Daily Devotions with the Dean

This morning’s Scriptures are: Psalm 101; Psalm 109; Malachi 1:1,6-14; James 3:13–4:12; Luke 17:11-19

This morning’s Canticles are: following the OT reading, Canticle 11 (“The Third Song of Isaiah,” Isaiah 60:1-3,11a,14c,18-19, BCP, p. 87); following the Epistle reading, Canticle 16 (“The Song of Zechariah,” Luke 1:68-79, BCP, p. 92)

Each of today’s readings provides a distinct angle of vision on the horror of sin. Presumption and stinginess are to the fore in Malachi. Ingratitude is front and center in Luke. In James, it’s everything and the kitchen sink. To keep it brief, I’m going to focus on James. 

Sin in James. For good reason, the Episcopal Eucharistic Prayer A confesses: “…we had fallen into sin and become subject to evil and death….” Sin is a pervasive and dominating force, taking us captive to soul-destroying appetites and self-deceiving motives, all of which leads to self- and other-destroying actions. James displays a white-hot anger over the sin that has reestablished dominion over these “beloved brethren” (James 1:5). Sin has made them, at least for the moment, “adulteresses” (James 4:4). Despite the masculine translation the NRSV employs (“adulterers”), the Greek word James uses is feminine, and it invokes Ezekiel’s and Hosea’s portraits of Israel as Yahweh’s unfaithful bride, sharing her intimacies with false gods. “Adulterous wife,” Ezekiel exclaims in disbelief, “who receives strangers instead of her husband!” (Ezekiel 16:32). 

James is stunned that his readers have allowed hell to reestablish a foothold on earth. The very existence of his audience is supposed to be a vanguard of the age to come—an advance presence of the marriage of heaven on earth (James 1:18). What makes today’s passage so powerful is the not-so-subtle appeal that James makes to the Beatitudes his Elder Brother Jesus had taught in the Sermon on the Mount—an appeal, therefore, to becoming once again “a kind of first fruits” of new creation. A place where God has once again wedded his people, and where heaven has invaded earth. 

Sin’s antidote in James. Today’s passage in James comprises the closest thing to a commentary on the beatitudes that you will find in all the New Testament:

When Jesus says that it is “the poor in spirit” to whom belongs the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:3), what he means is what James says: “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. … Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you” (James 4:6,10). 

Jesus calls those who mourn “blessed” (Matthew 5:4). It is they, not the envious, who will be comforted. James doesn’t just double down on Jesus’s teaching. He quintuples down: “Lament and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into dejection” (James 4:9). There’s no better explanation of what Jesus means by blessing mourning than here in James, where James contrasts appropriate sorrow  over your own sinwith the stinging sorrow of  “bitter envy” (Jas 3:14). Envy is bad because it is sadness over what others have that you don’t (possessions, importance, position, whatever). Envy is a sadness for which there is no comfort. It only makes you covet and fight to get what you don’t have, or at least to keep others from enjoying what they do have — maybe envy will even lead you to take your complaint to God (James 4:3). Envy is a black hole of emotional energy. It only destroys. God’s forgiving grace readily turns mourning to laughter and dejection to joy. Trust me on this. 

Jesus promises the world to the meek: “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5). A person who is meek has self-restraint, a kind of spiritual poise. At the end of James 3:13, where the NRSV has “gentleness born of wisdom,” the Greek (and the older RSV) actually have “meekness of wisdom.” Ah, wisdom! Central to James’s teaching is wisdom, and wisdom succeeds not through brute strength and intimidation, but through persuasion and by striving for common ground. As Presiding Bishop Michael Curry has been saying of late (I paraphrase): “We need legislation for a more just society, but more, we need hearts to be persuaded to live more justly.” That’s the meekness of wisdom! 

Jesus urges a hunger and a thirst for righteousness that he promises will be satisfied (meaning God will satisfy it — Matthew 5:6). James promises a harvest of righteousness will come to those who sow — and who do so God’s way: in peace (James 3:18).

Jesus says, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy” (Matthew 5:7). James says, “The wisdom from above is … full of mercy and good fruits” (James 3:17). For both Jesus and James, a generosity of heart comes back to you. There’s much wisdom there!

Jesus says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matthew 5:8). In echo, James says, “Purify your hearts” (James 4:8). And then when James describes the wisdom that comes from above, “pure” is the first attribute he gives it (James 3:17). That’s because the wisdom that comes from God is not diluted by worldly, carnal or demonic elements (James 3:15). And because purity of heart is, as philosopher Soren Kierkegaard would later observe, “to will one thing,” purity of heart underlies James’s persistent theme against “partiality or hypocrisy” (3:17) and double-mindedness (4:8). 

According to Jesus, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Matthew 5:9). For James, precisely echoing Jesus’ words, it is those who “make peace” who will see right prevail. 

“Blessed are the persecuted …” (Matthew 5:10). The theme of persecution is more subtle in James, but it’s certainly here: “Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?” (Jas 4:4). 

James’s charge to us throughout is quite simple (again, I paraphrase): you are not called to be “adultresses.” You are called  to be God’s bride! How dare you break that trust! How dare you give yourself to someone else! 

Moreover, James promises that if we but resist the devil’s adulterous advances, and draw near instead to God, we will find that all along the God who loves us dearly has been most eager for us to make that move: “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you” (James 4:8). 

Collect of James of Jerusalem. Grant, O God, that, following the example of your servant James the Just, brother of our Lord, your Church may give itself continually to prayer and to the reconciliation of all who are at variance and enmity; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (BCP, p. 245). 

Be blessed this day,

Reggie Kidd+

Reflections on Women's Uncommon Prayers by Ellen Ceely

Reflections on Women’s Uncommon Prayers

By Ellen Ceely

“For Making Me a Woman”

By Ms. Marty Conner, p. 8 from Women’s Uncommon Prayers

For making me a woman
in what still so often
seems like a man’s world,
I thank you.
Because you taught me by example
that power is your gift,
and not my possession.

For giving me a body
though it sometimes fails me
and is not all I wish it was
or rather, a good deal more
than I wish it was,
I thank you.
Because you taught me 
that I am much more 
than my body
and yet my body is
your holy temple.

For calling me to be
more than I believe I can be,
and less
than I sometimes believe I am,
I thank you.
Because you taught me
that being is more than doing,
that who I am
and whose I am
are more important than
what I do
or what I have.

For all that you are
Creator,
Redeemer,
Sanctifier,
Great “I Am,”
I bless you
as you have so greatly blessed me.

My boss recently got me the book, "Women's Uncommon Prayers," because I expressed an interest in it and the one thing he'll always encourage is more reading. 

Some of the prayers aren't really prayers but more like poetry, which I love. 
Some of them are highly syncretistic and not quite what I’d say are in line with Church Doctrine, but they’re interesting to read all the same.
Some of them make me downright want to cry they're so beautiful.

They're not general prayers or prayers offered by men (which are also wonderful but that's not the point). They're prayers offered by women who have lived and struggled and believed and taught the faith as women. There's a special power to that. Just like I go to a female doctor because I feel I am better heard than I was by the male doctors I went to in the past, so also I find pieces of my soul in the writings of other women.

I'm only a few pages deep and I've already realized what drew me to this book in the first place. 

I grew up believing I was some kind of sub-human. Not necessarily in a negative way, and not because anyone around me used those words, but in the way that I think a lot of women grow up - specifically in very conservative Christian circles. It wasn't until I attended Bible School that I realized I was made in the image of God, not in the image of man. While Scripture clearly states that both men and women were made in his image (Gen. 1:26-27), due to the interpretation I was given of other biblical passages, I always believed that I had been made in the image of man. 

In other words: I was a copy of a copy. 

I don't have the words to accurately express how big of an impact this had on me or how, nine years later, I'm still unravelling all the effects of the beliefs I once held about what it means to be a woman. It never occurred to me that it was something to be thankful for. I thought it was something to overcome, to apologize for, and to hide.

I grew up hearing men lift their voices in prayer on a weekly basis while all of us women prayed silently in agreement, only praying aloud when men were not present. 
I believed my voice as a woman was not to be heard because it had the ability to somehow override that of a man's and thus take away from the glory of God.
I was both too worthy and not worthy enough to speak. Too worthy because I could overpower the voice or the prayers of a man. Not worthy enough because I was a woman, a mere copy of God’s creation. My very being proclaimed "the glory of man" (1 Corinthians 11:7) and that would distract from the worship of God. 

So I sat in silence and covered my head.

Maybe you can relate to this idea. Maybe it’s something you once believed or currently believe. Regardless of how you were raised or what churches you have attended, I hope this prayer speaks to you of your inherent worth as a woman made in the very image of God, portraying pieces of who he is to the world simply by existing. I hope this reminds you – or possibly even tells you for the first time in your life – that you are not a copy of a copy. You are not sub-human. You are made in the image of a loving, kind, and gracious Creator. 

I have no idea who any of the women in this book are, but I'm hearing their voices and they echo my own in a way I didn't realize my soul needed.

Midday Eucharist

Daily Devotions with the Dean

This morning’s Canticles are: following the OT reading, Canticle 13 (“A Song of Praise,” BCP, p. 90); following the Epistle reading, Canticle 18 (“A Song to the Lamb,” Revelation 4:11; 5:9-10, 13, BCP, p. 93)

Habakkuk. …in wrath may you remember mercy. — Habakkuk 3:2. In this beautiful third chapter, in a prayer that the prophet Habakkuk sings to Yahweh, he gathers up all his emotion at Israel’s desolation. As though writing a psalm, he includes musical instructions at the beginning and end. In fact, this chapter begins with the identical superscription, “according to Shigionath,” that appears also at the beginning of Psalm 7. The term “Selah” occurs at the end of verses three, nine, and thirteen of Habakkuk 3; as in the psalms, it probably (though not certainly) means “instrumental interlude.” And although the Daily Office does not include verse 19, this final verse of the entire book of Habakkuk also includes a musical instruction: “To the leader: with stringed instruments.” 

The point? What better time to sing than when you are in your deepest funk? And Habakkuk’s song illustrates the amazing transformation that can come when you do.

Throughout his song, Habakkuk appeals to Yahweh as the Divine Warrior he had shown himself to be when he rescued Israel from Egypt. Rehearsing that profound and pivotal moment in his people’s history inspires Habakkuk to do three things:

First, Habakkuk asks Yahweh, “in wrath may you remember mercy.” If we sense God’s burning anger in what we see going on around us, we can know that in the end his ire serves his kind, good, and merciful purposes. 

Second, Habakkuk confesses that he is willing to “wait quietly for the day of calamity to come upon the people who attack us” (Habakkuk 3:16). Because ours is the God who says, “Vengeance is mine,” we can hit “pause” when the temptation arises to strike back at attackers. 

Third, in the meantime, Habakkuk finds the capacity for praise: “…yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will exult in the God of my salvation” (Habakkuk 3:18). 

Whether your musical heart language is hymns and anthems; or contemporary praise and worship songs; I hope you’ll take some time to inventory the songs that bring to mind God’s great acts in rescuing you, that give you hope for the future, and that move you to love him more and more. I don’t know what works for you, but lines like these come readily to mind for me: Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father; there is no shadow of turning with thee… and, O the deep, deep love of Jesus, vast, unmeasured, boundless, free…

James. Casual readers of the New Testament have the impression that James is a shallow behaviorist, merely exhorting, “Don’t just talk the talk. Walk the walk!” But some of the Bible’s most penetrating words about the depths of human psychology come from James. In chapter three, he meditates poignantly, even poetically, on the profound inner conflict we all experience over the power of the tongue. 

In the first place, James acknowledges that there is a world of evil within each of us: “a world of iniquity … set on fire by hell” (James 3:6). Know what? It’s best just to admit that. “Hi, I’m Reggie. My heart is a world of iniquity, set on fire by hell.” 

In the second place, the first outlet for that world of iniquity is my speech. I don’t know about you, but over the course of my life, there have been too many hurtful words I wish I could take back. 

In the third place, however, if my speech can be controlled, there’s hope for the rest of me as well! That’s why your mother and mine taught us to “Count to ten!” before speaking when provoked.  That’s why James wrote earlier in his letter, “Quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger.” The negative “Such a small spark, such a large fire” (James 3:5) can become a positive: “Such a small compliment, inspiring such great endeavors!” I’m sure that all of us bear scars from hurtful words hurled at us, often years and years ago: “You are so ugly!” “What a klutz!” “Are you really that stupid?” I’m also sure that most of us have found energy, direction, and motivation from words of praise. I know a person who became a famous scholar in their field just because when they were very young, they accidentally heard a grown up tell their parents: “Your kid has no idea how smart they are!” For years now, that person has been living up to those words of praise. 

For James, we don’t have to live with the contradiction of praising God and tearing down people: “With [the tongue] we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God” (James 3:9). That’s why he writes what he writes. Like his Elder Brother, James would have us find the blessedness of an internal integrity and coherence—“purity of heart” and singleness of eye (Matthew 5:8; 6:22-23). We can see others through the lens of God’s good intentions for them. And our lives, beginning with our words, can be springs of fresh and life-giving water. Who might need a word of encouragement and praise from you today?

Be blessed this day,

Reggie Kidd+

Noonday Prayer

Daily Devotions with the Dean

This morning’s Scriptures are: Psalm 89; Habakkuk 2:1-4,9-20; James 2:14-26; Luke 16:19-31

This morning’s Canticles are: following the OT reading, Canticle 9 (“The First Song of Isaiah,” Isaiah 12:2-6, BCP, p. 86); following the Epistle reading, Canticle 19 (“The Song of the Redeemed,” Revelation 15:3-4, BCP, p. 94)

Different aspects of faith come into view in today’s readings. Here’s food for the soul!

Habakkuk on living by faith. … but the righteous live by their faith. — Habakkuk 2:4. The prophet Habakkuk rises up sometime after the Babylonians have conquered Judah, burned Jerusalem, and razed and plundered the temple. Babylon has been God’s instrument of judgment against God’s sinful people. Nonetheless, in yesterday’s reading, Habakkuk has bitterly complained to God about Babylon’s own arrogance, violence, and idolatry: “Why do you look on the treacherous, and are silent when the wicked swallow those more righteous than they?” (Habakkuk 1:13).  

In today’s reading, Habakkuk proclaims hope. Yahweh has not abandoned his people. He has not set aside his covenant love for them. Through Israel, ultimately “… the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Habakkuk 2:14). And though the earthly temple lies in ruins for now, God’s heavenly—and true—temple still stands, inviolate: “But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him” (Habakkuk 2:20). Habakkuk imagines Yahweh turning the tables on Babylon who forced upon Judah the cup of judgment: “The cup in the Lord’s right hand will come around to you, and shame will come upon your glory!” (Habakkuk 2:16). 

When Habakkuk says the “righteous live by their faith,” he means that if God’s people will stay true, even in the face of discouragement, dismay, and delay, they will find that life will come to them. As we discover in the New Testament, life has come in Jesus Christ, Messiah and King. It is marvelous to consider the larger backdrop in Habakkuk when Paul appeals to this verse about “the righteous living by faith,” in his letter to the Romans. Romans 1:16 sweeps up rich depths of Habakkuk’s meaning. 

• In the proclamation of the good news of Jesus Christ, Israel’s true Son, the promise is being fulfilled that the earth will overflow with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord. 

• Precisely where people are “present[ing their] bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is [their] spiritual worship,” the Lord of heaven and earth is indeed in his holy temple—and all the earth should bow in awed silence (Romans 12:1-2). 

• And, altogether in agreement with the Revelation of John’s verdict on Babylon, “the great whore,” who is forced to drink the cup of the wrath of God, Paul asserts that “the God of peace will shortly crush Satan under your feet” (Romans 16:20). Fittingly, Paul concludes: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.” 

James on faith and works. Apparent discrepancies—and they are merely apparent discrepancies—between Paul’s approach and James’s should not mask the profound synchronicity between them. Leaving a full discussion of this rich passage for another time, let me make a two-faceted observation. 

In response to legalists (those who teach that right living establishes a relationship with God), Paul stresses lex credendi lex vivendi, “the way you believe determines how you live.” Paul says “faith apart from (God’s taking account of) works” justifies (Romans 3:28; Galatians 2:16). He would absolutely agree with James that works are part of the package of the Christian life: he tells the Galatians that what matters is “faith working through love,” and he tells the Corinthians that what matters is “keeping the commandments of God” (Galatians 5:6; 1 Corinthians 7:19). Moreover, Paul would have been able himself to write James’s: “So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead” (James 2:17).  But when Paul has to stand up to people who proudly think they can “climb a stairway to heaven,” he insists: only faith will get you there!  

In response to antinomians (those who maintain that in the Christian life, obedience is “an elective course,” not “a required course”), James stresses lex vivendi lex credendi, “the way you live reveals what it is you actually believe.” James says, “a person is justified by works and not by a faith that is alone” (a more accurate translation of the Greek in James 2:24). James would entirely agree that faith in “our glorious Lord Jesus Christ” is necessary, and that life in Christ is a gift from God himself (James 1:18; 2:1). But when James has to stand up to people who slothfully and cynically manipulate statements of theological orthodoxy (“God is one!” “Jesus is Lord!”) to justify mistreatment of the poor (see James 2:1-7,14-15), he insists: your only justification for calling yourself God’s child is that you show it in your life! 

Paul and James may need to emphasize different aspects of the faith/works equation, given the pastoral needs of their people, but they both agree: faith and works are inseparable—distinguishable, to be sure, but inseparable nonetheless.

The rich man and Lazarus. Lessons from James and Habakkuk are nicely personified in this powerful parable. Plain and simple, if a person claims to know the God of the Bible but lives a life of exorbitant luxury and ease while disease and poverty are camped out in front of their house—well, that person refutes, rebuts, and betrays the faith. By contrast, if a person holds fast to faith in the God of deliverance while suffering running sores, scorn, and neglect—well, that person makes the most elegant, eloquent, and compelling statement of faith possible. Let those who have an ear to hear, let them hear. 

Be blessed this day,

Reggie Kidd+

Noonday Prayer

Daily Devotions with the Dean

This morning’s Scriptures are: Psalm 88; Joel 2:28–3:8; James 1:16-27; Luke 16:1-9

This morning’s Canticles are: following the OT reading, Canticle 10 (“The Second Song of Isaiah,” Isaiah 55:6-11; BCP, p. 86); following the Epistle reading, Canticle 18 (“A Song to the Lamb,” Revelation 4:11; 5:9-10, 13, BCP, p. 93)

Joel provides the chief Old Testament text for Pentecost (see Acts 2:17-21). Today’s Joel passage is also a text vindicating God’s people in their sufferings, and promising retribution against those who have sold them “to the Greeks”: who “have divided my land, and cast lots for my people, and traded boys for prostitutes, and sold girls for wine, and drunk it down” (Joel 3:2,3,6). In some respects, our Savior wins for us forgiveness; in other respects, vindication. It is the ministry of the Holy Spirit, poured out in our hearts, to remind us that Christ is both our Substitute and our Champion. 

James highlights the invariable goodness of God. The “Father of lights” provides every good gift (it’s not a bad idea to begin each day with an inventory of thanksgiving, by the way!), including rebirth by the Word of God into a whole new personal identity. According to James, we are part of the vanguard (“a kind of first fruits”) of a new humanity (James 1:18). Then James offers a meditation on dimensions of that “first fruits” life: 

• the freedom of offering a measured response (“quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger” — James 1:19).

• the “perfect liberty” that is found in reading God’s word the right way—liberty, first, in seeing myself for who I really am (James 1:23-25). This is one of those many places in James where, with “eyes to see and ears to hear,” one discovers a magnificent invitation to cross-reference Paul: “…with unveiled faces, [we see] the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, [and] are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another” (2 Corinthians 3:18). Characteristically, James puts this transformation in terms of being a “doer” of the word, and not merely a self-deceiving “hearer.” To which Paul—and the church historical—adds a hearty “Amen!” 

• the right to the claim of being genuinely “religious” (please note, in passing, that the Bible has no patience with the idea that you can somehow be a “Christian” without being “religious”—that’s a meditation, perhaps, for another day). The “religious” life consists of “caring for orphans and widows in their distress, and keeping oneself unstained by the world” (James 1:26-27). Exactly what James’s Elder Brother had said in the Beatitudes: “Blessed are the merciful” … and … “Blessed are the pure in heart” (Matthew 5:7-8). 

So much goodness to ponder in James. Don’t read it in a hurry!!!

Luke. And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly… — Luke 16:8. If there were a contest for Most Challenging Parable of Jesus, the hands down winner would be today’s Parable of the Shrewd Steward. I offer a couple of keys to interpreting it. First, unlike other parables that invite us to compare figures in the story with God or Jesus (e.g., in the Parable of the Sower, the Sower is Jesus), this parable doesn’t work that way. This parable is not saying God will let you finagle your way into heaven through shifty financial maneuvers. Expect from this parable a more limited, indirect, and non-allegorical point. 

Second, take in the story itself. 

The business manager of a rich man’s vast agricultural holdings has been fired for “squandering” assets. Told to leave a final accounting on his way out, the crafty manager devises an ingenious plan. He goes to two tenants and allows them to reduce, on the strength of their signatures (not his — he’s been fired!), to reduce their indebtedness by significant amounts. Both these debtors are working large and productive tracts of land—large enough and productive enough that these renters might themselves be in need of a business manager. That could be good for a recently fired manager, especially one who can’t dig and doesn’t want to beg. That’s potentially pretty smart. Not only that, in the shame-culture of the Near East, the rich man is not likely to renounce the generosity the manager has made it look like he (the rich man) has extended to his clients. I like the way commentator John T. Carroll puts it in the New Interpreter’s Bible One Volume Commentary: 

The rich man, his hands tied by the manager’s generosity—he would not dare reinstate the forgiven debts, thus forfeiting honor in the community—can only commend his cunning manager. Ironically, the manager wins his master’s praise by doing what got him fired, squandering the rich man’s property. 

The poignancy of this parable is the statement: “And his master commended the dishonest (adikia) manager because he had acted shrewdly (phronimōs). Within the limited scope of this parable, we are given a case in which a person who to this point had known only how to use money wastefully learns how to use it “shrewdly.” That last word is worth a closer look—“shrewdly” is not the best translation. The Greek word phronimōs is an adverb, and it is normally translated “prudently.” One of the principal virtues in the contemporary world of the New Testament is “prudence,” meaning: rightly relating to reality. 

Rightly relating to reality implies, first, an understanding of reality. For believers, the “children of light,” reality looks a bit different than it does for “the children of this age.” Christians understand that there is a spiritual dimension to life that provides a larger context for events and actions. Jesus reminds his hearers of the long-range destination “eternal homes.”

Utilizing the resources under his control, the dishonest steward acted with an eye to his future. With our own resources, we are encouraged to do the same. The day may well come when we arrive on “the other side,” to discover that an investment in the well-being of someone here on earth pays an unexpected dividend: we are known and welcomed in heaven by the very recipients of our support!

Luke is all about a theology of wealth—of its right use. Just as James is concerned that right “religion” involves the use of wealth to care for widows and orphans, the Jesus of Luke’s gospel puts a premium on the same thing. In fact, it’s not accidental that Luke follows this parable with the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus (which will be included in this coming Monday’s readings). Stay tuned. 

Meanwhile, the question for each of us is: as part of a new humanity, how might I use my resources for the bigger picture? How can I contribute to a declaration that Christ lives, he reigns, and it all belongs to him anyway?

Be blessed this day,

Reggie Kidd+

Noonday Prayer

Daily Devotions with the Dean

This morning’s Scriptures are: Psalm 83; Joel 2:21-27; James 1:1-15; Luke 15:1-2,11-32

This morning’s Canticles are: following the OT reading, Canticle 8 (“The Song of Moses,” Exodus 15, BCP, p. 85); following the Epistle reading, Canticle 19 (“The Song of the Redeemed,” Revelation 15:3-4, BCP, p. 94)

Our readings in the epistle and the gospel present us with two sets of brothers. 

The Parable of the Prodigal Son is a story of two sons—both lost, though in different ways. The one to prodigality, the other to resentment and envy. One lost son is found. The other … the parable leaves his story open, so the listener and reader can consider whether their own lives are as consumed as he is by resentment and envy. 

In his portrait The Prodigal, Rembrandt reveals much more than the emotional embrace of father and returning son. We have in the foreground of this most deservedly famous painting, of course, the younger brother, who is being tenderly received by his loving and forgiving father. The foregrounding of the prodigal is precisely the problem for the resentful elder brother. He—the faithful stay-at-home, self-styled “slave” of the estate—begrudges the attention lavished on the returning prodigal.  Rembrandt’s portrayal is chilling and noteworthy. In the painting, the elder brother stands apart. His bearded face is a younger version of the father’s — only this is a hard face. He wears the same red mantle as the father, but he stands tall, straight, aloof. He clutches his hands, one hand shielding the other. You can imagine just this sort of self-protective move when the father says to put a ring on the younger brother’s hand. Envy always thinks that sharing means losing. Jesus’s parable is aimed primarily at “the elder brothers” — folks scandalized that Jesus is spending time with tax collectors and sinners. Rembrandt’s prayer is that the respectable people will remember that they, too, need grace. It’s not enough to look like the Father and to wear his clothes. You have to have his heart. 

The letter of James is also—if indirectly—a story of two sons. First, a bit of background. James writes with such authority that he has been almost universally identified as “James the brother of the Lord” (Galatians 1:19). The gospels list James as one of the sons of Mary, Jesus’s mother (Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3). Along with his other brothers, James did not believe in Jesus during his earthly ministry (John 7:5). However, he is converted when his risen Brother appears to him personally (1 Corinthians 15:7). Quickly, he emerges as leader of the church in Jerusalem (Acts 15). At the Council of Jerusalem, James offers the clinching argument for the validity of Paul’s ministry among the Gentiles, and of his message of salvation as a free gift to all who believe. In James’s epistle, he powerfully bridges Jesus’s teaching and Old Testament themes from the Law, the Wisdom books, and the Prophets. And if we read closely enough and more accurately than is often done, we will see that James bridges the gap between champions of “faith” and champions of “works.” 

How wonderful that on the same day that we read the Parable of the Prodigal Son (and His Embittered Brother), we begin a week-and-a-half long read-through of James’s epistle. I receive the converging of these readings as quite a gift of providence. James could have been a similarly embittered and aggrieved brother. Jesus is foregrounded in the Gospels, while the disbelieving James and his other brothers lurk in the background. Throughout the New Testament, one Son is foregrounded. James and the other brothers show that they understand the celebrity status of their half-brother Jesus. In fact, they offer unsolicited advice about how Jesus ought to thrust himself into the limelight (John 7:3-4). But in that very passage, John notes that they do not believe in Jesus—that is, they do not really understand who he is, nor comprehend in the least what his mission is. One of these unbelieving brothers, at least—and praise God for this fact!—proves to be ready to respond in faith. It’s not difficult for me to imagine James following his Elder Brother’s ministry, listening carefully, taking notes, and pondering. Because when Jesus appears to him after the resurrection, he seems “packed and ready to go”! 

The benefit to us is that James’s epistle is replete with recollections, interpretations, and applications of his—and our—Elder Brother’s teachings. Today’s passage brims with Jesus-sounding instruction about standing fast in tribulation (with James 1:2-4, compare Matthew 10:22; 5:49); about looking to God for wisdom (with James 1:5, compare Matthew 7:7); about gauging true wealth and poverty (with James 1:9-10, compare Luke 6:20,24); and about handling temptation (with James 1:13-15, compare Matthew 4:1-11). 

Envy is the “thief of joy.” How grateful I am that we don’t have to live in that space! The good news is that we all share in the blessings and riches lavished upon every believer - we are all heirs through Jesus Christ. 

Be blessed this day,

Reggie Kidd+

Midday Eucharist