In the
Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) across all three years of Readings (Years A, B,
C) this is commonly known as Good Shepherd Sunday as Psalm 23 is read in
all three years and most of the readings have to do with sheep, shepherds, and
of course, Jesus. However, as is the usual case, Dr. Gafney* challenges us with readings we do not receive over the
course of the RCL, that is, these are actual biblical texts but are not used in
the “regular” course of readings. We are called to question our own perspectives
of freedom: who are free, and the societal indifference to the bondage under
which some people live in our own time.
By
naming another woman we’ve not heard of in the RCL, we learn that Rhoda is an
enslaved woman who recognizes Peter by his voice after God’s angel releases him
from prison. Rhoda runs to tell the assembled [large] number of believers
that Peter was at the door. But a credible slave girl? She was mocked
although finally proved right. Nonetheless, she remained a slave, the property
of Mary, mother of John called Mark.
Moving
to Paul’s letter to Philemon, we learn of Onesimus (oh-ness-eh-mus), a slave that Paul refers to as my child whom I
birthed during my imprisonment. Paul asks for Philemon to accept him with
the surprising phrasing of “Formerly to you he was useless, but now to you and
me he is useful.” Paul also says he thought about keeping Onesimus to serve him
but decided to give him to Philemon and so Onesimus then becomes the slave of
Philemon—however, his story is far from concluded.
We do know stories of Jesus healing on the
Sabbath, agitating the Jewish authorities in every Gospel. In this one we learn
of a woman so bent with a spirit of infirmity that she cannot stand up
straight that Jesus laid his hands on her and said Woman, you are set free
from your infirmity. When the leader of the synagogue tells the assembled women,
men, and children that this should not happen on the Sabbath, Jesus calls
him, and the others that agree, hypocrites. Why NOT heal on the Sabbath
~ ought she not be set free from this bondage on the Sabbath Day? The
opposed were put to shame while the entire crowd rejoiced.
As we, now, rejoice for her and for the
healing and freedom Jesus restored, we must take some time to recognize who are
and who are not free within our own lives and times. Who are those that we
easily dismiss whether by intent or indifference, or perhaps even, dare I say:
intolerance? It is time, especially in these times, for us to take a reckoning
of how we each discount others by reason of political, religious, economic, ethnic,
racial, gendered, sexual, educational, intellectual, physical, employment,
housing, agreement/disagreement… and so many other kinds of status including
the catch-all of just plain “well, because…” Who is a Rhoda, an Onesimus, a person
with an infirmity that isn’t noticed or at least easily ignored?
Are we more comfortable living in a free-for-all
of discontent, discord, and disrespect for those who are unimportant to us? Or,
are we striving for a FREE FOR ALL Welcoming Society, cheering, caring, and
working for those oppressed by so many forces in everyday life? Are we seeing
others not as less than we are but as we each are ~ created by God? The
Psalmist’s cry and prayer is for and by ALL of us. The question isn’t who to
free or not to free. The question is if Jesus is our Great and Good Shepherd,
are we listening? If yes, there’s no question about what to do next.
LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE,
PRAY
Leader: ~ Living, Healing Christ, fill us with the burning desire to
follow Your voice, through the peaks and valleys of our human sojourn. Teach us
to live the resurrection-life now, standing upright in heart
and soul, glorifying God through our prayers and our actions, until we dwell
again with you forever.
Lord
Jesus, Heartbeat of our Faith
RESPONSE: Our
Shepherd, our Shelter
~ Living, Healing Christ, open wide the souls, hearts, and minds of all who
govern across this Earth, this Country, and this Community. Awaken their God-Given
reason and endow them with the courage to act for the benefit of the safety,
dignity, health, and equality of every human on this Earth. We pray especially
for: add your own petitions
Lord Jesus, Heartbeat of our Faith
Our
Shepherd, our Shelter
~ Living, Healing Christ, anoint the hearts of all in chronic pain, the woes of
addiction, or lost in despair, and restore hope and vitality to all who nurture
and support them. We now join our hearts together to pray for those in
need…add your own petitions
Lord Jesus, Heartbeat of our Faith
Our
Shepherd, our Shelter
~ Living, Healing Christ, gather the tears from those who mourn, as those who
have left this life, now drink from the springs of new and eternal life in You.
We pray especially for: add your own petitions
Lord Jesus, Heartbeat of our Faith
Our
Shepherd, our Shelter
~ Living, Healing Christ,
we pause in this moment to offer You our other heartfelt
thanksgivings, intercessions, petitions, and memorials, aloud or
silently…
Lord Jesus, Heartbeat of our Faith
Our
Shepherd, our Shelter
~ Living, Healing Christ, we give You thanks and ask
Your blessings for the chosen Disciples of our own time who spread Your table
before us, feeding our faith and confirming Your presence in our lives. We
pray especially for: add your own petitions
Lord Jesus, Heartbeat of our Faith
Our
Shepherd, our Shelter
The Celebrant adds: O Christ, our Messiah, grant us the
faithfulness to awaken each day with You first in our thoughts, then inspired
by Simon Peter and Mary the mother of John, Paul and Timothy, Philemon, Apphia and
others, let us strive again to live in such depth of faith, that our moments of
unbelief are few. We ask through the Holy Spirit, our Comforter; and the
Almighty, our Creator; who together with You reign as One God, forever and
beyond. Amen.
*Readings for our Parish in this Year C are from The Rev.
Dr. Wilda [Wil] Gafney, Womanist biblical scholar, and the Right Rev. Sam B. Hulsey
Professor of Hebrew Bible at Brite Divinity School in Fort Worth, Texas. She is
the author of A Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church Yr C,
and others in her series, and translator of its biblical selections. I
definitely commend her book for the complete readings, to Clergy and Laity, for
her Text Notes, and “Preaching Prompts” whether or not you will use them in
your Liturgies/Services/Preaching. There is much to learn from her work to
inform every facet of our lives in Christ. To learn more about her and
her work, see her website: https://www.wilgafney.com/
