The Anglican Digest

SUMMER A.D.
2019
VOL. 61 NO. 2
Published quarterly by the Society for Promoting and Encouraging
Arts and Knowledge of the Church (SPEAK, Inc.).
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
CHAIRMAN
THE REV. CHARLESTON D. WILSON
VICE CHAIRMAN
THE REV. CHRISTOPHER COLBY
SECRETARY/TREASURER
DR. E. MITCHELL SINGLETON
THE RT. REV. JOHN C. BAUERSCHMIDT,
THE RT. REV. ANTHONY J. BURTON,
THE REV. DR. C. BRYAN OWEN
MARION CHANCELLOR
EDITORIAL COMMITTEE
THE RT. REV. ANTHONY F. M. CLAVIER,
CATHERINE S. SALMON
INQUIRIES AND CORRESPONDENCE

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ISSN 0003-3278 VOL. 61, NO. 2

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2 anglicandigest.org
Reflecting the words and work of the
faithful throughout the Anglican
Communion for more than fifty years.
connecting gathering telling
For sixty-one years, The Anglican Digest (TAD) has been the
leading quarterly publication serving the Anglican Communion.
From its inception, TAD’s mission has been “to reflect the words
and work of the faithful throughout the Anglican Communion.”
At a time when print editions are becoming an endangered
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summer 2019 3
A Letter from the
Chairman of the Board of Trustees
Dear Digest Family,
I knew a Presbyterian pastor in Alabama who preached exclu-

sively on the Book of Acts for thirty years. He never ran out of
material, and everyone loved it!
This is our fourth and final issue focusing on the parables of

Jesus — for now. We certainly haven’t run out of material, and
your feedback has been incredibly positive, but the Editors will
be focusing on other grace-filled topics in upcoming issues. I
hope these last three issues have changed your life through the
renewal of your faith.
Instead of looking for advice or wisdom in these pages, I hope

you’ll seek and find just one thing: God’s immeasurable love
and grace. I sure have.
We hope you will pray for the Digest, and please support the
effort by donating online today.
Yours in Christ,
The Rev. Charleston David Wilson

Chairman of the Board of Trustees
6 Counting the Great Cost
9 Two Sons
15 The Soil of Neglect
19 Enemy Occupied Territory
23 The Faithful and Wicked Servants
28 Of Good and Holy Husbandmen
36 Pervasiveness and Persistence
42 The Parable of the Talents
46 By Catch
49 Persistence in Prayer
53 Grace, Gratitude, and the

Conquest of Sin
57 The Pearl of Great Price
summer 2019 5
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COUNTING THE Here in Luke 14, Jesus serves

GREAT COST up two parables, a matching
(Luke 14:28-33) set of brief sketches, both
about the danger of failing to
The Rev. Chris Arnold count the cost. Suppose one
Trinity Church, Oshkosh, WI of you wants to build a tower;
you’d do the accounting first
and see if you can afford it,
My wife’s parents live near right? Suppose you’re a king
Las Vegas. We visit often. Las about to go to war; you’d do
Vegas is a city that is growing the accounting first and see if
rapidly, and every time we’re you can win the fight, right? Of
there, we notice another new course you would. You don’t
development, another new want to be embarrassed. You
casino, another new highway don’t want to be slaughtered.
out into the desert. Better not to start something
unless you’re certain you can
There’s this one build- finish it.
ing, though, that has been
half-completed for the past
decade. It’s another hotel-ca- Here is a pragmatic Jesus. A
sino, a tall tower with the shrewd Jesus. A fiscally con-
top floors still just bare steel servative Jesus. A Jesus that
girders. The developer was hit isn’t overextended on the
hard by the recession a decade credit cards and always puts
ago, and had to bail out. They on his seat belt. Indeed, it is
hadn’t counted the cost. Or good to be organized, to stay
maybe they hadn’t counted within our means, to avoid
on the risk. Either way, it is a foolish risks. It’s sound advice
story of failure, of unfinished to be responsible. Build things
business. you can afford. If your army
gathering telling
isn’t big enough for the battle, ning right after he has said
sue for peace. Very sensible. this: “Whoever comes to me
and does not hate father and
It’s hard to square this parable mother, wife and children,
with the one that Jesus tells brothers and sisters, yes, and
about the sower (Luke 8:5- even life itself, cannot be my
15), a parable about profliga- disciple. Whoever does not
cy and abundance. The sower carry the cross and follow me
clearly doesn’t count the cost cannot be my disciple.” [Luke
of all that seed. The sower 14:26-27, NRSV]
knows that the seed which is
Word and Grace is inexhaust- This was stunning. It is stun-
ible. ning now. Hate your family
members? I’ve talked about
So what do we make of these this and other similar passag-
two small parables? Does faith es with adult faith formation
demand a cost-benefit anal- groups – such as Matthew
ysis? Was Pascal right with 10:34-39 – and it always re-
his famous wager? Should veals a sticking point: We’re
we weigh the pros and cons happy to follow Jesus, but our
of discipleship and follow Je- families come first, surely.
sus only if we think we have Surely Jesus isn’t asking you
a pretty good chance of suc- to turn your back on your
ceeding? child, or your parent, or your
spouse?
Jesus always tells his parables
within a context. He makes Certainly we love our fami-
his points where and when lies. Even those who have bro-
they need to be made. Jesus ken relationships with their
tells these two parables about genetic families try to replace
tower-building and war-plan- them with a tight network of
summer 2019 7
connecting
friends, our chosen families. relatives and even life itself?

We need people to rely upon. How many people left right
And Christianity makes this after he said, ‘you must carry
a virtue, no? Christian family the cross, and you must give
values, loving our neighbors up all your possessions’? I ex-
as ourselves, that command- pect more than a few glanced
ment about honoring father around uncomfortably at one
and mother, and all the things another, muttered I didn’t
we say about the sacramen- sign up for this, and wandered
tal bonds of marriage. Surely away. Away they went, and
Jesus means for our relation- Jesus didn’t chase after them.
ships to be important to us? To really follow Christ, you
count the cost, and realize
Jesus does mean exactly that. that nothing can be carried
But there is something that is except the cross.
more important still. It is the
path of discipleship with Jesus
that leads towards redemp- Many in that large crowd
tion, salvation, healing, and doubtless counted the cost,
ultimately the bliss of union like the tower-builder and the
with God. It is the path that king in the parables, and de-
leads beyond the cross. But it termined that they were not
is the path that passes directly willing to pay it.
through the cross.
I have a confession. I’m not
Luke delivered these two really willing to pay it, either.
parables to “large crowds”. I
wonder how large the crowds I try to make the Christian life
were after he had finished a priority. I say my prayers. I
telling them that they need- try to be a good priest and
ed to be ready to hate their pastor and preacher. I feel like
gathering telling
I’ve made just enough sac- TWO SONS

rifices to feed my self-righ- (Matthew 21:28-32)
teousness, but I’m certainly
not willing to give up every- Leslie Virnelson, M.Div
thing for Christ. I want per- Trinity Episcopal Church,
Princeton, NJ
sonal comfort without risk. I
want my parish to be popular, In his interpretation of this
and the sacrifice of the cross is parable, Jesus draws a con-
not very popular. nection between prostitutes
and tax collectors — outcasts
and rejects of the community
So am I failure at this Chris- of faith — and the people who
tian life? If so, there are very truly do the will of the Father.
many of us. But counting He connects the Pharisees —
the cost, heeding the sharp- religious insiders, and even
ness of Christ’s words here leaders — to those who give
in Luke 14, I am confronted lip service but don’t actually
with an important nugget of bother to do the Father’s will.
self-awareness: No. I am not
willing to sacrifice everything What does it mean that the
for Christ, at least not at this prostitutes and the tax collec-
point in my life. tors will enter the Kingdom
of God first? This passage is
This only magnifies my won- part of a series of parables in
der at his total sacrifice for which Jesus disputes with the
me. Jesus counted the cost, Pharisees; he tries to show
and decided I’m worth it. You them the truth and teach
too. them, but a lot of the parables
end up just being about how
much they refuse to learn. So
Jesus tells this parable about
summer 2019 9
connecting
the difference between doing ble characters — Jesus comes

the Father’s will and talking down hard on them. He tells
about the Father’s will, and them that “the sick need a
he ends by telling the Phari- doctor” and he’s going to keep
sees and anyone else hanging associating with these types of
around that prostitutes and people because they’re exactly
tax collectors are entering the the types of people he came to
kingdom of God before them help. So here in this passage,
— not only that they will en- Jesus follows a consistent
ter in the future, after they course. He associates with
turn things around, but that these people in spite of any
they are entering. risk to his own reputation. He
loves them despite the Phari-
This is an unsettling, and per- sees’ suspicion that he is also
haps even insulting, sugges- acting like them. And now
tion. he has gone one step further:
Jesus says that the prostitutes
It’s important to remember and the tax collectors — these
that this is not the first time types of people — are enter-
this specific group has come ing the kingdom of God. And
up. Earlier in Matthew’s Gos- they’re entering ahead of ev-
pel, in the story of the calling eryone else.
of Levi (9:9-13), Jesus calls
him as he is collecting tax- What is it that makes that such
es, and then they go to Levi’s an unsettling, even insulting,
house for a big reception, thought for the Pharisees?
which happens to include
prostitutes. When the Phari- A prostitute’s position in so-
sees question his association ciety requires less cultural
with these types of people — interpretation. The fact that
such lowlifes and disreputa- they were, and are, frequently
gathering telling
abused and trapped in pov- ed from the community of

erty seems to have very little faith and lumped in with the
effect on society’s opinion. prostitutes was because, in
Their reputation is indeed so first-century Judea, they were
bad that it can rub off, so that traitors to their country and
merely associating with them to the community of faith.
can contaminate a person’s The thing that made them so
reputation. And yet Jesus said, bad was their service to the
“they are entering the king- king for whom they were col-
dom of heaven ahead of you.” lecting.
So now for the second group Their fellow Jews understood

entering the kingdom: Tax themselves to be the inheri-
collectors. They were also tors of a promise from God
defined by what they did for to inhabit their land. Not only
a living. The Roman system was their autonomy limited
sent out governors and sol- by a foreign government, but
diers to their conquered ter- a gentile — a pagan — was
ritories, but they employed ruling over the community
local people to do most of of faith, acting in direct op-
the administrative work in position to God’s decree that
the provinces, including ap- the land belonged to the de-
pointing locals to collect the scendants of Abraham. The
imperial taxes. Tax collectors tax collectors were part of
were often considered a type the system that enabled this.
of petty crooks because it was The Jews of Jesus’ day under-
understood that they mostly stood their tax collectors to
made their living from over- be complicit in a system that
charging and skimming off betrayed God’s plan for their
the taxes they collected. Still, people and God’s promise to
the reason they were reject- give them a land of their own.
summer 2019 11
connecting
The tax collectors were not “are entering the kingdom of

only lumped in with the pros- God, ahead of you.”
titutes; in many ways, peo-
ple thought they were worse. We see that Jesus dared to pri-
Prostitutes did something oritize these people whom ev-
considered dishonorable and eryone despised, and dared to
sinful, but they weren’t reli- bring people who endangered
gious and national traitors; his reputation into the King-
tax collectors may have al- dom of God. This passage
ways been viewed with suspi- shows that Jesus welcomes
cion for skimming profits, but even people who don’t seem
in Roman-occupied Israel, to have the right credentials,
they were the enablers of the as long as they believe his
invaders. message. Significantly, Jesus
doesn’t make any qualifica-
Even today, traitors in all tions about the people who
countries face the harshest are entering the kingdom
punishments. There is some- — he doesn’t say “ex-prosti-
thing that deeply offends our tutes,” or “ex-tax collectors.”
sense of justice when a person He doesn’t say that they are
abandons the community that entering the kingdom and
raised them, or the country they’re simultaneously quit-
they were born in, in favor of ting their professions. He just
“the enemy” – and this wrong says, “they believed John and
is only compounded when the they are entering ahead of
reason for betrayal is profit. It you.”
seems like money is the bas-
est, the lowest, of all possible This seems like the sort of
reasons to betray your people. loose end that we would like
Yet to everyone listening, Je- to resolve by assuming that
sus said that the tax collectors these people will leave their
gathering telling
sinfulness behind. The Phar- the rejected, who don’t know

isees might have assumed the love of God. That’s the
that Jesus meant that hon- Gospel. But what about peo-
est-to-goodness practicing ple who should know better?
prostitutes who believed John People who say they’re on our
were getting into the kingdom side, but act in ways that hurt
before them, that tax collec- us? People who spread hatred
tors skimming profit and col- instead of grace and love and
luding with the enemy were mercy? People who reduce
entering first. Jesus did not the Good News to a message
care to clarify. He did not care that serves their own self-in-
whether the Pharisees were terest without any reference
satisfied that these people had to the self-sacrificing love
reformed themselves first. of Christ? Perhaps someone
who has called themselves a
In many ways, it’s easier to Christian, and made you look
understand Jesus’ love for the bad just by association?
unlovable prostitutes than it is
to understand his love for the Is the hand of God limit-
traitorous tax collectors. The ed to Christians who meet
tax collectors were not the some sort of minimum qual-
typical powerless, impover- ification, who demonstrate a
ished underdogs that we think minimum proficiency in the
of Jesus defending. They were Gospel and love and god-
not poor; they were taking ly behavior? Can God work
advantage of others, and they through people who mistake
were complicit in a govern- the Good News of grace for
ment system of oppression. exclusion and judgment? Or
It’s easy to see that we should who misuse it to enrich them-
love down-and-out people selves and serve their own
— the desperate, the needy, self-interest? The answer is
summer 2019 13
connecting
clear: Yes. I am not suggesting reputation, loving even those

some sort of relativism where who have betrayed our val-
people can define Christi- ues, loving those who made
anity any way they want: It us look bad.
matters that we act in a truly,
Christian, Christ-like way. It Finally, let us rejoice in a God
matters that we stand against who is able to redeem any-
those who misrepresent faith, one, and who is able to work
who preach hatred in place of through the lives of people
love, or who preach a message who represent God poorly.
of selfishness instead of sac- A God whose gracious love
rifice. It matters deeply that brings people who have failed
we contradict those messages. into the Kingdom, because it’s
But loving like Christ means the same love that brings us
loving people who taint our into the Kingdom too.
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gathering telling
THE SOIL OF a traditional cortado, which

NEGLECT was made to perfection.
(Luke 13:6-9)
It was on my way to sit down
The Very Rev. Dr. William outside at one of the tables
O. Daniel, Jr., St. Michael’s lining the sidewalk that I en-
Church, Geneseo, NY countered the man looking
for a church. I was wearing
“I saw you coming,” he said, my cassock and collar, as per
“and I was looking to see if my custom; evidently not
there was a church nearby.” I accustomed to seeing cler-
had gone to visit Sarah when gy persons wandering about,
she was having surgery in the man was confused that I
Buffalo. It being my first time would don the habit just to
in Buffalo, I wandered around grab breakfast.
the city for a bit after our visit.
I came upon a great little cor- “There’s probably a church
ner café, very French. It had somewhere nearby,” I said,
a white tiled floor and wicker “but I live south of Rochester,
chairs around simple, round so I wouldn’t know.” The gen-
tables. The walls were canary tleman seemed quite thrown
yellow, brightening everyone’s off — nearly shaken — that I
day just by walking in the was dressed as I was and was
door. The smell of espresso, sitting at what was evidently
fresh bread, avocados, and his usual spot.
cheese filled the air — truly
delightful. I had wandered to I have gotten used to dou-
this particular café because it ble takes walking down the
was off the beaten path and street, through airports, even
professed to have good coffee. driving down the road, but
So I went with haste to enjoy I do wonder why seeing a
summer 2019 15
connecting
priest is so often perceived as of time. It is increasingly dif-

being out of the ordinary. The ficult to imagine the walls of
lack of visible clergy wander- our churches as what relates
ing the streets appears also us to the outside, rather than
to parallel a lack of religious keeping us from it. Religion is
conversation in everyday under quarantine.
life, religion being faux pas
Jesus’ parable of the fig tree
in polite conversation, even
in Luke’s Gospel (13:6-9)
among Christians. (See Jona-
is a parable that appears to
than Merritt’s book Learning
need no further explanation:
to Speak God from Scratch for
There’s a tree in the vineyard
a useful discussion about this
that’s not bearing fruit; it’s
reality.) Faith is being hidden
wasting the soil; time to cut
under a bushel basket, wheth-
it down. As Cyril of Alexan-
er it’s clergy refusing to be no-
ticed or fearful of polite sen- dria reminds us, ‘the literal
sense of the parable needs
sibilities, or lay people who
no explanation.’ The allegor-
have assimilated to world-
ical sense, however, is open
ly decorum relegating faith
to interpretation, and theolo-
to the church building, and
gians throughout history have
then only during worship. It
equated the fig tree with Is-
seems we have backtracked
rael, individual followers, the
and have neglected the truth
church, and more, which falls
of faith as a mode of existence
clearly in line with the literal
interwoven with everyday
sense of the parable. Never-
life. The privatization of faith
theless, as I read and reread
has made us all consumers
this parable, the fig tree seems
of religion, locating Christi-
to fade into the background.
anity and the habits it exacts
within the confines of a single The owner of a vineyard has
space for a specified period a fig tree planted in his vine-
gathering telling
yard. Presumably, the vine- is more to it. The vinedress-

yard is filled with grape vines er, for all his effort, labor, and
for winemaking. The vine- handiwork, has been attend-
dresser is the one who cares ing only to the grapes. Evi-
for the vines. He prunes them, dently he has placed manure
conditions and reconditions around the vines, but has ne-
the soil, waters them, and I glected the fig tree for at least
suspect harvests the grapes three years. Just being near
and engages in producing the the vines seems to have kept
wine. The vinedresser seems the fig tree alive — yet, as the
to be doing pretty well tend- master says, it’s wasting the
ing the vines. The soil is ap- soil. The vinedresser asks for
parently rich and fertile, and another chance. ‘Give me a
it is easy to imagine the vine- year,’ he says. ‘If I can’t get it
dresser wandering through to produce fruit then you can
the rows of grape vines ad- cut it down,’ and the master
miring his handiwork. The agrees.
owner of the vineyard arrives
on scene and the vinedress- It is easy to attend to what
er declares, ‘It’s going to be a we know, to what we love,
great year for wine!’ The mas- to whom we love. Perhaps
ter smiles, seemingly content the vinedresser hated figs, or
with the grapes. ‘So,’ says the simply thought someone else
master, ‘let’s cut down the fig should have to worry about
tree. It’s in the way.’ that. He was told to tend the
vines. He’s a vinedresser, af-
At first take, the parable ter all. Likewise, our churches
seems to be a judgment about have tended in recent years
whoever the fig tree might be. to attend only to the soil of
Based on the reaction of the those planted in the neat rows
vinedresser, however, there of our pews, neglecting to be
summer 2019 17
connecting
present and visible to those ble witnesses thereof. This is

on the fringe, neglecting the not about praying on street
soil of our neighbors. Clergy, corners or “ashes-to-go,” God
for instance, become useless forbid; it is a matter of loving
when we are only priests for our neighbors enough to want
parishioners during certain them to know Christ.
times of the day. No less so
for Christians who limit their Earlier in Luke’s Gospel
religiosity to specific actions (11:29-36), Jesus tells the
and times, rather than mak- Pharisees who ask for a sign
ing them a way of life. that they will receive no oth-
er sign but Jonah. And like
For too long, the church has Jonah and the Pharisees, we
neglected the soil of our are all more comfortable at-
neighborhoods. We have tending to those we know,
bought into the idea that re- those who know us. If we
ligion is a private affair, and seek our neighbors across the
we wonder today why people street in Nineveh, who knows
feel like they can worship God what might happen. They
on golf courses or by them- might want to worship God
selves at home. Yet the world with us and weave their cus-
is groaning for a church that toms with ours, which means
will nourish the soil of their what I know about myself
communities, speak God, will have to change. If people
speak truth in Love, love their outside the church know I’m
neighbors, and be more con- a Christian or clergy person,
cerned with sincerity than they might ask me questions
pleasantry. Conversion begins I am not prepared to answer
with conversation. It begins or, worse, cast doubt on my
with being unashamed of the already fragile faith. It’s risky.
Gospel, and tangible yet hum- Jesus seems to suggest that we
gathering telling
are complicit, to greater and Nineveh, just as it was not up

lesser degrees, in whether or to Jonah. We are nonetheless
not the world around us bears here to be present with the
fruit. Who among us has not Ninevites in our commu-
been more concerned, as Jo- nities. We must not neglect
nah was, with a withering the soil of our neighbors, for
plant than a withering peo- Christ has called us to nour-
ple? Jonah is fraught over the ish others with the fruit of the
dying quqayon (most likely Spirit. Only then will we vine-
a gourd), yet has no concern dressers be prepared for the
for the Ninevites (Jonah 4). master’s return.
‘These are humans,’ God says
to Jonah, ‘and yet you care
more about a bush.’ Some- ENEMY-OCCUPIED
times plants just won’t grow,
no matter what we do. Most
TERRITORY
(Luke 11:21-22)
of the time, however, it’s be-
cause we neglect them. Too The Rev. David R. Radzik
Church of St. Thomas,
much attention to the fig tree
Berea, OH
rather than the vinedresser
in this parable has only en- The earth is “enemy-occupied
couraged our neglect of the territory.” This is what Oyar-
soil around us. In the parable sa, the ruler of Mars, tells the
of the talents (Luke 19:12- protagonist Ransom in C.S.
27), it is the fearful investor Lewis’s classic science fiction
who is cast away. We do not novel Perelandra. For centu-
learn what happens to the fig ries, the character explains,
tree or the vinedresser, yet it our planet has been under the
seems clear that the fig tree is sway of maleficent celestial
the vinedresser’s responsibili- beings who have blinded the
ty. It is not up to us to redeem people of earth to their true
summer 2019 19
connecting
purpose and have sown the This is not just good science
seeds of violence and discord. fiction, but a powerful truth
The rest of the novel, and in- about our present condition.
deed of the trilogy of novels, And our job as Christians is
is about the struggle against to join Jesus in extending his
these beings, their disciples, reign over the earth, until at
and the power of evil they last the final strongholds of
represent. The world in C.S. the enemy are vanquished
Lewis’ Space Trilogy has been and light triumphs over dark-
hijacked and its original state ness. Jesus’ brief parable of the
of bliss has been subverted, strong man in the eleventh
leaving only “gleams of ce- chapter of Luke speaks very
lestial strength and beauty powerfully about this present
falling on a jungle of filth and reality and the hope which Je-
imbecility” that point beyond sus offers us in the midst of it.
our present reality.
The Parable of the Strong
C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolk- Man comes within the larger
ien pioneered the Mythopoeic context of a discourse (Luke
genre of literature, in which 11:14-28) about the casting
mythic worlds are painstak- out of unclean spirits or de-
ingly created in order to re- mons. Jesus, whose public
veal powerful truths about ministry involved both heal-
our own, very real world. ings and the casting out of
For Christians like Lewis, the demons, has been accused
world is truly enemy-occu- of using the power of Beel-
pied territory and the mission zebul, or Satan, in order to
of Jesus — whose name in cast out demons. He clever-
Hebrew literally means ‘de- ly responds, “Any kingdom
liverer’ — is to reclaim that divided against itself will be
territory as its rightful king. ruined, and a house divided
gathering telling
against itself will fall.” (Luke man” in this parable. He en-

11:17) In other words, such ters the house — which rep-
healings serve to undermine resents the world that Beelze-
the work of the Enemy who bul now occupies — disarms
presently occupies the world. him, and claims “the plunder”
as his own. Jesus is, as his very
Jesus’ ministry of healing name implies, our deliverer,
serves to proclaim the reality and we are the strong man’s
that God’s kingdom has ar- plunder. He has broken into
rived, and he points to him- a fortified house, an occupied
self as the agent by which the territory, disarmed the power
enemy will be defeated. He that has held it in sway, and
continues his response with has claimed possession of all
this disturbingly pointed par- that is within it. Our present
able to explain both the pres- spiritual reality is one where
ent reality of the world and the strong man, the power of
the deliverance that only he evil, is still very much pres-
can offer: ent but has been disarmed.
In the shadow of the Cross
When a strong man, ful-
and the light of the Resurrec-
ly armed, guards his own
tion, Jesus is about the work
house, his possessions
of claiming us as his own and
are safe. But when some-
delivering us from the sway of
one stronger attacks and
the strong man. The Church,
overpowers him, he takes
as a community of people, is
away the armor in which
charged with speaking this
the man trusted and di-
reality into the present world
vides up his plunder. (Luke
— of proclaiming loudly, with
11:21-22)
joy and excitement, that the
Jesus himself is the one stron- Kingdom of God is here.
ger than even the “strong
summer 2019 21
connecting
As an Episcopal priest, one of man confessed his sin and

the ways I have seen the pow- received absolution and an
er of Jesus as a deliverer is in assurance of forgiveness, he
the ministry of reconciliation, felt a sense of release and free-
especially through the rite of dom. Fear and shame had act-
Reconciliation of a Penitent ed like a suit of armor for the
found in the Book of Com- strong man of sin within the
mon Prayer (p. 447). I have house of his soul. When he
seen this both as a minister of turned to God in penitence,
the rite and as penitent myself. Jesus opened the house of his
This rite, rooted in the earliest soul and disarmed the power
centuries of the Church, pro- of the enemy within him. This
vides a way to speak the real- man was surprised by the joy
ity of our deliverance into the that came from knowing that
lives of individual Christians. he had already received for-
When we confess our sins to giveness for a sin for which he
God and receive absolution, had difficulty forgiving him-
the message that Christ has self.
delivered us from sin and
death is applied to us individ- Jesus breaks through the
ually, and we receive an assur- darkness and gloom of the
ance of our forgiveness. world and offers us perfect
freedom. In the midst of oc-
In one particular case, I heard cupied territory, Jesus enters
the confession of a man who as a deliverer — and by join-
had been estranged from ing with him by spreading
Christianity for many years. the message, God extends the
In a quiet corner of the church bounds of his reign. While the
after a relative’s funeral, he ap- present world may be “occu-
proached me and confessed pied territory”, and we might
his sin before God. When this see signs of evil around us all
gathering telling
the time, our deliverer has ar- unexpected pseudo-systemat-

rived and is ushering in his ic theology for the realities of
peaceable kingdom. This is the Christian faith in life. Ad-
the Gospel and I, for one, am vent is not just a liturgical sea-
grateful for the gift of Jesus in son, but a living Christian re-
the midst of this sometimes ality. “The church,” Rutledge
dark and painful world. said in a 1975 sermon, “lives
in Advent. That is to say, the
church lives between two ad-
vents. Jesus Christ has come;
Jesus Christ will come. We do
THE PARABLE OF not know the day or the hour.
THE FAITHFUL AND If you find the tension almost
WICKED SERVANTS unbearable at times, then you
(Mark 13:34-37; understand the Christian life.”
Matthew 24:42-51; Luke 12:35-48) (Advent, 266)
The Rev. Paul H. Castelli, AF,
SCP, St. George’s Episcopal In relating their versions of
Church, Milford, MI the Parable of the Faithful and
Wicked Servants, St. Mark,
Last year, the release of Flem- St. Matthew, and St. Luke
ing Rutledge’s Advent: The present synoptic parallels
Once & Future Coming of Je- of part of Jesus’ apocalyptic
sus Christ brought something word to his disciples before
unexpected to preachers who his death. These portions of
bought her book expect- that apocalypse describe the
ing good ideas for seasonal unexpectedness of the final
preaching. To be sure, there consummation of all things,
was an abundance of sermon when Jesus will come again in
inspiration to be found in glory to judge the living and
those pages; there was also an the dead.
summer 2019 23
connecting
I’ve lost track of how many this will happen, but rather to
times the world was supposed live as if it’s happening today.
to end throughout the course
of my young life, according to In the Gospel of Luke, this
the quasi-biblical calculations parable is written in a man-
made by countless pastors ner that recalls the Passover
subscribing to rapture theolo- narrative from Exodus (“Be
gy. (I have come to resist the dressed for action”; “Gird
temptation to lay my clothes your loins”). In this way, it
out on the front lawn every speaks to a spirit of urgency
time that someone claims the and makes clear that it is de-
Rapture is coming.) What liverance for which one is to
amazes me about people who be prepared. Jesus exhorts his
spend their spare time — disciples — among them the
even their careers — scouring same disciples that fell asleep
Scripture, interpreting world after Jesus asks them to pray
events, and calculating when with him in the Garden of
the world as we know it will Gethsemane — to watchful-
end, is that this seems precise- ness. The mandate here is
ly what Jesus tells us not to do to stay awake — to be alert,
in the apocalyptic literature of prayerful, and faithful — be-
the synoptic Gospels. In each cause Jesus may return at any
case, Jesus says that we can- time. We can be assured of
not know when the time will three things in the Christian
come. To be sure, Jesus will faith: Christ has died, Christ is
come again in glory to judge risen, Christ will come again.
the living and the dead, but
that appointed time is only One of the most striking ex-
known by the Father. Jesus amples of this absolute cer-
stresses to his disciples that tainty in our faith I have seen
the point isn’t knowing when was in one of my old profes-
gathering telling
sors. Every time the celebra- his disciples to keep awake

tion of Holy Eucharist gets and be ready for his return,
to the memorial acclamation yet it served as a humorous
— our profession that Christ reminder of the final Advent
will come again — he looks that is an integral part of the
around the room, complete- Christian faith and life. Jesus
ly unironically, with the full is coming; be ready. But is
expectation that he might see readiness a checklist of things
Jesus. To many, this would to do, or is it a faithful dispo-
seem almost laughable, but sition by which we longingly
I find this sincere faith laud- expect to see our redeem-
able, and it has remained in- er, not unlike my professor
structive to me and deepened who anticipates Jesus’ return
my own expectation. during every Holy Eucharist?
What would it look like if ev- This parable of faithful and

ery Christian truly believed wicked servants can easily
that Jesus could return today? become bogged down in law.
How would we live? What This is particularly true of
would the world look like? I Luke’s version, which goes
remember there was a clock into detail about the reward
in the living room of Bexley and punishment awaiting
House when I was in semi- the respective slaves. This
nary in Columbus, OH. It had is full of violent images that
two hands, but no numbers are rather repugnant to our
on the clock face. Instead, it modern Western sensibilities.
just had the words, “Jesus is One noteworthy detail about
coming. Look busy!” written the punished unfaithful slave
across the face. This is per- is that he seems to assume
haps not what our Lord and a posture of the master, be-
Savior meant when he told cause of the master’s delayed
summer 2019 25
connecting
return, and is abusive toward from Jesus’ Gospel teachings

other slaves. No doubt, as we about how to live. Yet that
face the delay of Parousia (the same Christian is simultane-
Second Coming), it is import- ously both a saint and a sin-
ant especially for those given ner. We will fall short. We will
authority by the Church to be that wicked slave. The law’s
remember who is Lord and third use helps to remind us
who isn’t. Our Lord Jesus will how much we still need and
return like a thief in the night. rely solely on God’s grace,
I would submit that one who leading to lives of conviction.
behaves like the wicked slave The core of the Gospel of Je-
has not placed his faith in sus is that we can stake our
Jesus, but rather has placed lives on that grace. Fleming
his faith in himself. This un- Rutledge is, again, instructive
faithfulness, this lack of faith to this end in another ser-
in Jesus, is ultimately what mon from 1982: “The gospel
leads to sin. Yet, this sense of Jesus Christ is not a list of
of reward and punishment is things to believe. The preach-
exactly what we have been set ing of the gospel today, just
free from by the redeeming as it was two thousand years
work of Christ’s sacrifice on ago, is a summons to hear the
the Cross. voice of the Son of God and to
let his Holy Spirit do the work
This parable exhorts and ad- of convicting, converting, and
monishes the believing Chris- consecrating our lives to our
tian with the third use of the great good and to his great
law: The Christian — made glory.” (Advent, 111)
righteous by Jesus, being
sanctified, and seeking eager-
ly to please the Lord in holy
living — receives instruction
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OF GOOD AND HOLY out of the vineyard, and killed

HUSBANDMEN him. Now when the owner of
(Matthew 21:33-41) the vineyard comes, what will
he do to those tenants?” They
The Rev. Canon Aaron G. Zook said to him, ‘He will put those
Canon to the Ordinary, wretches to a miserable death,
the Diocese of Eau Claire and lease the vineyard to other
tenants who will give him the
“Listen to another parable. produce at the harvest time.’
There was a landowner who
planted a vineyard, put a fence Like so many of the parables
around it, dug a wine press in found in Matthew’s Gospel,
it, and built a watch-tower. this story of the Wicked Hus-
Then he leased it to tenants bandmen is fairly clear, even
and went to another country. upon first reading. The land-
When the harvest time had owner (God) has left his vine-
come, he sent his slaves to the yard in the hands of seem-
tenants to collect his produce. ingly worthy tenants (the
But the tenants seized his slaves Israelites). As the harvest ap-
and beat one, killed another, proaches, he sends his slaves
and stoned another. Again he (the prophets) to collect the
sent other slaves, more than fruits of the land. Again and
the first; and they treated them again, he calls them into his
in the same way. Finally he service, but their disobedi-
sent his son to them, saying, ence leads them to abuse and
‘They will respect my son.’ But expel his slaves. Trusting in
when the tenants saw the son, their sense of respect, he sends
they said to themselves, ‘This his son (Christ) to collect the
is the heir; come, let us kill harvest from them, but he too
him and get his inheritance.’ is humiliated and killed. Even
So they seized him, threw him Continued on Page 34
ANGLICAN
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The Anglican Bookstore

NOTE TO SELF: CREATING YOUR
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I WILL, WITH GOD’S HELP:
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gathering telling
BROKEN, By Ryan Casey Waller

In the age of social media, where people’s lives
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only ones who are broken – but we are not
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He takes us through the trials of following Jesus during seasons
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SLAYING YOUR GOLIATHS:
HOW GOD CAN HELP
By John Ohmer
How can God help you to overcome seeming-
ly impossible odds? The story of David and
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overcome obstacles. Rather than offering “self-
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offering spiritual guidance and reassurance that God is with us
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Ohmer is the rector of The Falls Church Episcopal in Virginia.
summer 2019 31
connecting
A JOURNEY WITH MATTHEW:

THE 50 DAY BIBLE CHALLENGE
By Marek P. Zabriskie
Take a journey through the Gospel of Matthew
with fifty days of scripture readings, medita-
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gathering telling
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connecting
the priests and Pharisees un- ables are rarely that eager to
derstand the likely response; let us off the hook. There are,
they will be cast aside by the in fact, many ways we might
landowner in favor of those read this story to find a good
who will produce good fruit. and holy moral that is appli-
cable to our own lives.
The characters and action of
this story are coherent and For example, in the context of
straightforward. Indeed, this God’s Salvation of humanity,
story is as much a history les- this parable might be read as
son as it is a warning for the an allegory concerned with
future. We understand the the diffusion of God’s favor
parable because we know the from the Israelites to the Gen-
story, both from our study of tiles. Even the chief priests
scripture and from our own and the Pharisees agree that
earthly experience. However, the Landowner will certainly
like so many stories in Mat- turn out those wretches and
thew, there is another level be- hand the vineyard to those
hind this parable that moves who will produce good fruit.
beyond the informative and Jesus has spent a great deal
provides a moral lesson that of this portion of the Gospel
is also formative. Surely this telling those who would lis-
parable is not complete from ten that the Father is judging
the understanding we’ve just us by our fruit. He has just
discussed; if it were, then the cursed the fig tree for not pro-
only moral to draw from the ducing (21:19), and he follows
story would be “Do not be a that act with the conversation
Second Temple Era Israelite.” from which this parable is
We might wish that were the drawn. From this, we would
moral, as very few of us could assume that God is chiefly
be accused of it, but the par- concerned with the fruits we
gathering telling
produce for his harvest. This same Universal authority that

is a good and holy under- he wields himself. This is also
standing of the text. a good and holy understand-
ing of the text.
From another perspective,
in the larger context of Mat- From yet another perspective,
thew’s Gospel, this parable is in the context of worldly af-
also part of a series of state- fairs, this parable tells a story
ments that Jesus makes in of the relationship between a
response to the Temple elite landowner and his tenants.
questioning his authority. He Much of our world has moved
questions them on the source beyond this economic model,
of John’s Baptism, whether but there are still many small
it derived from Heaven or farmers who do not own the
Earth. In the smaller context land on which they labor. In
of the parable, it is clear that exchange for use of land, a
Jesus is not merely another sharecropper must prepare,
prophet sent to look for the plant, tend, and care for the
harvest. He is coming to us land as well as the crop; then,
not as an equal in worldly a portion of that crop (or the
terms (as the tenants and the proceeds received from it)
landowner’s slaves are equally must be given to the land-
beholden to the landowner,) owner as rent. In this para-
but from a place of greater ble, the landowner himself
power (as the landowner’s son has planted the seeds, dug the
holds the power of the land- wine press. and even provid-
owner). From this, we would ed a hedge and a watchtower
assume that God is chiefly to protect the land. He has
concerned with our recog- already done much of what
nition that Jesus comes to us would normally be expected
not as an equal, but with the of the tenants; he has called
summer 2019 35
connecting
them only to tend and har- the harvest, but to concern

vest. This makes their greed ourselves chiefly with produc-
for a greater portion of the ing good fruit in recognition
harvest and their deplorable of his Divine Authority and in
treatment of the slaves (and response to the immeasurable
the son) all the more dis- blessings he has provided us
graceful. From this, we would for the labor – something it is
assume that God is chiefly truly meet and right for us to
concerned with our response do. After all, we are not only
to the great blessings that have the new tenants, but also a
been given to us as tenants of part of the harvest, created to
his vineyard; not expecting us rejoice in the splendor of his
to make bricks without straw, radiance. Let us go and do to
but only wanting us to care for glorify his name.
the bricks that he has already
provided. This is yet another
good and holy understanding
of the text.
PERVASIVENESS
You see then, as we look be- AND PERSISTENCE
hind the straightforward sto- (Luke 13:20-21)
ry of this parable, we come to The Rev. William L. Ogburn,
no less than three good and SCP, Saint Luke in the Fields,
holy morals of the parable New York, NY
that are actively applicable
to our lives in the faith. We I was raised in the south, and
also see that they are in fact my parents often made bis-
connected, in our one call to cuits, cornbread, and blue-
serve him. In the parable of berry muffins from scratch.
the Wicked Husbandmen, These were always the kinds
God calls us not only to tend of things that, depending on
gathering telling
the recipe, generally called Jesus’ Parable of the Leaven

for non-yeast raising agents is recorded in both Matthew
like baking powder. One day (13:33) and Luke (13:21), and
in the early 1990s, when I was in both instances it is preced-
about 10 years old, my fami- ed by the Parable of the Mus-
ly was given something I had tard Seed. Unlike in Matthew,
certainly never seen before: where Jesus is teaching in a
raw dough for something long series of parables, Luke’s
called “friendship bread”. It account shows Jesus using
was a sourdough starter that the parables in response to
we could maintain by adding the Pharisees’ criticism of his
certain ingredients each week healing a woman in the syna-
at certain times, and eventual- gogue on the Sabbath (13:10-
ly, like a chain-letter, we were 17). Jesus defends his actions
expected to pass some of it by arguing that on the Sab-
along to other friends. At that bath day, even the Pharisees
age, I found this idea fascinat- free their animals from ser-
ing, and so I gave myself the vice and provide for their ba-
job of attending to the starter. sic needs. He then argues that,
Between feeding it regularly as a daughter of Abraham, the
and exercising it (by squeez- women he healed is of much
ing it daily with my hands), it more value than an ox or don-
came to seem more like a pet key, and that she shares equal
than just a ball of dough. The status with the Pharisees as
bread it made was edible, but inheritors of God’s Covenant.
it wasn’t remarkable or out- Then, after winning the sup-
standing. It was fun for a few port of the crowd, Jesus tells
weeks, but in time it became the parables of the mustard
just another household chore seed and the leaven.
that I eventually neglected al-
together. We hear Luke 13:10-17 read
summer 2019 37
connecting
in church on the Sixteenth Parables, in short, are tangi-

Sunday after Pentecost in Year ble and engaging analogies
C, but it is proclaimed with- that challenge us to encoun-
out the two parables. Neither ter reality in fresh ways, and
the Book of Common Prayer they are central in the way
Lectionary nor the Revised Jesus proclaims God’s reign.
Common Lectionary include At first, it may seem odd that
the two parables with Jesus Jesus would choose leaven in
healing the woman of a crip- his simile for the Kingdom of
pling spirit. It is clearly Luke’s God, considering the negative
intent, however, that the par- associations of leaven which
ables go with what precedes would have been known to
it, as indicated in Luke 13:18, him through what we now
which begins, “[Jesus] said call the Old Testament. For
therefore…” (emphasis mine) example, when the first Pass-
and then tells about the mus- over was instituted, Exodus
tard seed. And in Luke 13:20, 12:15 says, “Seven days you
“And again, [Jesus] said…” shall eat unleavened bread; on
(emphasis mine). ‘Therefore’ the first day you shall remove
and ‘again’ are words that leaven from your houses, for
tie the story of Jesus healing whoever eats leavened bread
the woman to his parables of from the first day until the
what the Kingdom of God is seventh day shall be cut off
like. Yet, surprisingly, Luke’s from Israel.”1 Paul also shows
version of these parables is several negative associations
never heard on a Sunday or with leaven, and 1 Corin-
Feast Day celebration of Holy thians 5:6-8, in particular,
Eucharist in churches that fol- speaks of cleaning out the old
low the 1979 BCP or Revised yeast, “the yeast of malice and
Common Lectionaries. evil”, and celebrating with the
“unleavened bread of sincer-
gathering telling
ity and truth.”2 Jesus himself the scene and imagine our-
also warns his followers about selves there. “[Jesus] asks
the “Leaven of the Pharisees,” people — male or female,
pointing to their hypocrisy.3 privileged or peasant, it does
Some influential theologians, not matter — to enter the
like Thomas Keating, suggest domain of a first-century
that unleavened bread repre- woman and household cook
sented to Israel what was holy, in order to gain perspective
while leavened bread repre- on the domain of God.”5 So
sented what was unholy. On we might ask questions like:
the other hand, other parts of What utensils and heating el-
Scripture offer positive con- ements does she have? What
notations with leaven in as- does her kitchen smell like?
sociating it with thanksgiving What method and recipe
sacrifices of well-being, and does she use to bake bread?
leavened cakes for elevation The “normal method of
offerings as first fruits offered bringing about fermentation
to God.4 While both negative in the ancient world was to
and positive associations with insert into the new dough
leaven exist in Scripture, the a small amount of old, fer-
reality is that leavened bread mented dough reserved from
was a common, everyday part the previous baking; it is the
of life — and all of this, on ‘leaven’ (or sourdough) rather
balance, leads me to this con- than ‘yeast’ proper which the
clusion for Jesus’ use of leav- woman is here using.”6 Simi-
en: To assume that the leaven lar to the friendship bread my
is anything but neutral is to family received, the woman
miss the point of the parable. has mixed in her fermented
dough with three measures
When Jesus tells a parable, of flour, weighing about 60
he is asking us to enter into pounds, which yields a vast
summer 2019 39
connecting
quantity of leavened bread! alive — mixing it together

with flour, kneading, bak-
Some English translations of ing — and feeding people all
the Greek use ‘hid’ rather than show us that the work of God
‘mixed’ to describe what the and the work of this woman
woman in the parable was do- go hand in hand: “Bread and
ing with the leaven. ‘Hiding’ God, the hands of a woman
may suggest to modern read- baking bread and the hands
ers of the parable that some- of God, are brought into rela-
thing secret or mischievous tion.”7
may be happening, especially
if we were take a non-neutral, I gave up on the sourdough
negative view of the leaven. As starter after only a few weeks
it turns out, however, it’s real- because, at age ten, the excite-
ly just a process that can’t be ment dwindled and it became
undone because of thorough just another chore. God’s
incorporation — like adding Kingdom grows and come to
salt to stew, or cream to cof- fruition in excitement and in
fee —which makes ‘mixed’ an the mundane. There are times
appropriate translation. where our own enthusiasm
about our work as followers
As we are challenged by Jesus of Jesus waxes and wanes yet,
to enter into this first-centu- like the leaven mixed in the
ry woman’s work space, we flour, there is no stopping the
are also confronted with the dough from rising. The King-
work set before her and how dom of God won’t be stopped
her work is like the kingdom either!
of God. The pervasiveness of
the leaven in the flour and Pervasiveness and persistence
the persistence of the wom- are key themes that emerge
an keeping the sourdough from this parable, especial-
gathering telling
ly in relation to the woman whose love, grace, and mer-

healed and freed from Satan’s cy have pervasively freed and
bonds (Luke 13:16). Leaven healed us in Christ, give us
may seem to be inconsequen- the persistence and strength
tial or ineffectual, but before to be faithful and careful in
long it has lasting, irreversible our calling to service in the
effects on what is being faith- God’s unstoppable reign.
fully baked. God’s love, grace,
See also Exodus 13:7; Deuteronomy 16:4;
mercy, and healing are perva-
1
Leviticus 2:11, 6:17.

sive — and are not always im- 2
See also Galatians 5:9.
mediately apparent in the face 3
See Matthew 16:11; Mark 8:15; Luke 12:1.
4
See Leviticus 7:13-14, 23:17.
of evil, injustice, and oppres- 5
Joel B. Green, The Gospel of Luke,
sion. Although the healing of Eerdmans, 1997, p. 527.
6
R.T. France, The Gospel of Matthew,
one woman in the synagogue Eerdmans, 2007, p 528.
by Jesus on the Sabbath may 7
Luise Schottroff, Lydia’s Impatient Sisters: A
Feminist Social History of Early Christianity,
seem insignificant to some Westminster John Knox Press, 1995, p.85
Pharisees more concerned
with keeping the Sabbath, the
bonds of Satan are broken one
chain at a time. Each freeing
act of Christ’s love begets an-
other, and the repercussions THE ORDER OF ST. ANDREW
are endless. In God’s King- A Religious Order of men and
dom, we are freed from the women, both married and single,
bonds of Satan and made not living in community.
For information contact:
alive in Christ. We are called The Father or Mother General
into relationship with God The Order of Saint Andrew
2 Creighton Lane
in Jesus Christ by the power Scarborough, NY 10510
of the Holy Spirit. That rela- (914) 941-1265; 762-0398
http://www.osa-anglican.org
tionship calls us into service
for God’s kingdom. May God, Advertisement
summer 2019 41
connecting
THE PARABLE OF ventions is the basis of many

THE TALENTS of Luke’s concepts, from men-
(Luke 19:12-27) tioning more women than
any other Gospel to having a
The Rev. Matthew Buterbaugh strong emphasis on Gentiles.
St. Matthew’s Church,
Kenosha, WI Considering Luke’s traditional
profession — he was a physi-
Luke’s Gospel has a strong cian — it is not surprising that
theme of overturning con- his Gospel is full of healing
ventions. The way things had narratives, where those cast
been known should be un- aside from society because of
learned and a new way taken illness are embraced by Jesus.
up. All the Gospels have this We hear this most strongly in
to a degree, but Luke seems Luke’s beatitudes (6:20-22),
to take the flipping of norms where Jesus says, “Blessed are
to another level. In the first you who are poor, for yours is
chapter, Luke recounts Mary’s the kingdom of God.”
song, the Magnificat (46-55),
a piece of poetry that is cen-
This all sets a foundation for
tral to the worship of manyunderstanding Luke’s version
Christians. In it, she says that
of the Parable of the Talents,
God “has scattered the proud
or the Parable of Minas or
in the thoughts of their hearts.
Pounds. If one has only heard
He has brought down the the Bible read in church and
powerful from their thrones,
not ventured into Scripture on
and lifted up the lowly; he has
one’s own, it is unlikely that
filled the hungry with goodthis version is familiar. We
things, and sent the rich away
hear Matthew’s version every
empty.” three years, but the Lectionary
omits this particular telling of
This idea of upending con- the parable.
gathering telling
In Matthew’s telling (25:14- silver. The text only says “a

30), the parable uses money pound”; other translations
as an example of what will be use the word minas, which is
returned for good service — a weight of silver. Regardless,
presumably more wealth, rep- this would have been a con-
resenting spiritual wealth: The siderable amount of money.
slaves who were given money Luke’s text differs from Mat-
and used it well were put in thew’s here in another sig-
charge of property at the end. nificant way in that there are
In Luke’s version, the reward ten slaves and not three, and
is not wealth so much as it is all are given equal amounts,
power and authority. thus creating a scenario in
which the nobleman shows
The parable begins with a no- fairness among all his people,
bleman who goes off to a dis- regardless of ability. He tells
tant country to get royal pow- his slaves to do business until
er. It is helpful to know that he returns.
this particular parable is told
immediately before the tri- Now there is a bit in verse 14
umphal entry into Jerusalem that seemingly has little to do
(think Palm Sunday), where with the rest of the story: “But
Jesus will begin the journey the citizens of his country hat-
toward his own death. Pre- ed him and sent a delegation
sumably, the nobleman’s de- after him, saying, ‘We do not
parture is a reference to Jesus’
want this man to rule over
ascension to heaven and an- us.’” Thinking in line with the
ticipated return. context of the parable, this is a
foreshadowing of Jesus being
Before he leaves, the noble- rejected by the Sanhedrin and
man summons his slaves and the Judaean mob before the
gives each one a pound of crucifixion.
summer 2019 43
connecting
After the nobleman has re- the lowest social state a place
ceived royal power and re- of one of the highest — they
turned home, he summons go from being slaves to being
the 10 slaves. We do not know rulers. This continues Luke’s
what happens to all of them; theme of overturning conven-
we are given only three exam- tions.
ples of returned investments.
The first two come forward, And then we come to the slave
one having earned ten pounds who did not do his duty with
and the other having earned the wealth. Now, he did not
five; each of them is allowed lose anything; he had simply
to rule over the number of stored it away, kept it safe, and
cities per pound earned. This then returned it to the master.
is worth noting. In the Ro- Earlier in the text, however,
man world, slaves were often the nobleman had told the
stewards of a master’s prop- slaves to ‘do business’ with the
erty, highly educated, and in pound, and so this is an act
many cases could have limited of disobedience. Further, the
authority within a household; slave unintentionally insults
however, they would not have the master: “I was afraid of
been permitted to rule over you, because you are a harsh
free people. This means that man; you take what you did
Jesus is either using a rhetor- not deposit, and reap what
ical device and delving into you did not sow.” This angers
the absurd to make a point, the nobleman, who asks why
or else he is implying that the slave did not even put the
the slaves’ good stewardship money in the bank to earn in-
earned them manumission — terest – it wouldn’t have been
an award of freedom. Either much, but it would have been
way, we see the master grant- something. The pound of the
ing someone who had been in disobedient slave is then giv-
gathering telling
en to the one who earned the ter’s trust become nobles in

most. the kingdom. Early readers
(who likely would have been
There are a few things that Gentiles, women, slaves, or
stand out to me in this par- anyone else who may have
able. The first is the fairness felt exiled from the Kingdom
of the nobleman. While he is of God) were given assurance
accused of being harsh and re- that the Kingdom is theirs
sented by his people, he gives for the taking – a theme that
everyone the same chance, translates well to any context.
and the burden is placed on In our own day, those who
the steward and not on the find themselves sin-sick and
nobleman’s generosity. Even burdened by their own place
when the one slave does not in society can find comfort in
bother to invest the money, these same words. Those we
there is no textual clue that expect to be deserving are not
the slave is punished; he only necessarily deserving, simply
loses the ability to steward the because of who they are; any-
wealth. It is the people who one can inherit the Kingdom,
protest the nobleman’s judg- regardless of how others may
ment at the end who are pun- judge them.
ished.
The second thing that stands The last thing that stands out
out to me is that this parable to me is the means to inher-
is about inheriting a share of it a portion of the Kingdom.
the kingdom. This reflects Christ gives us a clear com-
Luke’s beatitudes that the mand: We must take what we
poor are already blessed be- are given and use it to glo-
cause theirs is the Kingdom rify our Master. This means
of God. The slaves who begin that sometimes we have to
with nothing except the mas- take risks for the good of the
summer 2019 45
connecting
Kingdom of God. Christians, was thrown into the sea

like all people, have a habit and caught fish of every
of following the path of least kind; when it was full, they
resistance, and doing what is drew it ashore, sat down,
most socially acceptable or and put the good into bas-
least expensive. Sometimes kets but threw out the bad.
this is done in small ways, and So it will be at the end of
sometimes in big ways. This is the age. The angels will
not always a bad thing, but it come out and separate the
is the equivalent of wrapping evil from the righteous and
up the pound that has been throw them into the fur-
given to us and doing nothing nace of fire, where there
with it. What we put into the will be weeping and gnash-
Kingdom is what we will be ing of teeth.
given in return. Jesus is telling
us that we have to invest in In one flash of memory, we
his Kingdom. We have to take are kids on a low bridge, dan-
personal risks, and sometimes gling chicken necks into the
institutional risks, to let the estuarial tide near a South
Kingdom thrive. By doing so, Carolina beach, slowly reel-
we will inherit more than we ing the string in and hoping
bargained for. to pull out blue crabs when,
SPLASH! Up out of the water
comes an alligator (a small
BYCATCH one, though it didn’t look so
(Matthew 13:47-50) at the time), lunging after the
The Rev. Jonathan C. Chesney treat. We all jump back, even
Church of the Holy though we aren’t close enough
Communion, Memphis, TN
to the gnashing teeth to be in
Again, the kingdom of any real danger.
heaven is like a net that
gathering telling
In another flash of memory, has a wider reach. It “caught

it’s early morning on a Ver- fish of every kind” after it was
mont lake, mist rising off the thrown into and drawn from
surface as the light begins to the sea. The fish are sorted —
return to the world. In our ca- the good to be kept, the bad
noe, I cast out a first line to get to be thrown out — and Jesus
the feel of the thing, while my likens this to the end of the
dad continues prepping gear. age when the angels will sort
Before he manages to get out the evil souls from the righ-
the stringer, I hook a strong teous (who presumably en-
bite, and reel in a beautiful — joy a better fate than do good
and to my eye, huge — rain- fish).
bow trout. He’s feisty though,
and jumps about in the canoe, It is an eschatological para-
gets himself off the hook, and ble, amidst other parables of
flips back into the water. My the Kingdom in Jesus’ third
dad says later that he almost discourse in the Gospel of
jumped into the lake after it, Matthew, unique to this wit-
nearly weeping, it had been ness. In my life of ordained
such a beautiful fish. ministry thus far, I have yet
to preach on the Sunday this
When you throw a line in, parable appears, the 8th Sun-
you can never be totally sure day after Pentecost in Year A,
what you might pull back out. and so I too must cast to see
That’s part of the excitement what we might pull out.
of fishing. Another part is the
hope of catching something Scriptural themes of judg-
good — delicious, or beauti- ment seem to be a challenge
ful, or maybe even record-set- to wrestle with for many in the
ting. The Kingdom of Heaven, modern Episcopal Church,
described as being like a net, and perhaps many contexts
summer 2019 47
connecting
like it across the mainline. reconcile God’s justice with

Whether we find it hard to God’s mercy? How will that
picture ourselves on the hot factor into the great sorting?
seat before the Lord on the I have to confess that I hon-
last great day, or find it easy to estly don’t know. There is too
imagine many others on it in- much in Holy Scripture, and
stead, parables like the Draw- too much pain from the ways
ing in of the Nets, or the ear- I have sinned in my life, to
lier Weeds (or Tares) Among imagine that I will not have
Wheat (Matthew 13:24-30), to face honestly where I have
make us understandably un- fallen short and how I have
comfortable. Both acknowl- wounded others. And there
edge that there is evil among is too much offered about a
the good in this life, and both lighter yoke for the weary and
intimate that there will be healing for the brokenhearted
a sorting and reckoning at to not trust that the Lord truly
some point in the future. This will have mercy upon us.
is good news for all those the
Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12) My hope is in the bycatch.
speak for, and discomfort- This may overstretch the fish-
ing for many of us who may ing metaphor and mangle it
imagine ourselves decent worse than the chicken neck
people but who, humbly or in that gator’s mouth, but hear
defensively, know we occupy me out. “Bycatch” is the ac-
positions of privilege in this
cidental fish and marine life
life and may have to considercaught in addition to the in-
that we have already receivedtended species in the fishing
our reward. industry. Like “the fish of ev-
ery kind” in the parable, even
And yet, what of grace? What the most targeted methods of
of forgiveness? How do we fishing will include some by-
gathering telling
catch, some unexpected ani- PERSISTENCE IN

mals in the haul. Aside from PRAYER: THE
conservation and environ- pARABLE OF THE
mental concerns (which are
worth learning more about, IMPORTUNATE
especially which seafood is WIDOW AND THE
least harmful to the species to UNJUST JUDGE
consume), industrious fisher- (Luke 18:1-8)
folk make use of their bycatch,
reapplying it or reinventing The Very Rev. Steven A. Peay,
it as a delicacy. Lobsters and Ph.D., FBS
The Cathedral Church of
oysters were once the food for All Saints’, Milwaukee, WI
the imprisoned and the poor! Nashotah House Theological
To circle back to the para- Seminary, Nashotah, WI
ble, all manner of fish will be
caught and we will not often Luke’s Gospel gives us the
know which are fit for the ta- point of this parable right up
ble and which have already front: “Then Jesus told them
gone bad. Likewise, I don’t a parable about their need
fully know what of my life to pray always and not to
will sort in which direction, lose heart.” One storyteller
except that I have the chance says that this is normally not
to accept that all I must atone good practice, but that in this
for has already been pur- case it’s a plus and not a mi-
chased by Christ Jesus. How- nus. Why? Because it lets us
ever judgment and grace will know what is most important
reconcile, I trust in God’s in- without giving away the sto-
dustriousness and mercy to ry: We know that the parable
find a use for even the dogfish is about persistence in prayer.
of my soul. Thanks be to God. That said, we have to remem-
ber that a parable is not an
summer 2019 49
connecting
allegory — the woman seek- to as “discipleship”) as people

ing justice isn’t us, and the un- have shared their experiences.
just judge isn’t God. What this What being a disciple means
story does do is to invite us to is seeking to live as a follow-
apply its point to our lives. We er of Jesus Christ — which is
are to persevere, to be per- what we say we are when we
sistent in the face of indiffer- call ourselves “a Christian”.
ence or maybe even outright Jesus — the second person of
hostility, knowing that God is the Divine Trinity — prayed.
with us. If we want a new life, He taught his followers how
we have to be persistent in do- to pray. So, if we really want to
ing what it takes to achieve it. be followers of Christ — one
And we have to remember, as of those who undertake his
Søren Kierkegaard so wisely method (disciples) — then we
said, “Prayer doesn’t change need to pray.
God, it changes the one who
prays.” When Jesus tells the parable
about the importunate wid-
Kierkegaard’s point goes to ow and the unjust judge, he
the new life — prayer chang- isn’t telling us that God is like
es us from the inside out so the judge, that God will give
that our lives begin to reflect us what we want if we annoy
more and more God’s life in him enough. Rather, we are
our world. So, how do we do to consider how if an unjust
this? Well, Christians have judge, who feared neither
been trying to learn how to God nor man, responds to
pray and to live authentical- such persistence, how much
ly for centuries. It has been more will God, who is both
distilled into many books on good and just, respond. The
prayer and Christian prac- essence of our faith is rela-
tice or living (often referred tionship, and the basis of re-
lationship is presence. Jesus God present to us as we do
is telling us that we are to be the most mundane things —
present to God and, in turn, cleaning the house, doing the
we’re to discover that God is dishes, going about our jobs.
present to us. He says that the best approach
to prayer is simply to be atten-
So, again, how do we do this? tive to God. Think about it:
It comes back to prayer. Chris- How often during the day do
tians have been at it for centu- we just take a moment to re-
ries. Two of my favorite little member that God is here with
books on experiencing God’s us? Brother Lawrence’s prac-
presence were written in- tice is one that speaks vol-
seventeenth-century France. umes, and in practice relates
One was written by a Carmel- directly to the widow’s tactic
ite friar, Brother Lawrence. of making herself present to
He wasn’t a learned man; in the judge: If we’re there often
fact, he was illiterate, so the enough, if we’re open enough,
book was written based on sooner or later we will realize
letters he dictated. The book, that oftentimes God is more
The Practice of the Presence the widow than the judge, and
of God, is still around, and we’ll understand prayer just a
is considered a classic; it is a bit better.
profoundly wonderful piece.
Brother Lawrence wants us to The other book was written by
know that the meaning of life a learned Jesuit, Jean-Pierre
can be grasped, and that at the de Caussade, and has the
root of it is the relationship of daunting title Self-Abandon-
the human person to God. ment to Divine Providence. I
The arena for this revelation find both books challenging
isn’t some rarified place, but and helpful. I’ve gone back to
daily life. We can discover them again and again over the
summer 2019 51
connecting
years and, as with the Bible, simply wait on God, look for
I find something new every (or discern) God’s presence,
time. What I love about de and then cooperate through
Caussade is his practicality. our actions, which then
He isn’t interested in talking demonstrates how prayer
about exalted states of ecstasy changes us, conforming us
or exaggerated paths to per- more and more to God’s will
fection; rather, he argues that and God’s way.
the experience of living every
moment with God is avail- We should take stock of our
able to us right here and right prayer life from time to time
now because of God’s grace. to make sure that we are not
What it involves is our giving stuck in rote recitation. If our
ourselves over to God’s provi- prayer life consists of merely
dence, to doing God’s will as reading some prayers some-
it is made known to us and one else has written, or sim-
remaining connected to God. ply lobbing things God-ward
He says that each passing mo- in the hope that something
ment is like the veil of God, will stick, we have misun-
and so when we look at each derstood the parable in Luke
moment of our day in faith, it 18:1-8. While it may not have
is as if God is revealed to us been ideal, the widow and
there in those moments. This the judge had a relationship.
led him to speak of “the sacra- Brother Lawrence and Pere de
ment of the present moment”, Caussade advise us that rela-
and he argues that the Chris- tionship — presence — gets at
tian life is a moment-by-mo- the heart of prayer. Persevere!
ment exercise in cooperation God won’t change, but we will
with God. The approach to — and isn’t that the point?
prayer that de Caussade rec-
ommends is one in which we
gathering telling
GRACE, GRATITUDE, and freely given forgiveness.

AND THE Love blooms in the light and
CONQUEST OF SIN: warmth of a love always pres-
THE PARABLE OF ent, but only lately discerned.
THE TWO DEBTORS
(Luke 7:41-50) There is a sense in which
our gratitude to God for our
The Rev. Canon Joseph B. salvation is proportional to
Howard our awareness of that from
Canon to the Ordinary, The
Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee which God has saved us and
for which we have been for-
“Therefore, I tell you, her sins, given. This isn’t an original
which were many, have been idea. Jesus reflects on it in the
forgiven; hence she has shown house of Simon the Pharisee.
great love.” (Luke 7:47) A woman wracked with emo-
tion over the enormity of her
In the Christian life, knowl- sin, and perhaps also bearing
edge of our own sinfulness the burden of others’ sins, is
goes hand in hand with won- overcome by the unfathom-
der at God’s grace, the ago- able depths of God’s mercy
ny of divine judgement with and begins washing Jesus’
the unassailable sweetness of feet with her tears and drying
divine mercy. Where shame them with her hair, all out of
and guilt form shackles that thanksgiving for the way her
bind us to a past that can be failures had been overcome
crippling, by God’s grace they and her needs provided by
are broken, and repentance the overflowing abundance of
springs forth from furrows God’s love and mercy.
carved in the hard-packed
ground of our souls by the Jesus understands this is an
plow of God’s always already awkward moment for the
summer 2019 53
connecting
dinner guests. The unspo- people — Simon and the oth-

ken judgments invited by the er guests as much as the peni-
woman’s actions were likely at tent woman. Jesus knows they
play on the faces of the others need help to see the truth, and
present. The Gospel text gives offers it in the form of the par-
a glimpse into the thoughts able.
of Simon, which are illustra-
tive of the social mores of the “Simon,” Jesus says, “I have
day. If New Testament schol- something to say to you.” Je-
ar Richard Bauckham is right sus then goes on to tell about
(and I believe it is probable a creditor with two debtors,
that he is) that such details, one owing ten times more
when attached to the names than the other:
of specific individuals in the
Gospels, are often examples of ‘A certain creditor had
personal testimony, it may be two debtors; one owed
that we’re getting a first-hand five hundred denarii, and
account from Simon about the other fifty. When they
his reaction and the thoughts could not pay, he cancelled
to which Jesus responded. the debts for both of them.
“If this man were a proph- Now which of them will
et,” Simon thinks to himself, love him more?’ Simon
“he would have known what answered, ‘I suppose the
kind of woman this is who is one for whom he cancelled
touching him — that she is a the greater debt.’ And Je-
sinner” (Luke 7:31). sus said to him, ‘You have
judged rightly.’ (verses 41-
Jesus has no patience for these 43)
concerns or the assumptions
underlying them. His concern Jesus does not stop at this
is the spiritual health of the relatively direct insight —
gathering telling
that a person forgiven more The woman’s awareness of

will likely be more grateful God’s love and forgiveness
and relieved. We recognize actually precedes her actions,
this insight in our language which are framed by Jesus as
when we talk about a weight being prompted by gratitude.
being taken off our shoulders. Whether through hearing
I would hazard that most of us his preaching, or hearing of
know the feeling of relief thathis preaching, or somehow
accompanies forgiveness or otherwise coming into con-
resolution of a weighty mat- tact with his ministry, she has
ter. The relief is proportionalcome to the realization that
to the weight. Jesus embodies hope and a
new beginning. Jesus recog-
The insight Jesus presses to- nizes this when, while inter-
ward is related more closely preting the parable, he tells
to the actions inspired by the Simon, “Therefore, I tell you,
recognition of forgiveness her sins, which were many,
and grace: have been forgiven; hence she
has shown great love.”
Then turning towards the
woman, he said to Simon, A similar insight lies at the
‘Do you see this woman? heart of the Anglican tradi-
I entered your house; you tion and Cranmer’s particular
gave me no water for my attempt to enmesh his foun-
feet, but she has bathed dational insight about human
my feet with her tears and nature into the liturgy itself.
dried them with her hair. As the Rev. Dr. Ashley Null
You gave me no kiss, but has summarized Cranmer’s
from the time I came in she teaching, “What the heart
has not stopped kissing my loves, the will chooses, and
feet. (verses 44-46) the mind justifies.” The only
summer 2019 55
connecting
way to break this impasse is ter VII”, 845)

through the softening and
turning effect of gratitude and Far from being a depressing
love on the human heart. And reflection upon the frailty
that gratitude depends first on of the human condition and
our near-simultaneous recog- our bias toward Sin, Newton
nition not only of the depths captures the central point of
of our sin and need, but of Jesus’ parable: The depths of
how fully they are met and sin are significant only in that
overcome by God’s grace.1 they reveal the magnitude of
God’s mercy, and gratitude
Anglican Priest and former for that mercy frees us to love
slave trader John Newton, so God — so movingly revealed
well-known for his account in the woman’s actions in the
of God’s “Amazing Grace”, parable — and to love and act
recalling his conversion, un- toward our neighbors with a
derstands the shape of this in- love beyond our normal ca-
terplay, writing in one letter: pacity, a love that truly is like
“My heart is vile, and even my the love of Christ because it is
prayers are sin; I wish I could born from the love of Christ
mourn more, but the Lord for- for us.
bid I should sorrow as those
This summary is from an interview with
that have no hope. He is able
1
Dr. Null, “Interview with Dr. Ashley Null

to save to the uttermost. His on Thomas Cranmer: Primary Architect of
blood speaks louder than all the Prayer Book,” Anglican Church League,
available here: http://acl.asn.au/resources/
my evils. My soul is very sick, dr-ashley-null-on-thomas-cranmer/. For
but my physician is infallible. a more in depth analysis, see Null’s book,
Thomas Cranmer’s Doctrine of Repentance:
He never turns out any as in- Renewing the Power to Love.
curable of whom he has once
taken the charge.” (The Works
of the Rev. John Newton, “Let-
gathering telling
THE PEARL OF man men and women were

GREAT PRICE for pearls. Romans used the
(Matthew 13:45-46) Greek word ‘Margarita’ for
‘pearl’, and it is the word used
The Rev. Dr. David W. Peters, Sr. in Matthew’s text.
St. Joan of Arc,
Pflugerville, TX
Roman women wore pearl
Again, the kingdom of earrings, often with more
heaven is like a merchant than one pearl and more than
in search of fine pearls; on one piercing. Pearls were
finding one pearl of great placed on crowns and sewn
value, he went and sold all into clothing. It was the ulti-
that he had and bought it. mate sign of Roman wealth.
The Roman world of Jesus
In our world, where wealth was a pearl-crazy world.
is measured in numbers of
dollars and often digitally on A Roman satirist wrote of a
a computer screen, it is hard woman named Gellia who
to imagine how ancient peo- “swears, not by … our gods or
ple understood wealth. The goddesses, but by her pearls.
very short parable of the Pearl These she embraces; these she
of Great Price gives us some covers with kisses; these she
idea of how insanely valuable calls her brothers and sisters;
a small pearl could be in Jesus’ these she loves more ardently
world. than her two children. If she
should chance to lose these,
That pearls were a Roman she declares she could not live
obsession in the time of Jesus even an hour.”
is an understatement. There
are numerous ancient refer- But while Roman satirists
ences to how crazy both Ro- complained that Roman
summer 2019 57
connecting
women were gaga for pearls, And, while we are remember-

the character in this parable ing these brave swimmers, we
is not a woman but a man. It are reminded that a pearl is
is easy to ridicule women for formed from an irritant that
their seemingly shallow ac- the eyeless oyster covers with
quisition of adornments, but its shiny coating until it forms
Jesus makes it clear that men a beautiful pearl. The pearl
are equally shallow in pursuit itself is a lesson on how great
of wealth. We are all magpies, beauty can be wrought from
mad in our pursuit of things great pain.
that shine and glitter.
But the merchant isn’t think-
The ancient obsession with ing about any of this. He is
pearls is why every one of Je- thinking only of one thing,
sus’ listeners would have un- the “one pearl of great value.”
derstood why this merchant We can imagine that he has
did what he did. There are a been in search of fine pearls
wide variety of pearls in the for some time. He visits the
world, both then and now, docks when the pearl div-
and this pearl is “of great ers come in on their boats to
value.” see if any of them betray any
sign of having found a per-
While pearls are often grown fect pearl. He listens to the
commercially in farms today, gossip at parties to see if any
we must remember the count- rich men are suddenly in debt
less forgotten divers who and must sell their wife’s ear-
swam down to the sea floor rings quickly to make ends
at great risk to themselves to meet. He travels from city to
retrieve the oysters that pro- city, town to town, seaport
duced these pearls. to seaport, single-mindedly
obsessed with one thing: fine
gathering telling
pearls.
But he doesn’t care. He
And then he finds it. It is per- marches on until every last
fect. It is flawless. It has been thing has been sold and he
wrought in the depths of the has his money in hand. He
ocean through irritation and marches to where the pearl is.
pain. It has been discovered He trembles with excitement.
at great peril to the diver. He clutches the sack of coins
Somehow, unpredictably, it is and whispers a prayer that the
suddenly on the market. The pearl’s owner has not already
merchant feels the rush of sold it.
adrenaline when he finds his
quarry. He knows he must act As he walks briskly toward
quickly, before anyone else re- the pearl, he wonders why the
alizes what has happened. whole city has not sold every-
thing to buy this pearl, as he
He runs to his home and, in has. He tries to act normal,
a flurry of activity that aston- but he cannot. He is in love.
ishes his family and friends, He is at war. He is in the zone.
sells everything he owns. He
sells his cow, his goats, his
sheep, his furniture. He sells He arrives at the home of the
his house, his shop, and ev- pearl. Perhaps it is the diver’s
erything else he can get his house, or some other mer-
hands on. He has a crazed chant or wealthy person fallen
look in his eye, and no one on hard times. Our merchant
can talk him out of what he is breathes deeply in and out,
doing. Because he is rushed, calming himself down, before
he must sell out cheap, getting he walks through the door.
a fraction of the real value of He casually says, “Do you still
his property. have it?”
summer 2019 59
connecting
“Yes,” is the reply and the mer- could stop by a church on his
chant immediately hands over way home. He once offered to
the money. dust the pews, but the pastor
shooed him away, saying that
And now the pearl is his. boys ought to be out playing
baseball. But he was obsessed
He holds it in the palm of his with the kingdom of heaven,
hand. He stares at it to make and now, many years later, he
sure it is, indeed, the very was telling me he had found
pearl he has sold everything it.
to buy. It is, so he puts it in a
small pouch and walks away. Finding Jesus, whether in a
pearl or in a church, often
And here the parable ends. induces people to do irratio-
We can be certain the mer- nal and obsessive things with
chant didn’t keep the pearl their possessions. We should
long. He knew he could sell not be surprised at this, since
it, and this is likely what hap- Jesus has made it clear his
pened. But Jesus stops the kingdom is worth more than
story at the moment of pur- all the pearls and possessions
chase because it is this action in the world. The merchant in
of buying something — using this parable is not foolish —
money made from selling ev- on the contrary, he is the wis-
ery single one of his posses- est of us all. We also would be
sions — that looks the most wise to be like him.
like faith.
I remember a man who told

me he grew up in a family
that didn’t go to church. He
would leave school early so he
gathering telling
NECROLOGY
The Rev. Canon Dr. Diego and Pacific Palisades,
Ronald G. Albury, 88, in CA; in retirement, he served
Cherry Hill, NJ. Ordained to as an interim rector in 8 par-
the diaconate and the priest- ishes in Southern California.
hood in 1954, he was the Rec-
tor of the Church of the Holy The Rev. Robert Arthur
Cross in North Plainfield for Freeman, 85, in Keene, NH. A
over 25 years, and Associate graduate of Brown University,
Priest at St. Peter’s Episco- Bridgewater State, and the
pal Church in Medford since Episcopal Theological School
2003. in Cambridge, MA, he served
parishes in Newport, VT;
The Rev. Arnold Aidan Lee, South Lee, and East
Fenton, 91, in Sandpoint, ID. Hampton, MA; and Walpole,
A graduate of Lafayette Col- NH.
lege and General Theological
Seminary, he followed his fa- The Rev. Dr. Ellen Jervey
ther and grandfather into the Hanckel, 69, of Saluda, NC.
priesthood, and was ordained A graduate of Tulane Univer-
in 1951. He served his cura- sity, Clemson, the University
cy in Springfield, MA before of South Carolina, and the
becoming a Navy Chaplain University of the South, she
toward the end of the Korean served parishes in Colum-
War. Following his military bia, SC; Charlotte, NC; and
service, he served parishes in Martinsville, VA. In her final
Longview and Tacoma, WA; assignment, she taught at the
Grosse Pointe, MI; and San seminary Juba, South Sudan.
summer 2019 61
connecting
The Rev. George Wash- The Rev. George E. Hall,

burn Jenkins, 83, in South- 89, in Southbury, CT. A grad-
ington, CT. A graduate of Rut- uate of The University of the
gers and Virginia Theological South, General Seminary, and
Seminary, he served parishes Central Connecticut State
in South Carolina, New Jer- University, he served parishes
sey, Connecticut and Maine. in Bradley Beach and Flem-
ington, NJ, and Gaylordsville,
Bridgewater, and Southbury,
The Rev. Ronald Lee CT, as well as serving many
Wiley, 79, in Lincoln, NE. A other parishes on a supply or
graduate of Chadron State interim basis.
College and Seabury West-
ern Theological Seminary, he The Rev. Giles Floyd,
served parishes in Cody, Val- Lewis, Jr., 91, in Spartan-
entine, Lincoln, Omaha, and burg, SC. He was a graduate
Fremont, NE, as well as serv- of Sewanee Military Acade-
ing as Canon to the Ordinary my, Clemson University, and
from 1977-1986. the School of Theology at
the University of the South.
The Rev. James Stanley He enlisted in the U.S. Army
Cox, Jr., 82, in Thomasville, during the Korean War. He
GA. A graduate of Princeton served parishes in Clinton,
University, the Church Divin- Laurens, and Greenville, SC;
ity School of the Pacific, and Lexington, KY; Nashville,
Florida State University, he TN; and Houston, TX, where
served parishes in North Car- he was for 19 years Associate
olina and Arkansas. He later Rector at The Church of Saint
taught English and served as John the Divine. In retire-
an Episcopal chaplain at the ment, he served for four years
University of Louisiana. as the first Parish Missioner at
gathering telling
The Episcopal Church of the Rock, AR. He was a member

Advent in Spartanburg, SC. of the Order of St. Luke.
The Rev. Elton Osman

The Rev. William Allan Smith, Jr., 89, in Falls Church,
Roberts, 86, in Blackfoot, VA. He served as a battal-
ID. A graduate of Wittenberg ion sergeant major with the
University and the Church Second Infantry Division in
Divinity School of the Pa- Korea during 1952, and was
cific, he was ordained to the awarded the Bronze Star. A
priesthood in 1958. He served graduate of Drury University
parishes in Oakland, CA; and the General Theological
Pomeroy, Middletown, Ports- Seminary, he was ordained
mouth, Xenia, OH; Meriden, to the priesthood in 1956. He
CT; and Arco, Blackfoot, and served in two parishes in the
Saint Anthony, ID. Kansas City area before begin-
ning his 26-year tenure as the
The Rev. Dr. Ronald Dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral in
Wesley Spangenberg, 87, in Buffalo, NY. In retirement, he
Norfolk, VA. He was the Epis- served as Canon Vicar and in
copal chaplain at the Chap- other positions at the Wash-
el of the Centurion on Fort ington National Cathedral for
Monroe, and Rector of Christ nine years, then spent seven
the King in Tabb, VA. He also years serving multiple DC-
worked as an Educational area parishes in interim and
Specialist for the armed forc- assisting roles.
es, served in the Air Force,
and worked as a mechanical May they rest in peace
engineer. As a young priest, and rise in glory.
he formed two new congrega-
tions in Jacksonville and Little
summer 2019 63
gathering
connecting
connecting
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SUMMER A.D.

INQUIRIES AND CORRESPONDENCE

Opinions or views expressed in articles & advertisements

ISSN 0003-3278 VOL. 61, NO. 2

©2019 SPEAK, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

connecting gathering telling

Founded in 1958 by the Rev. Howard Lane Foland (1908-1989),

TAD is sent to anyone who desires to receive it, and is supported

Dear Digest Family,

I knew a Presbyterian pastor in Alabama who preached exclu-

This is our fourth and final issue focusing on the parables of

Instead of looking for advice or wisdom in these pages, I hope

The Rev. Charleston David Wilson

15 The Soil of Neglect

19 Enemy Occupied Territory

23 The Faithful and Wicked Servants

28 Of Good and Holy Husbandmen

36 Pervasiveness and Persistence

42 The Parable of the Talents

53 Grace, Gratitude, and the

57 The Pearl of Great Price

COUNTING THE Here in Luke 14, Jesus serves

friends, our chosen families. relatives and even life itself?

I’ve made just enough sac- TWO SONS

the difference between doing ble characters — Jesus comes

abused and trapped in pov- ed from the community of

So now for the second group Their fellow Jews understood

The tax collectors were not “are entering the kingdom of

sinfulness behind. The Phar- the rejected, who don’t know

clear: Yes. I am not suggesting reputation, loving even those

The Franciscan Order of the Divine Compassion

THE SOIL OF a traditional cortado, which

priest is so often perceived as of time. It is increasingly dif-

yard. Presumably, the vine- is more to it. The vinedress-

present and visible to those ble witnesses thereof. This is

are complicit, to greater and Nineveh, just as it was not up

against itself will fall.” (Luke man” in this parable. He en-

As an Episcopal priest, one of man confessed his sin and

the time, our deliverer has ar- unexpected pseudo-systemat-

sors. Every time the celebra- his disciples to keep awake

What would it look like if ev- This parable of faithful and

return, and is abusive toward from Jesus’ Gospel teachings

Plan to spend some time with us.

Please call between 8 A.M. &

OF GOOD AND HOLY out of the vineyard, and killed

The Anglican Bookstore

BROKEN, By Ryan Casey Waller

A JOURNEY WITH MATTHEW:

Postage & Handling in U.S.

Method of payment: Check or Money Order Enclosed _______

produce for his harvest. This same Universal authority that

them only to tend and har- the harvest, but to concern

the recipe, generally called Jesus’ Parable of the Leaven

in church on the Sixteenth Parables, in short, are tangi-

quantity of leavened bread! alive — mixing it together

ly in relation to the woman whose love, grace, and mer-

Leviticus 2:11, 6:17.

THE PARABLE OF ventions is the basis of many

In Matthew’s telling (25:14- silver. The text only says “a

en to the one who earned the ter’s trust become nobles in

Kingdom of God. Christians, was thrown into the sea

In another flash of memory, has a wider reach. It “caught

like it across the mainline. reconcile God’s justice with