1)This is no deistic God. Yes, God is the awe-inspiring creator, but god is involved in the work of creation.Indeed god's understanding is unsearchable (v.28)
2) while we are made a little lower than the angels (Ps. 8) we are quite small in the divine perspective. All the more reason to be astonished at god's care for us.
3) This could be a good entree into a discussion of memory and teaching the faith.
4) I do not know if the host of heaven means divine beings or stars.
5) God has hear Israel's complain in the second part of the passage and responds.
6)As a middle aged person facing radiation therapy, I dearly love this promise of new found energy in god at the conclusion of the passage.
7)This poem of power does bring up this issue why this immense power does not make life easier more often.
8) One could play Joncas's "On Eagle's Wings" with this passage.
9) For the early image, one could bring in Hubble telescope pictures or pictures from our spaceships in our solar system.
10) Is v. 24 about princes or life in general?
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Sermon Notes jan.29 I Cor. 8
Here is proof that we can find almost anything to argue about in church. I Cor. 8 is further proof how difficult it is to follow the great injunction of Jesus, “judge not.” The Corinthian church seems to be a collection of grievances and conflicts. If Paul is writing such a detailed letter, I will assume that they have been unable to work it out themselves, so they are kicking it upstairs.
In Mark’s gospel, we see Jesus emerging in this start of his work as a healer. Here he heals demons. Modern people don’t hold much stock in demons, except in movies I suppose, but we see the work of the demonic all around us. This morning, let’s place our judgmental attitudes and behaviors in that category, as that which opposes the great Christian injunction to do all things in love. The demonic can be defined as a force, a transpersonal power that interferes with human health, individually or socially.
We just had a major in meeting in Florida where folks are considering yet another way to split off from our church.Why? They judge the national church as defective because they don’t agree with everything it does. Some folks get addicted to controversy, to the shot of adrenaline that comes with provocation, the glorious sense of self-righteousness that comes with being constantly aggrieved. We seem to honor whining and complaining but do not even seem to be willing to have space for words of compliment and support.
In the ordination vows, we all make a promise to respect the decisions of the trustees of our faith community, the session. We promise to be guided by their decisions for our future. Somewhere along the line, the poisoned attitudes of sports fans and political combatants has filtered into church decision making. We have slipped into a notion that what I want has to be right for everybody. We have lost a sense of perspective of the important and unimportant,too touchy about preferences, not even positions. We then make a principled stand of withdrawing support and still call ourselves members of the body of Christ. How does self-amputation further the work of God in the world?
This morning I ask us us to consider some old virtues: fidelity and loyalty. Fidelity is another word for being faithful, and its meaning seems limited to its opposite, unfaithful, in marriage. Loyalty has been superseded by its opposite number, exit. When we disagree with one thing or even a number of things, we leave, under the delusion that some perfect relationship, some perfect church is out there. Somewhere along the line, people have been given permisssion to use threats, withholding support, and gossip. all of these undermine community. Scott Sanders speaks on fidelity is not being stuck in a rut but actively choosing, over and over, to abide in a relationship.Fidelity is sticking with someone, beyond the instant situation.In our struggle to be nice, in our hope for being all things to all people, the church has fallen into something less than a civic institution. I have been invited into rotary, and it has tougher requirements than many churches. We have permitted childish behavior to be excused over and over.some of the intriguing recent research on health in churches demonstrate that we do need some boundaries about the appropriate or the permissible. Living in fidelity looks toward common ground and bonds. . If we could enjoy the imaginative exercises of staying together with the frisson of excitement that comes with fantasies of pulling apart, we could make some real progress.
In Mark’s gospel, we see Jesus emerging in this start of his work as a healer. Here he heals demons. Modern people don’t hold much stock in demons, except in movies I suppose, but we see the work of the demonic all around us. This morning, let’s place our judgmental attitudes and behaviors in that category, as that which opposes the great Christian injunction to do all things in love. The demonic can be defined as a force, a transpersonal power that interferes with human health, individually or socially.
We just had a major in meeting in Florida where folks are considering yet another way to split off from our church.Why? They judge the national church as defective because they don’t agree with everything it does. Some folks get addicted to controversy, to the shot of adrenaline that comes with provocation, the glorious sense of self-righteousness that comes with being constantly aggrieved. We seem to honor whining and complaining but do not even seem to be willing to have space for words of compliment and support.
In the ordination vows, we all make a promise to respect the decisions of the trustees of our faith community, the session. We promise to be guided by their decisions for our future. Somewhere along the line, the poisoned attitudes of sports fans and political combatants has filtered into church decision making. We have slipped into a notion that what I want has to be right for everybody. We have lost a sense of perspective of the important and unimportant,too touchy about preferences, not even positions. We then make a principled stand of withdrawing support and still call ourselves members of the body of Christ. How does self-amputation further the work of God in the world?
This morning I ask us us to consider some old virtues: fidelity and loyalty. Fidelity is another word for being faithful, and its meaning seems limited to its opposite, unfaithful, in marriage. Loyalty has been superseded by its opposite number, exit. When we disagree with one thing or even a number of things, we leave, under the delusion that some perfect relationship, some perfect church is out there. Somewhere along the line, people have been given permisssion to use threats, withholding support, and gossip. all of these undermine community. Scott Sanders speaks on fidelity is not being stuck in a rut but actively choosing, over and over, to abide in a relationship.Fidelity is sticking with someone, beyond the instant situation.In our struggle to be nice, in our hope for being all things to all people, the church has fallen into something less than a civic institution. I have been invited into rotary, and it has tougher requirements than many churches. We have permitted childish behavior to be excused over and over.some of the intriguing recent research on health in churches demonstrate that we do need some boundaries about the appropriate or the permissible. Living in fidelity looks toward common ground and bonds. . If we could enjoy the imaginative exercises of staying together with the frisson of excitement that comes with fantasies of pulling apart, we could make some real progress.
Week of jan. 29 devotions
January 29-Ps. 111 ends with this: “the reverence (fear) of the Lord is the beginning wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding/good sense.” The Psalter considers meditating on the ways of god to be a lifelong project, not drudgery but joy, similar to the interest people pour into a beloved hobby. the psalm is an acrostic, as its lines move through the alphabet. As further signs of an editor’s hand, it sees paired with the next psalm that has a focus on us.
Monday-Recently, some internet sites went dark to oppose a possible set of regulations that they saw as a threat to their ability to provide information to their clients. Sometimes in prayer, it feels as if heaven itself has gone dark. To the extent that prayer is dialogue, prayer does not ever go unheard, even if it does not provide the answer we may seek. Yes, spiritual life has its moments in the dark. Expect them, work through them. Know the light of god will overcome the darkness. The Word will overcome the unwanted, brooding silence.
Tuesday-January enters as an infant, so I guess that it would be pictured as a child entering elementary school, given our life expectancy. In human development think of what happens physically, mentally, emotionally in early childhood. What have you learned this January? Where did the New Year give you a sense of possibility? Where did you start to grow up with God?
Wednesday-One of the resident enlightened ones in Bible Study sometimes complains that the church gives short shrift to the Spirit. My new issue of Interpretation spends some time with that form of the Trinity, an even more neglected area of doctrine. In john’s gospel jesus speaks of the spirit as another advocate/helper/counselor for us. Think of it. The same spirit who hovered over the very start of creation hovers over you, flies about inside of you to speak up for you, to be a friendly divine presence in your life..
Thursday-One of my disappointments with church is how our humor often has a real edge to it. The jokes are more often than not at someone’s expense. The humor is rarely of the self-deprecatory type. Maybe the unspoken commandment “to be nice” causes resentments so it is safe to express them through jokes.
Friday-I was disappointed in my new copy of Theology Today, so I was determined to find something I could engage. I do the same when I go to a lecture or workshop that is disappointing. I admit to myself that fact, and then it allows me to seek something to gain. For instance, I went to a poor workshop in Indiana, but finally the counselor said that time had become the great pressure on marriage. It opened doors of understanding.
Saturday-Many of us are preparing for super bowl parties. I do not want to be a killjoy here. I love the NFL. I so admire the skills and the amounts of practice it must take to be at the top of athletic prowess. Super bowl Sunday offers the Sabbath promise of recreation, of enjoying this world. Break the word with a hyphen and ti becomes re-creation. Enjoy the preparations and the expectancy for the big game. may it be a good one.
Monday-Recently, some internet sites went dark to oppose a possible set of regulations that they saw as a threat to their ability to provide information to their clients. Sometimes in prayer, it feels as if heaven itself has gone dark. To the extent that prayer is dialogue, prayer does not ever go unheard, even if it does not provide the answer we may seek. Yes, spiritual life has its moments in the dark. Expect them, work through them. Know the light of god will overcome the darkness. The Word will overcome the unwanted, brooding silence.
Tuesday-January enters as an infant, so I guess that it would be pictured as a child entering elementary school, given our life expectancy. In human development think of what happens physically, mentally, emotionally in early childhood. What have you learned this January? Where did the New Year give you a sense of possibility? Where did you start to grow up with God?
Wednesday-One of the resident enlightened ones in Bible Study sometimes complains that the church gives short shrift to the Spirit. My new issue of Interpretation spends some time with that form of the Trinity, an even more neglected area of doctrine. In john’s gospel jesus speaks of the spirit as another advocate/helper/counselor for us. Think of it. The same spirit who hovered over the very start of creation hovers over you, flies about inside of you to speak up for you, to be a friendly divine presence in your life..
Thursday-One of my disappointments with church is how our humor often has a real edge to it. The jokes are more often than not at someone’s expense. The humor is rarely of the self-deprecatory type. Maybe the unspoken commandment “to be nice” causes resentments so it is safe to express them through jokes.
Friday-I was disappointed in my new copy of Theology Today, so I was determined to find something I could engage. I do the same when I go to a lecture or workshop that is disappointing. I admit to myself that fact, and then it allows me to seek something to gain. For instance, I went to a poor workshop in Indiana, but finally the counselor said that time had become the great pressure on marriage. It opened doors of understanding.
Saturday-Many of us are preparing for super bowl parties. I do not want to be a killjoy here. I love the NFL. I so admire the skills and the amounts of practice it must take to be at the top of athletic prowess. Super bowl Sunday offers the Sabbath promise of recreation, of enjoying this world. Break the word with a hyphen and ti becomes re-creation. Enjoy the preparations and the expectancy for the big game. may it be a good one.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Tobit Notes
Basic background:Scholars guess that this story was written about two centuries before the birth of Jesus. Israel is under Persian occupation at this point. So, it is concerned about being Jewish in the midst of alien cultural forces.The names of Tobit and Tobias could be variants of the same name, God is good.
1) How does Tobit keep the faith? What effect does it have on his social position?
2) Chapter two moves us into the theodicy question- what sense can one make of his ailment? How do yo examine the marital conflict?
3) what do you think of his prayer in chapter 3? Do you hear echoes of Sarah and Hagar in this story of Sarah? Death so hangs over this chapter. What is noteworthy of her prayer? Raphael means God heals.Why this description of answered prayer?
4) Where do you approve or disapprove of the advice of Tobit? Notice deepest Hades in v. 19. in v.21 we have a view of reward. Is it accurate from your experience?
5) At v. 10do you her some echoes of Job?From v. 18 on, isn;t this a great family story of departure? The journey is also a mark of Tobias becoming his own person,no?
6) Is the fish story too much for you? In the incredibly long v. 18, what do you think of the angel's notion that they were made for each other?
7) Here I note only the blessings of the parents at7,11,12, 16.
8)Would you like the two prayers to be used in a contemporary wedding?
9)What do we learn of Tobias here at v.4?
10) Select some elements that strike you as realistic in the response of the parents.
11)What is your reaction to the healing and v.15?
12) Assess Raphael's words in v.6-10.
13 look at v.2,5,614,
14)look at the promise of the first section and the advice starting at 8. Why do you think such an emphasis is on honoring the dead here at the end?
1) How does Tobit keep the faith? What effect does it have on his social position?
2) Chapter two moves us into the theodicy question- what sense can one make of his ailment? How do yo examine the marital conflict?
3) what do you think of his prayer in chapter 3? Do you hear echoes of Sarah and Hagar in this story of Sarah? Death so hangs over this chapter. What is noteworthy of her prayer? Raphael means God heals.Why this description of answered prayer?
4) Where do you approve or disapprove of the advice of Tobit? Notice deepest Hades in v. 19. in v.21 we have a view of reward. Is it accurate from your experience?
5) At v. 10do you her some echoes of Job?From v. 18 on, isn;t this a great family story of departure? The journey is also a mark of Tobias becoming his own person,no?
6) Is the fish story too much for you? In the incredibly long v. 18, what do you think of the angel's notion that they were made for each other?
7) Here I note only the blessings of the parents at7,11,12, 16.
8)Would you like the two prayers to be used in a contemporary wedding?
9)What do we learn of Tobias here at v.4?
10) Select some elements that strike you as realistic in the response of the parents.
11)What is your reaction to the healing and v.15?
12) Assess Raphael's words in v.6-10.
13 look at v.2,5,614,
14)look at the promise of the first section and the advice starting at 8. Why do you think such an emphasis is on honoring the dead here at the end?
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Sermon notes Jan. 22, Jonah 3:1-5
Jan.22 Jonah 3:1-5
Jonah may well be one of the first Bible stories we heard. We know that Jonah was swallowed by a great fish, but then the story gets a little vague in some of our memories. Too often, we have let this great story reside in our child’s memory bank, and not continue to let it breathe and grow as we have grown.Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh, the seat of the dreaded Assyrian empire that had destroyed the Northern kingdom, depopulated it and imported with alien cultures. He has the most successful short sermon imaginable. I picture him halfway hoping that Nineveh will be overthrown and punished. He may have hoped it was a look in to the future, not an opportunity for repentance. Instead, it stops everyone in their tracks, and all of these pagans repent.
Jesus Christ always enters enemy territory, the rough terrain of the human heart and mind. Barth called it the journey of the son into the far country.Indeed these early call stories do not seem to be planned tours as much as encounters. Put differently, Jesus has the goal of teaching and healing, as the situation itself will dictate. He plans to act but seems to lack a plan, as his call to join him seems pretty indiscriminate. Like Jonah, Jesus is called to preach, and some of his sermonic material seemed ot be in the short stories we call parables.
We may be involved in a place or situation where we seem to be thrown into out, outside of our desire or volition. We may well look at our lives and think we have been aiming for Jerusalem and here I am in Nineveh. Recall that Jonah was trying to flee to Tarshish, an ancient equivalent of Vega or Tahiti or Shangri-La. Oh, if we could only get away from it all. Instead Christ keeps calling us back into this world, filled with all of its irritants, annoyances, and troubles. we so want spiritual life to somehow be above the noise and the difficulty, for spiritual life to remove us from the fuss of life and into an ethereal realm. As people of the Incarnation, our spiritual progress is pursued in the muck and mire of the real world, with real people, of all things. Our paths may well move through difficult territory on the road to the celestial city. In Christian theology we are called people as well as choosing creatures. God guides, entices, pulls us toward finding a purpose, even a destiny, that we would not choose, be it Harry Potter, or Frodo, or Jonah. It’s been said by rabbis, “if you wish to make god smile, pray. If you wish to make God laugh, share you plans.”
One of the pulls for church is that we seek to escape the pressures of everyday life for an hour. Its danger is that we seek to build castle walls between the church and the community. In essence, we are tempted to make the church Tarshish and flee from the troubles of the world. Since God is everywhere, God is embedded in the troubles of the world as well as in the orderly safety of the sanctuary. Indeed, the belly of the beast was an unlikely sanctuary for Jonah,a place of silence where his prayer emerged, where his determination to finally follow the call of God emerged as well.
People my age remember the Simon and Garfunkel song, the sound of silence. Yes, we hear of God, but we also come into contact with the divine i within the cloud of silence.The spy spoof Get smart had a cone of silence where the speakers got garbled but those who were to be excluded could hear them perfectly.
Jonah may well be one of the first Bible stories we heard. We know that Jonah was swallowed by a great fish, but then the story gets a little vague in some of our memories. Too often, we have let this great story reside in our child’s memory bank, and not continue to let it breathe and grow as we have grown.Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh, the seat of the dreaded Assyrian empire that had destroyed the Northern kingdom, depopulated it and imported with alien cultures. He has the most successful short sermon imaginable. I picture him halfway hoping that Nineveh will be overthrown and punished. He may have hoped it was a look in to the future, not an opportunity for repentance. Instead, it stops everyone in their tracks, and all of these pagans repent.
Jesus Christ always enters enemy territory, the rough terrain of the human heart and mind. Barth called it the journey of the son into the far country.Indeed these early call stories do not seem to be planned tours as much as encounters. Put differently, Jesus has the goal of teaching and healing, as the situation itself will dictate. He plans to act but seems to lack a plan, as his call to join him seems pretty indiscriminate. Like Jonah, Jesus is called to preach, and some of his sermonic material seemed ot be in the short stories we call parables.
We may be involved in a place or situation where we seem to be thrown into out, outside of our desire or volition. We may well look at our lives and think we have been aiming for Jerusalem and here I am in Nineveh. Recall that Jonah was trying to flee to Tarshish, an ancient equivalent of Vega or Tahiti or Shangri-La. Oh, if we could only get away from it all. Instead Christ keeps calling us back into this world, filled with all of its irritants, annoyances, and troubles. we so want spiritual life to somehow be above the noise and the difficulty, for spiritual life to remove us from the fuss of life and into an ethereal realm. As people of the Incarnation, our spiritual progress is pursued in the muck and mire of the real world, with real people, of all things. Our paths may well move through difficult territory on the road to the celestial city. In Christian theology we are called people as well as choosing creatures. God guides, entices, pulls us toward finding a purpose, even a destiny, that we would not choose, be it Harry Potter, or Frodo, or Jonah. It’s been said by rabbis, “if you wish to make god smile, pray. If you wish to make God laugh, share you plans.”
One of the pulls for church is that we seek to escape the pressures of everyday life for an hour. Its danger is that we seek to build castle walls between the church and the community. In essence, we are tempted to make the church Tarshish and flee from the troubles of the world. Since God is everywhere, God is embedded in the troubles of the world as well as in the orderly safety of the sanctuary. Indeed, the belly of the beast was an unlikely sanctuary for Jonah,a place of silence where his prayer emerged, where his determination to finally follow the call of God emerged as well.
People my age remember the Simon and Garfunkel song, the sound of silence. Yes, we hear of God, but we also come into contact with the divine i within the cloud of silence.The spy spoof Get smart had a cone of silence where the speakers got garbled but those who were to be excluded could hear them perfectly.
Devotions Week of Jan.22
Sunday, Jan. 22-Ps. 62:5-"for God alone my soul waits in silence."When we doubt someone will call, we look at the phone and pace around trying to force it to ring. Our psalmist waits in quiet assurance and expectation.The soul here means one's whole life energy, one total being. It could also mean that words are not necessary. At times our words fill a world to avoid anxiety. In utter confidence, the psalmist can listen for God, in silence, the silence of intimacy.
Monday-All of the gospel readings shed light on a different aspect of the person and work of Jesus until Lent.Early in mark's gospel Jesus is a healer. with our advances, physical healing often lacks the desperation felt in more primitive times. i do think that our need for inner healing is just as desperate as it would be in the time of Jesus. Where do you seek healing in your life?
Tuesday-I was delighted to hear that Bruce Springsteen is releasing a new album, even though he is in his sixties now. I am drawn to his snapshots of American life, and I get religious/spiritual nourishment from his songs, even though they are rarely explicitly religious.Do you have "secular" songs that give you insight into the human condition, including our spiritual condition? Do you have some hymns that offer you such insight as well?
Wednesday-the folks in Bible class wanted to look at stories written in Greek that were placed in the Old Testament translation before the birth of Christ. We are looking at the story of Tobit today.Tobias goes on a quest for his father, and is accompanied by the angel Raphael in disguise. (the angel will live out the name, as healing is brought to the old man who is losing his sight.)
Thursday Scott Russell Sanders, the fine essayist,is retired from Indiana University.
On our bodies he writes:'our bodies are bright like Blake's tiger, burning with the energy of creation. They are also bright with curiosity, like a toddler, eager to explore the territory." as we age, it seems that brightness flickers. When do you notice the most energy in your life now? Where do you notice the most spiritual energy? Where does your curiosity tend to focus?
Friday-Pray without ceasing, Paul writes toward the end of I Thessalonians.Some respond with uttering short prayers during the day, or the Irish had a prayer for almost any activity from rising to going to bed. Here's another way. Consider that what we do, say, or think during the day is communication about our life with God. how would that change the way you approach everyday, even mundane tasks? How would it effect your working on them?
Saturday-I write this in the aftermath of a light freezing rain that has coated a light sheen of ice on the walkways. So we half slide and move slowly. That surface reminds us how easy it is to slip and fall from the high perch of our virtues. What helps keep you from falling? do you have a spiritual version of a walker to help stabilize you? What scares you about a spiritual falling away?
Monday-All of the gospel readings shed light on a different aspect of the person and work of Jesus until Lent.Early in mark's gospel Jesus is a healer. with our advances, physical healing often lacks the desperation felt in more primitive times. i do think that our need for inner healing is just as desperate as it would be in the time of Jesus. Where do you seek healing in your life?
Tuesday-I was delighted to hear that Bruce Springsteen is releasing a new album, even though he is in his sixties now. I am drawn to his snapshots of American life, and I get religious/spiritual nourishment from his songs, even though they are rarely explicitly religious.Do you have "secular" songs that give you insight into the human condition, including our spiritual condition? Do you have some hymns that offer you such insight as well?
Wednesday-the folks in Bible class wanted to look at stories written in Greek that were placed in the Old Testament translation before the birth of Christ. We are looking at the story of Tobit today.Tobias goes on a quest for his father, and is accompanied by the angel Raphael in disguise. (the angel will live out the name, as healing is brought to the old man who is losing his sight.)
Thursday Scott Russell Sanders, the fine essayist,is retired from Indiana University.
On our bodies he writes:'our bodies are bright like Blake's tiger, burning with the energy of creation. They are also bright with curiosity, like a toddler, eager to explore the territory." as we age, it seems that brightness flickers. When do you notice the most energy in your life now? Where do you notice the most spiritual energy? Where does your curiosity tend to focus?
Friday-Pray without ceasing, Paul writes toward the end of I Thessalonians.Some respond with uttering short prayers during the day, or the Irish had a prayer for almost any activity from rising to going to bed. Here's another way. Consider that what we do, say, or think during the day is communication about our life with God. how would that change the way you approach everyday, even mundane tasks? How would it effect your working on them?
Saturday-I write this in the aftermath of a light freezing rain that has coated a light sheen of ice on the walkways. So we half slide and move slowly. That surface reminds us how easy it is to slip and fall from the high perch of our virtues. What helps keep you from falling? do you have a spiritual version of a walker to help stabilize you? What scares you about a spiritual falling away?
Friday, January 20, 2012
OT Notes Dt. 18:15-20
1)This passage does not do much for me today, so this will take some work and thought.
I am struck by the end, on the problem of speaking as a prophet and speaking ot of a different source than God's voice. I immediately think of new right politicians who claim the mantle of god for their policies.
2) How would or will people be held accountable for ignoring authentic prophetic witness? Here, the emphasis is on hearing as absorbing and acting on a message.
3) we often take prophetic to mean shaking the finger at a recalcitrant people, the stance of an outsider. This reminds us that the prophet is from within the people, who shares their history, their weaknesses, their values, and their fears.So a prophetic stance is rooted in empathy, no?
4) I am reading a new biography of Roger Williams, the founder of Rhode Island and separation of chr8ch and state. I was then reminded of the early Puritan sermon that spoke of \God having "yet more light." Here the prophet continues to speak, through, or even past the great revelation at Sinai and the words of the great Moses as well. Clearly Christians see Jesus in this prophetic role.
5) I suppose that this could also be an entry point into a consideration of transitions in the church, especially leadership issues.
6) Olson in D. and the Death of Moses (85) goes back to emphasize that Moses 'takes the heat" for the people in his role. He is also a prophet but priest, a mediator, a go-between for the earth and the heavens. He sees more than a hint in sacrificing one's life for the people here.
7) this passage follows warnings against varieties of divination, so it could be a way into our views of examining the future.the issue of false prophecy must have been a concern.Divination beckons when we fear the future. Do we have modern divination methods?
I am struck by the end, on the problem of speaking as a prophet and speaking ot of a different source than God's voice. I immediately think of new right politicians who claim the mantle of god for their policies.
2) How would or will people be held accountable for ignoring authentic prophetic witness? Here, the emphasis is on hearing as absorbing and acting on a message.
3) we often take prophetic to mean shaking the finger at a recalcitrant people, the stance of an outsider. This reminds us that the prophet is from within the people, who shares their history, their weaknesses, their values, and their fears.So a prophetic stance is rooted in empathy, no?
4) I am reading a new biography of Roger Williams, the founder of Rhode Island and separation of chr8ch and state. I was then reminded of the early Puritan sermon that spoke of \God having "yet more light." Here the prophet continues to speak, through, or even past the great revelation at Sinai and the words of the great Moses as well. Clearly Christians see Jesus in this prophetic role.
5) I suppose that this could also be an entry point into a consideration of transitions in the church, especially leadership issues.
6) Olson in D. and the Death of Moses (85) goes back to emphasize that Moses 'takes the heat" for the people in his role. He is also a prophet but priest, a mediator, a go-between for the earth and the heavens. He sees more than a hint in sacrificing one's life for the people here.
7) this passage follows warnings against varieties of divination, so it could be a way into our views of examining the future.the issue of false prophecy must have been a concern.Divination beckons when we fear the future. Do we have modern divination methods?
Column for Jan 20
My calendar tells me that this is the middle of a week for Christian unity. By some measures, we have made strides in this, especially the number of older, established churches who read from a common set of readings, the lectionary, on Sundays. At times, the culture has a sense that Christians may well be unified in being priggish, or bigoted, or always hopelessly behind the curve, living in the first bush era and considering ourselves current.
On the other hand, it seems a most quixotic quest. American Christians, without the force of government behind conformity, continue to sprout new aspects of the faith with the spread of a dandelion gone to seed. Christian get so polarized that one would think that even within denominations, they belong to utterly different religions.
In the face of inevitable conflict, it seems that our first impulse is to jettison our home church and search for a new home. Maybe it is, in part, a cultural response to the divorce rate in our marriages.
Our eldest daughter marries in the late spring. I’m thinking about writing her a letter of both memory and advice along the lines of the great essayist Scott Russell Sanders. (He recently retired from Indiana University, where she was graduated). In Hunting for Hope, he writes on fidelity, on being faithful. Along with it close relative, loyalty, it is a virtue being run over by our rampant cult of the self and its preferences. He writes; “I don’t mean habit…trudging along in a rut. I mean actively choosing, over and over, to stay on a path, to abide in a relationship, to answer a call.”
I think of the Hebrew word, “hesed.” It is often translated as steadfast love, or loyalty. It has the sense of an unwavering commitment, of wholehearted devotion. We far too rarely feel as if we receive such commitment, and we certainly rarely offer it. Instead, we raise our preferences to the level of principle. If we do not get our way, we look for the nearest exit. Some of us have a difficult time even imagining a cause greater than our own self-interest or involvement. Sanders reminds us that fidelity requires restraint, restraint of the id, our childish demands for more, to always win, to not equate desire or wants with needs, to realize that the end does not justify any and all means toward its fulfillment.
In other words fidelity and loyalty make relationships and community more stable. Of course, contention and conflict will occur, but they do not automatically turn to stomping out when reconciliation or tolerant understandings can be brought to bear as the first option. Years ago, James Carville wrote a little book, Stickin’ to get the sense of friendship as having some adhesive expectations, not always threatening to pull apart. The approach fits adherence to a cause as well. Mall culture encourages us to flit from one shiny entrance to another. Some heroes are able to resist that and pursue, doggedly a commitment, nurturing a garden, teaching children, raising money for medical research. the late Vaclav Havel stood his ground for freedom when Czechoslovakia was under the Soviet boot heel. Eventually, he would become president of the country when the Iron curtain rusted into splinters. Being able to do that required ”transcending individual experience and being anchored somewhere beyond its horizons.” Religious people have just such an anchor, as long as it doesn’t get displaced by the siren call of egotistical self. To be part of something beyond ours own self-interest adds depth to life. It is “not good for us to be all alone,” but connected to the fabric of human community.
On the other hand, it seems a most quixotic quest. American Christians, without the force of government behind conformity, continue to sprout new aspects of the faith with the spread of a dandelion gone to seed. Christian get so polarized that one would think that even within denominations, they belong to utterly different religions.
In the face of inevitable conflict, it seems that our first impulse is to jettison our home church and search for a new home. Maybe it is, in part, a cultural response to the divorce rate in our marriages.
Our eldest daughter marries in the late spring. I’m thinking about writing her a letter of both memory and advice along the lines of the great essayist Scott Russell Sanders. (He recently retired from Indiana University, where she was graduated). In Hunting for Hope, he writes on fidelity, on being faithful. Along with it close relative, loyalty, it is a virtue being run over by our rampant cult of the self and its preferences. He writes; “I don’t mean habit…trudging along in a rut. I mean actively choosing, over and over, to stay on a path, to abide in a relationship, to answer a call.”
I think of the Hebrew word, “hesed.” It is often translated as steadfast love, or loyalty. It has the sense of an unwavering commitment, of wholehearted devotion. We far too rarely feel as if we receive such commitment, and we certainly rarely offer it. Instead, we raise our preferences to the level of principle. If we do not get our way, we look for the nearest exit. Some of us have a difficult time even imagining a cause greater than our own self-interest or involvement. Sanders reminds us that fidelity requires restraint, restraint of the id, our childish demands for more, to always win, to not equate desire or wants with needs, to realize that the end does not justify any and all means toward its fulfillment.
In other words fidelity and loyalty make relationships and community more stable. Of course, contention and conflict will occur, but they do not automatically turn to stomping out when reconciliation or tolerant understandings can be brought to bear as the first option. Years ago, James Carville wrote a little book, Stickin’ to get the sense of friendship as having some adhesive expectations, not always threatening to pull apart. The approach fits adherence to a cause as well. Mall culture encourages us to flit from one shiny entrance to another. Some heroes are able to resist that and pursue, doggedly a commitment, nurturing a garden, teaching children, raising money for medical research. the late Vaclav Havel stood his ground for freedom when Czechoslovakia was under the Soviet boot heel. Eventually, he would become president of the country when the Iron curtain rusted into splinters. Being able to do that required ”transcending individual experience and being anchored somewhere beyond its horizons.” Religious people have just such an anchor, as long as it doesn’t get displaced by the siren call of egotistical self. To be part of something beyond ours own self-interest adds depth to life. It is “not good for us to be all alone,” but connected to the fabric of human community.
Saturday, January 14, 2012
devotions Week of january 15
January 15-Ps 139 has so many engaging phrases. “If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me “(9-10). If one saw god as a hunter, this would be frightening. With the yes of say, the Runaway bunny, it tells us of a love that “will not let us go.” It is part of the same impulse that has the good shepherd search for the one lost sheep. Know that no valley is too dark and deep, no mountain to high and lofty for the presence of God,
Martin Luther King Day-MLK had a doctorate in social ethics from Boston University but went to a pastorate and found himself in the midst of the developing boycott against seating segregation on buses in Birmingham. One night in his kitchen, with the weight of early death weighing on him, in prayer he had a moving revelation. to stand up for righteousness. Do yourself a favor a read some of his writing, or just a few quotes to bring to mind a rhetorical genius, a Christian minister to his untimely end.
Tuesday-Sometimes you want to be helpful but end up feeling powerless. When you try to say or do something, ti seems as if it is the wrong thing. We ask if there is something we can say or do, and the answer is often, “no.” We often say we can listen, and that is true but it does not feel as if it enough. We pray for inspiration, for the right word or deed, and that intuition means much. If we do what we can, then we can stay in touch but turn the pressure over to God.
Wednesday-My calendar says we start the week of Christian unity today. Part of me thinks that it is such a same we need such a week. On the other hand, part of me likes Christian disunity on the grounds of letting a hundred flowers bloom in diversity. What do you consider the elements that all Christians share/ What divides us that you consider trivial? What good comes out of the great diversity of faith responses?
Thursday-Our church deacons meet today.They appear as people who help provide relief to widows in Acts 6. Calvin emphasized the diaconate in Geneva. In our church government, the diaconate is our formal attempt to continue work of care and compassion. Every Christian is called to work of care and compassion. Quick, where do you act as a deacon even if not ordained to the office?
Friday- A book singing is held for one on Roger Williams today. He was a dissenter against the Puritan commonwealth in Massachusetts and founded what would become Rhode Island, He spoke of a high wall of separation between the garden of the church and the power of the state. he was one of the few early colonists who sought to treat Indians fairly. What aspects of free exercise of religion are most important to you. How do you try to navigate the wall of separation between church and state?
Saturday-I feel the need to reassert private interior spirituality today with so many more public pieces for this week. When I helped lead a new pastors group, I said that they would not get much help in tending their own spiritual gardens, but if they did not they would be operating on fumes sooner than they could imagine. Private practices refuel our spent spirits.
Martin Luther King Day-MLK had a doctorate in social ethics from Boston University but went to a pastorate and found himself in the midst of the developing boycott against seating segregation on buses in Birmingham. One night in his kitchen, with the weight of early death weighing on him, in prayer he had a moving revelation. to stand up for righteousness. Do yourself a favor a read some of his writing, or just a few quotes to bring to mind a rhetorical genius, a Christian minister to his untimely end.
Tuesday-Sometimes you want to be helpful but end up feeling powerless. When you try to say or do something, ti seems as if it is the wrong thing. We ask if there is something we can say or do, and the answer is often, “no.” We often say we can listen, and that is true but it does not feel as if it enough. We pray for inspiration, for the right word or deed, and that intuition means much. If we do what we can, then we can stay in touch but turn the pressure over to God.
Wednesday-My calendar says we start the week of Christian unity today. Part of me thinks that it is such a same we need such a week. On the other hand, part of me likes Christian disunity on the grounds of letting a hundred flowers bloom in diversity. What do you consider the elements that all Christians share/ What divides us that you consider trivial? What good comes out of the great diversity of faith responses?
Thursday-Our church deacons meet today.They appear as people who help provide relief to widows in Acts 6. Calvin emphasized the diaconate in Geneva. In our church government, the diaconate is our formal attempt to continue work of care and compassion. Every Christian is called to work of care and compassion. Quick, where do you act as a deacon even if not ordained to the office?
Friday- A book singing is held for one on Roger Williams today. He was a dissenter against the Puritan commonwealth in Massachusetts and founded what would become Rhode Island, He spoke of a high wall of separation between the garden of the church and the power of the state. he was one of the few early colonists who sought to treat Indians fairly. What aspects of free exercise of religion are most important to you. How do you try to navigate the wall of separation between church and state?
Saturday-I feel the need to reassert private interior spirituality today with so many more public pieces for this week. When I helped lead a new pastors group, I said that they would not get much help in tending their own spiritual gardens, but if they did not they would be operating on fumes sooner than they could imagine. Private practices refuel our spent spirits.
Sermon notes I Sam. 3:1-20 january 15
“Can you hear me now?” went the commercial. You’re not listening to me, says the aggrieved spouse. Don’t you see it, says the frustrated teacher. Samuel and Eli blindness and sight.Samuel (god hears/asked of God/name of God) is destined to be a prophet, a seer, but as a boy he has trouble understanding what he is hearing. Blind Eli certainly hears the boy awaken him in the middle of the night. (Ps. 139) We may be deaf and blind toward each other, and maybe even to our own selves, but the Pslamist tells us that the god who forms us knows us well.
The realization even blind Eli comes to see what is happening in this farce of a calling story.
Samuel was an answer to Hannah’s desperate prayer to have a child with her husband Elkanah. In a heartbreaking vow, she gives him over to the Temple and visits him with a new priestly robe.’
Samuel, the boy, is in religious service but not in the temple it seems, for his role will be the more public one of being a prophet. God is calling the boy but he doesn’t yet know how to recognize the voice nor what to do. Once Eli gets settled, he instructs the boy to both listen for the voice and how to answer properly. The words were frightful ones, but as a prophet Samuel's words never fell to the ground.
We are told that the word of the Lord was rare in those days. I rather think that is always the case, maybe especially when people claim that they have direct access to the word of the lord. Yet our relational god does speak. Our God leaves clues and traces of the Presence all of the time. How to listen for god? The great answer is consistent bible reading. Every time we examine the Scripture we can discover new depths in god and in our own character. Another way is to learn quiet contemplation with God, in the presence of God. We may listen carefully to each other. At times, someone may say something that breaks us out of the doldrums or opens us to a new thought. We could well be inspired to deeper richer understanding. I do think that God may speak in a whisper as well as a roar. The god who shares creation with us and fully capable of having nature , events, and out own words as as speakers for the divine as well. I have a nice series of books called listening for god that lifts up religious themes in fiction by great writers and then asks the reader to explore what they hear being directed to us in the pages.God’s call can be specific, but it is also a constant one for living out our Christian life.
Maybe we do not hear or see traces of god because we don;t want ot see what could be revealed. How to see the hand of God? Keep oneself alive to change, to color,to surprise. I like to use an image of the biblically-tutored imagination. We look at our world with Bible colored glasses. Yes, we see things that remind us of the Bible. I mean also that we see a biblical story or principle come alive in our very line of sight. Partly we see by asking ourselves if we see the hand of god in this. Of course, that also means that we realize that God is fully capable of working through the good but also fully capable of working to straighten out our own crooked lines. More than that, god continues to take frail, failed people such as Eli and later Samuel himself. We are more than a failing; we are more than the sum of our experiences; we are active agents for the continuing work of God to make this place fit for human habitation...and divine presence.
The realization even blind Eli comes to see what is happening in this farce of a calling story.
Samuel was an answer to Hannah’s desperate prayer to have a child with her husband Elkanah. In a heartbreaking vow, she gives him over to the Temple and visits him with a new priestly robe.’
Samuel, the boy, is in religious service but not in the temple it seems, for his role will be the more public one of being a prophet. God is calling the boy but he doesn’t yet know how to recognize the voice nor what to do. Once Eli gets settled, he instructs the boy to both listen for the voice and how to answer properly. The words were frightful ones, but as a prophet Samuel's words never fell to the ground.
We are told that the word of the Lord was rare in those days. I rather think that is always the case, maybe especially when people claim that they have direct access to the word of the lord. Yet our relational god does speak. Our God leaves clues and traces of the Presence all of the time. How to listen for god? The great answer is consistent bible reading. Every time we examine the Scripture we can discover new depths in god and in our own character. Another way is to learn quiet contemplation with God, in the presence of God. We may listen carefully to each other. At times, someone may say something that breaks us out of the doldrums or opens us to a new thought. We could well be inspired to deeper richer understanding. I do think that God may speak in a whisper as well as a roar. The god who shares creation with us and fully capable of having nature , events, and out own words as as speakers for the divine as well. I have a nice series of books called listening for god that lifts up religious themes in fiction by great writers and then asks the reader to explore what they hear being directed to us in the pages.God’s call can be specific, but it is also a constant one for living out our Christian life.
Maybe we do not hear or see traces of god because we don;t want ot see what could be revealed. How to see the hand of God? Keep oneself alive to change, to color,to surprise. I like to use an image of the biblically-tutored imagination. We look at our world with Bible colored glasses. Yes, we see things that remind us of the Bible. I mean also that we see a biblical story or principle come alive in our very line of sight. Partly we see by asking ourselves if we see the hand of god in this. Of course, that also means that we realize that God is fully capable of working through the good but also fully capable of working to straighten out our own crooked lines. More than that, god continues to take frail, failed people such as Eli and later Samuel himself. We are more than a failing; we are more than the sum of our experiences; we are active agents for the continuing work of God to make this place fit for human habitation...and divine presence.
OT Notes for Jonah 3:1-5
Jonah 3:1-5
1) We are immediately after Jonah is unceremoniously deposited on the beach. After being in the belly of the beast, (my girls loved this when little) the beast vomited him up on the shore. A most inauspicious beginning, but we have dramatic tension. Will Jonah run again?
2) Never worry about the God of second chances. The word fo the Lord comes a second time. Still, will Jonah pay heed? Notice we are told that god speaks a second time, but the alteration occurs in that we are not given explicit reason to go to Nineveh. does the first reason carry over or not? Even here, Trible (Rhet. Crit. p.177; see also her excellent commentary in the NIB) wonders if Jonah's response is complete as one verb is still left dangling in the narrative.
3) Here we have a marvel of narrative concision. We have no mention of the journey. Instead, we get from beach to Nineveh. Nineveh seems to me to function as the ‘evil empire” here, think Berlin in WWII or Moscow in the Cold War. It was the seat of the empire that defeated Israel, subjected it, put some into exile and repopulated it with other peoples in the Assyrian program of breaking up rebellious territories. They were a threat to Judah too.I have not been persuaded when this wonderful piece was written.
4) In Hebrew, it is Nineveh, a city great to god. it could be size but it could point to other interpretations obviously (Trible:178). I find the description to be exaggeration in the interest of the story itself, an extension of the fish story where the catch keep getting bigger; a three days walk across is one big town. It is a narrative way of seeing little lone Jonah in the midst of a new beast, Nineveh.
5) On occasion overthrown can have a sense of deliverance as in Dt. 23:5. Jer. 31:13. (1800 Trible wonders if we have an omission here. Jonah does go in but does he speak the world of the Lord?
6) The response of the city is a mass conversion of everyone to this short sermon that puts preachers in a spasm of envy. I again see it as humorous as the pagans react as a group while Jonah was slow in responding.Now the whole pagan city acts as a Jewish city. They show the signs of repenting.
1) We are immediately after Jonah is unceremoniously deposited on the beach. After being in the belly of the beast, (my girls loved this when little) the beast vomited him up on the shore. A most inauspicious beginning, but we have dramatic tension. Will Jonah run again?
2) Never worry about the God of second chances. The word fo the Lord comes a second time. Still, will Jonah pay heed? Notice we are told that god speaks a second time, but the alteration occurs in that we are not given explicit reason to go to Nineveh. does the first reason carry over or not? Even here, Trible (Rhet. Crit. p.177; see also her excellent commentary in the NIB) wonders if Jonah's response is complete as one verb is still left dangling in the narrative.
3) Here we have a marvel of narrative concision. We have no mention of the journey. Instead, we get from beach to Nineveh. Nineveh seems to me to function as the ‘evil empire” here, think Berlin in WWII or Moscow in the Cold War. It was the seat of the empire that defeated Israel, subjected it, put some into exile and repopulated it with other peoples in the Assyrian program of breaking up rebellious territories. They were a threat to Judah too.I have not been persuaded when this wonderful piece was written.
4) In Hebrew, it is Nineveh, a city great to god. it could be size but it could point to other interpretations obviously (Trible:178). I find the description to be exaggeration in the interest of the story itself, an extension of the fish story where the catch keep getting bigger; a three days walk across is one big town. It is a narrative way of seeing little lone Jonah in the midst of a new beast, Nineveh.
5) On occasion overthrown can have a sense of deliverance as in Dt. 23:5. Jer. 31:13. (1800 Trible wonders if we have an omission here. Jonah does go in but does he speak the world of the Lord?
6) The response of the city is a mass conversion of everyone to this short sermon that puts preachers in a spasm of envy. I again see it as humorous as the pagans react as a group while Jonah was slow in responding.Now the whole pagan city acts as a Jewish city. They show the signs of repenting.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
OT Notes for Jan. 15- I Sam. 3:1-20, Ps. 139:1-6, 13-18
1) Does verse 1 b hit us between the eyes?
2) Eli's sight is dim toward the actions of his sons. the dim eyesight is here compounded by sleep, but he can hear Samuel wake him up, at least physically , and after a while, spiritually.
3) Please note the humor in this story of the sleepy Eli.
4) Why is Here I am a proper biblical response do you think?
5) verse 7 is worthy of some extended consideration.
6) v.10 emphasize listening. Again, listening in prayer is worth attention in sermon, bible study, or spiritual development.
7) The words heard are difficult for Eli and Samuel to her.Eli means my God, and Samuel could be heard of or by God as would fit Hannah's prayer.
8) Now in the daytime, isn't heartbreaking that Samuel says here I am again? What do you think of Eli's inquiry and response?
9) In v. 19 when do words "fall to the ground?"
2) Eli's sight is dim toward the actions of his sons. the dim eyesight is here compounded by sleep, but he can hear Samuel wake him up, at least physically , and after a while, spiritually.
3) Please note the humor in this story of the sleepy Eli.
4) Why is Here I am a proper biblical response do you think?
5) verse 7 is worthy of some extended consideration.
6) v.10 emphasize listening. Again, listening in prayer is worth attention in sermon, bible study, or spiritual development.
7) The words heard are difficult for Eli and Samuel to her.Eli means my God, and Samuel could be heard of or by God as would fit Hannah's prayer.
8) Now in the daytime, isn't heartbreaking that Samuel says here I am again? What do you think of Eli's inquiry and response?
9) In v. 19 when do words "fall to the ground?"
Devotions 2nd week of january
January 8 -Jesus commanded baptism, but he was baptized by john. Jesus would not have needed cleansing from sin. It certainly marked a turn in his life, for only after baptism in the synoptic gospels does he begin his public ministry from what we can learn. Baptism fits a new year as that it constantly works on us in making us a new creation. it nurtures our spiritual growth day by day. Most of all, it marks us as members of the family of God.
Monday-Calvin deservedly is seen as a tough customer. Still, his notions of human depravity may lead to some good attitudes. For instance, since we are all sinners in his view, that means no one can harshly judge another. Since we are all sinners, we cannot move out of our pay grade and judge who is in and who is out in salvation, for that is god’s job. How do you try to keep from being judgmental.
Tuesday-It’s isn’t obvious what supporting someone means. When someone has endured a setback , what is one to do? Hearing them out seems important.Giving advice doesn’t seem to be helpful, nor does I told you so.Lending a helping hand can be helpful, if they want or need it. Please recall prayer, both for the person needing special support and for oneself. Prayer doesn’t merely kick the problem upstairs but it opens us up to the paths to take that may be more helpful, for them and even ourselves.
Wednesday-Part of being a parent is worrying.It doesn’t stop even when children are grown. Sure, we know that their lives are their own, but that can only make it worse. Jesus is right of course that worry adds not an inch to our lifespan.worry even clouds our cognition.Worrying may be a sign that we miss control. Worrying is a sign of how much we care for another as well, but worry is not the same as caring. If god doesn’t worry, how does God view our lives would you speculate?
Thursday-Expectations are trouble.I was looking forward to a meal recently, and the person turned a light event into a difficult one by bringing in a cloud of gloom. I was expecting pleasant conversation and instead was faced with annoyance and touchiness. How have you learned to manage your expectations in social situations? When do they get in your way?What expectations do you carry with you when you walk into a Bible Study? How about worship?
Friday-Excellence is a rare commodity in life. That is one reason I so enjoy the NFL playoffs this weekend. I have said that the NFL is one of the few things that seems to get better over time. I admire the power, the poise, and precision of so many plays. I think of the practice it takes to arrive at such a point. In our time we speak of spiritual practices so that they become habitual in thought and action. consider working on a spiritual practice for a week or two and then chart if you notice any differences.
Saturday-Spiritual arrogance is annoying. We an see it in the sneers of people who are convinced that only their slice of life will be saved. We see it in people who cannot conceive that someone could disagree with them. Why do we find it so annoying? In what instances, do you find it troublesome? When do you feel spiritual hubris rising up in yourself?
Monday-Calvin deservedly is seen as a tough customer. Still, his notions of human depravity may lead to some good attitudes. For instance, since we are all sinners in his view, that means no one can harshly judge another. Since we are all sinners, we cannot move out of our pay grade and judge who is in and who is out in salvation, for that is god’s job. How do you try to keep from being judgmental.
Tuesday-It’s isn’t obvious what supporting someone means. When someone has endured a setback , what is one to do? Hearing them out seems important.Giving advice doesn’t seem to be helpful, nor does I told you so.Lending a helping hand can be helpful, if they want or need it. Please recall prayer, both for the person needing special support and for oneself. Prayer doesn’t merely kick the problem upstairs but it opens us up to the paths to take that may be more helpful, for them and even ourselves.
Wednesday-Part of being a parent is worrying.It doesn’t stop even when children are grown. Sure, we know that their lives are their own, but that can only make it worse. Jesus is right of course that worry adds not an inch to our lifespan.worry even clouds our cognition.Worrying may be a sign that we miss control. Worrying is a sign of how much we care for another as well, but worry is not the same as caring. If god doesn’t worry, how does God view our lives would you speculate?
Thursday-Expectations are trouble.I was looking forward to a meal recently, and the person turned a light event into a difficult one by bringing in a cloud of gloom. I was expecting pleasant conversation and instead was faced with annoyance and touchiness. How have you learned to manage your expectations in social situations? When do they get in your way?What expectations do you carry with you when you walk into a Bible Study? How about worship?
Friday-Excellence is a rare commodity in life. That is one reason I so enjoy the NFL playoffs this weekend. I have said that the NFL is one of the few things that seems to get better over time. I admire the power, the poise, and precision of so many plays. I think of the practice it takes to arrive at such a point. In our time we speak of spiritual practices so that they become habitual in thought and action. consider working on a spiritual practice for a week or two and then chart if you notice any differences.
Saturday-Spiritual arrogance is annoying. We an see it in the sneers of people who are convinced that only their slice of life will be saved. We see it in people who cannot conceive that someone could disagree with them. Why do we find it so annoying? In what instances, do you find it troublesome? When do you feel spiritual hubris rising up in yourself?
Sermon Notes jan. 8 Gen. 1:1-5, Mk. 1:1-16
At the start of the new calendar year, it is fitting that the readings look toward creation and beginnings., of Creation and new creation
The background of Gen. 1 is against the combat story of Babylon where creation is the result of battle between gods and human beings were created as slaves for the gods.No instead we are made in the image and likeness to go to tend and take care of this god earth.Creation’s careful order is a cosmic temple for God to dwell (shakan), a natural order that would serve as the model for the mini world of Solomon’s temple. While it took seven years for that temple to be built, God made the world in six days, plus the holy day of rest. that world is planned; it has a form v. void, the emptiness of a world without God’s touch. fullness not emptiness-this is a god of order, harmony, and development. All of this planning and labor is oriented toward life, L’chaim. Life leads to the sabbath as the temple lead to the holy of holies- Creation grants both freedom of agency and co-operative environments structured for life.
God is a priest, a cosmic priest, but also a cosmic architect and cosmic biologist. In creation we encounter God sharing self. God does create by a word, command. Could it be that language creates a world here in the view of the Priestly account?
Baptism is new creation. It combines the word with a sign from the natural world.. It works with natural elements.Baptism has Jesus coming to a fork in the road. It does seem clear that the baptism is not only a significant cosmic event but that it seems to be the initiation of the public work of Jesus. Baptism promises us new life as well. This sanctuary seeks to create a worship world as Solomon's temple did. Here the cross is central, as is the word, font and table. The windows seek to honor our reformed tradition in holding the two testaments of the Bible together. it is the womb of a new spiritual creation. It is the dining hall of the spiritual banquet of communion. take some time with the baptismal window here and let it speak to you.
Know this. When we were baptized the heavens opened and that same voice said this is my beloved in whom I am well-pleased. The god of all creation loves you, knows you in all of the age and size of the universe. You, you matter to God. God continues to work from the inside out in each one of us. At the same time, as the late Donald Juel said, in the baptism of Jesus, god is on the loose.” God is on the prowl. Our God is no disengaged creator, distant and unconcerned with this creation that divinity itself planned and labored long and hard to continue to evolve over billions of years. As Simone Weil said, in creation God decided not to be everything so we could begin to be really something. Sometimes, I get the sense from some of our Christian sisters and brothers that one says the magic phrase of accepting Christ and being baptized in their approved manner, and that wraps everything up. God has baptized agents of the new creation;people planting seeds, dispensing blessings, offering prayers, giving out compliments. Baptism starts a christian life; it is not its culmination. At this time of year of resolutions made and already failed, we see the sacrament as offering us a new day with god every single day. every day open the doors of baptism to Christian action and new depth of Christan understanding.
The background of Gen. 1 is against the combat story of Babylon where creation is the result of battle between gods and human beings were created as slaves for the gods.No instead we are made in the image and likeness to go to tend and take care of this god earth.Creation’s careful order is a cosmic temple for God to dwell (shakan), a natural order that would serve as the model for the mini world of Solomon’s temple. While it took seven years for that temple to be built, God made the world in six days, plus the holy day of rest. that world is planned; it has a form v. void, the emptiness of a world without God’s touch. fullness not emptiness-this is a god of order, harmony, and development. All of this planning and labor is oriented toward life, L’chaim. Life leads to the sabbath as the temple lead to the holy of holies- Creation grants both freedom of agency and co-operative environments structured for life.
God is a priest, a cosmic priest, but also a cosmic architect and cosmic biologist. In creation we encounter God sharing self. God does create by a word, command. Could it be that language creates a world here in the view of the Priestly account?
Baptism is new creation. It combines the word with a sign from the natural world.. It works with natural elements.Baptism has Jesus coming to a fork in the road. It does seem clear that the baptism is not only a significant cosmic event but that it seems to be the initiation of the public work of Jesus. Baptism promises us new life as well. This sanctuary seeks to create a worship world as Solomon's temple did. Here the cross is central, as is the word, font and table. The windows seek to honor our reformed tradition in holding the two testaments of the Bible together. it is the womb of a new spiritual creation. It is the dining hall of the spiritual banquet of communion. take some time with the baptismal window here and let it speak to you.
Know this. When we were baptized the heavens opened and that same voice said this is my beloved in whom I am well-pleased. The god of all creation loves you, knows you in all of the age and size of the universe. You, you matter to God. God continues to work from the inside out in each one of us. At the same time, as the late Donald Juel said, in the baptism of Jesus, god is on the loose.” God is on the prowl. Our God is no disengaged creator, distant and unconcerned with this creation that divinity itself planned and labored long and hard to continue to evolve over billions of years. As Simone Weil said, in creation God decided not to be everything so we could begin to be really something. Sometimes, I get the sense from some of our Christian sisters and brothers that one says the magic phrase of accepting Christ and being baptized in their approved manner, and that wraps everything up. God has baptized agents of the new creation;people planting seeds, dispensing blessings, offering prayers, giving out compliments. Baptism starts a christian life; it is not its culmination. At this time of year of resolutions made and already failed, we see the sacrament as offering us a new day with god every single day. every day open the doors of baptism to Christian action and new depth of Christan understanding.
Friday, January 6, 2012
column for Jan. 6-Epiphany
Today is Epiphany in the church calendar. This is the day we consider the visit of the Magi, the Wise Ones, to visit the newborn Jesus in Bethlehem in Matthew’s gospel. We usually picture three of them to match the number of gifts. For all we know it could have been two, or it could have been many more. Some of you may be wondering how we saw these magi transmuted into kings. Using an old method of biblical interpretation, the early church found references to the gifts, at least frankincense and gold, in Is. 61:1-6 and Ps. 72. With the gifts, the counselors to kings became kings themselves. The ethnicity of the Magi that we often see depicted in crèche sets comes from the locations of those who would come to pay homage in Israel, instead of the other way around, especially when Israel was under the yoke of being a mere colony for centuries.
The Magi were accustomed to serving what the Occupy movement calls the one per cent. Although they are wise in astrology in all likelihood and the corridors of power, they misread the signs. They stumble into Herod’s palace and then cause the life of the newborn Jesus to be threatened. If one merges the story of Luke and Matthew, we have the delicious irony of the classic members of the ninety-nine percent, shepherds, being the only ones to get the message of the newborn Jesus, while the one per cent is in the dark.
Epiphany comes from a Greek word meaning to shine around. Even though the Magi were in the ark about the true identity of Jesus, their secular knowledge drew them closer to Jesus than most. Even though most were in the dark about the identity of Jesus, even those who could direct them to Bethlehem, not Jerusalem, the Magi have the light shine on them as they paid homage to the child. Even that is ironic for the same word can be worship. Perhaps without realizing it, their posture fit God’s own as well as a political ruler. They stand for all of us on whom the light of god rests, not just insiders but outsiders as well. Indeed they are the first representatives of the global reach of the life and message of Jesus.
In its standard use in the language, epiphany mean a sudden flash of insight, the light bulb going off over one’s head. It may be a new idea. It may be seeing connections between disparate things that were formerly separated. It could be seeing a whole level of meaning beneath the surface. It may be finding a way out of an especially nettlesome issue.
Epiphanies fit the idea of inspiration. it is as if we have drawn in a spirit of understanding or truth from outside ourselves. All the effort doesn’t seem to be able to force such an insight. Since we are fallible, even “ah ha” moments can be wrong. Still, they often have a sense of rightness to them, of something clicking into place, of a bridge being built. Some would say that epiphanies are rare moments when the two different slices of our brains fit together instead of being segregated from each other, the artistic and the logical finally meeting in the middle. We do not seem to be able to force those moments. They do seem to come out of the blue. They may even come and we are not alert to their presence and dismiss them. I hope and pray that 2012 brings epiphany, new light on your spiritual journey and your insights into your relationships as well. Perhaps, an epiphany would be to see those two dimensions, the sacred and the secular, as always connected.
The Magi were accustomed to serving what the Occupy movement calls the one per cent. Although they are wise in astrology in all likelihood and the corridors of power, they misread the signs. They stumble into Herod’s palace and then cause the life of the newborn Jesus to be threatened. If one merges the story of Luke and Matthew, we have the delicious irony of the classic members of the ninety-nine percent, shepherds, being the only ones to get the message of the newborn Jesus, while the one per cent is in the dark.
Epiphany comes from a Greek word meaning to shine around. Even though the Magi were in the ark about the true identity of Jesus, their secular knowledge drew them closer to Jesus than most. Even though most were in the dark about the identity of Jesus, even those who could direct them to Bethlehem, not Jerusalem, the Magi have the light shine on them as they paid homage to the child. Even that is ironic for the same word can be worship. Perhaps without realizing it, their posture fit God’s own as well as a political ruler. They stand for all of us on whom the light of god rests, not just insiders but outsiders as well. Indeed they are the first representatives of the global reach of the life and message of Jesus.
In its standard use in the language, epiphany mean a sudden flash of insight, the light bulb going off over one’s head. It may be a new idea. It may be seeing connections between disparate things that were formerly separated. It could be seeing a whole level of meaning beneath the surface. It may be finding a way out of an especially nettlesome issue.
Epiphanies fit the idea of inspiration. it is as if we have drawn in a spirit of understanding or truth from outside ourselves. All the effort doesn’t seem to be able to force such an insight. Since we are fallible, even “ah ha” moments can be wrong. Still, they often have a sense of rightness to them, of something clicking into place, of a bridge being built. Some would say that epiphanies are rare moments when the two different slices of our brains fit together instead of being segregated from each other, the artistic and the logical finally meeting in the middle. We do not seem to be able to force those moments. They do seem to come out of the blue. They may even come and we are not alert to their presence and dismiss them. I hope and pray that 2012 brings epiphany, new light on your spiritual journey and your insights into your relationships as well. Perhaps, an epiphany would be to see those two dimensions, the sacred and the secular, as always connected.
Monday, January 2, 2012
OT Readings for jan. 8, 2012 Gen.1:1-5, ps.29
1) I realize that we've have covered some of this territory before. This blog started for some fellow pastors in Indiana. I note that the state Senate there may consider a bill requiring "creation science." May I suggest material from a former butler professor and now out west, Robert Zimmerman and his Clergy Letter Project.
Alos let me again commedn Brown's book Seven Pillars.
2) In mystical Judaism, we encounter zimzum. God makes a space for the world, so god withdraws some of the power/control over that creation. see Moltmann, God in Creation, for a good appropriation/discussion of the notion. In a way then, kenotic views of divinity start at creation, perhaps.
3) Notice that god evaluates from the start with the simple, good. Even if you accept the notion of the Fall of humanity, how do you square that evaluation with the evil in the world?
4) the void and darkness=tohu and bohu. some see this as primordial chaos always held at bay by the order of creation. See here Levenson's Creation and the Persistence of Evil.
5) The spirit/breath swept/hovered over the face of the waters. You can be literal about this or poetic. This would be a worthy image to explore for a sermon or class.
6)Creation's order is done with separation/distinction. The evaluation includes this distinction and calls it good, but it does not judge one distinction superior to another. Notice the Hebrew way of dividing time from sunset to sunup. For some, this includes a sabbath notion that God governs the world while we sleep, to induce a humility in our role in the world. One could play with the notion of how time itself takes on a different aspect with this arrangement.
Ps. 29 this is assumed to be lifted from the surrounding culture and applied to God.
1) Brueggeman's TOT p.284=5 and 238 notes the ancient notion of a contest between the gods of heaven and God is declared the victor.Some hear images of Baal being applied to god here as well.So, instead of seeing this as syncretism, one can marvel at the theological boldness of israel, where secure in the knowledge of god, they are willing to appropriate good prayers from other traditions and apply then=m to god. it is an interesting way to deal with inter-religious contacts.
2) Notice how nature is the signifier for power here.One could take natural points in one's own environment and declare points for that same voice.
3) After all of this hymn to natural power, when people finally appear it is in the temple, that microcosm for the natural world in a religious setting. then the blessing is for strength for people and then not power but peace, well-being, health, shalom.
4) Power is expressed in a voice, yet that same voice can be quiet as in the cave of Elijah. One could really explore this notion of hearing god in different "voices."
5) Glory=presence of God for me. It has a sense to me of gravitas, of being a weighty matter, the opposite of trivial, awe-inspiring.
Alos let me again commedn Brown's book Seven Pillars.
2) In mystical Judaism, we encounter zimzum. God makes a space for the world, so god withdraws some of the power/control over that creation. see Moltmann, God in Creation, for a good appropriation/discussion of the notion. In a way then, kenotic views of divinity start at creation, perhaps.
3) Notice that god evaluates from the start with the simple, good. Even if you accept the notion of the Fall of humanity, how do you square that evaluation with the evil in the world?
4) the void and darkness=tohu and bohu. some see this as primordial chaos always held at bay by the order of creation. See here Levenson's Creation and the Persistence of Evil.
5) The spirit/breath swept/hovered over the face of the waters. You can be literal about this or poetic. This would be a worthy image to explore for a sermon or class.
6)Creation's order is done with separation/distinction. The evaluation includes this distinction and calls it good, but it does not judge one distinction superior to another. Notice the Hebrew way of dividing time from sunset to sunup. For some, this includes a sabbath notion that God governs the world while we sleep, to induce a humility in our role in the world. One could play with the notion of how time itself takes on a different aspect with this arrangement.
Ps. 29 this is assumed to be lifted from the surrounding culture and applied to God.
1) Brueggeman's TOT p.284=5 and 238 notes the ancient notion of a contest between the gods of heaven and God is declared the victor.Some hear images of Baal being applied to god here as well.So, instead of seeing this as syncretism, one can marvel at the theological boldness of israel, where secure in the knowledge of god, they are willing to appropriate good prayers from other traditions and apply then=m to god. it is an interesting way to deal with inter-religious contacts.
2) Notice how nature is the signifier for power here.One could take natural points in one's own environment and declare points for that same voice.
3) After all of this hymn to natural power, when people finally appear it is in the temple, that microcosm for the natural world in a religious setting. then the blessing is for strength for people and then not power but peace, well-being, health, shalom.
4) Power is expressed in a voice, yet that same voice can be quiet as in the cave of Elijah. One could really explore this notion of hearing god in different "voices."
5) Glory=presence of God for me. It has a sense to me of gravitas, of being a weighty matter, the opposite of trivial, awe-inspiring.
Devotions first week of January
January 1-Happy New Year-In Isaiah 432:19 , God says that I am about to do a new thing, do you not perceive it? The new is a place of life, of surprise, of forward motion. What new thing would you like to see in your life? What new thing would you like to see in your congregation?
Monday-Perhaps some resolutions have already fallen by the wayside today. God knows full well that our spirits are willing but our flesh is weak. Consider making some smaller resolutions or breaking them into more manageable pieces. After all, John Calvin saw our spiritual progress as done in bits and pieces over the years.Please, please, consider a spiritual resolution along with the usual ones about weight, diet, and exercise.
Tuesday-I picked up Joan Didion’s new book, Blue Nights. She wrote a fine memoir of her reactions to her husband’s death in Year of Magical thinking. Some of that book had many concerns about their daughter’s health. In this book she faces the death of that daughter and the fight with the fragility of aging at 75. She has a good sense that grief does have some closure but still is a wound easily opened. “I know what fear is... the fear is not for what is lost...what is lost is already behind locked doors.the fear is what is still to be lost. You may see nothing still to be lost. Yet there is no day in my life when I do not see her.” (p. 188, final words)
Wednesday-I’m going to the reformed roundtable this week. i am charged with leading discussion on a new book Life in God by the new president of CTS, Matthew Boulton. I am struck by his noticing that Calvin saw our human nature as blind as much as “depraved.” Calvin saw a world as the theater of God’s glory, of shining with a thousand lights of God’s goodness. We seem oblivious to this, unable and unwilling to see Creation as a constant manifestation of God’s presence and goodness. Try to stop and smell the roses of God’s goodness today.
Thursday-I’m scheduled to meet with our youngest daughter today, before she goes back to school this weekend. I look forward to it. It is good to share a meal and some time with our loved ones. It has the feel of secular Communion for me, as we open up our calendars and ourselves to be present with and for each other. Whom would you like to have dinner with? What person from history would you like to have supper with?
Friday-Epiphany’s readings for today are precisely the ones that added to the story of the Magi, s. 60:1-6, Ps. 72. Eph. 3:1-12 is the other reading. v.10 caught my eye...”so that through the church the wisdom of God in its rich variety might now be made known.” I love the idea that the universal, catholic church exists to demonstrate variety, diversity of God’s wisdom in the world. One size does not fit all in the expanse of God’s message to us.
Saturday-I don;t know if I am accurate, but January always seems the coldest month to me. When I was a teacher i walked to work in Rock Island, and one January I don;t think it was much above 10 degrees on the way to work. Calvin was an intellectual, but his symbol was a heart aflame for God. He saw our spiritual lives as a piece, body, mind, soul together. He saw us as naturally frigid in our religious affections, unless warmed by the spirit.Where would your life be aided by the warm breeze of the spirit?
Monday-Perhaps some resolutions have already fallen by the wayside today. God knows full well that our spirits are willing but our flesh is weak. Consider making some smaller resolutions or breaking them into more manageable pieces. After all, John Calvin saw our spiritual progress as done in bits and pieces over the years.Please, please, consider a spiritual resolution along with the usual ones about weight, diet, and exercise.
Tuesday-I picked up Joan Didion’s new book, Blue Nights. She wrote a fine memoir of her reactions to her husband’s death in Year of Magical thinking. Some of that book had many concerns about their daughter’s health. In this book she faces the death of that daughter and the fight with the fragility of aging at 75. She has a good sense that grief does have some closure but still is a wound easily opened. “I know what fear is... the fear is not for what is lost...what is lost is already behind locked doors.the fear is what is still to be lost. You may see nothing still to be lost. Yet there is no day in my life when I do not see her.” (p. 188, final words)
Wednesday-I’m going to the reformed roundtable this week. i am charged with leading discussion on a new book Life in God by the new president of CTS, Matthew Boulton. I am struck by his noticing that Calvin saw our human nature as blind as much as “depraved.” Calvin saw a world as the theater of God’s glory, of shining with a thousand lights of God’s goodness. We seem oblivious to this, unable and unwilling to see Creation as a constant manifestation of God’s presence and goodness. Try to stop and smell the roses of God’s goodness today.
Thursday-I’m scheduled to meet with our youngest daughter today, before she goes back to school this weekend. I look forward to it. It is good to share a meal and some time with our loved ones. It has the feel of secular Communion for me, as we open up our calendars and ourselves to be present with and for each other. Whom would you like to have dinner with? What person from history would you like to have supper with?
Friday-Epiphany’s readings for today are precisely the ones that added to the story of the Magi, s. 60:1-6, Ps. 72. Eph. 3:1-12 is the other reading. v.10 caught my eye...”so that through the church the wisdom of God in its rich variety might now be made known.” I love the idea that the universal, catholic church exists to demonstrate variety, diversity of God’s wisdom in the world. One size does not fit all in the expanse of God’s message to us.
Saturday-I don;t know if I am accurate, but January always seems the coldest month to me. When I was a teacher i walked to work in Rock Island, and one January I don;t think it was much above 10 degrees on the way to work. Calvin was an intellectual, but his symbol was a heart aflame for God. He saw our spiritual lives as a piece, body, mind, soul together. He saw us as naturally frigid in our religious affections, unless warmed by the spirit.Where would your life be aided by the warm breeze of the spirit?
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