July 1-2 Sam. 1:17-27 Giere WP-I always get the feeling that when David speaks it is both private word and public proclamation. In other words, he is always keeping an eye on the presentation of his public persona.David's grief at the deaths of Saul and Jonathan is acute. From this flows his lament, a beautifully constructed example of Hebrew poetry that never mentions God, but is a prayer nonetheless. David even pleads with nature to mourn a lost good. Woven together here are these two relational threads, David's relationships with both Saul and Jonathan, drastically different thought they were. William Holladay, David "chose to eulogize the two men side by side..., draws together his predecessor on the throne and his deepest friend, father and son at odds over the LORD's favor upon the throne of Israel. It is difficult to start to say goodbye to a congregation. All positions, all relationships are complex and a mixture of difficult and easy and David’s work illustrates it.
Church is a place where we recognize the full gamut of life. Look at the great psalm-what a cri de coeur-Ps 130 out of the depths-Worship is our communal point for meeting with God, being in the presence of the divine.
2 Cor. 8:7-15 spirit at work making new community and breaking boundaries and creating glad and generous hearts- money and emotional generosity. I suppose it may be healthy to make a compartment out of stinginess when it comes to money alone but be generous elsewhere. The reformed Scrooge is the great example of someone being transformed into a glad and generous heart. Paul’s advice on money here is to seek an equitable balance-he reaches all the way back to Exodus, the creation of the people of whom he is a proud member. He wishes them to excel and to be ready, willing and able, eager to be part of the community.god’s generous grace will continue to this place, as it has for almost 2 centuries, as pastors entered and left, and membership evolved over time.some people build walls and some open doors snag Jackson Browne last Monday. We wall ourselves off in a defensive crouch, or we can take the chance, the risk of opening doors.
Mk 5:21-they are intertwined healings-again the impossible possibility of the two healings-intercalcation/sandwich--they cast light on each other. Some think that the interruption in the story is what to keep an eye on. Life has a way of sandwiching events, so that a plan get interrupted.It cannot be an accident that a woman has suffered for 12 years and a twelve year old is dead, only to be raised. In the one, Jesus is touched, and the dead girl cannot know the she has been touched. Interrupted on the way to a dying girl-desperation doesn't know manners. After all, she was destitute and the alleged treatments of the physicians left o her worse. I2 years seems like an eternity to one suffering.!2 minutes is an eternity when a child is dying. From an adult perspective 12 year old girl, at the cusp of womanhood, is just starting her life.n the time of Jesus many believed dead was dead. Easter faith denies that obvious fact and moves healing into a new dimension within the life of God.when one thinks about it, a sermon itself is an example of this technique where current day concerns are sandwiched within a set of biblical passages for the day. We bring concerns to worship sandwiched within our prayer time.
Jesus was able to say au revoir/goodbye to them both, even though the girl was making her final exit.
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