Another Advent begins. Originally, it meant the arrival of a great personage, like the arrival of air Force One or getting to meet David Frees. Just like the origin of January, and the Roman god of two faces who looked forward and back, Advent looks forward and back. It looks not only back at the first Advent of Jesus Christ but also toward the second Advent when at some point God’s vision for the world comes to a completion.
I am with the writer of this chapter of Isaiah. He is writing to people to people who were promised better days, but they have not seen them yet, and they are getting frustrated. On 9/11 I prayed aloud why the plane cold not be turned as the red Sea had parted. I get so fed up that I do wish that I could see a sing of God wiping away the injustice and pain all around and putting us on new and better footing. I pass by a sign for a bankruptcy attorney on the road and it promises a fresh start, a second chance for people drowning in unpaid bills and debts. When I am in a down mood, I review the news and want to give up. Wouldn’t it be great to see the power of god clearly on the side of right in power? Isaiah begs God to remember all of the prayers and good deeds of the people. They were promised that punishment was closing down after the terrible events of the destruction of Jerusalem.When is enough, enough? When would they see some good from God’s hand.?
We who watch movies have better sense of apocalyptic material than previous readers. we are used to images coming at us quickly, and we learn a film grammar that helps us to make sense of them. i remember when our girls were little they knew when a commercial was coming up by camera angle changes and the music.When I was a kid saxophone music and a fire signalled a romantic interlude.
Mark’s 13 uses end time imagery to once again imagine in a biblically tutored way, the shape of things to come. Rahner sees our passage looking ahead to a reality that will come without fail (without specific timetable) and a person who unhurriedly works at a task within each day granted.” Over time apocalyptic material said the new creation would be prepared by the shaking of the old creation. The order of Genesis one would be shaken. Lenin said to make an omelet the chef has to break some eggs.
Ched Myers argues well that the turn of the ages is connected to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. the new age means that the powers of the world will fall like leaves on a tree. That means any power structure, economic, political, even religious that does fit god;s vision for a world fit for human beings.the times they are a changing, as Bob Dylan, someone familiar with apocalyptic thought wrote when a young man.
Facing a new church year, or a new page on the calendar can cause affirmation, perplexity, or fear.I don;t know if I want to get pinned down that advent means that the world is moving toward God’s constant reweaving the new creation, or that God is always on the move toward us. At this point in the life of this congregation, we do well to deepen our spiritual lives with advent devotions and rituals. Together we do well to consider where we are moving to meet God. Where God is coming toward us? What is on the horizon? What would we like to see on the far boundary?
Monday, November 28, 2011
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Nov. 20 Week Devotions
Nov. 20-Some think that Psalm 100 is a closing for the kingship psalms that precede it. It is selected for Christ the King Sunday to pick up the sheep/shepherd image of this day, a biblical image for being followers and a leader. We have the hymn tune, Old Hundreth, from the paraphrase of the psalm that became All People that On earth. The original tune was probably by Louis bourgeois for the Geneva Psalter for Ps. 134. hear the tune as one that suited for royalty.
Monday-Some folks are using gratitude as a spiritual practice by noting something or someone for whom they are grateful for 30 days in a row. I like how it turns some perspective around. one woman started off complaining about having a car repair but then being grateful that she has a good car, that she has a mechanic whom she trusts, that she has the money to pay for the repair bill. Consider praying a list of things and people for which and for whom your are grateful.
consider making it a part of grace prior to the Thanksgiving meal.
Tuesday-We are hurtling toward Advent, the time of spiritual preparation for both the second Advent, the end times being fulfilled, and the first Advent of Christmas, of the Incarnation. many people are already preparing make-ahead food for the holiday.The house is getting cleaned up. the rest of the menu is planned and scheduled. what if we put just a fraction of that kind of energy and effort in spiritual work for Advent?
Wednesday-Family gatherings are stressful as expectations and image collide with reality. it’s no accident that fictional gatherings are often difficult, because the inspiration is drawn from actual experience. (I pray that we can create the desire and space for reconciliation where needed. i pray that we have some ground rules to try to avoid the hurt feelings that seem to come with holidays. i pray that we honor those who cannot ever again join us at table, in this life.
Thanksgiving-I’ve always loved this holiday. yes, i eat too much, but even as a little kid I liked the idea that this day was about gratitude. It also brings a smile about my late mother. She never properly thawed the turkey, so it was a bit slow in getting up to temperature. Not willing to admit to not giving the bird time to thaw, she announced her theory that all of the ovens that were on caused a brownout that made her oven, and only her oven, slow due to less current.
Black Friday-I’m a frugal person, well cheap on a lot of things, so I like the idea of people looking for bargains today. On the other hand, the excess of this day is a walking example of coveting , envy, and greed rolled into a consumer frenzy. we get up at hours we would never consider, but do so without complaint today. Agai always had hot turkey sandwiches, and I still love them. At the same time, that sign of abundance can get old, and sometimes they get wasted. We are given such spiritual abundance. Even the scraps from that table are fit for ron, I pray that sometimes we would have some of the same expectancy for spending time with god, for doing something kind for another person, for tending the garden of our relationships.
Saturday-Leftovers from Thursday can become an issue already. Some of us like some leftovers better than the original. Weyalty. May we never let that outpouring of divine favor ever go to waste.
Monday-Some folks are using gratitude as a spiritual practice by noting something or someone for whom they are grateful for 30 days in a row. I like how it turns some perspective around. one woman started off complaining about having a car repair but then being grateful that she has a good car, that she has a mechanic whom she trusts, that she has the money to pay for the repair bill. Consider praying a list of things and people for which and for whom your are grateful.
consider making it a part of grace prior to the Thanksgiving meal.
Tuesday-We are hurtling toward Advent, the time of spiritual preparation for both the second Advent, the end times being fulfilled, and the first Advent of Christmas, of the Incarnation. many people are already preparing make-ahead food for the holiday.The house is getting cleaned up. the rest of the menu is planned and scheduled. what if we put just a fraction of that kind of energy and effort in spiritual work for Advent?
Wednesday-Family gatherings are stressful as expectations and image collide with reality. it’s no accident that fictional gatherings are often difficult, because the inspiration is drawn from actual experience. (I pray that we can create the desire and space for reconciliation where needed. i pray that we have some ground rules to try to avoid the hurt feelings that seem to come with holidays. i pray that we honor those who cannot ever again join us at table, in this life.
Thanksgiving-I’ve always loved this holiday. yes, i eat too much, but even as a little kid I liked the idea that this day was about gratitude. It also brings a smile about my late mother. She never properly thawed the turkey, so it was a bit slow in getting up to temperature. Not willing to admit to not giving the bird time to thaw, she announced her theory that all of the ovens that were on caused a brownout that made her oven, and only her oven, slow due to less current.
Black Friday-I’m a frugal person, well cheap on a lot of things, so I like the idea of people looking for bargains today. On the other hand, the excess of this day is a walking example of coveting , envy, and greed rolled into a consumer frenzy. we get up at hours we would never consider, but do so without complaint today. Agai always had hot turkey sandwiches, and I still love them. At the same time, that sign of abundance can get old, and sometimes they get wasted. We are given such spiritual abundance. Even the scraps from that table are fit for ron, I pray that sometimes we would have some of the same expectancy for spending time with god, for doing something kind for another person, for tending the garden of our relationships.
Saturday-Leftovers from Thursday can become an issue already. Some of us like some leftovers better than the original. Weyalty. May we never let that outpouring of divine favor ever go to waste.
Nov. 27 Week Devotions for Advent
Nov. 27-I was surprised that we use blue instead of purple of Advent. It does make sense to distinguish color from the traditional Lenten color. blue, as in royal blue, awaits the presence, better, the return of Christ the King. Blue is also considered a symbol of hope, a fundamental virtue of this season, perhaps as it lends to the color of the sky, the upward. I have also heard it mentioned that it is the background of the sky for the natal star of the Magi. I realize that many reading this are burdened by the pressure of the holiday.
Monday-Every week, I get a note from the pastor and writer Ira Kent Groff. He reflected on thanksgiving as a spiritual practice last week and he contrasts it to the ancient lex talonis, eye for eye motto. It said me thinking. What if we did reciprocate for every kind deed and word with a correlative kind deed and word? This can be especially helpful when some of us dread seeing some of the relatives or co-workers at all of the gatherings for this season. Martin Seligman has evidence that this act does correlate with a better mood.
Tuesday-Advent we are told is a season of waiting. I hate waiting. when I know I have to be in line, I like to read a book to help quell my annoyance. On the other hand, when i know something is approaching, i do not mind, at least some of the time, preparing for it. when waiting is passive, I get annoyed, but active waiting is often OK. Help make your soulready for Christmas.
Wednesday-Hope emerged as the theme for this Advent week as we lit the first candle. Alexander Dumas:” the sum of the human condition is wait and hope.” With the economy still in the doldrums, hope is a most precious commodity. Hope bends down to look fear in the face and point to better times ahead. Instead of giving into the inaction of despair, we are drawn toward making a dream into reality. As Aristotle said, “hope is a waking dream.”
Thursday-I Cor. 1:3-9 was the epistle reading on Sunday. I latched on to v. 3 that Paul gives thanks to God for them always. we complain about those closest to us much more consistently than we ever give thanks. We can get operatic about complaint but tongue tied about thanksgiving for them. If that seems too much, be grateful for a small blessing. If you are being bored by looking at a relative picture son their cell phone, remember the days when we had to sit through slide shows.
Friday-Susie Delano gave me a set of devotions on the environment from Presbyterians for Restoring Creation. Rebecca Barnes-Davies writes toward the end of her devotion:” May we also take active steps to live rightly and righteously with all God’s creation so that the good news can spread to all places on earth.” We wait for a new heaven and new earth. Can we possibly leave it polluted and despoiled for our progeny and indeed the Creator?
Saturday-Ps. 80 was a reading on Sunday.It has a plaintive sound. It reminds me of the new song by Nick Lowe, House for Sale, where he moves as the love in the home has faded. so, the garden needs tending. In the psalm, the vine Israel, once manicured is left to go untended. We are given a spiritual garden, but we often leave it to lie fallow. Advent is a designated time to work with our spiritual garden as we prepare for the renewal of the gift of Christmas yet again.
Monday-Every week, I get a note from the pastor and writer Ira Kent Groff. He reflected on thanksgiving as a spiritual practice last week and he contrasts it to the ancient lex talonis, eye for eye motto. It said me thinking. What if we did reciprocate for every kind deed and word with a correlative kind deed and word? This can be especially helpful when some of us dread seeing some of the relatives or co-workers at all of the gatherings for this season. Martin Seligman has evidence that this act does correlate with a better mood.
Tuesday-Advent we are told is a season of waiting. I hate waiting. when I know I have to be in line, I like to read a book to help quell my annoyance. On the other hand, when i know something is approaching, i do not mind, at least some of the time, preparing for it. when waiting is passive, I get annoyed, but active waiting is often OK. Help make your soulready for Christmas.
Wednesday-Hope emerged as the theme for this Advent week as we lit the first candle. Alexander Dumas:” the sum of the human condition is wait and hope.” With the economy still in the doldrums, hope is a most precious commodity. Hope bends down to look fear in the face and point to better times ahead. Instead of giving into the inaction of despair, we are drawn toward making a dream into reality. As Aristotle said, “hope is a waking dream.”
Thursday-I Cor. 1:3-9 was the epistle reading on Sunday. I latched on to v. 3 that Paul gives thanks to God for them always. we complain about those closest to us much more consistently than we ever give thanks. We can get operatic about complaint but tongue tied about thanksgiving for them. If that seems too much, be grateful for a small blessing. If you are being bored by looking at a relative picture son their cell phone, remember the days when we had to sit through slide shows.
Friday-Susie Delano gave me a set of devotions on the environment from Presbyterians for Restoring Creation. Rebecca Barnes-Davies writes toward the end of her devotion:” May we also take active steps to live rightly and righteously with all God’s creation so that the good news can spread to all places on earth.” We wait for a new heaven and new earth. Can we possibly leave it polluted and despoiled for our progeny and indeed the Creator?
Saturday-Ps. 80 was a reading on Sunday.It has a plaintive sound. It reminds me of the new song by Nick Lowe, House for Sale, where he moves as the love in the home has faded. so, the garden needs tending. In the psalm, the vine Israel, once manicured is left to go untended. We are given a spiritual garden, but we often leave it to lie fallow. Advent is a designated time to work with our spiritual garden as we prepare for the renewal of the gift of Christmas yet again.
Black Friday Column
Black Friday. In the stock market that is a phrase that strikes terror for investors. Today it marks a color of hope for retailers who depend on this season to move from the red into the black ink of profit. this year some stores never closed.People who would never get up early normally are in the lines to find the promised bargains at the big box stores.
Religious killjoys love to take shots at Black Friday. for us, it is the height of a consumerist culture gone mad, covetousness in the flesh. I don’t want to be a killjoy today. It’s fun for a lot of people to go into a shopping frenzy. it has the feel of a hunt for game. One of the reasons the stores were packed early in the morning is that we are also demonstrating the virtue of being frugal..
Some of us need some time out of the house after trudging through time with family as if it were a forced march in the gulag. I had a friend who worked part-time as a bartender. he loved going into work on Thanksgiving afternoon. As he said, “by 2PM most of us have had enough of family, so the tips are really good when I can serve them a drink without giving them any advice or trying to get under their skin.”
I am grateful that a lot of new movies come out where we can find some refuge during the holiday weekend. For a couple of hours, movies provide an escape from the stress and strain of the holiday weekend. If different generations go and enjoy say, the new Muppet movie, it gives shared experience, and maybe even a bonding experience.
Some of us want some time getting after we have been hit with righteous, sometimes unctuous, demands that we must, must, be thankful, be grateful that reach a culmination on Thanksgiving day. On this day after Thanksgiving, I wonder abut the efficacy of trying to use guilt as a weapon to try to force people to be grateful.
Emerging work in social psychology demonstrates that gratitude makes us feel better and handle trouble better. A recent study found that students who had made a point of being grateful handled a poor set of remarks on an essay better. Story Corps is asking us all over the country to thank a teacher directly or posting a memory on their site. NPR ran a whole series on the project yesterday. You could hear the deep emotion from those who thanked a teacher. You could hear the shock and surprise of people who said that they never realized that they made a difference in someone’s life and were thrilled to actually hear an old student actually tell them.
I went to a rigid, punitive Catholic school. We had one teacher who was not a nun, Helen. She wanted to enter a religious order but she honored her father’s command not to do so. Instead she devoted her life to the church and class by class was able to teach. It was not what she taught us, not that she was often frustrated with us, but she was the teacher who loved us and showed a love of God every day of her life.. When I was an adult, I ran into her, and her face shone as she heard what we were doing. The stores are filled with people whose lives were touched by teachers. Teachers enable us to earn a living to be in these stores. They gave us the tools to examine consumerism or to be come literate observers of movies, and maybe even the relational tools to deal with family. I thank God for their impact, even on Black Friday.
Religious killjoys love to take shots at Black Friday. for us, it is the height of a consumerist culture gone mad, covetousness in the flesh. I don’t want to be a killjoy today. It’s fun for a lot of people to go into a shopping frenzy. it has the feel of a hunt for game. One of the reasons the stores were packed early in the morning is that we are also demonstrating the virtue of being frugal..
Some of us need some time out of the house after trudging through time with family as if it were a forced march in the gulag. I had a friend who worked part-time as a bartender. he loved going into work on Thanksgiving afternoon. As he said, “by 2PM most of us have had enough of family, so the tips are really good when I can serve them a drink without giving them any advice or trying to get under their skin.”
I am grateful that a lot of new movies come out where we can find some refuge during the holiday weekend. For a couple of hours, movies provide an escape from the stress and strain of the holiday weekend. If different generations go and enjoy say, the new Muppet movie, it gives shared experience, and maybe even a bonding experience.
Some of us want some time getting after we have been hit with righteous, sometimes unctuous, demands that we must, must, be thankful, be grateful that reach a culmination on Thanksgiving day. On this day after Thanksgiving, I wonder abut the efficacy of trying to use guilt as a weapon to try to force people to be grateful.
Emerging work in social psychology demonstrates that gratitude makes us feel better and handle trouble better. A recent study found that students who had made a point of being grateful handled a poor set of remarks on an essay better. Story Corps is asking us all over the country to thank a teacher directly or posting a memory on their site. NPR ran a whole series on the project yesterday. You could hear the deep emotion from those who thanked a teacher. You could hear the shock and surprise of people who said that they never realized that they made a difference in someone’s life and were thrilled to actually hear an old student actually tell them.
I went to a rigid, punitive Catholic school. We had one teacher who was not a nun, Helen. She wanted to enter a religious order but she honored her father’s command not to do so. Instead she devoted her life to the church and class by class was able to teach. It was not what she taught us, not that she was often frustrated with us, but she was the teacher who loved us and showed a love of God every day of her life.. When I was an adult, I ran into her, and her face shone as she heard what we were doing. The stores are filled with people whose lives were touched by teachers. Teachers enable us to earn a living to be in these stores. They gave us the tools to examine consumerism or to be come literate observers of movies, and maybe even the relational tools to deal with family. I thank God for their impact, even on Black Friday.
Saturday, November 26, 2011
OT Notes Is. 40:1-11
1) Calvin noticed that a difference in tone starts here in the book. Most of us think that much of the next chapters reflect an exilic promise, far removed from the earlier material’s major concern.Not only that we are in a sort of choral back and forth with different voices.
2) Comfort here is a verb, an imperative plural verb. I guess it is devoted to a divine audience in heaven. If earth-directed who is to provide the comfort?
3) The response is one of resignation. Why bother. Life is transient.
4) Mark uses some of this material to introduce the gospel and the Baptist.
5) Double for her sins. The punishments were more than condign, they exceeded a proper sentence. Is this not more than tough love?
6) When God promises to be the shepherd, it is a swipe at the failed human leaders/ shepherds. Is it an admission of divine failure, of misplaced confidence in human leaders?
7) does the statement about the transitory nature of life, as in the flower fades, get a satisfactory resolution or response, or did I miss it? How do you find comfort over that point, or as Bruce Springsteen says, “everything dies, baby, that’s a fact.”
8) If I remember correctly Lee Michaels had a hit with a song that started out, it;s been 14 days, and Art Garfunkel had a song 99 miles. both deal with yearning on the road. Maybe that would be a good entry point to consider the King’s highway o this passage.
9) Don;t let it slip by you in the rush to finish. There it is again: do not be afraid/do not fear.
2) Comfort here is a verb, an imperative plural verb. I guess it is devoted to a divine audience in heaven. If earth-directed who is to provide the comfort?
3) The response is one of resignation. Why bother. Life is transient.
4) Mark uses some of this material to introduce the gospel and the Baptist.
5) Double for her sins. The punishments were more than condign, they exceeded a proper sentence. Is this not more than tough love?
6) When God promises to be the shepherd, it is a swipe at the failed human leaders/ shepherds. Is it an admission of divine failure, of misplaced confidence in human leaders?
7) does the statement about the transitory nature of life, as in the flower fades, get a satisfactory resolution or response, or did I miss it? How do you find comfort over that point, or as Bruce Springsteen says, “everything dies, baby, that’s a fact.”
8) If I remember correctly Lee Michaels had a hit with a song that started out, it;s been 14 days, and Art Garfunkel had a song 99 miles. both deal with yearning on the road. Maybe that would be a good entry point to consider the King’s highway o this passage.
9) Don;t let it slip by you in the rush to finish. There it is again: do not be afraid/do not fear.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Sermon Notes for Christ the King '11 mt. 25:31-46, Ezek. 34:11-25
In this famous story from Matthew, one group does good without recognizing the true identity of its recipient.they would act within the Jesus way no matter the nature of the recipient, as they regard only the need. they act without looking toward heavenly reward.
Well, we would have reacted within the Jesus Way if only we had known who was hidden behind the mask of poverty. Notice that neither party recognized Jesus hidden among the needy.(Barclay calls it uncalculating help, not disguised selfishness).Maybe the sheer weight and size of the need blinded them both. I want refuge in a sanctuary, as it feels at times that there’s not enough of me, not enough of us, to make a dent in the constant waters of need that comes lapping at the door. Another approach is Ezekiel’s disgust with those charged to take care of needy people in the community, so instead God will take the reins. Notice its violent end for the fat and strong sheep. Apparently, they have lived easily but not forever.
I am always troubled that people may use this story to illustrate the way of Jesus as some sort of command and literal picture of the way of God. This is not, not a guidepost to the citizenry of heaven, as that determination is made by the grace of the god of all mercies. This is a story to illustrate the meaning of love of neighbor and God, the hinge of the approach to life of Judaism. this is a guide to a kingdom of heaven ethic in this life. If we accept that the kingdom of heaven is a kingdom of grace, then God no more totes up charitable activities than other good deeds in the divine scoreboard. It is that very vision of grace that has the charitable group having their hearts and minds expanded to act as the do, without consideration of deservering or not.
Second, I fear that this passage creates confusion between justice and charity in the mind of Christians. Yes, we are called to help out people in trouble. The problem is that they are band-aids, needed things for healing but still temporary expedients. Justice calls us to watch out for the conditions that cause the problems mentioned here in the first place. Justice calls us to notice when a social system is weighted for or against groups of people, so that people in similar situations are not treated in similar ways. Indeed injustice makes it impossible for that to happen. it is as if the race of life is rigged from the start, or that unfair obstacles and advantages are handed out during the race.
For Americans, the use of words such as king and kingdom are deeply problematic. Plus, it casts us in the 21st century to thoughts of movies about the Middle Ages, so it sets our thoughts on the distant past, not the contentious present and the bright future. Yet, Christ the boss, the CEO, the president lack something.Ephesians talks big words about the power of the cosmic Christ enthroned in heaven, but that rule can still be as dimly perceived as the characters in the story of the sheep and goats. In the end, God will sort things out, but that does not releive us of responsibility toward each other in the here and now.
I remember from Catholic school. Martin of Tours was a soldier returning home, broke and weary. A shivering beggar asked him for money. having none, martin took his sword and cut his weather-beaten and torn cloak in half and laid it on the man. In a dream he he saw Jesus in the throne room of heaven, just like the vision of John that we read on All Saints Day.When an angel asked where Jesus received the garment, Jesus replied that his servant Martin gave it to him.
Well, we would have reacted within the Jesus Way if only we had known who was hidden behind the mask of poverty. Notice that neither party recognized Jesus hidden among the needy.(Barclay calls it uncalculating help, not disguised selfishness).Maybe the sheer weight and size of the need blinded them both. I want refuge in a sanctuary, as it feels at times that there’s not enough of me, not enough of us, to make a dent in the constant waters of need that comes lapping at the door. Another approach is Ezekiel’s disgust with those charged to take care of needy people in the community, so instead God will take the reins. Notice its violent end for the fat and strong sheep. Apparently, they have lived easily but not forever.
I am always troubled that people may use this story to illustrate the way of Jesus as some sort of command and literal picture of the way of God. This is not, not a guidepost to the citizenry of heaven, as that determination is made by the grace of the god of all mercies. This is a story to illustrate the meaning of love of neighbor and God, the hinge of the approach to life of Judaism. this is a guide to a kingdom of heaven ethic in this life. If we accept that the kingdom of heaven is a kingdom of grace, then God no more totes up charitable activities than other good deeds in the divine scoreboard. It is that very vision of grace that has the charitable group having their hearts and minds expanded to act as the do, without consideration of deservering or not.
Second, I fear that this passage creates confusion between justice and charity in the mind of Christians. Yes, we are called to help out people in trouble. The problem is that they are band-aids, needed things for healing but still temporary expedients. Justice calls us to watch out for the conditions that cause the problems mentioned here in the first place. Justice calls us to notice when a social system is weighted for or against groups of people, so that people in similar situations are not treated in similar ways. Indeed injustice makes it impossible for that to happen. it is as if the race of life is rigged from the start, or that unfair obstacles and advantages are handed out during the race.
For Americans, the use of words such as king and kingdom are deeply problematic. Plus, it casts us in the 21st century to thoughts of movies about the Middle Ages, so it sets our thoughts on the distant past, not the contentious present and the bright future. Yet, Christ the boss, the CEO, the president lack something.Ephesians talks big words about the power of the cosmic Christ enthroned in heaven, but that rule can still be as dimly perceived as the characters in the story of the sheep and goats. In the end, God will sort things out, but that does not releive us of responsibility toward each other in the here and now.
I remember from Catholic school. Martin of Tours was a soldier returning home, broke and weary. A shivering beggar asked him for money. having none, martin took his sword and cut his weather-beaten and torn cloak in half and laid it on the man. In a dream he he saw Jesus in the throne room of heaven, just like the vision of John that we read on All Saints Day.When an angel asked where Jesus received the garment, Jesus replied that his servant Martin gave it to him.
Is. 64:1-9 reading for First Sunday in Advent
I don’t know how popular the idea is anymore, but in the olden days in seminary, chs. 55-6 were called third Isaiah, as it seemed different from so called Second Is. that starts at ch. 40. It is considered post-exilic, but the rub was that the people thought life would be great, and it’s not. I think most people now see Is as a thoroughly composite piece through editorial hands where section seemed mixed throughout.
By the way, Patricia Tull has a series on thoughtful christian for Advent on the readings from the OT. Her erudition, writing style, and insight are highly recommended.
1) Many hold that we need to back up and read this as a continuation of a communal lament hat starts in ch. 63.
2) this is an instance of using the familial Father in the OT.
3) This can be read as saying the prayers are not forthcoming because God has been hidden. In other words, if god were more forthcoming, so would the prayers.
4) I really felt with the writer on 9/11. Why couldn’t the airplanes have moved? For that matter why not the Pentagon and the WTC? Why couldn’t the plane over Pennsylvania made a nice soft landing? Will we ever see the likes o the parting of the red Sea or the stopping of the Jordan again?:
Apocalyptic material is most alluring when we are at the end o our rope an we feel helpless to change things on our own.
5) What part of contemporary life would you like to see shaken to its core?
6) I am so struck by the sheer longing in this prayer. It does not want god to be present, to be near. it wants action.
7) It is also both plaintive and daring. It seems to say that look, you made us, so why act surprised when we act out.
8) In the Incarnation, it has been said, god meets us halfway.It fits this passage. Instead of us coming to god, the prayer wants God to come to us. It is an Advent prayer.
By the way, Patricia Tull has a series on thoughtful christian for Advent on the readings from the OT. Her erudition, writing style, and insight are highly recommended.
1) Many hold that we need to back up and read this as a continuation of a communal lament hat starts in ch. 63.
2) this is an instance of using the familial Father in the OT.
3) This can be read as saying the prayers are not forthcoming because God has been hidden. In other words, if god were more forthcoming, so would the prayers.
4) I really felt with the writer on 9/11. Why couldn’t the airplanes have moved? For that matter why not the Pentagon and the WTC? Why couldn’t the plane over Pennsylvania made a nice soft landing? Will we ever see the likes o the parting of the red Sea or the stopping of the Jordan again?:
Apocalyptic material is most alluring when we are at the end o our rope an we feel helpless to change things on our own.
5) What part of contemporary life would you like to see shaken to its core?
6) I am so struck by the sheer longing in this prayer. It does not want god to be present, to be near. it wants action.
7) It is also both plaintive and daring. It seems to say that look, you made us, so why act surprised when we act out.
8) In the Incarnation, it has been said, god meets us halfway.It fits this passage. Instead of us coming to god, the prayer wants God to come to us. It is an Advent prayer.
Monday, November 14, 2011
OT lection notes: Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-4
1) The ancient near East used the shepherd image for political leadership.
2) God is often put out with the political leadership of Israel and Judah.
3) In this thick metaphor, god will move the people back to home pasture many miles away.
4) This time, God will become their shepherd. Is this an end time image?
5) We have echoes in other passage, especially John 10 and Ps. 23, Heb. 13:20, I Pet. 2:25
6) How would you amplify what it means to be led with justice?
7) what do you think sheep and goats signify here? After all, they did graze together. I have read that they were in different partitions at night. Is there a link to the scapegoat? They were both sacrificed..
8) Notice how the weakness of the sheep seems to be the concern. The best sheep, the strong will be destroyed. Why? On the other hand, sheep in pasture lie down when secure, no?
9) When we reach 20-4 it is between sheep where real trouble lies. The stronger sheep prey on the weaker ones. far be it from me to suggest that Ezekiel is engaged in “class warfare.”
2) God is often put out with the political leadership of Israel and Judah.
3) In this thick metaphor, god will move the people back to home pasture many miles away.
4) This time, God will become their shepherd. Is this an end time image?
5) We have echoes in other passage, especially John 10 and Ps. 23, Heb. 13:20, I Pet. 2:25
6) How would you amplify what it means to be led with justice?
7) what do you think sheep and goats signify here? After all, they did graze together. I have read that they were in different partitions at night. Is there a link to the scapegoat? They were both sacrificed..
8) Notice how the weakness of the sheep seems to be the concern. The best sheep, the strong will be destroyed. Why? On the other hand, sheep in pasture lie down when secure, no?
9) When we reach 20-4 it is between sheep where real trouble lies. The stronger sheep prey on the weaker ones. far be it from me to suggest that Ezekiel is engaged in “class warfare.”
Friday, November 11, 2011
Sermon 11/13 Notes for Mt. 25:14-20, Ps. 123, I Thes. 5:1-11
What do we do with the inestimable gifts of God at our disposal and expectation of stewardship, including the mysteries of God? Do we make use of them or do we tuck them away out of fear, even contempt for the gifts? We have a vast array of gifts at our disposal and we parcel them out as if we are stranded castaways with no idea about our next meal. In other words, we live like the last servant without as much and afraid of losing what he has. Even though it is mcuh, he perceives it as just a little. We have a variety of ways to estimate a talent, but it is big bucks, let’s say a low of 300K to a high of billion. Jesus selects these enormous sums as hyperbole to get attention and to make a point.
The kingdom of heaven point is that no one knows when the master will return, now or in some distant futurity.Don’t rest on the abundance given you, blossom and flourish, grow into the better future that lies before us. The last person catches our attention as his great gift, that looks small only in comparison to what is lavished on the first tow finds that the money is given over to those who used their gift wisely and well. what stopped him cold? Fear, fear of retribution, fear of being judged harshly, fear of failure stopped him and had him bury the gift as if it were dead, even more foolish than hiding it under a mattress in the face of wall Street perfidy. No risk, no change, no possibility for growth. Instead of entering the joy of the manager to do more work in partnership, instead the fearful one loses relationship too, in effect his relationship is buried, but he has placed himself into a coffin of fear Unable to see a world of abundance and grace, he acts out of a consciousness of scarcity and lack. Unable to see grace, he sees only the possibility of retribution. as Charlotte Bronte remarked that is indeed a pity “to try nothing and leave your life a blank.” As Eliot wrote of Prufrock he measured out his life in teaspoons, instead of seeing a world where our cups runneth over, where the tables are sagging under the weight of presents, where there is plenty more where that came from. As Ps 123 demonstrates it is a terrible thing to be a victim of contempt, especially when it is self-imposed.
I Thes. 5 and being sober, alert and ready be prepared the boy scouts say. Instead of saying that the condition of our experience is completely out of our hands, Paul encourages us to use what we have in this interim period between the arrival of Jesus into the world and the final consummation of the plan of God that is not known to us, as Rev. Camping again demonstrated last month. Yes, change is coming, as certain as inevitable as labor pains for the birth of the new. No matter our sophistication at this point, we still cannot say with confidence exactly when they will come upon a woman or even if they are the contractions of an intimation of labor.Notice with some care the military image drawn from Is. 59:17. Paul then uses the trinity of virtues:faith, hope, and love. Yes, it is militant language but for the cause of non-violent action and change.
None of us know the day or hour of the Second Advent or of our entrance into god’s realm upon our deaths. Both readings tell us to live as fully as we can in this world. We can squeeze every bit of life we can out of our days here, maybe especially because their duration is uncertain.
The kingdom of heaven point is that no one knows when the master will return, now or in some distant futurity.Don’t rest on the abundance given you, blossom and flourish, grow into the better future that lies before us. The last person catches our attention as his great gift, that looks small only in comparison to what is lavished on the first tow finds that the money is given over to those who used their gift wisely and well. what stopped him cold? Fear, fear of retribution, fear of being judged harshly, fear of failure stopped him and had him bury the gift as if it were dead, even more foolish than hiding it under a mattress in the face of wall Street perfidy. No risk, no change, no possibility for growth. Instead of entering the joy of the manager to do more work in partnership, instead the fearful one loses relationship too, in effect his relationship is buried, but he has placed himself into a coffin of fear Unable to see a world of abundance and grace, he acts out of a consciousness of scarcity and lack. Unable to see grace, he sees only the possibility of retribution. as Charlotte Bronte remarked that is indeed a pity “to try nothing and leave your life a blank.” As Eliot wrote of Prufrock he measured out his life in teaspoons, instead of seeing a world where our cups runneth over, where the tables are sagging under the weight of presents, where there is plenty more where that came from. As Ps 123 demonstrates it is a terrible thing to be a victim of contempt, especially when it is self-imposed.
I Thes. 5 and being sober, alert and ready be prepared the boy scouts say. Instead of saying that the condition of our experience is completely out of our hands, Paul encourages us to use what we have in this interim period between the arrival of Jesus into the world and the final consummation of the plan of God that is not known to us, as Rev. Camping again demonstrated last month. Yes, change is coming, as certain as inevitable as labor pains for the birth of the new. No matter our sophistication at this point, we still cannot say with confidence exactly when they will come upon a woman or even if they are the contractions of an intimation of labor.Notice with some care the military image drawn from Is. 59:17. Paul then uses the trinity of virtues:faith, hope, and love. Yes, it is militant language but for the cause of non-violent action and change.
None of us know the day or hour of the Second Advent or of our entrance into god’s realm upon our deaths. Both readings tell us to live as fully as we can in this world. We can squeeze every bit of life we can out of our days here, maybe especially because their duration is uncertain.
devotions Week of 11/13
Sunday Nov. 13 Ps. 123-Prays to god for mercy as they have seen too much of contempt. that is a powerful word, as it is redolent of disdain, race, of being treated as lower than dirt. I don;t know what’s worse, to be treated with contempt or to treat others with contempt. The latter is a highly developed vice among the religious, no? Perhaps the saddest thing is when love, say between a couple, transmutes over time into contempt. Thank God the Holy One does not ever treat us with contempt.
Monday-The falling leaves are often beautiful, but the trees show the transience of life. Perhaps I like autumn as it has the sense of the fragility of life coupled with the stunning, transient beauty of the leaves of yellow, rust, and red. (I just checked outside the window to look for more colors). It sounds like the reading for December 4 from Is. 40. In the midst of transience and pain, the prophet is urged to give comfort, to speak tenderly. What are your favorite sources for comfort?
Tuesday- I’m hoping to see Paul Simon play today. He worked for years with a partner, and he has had much success on his own as a singer/songwriter. His most recent release demonstrates that he feels the breath of mortality on his neck. “It seems our fate/to suffer and wait/for the knowledge we seek.” He writes of a line in heaven like a line at the Dept. of Motor vehicles. He looks at the afterlife seriously, but not too seriously. Come to think of it, that is not a bad angle of vision for the christian, is it?
Wednesday-I was accosted yet again by someone saying that we don’t hear enough about hell in church anymore.That may well be true, but part of me wants to respond that we don;t hear enough about loving God and each other enough either. Wanting to hear about hell either believes that fear is the best religious weapon or it give solace that one is not destined for hell, but others are. Maybe it’s the same impulse that likes to be scared by roller coasters or horror flicks. it takes some of the fear out of the unknown.
Thursday-I smile when I hear young people especially, say the great phrase, I’m bored. Young people post it on facebook with a thrill of discovery and publicity. Sometimes i think bored means that we are not in a relationship.Maybe it’s being lost and not knowing what to do with time and energy. maybe it’s a tactic to avoid a project, and it’s safer to take on a stance instead of action.
Friday-Peter Forsyth writes:””Isolation means arrested development...Social life, duty, and sympathy are the only conditions where true personality can be shaped....Christ comes to the rescue with the gift of faith both to an active spirit and of a society complete in Himself.” Now prayer by oneself is not isolation, as it is always communication with the Holy Other.
Saturday- I make a presentation on the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible for presbytery this morning. We owe our sense of what elevated language should sound like due to its rich language and cadence. In a way, it is what we imagine God’s majesty should sound like. The danger lies in thinking that religious language can only sound like Shakespeare and not in the everyday tongues where we are unaware that we hear angles speaking.
Monday-The falling leaves are often beautiful, but the trees show the transience of life. Perhaps I like autumn as it has the sense of the fragility of life coupled with the stunning, transient beauty of the leaves of yellow, rust, and red. (I just checked outside the window to look for more colors). It sounds like the reading for December 4 from Is. 40. In the midst of transience and pain, the prophet is urged to give comfort, to speak tenderly. What are your favorite sources for comfort?
Tuesday- I’m hoping to see Paul Simon play today. He worked for years with a partner, and he has had much success on his own as a singer/songwriter. His most recent release demonstrates that he feels the breath of mortality on his neck. “It seems our fate/to suffer and wait/for the knowledge we seek.” He writes of a line in heaven like a line at the Dept. of Motor vehicles. He looks at the afterlife seriously, but not too seriously. Come to think of it, that is not a bad angle of vision for the christian, is it?
Wednesday-I was accosted yet again by someone saying that we don’t hear enough about hell in church anymore.That may well be true, but part of me wants to respond that we don;t hear enough about loving God and each other enough either. Wanting to hear about hell either believes that fear is the best religious weapon or it give solace that one is not destined for hell, but others are. Maybe it’s the same impulse that likes to be scared by roller coasters or horror flicks. it takes some of the fear out of the unknown.
Thursday-I smile when I hear young people especially, say the great phrase, I’m bored. Young people post it on facebook with a thrill of discovery and publicity. Sometimes i think bored means that we are not in a relationship.Maybe it’s being lost and not knowing what to do with time and energy. maybe it’s a tactic to avoid a project, and it’s safer to take on a stance instead of action.
Friday-Peter Forsyth writes:””Isolation means arrested development...Social life, duty, and sympathy are the only conditions where true personality can be shaped....Christ comes to the rescue with the gift of faith both to an active spirit and of a society complete in Himself.” Now prayer by oneself is not isolation, as it is always communication with the Holy Other.
Saturday- I make a presentation on the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible for presbytery this morning. We owe our sense of what elevated language should sound like due to its rich language and cadence. In a way, it is what we imagine God’s majesty should sound like. The danger lies in thinking that religious language can only sound like Shakespeare and not in the everyday tongues where we are unaware that we hear angles speaking.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Sermon for Lovejoy Vesper Service 11/6 College Ave. Pres.
One of the readings in many churches this morning was the end of joshua and memory. Here we are poised between memory and living a legacy. We cannot cannot carry on Lovejoy’s work beset by anxiety, worn out from trying to attend to too many cases of social triage as they seem to besiege us from all sides day after day. So many worthy waves of crying need lap up on the little boats of the church requesting, deserving special attention.
Even though the book of Dt.. countenances slavery, it moves toward a more human position. It shows movement in the culture, and the bible recognizes it. Sometimes, the culture can teach the gospel to the church. Lovejoy and his fellows countered its specific declaration with an overarching biblical theme, the great commandment, love god and love of neighbor. For the bible to be a living word, we cannot expect it to remain forever encased in amber in one historical period. Its ideas are flexible enough to respond to the changes in our perspective. After all, the divine light has different filters, but it always casts light on showing us a vision of how to make life a proper place for human beings to flour9sh.
We have people all through this community in need of mental health services. Their need for services is acute for a simple reason; they cannot take care of themselves. We probably did right closing the warehouse scale institutions for mental health, but we never came through with a community based system to take care of the mentally ill. we have a mental health facility right here falling into disrepair from disuse, with people sleeping on the streets. -we have permitted the resurgence of bedlam, of consigning the lost, enslaved to mental illness.
charity v. justice Good Samaritan as neighbor. We are also called to deal with the conditions that make the Jericho road a hotbed for crime. Band aids promote healing but we look to the instruments of harm, the conditions for harm, the structures that consign people to oblivion. we are better at band aids than we are doing the hard work of healing a sin-sick world of injustices.
We acquire some courage in the posture of Jesus in the boat, not the anxiety of the disciples. Peace, be still he says to the waves and perhaps to us as well. reflecting on scripture, meditating on it, praying are not substitutes for action, they mobilize hope into action. they move us from the paralysis of analysis and anxiety into seeing a far horizon, seeing the distant shore, and moving toward it with all of our might. Joshua takes courage with a goal in sight, the promised land in view. Courage is not the absence of fear. courage faces fear down when it looks it in the eye and realizes that it has to bend way down to do it. Courage has its root in taking heart. When we don;t find the courage to work for justice, we expose ourselves as heartless. Of course, e have o be aware, mindful of the need for the inner stability to discover our courage. Becoming captive to fear demonstrates that we are mindless when in thrall to it. Courage is not blind to the facts on the ground, but allied with hop, courage can see past them and catch a glimpse of the future.
the waters are rough, and we all face fear. Our anxiety builds, why doesn;t everyone see things the right way, my way/ where is the progress, why as Weber said is politics the slow boring of hard boards. we pray on earth as it is in heaven but have yet to make human life suitable for humans yet.
Lovejoy lives in this holy place. In the communion of saints, he is with us still, cheering us on. Lovejoy lives in any act of moral courage that bends history toward justice. Lovejoy lives when we discover the courage within ourselves to face down our fears.
Even though the book of Dt.. countenances slavery, it moves toward a more human position. It shows movement in the culture, and the bible recognizes it. Sometimes, the culture can teach the gospel to the church. Lovejoy and his fellows countered its specific declaration with an overarching biblical theme, the great commandment, love god and love of neighbor. For the bible to be a living word, we cannot expect it to remain forever encased in amber in one historical period. Its ideas are flexible enough to respond to the changes in our perspective. After all, the divine light has different filters, but it always casts light on showing us a vision of how to make life a proper place for human beings to flour9sh.
We have people all through this community in need of mental health services. Their need for services is acute for a simple reason; they cannot take care of themselves. We probably did right closing the warehouse scale institutions for mental health, but we never came through with a community based system to take care of the mentally ill. we have a mental health facility right here falling into disrepair from disuse, with people sleeping on the streets. -we have permitted the resurgence of bedlam, of consigning the lost, enslaved to mental illness.
charity v. justice Good Samaritan as neighbor. We are also called to deal with the conditions that make the Jericho road a hotbed for crime. Band aids promote healing but we look to the instruments of harm, the conditions for harm, the structures that consign people to oblivion. we are better at band aids than we are doing the hard work of healing a sin-sick world of injustices.
We acquire some courage in the posture of Jesus in the boat, not the anxiety of the disciples. Peace, be still he says to the waves and perhaps to us as well. reflecting on scripture, meditating on it, praying are not substitutes for action, they mobilize hope into action. they move us from the paralysis of analysis and anxiety into seeing a far horizon, seeing the distant shore, and moving toward it with all of our might. Joshua takes courage with a goal in sight, the promised land in view. Courage is not the absence of fear. courage faces fear down when it looks it in the eye and realizes that it has to bend way down to do it. Courage has its root in taking heart. When we don;t find the courage to work for justice, we expose ourselves as heartless. Of course, e have o be aware, mindful of the need for the inner stability to discover our courage. Becoming captive to fear demonstrates that we are mindless when in thrall to it. Courage is not blind to the facts on the ground, but allied with hop, courage can see past them and catch a glimpse of the future.
the waters are rough, and we all face fear. Our anxiety builds, why doesn;t everyone see things the right way, my way/ where is the progress, why as Weber said is politics the slow boring of hard boards. we pray on earth as it is in heaven but have yet to make human life suitable for humans yet.
Lovejoy lives in this holy place. In the communion of saints, he is with us still, cheering us on. Lovejoy lives in any act of moral courage that bends history toward justice. Lovejoy lives when we discover the courage within ourselves to face down our fears.
sermon Josh. 24, I thes. 4:13-18
11/6 Josh. 24, I Thes. 4
At the end of Israel’s lightning conquest of the Promised land, as much a religious procession as armed conquest, standing stones are placed as a memorial. we have a spate of them recently:MLK ,FDR, Korea, WWII. Lovejoy monument here. Cemeteries are parks of standing stones as our the old church yards. Memory brings the past into the present. Memory can be tricky, a sit is rarely accurate, an dits additions and deletions requre attention as well.
Paul writes in response to the early church in a Greek port: what happened to their friends who had died before the second coming? Would they be lost, forgotten, even by God.
With the enormous popularity of the Left Behind series of books, many Americans were introduced to a fairly recent model for coming to grips with apocalyptic material. All the word means is lifting the lid from a pot, to reveal what is beneath.It is a genre of writing for people who want god to intervene as they have no hope of winning on their own. Here in Paul’s first letter, we see him sing its symbols as a way to tell people that the age has turned in the fullness of time, a new and better age has begun in Jesus Christ.
Rapture theology is part of a fairly recent 19th century view that the apocalyptic material is a recipe book. It tries to tie material together from different places in the bible into a predictive framework for out time.Yes, this is clearly apocalyptic end time material. the word rapture comes from Latin, the word means to snatch or be caught up in Greek. The word was carefully chosen in my view as this same word is usually applied to death snatching us from life itself.
instead of seeing as present with Christ at death, we will be united with Christ, the living and the dead.the dead will not be forgotten. Rapture theology takes it all upside down and has the living separated away in their two stage second coming approach. the living are separated from what they fear would be a period of tribulation, so escape, not compassion is its ruling idea. (Joyce ending) In the end, rapture theology is for people who have lost hope in being agents of the kingdom of heaven and passively await a divine lightning bolt to change things that they have given up on.That is why it is so vital for them to see the world as going downhill, as getting worse and worse, as they want to hasten the end. for them, only a small group will be spared from the lion’s den of contemporary life.
Right after All Saints Day, it is a good time to consider these great words, do not grieve as those who have no hope. Note that it decidedly does not say do not grieve, period. The virtue of hope affects our present. it can give us energy and direction, in spite of, the facts on the ground. A basic truth about us is that we grow attached to people. We often do not have great resources to deal with the loss of someone to whom we are attached. We fear that our attachment now mocks us, as we could be absent forever.Paul offers the encouragement that in the new age we can rely on god’s faithfulness. We will be kept together through the new life in Christ, not our memory, not even the strength of our loves. In other words, Christ’s presence, including divine presence in the passage into heaven gives us ground for hope. Still, here on earth we do grieve, must grieve, should grieve; such is the depth of our attachment; such is the depth of our love.
At the end of Israel’s lightning conquest of the Promised land, as much a religious procession as armed conquest, standing stones are placed as a memorial. we have a spate of them recently:MLK ,FDR, Korea, WWII. Lovejoy monument here. Cemeteries are parks of standing stones as our the old church yards. Memory brings the past into the present. Memory can be tricky, a sit is rarely accurate, an dits additions and deletions requre attention as well.
Paul writes in response to the early church in a Greek port: what happened to their friends who had died before the second coming? Would they be lost, forgotten, even by God.
With the enormous popularity of the Left Behind series of books, many Americans were introduced to a fairly recent model for coming to grips with apocalyptic material. All the word means is lifting the lid from a pot, to reveal what is beneath.It is a genre of writing for people who want god to intervene as they have no hope of winning on their own. Here in Paul’s first letter, we see him sing its symbols as a way to tell people that the age has turned in the fullness of time, a new and better age has begun in Jesus Christ.
Rapture theology is part of a fairly recent 19th century view that the apocalyptic material is a recipe book. It tries to tie material together from different places in the bible into a predictive framework for out time.Yes, this is clearly apocalyptic end time material. the word rapture comes from Latin, the word means to snatch or be caught up in Greek. The word was carefully chosen in my view as this same word is usually applied to death snatching us from life itself.
instead of seeing as present with Christ at death, we will be united with Christ, the living and the dead.the dead will not be forgotten. Rapture theology takes it all upside down and has the living separated away in their two stage second coming approach. the living are separated from what they fear would be a period of tribulation, so escape, not compassion is its ruling idea. (Joyce ending) In the end, rapture theology is for people who have lost hope in being agents of the kingdom of heaven and passively await a divine lightning bolt to change things that they have given up on.That is why it is so vital for them to see the world as going downhill, as getting worse and worse, as they want to hasten the end. for them, only a small group will be spared from the lion’s den of contemporary life.
Right after All Saints Day, it is a good time to consider these great words, do not grieve as those who have no hope. Note that it decidedly does not say do not grieve, period. The virtue of hope affects our present. it can give us energy and direction, in spite of, the facts on the ground. A basic truth about us is that we grow attached to people. We often do not have great resources to deal with the loss of someone to whom we are attached. We fear that our attachment now mocks us, as we could be absent forever.Paul offers the encouragement that in the new age we can rely on god’s faithfulness. We will be kept together through the new life in Christ, not our memory, not even the strength of our loves. In other words, Christ’s presence, including divine presence in the passage into heaven gives us ground for hope. Still, here on earth we do grieve, must grieve, should grieve; such is the depth of our attachment; such is the depth of our love.
Friday, November 4, 2011
Josh.24 notes
1) Most see this as a covenant ceremony, a renewing or creation of a bond of god and the people, perhaps, perhaps, similar to political documents in the ancient near east of the mutual obligations of the ruler and the ruled. Shechem is a cultic site according to Gen. 12, 33, 35. this is a good place to explore bi. archaeology when it may fit biblical material and when it may well conflict with it.
The other side of the flood is literally other side of the river. Either translation could make a nice image for preaching or spiritual life on one’s boundaries.
2) why do you think we detect such a strong note of antipathy toward idolatry here? could it be a preview of apostasy?
3) How effective is the rhetorical device, for me and my house, we will serve the Lord?
4) what do you think of Joshua telling the people that they will be unable to follow god fully at 19?
5) at v. 22 how chilling do you find it to have the people be witnesses against themselves for a future divine trial? Should one generation be able to bind another?
6) I realize that I go beyond the lectionary listing here but the standing stone could be a good image, especially with the spate of public memorials we have been erecting of late.
7) why is god so jealous about rivals, real or potential?
8) Breuggemann’s considerations in the Land of in the more recent Theol. Intro to the OT (with others) is a great place to reflect on the meaning of the land as a construct, as a reality, as history, as promise and threat.
9) Listen to Springsteen in The Promised Land or his citing
The other side of the flood is literally other side of the river. Either translation could make a nice image for preaching or spiritual life on one’s boundaries.
2) why do you think we detect such a strong note of antipathy toward idolatry here? could it be a preview of apostasy?
3) How effective is the rhetorical device, for me and my house, we will serve the Lord?
4) what do you think of Joshua telling the people that they will be unable to follow god fully at 19?
5) at v. 22 how chilling do you find it to have the people be witnesses against themselves for a future divine trial? Should one generation be able to bind another?
6) I realize that I go beyond the lectionary listing here but the standing stone could be a good image, especially with the spate of public memorials we have been erecting of late.
7) why is god so jealous about rivals, real or potential?
8) Breuggemann’s considerations in the Land of in the more recent Theol. Intro to the OT (with others) is a great place to reflect on the meaning of the land as a construct, as a reality, as history, as promise and threat.
9) Listen to Springsteen in The Promised Land or his citing
Judges 4:1-7
1) Deborah means bee. could it not also mean a speaker, especially for the role she plays here? Look at an OT text such as B. Anderson, Understanding the OT,ch.6, if you want to get a better handle of this period.
2) Get used to the start of this chapter, a sit is a constant refrain of the cyclical nature of Judges. When does private or public life take on such a predictable pattern, say in marital fights? doing evil seems to refer to falling into the religious beliefs and practices of the surrounding cultures (see 2:11-15,3:7)
3) Note that the prose here is a version of a poetic account in the next chapter, possibly quite old.
4) Lappidoth, now there's a name that needs some new popularity=shining or flaming/burning like a torch
5) As a prophet, does not this affect our easy stereotypes of women being prevented form occupying public power in ancient times? Deborah judges Israel. I assume this is a person who resolves disputes, so it is a public function, another reason I wonder if her name means speaker, given that dabar means word.Judges also had military prowess as well. One could continue reading the grisly story of Jael (notice the name Yah is God)that follows.
6)I assume Jabin rules a city-state in Hazor, on trade routes north of the Sea of Galilee.
7) Some make much out of the mention of chariots of iron and assume Israel did not have that stage of development. Maybe, but that assumes we know when this material was written. Is not the number perhaps more important? "cruelly oppressed" comes from a term, lachats, to press down, to distress, to hold down and chazaq, with force/violence/power. The battle site would be near Megiddo, something that may please rev. Camping or the writers of the Left Behind series.
8) Notice she does not call out for all the tribes, just some northern ones.Look at the following poem about some of the political issues she faced.
9) In part Judges deals with the question of what human beings do with a gift. It is a political replay of the Garden of Eden story.
10) the standard phrase for reacting to oppression is to cry to the Lord. See Patrick miller's book of that name on prayer. That word can mean to shriek, to get at the desperation of crying out from under the heel of oppression
2) Get used to the start of this chapter, a sit is a constant refrain of the cyclical nature of Judges. When does private or public life take on such a predictable pattern, say in marital fights? doing evil seems to refer to falling into the religious beliefs and practices of the surrounding cultures (see 2:11-15,3:7)
3) Note that the prose here is a version of a poetic account in the next chapter, possibly quite old.
4) Lappidoth, now there's a name that needs some new popularity=shining or flaming/burning like a torch
5) As a prophet, does not this affect our easy stereotypes of women being prevented form occupying public power in ancient times? Deborah judges Israel. I assume this is a person who resolves disputes, so it is a public function, another reason I wonder if her name means speaker, given that dabar means word.Judges also had military prowess as well. One could continue reading the grisly story of Jael (notice the name Yah is God)that follows.
6)I assume Jabin rules a city-state in Hazor, on trade routes north of the Sea of Galilee.
7) Some make much out of the mention of chariots of iron and assume Israel did not have that stage of development. Maybe, but that assumes we know when this material was written. Is not the number perhaps more important? "cruelly oppressed" comes from a term, lachats, to press down, to distress, to hold down and chazaq, with force/violence/power. The battle site would be near Megiddo, something that may please rev. Camping or the writers of the Left Behind series.
8) Notice she does not call out for all the tribes, just some northern ones.Look at the following poem about some of the political issues she faced.
9) In part Judges deals with the question of what human beings do with a gift. It is a political replay of the Garden of Eden story.
10) the standard phrase for reacting to oppression is to cry to the Lord. See Patrick miller's book of that name on prayer. That word can mean to shriek, to get at the desperation of crying out from under the heel of oppression
Week of Nov. 6 devotions
Nov. 6-The readings today emphasize staying alert. I think most of us are in dire need of spiritual caffeine to be able to stay spiritually awake. Most of us see worship and prayer as boring duties, the exact opposite of spiritual stimulant. We may well demand that worship stimulate the senses or emotions so that we feel that we have been nudged into greater awareness and alertness.
Monday-After failing in trivia contests and fumbling around for a name, I realize my memory is not what it once was. At the same time, I am still making connections. I may not remember the name of someone who recently tried to sneak into a marathon race, but it did trigger Rosie Ruiz who tried the same thing in the New York marathon in 1980. In teaching a class on comparative religion, I am struck by how many faiths emphasize training and discipline in the faith. The temptation is to seek a shortcut, to try to get the benefits without going through the effort of the whole course.
Tuesday In Romans 13 Paul famously spoke of the government as an agent for God. Luther called officials the left hand of God. Calvin called government work a high calling, if not the highest calling. Where did our callous disregard for the public sphere come from? Should Christians go about judging governmental work and officials harshly? Can we assign only malfeasance to government? Where have we gotten when people who call themselves patriots seem to hate their own government?
Wednesday-I picked up on old book by Eugene Peterson on Jeremiah, Run with the Horses. Therese, the Little Flower said “talking to God is always better than talking about God....pious conversations always have a touch of self-approval about them.” Where does your prayer life fall short and where does it lift you toward the divine?
Thursday-With eye surgeries, I misread a bit. Paul wrote that we see as in a mirror dimly. Enlightenment or illumination means that our distorted vision becomes more clear. indeed, Calvin said that reading Scripture acts as as an aid to spiritual sight, just as glasses help physical sight. Our egotism is an impediment to our spiritual sight. It curves in on our self-interest, so it skews our perspective toward others.
Friday-Veteran’s Day emerges from the end of WWI, the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month. with advances in medicine, we have veterans returning home who would have been remembered on Memorial day. So many blasted bodies and minds have returned home.Lincoln’s call to find up a nation’s wounds takes on a physical aspect to help these returning ones whose long march to restoration is often kept shamefully hidden.
Saturday-We’ve been reading Romans, and it bring sup the question: when can trying to be good become distorted? Paul gives examples such as boasting, excessive zeal, and illusion about our intentions or results of our actions. Once again, Paul shows remarkable depth in his analysis of human beings. Even when we try to be good, it gets distorted and we devalue people by trying to make them objects of our viewpoints as normative.
Monday-After failing in trivia contests and fumbling around for a name, I realize my memory is not what it once was. At the same time, I am still making connections. I may not remember the name of someone who recently tried to sneak into a marathon race, but it did trigger Rosie Ruiz who tried the same thing in the New York marathon in 1980. In teaching a class on comparative religion, I am struck by how many faiths emphasize training and discipline in the faith. The temptation is to seek a shortcut, to try to get the benefits without going through the effort of the whole course.
Tuesday In Romans 13 Paul famously spoke of the government as an agent for God. Luther called officials the left hand of God. Calvin called government work a high calling, if not the highest calling. Where did our callous disregard for the public sphere come from? Should Christians go about judging governmental work and officials harshly? Can we assign only malfeasance to government? Where have we gotten when people who call themselves patriots seem to hate their own government?
Wednesday-I picked up on old book by Eugene Peterson on Jeremiah, Run with the Horses. Therese, the Little Flower said “talking to God is always better than talking about God....pious conversations always have a touch of self-approval about them.” Where does your prayer life fall short and where does it lift you toward the divine?
Thursday-With eye surgeries, I misread a bit. Paul wrote that we see as in a mirror dimly. Enlightenment or illumination means that our distorted vision becomes more clear. indeed, Calvin said that reading Scripture acts as as an aid to spiritual sight, just as glasses help physical sight. Our egotism is an impediment to our spiritual sight. It curves in on our self-interest, so it skews our perspective toward others.
Friday-Veteran’s Day emerges from the end of WWI, the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month. with advances in medicine, we have veterans returning home who would have been remembered on Memorial day. So many blasted bodies and minds have returned home.Lincoln’s call to find up a nation’s wounds takes on a physical aspect to help these returning ones whose long march to restoration is often kept shamefully hidden.
Saturday-We’ve been reading Romans, and it bring sup the question: when can trying to be good become distorted? Paul gives examples such as boasting, excessive zeal, and illusion about our intentions or results of our actions. Once again, Paul shows remarkable depth in his analysis of human beings. Even when we try to be good, it gets distorted and we devalue people by trying to make them objects of our viewpoints as normative.
friday column on grief 11/4
We had a moving, elegant choral service for All Saints Day evening at First Presbyterian this week. In a culture dedicated to repressing grief, of moving quickly through its unnerving reactions, it is good to offer a set time, rooted in tradition, for all of us who face the valley of loss.
In this issue of Christian Century magazine, it featured a number of articles on death. One explored the changes in funeral sermons of late. While they open the doors of grief to the hearers, they are often delivered in the middle of ceremonies that are declared to be “celebrations of life.”The older I get the more I think this idea is pushed by baby boomers who fear any “negative” emotions.so, we try to make funerals, of all rituals, grief and tear-free zones. The lead editorial was a memory by the publisher of stumbling through his first call on a dying member of the church and his first funeral. All has slipped away, except he recalls that he did quote Romans 8 that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ.” Another articles wonder aloud if the church has ceded its role in being a witness to death to hospice and funeral homes, so that people lack resources to face both death and grief in a religious vein.
The book of Hebrews speaks of a great cloud of witnesses. during our service many of us rose to light a candle to remember a loved one. I like to think of another doctrine of the church then and there, the communion of saints. In Celtic spirituality, mention is made of a thin place, where we sense a closer relation, a more permeable boundary between the divine and the ordinary world. I like to think that the departed crowded around the gates of heaven to peer lovingly at the know of people praying and singing their way through grief.
The eminent writer Joan Didion has lived deep in grief’s valley of late. While their daughter was grievously ill, her husband died suddenly in her chair. Out of the maelstrom of grief, she wrote The Year of Magical Thinking. I prize the book as she is one of the few people t emphasize the feelings of grief less than its confusing assault on our ability to think straight, with any focus or clarity for quite some time.
That grown daughter has since died. Didion has once again placed her formidable talents to sharing that expected loss to death. While her first memoir of loss was coming to grips with sudden widowhood, this book tries to come to terms wit a whole life cut short. Like any parent, she grieves all of her mistakes with her daughter, regrets all of the missed chances, and misses her desperately. Yes, she has gotten “better,” as she no longer bursts into tears atht he very mention of her name.
I am so grateful that the session (our governing board) of the church continues to support an All Saints Day service. it is a poignant reminder that deep human emotion can be enveloped in prayer. When words won;t come, hymns and formal prayers speak for us. While I respect the Roman Catholic tradition of venerating people who demonstrate remarkable attributes, I prefer the Protestant extension of being “saints” across the board to those who have gone on before us as described in the book of Revelation. In our tradition saints are those who are reconciled to relationship with God. For me, they stand as witnesses across the chasm of time and dimension that love need not respect any boundary, as it persists when all else fails to recall those absent from us.
In this issue of Christian Century magazine, it featured a number of articles on death. One explored the changes in funeral sermons of late. While they open the doors of grief to the hearers, they are often delivered in the middle of ceremonies that are declared to be “celebrations of life.”The older I get the more I think this idea is pushed by baby boomers who fear any “negative” emotions.so, we try to make funerals, of all rituals, grief and tear-free zones. The lead editorial was a memory by the publisher of stumbling through his first call on a dying member of the church and his first funeral. All has slipped away, except he recalls that he did quote Romans 8 that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ.” Another articles wonder aloud if the church has ceded its role in being a witness to death to hospice and funeral homes, so that people lack resources to face both death and grief in a religious vein.
The book of Hebrews speaks of a great cloud of witnesses. during our service many of us rose to light a candle to remember a loved one. I like to think of another doctrine of the church then and there, the communion of saints. In Celtic spirituality, mention is made of a thin place, where we sense a closer relation, a more permeable boundary between the divine and the ordinary world. I like to think that the departed crowded around the gates of heaven to peer lovingly at the know of people praying and singing their way through grief.
The eminent writer Joan Didion has lived deep in grief’s valley of late. While their daughter was grievously ill, her husband died suddenly in her chair. Out of the maelstrom of grief, she wrote The Year of Magical Thinking. I prize the book as she is one of the few people t emphasize the feelings of grief less than its confusing assault on our ability to think straight, with any focus or clarity for quite some time.
That grown daughter has since died. Didion has once again placed her formidable talents to sharing that expected loss to death. While her first memoir of loss was coming to grips with sudden widowhood, this book tries to come to terms wit a whole life cut short. Like any parent, she grieves all of her mistakes with her daughter, regrets all of the missed chances, and misses her desperately. Yes, she has gotten “better,” as she no longer bursts into tears atht he very mention of her name.
I am so grateful that the session (our governing board) of the church continues to support an All Saints Day service. it is a poignant reminder that deep human emotion can be enveloped in prayer. When words won;t come, hymns and formal prayers speak for us. While I respect the Roman Catholic tradition of venerating people who demonstrate remarkable attributes, I prefer the Protestant extension of being “saints” across the board to those who have gone on before us as described in the book of Revelation. In our tradition saints are those who are reconciled to relationship with God. For me, they stand as witnesses across the chasm of time and dimension that love need not respect any boundary, as it persists when all else fails to recall those absent from us.
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