Our eldest urged me to send out a post about a recent trip that is oriented to folks of retirement age. I would guess she was trying to avoid a long rehash from me.

For the first time, we did our excursions through the cruise line.Finding the tours is usually quite easy, compared to searching out private or local  tours. It hurts me due to the often extra cost and itinerary not quite fitting my preferences,  but it does eliminate the anxiety of getting back to the ship on time. We did not have much time getting back after a fine boat tour in Antigua.If you are a fan of rum, distillery tours abound, as it seems each island claims its share in creating the drink.

We arrived in San Juan late afternoon and stayed near the beach in the Condado area, as there was a question of the boat would dock in Old Town or across the water near the old airport. Just south is Santurce, if you want to be part of a street scene with music and dancing. We opted to walk 5 minutes to the beach and watch the surf roll in. We got up and got to the ship early and enjoyed lunch on board and even did some activities for the afternoon. Princess has a daily printed planner that we find easier than using the phone.

Tortola-I’ve wanted to see some of the British Virgin Islands, and a boat tour did the trick. Plus, I got to hear more about the history of the area, and I enjoy that, as we were in a pirate area. We saw the island that inspired Treasure Island by Stevenson. In Road Town, we went to a small botanical garden and enjoyed the peace and quiet of it. We did not have time to give Sage Mt Park a proper try. We decided against going to the small BVI folk museum. Consider going to Virgin Gorda and enjoying the baths there.

St Kitts/Nevis- We had visited previously and saw some of the highlight areas, so this time we took the sugar train around the island. Note for older folks: the train sways a lot and makes it difficult to walk to the stairs and negotiating them to get to the bathroom on the first level. They served lots of free drinks on the ride and being served  meant not spilling the drink due to the swaying of the train. On the way back we went through a number of coastal villages. Two stood out for me. One was settled by freed slaves, as the landowner was such a gambler he sold the land to help fund his hobby. Another area was chilling,as the French and English conspired to set a trap for the leader of the indigenous people, and apparently they killed 5,000 people in all.I went back to the ruins of a sugar plantation that was once owned by an ancestor of Thomas Jefferson and hiked a bit.Mt Liamigua (fertile land) is a dormant volcano that one can scale. I wanted to take the ferry to Nevis but the time would have been a bit close to departure. If you have time, consider taking the ferry to Nevis for hot pool and birthplace of Alexander Hamilton.

Antigua-We took a boat ride again, and it was filled with the geological wonder of fossils our age dancing and rum punch drinking up a storm  led by the crew.For folks with mobility issues getting to the bathroom below deck or using the ladder to get to the beach could be a real challenge.  In the morning we went to a fine little museum that gave a glimpse of Antigua’s history. We visited an Anglican church filled with carved wood for a small entrance fee. Lots of hiking there is possible and use the Dow’s HIll interpretive center. Beaches abound on this island, so picking some can be a lot of work.

Dominica was one of the reasons we picked this cruise, but for unclear reasons, the ship was unable to dock there, and it was cancelled. It seems to be a beautiful natural area, and I would like to see it at some point. We had a sperm whale trip scheduled and planned to see Tafalgar Falls and other areas.

Barbados-Again, we had visited before and had taken a tour that included botanical gardens and Harrison’s Cave, so we opted for a bus tour of an area we had not seen  and a visit to Andromeda Botanical gardens. I now live in the high desert, so all of the colors made me smile. We also stopped at the famous surfer beach of Bathsheba and picked up some reasonably, yes reasonably priced, trinkets. Not only is it gorgeous, but the sea has carved some unique features into the rocks.

Princess Grand- It is an older ship, and it is still plagued by some air conditioning issues, and maybe drainage issues judging from the alarming gurgling noises coming from the drinks in our room. It is smaller, and that is pleasant. It was definitely an older crowd.

Contrary to many comments, we thought the buffets were good. They have 2 identical adjoining ones. All have good fresh salads, composed salads with different carbs, a taco or gyrostation, a nice selection of entrees, including fish and a theme of the day  cuisine style.

Main dining Room has a smaller menu. Many of the dishes have small touches that kick things up a notch. I thought the cream sauce was pedestrian, but the seafood dishes were  all well-prepared.

I am always amazed at the quality of musicianship on cruises. We had a violinist, pianist, and guitarists. My only caveat is that all of the set lists were quite similar, a  seventies singer-songwriter soft rock blend. The comedians were awful, as they had no set material but tried to engage the audience to put them down. The Vegas style revues were a fine mix of dance and song, and note  the well thought out piece honoring choreography over the years, including good use of video screen with interviews.

Advent Workshop Ps. 80 4th Sunday

 Ps. 80:1-7

Why do we not preach on Psalms more? In this case, a communal lament doesn't seem to fit the season. It is a plea for restoration, a different take on Advent hope. It runs counter to the flow of the readings, but its communal lament certainly demonstrates the difficulty in Advent waiting and preparation when how long is the burning question. When we are at the end of the rope, we need to be rescued, delivered, saved. We cannot do it all on our own.

1) save us-This could be a good time to consider the depth of the word salvation. With the feast of the Incarnation approaching, it could be a good time to talk about its senses in this world, as well as the world to come--enthroned upon the cherubim-ark image from Ex. 25, is it a cosmic one as well?. 

2) restore- this is repeated, always an important sign in Hebrew. face shine note how it works off the Aaronic blessing. Literally, it is return (the root is sub in Heb, so it could connote repenting as well). Some of us yearn for the old days and ways at the holidays. The face of God is reflected in the face of a newborn child very soon.

With that introduction the prayer moves to a familiar lament-how long? The new year approaches, and this is familiar territory for us.

3) fed with bread of tears is a most arresting image-who is fed with that bread right now, as compared to the bread of presence?

4) angry=  smoke pouring out of nostrils (like a bull/dragon?) We moderns would not deign to use such a natural image, would we? What are some images of God that we use that may be sneered at as primitive in the future?How do you think God would be smoking mad with prayers? How do you interpret the angry/smoking hot God today? would it be their content or the context, as in Amos of prayers without justice?

5)Scorn in v. 6 is from Syriac, while the Hebrew would be  contention or strife (madon) a favored word in Proverbs. This could be entry into family strife during the holidays, especially when many of us seem so on edge and itching for contention. V. 7  repeats what we just heard earlier. What is the effect of that quick repetition? When do we repeat things?

6) One could play a bit with the character of Asaph and maybe even make up a  story on prayer and song. Maybe it could morph into a story about the composing of Silent Night.

7) Limburg reminded me that the shepherd image is frequent in the Asaph psalms in the the seventies in particular. How could we work with the Shepherd of Israel and the shepherds upcoming in a few days for Christmas Eve.? Here the shepherd seems to be asleep at the wheel, inattentive as folks watching football  during a holiday gathering.

Advent Workshop Lk.3:7-18 with note on Lent v. Advent

 When we say that God is Love, do we teach men that their fear of Him is groundless? No. As much as they fear will come upon them, possibly far more … The wrath will consume what they call themselves; so that the selves God made shall appear … ” George MacDonald

I do not recall preaching on the Baptism during Advent, but I could be mistaken. So, this material is as much for me as it is for our audience.

Our presbytery leader, Jennifer Burns-Lewis asked us to consider Advent in relation to Lent last week. Here goes. As we have mentioned Advent may have started as a space for those  learning of the faith for Epiphany baptism, as the rolls were too full for Easter. Both are periods of preparation. While preparation for Holy Week is a huge undertaking, Advent has us seek to prepare for the new age, a new world, the consummation of the divine order in the cosmos. Lent has seemed to be the more penitential of the periods: think of Lenten abstinence as opposed ot an Advent calendar. Yet, they point toward repentance.

Advent’s 2 part scheme looks both to Incarnation and to the enfolding of the world into God’s full ambit. Lent points to the apocalyptic reconsideration of the word of the cross (I Cor. 1:18-31). Advent is the advent of God moving toward us, while Lent ends in the burial of Holy Saturday’s hinge between death and new life of Easter. (Here see Alan Lewis’s book on Holy Saturday). Quite simply, Lent asks us for examination of the sins that separate us from God’s way in the world and to change. Advent invites us into the shock of the new. Both have a break in the readings that feature the word rejoice the 3rd Sunday in Advent and the 4th in Lent (laetare).

Maybe we could work with devotional material with three Advents: the end as the beginning, the Advent of God in the Incarnation, with real attention toits meaning, and the third Advent of union with Christ, even theosis.

Time is felt in different dimensions. Time itself seems to change at the cusp of eternity and the new age. Yet, the new age dawns in a particular place and time with the birth of Jesus.  Lent’s last week slows down time as the detail of Jesus’s last hours are detailed, but the cross is imbued with an eschatological character in Matthew especially.

John in art-Cranach, for instance with his Lutheran orientation. Barth loved that figures of the Baptist point not toward himself but away toward Christ. One could use different depictions with elements you wish to convey.

John starts out like a liberal/progressive preacher speaking about justice and lets the listeners have it. (Yet, liberal preachers may not often call listeners a brood of vipers.Insert your own jokes here) That raises a question: how effective is denunciation as a tool for change? Is it persuasive? I find it intriguing that preachers call prophetic railing against large scale social ills, but seem allergic toward decrying individual sinful behavior. It reminds me of the old canard that liberals love humanity in the abstract, but not individuals. Perhaps it is easier to rail against Sin instead of sins that we may share. John starts his program on repentance/metanoia/ conversion with an eye to forgiveness of sins. In the current climate, I wonder if we can include speaking of social forgiveness, but rather beating the drum on social sin. I do applaud the materials out on being anti-racist as giving us tools to repent of social sins such as racism, misogyny, classism, and the host of isms that afflict us.

John wants to see action, actual change. Being children of Abraham ( being of the chosen ones) is insufficient in his view.  What does fruit worthy of this sea change, this paradigm shift look like in 2021?

John shows himself to be an apocalyptic and radical thinker, as he sees a reckoning coming, like a climate change Cassandra. Radical has the sense of getting to the root and John is warning that no chance for a sprout; root and all will be laid low. See Fleming Rutledge on Advent and the Baptist.

How is this description of John’s message  then called exhortation and good news?

Given that beginning his program is  moderate: share food and clothing; don;t cheat; don;t falsely accuse-the latter two have the power of the state behind them. Remember the New testament is produced in an environment of subjugation.

In the fresh start of Advent we are welcomed to a consideration of baptism, by John with water and a figure who will touch with fire and the Holy Spirit.

Again we get apocalyptic elements with the ultimate duality of wheat and chaff.

WVP Advent Workshop Notes on Mary Lk. 1:26-55

 Again consider pairing some of your sermon with clips of art work for the passages.

Maybe consider using clips of the ways Mary is portrayed in movies.

I continue to detect a skittishness with Protestants dealing with Mary, even though we seem to love having her in manger scenes. Perhaps look at Gaventa's work on Mary,

Luke crosscuts here as in a movie. He starts with the annunciation to Zechariah. Now we go to Mary and tie Mary with Elizabeth and the Holy Spirit. Mary’s song is then paired with Zechariah’s song. After the scene of Jesus growing up, we shift to a grown John the Baptist, as it has been since 1:80 that he grew and lived in the desert wilderness.

V.28 Hail, hello,Greetings to the  gifted, graced, favored lady-no wonder Mary is taken aback.

V. 29 diatarasso different than Zehcariah’s similar position (v. 12) utterly confused/perplexed/thrown off kilter, even terrified

V.32 Luke uses Most High perhaps as Isaiah uses Holy One. If you are interest in intertextual material, Most High appears around 20 times in the Pslams, and El Elyon in Genesis is translated as Most High, see Mechizedek in Gen. 14 in particular.

v35 overshadow/fall over you 

Nice balance here-Mary -now two women-then Zechariah speaks

V.41 infant leaping skirtao may relate to the jostling in Rachel’s womb see also Mal. 4:2

V. 43 my Lord alerts the reader to the identity of Jesus early

44 gladness agalliasis was used by Gabriel to Marty

V.45 typical word for blessed makarios , see v. 42 eulogomene to be spoken well of (now and future) fame in the older sense v. infamous

46 soul magnifies/extols see Hannah’s prayer but Luke seems to be drawing from a variety of biblical materials

48 servant/slave doule lowliness=state of humilation/under another’s thumb tapeinoso

51- right as side of power-arrogant in understanding of their hearts

Two women make this scene, with two new lives within them. Two expectant relatives meet for the first time since their startling news of being with child. Churches like to have what they term living nativity scenes (Nativity means birth, of course).  Here are two living manger scenes talking to each other. I wonder how clear it was to them that the new lives they carried would create a vast change  for generations to come.  When I was little, one of the first prayers we learned was the Hail Mary. Its first words are drawn from Elizabeth's inspired greeting. Even early, religious language confused me. What did fruit of the womb mean? Elizabeth is certainly not blinded by pride with her miraculous conception, but she is able to see Mary as carrying a very special child as well. Their words carry  the narrative here; no male speaks. Of course, Zechariah is still mute, and Joseph is nowhere to be seen. God notices a lowly pair of women. God favors them both with a miracle. God hears the words of two women, often silenced in their day and time. One of the newer Christmas songs is "Mary Did You Know"  with some thoughtful lyrics. Two spring to mind: "when you kissed your baby boy you kissed the face of God, and the one you delivered would soon deliver us."

 

In her burst of praise for God, Mary doesn't express fears and doubts about being the mother of Messiah. Now she may well have done so over the years, but we are not privy to it. Mary slides from the personal to social. Like Hannah on the birth of Samuel, she sees herself as a representative of a people. She is the chosen instrument of a new future. Mary imagines a generous social realm, where Scrooge is transformed but so is the system that makes and rewards Scrooge. Mary imagines a world where the rich get a taste of their own medicine, but the poor, whom she terms the lowly, get more than their share for once.  God sees an invisible one, oppressed by invisible forces, the idea that human beings have some sort of right to violence and exploitation of those a rung below them on the social ladder. She sees mercy as an act of God to life people hope; the rich and well-born don't need much material help; they are already filled with good things./.

 

The words, to take Israel  by the hand, imagines a people still in childhood.. As their children grow, they will take them by the hand, to help, to guide, to lead, to protect. It has the sense of course that this old ethnic and religious group is still like a child.Even in the womb, the future John the Baptist has a connection to the arrival of Jesus. A major moment in expecting a child is when the baby kicks, but to say the child leaped in womb leaped for joy is a special connection. In its ancient roots, the word gladness refers to shining. That fits this season of craving light at the time when the days are so short.

 

Every generation faces a time pregnant with meaning and change, where we are expectant for something. With the election of President Obama, we take a new direction as a country. Christmas, though, is intensely personal for us, and we anticipate what it means and brings. Mary, did you know that people would be gathered in church over 2,000 years later, in a country you did not knew existed, would gather together and read of you? Mary did you know that the fruit of your womb would continue to bear fruit for all of these years. Mary did you know, that we would celebrate the birthday of your baby boy as Christmas all of these years later?

Sermon Lk. 1:26-55

 

Mary was an ordinary woman. Taken aback, but only for a while, by Gabriel’s announcement, Mary found her voice. While women had private voice, they could not often speak publicly. She found a voice that spoke for social life. She goes beyond the charity of Scrooge in a Christmas Carol. She sees the selection of her as a sign of big things to come, a new game in town, when the old ways would not cut it any more. The ways things are cannot be the way things should be, could be, or would be.

Jesus would be with us in ordinary life God did not put the divine hopes on angels, or power, but in the hands of a young, possibly quite young, woman. How can this be? After all of this time, God would pick an ordinary family to raise the one to be called Jesus. She knows of the promises of God all the way back to Abraham and David. Messianic reading of promise to David She starts to see that she will be the vehicle for promises that were thousands of years old coming into being in a way as new as the child within her womb. That dream was half forgotten, said as much as out of the realm of possibility, but now it was alive in her.

It was appropriate for Gabriel to deliver the message. First, we have a little joke. The name means a mighty one for God, as in the army of the heavenly host, but here the general is a mere delivery service for the prince of peace. Second, Gabriel was associated with ripening fruit, and he announces that the fruit of Mary will be Jesus of Nazareth. (By the way, I have to throw this in. The followers of George Rapp in New Harmony believed that Gabriel spoke with him, and one can see the footprint of the angel there.) Finally, Gabriel was a figure of the end times. Gabriel announces the beginning of the end of the old order and the start of the new way of God with the announcement of the impending birth of Jesus.

The announcement was only the beginning, of course. Mary waited nine full months to have her baby. I wonder if nine months seemed long enough to start to grasp what the future could hold for her and Joseph. Luke has her doing a lot o travel in her expectant months, to Elizabeth and then a hard journey to Bethlehem. Even now, many of us wait a while to even announce a pregnancy, as we hope everything will be all right. With ultrasound we get to hear the fast beat of the heart, a holy moment as we hear the sound of a new life. Advent is only four weeks. It is time for us to learn to listen for the heartbeat of Jesus in the ordinary. Can we spot a Gabriel making a birth announcement of a new turn in life? Every day, we give birth to the new future, or maybe the hand of God helps bring us to new birth in the future.

Christmas is almost here. In these few remaining days, I pray that all of us set aside some time.to seek the spirit of the new life of Christmas. It may be in listening to old songs, or finding some new Christmas stories, to watch a Christmas movie, to read once again, the biblical story of the Nativity. Mary would never have another firstborn. We will never have another Christmas of this year. It would be a shame to enter into another Christmas dispirited, never giving the story of the Incarnation some time to take hold and grow within us. We have a third Advent.As the hymn says (O Little Child), “where meek souls will receive Him still/ the dear Christ enters in/ be born in us today/we hear the Christmas angels/the great glad tidings tell/o come to us, abide with us/ O Lord Emmanuel.

WPV Advent Workshop Phil 4:4-7(Third Sunday)

Phil 4:4-7 is a good reading for Advent. For Advent 3, it starts with the key word for this Sunday, rejoice, as we turn to the Incarnation, the first Advent and away from the cosmic  2nd Advent.

Let’s just take the verse, the Lord is near. It could be taken to mean near in time, but it could also mean near in locale. Indeed with the Incarnation and the indwelling spirit, we could say that the presence of the Lord is as near as our next breath.We then have no need for a second Advent as it is present with us in our baptismal life.

This reading underscores the shift in readings as Gaudete Sunday, with its word, rejoice.

eggus can be understood spatially or temporally (see Ps. 145:18).. Spatially, it means “near” or “close at hand.” If this is true, then “near” here signifies that the Lord is close to or present with the Philippians. Let’s just take the verse, the Lord is near. It could be taken to mean near in time, but it could also mean near in locale. Indeed with the Incarnation and the indwelling spirit, we could say that the presence of the Lord is as near as our next breath.We then have no need for a second Advent as it is present with us in our baptismal life.

Gentleness-epieikes, is associated with  being reasonable, mild, tolerant, “not insisting on every right of letter of law or custom.”  being considerate, being magnanimous. It is more than a disposition; it is an action, a determination to so act. Elsewhere, Paul uses the word epieikes (“gentleness”) to describe Christ (2 Corinthians 10:1). It is paired with prautes, which is translated “meekness” but is better defined as “the quality of not being overly impressed by a sense of one’s self-importance.” (Hearon, Working Preacher [The Gentleman] is always truthful and sincere ; will not agree for the sake of complaisance or out of weakness ; will not pass over that of which he disapproves. He has a clear soul, and a fearless, straightforward tongue. On the other hand, he is not blunt and rude. His truth is courteous ; his courtesy, truthful ; never a humbug, yet, where he truthfully can, he prefers to say pleasant things. [The Rev. John R. Vernon, "The Grand Old Name of Gentleman-see also gentile

huperecho- to govern, have authority; to be better than, transcend; (n.) surpassing greatness: to hold above;, intrans. to stand out above, to overtop; met. to surpass, excel, ὑπερέχον, excellence, preeminence, to be higher, superior/  In other words, peace has power over, excels, and surpasses mental and emotional processes. Peace, after all, is God’s shalom—wholeness, well-being, security, restoration, and goodness. 

The word anxiety  (v.6) certainly fits all of the rushing about this season and its demands on time and money. Merimnao=to worry, have anxiety, be concerned; to give careful thought; to be preoccupied; to feel an interest in, Phil. 2:20

The issue of prayer as an Advent discipline, the chief exercise of faith, as Calvin said jumps up here. Why separate prayer and supplication here?  Is this a form of the expression why pray when you can worry? How will you respond to the immediate thought that prayer has not produced a peace that surpasses understanding?

PWV Advent Workshop Heb. 10:5-10 (4th Sunday)

 We are moving to the conclusion of a long discussion of priesthood and sacrifice in Hebrews. Keep in mind that the letter is an exhortation for the tired people to find the endurance to keep on going. Jesus can be seen as a decisive divine move for reconciliation. Sacrifice was a system of bridging the human and divine (think thanks and well being offerings). God moves toward something that need not be repeated. OUr passage starts with the words of Ps. 40 as if Jesus were speaking them. 

Peeler (Working Preacher)  “eisercomai” could indicate then the cause of his speaking: “he says these things because he is entering God’s sinful world so that members of that world can enter God’s restful sanctuary or sanctified rest.”

The participle could also be an indicator of time. As a present participle, it would show that he is making this speech as he is entering the world. — His entrance into the world is the will of God that Jesus came to enact. “By God’s will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus the Messiah once for all” (10:10).  God’s will, then, is the Son’s embodiment. The will of God is that God the Son take on a body, offer that body. In so doing, he brought the foreshadowing of offerings to an end and he began the process of reconciliation and built a bridge between the two realms and the two ages. . God’s command to offer the bodies of animals foreshadowed the offering of the human body of God.

V. 9-anaireó compound word (ana +haireó) “to take away,” “to abolish,” or “to claim (for oneself), to remove.”  ana can signify “up” or “up to.” I dislike supersessionism, so let’s say Jesus works in a different key or dimension or phase, or that it is parallel to the system/structure   of the temple in a alternative mode of being a priest, indeed a new high priest. Jesus embodies the function of the offering system into his very being and work.

Psalm 40:608- note what has been rendered here as “a body you have prepared for me”, in distinction to  a literal translation of the Hebrew text , “you dug ears for me”--I like with as the Hebrew emohaisze hearing as in the shema, to keep and observe, but the LXX opens the door to the entirety of the life of Christ.Jesus lived his entire life as an offering of faithful obedience to God. God’s will is seen in the embodied life of Jesus, in his flesh and blood life. So either translation would work.John Van Nuys likes Placjer's use of Calvin's full measure of obeidence as referrign to the entire life, and that would work well here.

This passage then allows us to explore the meaning of the Incarnation. At a basic level, how does the Incarnation touch on the meaning of Emmanuel, God with us?

I wonder if the temple had long been destroyed when this was written.As the rabbi struggled to reconstitute the faith, as in settling the Hebrew Bible, Hebrews is speaking to the same issue, but through the lens of Jesus Christ as a different way of coming at some of the religious issues the destruction of the temple would create.

PWV Advent Worshop 3rd Sunday Zeph. 3:14-20

 Guadete Sunday is based on rejoicing as we turn toward the first Advent. Our passage starts with the very word. 

The security of the remnant as a humble people is an unexpected view of restoration. This is less a vision of empire than of Tolkien’s shire. (3:11-13).This seems to be an ethical paradise where people do no wrong.The golden age ending  of v. 13 is a striking image, reminiscent of the 23rd psalm or Micah’s declaration of a similar hope (4:4).

As we move into 3:15 - the Lord is in the midst of human life itself.the judgements are taken away and better times, restoration is ahead-the threat seems to perish here too

note.The theme of shame and haughtiness recurs in a new key.  Instead of the confusion of the close of the primeval history, are we getting a  restoration of unity, of serving with one accord/ standing shoulder to shoulder? 

Zephaniah ends on an upbeat, visionary note as it closes Again we hear the great biblical call to not fear.  Instead of the repeated cry of joy as a shout of woe and a broken heart, we hear songs and shouts of victory.God with you (NIV) in your midst-My mind goes to Revelation 7 and the song of the martyrs in the very throne room of God. 

Again we hear the great Biblical call to not fear (3:15-16).  The  command to sing could be a lyric of joy or a victory hymn and shout is to really shout out loud. Instead of the repeated cries of lament as a shout of woe and a broken heart, we hear songs and shouts of vindication and surprise.Twice, we now hear that God is with them, in their midst, not against them, not distant but in their very midst (3:3:15,17). The judgments are taken away, and restoration is ahead-the threat seems to perish here too. Singing is more a victory hymn and shout is to really shout. Instead of the repeated cry of joy as a shout of woe and a broken heart, we hear songs and shouts of victory.

God with you (NIV) in your midst-My mind goes to Revelation 7 and the song of the martyrs in the very throne room of God. 

 

Instead of the confusion of the close of the primeval history, are we getting a hindu restoration of unity, of serving with one accord/ standing shoulder to shoulder?  

Opponents of the way of God seem to be the proud, the haughty. As an American, it gave me chills to read this as we reign as a military superpower.

In our time, we certainly can grasp the issue of a purified speech. In an image saturated culture, when do we hear or speak a transparent truth. Our political discourse has become so debased that it seems that basic facts are dispensed with in the name of ideological purity.Social media such as twitter becomes the den of the sarcastic and the angry, over such invaluable objects as the outcome of a single sporting contest.Spin is the operative word. We cannot agree on facts, so we readily accept distortion in their stead. 

 

I am fascinated how differently 3:17 is translated.v.17 will quiet you or be silent or renew you in his love. 

 the masoretic text has be silent in love, by seeing the root as hrs,and the NIV has to quiet you in love, but the NRSV has renew you in love, by going with the Greek translation that assume a misreading (In Hebrew script, the r is rounded just as in English script, but the d is written at a  ninety degree angle, and sometimes they can easily be mistaken for each other).. Zepheniah's name may have the sense of God sheltering us.  Yes, we can be  in difficult times, but it does not always have to be that way. End times vision gives purpose, a goal, a compass point to our travels. When your heart gets broken, you are engulfed by the sheer weight of pain. You cannot imagine that you will feel better again. You will. One day you will be able to rejoice again, to love again, to see the rainbow and not only the rain, again. Ministry needs a future orientation, beyond the brute tyranny of the way things are but imagine the way things could or should be. Is v. could be, what if. It is good not to live in the future, but the future does give us direction and energy to work toward its shape. Bonhoeffer said "the will of God is not a system of rules established at the outset, but a living will, the grace of God that is new every morning." We get a great banquet image here. 

 

At the beginning the people are told to be quiet, to hush. At the end, it is God who quiets  in the divine embrace, in divine care and, yes,  love.he first image is commanding and fearsome, and the second strikes me as exceedingly tender. 

The Advent vision here is one of the vulnerable being rescued  (for Tiny Tim, for instance). The scattered ones will be gathered together( 19-20).

We rarely think of God rejoicing over us with singing. At this time of year, what Christmas carol  would fit for God over you, over all of us.?

Part of the Biblical vision is security. Here the enemy is turned back, and no harm will come to them. God has a shield of protection over Israel (15).