. Paige told us of a wonderful cruise she took off the coast of New England. Jean is thankful her son is coming to town for Thanksgiving. George re-told his great story of the honest man who found his wife's wallet in the supermarket parking lot, and Marty gives thanks for his Mother's continued good health.

Persistence in Prayer

George Laigle leads the Prime Timer discussion of today's lectionary readings centered around the parable of the unjust Judge. The Judge, who "neither feared God nor had respect for people" (Luke 18:2) is confronted by an agrieved widow every day seeking justice "against my opponent." (Luke 18:3) Remember that widows are among the most vulnerable members of ancient society. Finally the judge grants her request, not considering the merits but primarily to get her off his case! George asks us what jumps out at us from this story. Marty says its "me, me, me!" This judge is selfish, and the parallels to today's selfish society should be pretty clear. Jesus' point, though, is that while many of us pray, we need to pray with faith.

Our reading from Jeremiah and Psalms speak of hope for the future and love for the law of the Lord. Someone asked if this is a Psalm of David. Jewish tradition holds that the Psalms are attributed to King David. Seventy three of the Psalms mention David in the "superscriptions" or headings to the Psalms in the Masoretic, or authoritative Hebrew text of the Tanakh, or canon of the Hebrew bible. Muslim tradition maintains that the Psalms, known as Zabur in the Quran, were revealed to David by God in the same way that the Torah was revealed to Moses and the Quran to Muhammad. Psalm 119 is the longest Psalm, and is generally regarded as being written rather than an oral tradition, and is likely not by David. You can find more on this in Wikipedia if you search for Psalms!

The phrase that brought the most comment from Paul's second letter to Timothy is from chapter 4 verses 3-4: "For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, ⁴and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths." This prompted Marty to point out how today there is so much information available through the internet and other outlets that you can believe most anything, and have lots of information backing you up! If you are conservative you have Fox News, if you are more liberal CNN, etc.

Sue Armentrout is a member of the Board of Editors at Sewanee Theological Review, she has written of today's Gospel:

"Finally! A parable from the mouth of Jesus that vindicates a nagging woman! Well, you could look at it that way—or not. Often called the Parable of the Unjust Judge, this story could also be called the Parable of the Faithful Widow—or the Parable of the Importunate Widow.
"Joachim Jeremias, in The Parables of Jesus, has this to say: 'The parable of the Unjust Judge is very far from being a lesson on how to pray, on which interpretation the widow is the central figure in the parable. But Jesus' interpretation (Lk. 18:6-8b) shows that he intended to direct attention to the figure of the judge.'
"He concludes that Jesus' intention is to reassure the disciples with regard to the coming tribulations, and that the real issue is whether the Son of Man will find faith on earth upon his return. In that sense the parable really is not a lesson on how to pray, but a lesson on how to be faithful in trusting the promises of God."

George concludes class with a short prayer.

The Readings for Sunday, October 24th are from Lectionary Year Three, Proper 25-C, "The Pharisee and the Tax Collector"

The Readings for this week are Joel 2:23-32; Psalm 65; 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18 and Luke 18:9-14. The text this week is from the New Revised Standard Version.

Joel 2:23-32

²³ O children of Zion, be glad
and rejoice in the Lord your God;
for he has given the early rain for your vindication,
he has poured down for you abundant rain,
the early and the later rain, as before.
²⁴ The threshing-floors shall be full of grain,
the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.

²⁵ I will repay you for the years
that the swarming locust has eaten,
the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter,
my great army, which I sent against you.

²⁶ You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied,
and praise the name of the Lord your God,
who has dealt wondrously with you. And my people shall never again be put to shame.
²⁷ You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel,
and that I, the Lord, am your God and there is no other.
And my people shall never again
be put to shame.

²⁸ Then afterwards
I will pour out my spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions.
²⁹ Even on the male and female slaves,
in those days, I will pour out my spirit.

³⁰ I will show portents in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. ³¹The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. ³²Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls.

Psalm 65

To the leader. A Psalm of David. A Song.

¹ Praise is due to you,
O God, in Zion;
and to you shall vows be performed,
² O you who answer prayer!
To you all flesh shall come.
³ When deeds of iniquity overwhelm us,
you forgive our transgressions.
⁴ Happy are those whom you choose and bring near
to live in your courts.
We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house,
your holy temple.

⁵ By awesome deeds you answer us with deliverance,
O God of our salvation;
you are the hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the farthest seas.
⁶ By your strength you established the mountains;
you are girded with might.
⁷ You silence the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
the tumult of the peoples.
⁸ Those who live at earth's farthest bounds are awed by your signs;
you make the gateways of the morning and the evening shout for joy.

⁹ You visit the earth and water it,
you greatly enrich it;
the river of God is full of water;
you provide the people with grain,
for so you have prepared it.
¹⁰ You water its furrows abundantly,
settling its ridges,
softening it with showers,
and blessing its growth.
¹¹ You crown the year with your bounty;
your wagon tracks overflow with richness.
¹² The pastures of the wilderness overflow,
the hills gird themselves with joy,
¹³ the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,
the valleys deck themselves with grain,
they shout and sing together for joy.

2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18

⁶ As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come. ⁷I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. ⁸From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

¹⁶ At my first defence no one came to my support, but all deserted me. May it not be counted against them! ¹⁷But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth. ¹⁸The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and save me for his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Luke 18:9-14

⁹ He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: ¹⁰'Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax-collector. ¹¹The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, "God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax-collector. ¹²I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income." ¹³But the tax-collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner!" ¹⁴I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.'

NRSV