I Cor 13/Ps 71

We associate this passage with weddings, and we should. With that wedding association, it is in danger of falling into a romantic haze. Maybe it would be a good idea to re-read this passage every anniversary. This passage is directed more at the church in general, but it does give us proper aspiration for romantic love. Further, apply it to one's life as a parent or adult child, and it applies just as much.

 

Psalm 71 sees the world as a tough place, where we need some protection. Love offers refuge. Love fights shame, the nagging sense that we do not measure up, fo something wrong about us that needs to be hidden. In seeking the good of the other-we discover good ourselves. Still, Paul is less concerned about its benefits to oneself, but in the building up of the other and the community. Love requires mutuality to grow. So, the passage speaks to the giver or recipient of love.How is love kind?  In word and deed, in things that appeal to the other.- should it bear all things/protects/passes over in silence believes all things is not stupidity but in God's future. Remember that love includes mutuality; it builds up both parties. It cannot be taken to me that we are doormats for love, as if we should be victims of abuse. It means more that we bear with things for the loved one, such as illness. Love is not rude. Erich Seagal famously wrote love means never having to say you're sorry.  In romantic love, we speak endearments and sweet words, but as the bloom fades, so do they. Instead, we become more ourselves, more comfortable with each other and we replace those words of love with other things. I know a young man who refers to his wife, soon to be mother of their third child, as the old ball and chain. The invective that pours from both genders when complaining to friends would make one wonder why they picked this reading at a wedding. Now think of the tone and the words we use toward our children.

 

With the pairing of the lectionary psalm, I've begun to consider if love adapts to our age and should be adapted to the age of a loved one. The love we show a child differs from the love we show a spouse, a friend, or a parent. We could connect to Paul's thoughts of speaking as a child or an adult. We already do this to a degree when we try to do things that appeal to our loved one.now. Will you still need me when I'm 64, the Beatles sang. Bruce Springsteen's latest album has a track on counting the wrinkles on a birthday. Ps. 71 mentions growing older three times. It covers the entire life cycle from birth to death. The old psalmist wants to knwo love in old age and in a dire position. As the Doobie Brothers asked, without love, where would we be now?

 

Charles Williams linked heaven and love. A good way to approach this passage is to see it as describing the love of God toward which we aspire. God's love is patient with us, especially in the sense of persrevering with us, of not giving up on us. God loves us at our magnificent best at a wedding, but God loves us at our worst, maybe not in spite of our faults and limitations, but in all of it, because God loves us. Love is indeed the ultimate virtue, as it centers and builds up the other virtues we need to live a good life. That good life is a loved and loving life, no matter who we are. 

Is.6:1-13-The year would be around 740 with Assyria on the move.
1) We sing Holy, holy, holy. It is repeated in Rev.  What do we mean by holy. I almost never here the word, except for holier than thou or Holy Land. Rudolph Otto is the classic work on holiness, still.

2) Seraphs=fiery or shining ones; one would assume winged serpents, perhaps. Serpent symbolism is a deep subject, see a religion encyclopedia or for instance, Karen Jones.

3)Notice that this is a temple vision that touches heaven. this makes sense as they saw the temple as a sort of connection point, a nexus, between heaven and earth. The symbolic ark throne becomes a heavenly one. Again, John's vision is a worship vision.

4)Notice that we have resistance, again, to a call. This time a deep lament. One detects a sense that to see God was more than mortals can bear.

5) An angel cleanses the lips as opposed to God touching the lips of Jeremiah from last week's reading.

6) Here I am is almost the proper standard response.

7) I see Glory as the manifest presence of God. God seems to be speaking to the divine council.

8) The prophecy itself, 9-10, is used in the gospels. It appears to me that the people won't or can't hear properly until they are brought low, to reach the bottom of the well.

Jer. 1:4-10 First Posting

1) Of course, this is a classic call story. Notice the resistance by Jeremiah, an element of most call stories. It is still a matter of debate who can speak for God, isn't it? see Dt. 18:18 and v. 9

2) If one wishes to work with foreknowledge, this would be an obvious one. This is an obvious anti-abortion text as well. I'm not sure if one can link foreknowledge to a calling and anti-abortion seamlessly. Patrick Miller in NIB sees "know" in the sense of choosing and in watching over in his long discussion of this passage(580). I'm not sure who is audience, to the nations, would mean. Will they hear, or dos it mean Jeremiah speaks to them too?

3) One could seize on the youth part and make it a meditation of God looking past age.

4) Last week, we read about Jesus using Is. as a mission statement. Now we get on for Jeremiah's call in v. 10. These phrases will be touched upon throughout the book, chs. 9, 12, 18, 31,40, 42, among others. Notice that they are not negative, only, but balanced. Jeremiah is not only gloom and doom.

 

Ps.71 gives us a nice contrast as it is directly linked to old age (vv.9,18,22). Some link this to Ps. 70.

1) I realize that the lection is for the first 6 verses, but it seems arbitrary to me. It loses its punch if we only emphasize youth. The whole point is God with us from cradle to grave.

2) Some see the lament form as whining. Ok, but to me the lament transofrms whining inot prayer, just as a curse psalm translate the desire for rev enge into prayer. It is part of the spiritual therapeutic arsenal.3) I am uncomfortable with the quid pro pquo. You help me God, I will praise you. On the other hand, what else  can we offer?

3) We may well overemphasize guilt and do not pay nearly enough attention to shame. It is the ifference between doing wrong and feeling as if oneself is wrong.

4) Think of some images or example of God as refuge.

5) I could imagine someone making one's church personal and spekaing for the church this psalm.
 

Lk. 4:14-21, Neh. 8 Sermon January 21, 2010

Public speaking is difficult for many of us. I suppose that even Jesus had some butterflies when he taught the hometown folks about the Scripture in the synagogue. Sometimes, the hometown folks meet success with envy or put-downs; sometimes they meet it with real pride, a vicarious thrill of affirmation of their community. The people were less interested n his words but hoping that they would be the recipient of a miracle or two themselves. After all, they watched Jesus grow up. Their expectations were not met. The reaction of the hometown to a sermon and its disappointment would be replayed later in Jerusalem at the top of another hill. It gives all pastors hope when they hear of the first sermon of Jesus meeting with this kind of reaction.

 

When we hear speeches, we complain about politicians making promises that are not kept. Here Jesus uses Scripture as a vision statement. Of all the Biblical passages, at this time, this is the selected reading, or Jesus chooses it. Look at what it doesn't say: no moralistic prohibitions, no pious sentiments, but a flat out declaration of helping people in trouble. Jesus will live out his work in following these injunctions. In other words, acts of compassion are gospel works. He seems to be his mother's son. Mary speaks of a reversal of fortune for the underdog and Jesus announces the same thing. I would like to emphasize the word,

release or forgiveness. That word may well be linked to the year of the Lord's favor as jubilee. For all of our talk about being strong individuals,we are under the thumb of different forces. Social forces are real forces. So, release from captivity can still speak to us Americans, whether it is captivity to an obsession, an image, an idea. Part of forgiveness is the release of grudges, and the release of removing the power of a hurt over us. The year of jubilee would be a special year of favor for the poor, but maybe any year with Jesus in it is a year of jubilee. Jubilee would be a chance to get a social fresh start.

 

For all the trouble in repairing the wall of Jerusalem, this was a big moment to note its completion. Both passages interpret Scripture-they use a passage for the present. Our Scripture is translated unlike the maintained Arabic-only Koran.Almost all of us agree that Scripture has to be interpreted. That is the primary push for a sermon, after all. The reaction of the people to the reading of Scripture in Nehemiah was weeping: it had been so long since they heard it, or they were hearing the words in their own condition, or merely opened up to the travails of their lives. the response is to tell them not to weep but to celebrate.

We often use ritual at turning points-think of graduations and weddings. They are beginnings and completions at the same time. Nehemiah is at the end of a project and Jesus is just engaging his work.ritual and worship-the ritual joins the people there with the Scripture-in synagogue people know what the pattern is with time.Trouble with the insistence on the special order-no commonality-more difficult to capture a sense of the holy. Ritual doesn't have to be ornate; it puts an event into a shape, an order. Our time is getting ritually bereft as shared experience. Sure we have some left, especially at sporting events. On the other hand, we have mistaken ritual and ritualistic. A good ritual helps us with meaning; it doesn't have to be a a thoughtless act. After all one ritual often replaces another and I am afraid the poorer rituals we are using to replace some old ways of doing things make us poorer for it. Ritual allows us to learn the steps as we try to make an event our own.

Neh. 8 the name has a sense of God being a comforter.

1) Rebuilding as a theme-we come to the conclusion of the great rebuilding project, at least a major section. Projects can come to a conclusion,and we can celebrate them.

2) Fighting through obstacles is part of life. As a colonial administrator Nehemiah has gone through so many difficulties to get to this point, but get there he and the people, do. One could also speak of the traits of Nehemiah as leader. Here is is able to share the stage and share credit with those who helped with the great wall project.

3) Here we have a great ritual celebration. We live in a ritually empty, even bereft time. the Boomer desire for authenticity and the natural and casual have cut off ritual at its knees. In a way, I picture the upcoming State of the Union message, where then the pundits hold sway.

4) I am drawn to the interpretation piece-Some think it means translation, but to get at the sense of it seems to be the work of the interpreters. Recall that interpreter is an early figure in Pilgrim's Progress. They are putting the language in to common understanding or maybe putting it in this new context. this is a great example of Scripture as living and not static.

5) v. 10 is a fitting link with the wedding readings from last week.

 

Ps. 19 Limburg Ps, WBC) calls this a tale of 2 books, of it being about creation, redemption and sanctification. the first section speaks of nature's silent voice, or witness to God, maybe a "choral antiphony" (Mays, Ps. Interpr. series). The sun sounds like the bridegroom of last week. This seems similar to Calvin's notion that nature indeed is a partial revelation for all. The second section moves to torah, law, instruction. In my view, fear here is usually better read as awe, reverence, or respect. In a sense this is a wisdom psalm as it links creation and torah together. The orderly God provides order in the living of life. the psalmist is well aware of human nature as well, especially our tendency to self=deception. At the end, this prayer is an offering. May our sermons and bible studies be such also.

Sermon Jn. 2:1-11, Is. 62:1-5 Jnuary 17, 2010

We know the wedding at Cana story well. It would be good to remember that for John the physical is the gateway to the spiritual. If we stay at the physical level, we stop only partway on our journey. We don't ignore the physical. After all this is a gospel of the Word made flesh. A good way to approach it is to ask some questions that can apply to both levels. Why did the wine run out? Were the jars empty or partially empty? I don't think it matters, but if we use this as a spiritual image, it may. If they reflect the state of our souls, are we running on empty or using what we have with some in reserve? 

 

Wedding stories always have some trouble- ringbearers set fire to the ring pillow- a string quartet gets drowned out by a tornado siren- music blaring in from festival at the wrong moment

wedding as the start of better days and the promise of company 

Wine is a symbol of celebration. Again, a feature of a wedding now is for the couple to have a toast with a special cup filled with champagne. Bible uses a wedding as a symbol of the bond between us and God. So it is appropriate that God's own makes a move at a wedding. In Isaiah, the image of a wedding, maybe a royal wedding,  represents closeness instead of absence, creation instead of ruin. We make a lot of jokes about marriage, here it represents a new Eden, this Beulah land. Many people look with fondness on their wedding and watch the recordings of it and leaf through the pictures and look back on their first year as the best year of their lives. I asked the folks at Crown Pointe about their weddings. Most of them were married in private ceremonies, so they spoke of small weddings. They are not quite correct. They may have had small receptions, but every wedding is a big one, no matter the number of attendants.

 

This is the first sign of God's nature here, where first means the start, not the beginning of a sequence. We are treated to God's desired activity act of extravagance, sheer abundance, where in Jesus God is saving the best for last.-the manager does not know not knows the source, but the little people the servants do. The wedding party isn't even aware that a miracle has occurred. this is a signal of the  last days, of wine pouring down from mountains in Amos 9 God's power does things in a big way. Signs for John are special events to demonstrate the character and identity of the message, the Word, of God. and source if humans were blood and water, then this emphasizes fully human intrusion into our world

why jars so big-lots of people-lots of need-have plenty just in case

 

So, the first act of Jesus is to help out a wedding party so that the party can last longer. It's not a a funeral, not at a day of fasting, not boot camp, but it is a wedding, with its biblical connotations intact. At a spiritual level, it emphasizes his human life, both body and feelings. It looks toward abundance: physically and spiritually. The jars are so big to show that we have a lot of life to hold inside. Instead of being stingy with our lives, they are filled to the brim. Our cups runneth over. It is a sign of transformation from one good thing to another good thing. At a wedding, Jesus, the bridegroom of the new, takes his place.

Fear stalks us all in ways large and small. Yet, the Scriptures consistently say "Fear not." I see fear as something specific, and anxiety as more free-floating. What causes it? How does fear change? The examples of the river could be political punishments, not only natural disasters,but I think it is permissible to make them personal as well. The passage is framed by the phrase,created and formed-often used separately. Isaiah goes all the way back to creation and will imagine a new creation-to remind us that God has invested too much of God's own self in creation, including us, to be cavalier about us. More than that, we have become part of God's life.God is committed to our cause. Our passage has a powerful triad of spiritual images-precious-honored-loved. It is a mark of how punitively we view God that this verse sounds surprising to us. Think of a prized possession. Think of how it would pain you to lose it or have it ruined. Now think of the important people in your life, Think of the vicarious pride you have in the accomplishment of an offspring. God thinks and feels that about about us, each and every one of us.

 

It took a while for people to adopt the germ theory of disease. In New Testament times, the germ, the external cause, was sometimes thought to be demonic. Some illnesses were thought to be caused by demonic forces physically or mentally.They believed in the evil eye, as some folks still do today.  Healing was sometimes thought to work against demonic agencies, removing something to allow harmony to return, to flow back in. Sometimes, they tried to demonstrate if something was demonic or more mundane. The book of Acts describes that the healings of Jesus were continued within the disciples. Simon's reaction is that of unbelievers in Acts.He sees it as another species of magic, and he is willing to pay for it. Yet, I read it as offering hope for him. he certainly isn't swallowed up like Anna and Sapphira.

 

Simon Magus has a  magic attitude to the faith for power. The ancient world seems filled with amulets, incantations, curses-Even he gets a chance to repent later legends about him magic and contemporary belief. People will put stock in alternative cures, or water witching. In sports, people develop all sorts of superstitious rites when things go well or wrong.We peer into the the unseen worlds and the unglimpsed future; we want to believe that signs and wonders work in an age of science. Indeed science has magic elements to it. Medicine peers into the invisible, and it often cures as well as heals symptoms. Maybe some of our fear about the health care system is  a fear that we are messing around with things we do not grasp and deeply fear in illness. We do not want to peer too deeply beyond the curtain to see the craft of the hospitals.In the end, magic is an illusion. In the end, it plays on our fears to try and gain a foothold into our wallets or our imagination. We are dealing with a power with no relation to price. We are dealing with a power from God's own. All other powers cannot aspire to that of the spiritual power of God. All powers derive from he creation itself. they are all secondary powers. Big events threaten to overwhelm us, but God is bigger than any event of creation. That creator God on our side cannot be deterred by troubles in creation. When things go wrong, it could be wise to even use the Isaiah passage as a sort of mantra. No matter what, I am precious and honored and loved.

Is. 62:1-5

1) Obviously we are being tied to the wedding at Cana. I've been listening to a series, Understanding and Listening to Great Music and church music explored the image of the marriage feast of the Lamb.

2) Beulah= married Hephzibah=my delight is in her Forsaken=Azubah, desolate=shemamah. KJV left these as proper names.

3) We've all been to weddings. So feel free to share good and bad wedding stories. Women put a lot of time into selecting the bridal gown, and maybe more time finding those hideous poofy lime green numbers to make all of the bridesmaids look bad. One could put a diadem in terms of some of the wdding finery worn buy the couple.

4) Most folks would detect a post-exilic  image here. think of the change form the destruction of Jerusalem and its ruins to being the sight fit for a wedding. Wedding is a great symbol for being together instead of being desolate and forsaken. Earlier Dame Zion is a widow. now I imagine a wedding scene fit for Ruth.

5) v, 5 causes translation or interpretive issues. (bnyk)It looks like sons, but sons marrying Mom?

Builder requires only change in vowels, but it's not very clear either. At any rate, they are talking about a restored relationship.

6) In v.2 I'm not clear how NRSV get vindication, unless things are made right. NIV seems on solid ground with the usual righteousness/right relations

7) Where does the image of marriage not work well for us now? Where does it work well in terms of relations to god?

 

Is. 43:1-7

1) it is fitting for early in the year for us to have one of the rare times the word, create (bara Gen.1) appears in the OT, as it frames our pericope. In v. 7 we have create and form and make (RSV) the word could mean shout as well, this is its only appearance in the OT) in one phrase.

2) v.3-4 have a strong sense of redemption as payment to receive someone back in return for a payment.

3) v. 6 has an exilic sense reversing into an ingathering. this fixes the plight of Is. 11:2

4) Fear not is a refrain here that can work as a preaching point for a fundamental spiritual image. What causes fear? What fears do we face right now? What fears are not as important now than in the past, personally or socially? What are antidotes to fear?

5) v. 4 will definitely speak to those who labor with a view of God that is punitive. Look at the phrasing: precious-honored-love. How can we bring out that feeling that God holds us so dear?

6) Earlier, the material about fire and water may refer to previous material in Isaiah and maybe some historical events. fire image is in 6:13. Assyria is a river in 8: and 11:15. Ethiopia and Cush are connected in the nations in Gen. 10. Again, is. 20 has Ethiopia and Egypt in line with it doom sections. Historically, we a a slight issue as the son of Cyrus, later than Assyria by 2 centuries, conquered Egypt.

7) Let me note the commentary by Childs as a very good recent book.

 

Ps. 29

1) Limburg wants this psalm to open us up to the God of the cosmos as we now understand it.

2) The heavenly ones in v. 1 would probably be the same as the divine council in Ps. 82. Glory=kabod=weight, gravity but move more in the direction of the awe-insoring, the magnificent, the sheer presence of god, the manifestation of god, this time in nature. I would think it similar to blessing or extolling god.

3) The storm is an extended theophany such as Sinai. It may well be using Baal material, a thunder god, and applying it to God. It could also be a polemic against Baal in light of the thundering of God. In either case, notice that Israel's faith is not so small that it cannot be in contact with other religious material. This could be a signal lesson for us as we are constantly in contact with other faiths, including Christian voices that seem far removed from orthodox thought.

4) Mostly people say they find God in pretty, sentimental nature. This is a different type of encounter surely.

5) After all of this power look at the serene benediction at the end.