Twenty Second Sunday After Pentecost, Year B
October 28, 2012
Job 42:1-17
Then the Lord blessed Job’s latter days more than his former ones. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys. He also had seven sons and three daughters.
-Job 42:12-13
Under a Cajun moon I lay me open
There is a spirit here that won't be broken
Some words are sad to sing
Some leave me tongue-tied
(But the hardest thing to tell you )
But the hardest words I know
Are I love you goodbye
I love you goodbye
-Thomas Dolby, "I Love You Goodbye," 1992
I can still remember it like it was yesterday; presiding at a funeral of a man just a year younger than me who committed suicide. His grieving partner was devastated as was the young man's parents who lost their only child.
I've read this ending of the book of Job before and never really thought much about it. God restores Job with cattle and sheep and even more children. A happy ending to a man that had to deal with so much pain.
But there are those that are troubled by this ending. Does this mean that if we suffer, we are going to get all that we lost restored? And the fact is, more often than not, people don't get what Job got from God. They don't get more kids after one is lost to gun violence. The woman who is abused sexually doesn't get to erase those painful memories.
But while Job did get children and livestock, I have to think there was some sense of grief as well for what was lost. Job might have celebrated having children again, but there had to be pain in his heart for the ones he lost.
Job is a happy ending in the same way that we celebrate the Ressurection. Jesus was able to defeat death, but he was different, not simply restored.
Job's ending is a reminder of God's presence in our lives. The ending isn't a guide to life, as it is a reminder of God's love for us even when we don't have a happy ending.
Sometimes life is simply about saying goodbye, about letting go, about loss. Sometimes there is no nice ending to wrap up the story. Sometimes the story ends horribly.
But good times or bad, God is there, present. That's probably not the ending we all want, but on this side of heaven it is enough.
More Resources Here is what other scholars and pastors have to say on Job 42:
Photo: Dürer, Albrecht, 1471-1528. Job on the dunghill, and his wife pours water on his sores, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=46323
Dennis Sanders is the Associate Pastor at First Christian Church in Minneapolis.
Twenty First Sunday After Pentecost, Year B
October 21, 2012
Job 38:1-7 and 34-41
Who is this darkening counsel with words lacking knowledge?
Prepare yourself like a man; I will interrogate you, and you will respond to me.
Job 38:2-3
Job is in many ways one of the most accessible books in the Bible. By accessible I mean that its something that we understand because we've all been there. Job is a good and faithful man with riches and many children. In an instant all of his wealth and his children are taken away from him. He is left with questions and not a small bit of anger with God.
Theologian Kathryn Schifferdecker notes that Job and his friends believed in a common view of suffering: if you're good, then God will bless you. If something bad happens to you, then it's because you did something wrong. When all of this happens, Job feels cheated. He has lived a righteous life, so none of this should be happening to him. His friends are of little help, accusing him of doing something wrong and telling him to repent of his sin.
Job isn't really that different from us. Shcifferdecker notes that Job and other thought the world revolved around them. The world was an orderly place where good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people. But the God comes to job in a whirlwind and sets Job right. Living the Midwest as I do, I can imagine God coming in a menacing tornado. God responds to Job not with answers, but with questions. God shows a created order that is rather wild, just like God. And humans are not at the center of anything. After a while Job gets it- things are not so ordered and sometimes bad things happen to good people.
If there is a takeaway from all this is that the world is not logical. Things happen that just doesn't make sense. We don't understand when a young woman dies in a traffic accident with a drunk driver. We don't understand the cancer diagnosis. We don't understand why we are laid off from a job. We don't understand when someone is raped. But in the midst of all this chaos, God stands with us. God took Job on, but he never left Job.
When I was training to become a pastor, I had to take a term of Clinic Pastoral Education. I spent time at a nursing home in Minneapolis. I remember seeing a young man who lost his leg in an ATV accident. You could see the anger on his face. I spent time sitting with him and saying a little. I always came away somewhat helpless. I still feel that feeling when I do pastoral care.
But maybe being present is enough. Maybe it matters that God stands with us during the hard times, even when and especially when, we wonder, why?
Go and be church.
Dennis Sanders is the Associate Pastor at First Christian Church in Minneapolis.
Twentieth Sunday After Pentecost, Year B
October 14, 2012 Mark 10:17-31
Every so often, I hear someone talking about the so-called Prosperity Gospel. For the uninitiated, it's a message that states that God wants us to be wealthy. If you have faith in God, then God will bless you financially.
The Prosperity Gospel has it critics...a lot of them. When I googled "prosperity gospel," I came up with a ton of links denouncing the theology. It didn't matter if you were liberal or conservative, there was an outright disdain for this belief in "pennies from heaven."
Whenever I hear all the criticism, I feel a bit uncomfortable. It's not that I agree with the prosperity gospel, it's just that I don't know if any of us is that innocent ourselves. I mean, it might feel good to look down on those preachers who peddle this garbage, but at some point you realize that God is pointing at you as well.
The fact is, we are caught up in having things as well. We might look with contempt at the prosperity preachers, but most of us live in nice houses with nice cars, listening to tunes on our iPod/iPhone/iPad/iWhatever. To paraphrase that old pop song, "We're not that innocent."
This week we find Jesus encountering a young man who's done pretty well financially. He's also someone that has tried to be a good religious person. Jesus tells him to follow the commandments, which the young guy has done. "You still need to do one thing," Jesus said. "Sell all of your possessions and give it the poor."
We know how the story ends. The young guy walks away perplexed. That's when Jesus remarks about how hard it is for a rich man to enter heaven.
Theologian Matt Skinner tells us that we shouldn't try to soften the message that this gospel is getting at. We are pretty good at trying to soften the blow. Jesus isn't really calling us to give up everything, we say to ourselves. But yes, God is calling us to do just that. Jesus is calling us to be true disciples and give up everything to follow him.
Of course, we live in the real world. Very few of us are going to give up our stuff and go and live in a yurt somewhere.
And yet, Jesus is still calling us to give up everything, give up our call to be prosperous and follow him.
I don't have an easy answer to this quandry. I know that I am saved by grace through faith. I know that I am love by God even though I fall short. And yet, you and I are still called to give our whole selves to God, because that's exactly what God did through Jesus on the cross.
Go and be church.
Dennis Sanders is the Associate Pastor at First Christian Church in Minneapolis.
Nineteenth Sunday After Pentecost, Year B
Sunday, October 7, 2012 Mark 10:2-16
As I prepared for this coming Sunday, I did a lot of reading concerning the gospel text. Many megabytes were spent talking about the first half of the Mark text, which centers on divorce. That makes sense, on one level. We see many marriages that seem to break up, leaving the children is a not so good place.
When it comes to that second half of the text, the one about Jesus welcoming the children, well that one got the short shrift. I didn't find anyone that did an exegesis of the this part of the reading, let alone really focus on what this passage is saying. I think part of the reason that we do this is because we think we know this story. We have seen many an image of Jesus seated with a bunch of kids around him ala a children's sermon. What is there to question or learn from something so obvious? Jesus liked children. How sweet.
Look at this text again. Parents are bringing their kids to Jesus hoping he would touch them. We don't know why they are doing this, but for some reason it is vital that Jesus bless their children. The disciples are a little preturbed that these little ones are bothering Jesus. What happened next? Jesus got angry. At the disciples. Jesus tells the disciples that children are at the center of God's kingdom. If we don't come to faith in God like a little child then we won't see the kingdom.
I've learned what it means to have a child-like faith from the children at the church where I serve. They are not shy about sharing their thoughts on God and are great at applying the stories they hear to life in general. These kids ask questions. They share what they have learned. The can be fearless. And they are vulnerable. They are always open to learning.
The Pharisees were learned men and thought that faith was about how smart and how cunning you can be. Jesus reminds us at the end of the passage that God is not interested in our smarts, but is interested in child-like hearts ready to learn, ready to be loved.
May it be so with us.
Dennis Sanders is the Associate Pastor at First Christian Church in Minneapolis.
As I was preparing for a Lectionary Study this week, I came across the web Bible Study called Faith Lens, published by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The study started off talking about a television show that I enjoy viewing called Mythbusters. Here's how contributor Bill King describes the show:
Nominated for an Emmy and hosted by the jauntily bereted Jamie Hyneman and “stuff maker” Adam Savage, Mythbusters scientifically tests urban myths, outrageous propositions, and conventional wisdom. The show has a particular fondness for myths which involve explosions, making a mess, or disgusting materials (they made a candle out of ear wax). Some have called it “the best science show on television,” and few would dispute that it is the zaniest. The show sometimes does silly things, like constructing a lead balloon, just to see if it can be done. But beneath the laughter is a serious purpose, to illustrate how science separates fact from fiction.
What's so cool about the show is how Jamie and Adam try to test out urban myths. Sometimes they are able to "bust" the myth and show that it's not true. Other times they are able to verify that the myth is true, and still other times it's plausible.
When you read this week's gospel in John about good ole "Doubting Thomas" you might think about how Tom wanted proof of Jesus' existence. There will be talk about how doubt is important in the life of faith and we will try to hold him up as a modern hero who didn't just want to believe something because someone told him.
These are all good things to note in the text, but what if there's something more here that we aren't seeing. What if this text is not just about doubt and faith, not just about the Risen Savior, but also a message for the church, the body of Christ?
In his lectionary reflection this week, Russell Rathburn expresses his interest in the actual body of Christ:
After crashing through all that at break neck speed, John slows it down to spend the majority of this verses focusing on his Body. Thomas says he wants to see the Body, see the wounds. Jesus arrives and very graphically shows him the wounds, and in a very intimate gesture, invites him to place his finger/hand inside them. There can be no doubt that this is the Body of Jesus the Christ, very man, very God.
That Jesus literally, physically rose from the dead is the foundation of the Christian faith. This Sunday’s reading starts and ends with it, giving just a verse each to the Great Commission, Pentecost, the rest is all about the Body. After so much emphasis on the Body of Jesus through the Lent and Easter seasons, how do we preach with out one? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe? There really are not any other options are there?
The question that hits me here is Russell's talk about the body of Christ when there isn't a body anymore.
But what if there is a body? What if Christ's ressurection wasn't only about the physical resurrection, but also about how the ressurection lives in the life of the gathered community, the Church?
Thomas wanted to experience Jesus for himself. He did not want to rely on the experience of others. Belief for Thomas was not about accepting creedal statements, but about a relationship and if he couldn't experience a body, then what's the point?
Now for a moment, think about the body of Christ as the church, because in the here and now that's what modern Thomases are looking at when they want to see Jesus. They aren't looking to just accept a doctrinal statement, but they are looking to commune with the Body of Christ. In this present age, there isn't a physical body to talk about, but Christ is found in the Church, the folks who believe in Christ and abide with him.
Maybe, just maybe, if the church can live as a community called, gathered and sent by God to preach the good news, then our modern Thomas will see Christ. Maybe if we live as a community of forgiven sinners, then our modern Thomas will see Christ. Maybe if we welcome all to the doors of our churches, then our modern Thomas will see Christ.
As you prepare to preach or teach this Sunday after the Ressurection, think about what it means to be the Body of Christ in our world. How do we witness to the Living and Risen Christ?
Go and be church.
Dennis Sanders is the Associate Pastor at First Christian Church in Minneapolis.
I have to believe that one of the most beautiful inventions has to be cruise control in cars. There's something kinda cool about pressing a button and having the car basically drive itself during long trips. All I have to do is sit back, relax and the car drive itself.
Okay, I don't just let the car drive itself. I do have to keep my eyes on the road. Cruise control doesn't mean I get to excuse myself from driving- I still have to be alert and ready for any changes on the highway.
Easter can be both a blessing and a curse. It's a blessing of course because Jesus defeated the powers of death and arose on that Sunday morning long ago. But it's also a curse, because it comes at the end of a long week and we are just plumb tired.
But maybe what really makes Easter a curse is that we've done it so many times. We sing the same songs and preach the same sermons year after year. I don't know about others, but there have been moments when I feel that this has all be done before. Ressurrection is so first century.
It's easy to go on cruise control when it comes to Easter. But I wonder if doing that means we miss what might be going on in the story. I wonder if we miss how this old story is not so old in reality. Maybe in reading this story again, we will see where new life is springing up in our own lives.
The gospel text today has a lot going on, but I want to focus on one group of characters: the women. If you want an example of what it means to live without hope, it has to be the two Marys. These women had a close relationship with Jesus and believed that this guy was special. Then he ends up getting killed. They come to the tomb on Sunday morning without any hope. Another idealist is killed. Cynicism wins again.
I think back to my time in Clinical Pastoral Education. I remember meeting a young man who lost one leg in an accident. I would spend time in his room where he would say very little to me. His face was one not simply of sadness, but one of profound grief. He was only 21. He had a future ahead of him. But the future was now more cloudy and his face told me had little hope.
That is what these women felt. There are times in our lives when we feel that there is no hope that things will change. No hope that someone will get better; no hope that you will get that job; no hope that a loved one will quit drinking.
And then, there's an earthquake, and an angel appears saying that Jesus is no longer at the tomb but alive. I have to believe the Marys thought it was a joke. But if they thought that, they didn't think it for very long. Matthew says the left with fear and great joy. As they run to tell their friends the good news, they meet Jesus, alive and well. Where there was no hope, there was now hope.
The message of Easter is one of hope, but it starts in a place where there is no hope. It starts in the way things are in the world. If someone is dead, they kinda stay dead.
But hope has a different agenda. It can bring life where there was no life and healing where there was sickness. It reminds us that God is there with us, even when we feel abandoned. Hope is there even when everything is tell us that there is no hope.
As you go to your faith communities this Sunday, please don't operate on cruise control. Read the Easter story again and think about the two Marys. Think about the disciples or the guards. Read the story again and pay attention. Think about hopelessness. Think about helplessness. Think about love. Think about hope. Think about it all and believe the good news that Jesus is alive and well.
Christ is Risen!
Dennis Sanders is the Associate Pastor at First Christian Church in Minneapolis.
I actually remember when I first heard this scripture. It was at a Sunday Morning service at the Baptist church I grew up at in my hometown of Flint, Michigan. I had to be about 10 years old at the time and I remember thinking how odd this scripture was. I mean, what was this about dried bones coming back to life? None of it made sense.
Flash forward three decades and a whole lot of life later, these words from the prophet Ezekiel make sense, at least that whole valley of dry bones part.
As I read this text, my thoughts drifted to my home state of Michigan and how it's faring these days, which is not well. The census figures came out recently, and the news was not good. Detroit, which was once the nation's fourth largest city, lost 25 percent of it's population in the last 10 years. What was once a city of nearly 2 million in 1950 is now a city hovering around 700,000. The changes in the US auto industry have ravaged Detroit and most of southeastern Michigan, leaving utter devastation in its wake. My hometown of Flint had close to 200,000 when I was born in 1969. These days, it hovers around 100,000. In the 1970s, around 80,000 people worked in the many auto factories that dotted Flint and the surrounding cities, including my parents. Now there are less than 10,000 working for the auto industry. The loss of so many jobs can take it toll. In towns like Flint and Detroit, where there were once neighborhoods filled with well-maintained homes, there are now places filled with rotting houses and crime. Its always hard to come home and see how far Flint and most of Michigan have fell.
Ezekiel is taken to a valley filled with dry bones by God. Our prophet surveys the devastation and then hears this strange question from God. "O mortal, can these bones live?"
Huh?
I know there aren't supposed to be dumb questions, but this really seems like the dumbest question to ask. These were bones. Oh, and they were dry bones, so there was zero chance they were going to come back to life. It seemed like there was an obvious answer to God's question, but Ezekiel was smart and replied that only God can know.
God keeps talking about how God will put the bones back together with muscles and skin and finally with the very breath of God. Life would come from where there was no life.
God then explains to Ezekiel what this whole exercise was about. The Israelites were in exile, far away from home. They felt cut off from everything they knew and felt like those dried bones. But God had a plan. All was not lost. God told them they would come back to their homeland and not only that, they would receive God's spirit.
As we continue our Lenten journey this week, it might seem odd to have a story about hope in it. After all, we are on a journey towards the Cross and this is supposed to be a "somber" time. Hope is something that feels more Advent than it does Lent.
And yet, maybe it makes sense to have this passage of hope in this dark time. As I think about the economic devastation that is Michigan, I am reminded of stories that point to hope, that point to something that says, "despair will not win." I am reminded of a recent article in my hometown newspaper about folks moving into Flint at a time when so many are leaving. They see hope when others see despair.
In many mainline Protestant churches, there is a sense of feeling like dry bones. The glory days are long gone and there might be a sense that there is no hope.
But God counters our despair by saying that God will save and restore us. God will bring us back from the graves to life. God gives us hope, not in a fairy tale-ending, but that God will be with us and breathe life into us.
This Sunday, I hope that you can acknowledge the dry bones that are in your life and in the lives of your congregation and community. I also hope you can preach...hope. Remind them, remind yourself that even when there seems to be no life, when the bones are raw that God will come and knit us back together, bone by bone. Hope will heal.
Go and be church.
Dennis Sanders is the Associate Pastor at First Christian Church in Minneapolis.
Photo:Abandoned, decrepit Victorian-era home in Brush Park, Detroit, Michigan from Wikipedia.
If you want to get great interview tips, you might not want to read the Bible.
For some reason, God just doesn't seem to pick people with the right skills for the job. God always seems to pick the smallest, or the weakest, or the youngest candidate for whatever God wants done.
This week is no different. The text opens with the prophet Samuel feeling blue. In chapter 15, Saul, the king of Israel did not heed God's instructions and was rejected as king. Samuel leaves Saul in a huff and the long-standing relationship between them is broken. Samuel was in mourning over the loss of a close friend.
We have no idea how long Sam is sad, but God then tells him enough is enough: it's time to get up and anoint a new king.
Samuel makes the trip to Bethlehem and meets a man named Jesse who has seven sons. Our man Sam gets introduced to Jesse's oldest, Eliab. The text never says that Eliab is handsome, but you can guess he had to be a looker. Samuel is excited and tells God that this has to be "The One."
"Nope," God says. "He's not the One. You see, you humans like to look on the outside, but I tend to look on the inside."
You know the rest of the story. God ends up choosing David, the youngest of Jesse's sons. The Message version of this text refers to David as a "runt." When David is presented to Samuel you hear God saying "This is the One! Anoint him now!"
Like I said, God is an odd God. The people God chooses to do God's work in the world are more times than not, people who are not qualified for the job. Gideon was chosen to be the leader of the Israelites, even though he was a fraidy cat. Jonah preached God's judgement and repentance to the people of Nineveh, even though he hated them and tried to get out of the job. Let's not even start with the disciples of Jesus who somehow were the ones that helped found the church.
Our culture, our world is always attracted to that which is new, shiny and beautiful. We are interested in the person that has the most awards and the most degrees from the finest schools.
But God tends to look at other things and as followers of God's Son, we are also called to look at people with God's eyes. God seems to be able to do mighty things by choosing the weak, the cowardly, and the outcast.
This coming Sunday, many churches will focus on the text from John 9 on the blind man that was healed. It's an important text, but I hope pastors and Christian Ed teachers will consider using the 1 Samuel text as well. In our congregations are people who are dealing with unemployment and feeling useless. There are others who deal with issues of self esteem and depression. Some struggle with substances like drugs or are in recovery and working hard to stay clean and sober. Whole congregations deal with declining membership, declining budgets and empty buildings. This text gives hope, the hope that God can use them to do God's work in the world- even if we don't measure up.
Working at an urban church, we tend to get a lot of people who come literally from off the streets. It's really easy to judge these folks and not seem them as God's own and potentially as God's anointed. But the fact is, they can be used to do God's work just like the richest person in the church.
As we walk our Lenten journey, let us have ears to hear and eyes to see when God might just point to someone we least expect and tell us that "this is the one" who will join us in God's work.
Go and be church.
Dennis Sanders is the Associate Pastor at First Christian Church in Minneapolis.
All Saint's Day, even in Protestant churches, can be a celebration of remembrance. We can remember those in our families, and in the world, who have died during the past year. We can remember the 'saints' in the history of the Church, and in our own church. We can also take the opportunity to give thanks for those who have been saints along the way in our own faith journeys.
The texts for Nov. 1 lend themselves to this, but they also speak of God's desire to be remembered by God's people.
The Old Testament lesson, Deuteronomy 6:1-9, contains the Shema -- considered by some to be the most important prayer in Judaism -- "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one." Some translations conclude with "...the Lord alone". (In Hebrew: Shema Yisrael YHWH Eloheinu YHWH Echad.) The passage continues with "Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength," and with instructions to keep these commandments by passing them on to generations, talking about them in private and public life, and using external rituals of binding them on their head and hands, and placing them on the doorposts of their home and gates. This passage is the source of the Jewish practice of wearing the scripture as phylacteries, or teffilin, and of the mezuzah on the doorposts of homes.
In the Gospel text, Mark 12:28-34, Jesus, when asked by a teacher of the law what the most important commandment is, recites the Shema, adding a second commandment, "Love your neighbor as yourself."
Jesus' act of remembrance comes out of his own Jewish faith. Yet, in adding this second commandment, it becomes cruciform. Love of the creator, but also love of fellow humankind -- if you visualize this, it takes the shape of a cross.
Christians don't pray the Shema or wear the teffilin or place a mezuzah on our doorposts. So is there anything we have, or do, that helps us remember these two commandments that Jesus said were the most important?
Many of us wear crosses ourselves. I have several, but one that I am particularly fond of was given to me by a dear cousin. It's a simple silver design by Atlanta jeweler James Avery, given to me around the time I started seminary. I wear it almost every day. Like many necklaces, the clasp always seems to make its way around to the front, so I find myself checking it and adjusting the clasp. To do this, I have to grasp the cross with one hand while I turn the chain with the other. I do it almost unconsciously -- but I suppose, if I thought about it, I could use this as an opportunity to remember: Love God, love your neighbor.
Even if we don't wear a cross -- we may have some other emblem, item or practice that helps us to remember. Some may have a tattoo, some have a bumper sticker, some may have a special prayer they say each day.
But regardless of how we remember, the important thing is that we remember. And as Disciples, we have the table, of course. Each week, as we gather there, we remember the one whose love of God and neighbor was so strong that he laid down his life for it.
What to choose? What to choose? So much is going on in this piece of the lectionary that I think one would have to narrow it down to a portion of the passage. If there is a theme that might draw it all together, it could be the theme of "community."
In the opening text, we have the disciples reportedly coming to Jesus to tattle on some other folks who are healing in his name. Boring, in The People's New Testament Commentary,argues that this is a clearly post-Easter reference. The disciples' claim that this exorcist "was not following us" (rather than using "you" referring to Jesus) suggests a description of Mark's historical context and the struggle in the early Church over who has authority -- who is "in" and who is "out." The renegade exorcist likely then refers to other Christian groups who were acting independently. Interestingly, Jesus' reply seems to suggest that as long as they are doing his work, they are just as much a part of the community.
In fact, note how inclusive Mark is when he has Jesus say "Whoever is not against us is for us." There is a world of difference between this version of the saying and the one we find in Matthew which reads "Whoever is not for us is against us." They sound similar, but the meaning couldn't be more different when it comes to seeing those who don't practice/live/believe the way we do as either enemy or neighbor.
The next part of the text deals with care for the "little ones" and a string of unconnected sayings about getting rid of body parts that might cause one to stumble. The reference here to "little ones" is not likely about children but rather people who are new to the faith or who have little authority. It's clear that these vulnerable ones are to be cared for by the community. This theme is carried over in the reference to cutting off body parts, the "body" here likely a metaphor for the community of faith. We have a responsibility to care for each other (and to do away with those practices that harm or cause division). And if the community extends beyond our congregation and includes even those we consider outside our boundaries (e.g. the exorcist mentioned previously) then do we not also have a responsibility to the community of our neighborhood, our city, our country, and the world?
Finally, the reference to salt also connects with the theme of community. We are to have salt (a distinctiveness about ourselves) and yet still live in peace as community. A reminder, perhaps, that faith is not ultimately a personal and inward practice but a communal effort in which we add to the flavor of those gathered around us as we strive to live in peace with all God's children.
(Note: The James passage for this Sunday deals with many of these same themes of community and caring for one another.)
OK... first of all, my apologies for a late post this week. I stopped using the lectionary about a year ago and forget that I need to check here! As I look at the Gospel lesson from Mark for this week, my first reaction is... I love it when Jesus is a rebel! When someone chastizes me or others for shaking things up, going against the grain, doing something "we've never done before!" or looking at things differently I think, Jesus was a rebel, too! Thanks for the compliment.
But, of course, the Gospel goes on to deal with issues of what is unclean and clean. The decisions about what is clean and unclean are human decisions, and Christ emphasizes that it isn't external things, or things we take into ourselves that make us unclean or unclean, but more what comes out of us that can be unclean or make us unclean. How interesting that we are so good at deciding what is clean and unclean, or what is good or bad. We are especially good at determining that for OTHERS more than for ourselves. The 'log in our eye, splinter in others' syndrome. But how do we determine that? And how often do the things we look at as being 'bad' turn out to be 'good' in the long run? 25 years ago I went through a horrendously painful time that I thought everything that was happening was bad. I even prayed for God to turn things around and make them 'good' again. But it didn't. For awhile I wondered if God had turned away, but I know now that God was just helping me get through because something really good would come of all the bad. In our adult study class at the Parish, we were talking about death and someone said, "Why do we always look at death in negative terms? I think God looks at death in a loving, positive light." We are very quick to put labels on things, situations, rituals, and people...especially labels of good and bad or clean and unclean... based only on our own experiences and thoughts. But if God created us and all around us and saw that it was good... why are we so quick to deem it bad or unclean? There are many folks in this small town I live in who are unchurched, living below the poverty level, not related to anyone else in town, not involved in anything in the town, spend time at the local bar... and a myriad of other things that the 'regulars' in town use to deem them 'bad' and not worthy of their time, friendship, or care. And yet these 'misfits' are the ones that are reaching out to others, especially other 'misfits', sharing what they have, and the first to respond when help is needed. I know some of the 'church' folks question when I help them, sit with them at the park, or am in any way a part of their lives. But I think that it is exactly what Jesus calls us to do... to stop determining what WE deem to be good, bad, clean, unclean, worthy, unworthy, and see people and situations as God might see them... as basically good, worthy of our care.... and if we want to put a watchguard out for the negative, put it out in front of ourselves to make sure that, before we are so quick to judge others, that what comes from us is not bad, unclean or unworthy of God's glory and what comes from us is essentially good and that we are a conduit for the light of God. So... in the midst of this prestigious group of folks with whom I have a high respect for... there's my 2 cents worth. Oh yea... and go out and be a rebel for Christ!
21Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ. 22Wives, be subject to your husbands as you are to the Lord. 23For the husband is the head of the wife just as Christ is the head of the church, the body of which he is the Savior. 24Just as the church is subject to Christ, so also wives ought to be, in everything, to their husbands. 25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26in order to make her holy by cleansing her with the washing of water by the word, 27so as to present the church to himself in splendor, without a spot or wrinkle or anything of the kind—yes, so that she may be holy and without blemish. 28In the same way, husbands should love their wives as they do their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29For no one ever hates his own body, but he nourishes and tenderly cares for it, just as Christ does for the church, 30because we are members of his body. 31“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” 32This is a great mystery, and I am applying it to Christ and the church. 33Each of you, however, should love his wife as himself, and a wife should respect her husband.
I've chosen this Ephesians passage because I think it all too often gets used inappropriately. I once attended a wedding in which the bride was told that according to the law of God, she would be sinful if she did not submit fully to the desires of the groom. Of course nothing was mentioned to the groom about loving the bride as he would love himself.
That, and interpretations like it are dangerous, to say the least.
Immediately my mind jumps to asking what was going on in Ephesus that lead the writer of Ephesians to comment on household relationships (he also goes on to discuss children and slaves).
This section might be better understood in the larger understanding of how first century households were to be ordered. Among that, Paul describes the nature of the relationship of Christ to the church, as if to use the example of the household to teach his first readers about how they should look on the purpose of the early church, and the relation of the believers to the teaching of Jesus.
So what about the misuse of v. 22-24? This reading really should focus on v. 21,"Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ" (NRSV). This verse is the foundation for what comes next, and gives meaning to the discussion of how women and men should relate to their spouses. Without this verse being included in the reading (as often is the case in some weddings I've attended), the language about women submitting to their husbands clearly can be misdirected.
But focusing on how we can be subject (servants) to one another out of respect for Christ brings back the language of Jesus about the last being first and the greatest among us being the servants. So what does this look like in a selfish and individualized western capitalist culture?
And the idea of the husband being the head of the household simply was the legal understanding of the time. Women, children and slaves could not own property, and therefore the Ephesians writer uses this understanding to set up Jesus as the "head" of the church, meaning it is Christ who is to be the one who has established the 'house'.
Do we still set up Jesus as the head of the church? Have we replaced his teachings with self-help programs and a generic faith, based on common morality but ignores justice, healing and community connection?
How do we encourage healthy households which might not be of the standard described here? Single parent homes, same-sex homes, extended family households? How does this passage apply to other forms of modern households?
Happy homilizing!
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
OOPS.... I meant to post this to my PERSONAL blog!!!!
But God was not at all pleased with what David had done, and sent Nathan to David. Nathan said to him, “There were two men in the same city—one rich, the other poor. The rich man had huge flocks of sheep, herds of cattle. The poor man had nothing but one little female lamb, which he had bought and raised. It grew up with him and his children as a member of the family. It ate off his plate and drank from his cup and slept on his bed. It was like a daughter to him. “One day a traveler dropped in on the rich man. He was too stingy to take an animal from his own herds or flocks to make a meal for his visitor, so he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared a meal to set before his guest.”
David exploded in anger. “As surely as God lives,” he said to Nathan, “the man who did this ought to be lynched! He must repay for the lamb four times over for his crime and his stinginess!” “You’re the man!” said Nathan. “And here’s what God, the God of Israel, has to say to you: I made you king over Israel. I freed you from the fist of Saul. I gave you your master’s daughter and other wives to have and to hold. I gave you both Israel and Judah. And if that hadn’t been enough, I’d have gladly thrown in much more. So why have you treated the word of God with brazen contempt, doing this great evil? You murdered Uriah the Hittite, then took his wife as your wife. Worse, you killed him with an Ammonite sword! And now, because you treated God with such contempt and took Uriah the Hittite’s wife as your wife, killing and murder will continually plague your family. This is God speaking, remember! I’ll make trouble for you out of your own family. I’ll take your wives from right out in front of you. I’ll give them to some neighbor, and he’ll go to bed with them openly. You did your deed in secret; I’m doing mine with the whole country watching!”
Then David confessed to Nathan, “I’ve sinned against God.” Nathan pronounced, “Yes, but that’s not the last word. God forgives your sin. You won’t die for it.
As we pick up the story, David, the apple of God’s eye, God’s chosen and anointed King, is in the process of screwing up big time. You just have to love David. Whatever he chose to do, he went at it full force. So when David decided to commit adultery he did it in grand style. He managed to get the wife of the commander of his troops pregnant while her husband was out of town on a business trip – a trip David has sent him on. Since the trip involved warfare, David decided to plot with the guy’s troops to expose him in battle and get him killed. And it worked. David was off the hook, scot free. Or so he though.
Somehow in the heat of things (pardon the pun) David lost sight of God. That should not surprise us since that is exactly what we do when we give ourselves over to sin. We turn away from God. Sometimes when we do that we compensate and rationalize by developing a god that approves of what we are doing or at least a god who understands why we need to do what we are doing and is willing to turn a blind eye to it. We decide that the god we follow is a loving god and that means our god wants us to be happy so he/she not only allows us to do whatever we wish, he/she approves of what we are doing. With that approach to theology so prevalent, morality and holiness have pretty much disappeared off of the church’s radar screen. Right or wrong is measured by what makes us happy.
Fortunately, when David found himself in this self induced na-na land of “I am living like hell but that is okay”, God did not abandon him there. Enter Nathan. Nathan was sent by God to jerk a knot in David because God really did love David and God loved him too much to leave him in that mess. Just like us, when David gave himself over to sin he broke his relationship with God. Just like us, David pretended that everything was just fine, but it wasn’t. God loved David too much to lose him. So he sent in the rescue team; a team of one named Nathan. I truly admire Nathan. He had more courage in one finger that most of us exhibit in an entire lifetime. He took on the task of telling the KING that he (the KING) was full of crap. Not a job I would want to sign up for.
Now, Nathan is a pretty sharp cookie. Instead of showing up with Bible in hand and boney finger pointed at King David, Nathan just told David a story. Everyone loves stories. The story Nathan told was a morality tale of an unjust, rich, powerful, stingy man who took advantage of a situation and some people and abused them. It was just about a pet sheep that he took to feed a guest but David was incensed. He went off and demanded that justice be served and the wrong be righted immediately. At that point Nathan turned to David and said, “You are the man.” I wasn’t there but I envision Nathan bathed in sweat, shaking like he was freezing; his voice cracking as he strained to deliver what could be a life ending message for him. There was an excellent chance David would kill him on the spot. Don’t forget that at this point in his life, David was behaving rather badly. What’s another dead guy if it helps cover his behind? As frightened as he must have been, Nathan looked the KING in the eye and called him a sinner.
Fortunately for Nathan and more fortunately for David, David repented. Repenting repaired David’s relationship with God but it did not get him off the hook of bearing responsibility for and results of his sinful behavior. Bad stuff happened anyway. But the most important thing was, not that David’s live was problem free and everything happening was making him “happy”, but that he was returned to a right relationship with God.
The most profound and powerful lesson in all of this is the obedience of Nathan. Because God had called him and empowered him, Nathan spoke the truth about sin to the most powerful man in the country. It could have literally cost Nathan his life. He had no guarantee that David would respond well and repent. Nathan’s obedience saved the King and probably saved the country.
I wonder what would happen if we, you and me, started telling the truth? What would happen if we started calling a sin a sin? We don’t because: it is not politically correct; it is none of our business; who are we to judge; where do we come off deciding what is right and what is wrong: it would make us uncomfortable; somebody might get angry. And the list of excuses goes on and on. Blah, blah. What it comes down to, we have all moved to the na-na land that David had moved to and when, or if, God sent us our Nathans, we failed to listen. We need to repent. My prayer is that God loves us enough to send us another Nathan or two and we have the good sense to repent.
I think this psalm could be used (misused, actually, in my opinion) to slam atheists and make the case that those who have arrived intellectually at the conclusion that there is no God are incapable of good deeds. However, it seems to me that such an approach is not only untrue but much too simplistic. What the psalmist probably has in mind here is something else entirely.
A couple of Scriptural connections can be made. The RCL pairs Psalm 14 this week with the story of David and Bathsheba. That is instructive, because King David was by no modern definition an atheist. Yet his behavior here is certainly foolish--tragically so--and perhaps demonstrates the true intent of the psalmist.
Another connection is with Jesus' parable of the rich fool (Luke 12:16-21). This fellow, having been blessed with abundant harvests, decides to build gigantic barns to store his crops, and to devote himself to his own pleasure. "I... I... my..." reads the man's soliloquy. And God calls him, "You fool!"
The problem the psalmist sees is not intellectual--someone ruling out God's existence through reason and logic--it's behavioral and theological. Wicked actions, including mistreatment of the poor, indicate, in the psalmist's view, what a person believes about God: not so much whether or not God exists, but whether or not God matters. This practical atheism is a problem not just outside communities of faith, but within them.
The challenging question for us is, "How do our actions demonstrate our theology?"
The long arc of David’s story — from shepherd to giant-conqueror to warrior to fugitive to king — is told through 1 and 2 Samuel, and again in 1 and 2 Chronicles. This week’s Old Testament text portrays a triumphant moment for David. He’s leading a group of men, and they’re bringing the Ark of the Covenant to the city of David, playing musical instruments, shouting, and dancing with all their might.
And mentioned in the middle of the passage is Michal, daughter of Saul, who looked out the window and saw David “leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart.” (v. 16 )
Who is Michal, other than Saul’s daughter? Why does she despise the sight of David dancing? It’s tempting to skip over this single verse, because it doesn’t seem to fit.
Michal was Saul’s youngest daughter, and years ago, she fell in love with David. Her father found out, and used her as a pawn to lure David into a dangerous wager that Saul hoped would result in David’s death. David delivered on his end of the bargain, so Michal became his wife.
Not long after that, Michal defied her father and helped David escape, saving his life. And then he went on the run.
With David gone, Michal’s father gave her to another man in marriage. This man loved her — when David returned years later, triumphant, and sent men to bring Michal to him, her second husband followed, begging not to lose her. He was told to go back home. Scripture doesn’t tell us how Michal felt about this turn of events, but perhaps this week's text gives us a clue.
Michal is a minor character compared to others in the story — David, Saul, her brother Jonathan. But she still has a story. If given the chance, how would she tell it?
In our own lives, we often look at others as minor characters. Even if we understand our lives as part of God’s story, we still run the risk of putting ourselves, our family, our church, our friends, our workplace, our nation, and our culture, at the center. We almost can’t help it. It’s the “view from the ground.” It’s how we make sense of the world.
The danger is that in relegating others to a minor role, we may forget that with God, there are no minor characters. When we forget that, we lose our capacity for compassion outside of our small circle. We also lose our ability to be blessed by learning what God is doing in others' lives.
God, in the person of Jesus Christ, demonstrated quite often that in God’s story, there are no minor characters. He specialized in turning upside-down every conventional notion of "major" and "minor." He conversed with an outcast Samaritan woman at a well. He noticed a blind man calling out for mercy, and healed him. He called out Zaccheus, up in the tree, and invited himself to dinner. He saw a widow putting small change in the offering, and lifted her up to the disciples as an example of great generosity.
Who are the "minor characters" in our world today? Who are the "minor characters" in our own lives? How can seeing them differently help us to be more compassionate? How can seeing them differently allow us to receive the blessings they bring?
The lectionary text I have decided to wrestle with is Mark 6: 1-13. Sometimes I wonder with the length of the reading. This one seems to include two stories that seem to not have much connection. The first one is about Jesus visiting his home town and the other has him sending out his disciples. I guess you could split them apart and preach on one or the other but I want to see what happens when the two are kept together. The return visit for Jesus is after he has had some time away and has been successful in attracting some followers and getting a crowd to form wherever he goes. Certainly the trip across the lade had some down side as the gentiles there were not interested in him staying in spite of the fact he helped the demonic. But he did do some power healing to Jairus's daughter and the suffering woman. So things are going well for Jesus. You'd think that he would be welcomed home with loving arms. Given ticker tape parade and everyone would say, " I remember him when he was this tall and now look at him." And another would say "Hey, Jesus, remember when we all snuck out that night and turned over old lady Roenkranz's outhouse?" But no real welcome. There is a general put down of him and an attempt to 'put him in his place'. Why? In sports there is supposed to be a home field advantage. The team that plays on its home field is supposed to have the support of the home crowd, be more comfortable eating in your own bed and eating mom's cooking. But not here. Jesus is rejected because he comes not to bask in the glory of old friends and neighbors reminiscing with him. He comes to preach his message and to show God's power and love. That is not what the home town people wanted to hear from him. They didn't want to be challenged they wanted to be seen as the reason for his success. He didn't act like they wanted so they rejected him. Rejection is also the key concern that Jesus has he sends out the disciples. He wants them to travel light and not be burdened with too much expectation. When rejection happens don't let it stick to you, shake it off and move on. I wonder if Jesus didn't give that advice to himself after Nazareth. Not everyone is going to get it. Don't let it stop you and keep you from God's purpose. I think there is more here to ponder. Fortunately Sunday is still several days off. I invite your comments and reaction. Tom Felts
I know it's been a while since we've posted here on a regular basis. But we've added some new contributors and revamped the schedule. Here's the new schedule:
Updated Lectionary Blog Schedule
Try your best to post by the Tuesday prior to your assigned Sunday text.
June 28 Anyone who feels like it July 5 Tom Felts July 12 Rebecca Bowman Woods July 19 Dave Clark July 26 Sharla Hulsey August 2 Danny Bradfield August 9 Bill Spangler-Dunning August 16 Bert Berns August 23 Andy Beck August 30 Suzie Moore September 6 Richard Guentert September 13 Dennis Sanders September 20 Dan Mayes September 27 Brian Kirk October 4 Bill McConnell October 11 John Claussen
