Where Are the Faith Boundaries?
- davidwperk
- May 13, 2024
- 6 min read
Devotional Reflection, Monday, May 13. 2024
The week of the seventh Sunday of Easter
The Rev. David W. Perkins, Th.D.
Key phrases for reflection from today’s Gospel reading:
10When Jesus heard him, he was amazed and said to those who followed him, ‘Truly I tell you, in no one* in Israel have I found such faith. 11I tell you, many will come from east and west and will eat with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, 12while the heirs of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 13And to the centurion Jesus said, ‘Go; let it be done for you according to your faith.’ And the servant was healed in that hour.
You will find the full text of today’s Gospel reading at the end of this reflection.
Daily Office Lectionary Readings (BCP, 965)
AM Psalm 89:1-18; PM Psalm 89:19-52
Joshua 1:1-9; Eph. 3:1-13; Matt. 8:5-17
Today we celebrate the Feast of Frances Perkins. (See below.)
David’s Reflections
Where are the faith boundaries? Who lives outside the circle of faith and who lives inside?
One of the biddings in the Solemn Collects of Good Friday in The Book of Common Prayer speaks of those whose faith is known to God alone. It reads: “Let us commit ourselves to our God, and pray for the grace of a holy life, that, with all who have departed this world and have died in the peace of Christ, and those whose faith is known to God alone, we may be accounted worthy to enter into the fullness of the joy of our Lord, and receive the crown of life in the day of resurrection.” (BCP, 280). That prayer, for those whose faith is known to God alone, occurs again in The Great Thanksgiving, Prayer D. (BCP, 375).
In this story and in the story of the healing of the daughter of the woman of Syro-Phonecia, Jesus encountered radical faith among nonJews, an experience that may have expanded his vision of the reach and extent of God’s saving activity (See Matthew 15:28). Jesus responded with surprise and amazement in both cases.
What do we expect of those outside the life of the church? Do we expect to find spiritual desire and a capacity for radical faith? Would we expect to find that in a prison? At a crowded bar on Saturday night? In someone who had abandoned the church years ago? In someone who had never been a part of the institutional church? Would that we could share Jesus’ capacity for alertness and the capacity to learn from encounter.
In answer to our initial questions,”Where are the faith boundaries? Who lives outside the circle of faith and who lives inside?”, those boundaries prove more elusive than we assume. These stories challenge our expectations and our definitions of those boundaries? Jesus experienced a radical trust in people who had no history of synagogue worship, little or no knowledge of the Scriptures, and none of the culturally accepted marks of religious interest.
Our challenge is to remain alert and aware. It also is to be unabashed about our own faith and sensitive and daring enough to respond to the clues others give us. Their faith may be known to God alone, but it might become known to us as well. Or, they might be on the cusp of faith, needing only a hint more of light and love to draw them across the threshold and into faith. And, we might become the source of that bit of light and love necessary to their act of faith.
Jesus served as the light and love for this man and for the SyroPhonecian woman alluded to above. He responded to them, and he extended himself into their life situations. He allowed himself to be affected by their reality. That challenge stands before us in this reading. Perhaps you can begin reflecting on those in your circle of close friends, in your circle of acquaintance, and in your vocational circle. What clues have been before you that you may have been missing? What actions must you dare? What prayers must you begin offering? How can you be open to their reality and allow yourself to be changed by it?
Collect of the Day, Seventh Sunday of Easter: The Sunday after Ascension Day
O God, the King of glory, you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven: Do not leave us comfortless, but send us your Holy Spirit to strengthen us, and exalt us to that place where our Savior Christ has gone before; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen. (BCP, 226)
Today we celebrate the Feast of Frances Perkins, public servant and prophetic witness (died 14 May 1965 CE).
Collect of the Feast of Frances Perkins
Loving God, we bless your Name for Frances Perkins who in faithfulness to her baptism envisioned a society in which all may live in health and decency: Help us, following her example and in union with her prayers, to contend tirelessly for justice and for the protection of all, that we may be faithful followers of Jesus Christ; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
A Collect for the Renewal of Life
O God, the King eternal, whose light divides the day from the night and turns the shadow of death into the morning: Drive far from us all wrong desires, incline our hearts to keep your law, and guide our feet into the way of peace; that, having done your will with cheerfulness while it was day, we may, when night comes, rejoice to give you thanks; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 99)
For a Birthday
Watch over your child, O Lord, as her/his days increase; bless and guide her/him wherever she/he may be. Strengthen her/him when she/he stands; comfort her/him when discouraged or sorrowful; raise her/him up if she/he falls; and in her/his heart may your peace which passes understanding abide all the days of her/his life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen (BCP, 830)
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
O God, you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth, and sent your blessed Son to preach peace to those who are far off and to those who are near: Grant that people everywhere may seek after you and find you; bring the nations into your fold; pour out your Spirit upon all flesh; and hasten the coming of your kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 100, 257)
Daily Office Gospel, Matthew 8:5-17
5 When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, appealing to him 6and saying, ‘Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, in terrible distress.’ 7And he said to him, ‘I will come and cure him.’ 8The centurion answered, ‘Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only speak the word, and my servant will be healed. 9For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, “Go”, and he goes, and to another, “Come”, and he comes, and to my slave, “Do this”, and the slave does it.’ 10When Jesus heard him, he was amazed and said to those who followed him, ‘Truly I tell you, in no one* in Israel have I found such faith. 11I tell you, many will come from east and west and will eat with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, 12while the heirs of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 13And to the centurion Jesus said, ‘Go; let it be done for you according to your faith.’ And the servant was healed in that hour.
14 When Jesus entered Peter’s house, he saw his mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever; 15he touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she got up and began to serve him. 16That evening they brought to him many who were possessed by demons; and he cast out the spirits with a word, and cured all who were sick. 17This was to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah, ‘He took our infirmities and bore our diseases.’
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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