Friday, April 26, 2013

Devotional Thoughts for Week of April 28


Sunday April 28-Ps. 148 ifts a week that started with Earth day.It could fit some of the natural images on our psalm windows here at First, Alton. Can you even imagine a more inclusive hymn of praise from all of creation? What element of creation draws you closer to the presence of God? what draws you away from a sense of the presence? J. Philip Newell is on Facebook and writes well of the Spirit of creation within the Celtic empahsis on traces of god in the natural world.

Monday-This is the first time since I have been here that the river is threatening.I feel for the people whose livelihood is inconvenienced and worse by the waters. At the same time, it is a fascinating thing to watch the waters rise in unfamiliar areas such as the park by the marina. i saw three heron ( or egret some long-legged bird, I know few proper names for birds)  and a fish there yesterday when I was reviewing this.

Tuesday-I was recently reminded that a sense of personal shame may be a more potent issue today than guilt.shame is the sense that something is wrong with or about me, independent of what I do. when we do wrong, we feel guilty, but shame seems to be a more pervasive sense of damaged sense of self. In worship, look at the declaration of pardon as healing a sense of shame as well. If God accepts us in the divine illumination, what need to we have ot hide from ourselves and others?

Wednesday-My calendar list this as a remembrance for the Holocaust. It may be related to yad vashem, that refers to Is. 56:5, where God’s people will be given a place and a name.One of the most-visited sites in Israel is the memorial to the 6 million names of those who perished in Hitler’s pogrom.One thing tha thelps me consider it is to look at those few “righteous gentioe” who braved the system to help those in desperate need.

Thursday is a national day of prayer-Ever since the revolution, assemblies have called for a day of prayer. Toward the end of his term President Reagan formalized this Thursday in May. Part of me militates against the state proposing a day of prayer, as I see it as outside its purview. On the other hand, it was a model for ancient israel, and it has been honored in american tradition. Nations are always in need of prayer.

Friday is called friendship day. I think it may be connected to church Women United. anyway, I applaud the idea. friends are often the crucible of the critical moments in our lives. Good marriages, I have noticed, often emerge from a friendship that turns into a romance. Who have been your good friends? What makes a good friend? How are friends similar and dissimilar to you?

Saturday-Why do some friendships seem to lose their potency over time? Some cherished friendships last a lifetime, but others seem more transient.Sometimes it comes from not tending them well, or sometimes, some unresolved hurt gets in the way. I am wondering about the ones that seem to fade away, almost beneath our radar, until one realizes that the old connection has withered.Do you think a cause is underneath it? Now consider the hymn, What a Friend We Have for some spiritual clues.

Column on Dealing with Crime Locally


UCM, United Congregations of Metro East, is holding a workshop the first Saturday in May. It deals with a difficult topic, the role of churches in helping released prisoners re-enter society. As always with this group, to uses the faith as a springboard to address social ills and matters of justice. Its main focus has been race relations, development, and the environment.

Churches are geared to acts of charity, called service or mission, in religious parlance. Charity provides help for basic human needs on an individual, piecemeal basis. Its failing is that charity is often a Band-Aid on a weeping wound. It becomes part of the patchwork of living day to day, but charity does not address a system that seems intent on producing so much difficulty. Justice moves in a social dimension, and it brings to light inequities in the structures and systems of how we operate. UCM is designed to hit nerves.

I can think of few areas that demonstrate its moral courage as much as this one. As their material suggests, most of us prize the criminal justice system because it punishes offenders. We see the threat of punishment as a deterrent against vicious behavior. For instance, I have no trouble with longer sentences for those convicted of violent crime or the use of a gun in a crime. (Let me guess, that could be the next frontier for the gun lobby, and they will ask for shorter sentences for those who use guns). In so many ways, we have given up on rehabilitation as a goal of the criminal justice system. UCM calls us back toward its consideration and implementation. In a struggling rust belt economy in the doldrums, how do we learn to match an opportunity for gainful work to offenders?

In its stead, UCM is proposing a model of restorative justice. This covers a lot of territory, but it often means looking to heal the breach in a society caused by crime. Some emphasize the victims of crime being restored form their losses, or receiving aid in coming to terms with the impact of a crime. Here, UCM is interested in helping to restore the offender to a new and secure place to start again in society. Jesus used visiting the prisoner as a model of charity in Mt. 25, but here we are extending the reach of the clarion call of the Old Testament for justice.

I struggle with the sheer size of the number of prisoners in this country, especially compared to other nations. One reason is our use of the drug laws to define drug use as criminal instead of the public health crisis it portends. Yes, I do realize that drug use can lead to crime to fuel the addiction, but we have a large number of people imprisoned for mere possession. Prisons are expensive, but so is addiction treatment. As a society, which path shall we continue to choose?

Further, since we closed down large mental health facilities, we have been negligent in creating a system of smaller in-house treatment programs for the mentally ill. Our biggest initial mental health treatment facilities in this country are jails. Hebrew ethics were always concerned with the vulnerable, the least of these: the widow, orphan, and sojourner in a society without a social safety net. In our time, I would certainly place the mentally ill in that category.

In biblical terms, released prisoners are lepers, untouchables. The clarion call of Jesus is toward healing, yes even those now chained ot the margins of society. I am in awe of the willingness of UCM to address the issue and to confront the churches, and our communities, with it.

Monday, April 22, 2013

week of April 21 Devotional thoughts


April 21 Sunday-Ps, 23 is perhaps the best-known, best loved psalm. Let me look at the issue of “preparing a table in the presence of my enemies.” Even the best among us have enemies. if that is too stark, make the enemies the terrors that face us, cancer, dread, and the like. I love the idea of being at table with the enemy, maybe to negotiate, but maybe to lord it over the enemy at the head of the table.

Earth Day is a great example of the world preaching the gospel to the church. We have such vast resources on the care of creation and remained silent for far too long. Perhaps one of the best offerings of the church to this day is to use the word, creation, instead of the environment.What parts of creation do you most and least prize? How does the deep connections of creation become clear to you?

Tuesday Can we be too tightly bonded in family? If family bonds inhibit the growth and  development of a member, yes. If we stifle someone in the name of family harmony, yes.We all live on a tightrope of being permeable to outside influences and still being our own self. In systems theory, we hear of someone being differentiated enough to be able to stand on their own two feet, yet capable of staying engaged with others.

Wednesday-My calendar cites this day for the Armenian genocide.Hitler famously said that he would get away with mass murder for who remembered the Armenians? The Ottoman Turks killed many, and are quite closed about even mentioning the issue in diplomatic circles even today.As I write this, we are stunned by the apparent bombing in Boston after the marathon. We accept large losses, as it is so hard to wrap our hearts and minds around them; so we grow numb.

Thursday-I have some friends who frequently send me links to material on the computer. Sometimes, I find it annoying, but other times I am touched that they would be to thoughtful enough to think of me when they are reading an article. It’s  an extension of a note that says that I thought this may interest you. On Facebook, people post all sorts of sensitive, encouraging, positive slogans. What sort of material do you tend to send friends?

Friday-Our Wednesday morning class is looking at wisdom literature as a guide toward ethics.Wisdom seems to be predicated on the notion that we can discern patterns in God’s creation that can lead to better chances for happiness and fulfillment. In other words, wisdom merges the secular and the sacred into a path for a path, or paths, to making human life better through reflected experience.

Saturday-What an important resource energy is.I was talking with someone wise recently who divided people into energy leeches and energy producers.In a couple, I think tha tthe energy in the relationship goes back and forth, but I like to think tha tboth get recharged in each other’s presence. Perhaps we could look at prayer as a source for divine energy that can suffuse us in various prayer postures.

Sermon Notes 4/21 Acts (:36-41, Rev. 7:9-17


pril 21 Acts 9:36-41,Rev.7:9-17
Some of us think of the little girl in bewitched when you hear the name Tabitha. Tabitha or Dorcas is gazelle in 2 languages. Life was fleeting for her, just like a gazelle.This ancient port city is within Tel Aviv now. In many cultures, it is a symbol for grace, for beauty, for compassion.I love this resurrection.story. It is such a story of an element of grief, the keepsake. Keepsakes are tangible reminders of a person, and they often remind us of an attribute of the person. Keepsakes are the source of stories about a person. I find a distinction between a keepsake and a shrine. A shrine tries to freeze life into the moment of a death, where things are stopped to be the same, before the death. Instead, a keepsake brings our continuing bonds with a loved one forward into our lives. A keepsake keeps a life present for us,but a shrine is more of a mausoleum, a Taj Mahal to death.. This little story stands against the easy stereotype that women’s lives were not considered important in ancient times. This good and kind woman, this doubly named woman is raised from the dead.during the visitation in a funeral home, we collect keepsake stories that define a love done. They may often point to a particular act of kindness.

I am glad we are reading some hymns from Revelation in this Eastertide. This is as good a song about heaven as I can find in the bible. It is such a shame that we have permitted our disposal of this book to be placed in the hands of fortune tellers  and religious quacks. We deprive ourselves of its riches. The primary locus in speaking of heaven is being in the presence of God.Let’s be clear. At the earthly level most of these in heaven were nobodies; some were martyred for their faith. To paraphrase Lincoln, history would little note nor long remember them. In the eyes of god, they are royalty; they hold victory in their hands. At one level they are mouldering in the grave, but in heaven they are in the midst of the very fount of life.Please recognize the vast sum of them, the uncounted multitude.

Notice that it does not erase or deny the troubles and pains of this life. It does imagine that those tears will be dried.Notice the  literary move of making the sacrificial, slain little lamb the shepherd here.It does imagine a place where hunger and thirst are no longer an issue. A place where body and spirit are refreshed together. S hould we refer to ourselves as keepsakes in heaven?

Of lambs and shepherds-We may well be both at the same time. We care for others and take care of others. We do well to be careful not to try to shepherd adults when they are doing fine on their own. That’s a good definition of controlling, trying to shepherd someone who is fully capable of being a shepherd. At times, we need to be lambs, to receive care, protection, and comfort. Sometimes our greatest wisdom is learning to accept that we are in the lamblike position, especially as we grow frail and find it very hard to come to grips ws with decline.

Lately, i have mentioned at funerals that we can hope to grow into our eulogies. It is a marvel to hear stories of kindnesses of which we were unaware at funeral visitations; we get a fuller picture of someone.Perhaps one of our heavenly rewards is to see those acts of kindness displayed and treasured for all to see and appreciate.

Rev. 21:1-6 Notes


21:1-6  Look at the density of OT references here.Pay attention to its rummaging through the Isaiah corpus for images ( at least in 25, 65, 55 60 and 43 for starters). 

Are the former things the former evil in Isaiah?  Could it be death itself, with death now passing away? 

Again, this may be a good time to look at the mythic meaning fo the sea.  If one is of a scientific bent, how could we, should we speak of this in terms of science or are we pushed to metaphor here?

The holy city is an anti-Babylon. It is probably anti-Roma as well.  The offerings of Babylon and the new Jerusalem are rather different, no? Are there sources of different types of hope as well? 

Is new heaven an image of annihilation or transformation or utter novelty? The city image deserves some treatment perhaps. We are led to the new temple of Ezekiel starting at  40-or the recently read Is. 65:17-25.(Could the worship been connected to the month of AV and its consideration of the destruction of the temple, especially as this was probably written within a generation of Roman destruction?

Now go a bit further and we encounter the lake of sulfur and fire. How many sermons on Hell, how many studies on Hell have we done?

Look at what comes for free here, without price, without cost. God’s presence with us and the healthy clean waters v. the polluted waters of a port city.

Monday, April 15, 2013

Rev. 7:9-17 notes


7:  9-17        Boring calls this section the church triumphant. some read this as a peaceful army. Do we need to bring in the first part? Here we are back to the lamb and its emphasis on blood. Boring asserts that it is the blood as life (Levitcus) that is emphasized more than the shedding of blood per se as a magical element.(Think both Passion of the Christ and “gospel” hymns). One could play with a variety of reasons the folks wear white robes, but it is incontestable that they are martyrs in God’s perspective now.Notice the lamb transmuted into shepherd work here.
144,00 invites discussion of the JW movement. Do you detect an anti-Judaism cast or supersessionism in the number or using 12 as an expansive number? Recently a book came out demonstrating that claims of Christian martyrs under constant persecution is a huge exaggeration.  Greg Carey asks-”who will bear faithful lam-like practices  in a society of Beast-ly practices?”
One could also do a martyr’s mirror sermon of contemporary struggles in the faith.
One could do a sophisticated sermon on secular culture and religious values.
One could go further and speak on how secular society preaches the gospel to the church inits forms of witness.
With so many legal shows and procedurals, the idea of witness could be explored in some interesting ways, or one could go to social psychology and the fragility fo the accuracy of our witness.
Who can stand asks the sixth seal? The people of God can comes the answer in this salvation interlude. No tribulation (thlipsis) will impede their victory. Note well that the church is undergoing suffering and trial, not being removed from it.
The Southern church called dispensational theology a heresy. I am mystified by our continued kindness toward it in our biblical interpretation. On JWs and the 144,00 it is somehow linked with this idea of a multitude. Perhaps this multiple of 12 deals with the tribes of Israel and maybe the church as a large unit, a large remnant if you will within the multitude.
Presence/tenting/tabernacling here may refer to feast of Tabernacles and then to transfiguration??) and/or Palm Sunday. this is the word used to refer to the Logos dwelling with us in John 1.
Are these sealed ones baptized? Are the robes baptismal robes?

Sermon Notes Ps. 30, Rev. 5:11-14, Acts 9, Jn. 21:1-19


In prayer on a Sunday, the visionary of Revelation has access to a view of the throne room of God. His eye lights on  of all things, a lamb. More surprising, this odd Lamb is in the center of the throne room, not only a sacrificial lamb, a slaughtered lamb- seven attributes are given it.not only that, it is Mary’s little lamb. Even in the precincts of heaven, God honors the small. (Gandalf quote: “  Saruman believes it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. I found it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay… small acts of kindness and love. Why Bilbo Baggins? That’s because I am afraid and it gives me courage.” CS Lewis could never quite get this clear, for his Narnia image is of a great lion. Instead of the power of brute force, we encounter here the power of a choir. What a mixed choir it is, but part of it has martyrs in it. Suffering and death do not ge the last words for us. they look like victims, but now in God’s embrace they are singing in a victory choir.

In that light, I love the beach barbeque scene. At one level, we are in the presence of God in heaven, in a world we can but glimpse and never capture. At another level, the Risen Jesus, symbolized by the lamb in the vision is on the beach on the lake that dominates his home region. While the disciples are out at work, Jesus is cooking. First, the cooking bespeaks the importance of life here physically, the need to make a living and to eat. Second, I suspect that the 153 fish is the size of John’s church perhaps, and that means this church has more members than a church in John’s community.. Third, it is to emphasize that the resurrection has a body and soul component.this sort of physical activity distinguished a presence from a ghost, a mere figment. I have a fourth, but first.
   Ps 30 is a hymn to moving from death to life. Yes it applies to a healing, but also to the great healing of moving from tomb to womb. We are not forever consigned to sadness, grief, and desolation. Yes, we admit that we are subject to it. It does us no earthly good to deny it, to not recognize it. With loss, we lived poised between death and life. Yes bereavement is part of loss. We do not  have to live in grief forever. In time we will be able to dance again.
   Paul’s Easter life  is new spiritual insight. Look how Ananias offers him the gift of life as did Jesus. Notice it too is connected to forgiveness. In Paul's case, the physical scales fall from his eyes. It is doubly important for he could not see the vitality of the new Christian movement but he had an encounter with the holy and his eyes could not bear it, blinded by the light as Springsteen sings. Ananias is extraordinary because he has forgiven this persecutor of the faith, even though he had to be persuaded in his vision.. Paul was on the road to maybe capture and kill ananias.By the way, it is possible that the same street is still present in Damscus after ll these years and ruins east -west.
   We are in the season of Easter light in the church.All of of readings open up into a broader wider world. The divine level collides with the everyday level in forgiveness. Again, in this extra chapter, John’s gospel stresses forgiveness. Jesus has not forgotten what Peter has done, as the triple question is no accident. Jesus is willing to give him not only an extra chance but offers him the trust of leadership.Oh yeah, the fourth part of the beach barbeque. Jesus prepares a charcoal fire, and the only place we find this word in the NT is the fire where peter warms himself as he denies Jesus. Jesus forgives n spite of remembering.

Saturday, April 13, 2013

Devotional Notes Week of April 14


April 14-Ps.30 is an exultant song of healing. I love the end of “mourning into dancing  ..that my heart may sing to you.” when have you felt like this, that you have turned a corner? When have you felt improved and better? How did it hit you when you received a good prognosis after a difficult illness or crisis? It may be a good spiritual exercise to make Ps. 30 specific to you and write it as a personal prayer.

Monday-Revelation is our lectionary set for a while. Its vision unnerve many of us. It is presented as a Sunday worship vision, or set of visions, perhaps. Of all people, we should be more comfortable with visionary material because we are hit constantly with visual images all the time on TV, computers, and movies. Apocalyptic visions are standard viewing fare, but we act as if it is so foreign to us. Just as TV uses stock images, so did Revelation. Look at a good study Bible and look at the abundance of cross references.

Tuesday-Forgive and forget is such a unity that we misuse it in practice, I think.If we cannot forget, then are we free from forgiving? Would forgiving mean forgetting, when we do not want to forget? No we forgive in spite of remembering. Forgiveness does not promise a delete button to erase the DVR in our minds.It may mean that in time when we encounter someone whom we have hurt or has hurt us, the pain of the incident is not the first thing that flashes in our minds.

Wednesday-Mad Men started its new season on looking at the 60s through an advertising agency. Its main character is Don, a philanderer but advertising genius. In some ways, viewers root for him because of his frailties and coarse behavior, not in spite of it.why do we root for the villain to escape sometimes? Rascals are usually more interesting, and we usually like and identify with them more, no?

Thursday-Obstacles to doing good abound. I just finished writing a bible study for the Wiseman Bible class and really noticed how many obstacles were thrown at rebuilding the temple and the very walls of Jerusalem after the exile. Look back at Ezra or Nehemiah and see how many obstacles of all sorts seemed to be arrayed against them. It is a mistake to think that if we are doing the Lord’s work, all will be easy and smooth sailing.Expecting that obstacles will occur can prepare us a bit. what obstacles came up in your attempt to do a worthwhile project?

Friday-An FB posting gave me pleasure as someone remembered Louisville and NBA player Wes Unseld. He was a brick wall of a man with legs like tree trunks, a great rebounder. I am amazed at how a sound, a picture, a scent can send us hurtling back many years. the sesne is sometimes so clear, as if we are back when it happened. Being grateful for memory is one of the reasons for our celebration of the Eucharist.

Saturday-We started a unit on Christian ethics in the Wednesday morning class. at first we spoke about how hard it is to even speak of Christian ethics and how radically different people approach the topic itself. Parts of the bible seem to be in conflict. We are not agreed onthe meaning of critical values such as love, justice, or compassion.What values, virtues, or decision tools do you tend to use when struggling to do the good or right thing?

Rev. 5 Notes


5:11-14- 
1)It cannot be overstated to see the Lamb at the center of the throne vision.It is a little lamb, a little slain lamb that transmutes the image of the Lion of Judah.(CS Lewis seemed to have trouble grasping that) 

2)worthy (axios) was a call for honoring political power-

3)All of this is praise for the lamb that grows in number and scope-see the piece Costly Loss of Praise in Interpretation or Breuggemann’s work on doxology in 1988. In choir practice, we would be told to sing this as a crescendo in forte.. I find praise songs insipid or coercive in feeling tone, what do you detect here? The praise here could be a parody of court ceremonial actions as well, but I wonder how john would be familiar with them?

4)One could look at the fluidity of images for God and the Lamb.

5)The book to be opened is dangerous for Reformed Christians and our distant brethren as we tend to see a book of plans of some detail. 

6)  Do you think these hymns are counters to the work of Roman acclamation in temples and cities? (see Int. 2009 on empire and Rev.) If you faced martyrdom would the image of a slain lamb offer courage or fear?

7)Where is small beautiful? Where does weak and small demonstrate power,real power? When does power fail?

8) (Earlier the 24 could be a mix of Israel and the apostles or a parody of Greco- Roman gods, (see Morton-Glory to God JSNT:2001 or Fiorenza-  Rev. p.58)

Monday, April 8, 2013

A Reflection on the Decline of Older Established Protestant Denominations


Some of this material has been percolating for a while, so I decided to use this forum to flesh it out a bit. We had a wonderful Easter service, and the people were treated to wonderful additional music by Greg Fletcher that included brass and percussion.Being a less than cheery sort, I found my thoughts shifting to the Sundays that are less well-attended. that led me to consider something percolating for some time: the decline of the older established Protestant denominations.I would bet that some of the proffered reasons, a more liberal theology linked to staid liturgy and culture may be part of it.

I wonder if the older, established denominations have brought some of the decline on ourselves.First, for years pulpits have emphasized the importance of the heart over the head and spirit in worship. We have downplayed the importance of worshipping together. So we hear about individual experience replacing worship, such as the egregious I feel close to God on the golf course. Still, that response is reasonable in the face of being told repeatedly that one’s emotional response to worship is the critical factor in religious life. In so doing, we have permitted an intellectual erosion in grasping the content of the faith. Indeed, religous scholarship is derided more than respected.

Second, our organizational form seems to take its cue from the business community on matters of structure.”The church needs to be treated  like a business,” we have heard in countless dreary meetings. A recent letter in the Christian Century criticized seminaries solely on the grounds of not teaching business principles but was silent on church history, theology, pastoral care, and the Bible. We picked up the anti-institutional bias of the culture. So, we have raised a generation of people who seem to think that church organization should be present, but they bear no responsibility toward its preservation and upkeep.

Third, we slipped into the church being merely part of other social service organizations.In part, this is part of a churhc’s mission: to offer space for acts of compassion. Too often, those worthy programs seem to be substitutes for the core value of the church in the care of keeping body and soul together. At the same time, we subject ourselves to withering self-criticism and mocking our members by comparing them to the collection of saints we imagine should help form the church. while some criticism may be helpful and healthy, when it does not provide avenues for improvement and a constant drumbeat of criticism, it saps the energy of any group of people.

Fourth, the older denominations are just too nice. They have been sullied over and over by other churches, and we have not responded. Our faith commitments have been placed into question, and we have remained silent. We have hired folks from other denominations into our parishes and permitted them to use their position as a springboard to split a church or try to have it leave their traditional assembly.We have expected others to be as sweet and polite as we have been and then are shocked that they do not play by the same rules.

Lately, I have heard two different folks give a life cycle theory of churches as an explanation that we are at the hospice point of our existence as religious organizations. that may well be true, but it is a grave error to see a model as always reflecting reality. I do not hear the Catholic Church being mentioned in life cycle terms.The older religious groups can find new life again. To see their passing away is to say goodbye to a powerful mixture of voice and action, of aspiring to the best we can create, not settling for the lowest common denominator.

Sunday, April 7, 2013

Sermon Notes for April 7 John 20:18-31


Sometimes, sermons move easily, and sometimes they seem to emerge step by step, drop by drop.The Spirit is powerful. It is the breath of life here. It turns away death. It creates new life in dead relationships. dis-spirited. Jesus offers spiritual CPR here, When Jesus died, they thought they had drawn their last spiritual breath. If Easter is a story only, already consigned to memory, how is it life giving. I do not think it too far to go that Jesus is breathing life into them, as God gave Adam, the breath, the spirit of life. That content of that life is : forgiveness.The breathing body of Christ offers to maintain the mission of Christ in this crucial, indispensable  work, forgiveness.

Disbelief or doubt, as some call it, is not the death of faith but its crucible. It is a manger, not a tomb.Thomas is a twin within, the same but split nonetheless.  .Part of him  believes the resurrection  but he is skeptical. Maybe he cannot bear to be disappointed yet again. This go round, it hit me what is the proof Thomas seeks, the marks from the cross. For Thomas, as William Temple wrote: “the wounds of the cross are his credentials to the suffering race of humanity.” Lately, I keep circling around that Thomas is at first in our position. He hears about the resurrection,but the others had a direct experiene)see mini great commission at 21).Part of me thinks Jesus merely says shalom, hello, peace. Part of me thinks that he could be offering the gift of peace mentioned in John 14 in the beginning of the Farewell  Section. Notice that even if Jesus thinks Thomas is in the wrong, we get no hint of it. Instead Jesus offers him precisely what he asked for. Jesus is in full relationship with thomas; he is not rejected for his skepticism.

The Risen Jesus is certainly elusive, as he moves in and out of locked doors. The truth is that we live in prisons, tombs, of our own devising or as responses to our fears.Sometimes we want to make religion that hiding place from the world. for an hour we don't want the world to intrude, even in our needy prayers, but to be shelter from the storm, to lock the world out.

While Jesus  is dealing with flesh and l blood people about basic religious issues, at another level, we see the reality of this  figure in heaven. Look at the titles strewn about here. At one level of reality, are ordinary people in a corner of the Roman Empire. At one level of reality are people in  a small rust belt city, on the edge of St Louis, those hardy few who come to church the Sunday after Easter. In worship, our lives are shown to be connected to the goings on of heaven itself. Jesus Christ is the bridge to a whole different world. from this perspective, the roman power that took his life is of little consequence in the grand scheme of things.

Against power over others, Jesus gives a charge of forgiveness. ( I am going to forego discussion of retaining sins as a sacred court). The church here is pictured as an odd sort of court similar to the truth and reconciliation commissions in South Africa where telling the truth won the promise of amnesty for one’s crimes against humanity. If a torn relationship is going to receive the breath of life, forgiveness is usually at the heart of the process. Forgiveness is the great Easter practice. On our Easter window is a picture of a phoenix, and out of th3 ahses can come new restored relationship through the ife giving energy of forgivness.

Devotional Thoughts Week of April 7


Sunday April 7-Ps.118 says “ I shall not die, but I shall live.” Later it says that the stone the builders rejected is the chief cornerstone. It is not too big a reach to see how early Christians read the Scripture with new eyes after Easter.How does Easter affect other places when you read Scripture/ How does Easter affect a Good Friday stress in one’s faith? How does Easter light and hope shine in your life?

Monday-resilience is a virtue I keep running into lately.the ability to bounce back is a gift.In some people ti seems to grow stronger over time, not weaker. I wonder if being with others improves resilience or if it stays strong on its own. I am amazed of what we can bounce back from. Of told, we would say, no way, but somehow we manage. i attribute much of that power to the very hand of God.

Tuesday-I saw the movie,NO, recently in STL. The people had a chance to vote no against the Pinochet regime. at first the media team wanted to vent spleen. An advertising consultant said  that such complaints about the past would turn off the people they needed to vote.So they ran a remarkably sunny, future-oriented campaign and won. I wonder when we speak of social justice who is move dby denunciation and threat and who is moved by a vision of a brighter future?

Wednesday-Family rituals create memory and community. I was reminded by this when our youngest asked me for the recipe for the Greek Easter bread I made for the girls every year.Family traditions become part of the family fabric; they become part of our expectations. what are some family traditions that you expect and help make a gathering? what are the most important elements of the church service for you?

Thursday-I’ve been sick a lot last month, and then the snow slowed me down to prepare a vegetable garden this year.I hope that I am at it this week.Every time we plant a seed is a declaration of hope. Every seed acknowledges that so much of it is a gift, the soil, the air, the light, the rain. Every seed that sprouts is a miracle of converting energy and light into growth. Then, that tiny seed may become an abundant plant. Can you apply any of that as an illustration of the spiritual life?

Friday-I listen to pandora on the computer.It is a remakrable program as it can seek out music similar to a list of songs you list. It can categorize the types of music one likes and offer suggestions.Do you have some particular spiriutal themes to which you are drawn and ones that you tend to reject almost out of hand? Do your favorite hymns tend to fall into similar categories?

Saturday-At Rotary, I heard the remarkable story of the bucket brigade in our area. Over the years volunteers have painted hundreds of houses. Told that everyone hates to paint, its founder was given nothing but objections. It shows how a project can gain traction and support over the years. Over time, a small project can work a huge effect on a community. Do you know of similar projects that have taken off in such a way?

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Notes on Rev. 1:4-8 for April 7


Just a few background items for my reading of Revelation passages from the lectionary. Plus, i need to work with this for a presbytery workshop. I continue to be taken by how thoroughly soaked it is in OT imagery, but it often makes reference to material with which we are unfamiliar in the OT. 2) I am deeply suspicious of the post-Darbyite attempts to read all apocalyptic material as a recipe for book for events marching toward a preordained conclusion. 3) We have allowed the previous to happen because we have ceded the field often. 4) Two books that have influence my reading of Revelation are Boring’s commentary in the Interp. series and Eugene Peterson’s Reversed Thunder.In theology Moltmann’s The Coming (of ) God engaged me. At the turn of the century we had an explosion of good books on apocalyptic thought and church history. Moorhead’s book, World Without End is a great look at Darby’s impact in the 19th century and the mainline distance from it.
In our silence on apocalyptic we have opened the door to Darby’s views becoming mainstream and “Biblical.” What are effective counter-measures at this late date? Too often, we merely dismiss not only the interpretation and their fix on us, but we do not offer distinctions.

1:4-8;It does not get stressed  enough that this is a Lord’s Day vision, a worship vision. It is apocalypse, unveiling, revealing, uncovering of another reality. So, we should read this material well due to our cinema literacy.
If Christological titles are important, we start in a treasure trove. Rulers has echoes of Ps. 89
firstborn of the dead is such an arresting image, perfect for the God who makes an Easter tomb a womb of new life.witness=martyr of course. Why have Christians, safe in our country, adopted victim/martyr perspectives? At v. 6 is this the culmination of the priestly kingdom? If you are feeling brave, one could do a piece on Amen here and elsewhere.
the one who was...was applied to Zeus.Is it an extension of the Name of Ex. 3:14?
look at how v. 7 links Dan. 7:13 and Zech. 12:10