Let's begin here. First, ancient Jews (and modern day Americans?) highly valu(e)d patronage and honor. The  ancient Roman Empire's caste system advocated that patrons were honored folks who offered financial or other means of support to people of lower status. They didn't do so for free. Teachers taught students and students were expected to reward their patrons. And.... miracle workers were patrons to the people they healed. That system worked out well for privileged families. However, most Jews of Jesus' day were poor peasants. They paid taxes to the Temple for religious products and services. The last thing that they had money for was to reward a healer for his miracles. However, that was how the socio-economic patronage and honor systems of their day "worked."  Now there's somebody on the scene named Jesus of Nazareth who accomplishes miracles without seeking monetary or laborious compensation. He's neither educated or a city-dweller. It's outrageous! He's gaining notoriety and status without deserving it. He's also not seeking the usual sorts of rewards. What he seeks is discipleship, not profit: faithful living, not religious power. Jesus' Reign of God isn't built upon the established framework that supported the upkeep of the Roman Empire or Herod's Temple. It's no wonder then that those power-brokers confronted him when he broke the rules. 

Generally, when people are stuck in a system or a particular way of understanding, they need to be SHOCKED out of the old and into the new. Logic and reason usually doesn't work. ... When should we just do things in the church that we believe are right, and then deal with the repercussions afterwards? ... Systems theory indicates that any time someone upsets the homeostasis -- the comfortable way the people are used to, someone is likely to sabotage the plans and attach the one making them. Being pushed out of homeostasis causes anxiety. Anxious people can do all kinds of things that may not be helpful.

I'm struck by these images and value systems as I ponder what they mean for us. Jesus constantly seeks to restore people to wellness. In Sunday's Gospel he's literally "straightening up" a "bent over" woman. She's physically as well as socially crippled. His life is all about releasing her and other wounded people from their bondage. What binds us up? How might The Holy Spirit be shaking us to challenge unhealthy systems of our own? What's ails us up as Christ's disciples here @ St. James? What complaints or whose rules impede us from accomplishing the Lord's work on Sunday mornings or in our daily living? Changing the ways we do things and what we prioritize is never easy but such transformation often leads in the direction God wishes us to go.

 

It's time to once again support the children and faculty of Ethel M. Taylor Academy in the Fairmount Neighborhood not far from us.

Thanks to those of you who have already purchased school suppliers. If you haven't, you can still go out and purchase supplies and then bring them to church. You can also donate monies toward the cause that we will use to purchase a gift card from Staples. We will then give the card to the school's resource coordinator. Please bring cash to the office or make out a check to the church and place "Taylor Academy" in the memo line.

We need to collect all supplies and monies by September 1st. We will bless these offerings at the Sunday Morning Eucharist that day. We then will deliver the supplies and gift card to the school later that week. We'll need help delivering and distributing the supplies so please let Gayle know if you can help with that aspect of the project. Thanks!