This past Sunday, the Gospel reading was from Mark 9:38-50. I have a somewhat traumatic relationship with the doctrine of eternal punishment. In the tradition in which I grew up, it was typical to use this passage (and a few others) to preach on hell. Hell was always depicted as a place for sinners and backsliders. Pastors and revival preachers would sweat profusely as they warned us not to be caught without a relationship with Jesus Christ. This passage especially was used to warn believers not to be caught living in sin.
 
As Fr. Joseph said in his sermon on hell Sunday morning, it is true that Jesus’ warning of hell (Gehenna) is not for the unbeliever. It is a warning for the inner circle who put a roadblock before anyone coming to Jesus.
 
I encourage believers who threaten others with hell using this passage to stop and look at the context. First, when the English Bible uses the word hell, what is meant? The original Greek word used is γέεννα (Gehenna). This is a Greek translation of the Hebrew גֵּי הִנֹּם, (gey Hinnom). Gehenna was a boundary between Judah and Benjamin (Joshua 15:8; 18:16). Prophets such as Jeremiah began associating this place to God’s wrath because King Ahaz (2 Chronicles 28:3), King Manasseh (2 Chronicles 33:6), and others met at this location to offer false pagan worship, specifically by worshipping Ba’al (2 Kings 23:4) and sacrificing children to Molech (2 Kings 23:10). As such, Jeremiah foretells a time in which Gehenna would be a place where the slaughtered (inferring a battle) would be buried (Jeremiah 7:30-34; 19:3, 7; 19:11; 31:40). 
 
As part of his reforms, King Josiah defiled the site by dumping the pagan vessels used for worshipping Ba’al and scattering bones of the dead across the site. This was done so it could not be used for ritual sacrifices of children (2 Kings 23:10). Afterwards, the inhabitants of Jerusalem began using Gehenna as a dumping ground in which they would burn their trash. So, in the Jewish mind, Gehenna was a former pagan site associated with painful memories which they used to dump their trash.
 
Second, let us look at the previous passage from last week’s reading alongside this week’s passage. To whom is Jesus speaking? Mark 9:31-33 tells us that Jesus had left the public crowd and taken his disciples to a house in Capernaum. The disciples started arguing about who among them was the best disciple, the greatest. Who will get the spotlight? Jesus used a child in verse 36 as an example, not of humility, but of whom the disciples are to embrace, those who are following Christ. Then, in Mark 9:38-50, the disciples again are worried about others getting the spotlight. Someone, not in their circle, had begun casting out demons in the name of Jesus. How dare they?
 
Jesus’ response is to chide the disciples. Starting in verse 42, Jesus says, ““If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me…,” it would be better for you to drown (v. 42) or maim yourself (v. 43-45). Then, in case there was any confusion, Jesus clarifies that salt is only good if it maintains its purpose and character (v. 49-50). In his sermon on the mount, Jesus explained that his followers, his Church, are like salt and if they lost their saltiness, they would be discarded (Matthew 5:13).  Jesus exhorts the disciples, “Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another” (Mark 9:50).
 
Jesus is warning his Church. “Stop trying to hinder people from coming unto me. Stop causing strife. Don’t make me throw you into the garbage.”

~ Jesse L. Heath, M.A.T.S., M.Div., Saint Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

John 5: 5-6 (NKJV)
Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years.  When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?”

Meditation
Jesus did such a wonderful thing for this man. Imagine lying on a mat for thirty-eight years and watching countless others find restoration in the refreshing pool of Bethesda while you inch your way to the fountain in vain. I wonder how many times it would take before I, too, gave up trying to make it there by my own power. This man needed mercy, and he waited decades for it.

The question Jesus asked is important though. Do you want to be made well? When we are unwell for a long time, we develop ways of coping with our infirmities because we have no choice. The hard part is unlearning those coping mechanisms when they no longer serve us. For some, that’s the most frightening step of healing. Jesus asked this man to consider whether he was ready. Then, He spoke these healing words.
“Rise, take up your bed and walk.”

I hear Jesus say, don’t leave the mat for the next person to stumble upon. Rise, clean up the mess, and move into your abundant life.

I don’t know about any of you, but I have unhealthy survival instincts I picked up and carried with me even after I encountered the mercy of Christ. Thanks be to God that He has the patience to help me unlearn them.
 
Prayer
Merciful Lord, help us to outgrow any unhealthy habits that hold us back. Let us lift our eyes to you as we move into the love and light of a new day. Amen.


Submitted by Tessa Yeakley, Saint Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Ablutions are the ceremonial cleansing of the paten (a plate about the size of a saucer), the chalice, and the celebrant’s fingers with water and/or wine following Eucharist.  The method of the ablutions is guided by one’s theology.  Those Episcopalians who view Eucharist as a re-enactment of the Last Supper might not have a problem with flushing consecrated bread and wine down the sewer.  However, this view seems to reject the notion of the Real Presence of Christ at Eucharist.  At the other end of the spectrum are those Episcopalians who hold that at Eucharist, the bread and wine are transubstantiated into Christ’s Body and Blood.  To these persons, the consecrated host must only be consumed or reserved.  Most Episcopalians are somewhere in between these extremes. Some believe that the consecrated host can be strewn upon the ground (giving back to “nature”) or poured down the piscina (a sink which drains directly to the ground).  However, high church persons believe that the purpose of the piscina is to dispose of water used to cleanse the holy vessels and not to dispose of the consecrated wine itself.  Episcopal canon only requires reverent consumption of the consecrated elements.  

~Dr. Gil Haas, Saint Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

​Mark 7:24-37
Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost
September 05, 2021
 
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
 
In this morning’s Gospel reading, we hear two distinct miracle stories—stories of Jesus healing a woman’s daughter of a demon-possessed spirit, and a story of Jesus healing a man who could not hear or speak plainly.
 
This first story is often perceived as portraying Jesus as definitely more human than divine. This passage leaves us feeling uncomfortable.[1] Jesus appears to be both inhospitable and biased against people from other cultures—after all, Jesus just implied that this woman was a gentile dog while suggesting that he is there to serve only the Jewish people. Jesus says, “Let the children be fed first.” Why does this text put Jesus in such a bad light? His mistreatment of the Syrophoenician woman cannot easily be explained away. Was Jesus being a Jewish exceptionalist—seeing himself as only there to serve Jewish people? Or was he just tired, another all-too-human quality? 
 
In essence, as Jesus states, ‘it is not fair to take what is intended for his people and throw it to the gentiles,’ this woman’s humble reply extends Jesus’ riddle rather than opposing it. She answers “even the dogs must eat the children’s crumbs” or “Give me any small portion.”
 
This exchange is often misunderstood as this woman correcting a naïve and biased Jesus. It is misunderstood that she teaches Jesus that he is not in the world only to serve and save the Jewish people, but he is here for everyone.
 
Since we know that Jesus really is human and really is divine, and since we know that Jesus is in unity with God, is God—since we know that Jesus is without sin, and even though we know that Jesus grew up in a culture riddled with biases and prejudices, we also know that Jesus was in that culture but he was not of that culture—in other words, he lived in his culture but was not a product of it. As a divine being, he would not have been subject to this sin of xenophobic pride.
 
Instead, it appears that this is a story about Jesus’ teaching.[2] This is a theological bait and switch, in which Jesus mimics the racism of his contemporaries, and then pulls the rug out from under them by healing this Syrophoenician woman’s daughter.[3] Jesus was teaching his student, this woman, to mount a victorious argument against the foil of his own reluctance. As a master teacher, he serves this woman as a “devil’s advocate” as it were, and is not disappointed to be defeated in this argument by her. As a result, we become aware of the problem with Jewish-Gentile relations and the important step Jesus took to overcome it. As a result, the healing of Jewish-Gentile relations begins first, and then this woman’s daughter was healed in an instant. The little girl is found lying on her bed when her mother arrived home.
 
Rather than a reckless show of xenophobia, quite the contrary, Jesus was calling others to transcend cultural pride and to treat others with compassion and caring.
Compassion and caring are also shown on a personal level in this second healing story, when Jesus removes the man with impaired hearing and speech, and leads him away from a crowd of onlookers, shielding this man from embarrassment. It’s easy for me to imagine the thing that sticks out most in this story for most of us is that Jesus uses his spit to heal this man’s infirmities. But, know that there are other references in the Gospels of Jesus doing this, and come to find out, it has been a practice in various cultures through the ages. This is actually considered one of the most intimate acts of healing. Jesus, of course, did not dismiss this man because of his physical affliction, but healed him. Our reading from the Book of James cautions us not to make distinctions, judging others based on their looks, level of wealth, health or abilities. Jesus not only does not judge, but elevates the person.
 
In addition to this physical act of putting his fingers in his ears and mouth, Jesus looks to heaven, indicating that he is asking God’s favor on this man, he speaks the word for the man’s ears to be opened, and we are told, “immediately his ears were opened, his tongue released and he spoke plainly.” Jesus is not simply giving this man something at the physical level, but is opening him up spiritually, as well.
 
On the surface, we read two stories about Jesus healing two people: A child possessed, and a man unable to hear or speak. Digging deeper, we understand that there is a correction of a culture, and that there is teaching in these stories about treating others—all others—regardless of wealth or physical appearance, with kindness and compassion. And these are not just stories for those characters immediately involved in the story; they are not just stories for the first hearers. They are stories for us all, Christ followers through the ages, to glean and learn from. They set examples for us, examples for molding our thinking and our behavior into that which imitates Christ. This is not just a mental or psychological re-forming of our natural human tendencies, but we must know and remember that the Holy Spirit dwells within us and enables us to love as Jesus loves.[4] When we invite the Holy Spirit to take part in our reforming, the Holy Spirit responds.
 
Jesus did not engage the other by only looking at their surface appearance. He always looked deeper. Jesus was always willing to see beyond the leprosy, beyond the deafness, beyond the hemorrhaging or paralysis, beyond the sinfulness or criminality—Jesus was willing to see even beyond death. Jesus looked within a person to see a person’s faith, and to see what was to be healed. Today’s lesson from the Book of James and the healing stories of our Gospel call us to see what Jesus sees—the interior of others, their infirmity, their limitations and struggles, as well as their heart for God. Seeing as Jesus sees, moves us from exterior to interior, from solely seeing looks and nationality, health, wealth, or poverty.
 
If your retort sounds like, “Well, yeah… but he’s JESUS! I can’t be like that!” Let’s remember that Jesus was both human and divine. And, guess what? As sons and daughters of our Lord, so are we! We all embody both human and divine since we have been created in the image and likeness of God. The divinity that resides within us can be remembered when we recall the words of Jesuit, Teilhard de Chardin, “We are not simply human beings having a spiritual experience, but we are spiritual beings having a human experience.” If Jesus, no less, can mistakenly be depicted as more human than divine, maybe we can mistakenly be seen in that same way, too! Amen.

~Fr. Tony Moon, Saint Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 

[1] Epperly, B. (2021). The adventurous lectionary.

[2] Paul, Ian (August 31, 2021.) Psephizo: Scholarship serving ministry. Did the Syrophoenician woman in Mark 7 teach Jesus not to be racist?

[3] Epperly, B. (2021). The adventurous lectionary

[4] Schwager, D. (September, 2021). He has done all things well.

At this time of year, the church’s songs and readings are filled with angelic references since  Angels are honored on Michaelmas (which Episcopalians call the “Feast of St. Michael and All Angels”) on September 29th.  Michaelmas falls near the equinox, and it is associated in the northern hemisphere with harvest’s end.  The Michaelmas school  term in British schools is fall’s first school term.  A traditional Michaelmas meal included a “stubble-goose” (cooked when crops were only stubble) and a spongy bannock cake.  Folklore prohibited picking blackberries after Michaelmas since on this day Satan allegedly was banished from Heaven, fell into a blackberry bush, and cursed the brambles.  Beer brewed on this day is thought to be inferior.  St. Thomas Aquinas ranked the angelic hierarchy into nine orders: seraphim, cherubim, thrones, dominions, virtues, powers, principalities, archangels, and angels.  There are four archangels mentioned in the Bible: Michael (angel who defeated Satan), Gabriel (Daniel’s protector in the lion’s den and announcer of the conceptions of John the Baptist to Zechariah and Jesus to Mary), Raphael (healer), and Uriel (revealer of Ezra’s prophecies).  The feast day of personal guardian angels is celebrated by Roman Catholics on October 2.

​~ Dr. Gil Haas, Saint Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma