Interwoven Around Christ’s Table
- davidwperk
- Oct 10, 2023
- 6 min read
Devotional Reflection, Tuesday, October 10, 2023
Proper 22, the week of the nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost
The Rev. David W. Perkins, Th.D.
Key phrases for reflection from today’s reading:
17 Now in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. 18For, to begin with, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you; and to some extent I believe it.
You will find the full text of today’s epistle reading at the end of this reflection.
Daily Office Lectionary Readings (BCP, 986)
AM Psalm [120], 121, 122, 123; PM Psalm 124, 125, 126, [127]
2 Kings 22:1-13; 1 Cor. 11:2,17-22; Matt. 9:1-8
Today we celebrate the Feast of Vida Dutton Scudder. (See below.)
David's Reflections
Today's Epistle reflects the worship practices of the earliest faith communities in Corinth in the 50's CE (Common Era, another way of expressing AD). Those earliest communities were not allowed to own property nor to build buildings in the Roman Empire until the third century. Christians commonly gathered in larger homes or shops for worship, worship that began with a common meal and continued around the table.
In the Corinthian faith community, issues of social class were creating problems of fellowship and unity. The wealthier members of the communities would host those gatherings in their homes that were not held in shops and would provide the food. (We can assume more than one gathering in the city. Note Paul’s exhortation in 1 The. 5:27 that the letter be read to all the brothers and sisters, a comment that assumes more than one gathering.) Following social custom, those of elevated social class would be served the better food and the poorer, a less elaborate meal. And, the wealthier may have arrived earlier and begun their feast before the poor and the slaves were free to attend. Paul's solution was that the wealthier have a private meal in their homes before arriving at the gathering, and that the food served at the church gathering should be the same for everyone.
Paul regarded the Eucharist as having power to unify the church. That becomes obvious in any reading of chapters 10 and 11. As they broke from one loaf to share Christ's body and drank from one cup to share in Christ's blood, so they were one loaf. The celebration of Holy Eucharist was to bind them together as one and to deepen that unity.
As Anglicans, we emulate the worship form of those early faith communities, a service of the Word united with a service of Holy Communion. We believe that our fundamental unity finds expression in Holy Communion, hence we are not a "confessional" church with a formal statement of faith. We do have a catechism, which can be found in The Book of Common Prayer, but theological uniformity does not form the foundation of our unity. Rather, that unity comes from the presence of the living Christ among us and within each of us and finds expression in shared communion and shared mission.
Holy Communion gives us that one moment when Christ’s presence and our absolute dependence on his presence and on one another becomes most graphically visible. We desperately need God and one another. Eating and drinking this sacred meal together binds us together with one another and with God.
As Frederick Buechner has said:
To eat any meal together is to meet at the level of our most basic need.
It is hard to preserve your dignity with butter on your chin or to keep your
distance when asking for the tomato ketchup.
To eat this particular meal together is to meet at the level of our most
basic humanness, which involves our need not just for food but for each other. . . . I
need you to help fill my emptiness just as you need me to help fill yours. As for the
emptiness that's still left over, well we're in it together, or it in us. Maybe it's most of
what makes us human and makes us brothers (and sisters)." *
*Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking: A Theological ABC (New York: Harper, 1973), pp. 52-53.
Collect of the Day, Proper 22 The nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to hear than we to pray, and to give more than we either desire or deserve: Pour upon us the abundance of your mercy, forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things for which we are not worthy to ask, except through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ our Savior; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP, 234)
Today we celebrate the Feast of Vida Dutton Scudder, educator and witness for peace (died 9 Oct 1954 CE).
Collect of the Feast of Vida Dutton Scudder
Most gracious God, you sent your beloved Son to preach peace to those who are far off and to those who are near: Raise up in your church witnesses who, after the example of your servant Vida Dutton Scudder, stand firm in proclaiming the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Of the Holy Eucharist Especially suitable for Thursdays God our Father, whose Son our Lord Jesus Christ in a wonderful Sacrament has left unto us a memorial of his passion: Grant us so to venerate the sacred mysteries of his Body and Blood, that we may ever perceive within ourselves the fruit of his redemption; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP, 201)
A Collect for Peace
Most holy God, the source of all good desires, all right judgments, and all just works: Give to us, your servants, that peace which the world cannot give, so that our minds may be fixed on the doing of your will, and that we, being delivered from the fear of all enemies, may live in peace and quietness; through the mercies of Christ Jesus our Savior. Amen. (BCP, 123)
For the Unity of the Church
Almighty Father, whose blessed Son before his passion prayed for his disciples that they might be one, as you and he are one: Grant that your Church, being bound together in love and obedience to you, may be united in one body by the one Spirit,
that the world may believe in him whom you have sent, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (BCP, 255)
A Prayer for Light
Almighty God, we give you thanks for surrounding us, as daylight fades, with the brightness of the vesper light; and we implore you of your great mercy that, as you enfold us with the radiance of this light, so you would shine into our hearts the brightness of your Holy Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 110)
A Collect for Mission
Almighty and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of your faithful people is governed and sanctified: Receive our supplications and prayers which we offer before you for all members of your holy Church, that in their vocation and ministry they may truly and devoutly serve you; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. (BCP, 100)
Daily Office Epistle, 1 Corinthians 11:2,17-22
2 I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions just as I handed them on to you.
17 Now in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. 18For, to begin with, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you; and to some extent I believe it. 19Indeed, there have to be factions among you, for only so will it become clear who among you are genuine. 20When you come together, it is not really to eat the Lord’s supper. 21For when the time comes to eat, each of you goes ahead with your own supper, and one goes hungry and another becomes drunk. 22What! Do you not have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you show contempt for the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I commend you? In this matter I do not commend you!
Daily Offices in The Book of Common Prayer
Morning Prayer, Rite 2, page 75, The Book of Common Prayer
Noonday Prayer, page 103, Book of Common Prayer
Order of Worship for Evening (Vespers), p 109, Book of Common Prayer
Evening Prayer, Rite 2, page 115, Book of Common Prayer
Compline (Night Prayer), page 127, Book of Common Prayer
Daily Devotionals, page 136, Book of Common Prayer
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