 O Lord of Hosts, happy is everyone who trusts in you.
These stories about Saul are often difficult to understand. On the surface they are initially read as depicting a ruthless God commanding total destruction of the gentiles with little steadfast patience for a leader of His people. The stories seem unfair to Saul as he struggles to win the ‘land’ on behalf of God. The first fault appears as Saul, after waiting the appointed time, offers sacrifice to the lord himself rather than waiting for Samuel. Continuing on, it seems that Saul and Jonathan are attempting to do God’s will but are both caught short of dotting all the (i)’s and crossing all the (t)’s. Is God so inflexible? How can we reconcile this with the God we think we know?
These are stories of issues we all struggle with daily. They are stories of the ego. These are stories about the inner struggles each have in separating our own desires with the image of God we embody and the will of God we seek to accomplish. We, like Saul, can convince ourselves that what we do is exactly what God calls us to do and to be. The inspiration of this scripture is intended to draw out our own inclination to find connection with Saul. He is trying as we try and he is seemingly doing the right things [in his case] in defeating the enemies of Israel. But subtlety, as we look very closely, there is the ego!
This becomes clearer when Saul defeats the Amalekites and “swoops down on the spoils and did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.” Saul has taken the best of the spoils and initially claims they are to be sacrificed to the Lord. Samuel reminds Saul that the Lord has greater delight in obedience than in burnt offerings. [Remember, Saul was instructed to destroy the people and their spoils.] This draws Saul to confess that it was his fear of the people [his egocentristic desire to be popular – to be their King] that caused him to ‘keep the spoils.” God calls the Israelites to be God’s people planted in God’s land. God’s people are not to rape and plunder the land for their own desires, offering a portion to God. All in the land already belongs to God, for God to do with as God sees fit. [Even though these death and destruction stories seem to our modern minds to be cruel and unjust; they are stories of new creation – purging the lands of false god’s and beliefs for a new beginning.] Just as the Lands were renewed following the flood for Noah, so this land is to free of its former corruption.
Seemingly, Saul’s concept of sacrificial devotion is limited, by his ego, to sharing with God – ‘a giving in order ‘to get’ strategy.’ In John’s Gospel reading today we see the fulfillment of the image of God’s creation of humanity. Jesus is that perfection, giving His all for the world. Again, a renewed world, one freed from its sinful ways. Notice too, the contrast with the worldly leadership – Pilate’s model. Pilate has his own Saul-like fears of the people. Hearing the people’s cry for Crucifixion, “…he was more afraid than ever.” (19:8). Pilate follows the will of the people even though something within him [his own spiritual voice??] knows better. Jesus has been tempted by the people to be a leader a King like Saul, David or even Pilate but denies them in favor of God. Jesus gives his all, on behalf of the people, to God.
As we go about our days let us seek and carry out God’s will. Let each of us acknowledge each of our own gifts and talents, the world and all that is in it as God’s possession. Remember Jesus’ last words from the cross: “It is Finished.” Through Jesus God has not only given us a renewed ‘land’ but a means of getting up daily from our falls to start anew. “It is finished.” Be planted in the ‘Land” God has created, and through Jesus has purged; the ‘Land” God intends for you!
O Lord of Hosts, happy is everyone who trusts in you.
The Ven. Thomas A Bruttell
Archdeacon for Transitional Ministry
Diocese of Southeast Florida
 Day 100 or Tuesday, April 16, 2013
I Samuel 10-12, Psalm 83, John 18
God’s faith in us as human beings is astounding given our track record. Like us, time and again the Israelites turn away from God and do what is evil in the sight of the Lord and time and again God is merciful. In the Hebrew scripture for today the wise prophet Samuel says farewell and Saul comes into power as first king even though God would rather the people look only to God as king. Nevertheless, having given us free will and loving the people so, God guided Samuel to anoint Saul and the monarchy begins. God’s faith in us as human beings is amazing.
Our psalmist cries out in vengeful pleas though wisely asks that his enemies “know that you alone, whose name is the Lord, are the Most High over all the earth.” There’s a deeper knowing of God’s sovereignty breaking through in spite of the psalmist’s expression.
Just a few chapters ago [14] the Lord asks the people as the Lord has been doing throughout all time, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me?.... 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…!!!” And today, the true reign of God’s faith and love is breaking through again in spite of our doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord again. Jesus implores his captors and us, “Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to MY voice.”
Sovereign, merciful, and loving God, thank you for your faith in us from the beginning of Creation. Forgive us for the myriad ways we turn away from your love. Mend us and mold us… transform us and guide us to follow only your will in our lives. We need you, O ruler of all. We long for your kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.
The Reverend Wendy Tobias
Associate Priest, St. Joseph’s
 Reflection Day 97
I Samuel 4-6; Psalm 81; John 16
I Samuel 6:10-21 THE ARK ARRIVES IN BETH-SHEMESH
I found this brief passage from I Samuel fascinating – indeed after surviving Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy the books of Joshua, Judges and Samuel are akin to being on a historical roller coaster that propels one across the land of Canaan, across the River Jordon, and into the land of Judah and Israel. As Origen wrote in his twenty-seventh homily on the book of Numbers, “the stopping places of the wandering Israelites are recorded in Numbers in order that we come to understand the long spiritual journey that we face as Christians: in light of this knowledge we must not allow the time of our life to be ruined by sloth and neglect. Further each stopping place has some particular spiritual significance until the sojourn ends on the banks of the Jordon. This makes us aware that the whole journey takes place and the whole course is run for the purpose of arriving at the river of God, so that we may make neighbors of the flowing Wisdom and may be watered by the waves of divine knowledge, and so that purified by them all we may be made worthy to enter the promised land.” (Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, Ed. John R. Frank. Intervarsity Press. 2005, p. xx-xxi)
Intrigued by Origen’s take on Joshua and Numbers, I pursued other ancient commentaries on this “historical” section of the Old Testament. Gregory the Great and Justin Martyr both had very moving commentaries on I Samuel 6:10-21. I decided to share Gregory the Great’s thoughts with you. As you will recall in this brief set of verses two milk cows carry the ark of God to the farm of Hoshea. The cows never deviate from their path – not even to turn their head in response to the bleating of their calves who had been left behind, captured and penned in order to prevent them from following their food source.
Gregory the Great wrote of this passage, “What do these cows represent but the faithful of the church? When they ponder over sacred precepts, it is as if they are carrying the ark of the Lord placed upon them. We should also note that they are described as having recently borne young. Many who are inwardly on the way toward God are externally bound by their unspiritual feelings, but they do not turn aside from the right road because they are carrying the ark of God in their hearts…We must consider with all our energy that the cow’s yoked to God’s cart moan as they go, lowing from their depths, but do not turn aside from their road. So surely must God’s preachers, so must all believers within the holy church do. They must be compassionate toward their neighbors through their love, while not deviating from God’s way through their compassion.”[Forty Gospel Homilies] (Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, Ed. John R. Frank. Intervarsity Press,. 2005, p. 219)
In John 16:33 Jesus speaks to his disciples saying, “I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!”
As we wander through the journey of our life - through spiritual battles and physical hardships – facing persecution of one type or another - do we take courage in the knowledge that Christ died for us? Do we carry the ark of God in our hearts as we seek, without deviating, to follow Christ’s mission for us as his disciples?
The Rev. Deacon Clelia P. Garrity, LCSW; St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Delray Beach, FL
 At the annual clergy Chrism Mass and retreat this past Holy Week, Canon Peter Eaton spoke words that have stuck with me: "Believing does not lessen suffering, it gives it meaning." Wherever there is pain or suffering or struggle or difficulty, belief in God does not take it away, but belief in God enables me to make sense of it. To take it a step further, when I find that self-sacrificial love (death to self) is how I find my fulfillment (life to self), I find joy. It is this joy that the powerful words of John 15 express today. Jesus wants us to have his joy, and to have it completely. The only way for Jesus to have that complete joy was to give his life away, and in the mystery of God's plan, it is only in giving my own life away that I will find complete joy for myself.
Thus, the journey of Jesus to the cross blazes the path for our own journey to joy in its fullness. As long as I am following Him, "Nothing can trouble, nothing can frighten, those who seek God will never go wanting," as Saint Teresa of Avila would say to us. As Jesus puts it in John 15 today, "Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit." How often as well do my struggles or difficulties turn out to be times when God is pruning me so that more growth can take place. If only I could relax on each difficult moment of the journey, and rest in knowing that it probably means that God is up to something good.
As a result, as Canon Eaton reminded us, "Darkness is not evil -- liberation takes place in the dark in hidden ways like the Passover and Resurrection." Similarly, we see Samuel foreshadowing this truth in his classic encounter with God. I relate to Samuel. He is a fellow "lifer" as we used to call someone who entered the seminary early in high school in my old RC days. Placed into the service of God in the temple from infancy by his mother Hannah, Samuel didn't have any say in his vocational choice. Yet, from that place in life, God calls him in the darkness to much more.
Samuel hears God's voice in the darkness. He mistakes it for Eli's voice at first. Eli recognizes that God is calling Samuel and consequently instructs him how to respond. (Maybe if Eli knew that we'd be singing his "Here I Am, Lord," lyrics ad nauseam 2,700 years later, he would have given Samuel more poetic words!) Thank God for the "Eli's" in our lives who help us to perceive how God can be speaking to us in our darkness -- calling us from wherever life has placed us to something more. I know I for one would not have survived the journey to this point without the countless Eli's who have helped me to perceive God's presence in the dark times of my own life.
So, stay connected to the vine. When things get tough, it might just mean that the Psalmist's prayer today is soon to be answered for us -- that God's face is getting ready to shine in our darkness, that we might be saved.
Marty Zlatic
 Bible Challenge
Day 94
Judges 19-21 Our normal pattern is to read 3 chapters from the Old
Testament each day. In this case our three chapters happen to form one cohesive whole, the story of the sin of Benjamin.
The books of Joshua and Judges treat roughly the same time period, the
Conquest of Canaan and the Tribal Confederacy. They present distinct views of
this period: while Joshua portrays sweeping military victories and total (often
brutal) conquest, Judges presents a more mixed, probably more accurate picture
of Israelites gaining toeholds in the hills but unable to dislodge the local
inhabitants from the lowlands (coastal plain and valleys). Joshua emphasizes
the fulfillment of the LORD’S promises, whereas Judges underscores the people’s
recurrent unfaithfulness towards the Covenant and portrays their difficulties as
resulting from such unfaithfulness.
Our three chapters (along with chapters 17 & 18) actually fall beyond those
themes. There is a consensus among biblical scholars that these chapters are an
appendix added on to an earlier version of the book. These chapters at the end
of the Book of Judges serve as a sort of preface to the books of I & II
Samuel, which describe ancient Israel’s transition from a loose tribal
Confederacy to a unified Monarchy. The phrase, “In those days there was no king
in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes,” repeats several times
throughout chapters 17-21. The gruesome story recounted in chapters 19-21 (with
echoes of the story of Sodom in Genesis 18) serves to illustrate the depravity
to which people even within Israel can descend in a situation of political
anarchy. The groundwork is now laid for the acceptance of a monarchy (described
in I Samuel).
After this civil war between Benjamin and the other tribes of Israel, a way is sought to
preserve tiny Benjamin so that the wholeness of the TWELVE tribes can be
preserved. The “solution” to the problem of the lack of brides (because they
had all been slaughtered) is two-fold: attack an Israelite City that did not
respond to the call to arms against Benjamin and capture its virgins; and
secondly have a sort of Sadie Hawkins Day in reverse at a major religious
gathering of the tribes at Shiloh. While these chapters don’t make for the most
edifying of reading in the Bible, they do provide some real insight to the rough
and tumble life of those earliest days of Israel’s national
existence.
Psalm 78: 40-72 This long psalm is a review of Israel’s history, underscoring God’s faithfulness and the people’s unfaithfulness.
John 13
Chapters 13-17 of John’s Gospel comprise what biblical scholars
commonly call “The Farewell Discourse.” In these chapters Jesus seems to be
pulling together a summary of his teachings and is preparing the disciples for
the time (imminent) when he will no longer be present to them in the flesh. The
setting is the Last Supper.
By now readers of the Bible Challenge should be familiar with the notion that
John’s Gospel is in many ways distinct from the Synoptics (Matthew, Mark, &
Luke: “seen with one eye”). No more is this evident than in the recounting of
the Last Supper. While the Synoptics all agree that the Last Supper was a
Passover Seder, for John the Last Supper takes place on the day before Passover.
This issue continues to be hotly debated by biblical scholars.
John’s account of the
Last Supper is also notable for its lack of Eucharistic words of institution
(“This is my body,…,”; “This is my blood…”). The Farewell Discourse is unique
to John and incorporates some of the teachings that appear over the course of
Jesus’ ministry in the Synoptic accounts. Two significant features of Chapter
13 are the footwashing and the “New Commandment.” Jesus explains his rather
startling action of washing the disciples’ feet by teaching that we, his
disciples, are to imitate him in such self-sacrificing humility. (Startling in
their cultural context because only slaves would be expected to wash the feet of
others.) While virtually all churches that observe Maundy Thursday emphasize
the institution of the Eucharist (as per the Synoptic Gospels), many also
incorporate from John the tradition of washing feet as an integral part of the
liturgy of that night. The day itself gets its name from this chapter of John’s
Gospel. “Maundy” is from the Latin mandatum: “Maundy Thursday” is
essentially “New Commandment Thursday.”
The Rev. Frank
Corbishley
Chaplain, The Chapel of St.
Bede
University of Miami
 Day 93 Reflection
April 9, 2013
Judges 16-18, Psalm 78:1-39, John 12
The Rev. Mark Andrew Jones, BSG
“In those days … all the people did what was right in their own eyes” (Judges
17:6). In those days …. Is it really much different today?
Ours is a culture that prides itself on individualism. We’re also
forgetful, like the Ancient Israelites.
The Ancient Israelites forgot what God has done for them (Psalm 78:11).
Arguably, it is worse in our own day, as more and more have not just forgotten
but no longer believe in God at all. I’m reminded of pre-baptismal
counseling and the instruction I give young couples. I never fail to
mention how counter-cultural is their decision. I also tell them in
advance what I will announce to the god-parents – and that seems to be when the
new parents realize just how counter-cultural Christianity really is; for I tell
them that, in this land of Individualism, they as parents are both empowering as
well as asking the god-parents to make vows before God and, so, giving them the
right to come back to the parents and say, “You are not bringing that child up
right in the ways of the Lord.”
No, we are not to be guided by just what is right in our own eyes.
There is a Higher Power. That Higher Power is love incarnate, divine love
in-the-flesh.
In being lifted up, love meets hate; and life seems to succumb to death, but
only for a time. We live in the Resurrection now; we live with, and are to
be At-One with, the Higher Power. (Atonement is our At-One-Ment with that
Higher Power.)
We know that doing just what we think to be right leads to a myriad of
problems, hurt-feelings, pain and even death. But God’s Way – is one of
freedom and heath, of wholeness and holiness, where judgment gives way to
salvific love. And we are At-One.
The Easter Season is 50 Great Days. Time enough for us to live into the
habit of grateful and joyful living in the Way of the LORD.
Today, and each day, is a new day in the LORD. This is the day that the
LORD has made! Let us be rejoice and be glad in it!
 Monday, April 8, 2013 Day 92 – Judges 13-15, Psalm 77, John 11
John 11
One of the neat things about this Bible Challenge is discovering the people of the Bible and their personalities… and their unique and ancient voices begin to sound like people I know.
Yesterday in church we heard the story of ‘doubting’ Thomas… After the resurrection, Jesus appeared in the Upper Room to the apostles –John
20:24-25 24But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not
with them when Jesus came.25So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the
Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands,
and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not
believe.”
I will not believe. Who does that remind you of? Maybe a family
member who is obstinate: “stubbornly refusing to change one's opinion or action,
despite attempts to persuade one to do so.” Maybe you have been that
stubborn at some point in your faith journey? I know I have…
We also hear Thomas’s voice in today’s chapter –John 11: 14: Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead.15For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”16Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
It was incredibly risky for Jesus, whose power threatened the all of the
powers of his day, to travel to Bethany, just east of Jerusalem, across the
Kidron Valley on the eastern side of the Mount of Olives. The closer he
went to Jerusalem, the more ‘signs’ Jesus ‘ performed’ the more dangerous it was
for Jesus and his disciples.
“Let us also go, that we may die with him.” Thomas’ obstinate voice
again… Brave? Cautionary? Headstrong as they head into the
danger zone? Who does that remind you of?
Thomas was right to signal the danger. The trip to Bethany, the raising
of Lazarus was a turning point toward the passion. The Harper Collins
Study Bible concludes: “The decision to put Jesus to death results from his
giving life to Lazarus.” (John 11:45-53 – cf. Mk 14:1-2)
As you read, listen to the voices of the people – they are the voices of
people we know. There are stubborn, brave, cautionary, headstrong voices
of faith around us today. There are ancient faith voices echoing through
time today to show forth God’s glory. Listen…
The Very Rev. Kathleen Gannon
St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Delray Beach, FL
 The Diocese of Southeast Florida Bible Challenge
Day 90 – Judges 10-12, Psalm 76, John 10
The book of Judges presents the modern reader with a host of challenges on many fronts. Names of people are mentioned without their stories being told. There often seems little sense of a clear chronology or a narrative line that gets us from here to there in the history of Israel. This is probably because the book of Judges did not start out as a “book” at all. The roots of the “book” of Judges are likely found in the tales, poems and songs of the individual tribes of Israel in the time following Joshua, but before the tribes coalesced into a single people or nation. The tribal tales and memories were later collected by a compiler/editor/author often referred to as the “Deuteronomist,” who was responsible for the biblical books of Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings and, perhaps, parts of Jeremiah, sometime during or after the Babylonian exile of 587 B.C.E.. The Deuteronomist also gave these books a distinctive theological framework which serves as a refrain throughout the book of Judges and other part of the Deuteronomic collection. This theological framework is manifestly clear in Judges 10: The Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, worshipping the Baals, the Astartes, [etc. i.e. foreign gods]…” “Thus they abandoned the LORD and did not worship him. So the anger of the Lord was kindled against them and he sold them into the hand of the Philistines and into the hands of the Amonites, and they crushed and oppressed the Israelites” (Judges 10:6-7). As a result of being delivered in the hands of their enemies, Israel eventually came to its senses and cried out to the Lord saying, “We have sinned against you, because we have abandoned our God and have worshipped the Baals” (10:10). Inevitably in this pattern (which repeats itself throughout the Book of Judges, because this aspect of the book has been shaped by the later Deuteronomistic editors and their theology), God hears the cries of the people and raises up a leader who will rally Israel and defeat their enemies. Chapters 10 and 11 of Judges feature the story of Jephtha the Gileadite and fits this pattern exactly. The story of Jephtha is one of six major “cycles” of Judges within the book of Judges. The others are Othniel, Ehud, Deborah, Gideon and Samson). Surrounding these major cycles are short accounts and references to other minor judges of the tribes.
The story of Jephthah is, in many ways a tragic one. He is the son of a prostitute and, consequently, is marginalized by his people. He is a strong leader and gathers a band of outlaws around him (later in history, David will do the same thing, before he is made king). When Israel is threatened by its historic enemies, the elders of Gilead, Jephthah’s people, recognize they need his strength and leadership and recall him. After some negotiation, they make him head over them. According to the account in Judges, Jephthah attempts a diplomatic solution with the Ammorites, but they refuse to listen to reason, or to accept an Israelite account of territorial history. Jephthah leads them into battle and conquers. Before going into battle, however, Jephthah made a solemn and terrible vow: “If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, then whoever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return victorious from the Ammonites, shall be the Lord’s, to be offered up by me as a burnt offering.” As you have read, the first person to come out of his house and greet him is his only daughter, “with timbrels and dancing” (Judges 11:34 – 40). As The Oxford Bible Commentary notes, “Although shocking to modern readers, the sacrificial vow is a feature of an Israelite ideology of war, reflected also in other ancient Near-Eastern cultures. The warriors promise the deity something of value in return for his [sic] assistance in war.” (The Oxford Bible Commentary - John Barton and John Muddiman, Editors, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001, 185). The story of Jephthah’s daughter is also an etiology that explains the origin of what would at some point in Israel’s history become a rite of maturation for women as 10:39-40 makes clear.
Psalm 76 is a song of praise to Yahweh and celebrates God’s dwelling in Zion. Although it is clearly partisan for Israel, verse 9 makes clear that God’s concern, and God’s might, is for all the oppressed of the earth. The Psalm calls all faithful persons to make vows to Yahweh and pledge ultimate allegiance to him, as Yahweh alone is above, and more powerful than, all the princes and kings of the earth.
John 10 – Chapter 10 contains one of several “I am” sayings characteristic of John’s Gospel. This particular “I am” saying is one of the most well-known and beloved images of Jesus: “I am the Good Shepherd.”
I’m a city kid. I don’t know a whole lot about sheep and shepherds. Several years ago, however, I led a group on pilgrimage to Greece and Turkey. Among the amazing sites in Corinth is a Temple to Apollo, which sits on a grass covered hill. As the guide was telling us the history of the Temple, suddenly a great commotion arose behind us. We all turned around to see what was going on. A Greek shepherd in his 30s, was chasing down a sheep that had decided to wander, run, away from his herd. The shepherd was running after it as fast as he could, shouting words in Greek I am confident are not appropriate for me to print. As he ran, he hurled a stick at the recalcitrant sheep continuing to shout at it.
“I am the Good Shepherd,” Jesus said, “I know my own and my own know me” (John 10:14). Needless to say, since that visit to Corinth, I have never read chapter 10 of John’s Gospel the same way.
The Reverend Canon William “Chip” Stokes is the Rector of St. Paul’s Church in Delray Beach.
 Day 89: Friday, April 5, 2013
Readings: Judges 7-9, Psalm 75, and John 9
The roots of Israel lie in the covenant between God and Abraham, recorded in Genesis 17. God will be the God of Abraham and his descendants, and they will walk with God. This agreement is so primary that the first two Commandments God gives Moses on Mt. Sinai are these: “I am the Lord your God. You must have no other gods before me. Do not make an idol for yourself – no form whatsoever… Do not bow down to them or worship them, because I, the Lord your God, am a passionate God.” The welfare of the world depends on this covenant since through it the knowledge of the one God is preserved during millennia of pagan worship across the earth. God cares deeply about the health of Creation, and God holds Israel accountable to its side of the covenant bargain: to remain faithful to God alone.
In today’s portion from Judges, the story of God’s warrior Gideon continues. People start calling him Jerubbaal (meaning “Let Baal argue with him”) after he destroys his father’s altar to Baal and replaces it with an altar to the Lord Israel’s God. When Gideon goes out with his army to fight Israel’s enemy Midian, God guides him to reduce his troops to a small number of men, so that all will know that their ultimate victory can be attributed to the power of God alone.
Gideon’s band is victorious, but jealousy and competition among tribes and within families lead to evil acts. The Ephraimites complain because they were not included in Gideon’s army. The people of Succoth and Penuel refuse to provide food for Gideon’s troops on their way to another battle. After God’s victory, Gideon returns to wreck vengeance on these towns, brutally beating the ringleaders in Succoth and destroying Penuel’s tower and all the city’s people, who sought refuge there. Gideon, acclaimed Israel’s leader, gathers gold from the people as an additional reward. He fashions the gold into a religious article that lures the people into idol worship – thus he “lives down” to the root of his moniker Jerubbaal. After Gideon’s death, his son Abimelech, to establish himself as king, engineers the murder of his seventy brothers, though one escapes. Three years later, Abimelech falls to a shameful death at the hands of a woman! Thus God overcomes evil with justice. Following this theme Psalm 75 asserts that it is God’s pattern to establish justice, bringing down the proud and the wicked, and lifting up the righteous.
Ironically in John 9 the evil ones are the religious leaders of Israel. They are not worshipping graven images, but they are blinded by their lust for authority. They challenge the assertion of the man born blind that he now sees for the first time because Jesus has healed him. The Pharisees believe they are acting to protect the integrity of God against a person who exercises miraculous power with brazen boldness. Jesus is an obstacle to their power, and so they threaten to expel from the synagogue anyone who acknowledges Jesus as the Christ, God’s long-expected Chosen One, the Savior. (This actually became Jewish practice by the end of the first century a.d.) Jesus declares that justice will win out in the end. The blindness of sin will not stand.
The Rev. Jennie Lou Reid
St. Faith,
 Judges 4-6, Psalm 74, John 8
Sons and daughters of Abraham have reasons to trust God’s power and care for the oppressed. The means to achieve victory over the enemies seem sometimes contrary to the message of love and forgiveness of our Lord; in stories such as the one in Judges 4-6, Barak, Deborah and Jael; indeed are God’s instruments to stop Jabin the Canaanite. God hears the cries of the oppressed and always choose women and men to lead God’s people in their fight against injustice and oppression. “Let not the oppressed turn back in shame” is the prayer of the oppressed (Ps. 74:21.)
Yesterday and today when facing injustice, God’s answer is effective and just; God’s spirit enlightens, frees and leads to knowledge that grants true freedom. Like Deborah, Barak and Jael, we must strive for justice. What a joy to know that we can defeat, even the greatest slavery, slavery of ignorance. Jesus’ words in John’s gospel 8, verses31 and 32 must continue to guide all our endeavors towards true liberation for us and others.
How beautifully this prayer is expressed in the words of hymn 594, God of Grace and Grace of Glory:
Cure Thy children’s warring madness,
Bend our pride to Thy control.
Shame our wanton selfish gladness,
Rich in things and poor in soul.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
Lest we miss Thy kingdom’s goal,
Lest we miss Thy kingdom’s goal.
The Venerable J. Fritz Bazin, D. Min.
Archdeacon for Immigration and Social Justice Ministries
Diocese of Southeast Florida
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