1. Genesis 1 notes for Trinity Sunday

2. First, look at the structure of this piece. Its very order stands against the gods of chaos.

3. Look at its calm precision against the conflict myth of Babylon or canaan, for that matter.

4. The “wind” (ruah) from God swept could also be the spirit of God. KJV has hovered RSV has moved. Robert Alter has a good new translation that tries to spe Hebrew phrasing in English One way to work this for trinity Sunday would take a cue from Colin gunton ad speak of the Triune Creator

5. Notice light is created before the “lights” of the sky. This stands against any attempt to make this accurate science. Instead, it is a symbol of god’s presence in the creation.

6. Create=bara is rarely used. It is picked up by Isaiah in his new creation section. See especially, how God did not create a chaos.

7. All these separation makes on think of kosher divisions

8. The plural in v. 26 could be a plural of majesty (we are not amused) It could reflect the notion of a council of gods, with God as CEO (no gods before me) this plurality could be a wedge into speaking of Trinity

9. Adam, the human, is created male and female together. A brave soul could speak of this as reflecting the image of God itself.

10. That image of God could me we act as representatives of God here.

11. It ends in Sabbath, so the week is sacralized. The rabbis said that what was last in action is first in intention. So the enjoyment of creation, resting in it, (shabat) would be the aim.

12. dominion=rada=rule or taking care of, being a steward. It depends on your views of control, authority and power. Is it power with or power over. More difficult for environmentalists is subdue (kabash) the earth that has the sense of subjugating an enemy, its root is related to being the object of treading; even violating the image of earth as enemy or at least a power that needs to be ta,ed, put under control.

I Peter 4:6 seems to continue the theme of the previous chapter of the good news being preached to the dead. 12-14 continues the theme of suffering, not in general, but suffering for the faith.

2) Fiery ordeal could be apocalyptic imagery; it could be dramatic; it could be accurate. It could be a way of describing suffering, physical and within.

3)Sharing Christ’s suffering is also a Pauline theme Mystics have explore dthis image for centuries.

5:6-11-

1) Americans, especially males, do not like to be told to humble themselves. What is a way of getting at this with a different word? What vice is it trying to avoid?

2) Few passages have such a powerful image for evil, roaring, prowling devouring lion. Think of some similar images for evil in our time that evoke a sense of power, dread, torture

3) How does one stay sober and watchful (RSV), discipline yourselves and stay alert (NRSV)? It has the sense of being on a lookout. Perhaps athletic imagery would be helpful here, especially with the Olympics coming up. Medically necessary diets require this kind of vigilance.

4) Look at this triad of verbs at the end: restore, establish, strengthen. The future impinges on the present with its promise

5) If I read v. 9 correctly, a mark of Christian unity is suffering.

Pentecost Reading Pentecost is a major church day, but it seems that we are nowhere near common notions of how to celebrate it. Mother’s Day is the same day this year.

Numbers 11:24-30 see Ex. 18

1. I’m glad this is included as Numbers gets short attention from the lectionary. One may want to introduce it a bit.

2. 2) Dennis Olson has a great line for the book: death of the old and the birth of the new

3. For Presbyterians concerned about decently and in order, this passage is a bit of a shock, as it authorizes the boundary breaking of the power of the spirit.

4. What would it be like if all were prophets? Remember that prophet means more speaking the truth than it does a vision or prediction of the future.

5. Notice that Moses has a different view of leadership than Joshua here.this could be a fitting place to reflect on leadership styles in the church or in society.

6. Eldad-God has loved is a possible meaning. Medad possibly means one who is loved.

As we go over the last words of Jesus to his friends, I wonder if the words came easily, or if Jesus labored over them. Jesus is speaking to his disciples, but he is also speaking over their heads to us. We’ve just been treated to identity politics, where Sen. Clinton drank boilermakers and Sen. Obama went bowling. Jesus, the true and full human being, did not have to prove his credentials to his disciples, nor to us. In a universal way, Jesus speaks to the deep-seated fear of being left alone. I will not leave you, any of you, desolate/comfortless/orphaned. The emphasis on love as a command does not speak to the lesser angels of human nature. Jesus knows our needs well. Even after 2000 years, his words have a way of reaching their destination: We will not be alone as love will have God make a home with us, in each one of us.

I am torn between words of simple clarity, but I also love elevated speech. Almost exactly 40 years ago, Robert Kennedy learned that Martin Luther King had been killed. He went to a poor section of Indianapolis and spoke extemporaneously to the crowd. On the tape you can hear the shrieks as he gave them the news. When other cities burned, Indianapolis did not, in part, due to that speech. It’s remarkable in its force and clarity, but also how seriously he took his audience. He quoted, from memory, words from the ancient Greek, Aeschylus. “Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget, falls drop by drop upon the heart, until, in our despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God.” The words had given him solace as he struggled with the murder of his brother less than 5 years before. Look at the respect he had for his audience. He did not talk down to them, but he elevated them with his words. Church addresses God and people in the pews, to reach them and to elevate them. Is it right to talk down to people?

Like RFK, Paul was with strangers. Unlike him he did not share citizenship in the same country. Paul tries to find language suitable for these strangers in the marketplace, so can we. I remember being in a children’s hospital with a boy who had back pain. The doctor inquired if he had “undergone a significant trauma of late.” Not surprisingly, the kid stared at him. On the other hand, we like it when a doctor tells us as an adult that we have an illness with a complicated name, as it makes our illness sound so important. Some of our brothers and sisters fear the world. Some embrace parts of it excessively. Like Paul’s audience we are obsessed with the new and the fresh, and we regard the old as stale. Every candidate this year is trying to be the apostle of change, the apostle of the new. My attitude is that we can grab anything from the culture that helps us live better and make our message clearer. The only trick is to try to keep it subordinate to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Both testaments consistently raid surrounding cultures if the ideas were good or could be used to praise God more fully. We need to be careful about style and substance.

“In him we live and move and have our being”-Creator and offspring. God infuses the world, envelops it, cradles it. The big word for this is panentheism. Another way to put it is all life can be sacramental life, a sign of the presence of God.. We are made to search, grope for God. Paul’s quote tells us that we live in a God-soaked world. Part of that groping is the struggle to put our thoughts and feelings to expression. Sometimes we hit on it, and sometimes we don’t. Sometimes some listen, and some can’t or won’t. I don’t think we can seriously hold that God speaks in only one fashion and one voice. God’s world echoes and whispers and blasts in a steady chorus of praise and lament.

Acts 17:16-34- This is a treasure chest of topics for sermons, Bible study, and spiritual growth groups. here are just a few.

1)I have alway been impressed with the Presbyterian emphasis on idolatry as a root sin. Here is a good place to talk about it.

2) This is also a good place to talk about religious diversity.

3) This is also a good place to look at the pitfalls and possibilities of trying to tell the gospel in the language/thought forms of the people. For instance what would a Tillich gain or lose in using ideas drawn form philosophy, especially existential thought. what do we gain or lose with praise song "lyrics"?

4) As usual Paul goes to the synagogue, but he also goes to the marketplace, the civic center, the agora. this would be a good entry point to talkinga bout faith. Fairview, Indy is working aon testimony vocabulary.

5)They bring him to the areopagus to speak more.This was an open air site for public debate, but also an arena for trials.

6) Paul has an arguement/dialogue/ discussion/ exchange. For instance debate=symballo, as if we are playing cathc with ideas. . Epicureans are famous for trying to enjoy pleasures, but at root, they were trying to avoid pain and suffering.

Stoics-Paul had a number of veiwpoints that would be consonant, at the very least, with Stocis. they beleived in a structure of the world, that we are all God's cretures, against idolatry,to be content no matter the circumstances

7) By this time, Athens was in steep decline, but still valued learning.

8) Athenians loved "something new" So do we. When is this dangerous. When does it open a window?

9) He calls them quite relgious, but it could have an undercurrent of superstition.

10) To an unknown god.Our god cannot be fully known, but is known through Jesus Christ.

11) He uses creation as a base.

12) V.28 in him we live and move and have our being is thought by many to be quoting a Stoic.

13) He apparentlky quotes again and calls us all God's offsrping, like a Stoic.

14) At the end, Paul shows how god moves beyond polarities and is both abovie us, yet engaged with us, beyond, yet approachable.

15) He attributes idolatry to ignorance.

16) MNote the turn to the future.

April 18-So often spiritual work uses metaphors of ascent in access to God. That makes good sense. i wonder if we would do well to also speak more of the journey within, or metaphors of depth, of tunnels. We are repeatedly told of the Spirit residing in each of us.

Climbing a ladder sounds like effort instead of invitation. Treat people as having the spirit of ?christ residing with them. See yourself as a vessel for the goodness of God.

Sermon I Peter 2:110, John 14 for April 20

I love when the Bible takes two things and puts them together in a new way. It frees up the religious imagination. Stones are the classic example of inanimate objects, but they are useful, though dead, or better, lifeless. When I told Jocelyn that I was working with the image of living stones, she pictures rocks with feet. Let’s try this; the Spirit uses as the building blocks of the church, just as history uses us as the building blocks of a culture.

Remember this is a letter of encouragement to people who feel out of place, who don’t feel at home. Peter is trying to build up a sense of cohesion, of sticking together. They and we are part of a great process of a church being created. We are part of a fulfilled hope. The Exodus promise at the foot of Sinai applies to us: a kingdom of priest, a holy people. Notice Peter’s emphasis on the aspect of togetherness. The stones may as well be the ruins of ancient temples, unless they are joined together to form a spiritual structure. We are not cast out into our lives alone. We do not believe alone; we are part of a people. We build on the foundation of the apostles and those who have gone before us. (Doors at Kingston) Truth is not embedded in stone, but a living, embodied truth in Jesus Christ. We see the truth in Christ. Notice that Peter sees vices that undercut the truth also undercut our ability to live together.

A Protestant watchword ahs been the priesthood of all believers, and it emerges from our passage this morning. We build the bridge together from earth to heaven, as priests-we pray for each other, with priestly prayers; we offer our spiritual offerings to God. We are engaged in the ministry all of us. Our Presbyterian system honors this by making elders and pastors equal operators in our common government in presbytery. This continues the incarnation. Just as Jesus bridged the divine and human, we hold the divine and human together in the work, the offering, of our work. The incarnation breaks down the curtain between the sacred and the secular As Paul Lehmann always insisted that God’s work is done here, to make human life more human. Pastors are held up due to their function of being set apart in the community of faith. We make a mistake when we think of them as especially holy or pious. Here’s a more positive way to make the same point: we all are to live our lives we the virtues we expect of priests. Maybe better, what if we treated each other with the reverence a Roman Catholic priest handles the host and chalice at Mass? What if we treated each other with the care that soldiers have when they fold the flag to present to a grieving family?

We hear the words from John at funerals often. These words are the start of the last words of Jesus to his friends before he will die. Our passages touch both Heaven and the church. In both cases we are chosen. Hear that again. God selects the stones, however imperfect or chipped, to help build the church. God prepares a place for us. If I understand this section properly, Jesus is emphasizing our continuation of his mission and the inauguration of the new age. Greater works may well be numerically rather than in signs and wonders. We say it almost every time we receive Communion: this is a foretaste of heaven. At its best, the church is a foretaste, a hint, an opening to heaven. Some Communion liturgies say holy things for a holy people. We will be with God. In Jesus Christ we are with God in this life as well, deep within each person and throughout the church.

April 17-In working on I Peter 3, I had the word, gentleness, jump out. We see it in "gentlemen." Otherwise, it would seem to be a little-prized virtue anymore. When do you prize gentleness. When does it seem too weak? When do you appreciate gentleness? why do we appreciate it with children but les so with adults?