March 30, 2020

​Daily Lectionary Readings for Year A

As we near Easter, the Lectionary texts focus even more on life that comes from death. The readings are pointing us toward the cross and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We are preparing to journey with Jesus to death, into the tomb, and onto eternal life.

Psalm 143
A Prayer of Deliverance
What must it feel like to be pursued by someone or something that intends to bring harm? A foe, a virus... How long can you outrun the charge of one who seeks ill will?  

For the enemy has pursued me,
  crushing my life to the ground,
  making me sit in darkness like those long dead.

Psalm 143 is a prayer for deliverance from this feeling of death. Time is of the essence. Death seems imminent. Save me, O Lord.

1 Kings 17:17-24
Elijah Revives the Widow's Son
Elijah is a guest in a widow's home. Her child tragically dies. Death upon death. Grief upon grief. Elijah seeks to restore this life. After praying and through a series of actions, "the life of the child came into him again."  

Acts 20:7-12
Paul's Farewell Visit to Troas
On the evening before leaving this Greek community, Paul is teaching deep into the night in an upstairs room. One child, sitting near the window, falls asleep, falls from the window, and dies. Paul rushes to him, holds him in his arms, and assures the crowd that the child will live. Paul returns upstairs to eat and teach for the rest of the night until dawn. The child is found to be alive and well in the morning.

We will be getting into the theology of life from death in the coming weeks. But what of the physical ability to care for the dying?  What does it take to restore life to those who are gravely ill? The world prays for the entire medical community in these hours. They are risking their lives to save the lives of others. Medical professionals do this not only because of their training but most notably because of their calling. They have taken an oath to care for others.

The Hippocratic Oath is one of the oldest oaths dating back some 2,500 years. Pray for those who take this oath as their guide each day. There are heroes among us, often able to bring life from death.

The Modern Hippocratic Oath
I swear to fulfill, to the best of my ability and judgment, this covenant:

• I will respect the hard-won scientific gains of those physicians in whose steps I walk, and gladly share such knowledge as is mine with those who are to follow.
• I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures which are required, avoiding those twin traps of overtreatment and therapeutic nihilism.
• I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon's knife or the chemist's drug.
• I will not be ashamed to say "I know not," nor will I fail to call in my colleagues when the skills of another are needed for a patient's recovery.
• I will respect the privacy of my patients, for their problems are not disclosed to me that the world may know. Most especially must I tread with care in matters of life and death. If it is given me to save a life, all thanks. But it may also be within my power to take a life; this awesome responsibility must be faced with great humbleness and awareness of my own frailty. Above all, I must not play at God.
• I will remember that I do not treat a fever chart, a cancerous growth, but a sick human being, whose illness may affect the person's family and economic stability. My responsibility includes these related problems, if I am to care adequately for the sick.
• I will prevent disease whenever I can, for prevention is preferable to cure.
• I will remember that I remain a member of society, with special obligations to all my fellow human beings, those sound of mind and body as well as the infirm.
• If I do not violate this oath, may I enjoy life and art, respected while I live and remembered with affection thereafter. May I always act so as to preserve the finest traditions of my calling and may I long experience the joy of healing those who seek my help.

I invite you to post below and share the name or a picture of someone who has cared for people who are sick.  Give God thanks for medical professionals and all that they do.

Peace,
Dean