Daily Liturgy and Scripture

The Church should indeed look unique. This handling of the rich (which is not universal, there were devout wealthy Christians as well) is a little unexpected. Not to be a slave to money, Timothy is instructed by Paul to do so because sharing among the early Church was one of its trademarks, and greed could derail that quality of life.

We have a new kind of family in Christ: fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters. Each of us should look to fill one of those roles for someone, and look for those who will be that family for us. We need fathers and mothers to guide us, brothers and sisters to walk with us. This is what makes the body of Christ, and we are all joined together in the Spirit.

(For this cycle in Psalms, I am reading from Robert Alter’s poetic translation, “The Hebrew Bible.”)

In Timothy and Paul's age, it was rare for younger men to be set in positions of authority above older ones. Paul's instruction is particularly important to Timothy for that reason. Still, a life of devotion speaks for itself, and within the body of the Church, the rules are certainly different than elsewhere.

(For this cycle through Psalms, I am reading from Robert Alter's poetic translation, "The Hebrew Bible.")

Those who work in God’s house need the trust and confidence of the Church, so it can’t be just anyone. Our families are sometimes our most difficult relationships, so it’s not surprise that those relationships are a proving ground for deacons and elders in the early church. For, as it says, how can someone lead in the Church if they can’t lead their own family?

Paul's command to women in this verse has ruffled more than a few feathers. Perhaps the things that we might need to remember in this verse are: 1. This is not our time. 2. Paul was not trying to solve women's equality, but he certainly mentored his share of important female leaders (Priscilla, Phoebe and Junia to name a few). 3. Pauls' concern in this verse is church order, and that can be accomplished with a bit of social order. Women apparently weren't leaders in this church (but were in others), and this church had its own personality. Perhaps, once order was established so that worship wouldn't become grandstanding, the roles of women might have changed to something more familiar in Paul's other letters.

(For this cycle through Psalms, I am reading from Robert Alter's "Hebrew Bible" translation.

Paul is writing to his star pupil, Timothy. This instruction was a great primer in healthy church life, because that’s exactly what the young pastor would have needed to nurture. Paul keys on his Jewish scholarship by showing that the Law still has a use, to point us away from the things we shouldn’t do. This isn’t the end of the story, of course. We also need to lean on Jesus for the path upon which we should walk.

(For this cycle through Psalms, I am reading from Robert Alter’s “Hebrew Bible” translation, which is particularly poetic.)

The book of Philemon is a fun little journey into the world of the early church. If Paul met Onesimus in prison, then there is a good chance Onesimus did something to get there. He may have stolen from his master, or perhaps something else. Whatever the case, Paul is asking for Philemon to take a different approach than was his right, and that’s the life of the Church. Even if we might have the right to take something or inflict pain, we must reframe that situation through the lens of Jesus and our citizenship in his Kingdom.

(For this cycle through Psalms, I am reading from Robert Alter’s “Hebrew Bible” translation, which is particularly poetic.)

You have to admire Paul's resolve. Put in jail for preaching, left there for years, shipwrecked, stoned, and snakebitten. After all of that, he's right back at it, preaching again. He's even using his struggle to draw a crowd, and for good measure. New believers are formed, the Kingdom of God is growing. Would that any of us would have such resolve in our calling.

(For this cycle through Psalms, I am reading from Robert Alter's "Hebrew Bible" translation. It's a little more poetic and might give you a fresh take on the Psalms.)

Jeremiah 29:7 (bonus verse, not in our reading today) says, “Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” Paul was a diligent student of scripture, and I wonder if he may have had this verse in mind in places like Malta where he prayed to heal people and became an object lesson for God’s protection. God was with him, and so God was with those people as well. It’s certainly reasonable to believe that Paul’s good works and miracles in these places bore fruit, for certainly being exposed to God cannot leave a person unchanged.

(For this cycle through the Psalms, I m reading from “The Hebrew Bible” translation by Robert Alter.)

It must have been a real treat to be Paul's jailor, with God on his side. Of course, God is preserving Paul for a great work... but sometimes, Paul becomes a real told-ya-so kind of guy. I guess spending 2 or 3 years in jail with no clear reason will make you a little testy. Even a testy apostle is used by God, though, and it was a fortunate thing for the crew of this ship in this shipwreck. God certainly could have picked Paul out and only saved him, but that's not what happened. The others on the ship must have had some wild stories of their own to tell.