This is a new set of notes for a Tuesday group held at First Presbyterian, Alton, IL. At present, we are using a Thoughtful Christian series. This reading uses on Lk. 13:31-5, but the writer, Michael Lindvall, moves into a framing of different models of the atonement.

 

Just to be clear: this Herod is not the same one who sought the life of Jesus as an infant. here, it is Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great who would be around 50 at this time. Like his father, he was a builder and constructed Tiberias as a capital on the Sea of Galilee, and rebuilt Sepphoris, not a difficult walk from Nazareth. This is the Herod who had John the Baptizer killed. Less than 10 years after the death of Jesus, Herod was exiled to Gaul (France) after being accused of insufficient loyalty to Rome. I am unsure as to why Jesus calls him a fox, as I am not sure we should leap to a presumption that we can link our view of a fox as crafty to this old picture. Some think it a term of contempt, like a varmint, a weasel.Some think it cutting him down from a lion to a mere fox.

 

Also please note that the Pharisees are seeking to protect Jesus from Herod. This is the group that will help maintain Judaism into the future after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70. They insisted on careful interpretation of the Scripture and accorded weight to the views of the rabbis. They agreed with the developing view of resurrection, as opposed to "dead is dead." By and large, they were a reform movement within Judaism, outside the temple hierarchy.

The author does a nice job on three major atonement models but seems to neglect the Christus Victor model that emphasizes the defeat of the power of death. See Douglas John Hall for a good analysis in Professing the Faith, ch. 30.

The substitution model has been under withering assault for its image of God as requiring honor in the case of Anselm or seeking to punish the guilty. It is the standard American view of the meaning of the cross. Where do you come out on it?

I am struck by the image of a mother hen.How would that fit and not fit your image of Jesus? Note that it is an exposed, vulnerable image.

The substitutionary atonement model is punitive. How does the lament over Jerusalem affect your image of God's reaction to human troubles?

To the degree I grasp Rene Girard, it is that the cross should put an end to our scapegoating and sacrifices. Still, so many of us use exactly that model to understand the death of Jesus and apply a logic of sacrifice to the suffering of others.

 

How do you find meaning in the cross?

Bear with me as I have yet to unpack all of the books yet. Please note that we move from the large mythic framework of chs.1-11 and now focus on one person and that one family.

1) Abram may mean father is great or exalted, or even high father, possibly from a name of a deity. In the previous verses, his father was to go to Canaan, but they did not go all the way and settled in Haran. Part of this story then is about unfinished business. In our text, no reason is given for God's command. A midrash has Abram assisting his father's business, dealing in idols.Some tradition holds that Abram was a monotheist. Buber read be a blessing, as become a blessing, an obligation to those who receive blessing.
2) The call story here is one of leaving all that one knows, all the connections, all familiarity.
3) I would assume that Abram will be a focal point for later blessings, the progenitor.
4) Blessing and curse is a fundamental biblical polarity. It may be a good exercise to list some of each.I see curse as anything antithetical to life.
5) The curse comes if someone slight or belittle Abram. why would that be? Consider how slights affect not only relationships but our own sense of self.
6) Janzen notes (18, Abraham and All the Families of the Earth0 that that god and Abram's action add up to seven.

Ps. 121 is a favorite psalm for a number of folks. we are in the series of psalms of ascents, perhaps read as one was on pilgrimage toward the temple.

1) As I read it again, I do get  a sense of age, of a prayer where the natural world is threatening and foreboding.
2) The moon striking may be a direct attack on other religions, as both sun and moon were deified in a variety of religious forms.Also the moon could be attributed to lunacy or other diseases, including fever or epilepsy. I have asked our brilliant daughter and fiance for help on this. It could be the power of the Moon God, as Sinai may wellcome from the Moon deity, Sin.
3) Patrick Miller notes that prayer would often try to rouse God in times of trouble, but here it is a statement of trust.
4)Shade has a sense of defense in Num.14:9,Jer. 48:45
5) The beautiful ending blessing is echoed in DT. 28:6, 31:2

6) The ending is quite broad, so it goes beyond a pilgrimage to the entire pilgrimage of our lives.

Notes for March 13th -Mt. 4: 1-11, Gen 3:1-7 March 13, 2011

Matt Damon is in a new movie that looks at chance v. control in the Adjustment Bureau. I seized on the title because in our Genesis reading and the gospel reading, the temptations are subtle, not the parade of excess that we usually think of as temptation that many folks acted upon during Mardi Gras. In a way, the tempter says that just a minor adjustment, not so much as to hurt anything, is all that we need.

Temptations here are not evil in themselves but more of the alternate translation of a trial/test. The tempter is clever and is concerned with means, not ends. Eugene Peterson sees this story as moving against personal, embodied love with a mechanical, depersonalized, disembodied temptation toward power. In the Tuesday Bible study, Michael Lindvall, now a pastor in New York, sees the words of the tempter as leading to confusion, of blurring the situation. the tempter seeks to maneuver around obvious defenses. I am always struck by the ability to use Scripture in a diabolical way in this assault. Here evil is not obvious, but insidious as someone said in Bible Study on Tuesday. Here it distorts the good, but the Scripture keeps Jesus seeing his work clearly.

All of us have wilderness experiences. Human beings suffer-as I heard in African American churches in new jersey years ago,"don;t advertise what ain't being sold." The life with Christ does not make us immune from trouble. Part of the impact of this gospel story is that as soon as Jesus is baptized, these serious trials begin, in the wilderness. I would go so far as to say that failing these tests would make it impossible to face the garden of Gethsemane and the cross in his future. Jesus is not placed on a paved road to success. (Temptation may be  passive acquiescence or fateful action) Temptation may sneak up on us-The whispers would go, "why bother; it would be so much easier to do so much good with some political muscle; it would be so easy to protect so many people if you ordered the angels about; why be hungry when you can snap your fingers?" As Paul Simon sang, "why am I soft in the middle when the rest of my life is so hard?" What would it hurt to soften the edges of one's ethics, just this one time?

Again, tempting in Gen. 3 not obvious but it is playing with words, manipulating  words. It worked as we don;'t like to admit our limits, our desire for control. Yes wisdom is a good thing, but here wisdom is to be desired-to be like God (see Trible). After all, the fruit was attractive and probably tasty, what could be the harm? Eve, the first theologian, is bested by the talking, sly serpent. She and Adam move from blissful innocence to the gnawing doubts about the self of shame and guilt.

Trial and tests, and temptations will be with us always. the first step in dealing with it is the recognition that we are not immune from it; that humility allows us to stay alert to its snares. Second, Eve's way works at times. Put a big boundary around temptation. I knew a couple who pledged not to ever take a drink when they were on the road by themselves, as that seemed to be an entry point for folks getting into trouble. Finally, it is wise to stay connected to God through spiritual vehicles that fit your personalities. Just as we can stray in marriage when we feel disconnected from each other,distance from our spiritual source have us fall prey to slipping, by small degrees at times, into becoming a different person.We are not left defenseless . We have the lines of scripture that allow us to stay in character as baptized Christians.

Sunday-Lent is properly seen as a season of introspection and spiritual discipline. Perhaps a better angle on it is to get out of our own way and to seek the presence of God in our thoughts, feelings, and deeds. Instead of asking what we are doing, it may be better to inquire how  is God involved in my life at this moment; how is God involved in our world at this moment? Taking some time to consider such matters becomes less a matter of personal introspection and more a pathway into the generous presence of God. In other words, Lent can be more than a listing of one's failings, and more an entry point into a the love of God involved in your life.

Monday- Giving something up for Lent is a standard notion of the practice. Often, it was aimed at something we enjoy. when I was little, I would give up candy and potato chips. Here's some different ideas. Why not fast from being harried or frenzied.  How about buying something slighter cheaper and giving the money to the poor? (Often, we I officiate at a wedding, I ask the couple to reduce an item, maybe one less set of flowers, and donate it to a cause important to them. sometimes, it works.) Perhaps, one could consider doing once less activity during Lent.

Tuesday Gregory the Great saw temptation as moving in three stages: suggestion, delight, and consent.In other words, being tempted does not have to directly lead to sin. Perhaps if it is permitted to remain in the world of delight for a while, it would be hard to resist. Recall that Jesus was tempted, just as we all are. As the "new Adam" Jesus demonstrates that  we need not follow the path of Adam and Eve. What temptations are hardest for you to resist? Which ones are easiest for you to resist? Has your ability to resist temptation grown stronger over the years?

Wednesday- I'm a  fan of adding something in life for Lent instead of taking something out of it. Our resistance to that simple little idea may well be a sing that our lives have gotten way too busy. For instance, consider an act of compassion beyond what you normally do. How about reading one more verse of the Bible every day? Perhaps one could add 2 minutes to devotional time during Lent. From another angle, what seeds would you like to sow in your spiritual life that could blossom after Easter?

Thursday 7 deadly sins are: pride, wrath, envy, greed, gluttony, lust, and sloth. At random, I selected envy this time. Envy resents what others have. It usually has its focus on the material, but can expand into the personal easily. It is countered, at least in part, by the virtue of contentment. (Donald Capps has a book on deadly sins and saving virtues). As Paul said contentment allows us to live with equanimity with much or little. Envy is corrosive to relationships. It gnaws away at contentment, if allowed to go unchecked. It is a fruitless task to try to fill a gaping hole that absorbs whatever we try to put in it, for a god-sized hole exists in us all.

Friday- When many of us consider Lenten observance, our minds go toward the Roman Catholic tradition of  fish and abstinence from meat on Friday. the idea is to adopt the biblical tradition of fasting and making a mini-fast, if you will, of an item, in this case, meat. Its idea is one of discipline in the sense of training. Perhaps, if we can forego something small, it will empower us to be able to withstand more potent temptations. It is a reminder that we do not have to follow every impulse blindly, but we can consider and weigh our desires. Taking some time to consider what we put into our bodies allows us to become the proper reception for receiving Communion.

Saturday-Taming speech is a worthwhile Lenten discipline for any of us. Think of the words we use at a wedding: to have and to hold, to cherish, to respect and think about the kind of words that may be directed toward each other as the years roll on. Christians have a tendency to see vulgar language as the problem with words, but it is far more often the cutting remark, the falsehood, the constant complaining that runs us into trouble. Words can comfort or encourage, build up or tear down. We can pay attention to our words.

This is my first chance at leading an Ash Wednesday service, so I am so pleased to have this opportunity.

In the dark of winter, we get a wake-up call in the night: we are all mortal. The ashes are also a signal that we are embodied souls. We do not seek our spiritual selves in some great ethereal, abstract place in the great beyond: our lives are met here and now.

In the back of our minds, we suspect that if the world ran according to our dictates, everyone would be better off. To receive ashes is an act of humility. to receive ashes is a blow against arrogance. Human beings have limits and mortality. It is  wrong to expect perfection of ourselves or others. with the humus of ashes, we mark  ourselves as human. to receive ashes is a reminder that we are capable of reducing relationships to cinders, that cruel words can reduce love to smoke and ash. It is an outward mark that we are not only sinned against but we sin against others.

Our  OT reading makes clear that Israel was not ritualistic. It decries meaningless ritual as a formalistic gesture. It wants our spiritual lives to be well-integrated with our private and public lives.  It is striking that the word hypocrite is chosen, as in ancient times, it had the sense of an actor wearing a mask, but in our time it means showing a side that does not match our interior states. In the Sermon on the Mount Presbyterians have probably paid much attention to its injunction to be privately religious, on order to avoid being labelled as hypocrites. .In the OT reading we are called for private good and public justice. Indeed, it comes close to saying that prayers go unanswered due to public injustice, not matter the aggregation of individual charity.Since we are earth-bound, earth-formed creatures, we share a common nature, aspirations and failings mixed together. Once again we venture out into the wilderness that place where God can be as close as each breath and as far away  as a distant star. we travel it with Jesus and start the road toward Holy Week.

Notes for OT Lectionary
Gen. 2:15-17, 3:1-5 frist cut

1) At first we are in Eden, I suppose where the man is at work and note well, taking care of the land.
2) He is given a basic commandment. Why was it given? What would prompt disobeying the command? In other words, what is in us to push at a rule?
3) The serpent is sly, and it is a word play on naked as well.
4) Notice that Eve puts a fence around Torah and pushes the boundaries of the prohibition out. why would she do that? Is she the first theologian?
5) Is the warning about death an immediate threat or a later one? Do you think they were not mortal in the first place?
6) What do you think was pleasing about the fruit of the tree? What about wisdom's connection to good and evil? Is it a push for divine prerogtive?
7) What has Adam been doing all of this time?
8) what meaning do you draw from their dawning awareness? Recall Irenaeus emphasized that they were moving from childhood to adulthood.

Looks can be deceiving. Don't judge on appearance. Don't judge a book by its cover. The NT readings give us different slants on Jesus before we enter into Lent. Here the veil is lifted and Jesus  is seen from an entirely new dimension, one that touches the very core of identity.

Would six days be a bow to creation's patter? Do we witness a new creation? Is it a preview of resurrection?  Sometimes the same word, metamorphosis, transfigured  is translated as transformed. The  theophany or radiance is a God's eye view. We are midway from baptism, and  he is going to be a victim at Calvary. The radiance reveals the truth about Jesus not apparent down below. To return from the vision, Jesus touches them-and speaks. In this time  Elijah of course but also Moses were thought to be  taken into heaven. We start Lent this Wednesday, fortified with pancakes. The climax of Holy Week looks different when we look through the glasses of transfiguration. (Metamorphic rock)

We have and seek  mountain top experiences,  but we live off the mountain.

 

Communion has us become the vehicles for the continuing presence of Christ down the mountain, where we live. Are the booths an example of shekinah or an attempt to freeze the experience? After all apocalyptic linked to booths. Jesus is a tabernacle. are we too in baptism? voice linked to the baptism (see Ex. 24, 34, Dt. 18, Dan. 10, 2 Cor) Moses was vicarious representative for all the people in the wilderness. Just as Moses and the elders were in the presence of God, now the three disciples witness the transfiguration of Jesus. It is then right for us to celebrate Communion on this day. God's holy gifts for god's holy people.Our bodies, our lives are dwelling places for the presence of Christ. Our lives can dazzle with blinding radiance, at least with those whose eyes can grow accustomed to the light. Communion is not only aspiration, but it is medicine for struggling souls. In time, we may well become more authentic Christians, that words and actions match, that we walk the talk, that we embody and demonstrate the life to which we are called.

 

Sunday is a day of transfiguration, as it includes all of these things. this sanctuary has a view of sacred space, of trying to create a new world out of the one we encounter every day.Transfiguration allows us to see our lives with different eyes. I would go so far as to say that we can look at each other through stained-glass lenses, or even begin to see each other as God sees us. How can we possibly see each other the same way when we grab some coffee after church when we have been lifted into the presence of the living Christ this morning? We may even begin to see each other as bearing the life of Jesus Christ, the light of Jesus Christ. This is a view, a vista  from the mountaintop. This is a taste of a better world to come. Once again, heaven breaks open. hear this voice again, This is my beloved in whom I am well-pleased. Let the words echo and reverberate inside until we meet again for communion.