Yr. C, Wk. 10: Law, Community, and Salvation

Before our brown bag dinner, Pete dimmed the lights and lit a candle for a worship service that played off of the disruption of Daylight Savings Time, one aspect of the change of seasons. The question for us was, "What do you do during times of change? Do you tend to 'stay the course', or do you try to make a 'bold move?'" Some of us tend to love change, while others do stick to routine. Some of us are reluctant to make bold decisions in private, but willing to do so in work; some go the other way.

Yr. C theme: Living as Spiritually Mature Christians Class: Matt, Pete, first year; Christine, second year; Mariel, Gene, third year; Erica, fourth year; Scott and Susan, co - mentors. Absent: None.

First year set a theme for discussion with Pete's admission that Leviticus and Numbers seemed dry and repetitious. He wondered how any of these ancient laws are still relevant. We discussed how these books were assembled from case law over time, speaking to the many ways we manage to conflict with each other.

Susan suggested we look beyond the specifics to the values that the laws enforced. One important value behind many laws is identity. We shared examples of laws, such as dietary restrictions or dress codes, that help a group to define their identity. Mariel jumped in with thoughts from the third year book, as the history of the church in a time of councils was about church entities defining their identities.

[Scott's note: By coincidence, Saturday's selection in Forward Day by Day deals with Ezra, a book about maintaining Jewish identity through strict adherence to laws and practices. The same idea comes up in Gatta's pages about what we renounce in our Baptismal covenenant. I reflected on both sources in my own blogpost Episcopal Exiles at Home]

Erica's fourth year reading made her think just what she means by "salvation." She found provocative Ford's statement that salvation always has a communal dimension, and we discussed that. She found Ford's emphasis on "health" uninspiring, though the connection of our word "health" to "wholeness" made more sense. Christine related the talk of salvation to "liberation" in Luke, who, she said, "softened" some of the aspects of Jesus that are a bit edgy or harsh in other gospels.


Theological Reflection
Gene had us read Daniel 3.1-18, the story of the three young men who stand up to king Nebuchadnezzar. Verse 18 stops where they say they expect God to save them, but, even if He doesn't, they will gladly die rather than bow down to the idol. Our exploration of the story came to focus on the surprising extent to which the king seems to respect these three young men, and the effect that their faith has on him. Themes from earlier in the evening came up again, as we saw that this king ruled by whim, not by law; and the three men, expecting no reward or afterlife, put their lives on the line for the salvation of their Jewish community. Erica led us in composing the collect.

Collect O Just and Gracious Lord, who inspired Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to stand firm for their community and faith: Help us to look to the law you have written on our hearts so that we too can stand for justice and against oppression. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

After we concluded the collect, Gene shared a portion from King's Letter from a Birmingham Jail distinguishing just laws from unjust laws.

By email the following day, Erica shared with the group how Psalm 72, appointed for the day, fit so well with our TR, being a prayer for guidance and support for the King: "May he judge your people with righteousness."

Next Week: Matt brings dinner, Christine leads worship, and Erica brings something for a TR.