Sept 30 Sermon Notes-Esther

Esther’s story has a bit of Cinderella about it, but its dangers lie within the palace not the abusive home. Esther is about people living under the thumb of someone else.Esther’s name was not from her people. It probably comes the goddess Ishtar (remember that awful movie with Beatty and Hoffman?) She wins the chance to be part of the king’s harem after he is embarrassed by Vashti, the lead queen. It has a curiously contemporary ring, not only because of the year long spa treatments of Esther, the make-over, but the name of God does not appear in the story. (that may be a reason why the book does not appear in the Dead Sea Scrolls that have been found). She decides to have a cocktail party. Just as drink sealed the fate of her people, she is hoping that a drinking party can save them. Esther faces a moral dilemma. As a former president of CTS said, she was doing very well, but her people were in trouble. If she kept quiet, she would could continue to live in the lap of luxury. She could try to continue to hide her Jewish identity. Not only would she risk her position, but her very life, for she had to figure a way around a regulation that did not permit her to speak with the king and an edict against her people. The put down love stories about besting the upperdogs, of turning the tables on seekers of harm, especially when that comes from a surprising source. As I was working on this, the Freeh report on the Penn State abuse crimes was released. A custodian was afraid to report abuse because he was afraid for his job. He predicted that the administration would circle the wagons around the sacred football program and fire him. He certainly seems correct about circling the wagons, as the report mentions four administrators who kept the abuse under wraps.Out of fear, out of a sense of protection, security, out of denial we fail to act. Often, our moral emblem is the ostrich. Esther is an emblem as she found the courage to plan and to act.We do encounter a hint of piety when she asks people to fast. usually the word is bound to prayer: to fast and pray.Esther shows us that bureaucratic thickets are indeed obstacles to moral behavior but not insuperable ones. Esther realizes the will of God, but she realizes that God often calls us to co-operate in making that will become a reality here and now. Esther doesn’t moralize; she hatches a plot to host the evil Haman by his petard, to make him the victim of his own pernicious plot. The king seems to be a passive sort, easily manipulated and trapped by staff and regulations. Recall that the reader’s breath goes -oh no -at this point, just like we yell at the screen in a horror movie to do not go in there. the first wife Vashti gets in trouble because of a dinner party.Will either disappear as does Vashit; will she be a tragic heroine? Jesus said that disciples need to be clever in dealing with a fallen world. We seek to do good, not naively, but in full knowledge that doing good can be difficult, strewn with obstacles, fraught with uncertainties. One of the many annoying things I find in the rise of unaffiliated churches is their buoyant blind optimism that seems to go, ” I am on God’s side, so everything should work out great for me, I’m blessed.” The God who creates a world of freedom does not treat us as puppets on strings, but as living moral beings. Co-operative endeavor with God takes careful reflection, risk, and hard, demanding work. Co-operating with God’s way in the world is not a guarantee of success, only faithfulness.

Notes Job 1:1,2:1-10 First cut

1) the book starts with this prose prologue. It imagines a terrible wager made in the heavenly realm between god and a member of the divine Cabinet, a chief inspector/investigator, the Satan, the adversary. 2) If one accepts the notion that god is constantly involved in discrete details of a life, or if one views God as a punisher or a giver of signs in this life, then who would not imagine such an arbitrary scene when suffering itself seems so harsh and arbitrary? 3) We must be careful that Job is portrayed as a remarkable person here. Once we accept the prologue as part and parcel of the rest of the book; we make a mistake to take on the role of the friends to try to figure out some reason that Job deserves his suffering. No, he is portrayed as a pious, righteous victim of suffering. He is presented as a man of integrity. 4) We have to look a moment at Mrs. Job.If we connect chapter one's test with those of chapter two, she too has suffered everything her husband has, now with the exception of his illness. We marry with a vow for richer or poorer, but sometimes we fail it when we cannot offer the support a spouse needs or deserves. It could be that her words reveal her character and Job's integrity has long been challenged by a most difficult spouse.She is signalling the abandonment of support that will soon be shown by his friends. In a certain mood, I would say the sufferings of Job may have started with his marriage.For other views see Janzen's Job p.49-51 and Carol Newsom on Job in the NIB 5) What do you think of the adversary's basic premise: that people can serve god when things are going well but turn away when in trouble? Is the adversary correct in his assessment of what is most important to a person? 6) I see that Rabbi Kushner has just released a book on Job. 7) the Coen Brothers did a movie A Serious Man that has links to the Job story.

Week of Sept. 30 Devotions

Sept 30, Sunday-Ps. 124 is a song of praise of surviving attack. Our sense of impregnability is gone after 9/11. Notice how its imagery is mostly flood imagery at first. It picks up mythic images of death and destruction, of being swept away. When have you been rescued: emotionally, spiritually, physically? Looking back over life, have you been rescued when you did not even realize it from a person or situation? Monday-this week is Sukkot in Jewish calendar. It lasts a week. It may be related to the booths/tabernacles Peter wanted to build at the Transfiguration. It is also a time of welcome for “angels unaware’ guests. Meals are eaten in its shelter, and some folks sleep in the makeshift structures as well. Zechariah saw it as presaging the messianic era. what is your favorite Christian festival? We speak of the 12 days of Christmas, but our holy times are a single day, usually ( although some work well with the seasons of Lent and Advent). Why is that? Tuesday-Can we love someone, if we judge them? It seems to me that judging someone puts them in an inferior position, so would that not undercut our capacity to love them on the level field of love? How does being judgmental undercut love, both loving and being loved? Has judging harmed your relationships? How do you fight being judgmental? Wednesday-I plan to see Mary Chapin Carpenter tonight. I suspect she will be pushing her most recent album, so I reviewed some of her lyrics. In “Chasing What’s Already Gone she writes you spend half your life paying it no attention/the rest wondering / what you should have done/instead of chasing what’s already gone.” where do you let the past vision undercut your present? Where do you nurture your regrets? Thursday-We had our high school reunion recently. This year, I had a prior commitment, so I was freed from making the decision to skip another one. We take the changes in ourselves as obvious, but we resent, a bit, how everyone else changes, because it violates our memory. I guess the point is to stimulate memories. I fear we go to compare ourselves to others. I wonder if we carry resentments and half hope the quarterback has grown pudgy, and the cheerleader weighs 300 pounds. In what ways does dunday worship have the good and bad points of a reunion? Friday-In studying Amos 7, I found out that the famous vision of the plumb line may well be a mistranslation and it may well be more like a defense of tin, shiny but weak. the plumb line is a great image for a God who measures our lives as on the level, but we have other images for God as judge. Tin (or plumb line) may not be an object is the point anyway, as the word is a word play on a sigh. We emphasize a victorious God, but where in your experience, or even yearning, is God present in a sigh? Saturday-We have a wedding today. I find rehearsals annoying, but I do love officiating at a wedding. People do not need to marry in church, but I am so moved that come, seeking the blessing of God on their love, their relationship, this new family they are creating. What Scriptures do you like in a wedding, other than I Cor 13? What is a memorable wedding service for you, other than your own?

Friday Column: On Brighton Beach Memoirs

On the recommendation of several people, I went to see Brighton Beach memoirs at the Repertory Theater in STL, across the street from the Webster University library. It closes after this weekend. I am glad I went. I am not the biggest Neil Simon fan, but this seemed less formulaic than some of his work. It reminded me a bit of the old TV show MASH, where the drama is heightened by the comic touches and situations throughout. It is set in Brooklyn, 1937. Economic pressure weighs heavily on everyone. Even though times are hard, the bonds of family come first. They open their tiny apartment to three relatives left homeless by the untimely death of a 36 year old husband and father. Simon is willing to expose the pathos of having to rely on the kindness of relatives, the corrosive effect of dependency on self-esteem. In our time, we complain ceaselessly about conditions that would have been a dreamscape to people in 1937. In the midst of the dramatic family life, the laughter comes. Eugene, the fifteen year old is going through puberty and is an aspiring writer. He can copy his mother verbatim, with gems such as ‘write quietly, I have a cake in the oven.” This is a family where dreaded illness gets whispered, like cancer, as if saying it out loud could bring it marching into a life. Yes, they fight, but in the end, the ties that bind are family. These are folks who communicate by shouting out an open window as much as speaking face to face. Still, in family, we love less in spite of the foibles we all carry, but maybe because of them, for they help define a member of that indestructible bond: family. As a father, I appreciated that the father is portrayed with his failures. At the same time, he is a figure who notices the world around him, the differences of people in the family, and the depths of the psyche that only the observant like him can even begin to plumb. One of the sources for conflict in the play is the way we harbor resentments over the years. In the play, life has a way of crushing aspirations. From youth, we may feel underappreciated, virtually ignored, and blamed for misfortunes. We suspect that someone else was the favorite in the family, and we may even envy those who receive more care due to illness or disability. The father recounts how his Dad could never remember the names of four sons, so referred to them as the big one, the little one, the idiot, and so on. Still, it is the trouble and deprivations that draw the family together. it does not threaten to drive them apart. The mother hugs the father and says that it is good for a worrier to marry someone prone to fainting; they make a matched set. The play is set in a serious world. The movies provided an image of glamour and escape. The newspaper served as the ordinary person’s university and opened up a world to the people of Brighton Beach. Not only did the radio offer serials, music, and ball games, it offered news of a world that was hurtling toward the destruction of WWII and the horror of the Holocaust. It made me think of how debased so much of our media coverage has become. how little faith we have developed in the capacity of our citizenry. I was not raised to go to see plays. I owe that to a wonder of a high school English Teacher, Mrs. Grote. My limited horizon was expanded by her challenging reading material. Plays continue to draw me into a new and deeper world.

Esther 7, 9 selected

1) At the first, Esther's name is a derivative of the Babylonian goddess, Ishtar. (remember that terrible movie with Beatty and Hoffman?)It places us in a colonial situation. Mordecai's name may well come from Marduk, another in the pantheon of gods. See an excellent study on Esther some years ago for Presbyterian Women by Patricia Tull. 2) Esther may have been too recent to be included in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Maybe it was not included since it does not have the name of god in it. The closest we come to an explicitly religious piece is the call by Esther for a period of fasting. 3) This is the basis for Purim, a holiday where even the rabbis said to drink enough that you cannot tell the difference between blessed be Mordecai or cursed be Haman.Still, the celebration hurt smy heart in that it does well to celebrate deliverance, but it also harbors the memory or celebration of a frightful revenge fantasy. 4) Esther has to figure out a way to get the king to even listen to her under the structures of a terrible decree. For someone picked as part of the harem for beauty, Esther demonstrates a clever mind. 5)Esther could have done nothing. As the former president of CTS-Indy said, Esther was doing all right, but her people were in trouble. will Esther's feast get her in trouble as Vashti got into trouble with her feast and the refusal to attend the king's? 6) we love stories about people getting their comeuppance. why? Is it the reversal itself, or what does it say aobut our perceived psoition?

Column on leadership 9/21

I am relieved from preaching this Sunday, as I was supposed to be a spiritual director for a growth group, but the schedule changed. I usually put a sermon on the other side of weekly devotional thoughts, so I think I am going to use this column as an undelivered sermon for this Sunday.Our reading for Sunday from the gospels, Mark 9:30-37. It is an argument about leadership. On the road the disciples are arguing about which one was the greatest, the most important, the clear leader. First, our hopes for leadership are inchoate and incommensurate. We want things in leaders that cannot be held by one person. We want leaders to be visionary, but practical, cautious but bold, above the fray but personable. As I used to say, we expect them to be tall yet short. We set leaders up for failure, because we do not have a consensus about what leadership embodies. George Will had a good column recently in the Washington Post to the effect that we calm more for leaders than they can possibly achieve on their own. In essence, we revert to a level of childlike dependency when we consider leaders. We want them to make things all better, even when they cannot. Then we have the temerity to blame leaders at any level of political life for failing to live up to impossible expectations and demands. Yes, I realize that speeches play up to that hope, but adults should be able to translate rhetorical flourish into a reasonable set of expectations. Leaders have a limited span of control. just as important, followers have a limited zone of acceptance. Perhaps the greatest cleavage point is between “hard and soft” leadership. Hard leadership would symbolized by a General issuing orders. Soft leadership would be leadership that empowers and encourages teamwork. We will accept hard leadership in a rigidly hierarchical structure and in times of crisis, but we chafe at being ordered around. Informal patterns of communication and action will undercut the orders over time. the classic example in church leadership would be the parking lot meeting that goes back over what transpired in the formal meeting that just occurred. Jesus seems to go strongly toward the soft model of leadership in this passage. Christian churches often use the phrase “servant leadership” as a shorthand for this leadership model. As business models continue to influence the church, this conflicts with the pastor as CEO and the church board as being analogous to a board of directors for a company. When pastors make applications to churches, they usually issue boilerplate material about wishing to be collaborative and empowering leaders. The reality on the ground is that many of us can follow this until we run into resistance. Then we look like little Napoleons wanting to issue battlefield instructions. My radio listening goes in this order: NPR, old people’s rock music, and sports radio. Mark Schlereth, a great offensive lineman, is now a sportscaster. In an argument about leadership on the filed, he said that to him a leader was willing to sacrifice his ego, his statistics, and his preferences for the welfare of the team. A leader is willing to subsume their desires under the needs of the other members of the team, so that their success is more important than the individual success of the leader. To me, that is a much closer illustration of the words of Jesus than the business books that dot the shelves of pastors where the CEO is a charismatic leader, a courageous bringer of change. In discovering the needs and desires of others, the leader may well achieve the desired state of being on top, not by a scramble for the top, but an offering of the self to serve others.

Prov. 31:10-31

1) I always think of my late Aunt Faye, as we read this at her funeral around Christmas some years ago now. 2) I suppose one could call this proto-feminist. Please note that it frames the opening chapters of Dame wisdom, but now in a more domestic key.Still, this woman does engage in some public activity. 3) Woman of worth/capability could also be of valor, or even Warrior woman, as in the description of Jephthah. 4) How do you regard the retrograde counterattack on women's rights in our culture, especially in the religious right but also in the chastened "have it all" believer sin no limits? 5) How do you work with this text and other biblical pieces such as household code material in the epistles? 6) v. 25 is worth a sermon alone. One could use this to speak on the youthfulness mania of cosmetics and plastic surgery. 7) I like the praise of the husband at v. 29 8) v. 28 could be blessed as well as happy.

Reposting of Sermon Notes, Sept. 9 Prov. 22, James 2,Mk. 7:24-37

The book of Proverbs has lost its stature, especially in the academic community. The lectionary gives us but a taste of its material. Alyce McKenzie some time ago wondered if the relative avoidance of Proverbs could be passing. After all, they fit our contemporary context well. We may be losing some of the old proverbial expressions, but they have been replaced by slogans. Sometimes, I enjoy being part of the trivia contests for fundraisers that are popular in our area, even as they show the decline of my memory. Sometimes, one of the categories is advertising slogans, and it is amazing to hear how quickly people come up with the words, and what a smile comes over their face just with the memory of it. In a time when we are wary of making big picture, universal statements, the fairly random expressions contained in the book fit our different strokes for different folks mindset. Proverbs are distilled bits of wisdom. Sometimes they can become mere cliches by overuse or poor application. They are guideposts of good social behavior, ways for us to appropriate wisdom from folks sources or the studies of scholars. they point out the paths to avoid, the ones where fools not only dare but prefer to tread. What I like about proverbs is that they fit situations, but they are not the last definitive word on the subject, as they conflict. Out of sight out of mind is countered by absence makes the heart grow fonder. look before you leap is countered by he who hesitates is lost, or good things come to those who wait.We would be quick to pass over the Proverbs selected for today, for they deal with our attitudes and actions toward the poor. Perhaps Jesus had the proverb, “charity begins at home” in his mind when approached by the woman. Jesus may have issued a proverbial expression to the lady asking for some health, so maybe it was not heard quite as bad as it sounds to our ears. Sharon Ringe says Jesus was caught with his compassion down (21). Maybe he was suffering from “compassion fatigue” and needed a praeyr break. I am not sure to the degree the woman’s response is a theological one alluding to the great banquet, but it is certainly a clever riposte that turns the proverbial saying against those who may have opposed the way of God on to its user. For this saying/word/comment go your way.It is possible that she is instrumental in expanding the angle of vision of Jesus.She may be rich (Gench Back to Well:18), but the evidence is scanty, as her daughter is on a good bed, a kline, as in recline. Gail O’Day says that she insists that “Jesus be Jesus.” Her response itself could become a proverb, even the dogs receive the crumbs from the table.” she has managed to turn the tables on Jesus. High station or low station, she approaches Jesus because she is desperate for her daughter's well-being. Still, even with her understandable consternation, she has not lost her ability to think on her feet and to demand equal treatment. she is the opposite of the hothead in Proverbs, she keeps a cool head. One of the signs of a mature personality is the willingness and openness to learn from anyone at any time, to be open to the possibility that we need to change our minds. In this vignette Jesus shows the maturity to learn, to expand his vision of the scope of his mission.Proverbs are small bits of wisdom, and they don’t answer every situation. When they fit, they give us a glimpse of hard-won wisdom, built up by years of experience.A mark of spiritual maturity is to reflect on proverbs of old and experience, to consider what we keep, what we cast away, and where we need to adjust.If Jesus could learn from experience, who are we to think we must be in the right?

Week of September 16 devotions

September 16 Sunday-Ps. 19 is justly celebrated. I love its mix of creation and the law/instruction of God. In our time, with our visual advances, Look at pictures from the Hubble telescope and see the heaven proclaim the handiwork of the Creator. What elements of Creation tend to give you a sense of the religious, the numinous? Monday-I often find it difficult to get back in the swing of things after vacation. Part of the trouble is that it takes me a while to wind down. Often I take a day back home to gather myself. Another response could be to be careful about enforcing daily mini-vacations to recharge, reflect, and to pray. So part of the issue is that my pattern gets disturbed, so I have to adjust to both its interference and then renewal. I am loath to say we take a vacation from the faith, but surely we all go through cycles of distancing and yearning for God. Tuesday-I contributed to two different people doing MS bike rides this month, one of whom is our Serene Stated Clerk. What a wonderful thing to give time, preparation, and such a store of energy to help raise money for people whose bodies have betrayed them. I admire it so when folks can figure out a way to do good (in this case money for research) by doing themselves a good turn (the value of exercise). It is a remarkable exercise of time and energy for a good cause. I love how that exemplifies how the physical can do important work for the healing of others and do soul work at the same time. Wednesday-Here’s quote from Macrina Wederkehr: “In our search for the holy, there are times when our restless preparations smother the very truth for which are searching. We decorate our rooms and make elaborate preparations for our prayer, when a single flower and a moment of waiting are all we need to meet the One Who Comes.” Thursday-One of the reasons I went to Yosemite was to recreate some views from the photographer Ansel Adams. I can’t recapture his deep focus shots, but I can walk some of the same areas and breathe deeply the remarkable artistic landscape of the Creator as Artist. The again, I can breathe deeply the air of creation wherever I am. Friday-A friend asked me recently, “why is happiness so elusive?” My response was that we pitch our aspirations too high, that we call happiness what will be left for heaven. I think of the book of Ecclesiastes where the writer takes the persona of Solomon as “been there, done that’ and finds happiness to be elusive in a big picture. Instead, he urges us to embrace happiness when it arrives, and that is often found in our more mundane everyday enjoyments. We would do well I think, to contemplate what we mean by happiness, as well as ways to achieve it. It may well be that it is an internal state, not one we can expect others to provide. Saturday-My main church history professor, James Moorhead, wrote a new history of Princeton Seminary for its 200th anniversary this year. He is very strong on noting how the seminary responded to or reacted against changes in the cultural and religious landscape of the country. It evokes so much respect from me to read of the great cloud of witnesses there who so lived to combine the seminary’s goal of combining learning and piety.

Repost of Sept. 9 week devotions

September 9 Sunday-Ps.125 graces our readings today. It speaks of a steadfast faith as unmovable as Mt. Zion in Jerusalem. I need that kind of affirmation at times. At the same time, I am glad that my faith has some give, some flexibility. Otherwise it could be fragile due to its unbending nature. Then faith seems more like a suspension bridge from earth to heaven, and it needs some give to keep it from becoming too rigid. Monday-Kent Ira Groff reminds us to pay some attention to hidden, unexpected teachers. A know it all attitude does not open us to the wisdom bursting at the seams all around us. If we are open, anyone can be a teacher of vice or virtue. A democratic spirit can hear the voice of wisdom anywhere. Perhaps few things show the democracy of the Holy spirit as much as this nugget of wisdom. where have you garnered wisdom and from whom over the years? Tuesday-Where does being restless come from? One minute all seems placid, and the next minute we feel the need to get out of the house and do something anything. Why does restlessness appear so readily during time of prayer? Instead of fighting it immediately, we do well to recognize it and then meet it. Augustine knew that our hearts are restless until they find rest in god. Even on the way toward god, we can be afflicted with a restless, flighty, anxious spirit. All of us can use inner peace at one time or another. Wednesday-We are working on the book of Amos in the Wednesday morning class. It has such rhetorical power in its images: the cows of Bashan who order their husbands to get them a drink (4:1) who trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth (2:7) or leaning a hand on the wall and getting a snakebite (5:19). It creates vivid mental images of luxury or the plight of the poor. what are some vivid images you have encountered on social justice? Thursday- Holding ideas in tension strikes me as a mature approach to potential conflict. It seems to me that claiming all wisdom in one position loses out on the contributions possible in another viewpoint. Instead of going all the way from one extrmeme or the other, we can try to keep some of the good points in balance and maybe even cancel out some of the bad elements. this tension may even push us to find a better proposal that transcends both definitions of an issue. Friday-I am getting ready to go on a trip to Yosemite. If only I gave my spiritual plans as careful attention as the details of travel to and from that spot. I have maps for Yosemite, but I often ignore spiritual maps such as prayer forms and even Scripture. Some blessed days, spiritual insight comes out of the blue, but it can also emerge from discipline carful spirituals planning and work. Saturday-Miroslav Volf has been sharing some values that he raises up in this political season. They seem awfully idealistic to me, but political discourse requires some at times, I think. He wants to eliminate all PR spin in politics but I think interpretation is inevitable. I do applaud his call for accuracy and civility as much as possible. what are core values you bring to the election?

Column on vacation

I recently returned form vacation in Yosemite. With limited time, I flew out, so my immediate thoughts go out to the difference between first class travel and steerage. I don’t fly that often, so I was surprised that the old curtain had been replaced by what appears to be an old bank vault door. I was surprised that we still are granted a peek at the secular heaven before mere mortals enter the plane. The massages prior to takeoff seem a nice touch, as is the parade of servants carrying in their meals on silver trays. On my way out, I read a book form interlibrary loan form our excellent Hayner Library: Living into Focus, by Arthur Boers. It is mostly a screed against what technology may be doing to our capacity to develop human relationships. Some of it has accurate description of our rushed, frenzied culture, where it takes us a while to calm into vacation mode. Our daughters taught me a lot about moving into vacation ode. Left to my own device, I make it an extension of work, with a list of things I want to see and do. They carry a much smaller list and are willing to see what transpires during the day. After my first big hike in the afternoon, I was cooling down by walking a stretch on the valley floor. No one was around, and I was in a living cathedral of trees along the Merced River. I noticed my breathing slowed and had grown deeper. Boers had written that we can deepen our vacation experience by doing something more difficult than usual, as a challenge deepns an experience. I decided to climb up the old four mile trail. (It is now more a five mile trail as switchbacks have been added over the years to make it more doable.) Male ego was involved as well, as the park employees snickered when I asked directions to it. While the valley floor is populated by all sorts of tourists, only American mountain girls and Europeans were on this trail. I muttered dark warnings as they sauntered up the trial with their hiking poles saying things like, “this is a mere stroll in the Alps.” It did not dawn on me that I was the only gray beard on the trail. When the switchbacks started, I found boulders to rest. The Europeans were so kind and would say, “How smart you are to stop and enjoy the vistas; we are climbing so fast.” Really, I was trying to catch my breath and deciding if I could make the next turn. At the three mile mark of Union Point, I decided that I was not enjoying this anymore and headed down. At Union Point, a woman said that I did not need to walk a bit more to the point itself, as it wasn’t all that much. How inured we can become to seeing a succession of ever more stunning views of creation and natural processes that we spare a few steps. Of course, after the trip, reality intruded quickly. the folks in Fresno seemed determined to make sure that we missed out connecting flights in San Francisco. The booth at what is laughingly called customer service moved at a snail’s pace. As soon as I got up front, two of the turtle-paced representatives announced that it was their lunch time. I was asked if I would be interested in diverting to Cleveland and arrive in STL at 1:30 AM. I declined, but hoped I could get bumped up to first class. on another flight. It was not to be, but I carry a first class piece of serenity within, as Yosemite lingers in my soul.

Sept 7 Column on speechmaking in convention and pulpit

One of the annoying things about being a pastor is that everything we encounter becomes grist for the mill of Bible Study or sermons. So, listening or reading a few convention speeches dovetailed into my work. I listened to a number of the convention speeches in the past week or so. I am going to avoid any partisan notes, to the extent I am able, but wish to focus on the rhetoric, the presentation of self and ideas of some of the speakers. If I have time, I will use this as a focus for the task of preaching. I was so impressed with the tone of voice throughout Gov. Romney’s address. It was mercifully lacking the stridency of so much of his party compatriots. Instead, it had the sound of someone bemused and saddened by the position of our country. He added to the script of his remarks with his tone of disappointment. Senate aspirant Elizabeth Warren was noteworthy for the strength of the verbs she often deployed. For instance, Wall Street malefactors don’t walk, they “strut.” A program gets “vaporized.” Ms. Warren does not strike me as a natural speaker. She used her quiet voice as a source of strength. She had an editor's pen in her speech to give it punch and some flow. A Harvard professor would say unbalanced, but a speaker would say “rigged.” this was striking in her argument against corporate personhood on “real people.” “they live; they love, they die, and that matters.” Its power came in part from the simple single syllable Anglo-Saxon string of verbs. Clinton’s deployment of detail enhanced his argument for a few reasons. Why did not our eyes glaze over with statistics? It kept it grounded from dreamy flights of mere words. Second, it signaled that he took his audience seriously. Third, he was able to fit the data into the structure of his argument, so that it fit a narrative flow and did not seem to be a parade of statistics floating out in the void. Susie Delano of First Presbyterian noted that Clinton is gifted with capturing a phrase or a bit of information that connects with people as a part of a lifetime of political discourse. Apparently about a third of the speech had additions made on the spur of the moment (I didn’t want to say on the fly when it comes to President Clinton).So having a manuscript gave him freedom to extemporize, as opposed to the lack of structure that made Clint Eastwood’s performance so baffling. In the recent Christian Century magazine, the new CTS President Matthew Boulton and his talented spouse wrote about the difficulties of sermon writing. They did not take aim at the usual suspects of being too long or too boring. (For instance, a few weeks a go, a member loved a sermon on David and Bathsheba as it was about sexual indiscretion, but the next week he said the sermon was “something about Communion.) Building on Eph.6:10-20, they urged pastors to be much more demanding aobut our use of images that take on a poetic quality, that invite us into a person’s skin or situation, instead of being content to describe it. Not only are that asking that we deploy stories to illustrate a point, they invite us to struggle for words that help us enter into the story, to smell the sizzle of a burger on the grill, to walks around with an infant with colic at 3AM, to recapture the quiver in your voice when you first ask out someone you like in high school. Words are frail instruments, but they are what we have to communicate our best aspirations. Politicians and pastors share that trying task. We owe it to our listeners to do our best to both inform and inspire.

OT notes Prov.1:20-33

1) Prov. 1-9 is neglected even more than the other sections as it deals with a personification, even hypostatis,of Wisdom, Some will smile that hokmah, wisdom, is female.If one chooses, you can go into some journey in class on wisdom and the Spirit, wisdom by way of the logos of John 1:14 and hints in the gospels such as Mt. 11 (see Ben Witherington on Wisdom in John, for instance) 2) It is not an easy way for wisdom in the world, as it is rejected.Consider this with care. Wisdom provides a way to a better life. why would we reject it? 3)Wisdom cries out in public, but is publicly rejected. this will preach well. Consider ways we reject, publicly and privately, wise counsel. 4) When wisdom is not heeded, wisdom can mock our distress when we seek help too late. Actions are not easily erased. consequences do occur(27-28). 5) v. 31 has some real depth to it.Instead of being able to fee don the tree of wisdom, we will starve as we would eat of our own meager offerings. 32 one could do a sermon merely on complacency of v.32 6) V.33 ends with a wonderful set of promise, words redolent of salvation as well as wisdom.

OT Notes Prov. 22

1) For me, hands down, the best reader of Proverbs is the preaching professor at Perkins, Alyce McKenzie. 2) Obviously the lectionary is going for comments on riches, but one could feel free to add to the readings. This is tricky, as Proverbs often links prosperity to blessing, to walking in the way of wisdom.Go through some of our saying about money:money can;t buy happiness/can;t buy me love." 3) It could be fun to run some secular proverbs/sayings/bumper stickers to sit along the words here. "the one who dies with the most toys wins." 4) Proverbs are not theories, and they may conflict. different bits of wisdom may apply to different situations. After all, "he who hesitates is lost," but "when in doubt, hesitate." Donald Capps did some good work on Proverbs and pre-marital counsel. 5) Our short lines certainly demonstrate the preferential option for the poor. 6) If one dares, we could line up the political platforms of 2012 to our lines. 7) What are the causes of poverty or wealth in our time? How do we line up characteristics of each category?

Sept 2 Sermon Notes Song of song 2:8-13, James 1:17-27

September 2 Song of Songs 2, James 1:17-27 At the General Assembly we struggled with the definition of marriage and if Presbyterian pastors can perform same gender marriage ceremonies. We have struggled with this issue for around 40 years at the national level. So, I am delighted to go to Scripture to read from this uninhibited letter praising mutual romantic love. It really is like a song, as it has parts like the old songs where a duet would sing their parts and join together. We even get a chorus that responds. Songs like this are sung in rural desert areas of the Arabian peninsula still. If you prefer, it is a love poem, for romantic love strains against the limitations of mere prose. Whenever I’ve worked with this book, people will say something of the order of, is that in the Bible? I was delighted that our daughter and son in law picked a reading from this book for their wedding, especially as they had worked on it together in Hebrew class in school. I realize that sexuality is dynamite, and the church is correct in handling with care, but we have been far too chary about celebrating it within our social structures. Now James 1:17-27 comes blasting in and speaks of moral filth, and now we are in comfortable territory, at least about other people. We often associate romantic love as something dirty. His concerns go much further and deeper than ours do.His view of sin is wide:anything that alienates us from the golden rule of loving God and neighbor. God smiles at the bedroom of a loving couple, and God weeps at the wordless meals at dining room tables or the harsh words bandied about in the kitchen. One of the great losses in human relationships is how the words of the Song of Solomon sort start to recede and get replaced by criticism and even contempt. In terms of our letter, James wonders how can the same lips that pray and praise God , or the words of romantic attachment and devotion, also speak the filth of condemnation, sarcasm, and disrespect that flow so easily from us? How does delight curdle into taking someone for granted or even contempt over time? I like elements of Celtic spirituality because it fits our physical, incarnate faith. It glories in the tactile manifestations of the creation and our role in it. James advocates keeping a tight rein on the tongue. Romantic love inspires flights of poetry, of whispering sweet words ( I will not call them sweet nothings) to our beloved. It is a sign of sin when those sweet endearments get transformed into words of resentment and bitter carping. One of those areas would be his lead in to our passage. We call acts of God disasters in insurance policies. we blame God when terrible things happen. James will have none of it, for all good and perfect gifts come from above. One of those good and perfect gifts is romantic love. In few areas do we fall into the trap of seeing the spiritual as abstract, as some airy realm above and beyond the physical as we do with romantic love. We tend to put the two on opposite ends of a spectrum. Let me conclude with some words on love. On Facebook recently, Christian Boyd, who was in our presbytery, put up a post on an apostle of christian love, Bernard of Clairvaux. He wrote 86 sermons on the song of songs. Let’s close with some of his words. they are models on how we can use our words, our tongues, as vehicles of love and not always aspire to be so sharp with our words, but loving.

First Week in Sept Devotions

Sunday Sept.2-Ps. 45 is a royal wedding psalm, fit for Prince William and his beautiful bride, perhaps. Since it is a royal psalm it grates on democratic ears. It odes fit the grand procession so many brides imagine. It brings to mind when TR had to walk his niece Eleanor down the aisle to marry FDR, and he exulted, “you look magnificent.” Consider writing a wedding psalm, one of memory or one of hope, or maybe one for a child or grandchild. Labor Day-I love the idea of having a holiday celebrating working people. In the first creation account, chapter two of genesis moves toward what could be the goal of creation: the Sabbath. Our BCW has this prayer: “for work to do and strength to work; for the comradeship of labor; for exchanges of good humor and encouragement; we thank you, God.” Tuesday-Summer traditionally ends today. I still hold a trace of sadness for children that summer is over and school has started. when I was young, I appreciated how the time seem to beckon outward, and I could listen to Pirate games on the radio into the night, without knowing that I need to wake early for school. What memories of summer captivate you/ what hopes for summer drive you to the next plans for vacation, the next big family outing? Wednesday-I decided to build up for some hiking and convinced myself it wasn’t going to rain on Sunday. So I was the farthest point of the hike when the downpour came. I had to look under my glasses to see, even as I was slipping from all of the debris rushing down the hillside trail. I made it back without too much trouble and was laughing about it even as it was happening. Apply such a memory to your spiritual life. When were you in denial? What makes you path slippery? What gives you a sense of safety, of security? When is your vision clouded? Thursday-It may be a blessing to forget a hurt, but forgetting is problematic when we forget an appointment. Some say it may be repression, or being passively aggressive, but it can be as simple as the stress of trying to hold too many things in the mind at the same time. When does a faulty memory give you trouble? When is it a blessing? When have you found yourself in the position of actually forgetting about a hurt? Friday-I recoil from the idea of suffering as a test of character. I especially recoil from the idea that God tests us by placing difficulties in our way. To me, suffering can destroy much more easily than hone the edge of our capacities. If suffering is an educative tool, I want to see a different lesson plan. To me, suffering cries out for healing. By and large, we do well not to blame victims of suffering for their plight, even if they carry much of the responsibility for it. It is not an opportune time to admonish the sinner. Saturday-I wonder why we gravitate to the music of our youth with more of a hold than new songs. Even in church, I notice that people rarely speak well of new hymns but use the hymns of their youth as the center of liturgical gravity. Are they attached to times of our lives that we invest with much importance, so the song itself is independent of the events?

Column for Friday on Labor Day

I am so old that I recall when school started the day after Labor Day. I am old enough to be caught between conflicting whirls toward labor. My maternal grandfather was kicked out of the company house for considering joining the IWW. Both my uncles were attacked by private and public police when the United Mine workers were organizing in the western Pennsylvania coal fields. My father worked his way up the ladder as a seafarer through the programs of the Seafarer’s International Union, and I could afford college due to a scholarship from that same union. I would walk into bars when I was young, and the folks would show me precisely where John L Lewis stood and spoke ot the gathered men. At the same time, corruption infested segments of the labor movement. Some of its demands pressed industry beyond economic capacity, and concern for maintaining positions led to a crazy quilt of regulations and sometimes featherbedding. When I was in school, we barely touched on labor history, in the heart of the union movement. I recall when George Meany was an important guest on a Sunday talk show, but now unions are hovering just over 10% of the work force. Even as unions are in full retreat, listen to how the very word is spit out in political speeches. Long ago, as labor strife was increasing in the country, a surge began in the East for a workingman’s holiday. Soon, many states enacted just such a holiday and in the midst of grave labor struggles and social unrest, the Congress enacted a national Labor Day in 1894. Within a week, President Cleveland would send in federal troops to crush the Pullman strike in Chicago. Working people could use a rest. the average industrial wage was often less than 25 cents and hour and the average industrial work week was sixty hours a week. 35,000 workers were killed annually around the first Labor Day and over 500,000 were injured. In some cities, children made up almost 10% of the work force. A Hull House report told of girls in candy factories working over 80 hours a week. Mary Harris Jones spent years in labor agitation. Mother Jones is buried not far from Alton in Union Miners Cemetery in Mt. Olive. Among her quotes she said: “injustice boils in men's hearts as does steel in its cauldron, ready to pour forth, white hot, in the fullness of time.” In 1891 Pope Leo wrote an encyclical on the rights of labor. Here are two noteworthy sections: “The oppressed workers, above all, ought to be liberated from the savagery of greedy men, who inordinately use human beings as things for gain. Assuredly, neither justice nor humanity can countenance the exaction of so much work that the spirit is dulled from excessive toil and that along with it the body sinks crushed from exhaustion. The working energy of a man, like his entire nature, is circumscribed by definite limits beyond which it cannot go. (#59)… Equity therefore commands that public authority show proper concern for the worker so that from what he contributes to the common good he may receive what will enable him, housed, clothed, and secure, to live his life without hardship (#51).” As we mourn the passing of summer, I hope and pray that we pause in thanksgiving for the gift of labor to build a nation, to provide the dignity of work for all, to honor how each gift can be fitted within a society to contribute to the common good. May all who work by hand, or head, or heart know, for at least a day, that they are recognized and respected.