"Then Jesus said to him, 'Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. ¹⁰For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.'" (Luke 19:9-10)

Welcome to Prime Timers, 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. 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!

Marinus van Reymerswaele, The Tax Collector, 1542, Oil on panel, at the Alte Pinakothek, Munich

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. Murray gave thanks for the return of his wife, who was spending time at their real home!

Prime Timers Go to Dinner!

Every month the Prime Timers get together at a local restaurant for fellowship and good food. This Tuesday, October 26, we will meet at the Qin Dynasty Restaurant, 5115 Buffalo Speedway, below US59 and Westpark, 713-660-8386. Please call our dinner organizer Lynn Swaffar at 281-495-3832 so she can make our reservation.

The Pharisee and the Tax Collector

George Laigle is the Prime Timer teacher leading discussion of today's lectionary readings centered around the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. This is one of those parables Jesus tells that on the surface are very clear, but scratch that surface and roles reverse and we end up examining our own shortcomings.

Does anyone want to be a tax collector? In ancient times and modern, this is a guy you want to avoid! He is even worse in Biblical times, receiving a part of what he collects, and as Murray points out, the tax collector is a representative of the Roman occupiers. One bad dude. So we can understand him not wanting to look up to heaven to pray, and his asking for forgiveness.

The Pharisee's on the other hand, represent the educated class. They are the teachers, in the tradition of the wise man. They pay the tithe to the church, they are aware of the many rules set out in the Old Testament, and follow them to the letter.

The problem comes, as Jesus reminds us, when the Pharisee looks down on others, and how often do we find ourselves in this role: we've done everything right, followed the rules, and the other guy didn't. With all the home foreclosures in today's recession, do you think about how these people got in over their heads--why do we have to bail them out?

As the class discusses humility, Elizabeth says we should recognize the things we are blessed with, our abilities, our accomplishments, our good fortune--but realize that we have these due to the grace of God. As to following rules, Marty quoted the Great Commandment, Matthew 22:37-40 "He said to him, ' "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind." ³⁸This is the greatest and first commandment. ³⁹And a second is like it: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." ⁴⁰On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.'

George went to a symposium on the "fiat money" system. This refers to the fact that all the currencies in the world float in value relative to each other. After World War II the major world powers agreed to establish the value of their currencies to within a point or two of the value of gold. This is called the Breton Woods system, after the town in New Hampshire where the agreement was reached. On August 15, 1971, during the Nixon administration, the United States unilaterally terminated the convertability of the dollar to gold. This had the effect of making the dollar the worlds major currency, as dollars were now backed by--dollars.

Since then the world has experienced a series of "bubbles" of one sort or another, most recently the housing bubble. Yes, the one that recently burst. This weekend the Group of Twenty (G-20), kind of a board of directors for the world's economy according to the Wall Street Journal, is meeting in Gyeongju, South Korea to iron out the latest problems caused by floating currencies. With the world in a recession, exporting countries try to devalue their currencies to make their exports more attractive. This is a dangerous game, however, since other countries are on to this and may start their own devaluing. This can lead to a downward spiral that benefits no one.

Marty paraphrased a Winston Churchill quote where he said that very often it is the oldest way of explaining something that is the clearest. Currently our government is talking about "quantitative easing" and QE2 or a second round of this easing. In the older way of naming this, it means that the goverment is printing money! In the past this has not led to anything positive, Marty hopes maybe this time will be an exception.

Well, what does this have to do with humility and tax collectors? Maybe if everyone followed the Great Commandment the world would be a better place.

Stephanie Harrison is an online presence through social media channels like EvanTell's blog evangelism.net, Facebook and Twitter. She wrote in Currents in Theology and Mission (April 2005):
"In painting these dramatic pictures of reversal, Luke is effectively drawing us a new picture of what society could be: a place where those with power voluntarily give some up so that others might have more, a place where those with money and other resources voluntarily give some up so that others might have enough to live.
"To those at the margins, it is a word of hope. However, this utopian vision is not a rosy vision for everyone. To the religious community which has defined itself in ways that exclude many, it is a challenge to change from rejection to acceptance."

George concludes class with a short prayer.

The Readings for Sunday, October 31st are from Lectionary Year Three, Proper 26-C, "Salvation Has Come to This House"

The Readings for this week are Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4; Psalm 119:137-144; 2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12 and Luke 19:1-10. The text this week is from the New Revised Standard Version.

Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4

¹The oracle that the prophet Habakkuk saw.

² O Lord, how long shall I cry for help,
and you will not listen?
Or cry to you 'Violence!'
and you will not save?
³ Why do you make me see wrongdoing
and look at trouble?
Destruction and violence are before me;
strife and contention arise.
⁴ So the law becomes slack
and justice never prevails.
The wicked surround the righteous—
therefore judgement comes forth perverted.

¹I will stand at my watch-post,
and station myself on the rampart;
I will keep watch to see what he will say to me,
and what he will answer concerning my complaint.
² Then the Lord answered me and said:
Write the vision;
make it plain on tablets,
so that a runner may read it.
³ For there is still a vision for the appointed time;
it speaks of the end, and does not lie.
If it seems to tarry, wait for it;
it will surely come, it will not delay.
⁴ Look at the proud!
Their spirit is not right in them,
but the righteous live by their faith.

Psalm 119:137-144

¹³⁷ You are righteous, O Lord,
and your judgements are right.
¹³⁸ You have appointed your decrees in righteousness
and in all faithfulness.
¹³⁹ My zeal consumes me
because my foes forget your words.
¹⁴⁰ Your promise is well tried,
and your servant loves it.
¹⁴¹ I am small and despised,
yet I do not forget your precepts.
¹⁴² Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness,
and your law is the truth.
¹⁴³ Trouble and anguish have come upon me,
but your commandments are my delight.
¹⁴⁴ Your decrees are righteous for ever;
give me understanding that I may live.

2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12

¹Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
² Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
³ We must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. ⁴Therefore we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith during all your persecutions and the afflictions that you are enduring.

¹¹To this end we always pray for you, asking that our God will make you worthy of his call and will fulfil by his power every good resolve and work of faith, ¹²so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Luke 19:1-10

¹He entered Jericho and was passing through it. ²A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax-collector and was rich. ³He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. ⁴So he ran ahead and climbed a sycomore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. ⁵When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, 'Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.' ⁶So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. ⁷All who saw it began to grumble and said, 'He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.' ⁸Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, 'Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.' ⁹Then Jesus said to him, 'Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. ¹⁰For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.'

NRSV