“This is why I tell you: do not be worried about the food and drink you need in order to stay alive, or about clothes for your body. After all, isn't life worth more than food? And isn't the body worth more than clothes? Look at the birds: they do not plant seeds, gather a harvest and put it in barns; yet God in heaven takes care of them! Aren't you worth much more than birds? Can any of you live a bit longer by worrying about it?
And why worry about clothes? Look how the wild flowers grow: they do not work or make clothes for themselves. But I tell you that not even King Solomon with all his wealth had clothes as beautiful as one of these flowers. It is God who clothes the wild grass - grass that is here today and gone tomorrow, burned up in the oven. Won't God be all the more sure to clothe you? What little faith you have!
So do not start worrying: ‘Where will my food come from? or my drink? or my clothes?’ These are the things the pagans are always concerned about. God in heaven knows that you need all these things. Instead, be concerned above everything else with the Realm of God and with what is required of you, and you will be provided with all these other things.”
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Sukkoth in the Hebrew tradition is the Feast of Tabernacles, or Feast of Booths Sukkoth is the Jewish autumn festival of double thanksgiving, which began this year on September 30th- five days after Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Sukkoth ends today, October 7th. This is one of the three Pilgrim Festivals spoken of in the Hebrew Scriptures.
Exodus 23:16 refers to “h’ag ha-asif “, the“Feast of the Ingathering,” when grains and fruits were gathered at the harvest’s end, and to “h’ag ha-sukkot” in Leviticus 23:34, recalling the days when the Israelites lived in huts during their years of wandering in the wilderness after the Exodus from Egypt. The festival is characterized by the building of huts made of branches and by the gathering of four species of branches, with prayers of thanksgiving to God for the fruitfulness of the land. As part of the celebration, a sevenfold circuit of the synagogue is made with the four plants on the seventh day of the festival, called by the special name Hoshana Rabba (“Great Hosanna”). Jesus would have celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles, and joined in the Great Hosanna!
Today, we express our thanks, our gratitude to God for the harvest, for providing for us, for caring for us, for getting us through another year. We can tell the story of God’s faithfulness, of God’s love, of God’s care, and we can tell it exactly because we are here--alive and well! We who are present are evidence of the goodness of God.
Over the last year, all of us, in one way or another - have had a personal crisis. Life involves worry, and we don’t get to escape it. Some of us have gone through tremendous struggles, and you are here; others may go through difficult times right now, but all of us agree that thanking God is important on this Thanksgiving Day. We are here today to give thanks to our loving and caring God!
My Facebook clergy friends started a list the other day of the subject of our thanks. Everyone said, of course, family and friends; home; health.....but it seems to me an attitude of gratitude means thanks for life - the good and the bad. The late George Burns, on the celebration of his 100th birthday and his appearance on a television talk show, was asked if he was glad to be able to be there. He responded “At my age, you’re glad to be anywhere.” Well, despite the fact that this was classic George Burns, it occurred to me that this is the very essence of a life of gratitude - we’re glad to be anywhere.
It almost seems when we say "thank you" to God - even in the midst of the most incredibly crushing events in our lives, which threaten to extinguish the light of our soul - we can deal with those events and still be able to sing a song of thanks. "God has done great things for us, and we rejoiced." Maybe thanking God allows us to focus away from ourselves, at least a little, and to open our eyes to what is going on around us. This is what Jesus is doing when he looks about and sees a couple of birds in a nearby tree. Jesus says: don’t worry. Nothing has ever been gained by worrying. Instead, "Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet God in heaven feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?"
As we soak in Jesus’s words, we start to feel safer, the voice of fear is squelched, instead a feeling of gratitude is gradually swelling in our soul. And soon we are saying: "Yes, if God takes such good care of a bird and a flower, God will take care of me too. After all, I am one of God’s creatures too!" When we talk about God taking care of us, I don’t think it means God will prevent bad things from happening, I think it means God is there, always - even in the midst of the crises of our lives.
Paul speaks of the benefits of the attitude of gratitude in the following manner: "First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity."
Have you ever met someone who is a truly grateful person, someone who takes nothing for granted and is thankful for anything you do for them. Well, I do know a number of those grateful folks. They are people I like to hang around. They are peaceable people, people that have many friends. That’s the kind of attitude I want to have.
Margaret Visser's most recent book, "The Gift of Thanks", addresses a social ritual we take for granted. How many times did your mother tell you to say "Please" and "Thank you"? It is part of our ritual of politeness, and we get irritated at people who don’t say thank you. She notes our 21st century experience of dismissing thanksgiving when we say "Everything I want I can buy." She says that "We often forget that it is not gratitude and giving, but advantages taken for granted, and then unshared, that are much likelier to produce and encourage differences in status and injustice."
Rev. John Henry Jowett was born in Halifax, England, and lived from 1864 to 1923; for a time was minister at Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church. He said "Life without thankfulness is devoid of love and passion. Hope without thankfulness is lacking in fine perception. Faith without thankfulness lacks strength and fortitude. Every virtue divorced from thankfulness is maimed and limps along the spiritual road." He also said “The real measure of our wealth is how much we would be worth if we lost all our money.”
I wondered, as I read this scripture over the week, what Jesus really means. Does he mean throw caution to the winds? Or does he mean don’t take anything for granted in this life, but believe that every new day is a gift, every person, every possession, everything God sends our way is a blessing and a gift.
If we believe we are children of God, what should we fear? Problems? Hunger? Death? It almost seems that an attitude of gratitude is the antithesis to fear and worries. As we are released from the chains of stress and strain, as our gratitude to God grows, we will find ourselves able to reach out to others; to people that may be worry-stricken, to the poor, the needy, those of us who really don’t have enough to go around - and we can demonstrate that gratitude in how we relate to others all the time.
What does reaching out to the poor, the needy - just reaching out to others altogether, have to do with Thanksgiving? The prophet Joel notes that it is important because poverty and hunger is always a reality among people in many parts of the world, and because God is compassionate and caring, and calls us to the same. Let us not only be people who know how to celebrate Thanksgiving once a year, but let us be Thanksgiving people--people who have an attitude of gratitude.
A few quotes on gratitude, from a variety of people....
“At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.” Albert Schweitzer
“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.” – Cicero
“Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn’t learn a little, at least we didn’t get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn’t die; so, let us all be thankful.” – Buddha
“One regret dear world, that I am determined not to have when I am lying on my deathbed is that I did not kiss you enough.” - Hafiz of Persia
“Wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving.” - Kahlil Gibran
We come to this table today for the symbols of bread and wine - the symbols of God’s openness, generosity, love - and the opportunity to make all God’s generosity available through us - from our hands to the hands of others. That is why we practice an open table - because God is open to everyone, so we are open to everyone. We cannot put boundaries on God’s love. We are called to live in gratitude for all that is. May it be so.
Sources:
1. Don't Worry--Be Happy! by Frank Schaefer Mat. 6:25-34
2. A Life of Gratitude , by Fran Ota Thanksgiving 2009
3. The Gift of Thanks, by Margaret Visser. HarperCollins, NY. 2009.
4. http://sourcesofinsight.com/gratitude-quotes/
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Wisdom and Courage? September 30, 2012 Esther 7:1-10, 9:20-23 Humber United Church, Corner Brook, NL
What a lovely story we have today - a fairy tale right in the Bible. A beautiful Queen who shows great courage, and a King who shows great wisdom. Or is it?
One of the things the lectionary doesn’t do is give us entire stories. In this case we’ve missed the opening of the story, and the middle - which are pretty critical parts. So let me tell you the rest.
In 589 BCE King Cyrus decreed an end to the forced captivity of the Hebrew people. One hundred years later, the story begins with King Xerxes and his wife Vashti, considered a most beautiful woman; Xerxes ordered Vashti to parade herself in a kind of beauty pageant; Vashti refused. Because of her refusal, Xerxes ordered her killed - and then searched the kingdom for another woman to be his queen. Esther was found, and became the wife of the King. Her uncle, Mordecai, also her guardian, suggested that she not say that she was a Jew.
The King’s adviser Haman plotted to get rid of Mordecai, and slaughter the Hebrew people. Mordecai learned of the plot, and sent a message to Esther, who decided to speak with the King. Two nights in a row, Esther and Haman and the king had dinner, and Esther told Xerxes that she was a Jew. She asked him to spare her people. - and when Xerxes learned from Esther that Haman was the leader of this movement, he ordered that Haman be hung on the very gallows which was to be used for Mordecai.
Here’s the missing part before we get to the feasts and celebrations. The Jews, led by Mordecai, then proceed to slaughter virtually everyone perceived to be an enemy. The edict for the killing was extended for an extra day, and the ten dead sons of Haman were hung in public. It is a violent and bloody massacre, ostensibly in self-defense.
Then, because the Hebrews were spared, the people are told to celebrate and feast their deliverance, on the 14th day of the month which had been set for their extermination. This is the origin of the Feast of Purim. It is not a Holy Day, but nevertheless a day of observance. Everyone dresses up in costumes, and has big parties - but every party stops while the whole story of Esther is read.
Rev. Judith Evenden, says that “at one level it is a great story of victory over oppression.” The victory of Esther, and in fact the courage of Vashti! Where all of us preachers get squeamish is the massacre, after the threat of their being killed had passed. So Judith asked for some comments from Rabbi Ruth Abusch-Magder. (1)
Rabbi Ruth comments “This is a relatively late biblical book. The story is one that has no connection to history in a way that makes sense. As a result, one must view it as a farce; a carnival story written by a diaspora people, disempowered and imagining their potential to reinvent themselves and avenge the wrongs perpetrated upon minorities.” (2) So the story of Esther, on one level, is a kind of humorous morality play - representing the wishful dreaming of a people in exile - a king who is a buffoon, a cartoon-character villain who comes to a sad end, a woman who outsmarts most of them. At the reading of Esther during Purim, those who are dressed in costume - and the audience - boo and hiss the villains, ridicule the foolish king, and celebrate Esther, a woman with great wisdom and skill.
“One of the four ritual obligations at Purim is to read Megillat Ester, the scroll of Esther. We are obligated to listen to the whole story, start to finish. Despite what one might think sitting in a contemporary synagogue with noisemakers, we are obligated to hear every word of the story. We cannot gloss over the challenging parts. We need to pay attention to the frivolity of the King, his excess of food and drink, and the consequences for those in his immediate family and those over whom he reigns. The Jewish people are both the victim and the beneficiaries of the King's tendency to indulge. His lack of involvement allows his advisor Haman to pursue a personal vendetta against the Jews. His fondness for food and drink (and beautiful ladies) draws him to Esther's feast where he is persuaded to save the Jews.” (3)
In fact, the house of King Xerxes was not a house ruled by wisdom. Xerxes prized only the beauty of his wife Vashti. His murder of her set back women’s freedoms throughout Persia for ages; internal plots and intrigue brought the life of the entire Israelite nation into danger. Esther’s actions did save the day, but they also left the Persians not in awe of God, but in mortal fear of the Israelite people. Her request that her people be spared resulted not in peace, but in a death warrant based in the rationale of self-defense. To the contrary, Esther’s actions kindled a violent civil war.
We watch Haman, whose single-minded evil and anger leads to his undoing. We learn that physical survival is full of challenge. For Esther, surviving means giving up her name and community, going into hiding, being sexually compromised. Mordecai has to give up his ability to protect her, and has to rely on the protection of others. (4)
If we use the Hebrew practice of ‘midrash’, interpreting the text in its historical context, and then interpreting it for modern times, one of the messages that sits in this story is the ability of those who are oppressed to become the oppressor; we see that the lines between power and powerless, frivolity and insanity are not as clear as we might like to think. We see those with power using it unwisely, and the powerless showing great wisdom.
The country of Zimbabwe might be a good example. From being a revered leader of an oppressed people, Robert Mugabe became the oppressor, even of his own people. He demonstrated that those lines are not as clear as we might like. Think back to Idi Amin and the nightmare of Uganda; or the horrors of Angola.
Or China - a country which once was occupied by Japan, armies marching through a slaughtering Chinese civilians without a thought. Now China invades and claims places like Tibet as its own. The oppressed have become the oppressor.
The Jewish people have been the object of hatred in many parts of the world for centuries. Six million Jews were exterminated during World War II. Many Jews changed their names, or lied about their origins, just as Esther did - fearing persecution. As of 1950 the historic home of both Jew and Arab was divided into Israel and Palestine. Yet in its claims of self-defense, Israel has slaughtered many, even while holding up the Holocaust to the world. Land which is rightly that of Palestine is being taken over and settled. Yet Israel is not all to blame. The Palestinian leaders deliberately provoke response. They know full well that if they attack Israel the response will be swift and devastating. Innocent people are used as shields and become collateral damage in a power struggle without end. Should Palestine ever get the upper hand, I am sure they would do exactly what is being done. Both claim they act in self-defense.
I keep returning to Rabbi Ruth’s comment - that the lines between power and powerless are not as clear as we might like to think. So how does this relate to us as Christians? On a global scale it’s not hard to comment, but what about the local?
The characters in the story did not use their power for the good of others, except perhaps Esther. The king, Mordecai and Haman had power and each used it unwisely to dominate and control others; Esther, who was supposedly powerless, found great power and used it wisely.
Here in this congregation I think the question is how do each of us use our power? Do we use it to be destructive, or do we use it for good or for ill? Everyone has power, whether or not they know it. Sometimes we can use our power in a way that has ripples throughout the community, causing harm. Sometimes we can use that power in such a way that the ripples produce great good, even beyond our community. It seems to me that the lesson from this story is how we use the power we have to build up all the individuals in our community, the body of Christ in the world, so that the whole body is healthy and productive.
For we believe we are the body of Christ in the world - every one of us - and every one of us has a function. Our role, in a community, is to recognise the contributions of each, and support and encourage them, help them grow and be productive members of the congregation. May it be so.
Sources:
1. Rev. Judith Evenden, Land o’ Lakes Emmanuel United Church congregation.
2,3,4. From a sermon by Rabbi Ruth Abusch-Magder, scholar in residence at University of Chicago Hillel, Director of Joint Commission on Sustaining Rabbinic Education.
5. Feasting on the Word, essay by Telford Work, Associate Professor of Theology, Westmount College, Santa Barbara, CA. 2009.
One of the things the lectionary doesn’t do is give us entire stories. In this case we’ve missed the opening of the story, and the middle - which are pretty critical parts. So let me tell you the rest.
In 589 BCE King Cyrus decreed an end to the forced captivity of the Hebrew people. One hundred years later, the story begins with King Xerxes and his wife Vashti, considered a most beautiful woman; Xerxes ordered Vashti to parade herself in a kind of beauty pageant; Vashti refused. Because of her refusal, Xerxes ordered her killed - and then searched the kingdom for another woman to be his queen. Esther was found, and became the wife of the King. Her uncle, Mordecai, also her guardian, suggested that she not say that she was a Jew.
The King’s adviser Haman plotted to get rid of Mordecai, and slaughter the Hebrew people. Mordecai learned of the plot, and sent a message to Esther, who decided to speak with the King. Two nights in a row, Esther and Haman and the king had dinner, and Esther told Xerxes that she was a Jew. She asked him to spare her people. - and when Xerxes learned from Esther that Haman was the leader of this movement, he ordered that Haman be hung on the very gallows which was to be used for Mordecai.
Here’s the missing part before we get to the feasts and celebrations. The Jews, led by Mordecai, then proceed to slaughter virtually everyone perceived to be an enemy. The edict for the killing was extended for an extra day, and the ten dead sons of Haman were hung in public. It is a violent and bloody massacre, ostensibly in self-defense.
Then, because the Hebrews were spared, the people are told to celebrate and feast their deliverance, on the 14th day of the month which had been set for their extermination. This is the origin of the Feast of Purim. It is not a Holy Day, but nevertheless a day of observance. Everyone dresses up in costumes, and has big parties - but every party stops while the whole story of Esther is read.
Rev. Judith Evenden, says that “at one level it is a great story of victory over oppression.” The victory of Esther, and in fact the courage of Vashti! Where all of us preachers get squeamish is the massacre, after the threat of their being killed had passed. So Judith asked for some comments from Rabbi Ruth Abusch-Magder. (1)
Rabbi Ruth comments “This is a relatively late biblical book. The story is one that has no connection to history in a way that makes sense. As a result, one must view it as a farce; a carnival story written by a diaspora people, disempowered and imagining their potential to reinvent themselves and avenge the wrongs perpetrated upon minorities.” (2) So the story of Esther, on one level, is a kind of humorous morality play - representing the wishful dreaming of a people in exile - a king who is a buffoon, a cartoon-character villain who comes to a sad end, a woman who outsmarts most of them. At the reading of Esther during Purim, those who are dressed in costume - and the audience - boo and hiss the villains, ridicule the foolish king, and celebrate Esther, a woman with great wisdom and skill.
“One of the four ritual obligations at Purim is to read Megillat Ester, the scroll of Esther. We are obligated to listen to the whole story, start to finish. Despite what one might think sitting in a contemporary synagogue with noisemakers, we are obligated to hear every word of the story. We cannot gloss over the challenging parts. We need to pay attention to the frivolity of the King, his excess of food and drink, and the consequences for those in his immediate family and those over whom he reigns. The Jewish people are both the victim and the beneficiaries of the King's tendency to indulge. His lack of involvement allows his advisor Haman to pursue a personal vendetta against the Jews. His fondness for food and drink (and beautiful ladies) draws him to Esther's feast where he is persuaded to save the Jews.” (3)
In fact, the house of King Xerxes was not a house ruled by wisdom. Xerxes prized only the beauty of his wife Vashti. His murder of her set back women’s freedoms throughout Persia for ages; internal plots and intrigue brought the life of the entire Israelite nation into danger. Esther’s actions did save the day, but they also left the Persians not in awe of God, but in mortal fear of the Israelite people. Her request that her people be spared resulted not in peace, but in a death warrant based in the rationale of self-defense. To the contrary, Esther’s actions kindled a violent civil war.
We watch Haman, whose single-minded evil and anger leads to his undoing. We learn that physical survival is full of challenge. For Esther, surviving means giving up her name and community, going into hiding, being sexually compromised. Mordecai has to give up his ability to protect her, and has to rely on the protection of others. (4)
If we use the Hebrew practice of ‘midrash’, interpreting the text in its historical context, and then interpreting it for modern times, one of the messages that sits in this story is the ability of those who are oppressed to become the oppressor; we see that the lines between power and powerless, frivolity and insanity are not as clear as we might like to think. We see those with power using it unwisely, and the powerless showing great wisdom.
The country of Zimbabwe might be a good example. From being a revered leader of an oppressed people, Robert Mugabe became the oppressor, even of his own people. He demonstrated that those lines are not as clear as we might like. Think back to Idi Amin and the nightmare of Uganda; or the horrors of Angola.
Or China - a country which once was occupied by Japan, armies marching through a slaughtering Chinese civilians without a thought. Now China invades and claims places like Tibet as its own. The oppressed have become the oppressor.
The Jewish people have been the object of hatred in many parts of the world for centuries. Six million Jews were exterminated during World War II. Many Jews changed their names, or lied about their origins, just as Esther did - fearing persecution. As of 1950 the historic home of both Jew and Arab was divided into Israel and Palestine. Yet in its claims of self-defense, Israel has slaughtered many, even while holding up the Holocaust to the world. Land which is rightly that of Palestine is being taken over and settled. Yet Israel is not all to blame. The Palestinian leaders deliberately provoke response. They know full well that if they attack Israel the response will be swift and devastating. Innocent people are used as shields and become collateral damage in a power struggle without end. Should Palestine ever get the upper hand, I am sure they would do exactly what is being done. Both claim they act in self-defense.
I keep returning to Rabbi Ruth’s comment - that the lines between power and powerless are not as clear as we might like to think. So how does this relate to us as Christians? On a global scale it’s not hard to comment, but what about the local?
The characters in the story did not use their power for the good of others, except perhaps Esther. The king, Mordecai and Haman had power and each used it unwisely to dominate and control others; Esther, who was supposedly powerless, found great power and used it wisely.
Here in this congregation I think the question is how do each of us use our power? Do we use it to be destructive, or do we use it for good or for ill? Everyone has power, whether or not they know it. Sometimes we can use our power in a way that has ripples throughout the community, causing harm. Sometimes we can use that power in such a way that the ripples produce great good, even beyond our community. It seems to me that the lesson from this story is how we use the power we have to build up all the individuals in our community, the body of Christ in the world, so that the whole body is healthy and productive.
For we believe we are the body of Christ in the world - every one of us - and every one of us has a function. Our role, in a community, is to recognise the contributions of each, and support and encourage them, help them grow and be productive members of the congregation. May it be so.
Sources:
1. Rev. Judith Evenden, Land o’ Lakes Emmanuel United Church congregation.
2,3,4. From a sermon by Rabbi Ruth Abusch-Magder, scholar in residence at University of Chicago Hillel, Director of Joint Commission on Sustaining Rabbinic Education.
5. Feasting on the Word, essay by Telford Work, Associate Professor of Theology, Westmount College, Santa Barbara, CA. 2009.
Saturday, September 22, 2012
“Wisdom Speaks” Proverbs 31:10-31, James 3 (selected verses), Mark 9:30-37
How hard it is to find a capable wife! She is worth far more than jewels! Her husband puts his confidence in her, and he will never be poor. As long as she lives, she does him good and never harm. She keeps herself busy making wool and linen cloth. She brings home food from out-of-the-way places, as merchant ships do. She gets up before daylight to prepare food for her family and to tell her servant women what to do. She looks at land and buys it, and with money she has earned she plants a vineyard. She is a hard worker, strong and industrious. She knows the value of everything she makes, and works late into the night.She spins her own thread and weaves her own cloth. She is generous to the poor and needy. She doesn't worry when it snows, because her family has warm clothing. She makes bedspreads and wears clothes of fine purple linen. Her husband is well known, one of the leading citizens. She makes clothes and belts, and sells them to merchants. She is strong and respected and not afraid of the future. She speaks with a gentle wisdom. She is always busy and looks after her family's needs. Her children show their appreciation, and her husband praises her. He says, “Many women are good wives, but you are the best of them all.” Charm is deceptive and beauty disappears, but a woman who honors the Lord should be praised. Give her credit for all she does. She deserves the respect of everyone.
James 3
Are there any of you who are wise and understanding? Prove it by your good life, by your good deeds performed with humility and wisdom. If in your heart you are jealous, bitter, and selfish, don't sin against the truth by boasting of your wisdom. Such wisdom does not come down from heaven; it belongs to the world, it is unspiritual and demonic. Where there is jealousy and selfishness, there is also disorder and every kind of evil. The wisdom from above is pure first of all; it is also peaceful, gentle, and friendly; it is full of compassion and produces a harvest of good deeds; it is free from prejudice and hypocrisy. Goodness is the harvest that is produced from the seeds the peacemakers plant in peace.
Mark 9
Jesus and his disciples left that place and went on through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where he was, because he was teaching his disciples: “The Son of Man will be handed over to those who will kill him. Three days later, however, he will rise to life.” They didn’t understand what this teaching meant, and they were afraid to ask him. They came to Capernaum, and after going indoors Jesus asked his disciples, “What were you arguing about on the road?” They would not answer him, because on the road they had been arguing among themselves about who was the greatest. Jesus sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must place himself last of all and be the servant of all.” Then he placed a child in front of them. He put his arms around the child and said “Whoever welcomes in my name one of these children, welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me, welcomes not only me but also the one who sent me.”
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A friend of mine is the living embodiment of superwoman. She cleans every room in the house a couple of times a week, has a huge vegetable garden, works in a nursing home, cooks fantastic meals every day, does handcrafts, and all the PowerPoints for her congregation’s worship. If asked, she will say it is her Christian duty as a wife to do all those things - the outside jobs are so she can enjoy her passion of cruising. She would probably quote Proverbs, too.
I remember trying to keep up with four kids, clean the house from top to bottom, freeze and preserve veggies for the winter, make jam, do handcrafts - and hold down a couple of outside jobs at the same time. A lot of women of my generation bought into this notion that they have to do all those things to be a good wife.
But in fact, this reading isn’t about wives at all. It is actually a poem in Hebrew; an acrostic arranged in alphabetical order; the first letter of each line is a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Given its place in the book of Proverbs, and the previous passages about wisdom, it becomes clear that this is not about a good wife, it is about Woman Wisdom; the husband of the passage is a kind of stand-in for the followers. The poem portrays the benefits to anyone who chooses to become wise. The passage opens with the question “A strong woman, who can find?” As well as commenting on the warrior-like qualities of Wisdom, it notes that life with Wisdom begins with a search. Wisdom has to be sought out, is not easily acquired, but when attained is “more precious than jewels”. Life with Wisdom is a life of devotion and trust, and brings benefits to the household of Wisdom.
Rather than being about a perfect woman and wife, it is about the personification of wisdom. It is about the universal values that sustain humanity. Integrity in personal relationships; opening our hands to the poor; doing what is there to be done, caring for those around us. Living with wisdom and insight.
So we move on to the letter of James, which says “Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom.” Wisdom is still the centrepiece, by which all other things are measured.
A couple of weeks ago, a horrendous video went around the internet, attacking the Muslim faith, and sparking violence in many places. The video was an incredible piece of junk, designed specifically to get a violent reaction. How many people have died? Did the person who made the video act with gentleness born of wisdom??? or act out of racism, hatred and anger?
In our very own back yards, do we act like the personification of wisdom? In our congregations, do we bend over backwards to learn to be wise? Or do we love the background noise, the gossip, innuendo, rumour. Do we contribute to the hurt of others with our words and actions? Do the stories get blown up as they get passed around? Or do we think carefully first?
Let’s go over to Mark for a moment - Jesus knows full well that the disciples were arguing over which one of them would be the greatest in the new realm....who would be “over” the others. Jesus knows there will be a dispute within the group of followers as to who is right and wrong. This time, after mentally banging his head against a wall at human nature, he acts with wisdom, and picks up a child as a demonstration of who the “greatest” will be - those who aren’t trying to be. Whoever welcomes a child welcomes Jesus, and whoever welcomes him instead welcomes God.
Here’s what Rev. Barbara Brown Taylor says: “If the preacher of today’s passage has had it up to here with church conflicts and disputes, James feels your pain. He is sick and tired of the kind of understandings that people use to pound one another. The only wisdom James is interested in is the wisdom from above. Wisdom from above focuses on the well-being of others and the needs of others.”
The reading from Proverbs is about the universal values that sustain humanity. Integrity in personal relationships; opening our hands to the poor; doing what is there to be done, doing what is good for those around us, and with a gentleness born of wisdom. Wisdom and peace are the things we, as Christians, are supposed to be about. As the letter of James says “The wisdom from above is pure first of all; it is also peaceful, gentle, and friendly; it is full of compassion and produces a harvest of good deeds; it is free from prejudice and hypocrisy. Goodness is the harvest that is produced from the seeds the peacemakers plant in peace.”
...and we are called to behave towards each other with wisdom, insight, and care. May it be so.
Sources:
1. Rev. David Shearman, Owen Sound, ON.
2. Rev. James Hopkins, Lakeshore Avenue Baptist Church, Oakland CA.
3. Rev. Barbara Brown Taylor in “Feasting on the Word”.
James 3
Are there any of you who are wise and understanding? Prove it by your good life, by your good deeds performed with humility and wisdom. If in your heart you are jealous, bitter, and selfish, don't sin against the truth by boasting of your wisdom. Such wisdom does not come down from heaven; it belongs to the world, it is unspiritual and demonic. Where there is jealousy and selfishness, there is also disorder and every kind of evil. The wisdom from above is pure first of all; it is also peaceful, gentle, and friendly; it is full of compassion and produces a harvest of good deeds; it is free from prejudice and hypocrisy. Goodness is the harvest that is produced from the seeds the peacemakers plant in peace.
Mark 9
Jesus and his disciples left that place and went on through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where he was, because he was teaching his disciples: “The Son of Man will be handed over to those who will kill him. Three days later, however, he will rise to life.” They didn’t understand what this teaching meant, and they were afraid to ask him. They came to Capernaum, and after going indoors Jesus asked his disciples, “What were you arguing about on the road?” They would not answer him, because on the road they had been arguing among themselves about who was the greatest. Jesus sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must place himself last of all and be the servant of all.” Then he placed a child in front of them. He put his arms around the child and said “Whoever welcomes in my name one of these children, welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me, welcomes not only me but also the one who sent me.”
*****************************************************************************
A friend of mine is the living embodiment of superwoman. She cleans every room in the house a couple of times a week, has a huge vegetable garden, works in a nursing home, cooks fantastic meals every day, does handcrafts, and all the PowerPoints for her congregation’s worship. If asked, she will say it is her Christian duty as a wife to do all those things - the outside jobs are so she can enjoy her passion of cruising. She would probably quote Proverbs, too.
I remember trying to keep up with four kids, clean the house from top to bottom, freeze and preserve veggies for the winter, make jam, do handcrafts - and hold down a couple of outside jobs at the same time. A lot of women of my generation bought into this notion that they have to do all those things to be a good wife.
But in fact, this reading isn’t about wives at all. It is actually a poem in Hebrew; an acrostic arranged in alphabetical order; the first letter of each line is a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Given its place in the book of Proverbs, and the previous passages about wisdom, it becomes clear that this is not about a good wife, it is about Woman Wisdom; the husband of the passage is a kind of stand-in for the followers. The poem portrays the benefits to anyone who chooses to become wise. The passage opens with the question “A strong woman, who can find?” As well as commenting on the warrior-like qualities of Wisdom, it notes that life with Wisdom begins with a search. Wisdom has to be sought out, is not easily acquired, but when attained is “more precious than jewels”. Life with Wisdom is a life of devotion and trust, and brings benefits to the household of Wisdom.
Rather than being about a perfect woman and wife, it is about the personification of wisdom. It is about the universal values that sustain humanity. Integrity in personal relationships; opening our hands to the poor; doing what is there to be done, caring for those around us. Living with wisdom and insight.
So we move on to the letter of James, which says “Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom.” Wisdom is still the centrepiece, by which all other things are measured.
A couple of weeks ago, a horrendous video went around the internet, attacking the Muslim faith, and sparking violence in many places. The video was an incredible piece of junk, designed specifically to get a violent reaction. How many people have died? Did the person who made the video act with gentleness born of wisdom??? or act out of racism, hatred and anger?
In our very own back yards, do we act like the personification of wisdom? In our congregations, do we bend over backwards to learn to be wise? Or do we love the background noise, the gossip, innuendo, rumour. Do we contribute to the hurt of others with our words and actions? Do the stories get blown up as they get passed around? Or do we think carefully first?
Let’s go over to Mark for a moment - Jesus knows full well that the disciples were arguing over which one of them would be the greatest in the new realm....who would be “over” the others. Jesus knows there will be a dispute within the group of followers as to who is right and wrong. This time, after mentally banging his head against a wall at human nature, he acts with wisdom, and picks up a child as a demonstration of who the “greatest” will be - those who aren’t trying to be. Whoever welcomes a child welcomes Jesus, and whoever welcomes him instead welcomes God.
Here’s what Rev. Barbara Brown Taylor says: “If the preacher of today’s passage has had it up to here with church conflicts and disputes, James feels your pain. He is sick and tired of the kind of understandings that people use to pound one another. The only wisdom James is interested in is the wisdom from above. Wisdom from above focuses on the well-being of others and the needs of others.”
The reading from Proverbs is about the universal values that sustain humanity. Integrity in personal relationships; opening our hands to the poor; doing what is there to be done, doing what is good for those around us, and with a gentleness born of wisdom. Wisdom and peace are the things we, as Christians, are supposed to be about. As the letter of James says “The wisdom from above is pure first of all; it is also peaceful, gentle, and friendly; it is full of compassion and produces a harvest of good deeds; it is free from prejudice and hypocrisy. Goodness is the harvest that is produced from the seeds the peacemakers plant in peace.”
...and we are called to behave towards each other with wisdom, insight, and care. May it be so.
Sources:
1. Rev. David Shearman, Owen Sound, ON.
2. Rev. James Hopkins, Lakeshore Avenue Baptist Church, Oakland CA.
3. Rev. Barbara Brown Taylor in “Feasting on the Word”.
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Who Is Jesus for You? Mark 8:27-38 September 16, 2012 Humber United Church
Then Jesus and his disciples went away to the villages near Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, “Tell me, who do people say I am?” “Some say that you are John the Baptist,” they answered; “others say that you are Elijah, while others say that you are one of the prophets.”
“What about you?” he asked them. “Who do you say I am?”
Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.” Jesus ordered them, “Do not tell anyone about me.”
Then Jesus began to teach his disciples: “The Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the Law. He will be put to death, but three days later he will rise to life.” He made this very clear to them. So Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But Jesus turned around, looked at his disciples, and rebuked Peter. “Get away from me, Satan,” he said. “Your thoughts don't come from God but from human nature!”
Then Jesus called the crowd and his disciples to him. “If any of you want to come with me,” he told them, “you must forget yourself, carry your cross, and follow me. For if you want to save your own life, you will lose it; but if you lose your life for me and for the gospel, you will save it. Do you gain anything if you win the whole world but lose your life? Of course not! There is nothing you can give to regain your life. If you are ashamed of me and of my teaching in this godless and wicked day, then the Son of Man will be ashamed when he comes in the glory of God with the holy angels.”
************************************************************************
So here’s a little band of twelve marching along the dusty, hot and dry road to Jerusalem. Jesus is well out in front - followers always walked behind the rabbi as a sign of respect. Suddenly Jesus turns around, and, walking backward says, "So who do you think I really am?”
Huh???
They look at each other, and give a kind of French shoulder shrug, as if to say “Beats me, who are you really?” We do know that some people had their suspicions about who Jesus was, including a few of the disciples - but Mark always wrote as if the disciples were not terribly with it...
"Well," says one, "there’s a theory going around that you must be John the Baptist! Can you believe it! They saw his head on a platter, a little over two months ago, but miraculously you’re somehow him.”
"I’ve been hearing rumours that you’re really Elijah”, says another, "zoomed in from heaven, to preach the way you do and perform the miracles you have." And pretty soon every one of the twelve jumps in with some kind of rumour about who Jesus might be.
Still walking backwards, and with a rather wicked smile tucked in one side of his mouth, Jesus asks “and who do *you* say I am?"
Large silence. Very large and long silence.
Jesus turned around facing them, the disciples standing dead still looking totally dumbfounded. Peter finally blurts it out. "You’re the Messiah."
Good old Peter. No hemming and hawing, no shuffling of feet or oblique references. Peter gets right to it; and seriously, that’s the answer everyone wants, isn’t it? That was really the answer all the disciples wanted. Today, that answer could land him a place on our national committees, get us to encourage him to go into ordained ministry. Jesus has asked, "Who do you say that I am?", and Peter, speaking as Everyone, says, "You are the Messiah." You’d expect Jesus to be pleased as punch.
But no - Jesus pitches a fit. From being a little mischievous with the guys, he is now downright angry and harsh. In this passage we get to eavesdrop on a knockdown, drag-out argument - the worst argument in Jesus’ ministry. His response is neither gentle, nor affirming, nor comforting. He rips Peter, and to the twelve says “Don’t you dare say that to anyone, hear me????? Don’t anyone call me that!!!!" Jesus uses the Greek word, *epitimao* - a command he used to silence demons and drive them away.
Wait a minute! Isn’t that the answer we would have given????
Well, on with the story. Jesus, now walking together with the twelve, starts to explain what is coming next. When they get to Jerusalem, he says, he will be hauled in, profiled, knocked around and beaten up, and eventually killed - but that he will be resurrected on the third day.
This time Peter pitches a fit. Swelled up, red faced and indignant, Peter lets fly with “Stop yapping New Age nonsense, and think about the rest of us.” Jesus, now even more riled up, comes nose to nose, toe to toe, and eyeball to eyeball with Peter, and yells “Get outta here, you Satan!!!!” - and then he whirls around again, and yells at the rest of the group “Anyone who comes with me has to carry your own cross just like me, and go wherever I go. Whoever just wants to save their own skin will lose it, but whoever gives their life for me and for the teaching will *have* life.”
Placement of stories in the Gospels is always critical, and not at all accidental. Thomas Hall notes that Mark places this story right at the middle of the book; “the equivalent of placing ambulance and police sirens around it. Or grenades and mines. For the earliest Christians, this story was not just another episode in an otherwise routine day of travel.” There’s wisdom here to be heard. This is one another story where we can’t really understand the text unless we understand the context in which Peter says to Jesus “You are the Messiah.”
The Hebrew statement of faith says "I believe with perfect faith in the coming of Meshiach (the messiah), and though he may tarry, nevertheless I await his coming every day." Those are the words that Orthodox Jews said and sang throughout the Jewish history of exile and persecution. It was this passage, written by Maimonides and based on ancient Jewish belief, which gave the Jews courage to survive. Forever hoping that at any given second Meshiach will come and redeem the Jewish people to take them to their homeland - Israel.
Orthodox Jews will bless each other "You shall live to see Meshiach". Almost every speech by a Jewish scholar will end with the words "we should be blessed to live to Meshiachs' days". It is a core central belief of Judaism without any disagreement or dispute. As Maimonides writes (Kings 11): "whoever does not believe in him, or does not await his coming, denies not only the other prophets, but also the Torah and of Moshe, our teacher, for the Torah attests to his coming".
As opposed to Christianity, the Jewish Messiah is not a savior. The Jewish Messiah is not a divine being. The Jewish Messiah will not come to save us from our sins. All these ideas are dismissed and considered heresy in Judaism. The word "Meshiach" translates to "the anointed one," as in ancient times when new kings were literally anointed. Meshiach will be the anointed king at the end of days. In Judaism Meshiach will be a king who will be a descendent of King David (2 Samuel 7:12-13; Jeremiah 23:5), observant of Jewish law (Isaiah 11:2-5), a righteous judge (Jeremiah 33:15), and a great military leader.
Mosheh ben Maimon, also known as Maimonides, was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher. He was born in Córdoba, Spain in 1135 and died in Egypt in 1204. He was a rabbi, physician, and philosopher in Morocco and Egypt. He rose to be the revered head of the Jewish community in Egypt, and has been acknowledged as one of the foremost rabbinical arbiters and philosophers in Jewish history. His fourteen-volume Mishneh Torah still carries canonical authority as a codification of Talmudic law.
He wrote "When Meshiach comes all Jews will return from exile to Israel (Isaiah 11:11-12; Jeremiah 23:8; 30:3; Hosea 3:4-5); there will be universal acceptance of the Jewish God and the Jewish religion (Isaiah 2:3; 11:10; 66:23; Micah 4:2-3; Zechariah 14:9); There will be no sin or evil; all Jews will obey the commandments (Zephaniah 3:13; Ezekiel 37:24); the Third and final Temple will be rebuilt (Ezekiel 37:26-27) and the Sanhedrin (Jewish high court of law) will be re-instituted (Maimonides Kings 11:1)."
Perhaps Peter really did have the wrong answer. Perhaps he was thinking this was the Messiah who would be the great military leader. Maybe he meant "the one who has come to meet our needs and to fix whatever needs fixing,"
So who do people say Jesus is? And who do YOU say Jesus is. Who is Jesus for YOU, today, right now - here in this congregation, in this church, in this world.
Is he only a kind of guru, a fully realized spiritual human being with lots of good teachings, but no interest in sickness, injustice, war, poverty, the environment, education or children; sitting way out of reach, offering wisdom to those who are enlightened enough to hear. Would we be able to understand, if we could get close enough, or would WE still need everything explained to us, as the disciples seemed to need.
Is Jesus your friend, a divine big brother, up in the sky somewhere? Is he your judge, counting out your sins and keeping a record? Is he sitting on the bench until things get tough and you call him to take over for you - a semi-divine coach in a game? Is he your vending machine – Zoltar the Fortune Teller from the Tom Hanks movie “Big”, where the little boy puts his quarter in the fortune-teller machine, makes a wish to be big, and it comes true. Pay for a prayer from Jesus???
Who do you say Jesus is? For those who claim discipleship, it is the one question we are called to keep on answering throughout our lives. Non-Christians, watching us, cannot even tell that we are Christians. We don’t look like the people on TV, we’re unable to articulate our faith. We don’t shout and condemn and we don’t have powerful lobby groups. So non-Christians conclude that "all Christians" claim to believe one way, but don't even follow their own teaching.
I suspect that Jesus lost it with Peter, because there was a major miscommunication all along the way. We know that the Israelites were oppressed by the Romans, we know that the people were subject to unfair practices and discrimination by their own religious leaders. Peter, in saying “You are the Messiah” is really saying you’re the one who is going to make everything right for us, unite the Israelites to drive out the Romans, get rid of the oppressive religious leaders, fix the church so it’s just the way we think it should be.
“Who do you SAY I am?” Jesus asks. Jesus is clear about who he is. He calls us to take up a cross, to risk our very life for those who need, right here in this neighbourhood. He is the bread of life, the living water, the one who will talk with those we like to ignore, who cares for those we consider the dregs of society. He is the one who asks everything from us, at the same time asking us to look deep into ourselves to see who we are, and make changes within as well as without. Do you take that commitment seriously? If you do, how do you live it out? Who is Jesus, for you, today, now - and how do you carry that message into the creation around you, every day?
Sources:
1. Rev. Christina Berry, First Presbyterian Church, Sterling, Illinois, from the sermon “What I Say”.
2. Rev. Thomas Hall, from the sermon “On the Way”.
3. http://www.orthodox-jews.com/moshiach.html
“What about you?” he asked them. “Who do you say I am?”
Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.” Jesus ordered them, “Do not tell anyone about me.”
Then Jesus began to teach his disciples: “The Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the Law. He will be put to death, but three days later he will rise to life.” He made this very clear to them. So Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But Jesus turned around, looked at his disciples, and rebuked Peter. “Get away from me, Satan,” he said. “Your thoughts don't come from God but from human nature!”
Then Jesus called the crowd and his disciples to him. “If any of you want to come with me,” he told them, “you must forget yourself, carry your cross, and follow me. For if you want to save your own life, you will lose it; but if you lose your life for me and for the gospel, you will save it. Do you gain anything if you win the whole world but lose your life? Of course not! There is nothing you can give to regain your life. If you are ashamed of me and of my teaching in this godless and wicked day, then the Son of Man will be ashamed when he comes in the glory of God with the holy angels.”
************************************************************************
So here’s a little band of twelve marching along the dusty, hot and dry road to Jerusalem. Jesus is well out in front - followers always walked behind the rabbi as a sign of respect. Suddenly Jesus turns around, and, walking backward says, "So who do you think I really am?”
Huh???
They look at each other, and give a kind of French shoulder shrug, as if to say “Beats me, who are you really?” We do know that some people had their suspicions about who Jesus was, including a few of the disciples - but Mark always wrote as if the disciples were not terribly with it...
"Well," says one, "there’s a theory going around that you must be John the Baptist! Can you believe it! They saw his head on a platter, a little over two months ago, but miraculously you’re somehow him.”
"I’ve been hearing rumours that you’re really Elijah”, says another, "zoomed in from heaven, to preach the way you do and perform the miracles you have." And pretty soon every one of the twelve jumps in with some kind of rumour about who Jesus might be.
Still walking backwards, and with a rather wicked smile tucked in one side of his mouth, Jesus asks “and who do *you* say I am?"
Large silence. Very large and long silence.
Jesus turned around facing them, the disciples standing dead still looking totally dumbfounded. Peter finally blurts it out. "You’re the Messiah."
Good old Peter. No hemming and hawing, no shuffling of feet or oblique references. Peter gets right to it; and seriously, that’s the answer everyone wants, isn’t it? That was really the answer all the disciples wanted. Today, that answer could land him a place on our national committees, get us to encourage him to go into ordained ministry. Jesus has asked, "Who do you say that I am?", and Peter, speaking as Everyone, says, "You are the Messiah." You’d expect Jesus to be pleased as punch.
But no - Jesus pitches a fit. From being a little mischievous with the guys, he is now downright angry and harsh. In this passage we get to eavesdrop on a knockdown, drag-out argument - the worst argument in Jesus’ ministry. His response is neither gentle, nor affirming, nor comforting. He rips Peter, and to the twelve says “Don’t you dare say that to anyone, hear me????? Don’t anyone call me that!!!!" Jesus uses the Greek word, *epitimao* - a command he used to silence demons and drive them away.
Wait a minute! Isn’t that the answer we would have given????
Well, on with the story. Jesus, now walking together with the twelve, starts to explain what is coming next. When they get to Jerusalem, he says, he will be hauled in, profiled, knocked around and beaten up, and eventually killed - but that he will be resurrected on the third day.
This time Peter pitches a fit. Swelled up, red faced and indignant, Peter lets fly with “Stop yapping New Age nonsense, and think about the rest of us.” Jesus, now even more riled up, comes nose to nose, toe to toe, and eyeball to eyeball with Peter, and yells “Get outta here, you Satan!!!!” - and then he whirls around again, and yells at the rest of the group “Anyone who comes with me has to carry your own cross just like me, and go wherever I go. Whoever just wants to save their own skin will lose it, but whoever gives their life for me and for the teaching will *have* life.”
Placement of stories in the Gospels is always critical, and not at all accidental. Thomas Hall notes that Mark places this story right at the middle of the book; “the equivalent of placing ambulance and police sirens around it. Or grenades and mines. For the earliest Christians, this story was not just another episode in an otherwise routine day of travel.” There’s wisdom here to be heard. This is one another story where we can’t really understand the text unless we understand the context in which Peter says to Jesus “You are the Messiah.”
The Hebrew statement of faith says "I believe with perfect faith in the coming of Meshiach (the messiah), and though he may tarry, nevertheless I await his coming every day." Those are the words that Orthodox Jews said and sang throughout the Jewish history of exile and persecution. It was this passage, written by Maimonides and based on ancient Jewish belief, which gave the Jews courage to survive. Forever hoping that at any given second Meshiach will come and redeem the Jewish people to take them to their homeland - Israel.
Orthodox Jews will bless each other "You shall live to see Meshiach". Almost every speech by a Jewish scholar will end with the words "we should be blessed to live to Meshiachs' days". It is a core central belief of Judaism without any disagreement or dispute. As Maimonides writes (Kings 11): "whoever does not believe in him, or does not await his coming, denies not only the other prophets, but also the Torah and of Moshe, our teacher, for the Torah attests to his coming".
As opposed to Christianity, the Jewish Messiah is not a savior. The Jewish Messiah is not a divine being. The Jewish Messiah will not come to save us from our sins. All these ideas are dismissed and considered heresy in Judaism. The word "Meshiach" translates to "the anointed one," as in ancient times when new kings were literally anointed. Meshiach will be the anointed king at the end of days. In Judaism Meshiach will be a king who will be a descendent of King David (2 Samuel 7:12-13; Jeremiah 23:5), observant of Jewish law (Isaiah 11:2-5), a righteous judge (Jeremiah 33:15), and a great military leader.
Mosheh ben Maimon, also known as Maimonides, was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher. He was born in Córdoba, Spain in 1135 and died in Egypt in 1204. He was a rabbi, physician, and philosopher in Morocco and Egypt. He rose to be the revered head of the Jewish community in Egypt, and has been acknowledged as one of the foremost rabbinical arbiters and philosophers in Jewish history. His fourteen-volume Mishneh Torah still carries canonical authority as a codification of Talmudic law.
He wrote "When Meshiach comes all Jews will return from exile to Israel (Isaiah 11:11-12; Jeremiah 23:8; 30:3; Hosea 3:4-5); there will be universal acceptance of the Jewish God and the Jewish religion (Isaiah 2:3; 11:10; 66:23; Micah 4:2-3; Zechariah 14:9); There will be no sin or evil; all Jews will obey the commandments (Zephaniah 3:13; Ezekiel 37:24); the Third and final Temple will be rebuilt (Ezekiel 37:26-27) and the Sanhedrin (Jewish high court of law) will be re-instituted (Maimonides Kings 11:1)."
Perhaps Peter really did have the wrong answer. Perhaps he was thinking this was the Messiah who would be the great military leader. Maybe he meant "the one who has come to meet our needs and to fix whatever needs fixing,"
So who do people say Jesus is? And who do YOU say Jesus is. Who is Jesus for YOU, today, right now - here in this congregation, in this church, in this world.
Is he only a kind of guru, a fully realized spiritual human being with lots of good teachings, but no interest in sickness, injustice, war, poverty, the environment, education or children; sitting way out of reach, offering wisdom to those who are enlightened enough to hear. Would we be able to understand, if we could get close enough, or would WE still need everything explained to us, as the disciples seemed to need.
Is Jesus your friend, a divine big brother, up in the sky somewhere? Is he your judge, counting out your sins and keeping a record? Is he sitting on the bench until things get tough and you call him to take over for you - a semi-divine coach in a game? Is he your vending machine – Zoltar the Fortune Teller from the Tom Hanks movie “Big”, where the little boy puts his quarter in the fortune-teller machine, makes a wish to be big, and it comes true. Pay for a prayer from Jesus???
Who do you say Jesus is? For those who claim discipleship, it is the one question we are called to keep on answering throughout our lives. Non-Christians, watching us, cannot even tell that we are Christians. We don’t look like the people on TV, we’re unable to articulate our faith. We don’t shout and condemn and we don’t have powerful lobby groups. So non-Christians conclude that "all Christians" claim to believe one way, but don't even follow their own teaching.
I suspect that Jesus lost it with Peter, because there was a major miscommunication all along the way. We know that the Israelites were oppressed by the Romans, we know that the people were subject to unfair practices and discrimination by their own religious leaders. Peter, in saying “You are the Messiah” is really saying you’re the one who is going to make everything right for us, unite the Israelites to drive out the Romans, get rid of the oppressive religious leaders, fix the church so it’s just the way we think it should be.
“Who do you SAY I am?” Jesus asks. Jesus is clear about who he is. He calls us to take up a cross, to risk our very life for those who need, right here in this neighbourhood. He is the bread of life, the living water, the one who will talk with those we like to ignore, who cares for those we consider the dregs of society. He is the one who asks everything from us, at the same time asking us to look deep into ourselves to see who we are, and make changes within as well as without. Do you take that commitment seriously? If you do, how do you live it out? Who is Jesus, for you, today, now - and how do you carry that message into the creation around you, every day?
Sources:
1. Rev. Christina Berry, First Presbyterian Church, Sterling, Illinois, from the sermon “What I Say”.
2. Rev. Thomas Hall, from the sermon “On the Way”.
3. http://www.orthodox-jews.com/moshiach.html
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Crossing Boundaries September 9, 2012 Humber United Church, Corner Brook, NL. Mark 7:24-30
Then Jesus left and went away to the territory near the city of Tyre. He went into a house and did not want anyone to know he was there, but he could not stay hidden. A woman, whose daughter had an evil spirit in her, heard about Jesus and came to him at once and fell at his feet. The woman was a Gentile, born in the region of Phoenicia in Syria. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter. Jesus answered, “Let us first feed the children. It isn't right to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs.” “But Sir,” she answered, “even the dogs under the table eat the children's leftovers!” So Jesus said to her, “Because of that answer, go back home, where you will find that the demon has gone out of your daughter!” She went home and found her child lying on the bed; the demon had indeed gone out of her. *****************************************************************************The earliest of the written Gospels starts "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God." In the first seven chapters Jesus travels through Galilee, achieving fame as rabbi, healer, miracle worker and teacher. The people around him are not quite sure of who he is. In spite of being close to him, the disciples don’t seem to understand who he is, or what his ministry is. Mark goes to great pains to demonstrate that they were rather thick. No one understands how the son of a carpenter from Nazareth can do and say the things he does, with such authority.
By Chapter 6 even the reader, who at least has the advantage
of that first sentence of the book - is confused. Jesus performs miracles, but tells everyone
to keep quiet. He exorcises demons, but again tells those around to keep quiet.
He preaches a good sermon in his home town, but is ineffective at working
miracles. He teaches with a wisdom disproportionate to his humble origins, he
enters into debate with Pharisees as a rabbi, but prefers untouchable fishermen
and ordinary people. His choice of friends is the subject of gossip and rumour.
The first feeding of a crowd leads into the next phase of
Jesus ministry. He goes towards Jerusalem, but via a detour through the heart
of Gentile country. Tension is building between Jesus and those who oppose him,
and it is becoming clearer – at least to the reader - that the religious leaders want to get rid of
him.
It’s right at this point that Mark tells the story of Jesus and
the Syro-Phoenician woman. Under the cloud of growing opposition to his ministry,
in between two miraculous feedings, just after a debate with his opponents
about cleanliness, and just before the story of the healing of the deaf and
mute man.
It is also critical to remember that
while Jesus valued the tradition and practices of his religion, he sees the
leadership as corrupt and ingrown. He sets out to initiate reform, in the
tradition of the prophets. He tries to help people remember what their faith
and practices are to be. For Jesus the spoken word has much more power than the
written word. Against the misdirection of the community, he begins to gather
and empower new ministers and leaders from among the lay people. It isn’t going
quite the way he would like, and there is a lot of resistance.
So he takes a break. He is tired and probably rather discouraged, and goes for a bit of a retreat by the seashore, trying to keep a low profile. The encounter takes place in Tyre, out of his comfort zone; he is way from home, amongst different people, essentially a tourist, in the most Gentile of all Gentile cities. And yet he is found by a woman asking for help for her daughter who is possessed by a demon.
So he takes a break. He is tired and probably rather discouraged, and goes for a bit of a retreat by the seashore, trying to keep a low profile. The encounter takes place in Tyre, out of his comfort zone; he is way from home, amongst different people, essentially a tourist, in the most Gentile of all Gentile cities. And yet he is found by a woman asking for help for her daughter who is possessed by a demon.
And even here there is more going on than meets the eye. She
is one of the wealthy upper crust of Tyre, part of a community of Greek
speaking expatriates who were able to afford food the poor could not. Worse:
when the crop failed they would buy the little there was, leaving the local Jewish
people to starve in the streets. It is pure irony that she comes asking, and
responds the way she does.
So Jesus is approached by a woman described as a
Syro-Phoenician – that is, she is an Aramaic-speaking non-Jew who comes from
the coastal region of Phoenicia. She asks Jesus to exorcise the evil spirit
which has possessed her child. Jesus rebuffs her in the rudest way possible –
he compares her, as a female Gentile, to “dogs”. In Gentile territory,
expressing the particular Jewish sentiments about cleanliness was asking for
trouble – and she gave it to him, gently but firmly. She has the verbal victory
over Jesus….and it’s significant how she does it.
This is the only time in Mark’s Gospel that Jesus is
addressed as Lord. In spite of being a "dog", in spite of everyone
else not understanding who Jesus is, this woman gets to the heart of it in two
seconds flat. It is this woman who cuts to the bone and to what will prove to
be the heart of his calling. Jesus doesn’t want to help her. She doesn’t fit his
ministry profile. He doesn’t want to see her, or help her, or give her what he feels is not hers. In the
Syro-Phoenician woman Jesus comes up against his boundaries, against someone he
does not consider to be part of his ministry focus, does not see as someone he
has come to serve. And what does she do? She reflects his own gospel back to
him, in the spoken word: "Come on Jesus, with all that left over bread you
can’t now say there are no crumbs under the table!"
What brings Jesus up short is that she
would go anywhere, cross any boundary, for the well-being of her child –
regardless of insults or lack of consideration. Her response rocks Jesus where
he sits: "But sir, even the meanest mutts under the table get to eat the
children's crumbs." In other words, "I know I`m not much and am
certainly not special nor deserving, but surely there must be a little bit -
which is more than enough, for people even like me and my daughter." There
is a long moment of silence all around the room. Jesus is faced with the fact that a Gentile
woman has just pretty well hit him over the head, albeit with grace, the very
point he had been trying to teach his own disciples about purity and
cleanliness; that what comes out of the mouth defines us far more than what
goes in – that social conventions are meaningless when there are people in
need. She was in need of grace, she knew it, and she believed that grace would
be given if she asked in humility.
What does it mean, if even Jesus needed his boundaries stretched, his views broadened to include people he assumed did not share in the abundance of all those baskets of left over grace? This shift in Jesus’ view of himself and ministry meant that we here and now, are part of the body. In this story, we are the Gentile dogs, wealthy, and having no part of the poor peasant Jews in Galilee. Without this woman’s courage challenging Jesus’ somewhat xenophobic preconceptions, we might still have been outsiders.
What does it mean, if even Jesus needed his boundaries stretched, his views broadened to include people he assumed did not share in the abundance of all those baskets of left over grace? This shift in Jesus’ view of himself and ministry meant that we here and now, are part of the body. In this story, we are the Gentile dogs, wealthy, and having no part of the poor peasant Jews in Galilee. Without this woman’s courage challenging Jesus’ somewhat xenophobic preconceptions, we might still have been outsiders.
One more thing needs to be learned in Mark’s gospel before
the full picture of Jesus has been painted. That serious growth only happens if
we give of ourselves. True healing and redemption only occur where the seed
dies to its self and grows into giving of itself without restraint or caution. We
are called to extend ministry to the whole creation, even those who we have
serious trouble accepting. We are called to stop panicking about what the
future may or may not bring, and open our ears to hear the truth about
ourselves and God’s will for us. We are called to be transformed into people
who, like Jesus, are able to make a real difference in the world because they
trust God and are willing to take a chance, recognizing that it won’t look like
it does today. We are bound to the trust that what today may seem to be beyond
hope, will burst the boundaries of its grave tomorrow.
And trust that we are made worthy by faith; nothing else
does make us worthy - not church attendance, not family membership, not the size
of donation, or our history in the community – none of those things make us
more worthy or more deserving than any other. It is in those words “Help
me....” Everyone who comes through the door of the church, searching, in
humility, is made welcome and worthy by the Spirit of God. What they want is
acceptance, and grace. What will they find here at Humber?
Sources:
1. “Crumbs from the Table” by Rev. Brian Donst, Fifty United Church, Winona, Ontario
2. Chilton, Bruce. “Rabbi Jesus” The Jewish Life
and Teaching that Inspired Christianity”. Doubleday. New York, 2000. P. 181.Sources:
1. “Crumbs from the Table” by Rev. Brian Donst, Fifty United Church, Winona, Ontario
3. Feasting on the Word, Year B Volume 4
Saturday, August 18, 2012
"To Whom Can We Go?" August 19, 2012 John 6:56-69 Humber United Church Corner Brook, Newfoundland
Good News Translation - Paraphrase
Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood live in me, and I live in them. The living God sent me, and because of him I live also. In the same way whoever eats me will live because of me. This, then, is the bread that came down from heaven; it is not like the bread that your ancestors ate, but then later died. Those who eat this bread will live forever.
Jesus said this as he taught in the synagogue in Capernaum. Many of his followers heard this and said, “This teaching is too hard. Who can listen to it?”
Without being told, Jesus knew that they were grumbling about this, so he said to them, “Does this make you want to give up? Suppose, then, that you should see the Son of Man go back up to the place where he was before? What gives life is God's Spirit; human power is of no use at all. The words I have spoken to you bring God's life-giving Spirit. Yet some of you do not believe.
(Jesus knew from the very beginning who were the ones that would not believe and which one would betray him.) He added, “This is the very reason I told you that no people can come to me unless God makes it possible for them to do so. Because of this, many of Jesus' followers turned back and would not go with him any more. So he asked the twelve disciples,
“And you - would you also like to leave?”
Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. Now we believe and know that you are the Holy One who has come from God.”
************************************************************************
More than any other of the Gospels, John presents us with the “hard sayings” of Jesus to wrap our heads around. Today’s reading is one of the hardest. On first read it is offensive. It is not only somewhat offensive to us, it would have been really shocking to Jewish listeners. As a result, many preachers have tried to sanitise the text, and make it more genteel, by turning it into yet another text about eucharist or communion, and thereby making it more palatable. Most clergy have tried not to preach it - because it is a really hard text.
In the time of Jesus, it was pagans who ate flesh with the blood still in it; eating flesh or drinking blood would have been anathema to the Jewish hearers; they would have been shocked and probably outraged to hear Jesus even utter these words. A quick read of Corinthians will demonstrate that the church got itself into all kinds of knots over whether or not to eat meat which had been killed in a pagan temple. The suggestion of eating flesh with the blood still in it would have been repugnant to the Jews altogether. How could Jesus even suggest such a thing?
Theologian Reinhold Niebuhr places this text at a period of Jesus’ ministry usually designated as “the crisis”. Jesus had been popular for the first while. The multitude had followed him to listen, to catch the charm of his personality, and to be cured of their ills. “But gradually”, says Niebuhr, “as Jesus unfolded the full meaning of his way of life, the multitude found his ideals as difficult as they were engaging, and began to desert him, muttering, "These are hard sayings, who can hear them?" Only the twelve disciples stayed, in the end, along with some of the women and others, although John specifically names the twelve. Jesus asked the disciples, did they also wish to leave? Peter, always the spokesman for the rest, answered “Where shall we go?” Niebuhr interprets this to mean that Peter is saying, "Yes, what you ask of us is so difficult that we are tempted to give up too. We don’t know if we can follow your way and truth, but we can’t find a better alternative.”
Is Jesus offering immortality in this quote? We have tended to take the phrase “eternal life” to mean immortality. I don’t think that is at all what is inherent here. This is another example of Jesus trying to communicate a difficult concept using the most ordinary things of life, crucial to everyone - bread, wine, meat, water - to teach about a way of living which saves us from being ruled by fear and anxiety for the future. Jesus reminds them that it is the Spirit which gives life, and that his words are both spirit and life. Yet they choose to turn away because living it out is “too hard”.
The crowds had got used to the comfort of being around Jesus, and were prepared to take some small challenge to their discipleship. There was comfort in the affirmations of Jesus’ faith, and they were to some extent willing to accept them; but Niebuhr comments that “inextricably intertwined with that assurance is a moral challenge” which most people find too difficult to consider. He says that the Christian church, at its best, is a community of the few who have seen, however dimly, “that the assurance and the challenge belong together”. The teaching of Jesus presents both a way of looking at reality, and a way of living.
At the beginning of his presidency, as Barack Obama began to lay out the foundations of a health-care plan, arguments for and against were all over the news, and still are. People have threatened violence, extreme responses to the proposal - accusing Obama of being Hitler. There have been accusations of fascism and socialist medicine, as if somehow socialist is a bad thing. An American colleague of mine noted “how easily scaremongering can prod people to act against their own best interests.” I’ve found the comments of people fascinating - people who claim that their country is founded on Christian principles, yet who scream at the notion of paying for someone else’s health care as un-constitutional, too difficult, if people want good health care they are “free to pursue it”, but others should not have to shoulder it for them.
Rev. Amy C. Howe says this: “Our culture tells us we are in control of our lives, our destiny. If we work hard, we will be rewarded with material gain.” She goes on “My theologian sister says that we prefer religion to God. We, like the disciples, are offended by Jesus’ offer of spirit and life. We make religion about the rules because we can control the rules.” I wold say we make the living of our faith about the “rules”, because we think then we can control outcomes.
Well, the words Jesus uses “abide in me” present comfort, but they also present challenge. A handful of followers remains, and when Jesus asks if they also want to run away, Peter responds “Where else can we go? You have words of life. We have come to believe.” In that moment, Peter who is generally a little thick, realises that despite the hard path Jesus calls the followers to walk, he is ready to give up some control in order to accept the offer of the gift of life.
The gift of life for the church is the moment we realise that giving up control gives life. It may not be the life we envision out of our own experience. It may not be the way things have always been done in our church. It may be that the creative spirit moves into that space created by our willingness to let go, and does something completely unexpected. The decision of the followers not to walk away but to follow and give up control marks them as a community of faith. Nothing else matters - budgets, fundraisers, mission statements, worship attendance - none of these mark us as a community of faith. It is how we live in relation to each other, how we come together to follow Jesus, no matter how hard it is - that marks us as a community of faith - and in following Jesus we receive spirit and life. May it be so.
Sources:
1. Reinhold Niebuhr, “To Whom Can I go?” in The Christian Century, March 10, 1927.
2. Rev. Amy C. Howe, essay in “Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary” Year B Volume 3.
Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood live in me, and I live in them. The living God sent me, and because of him I live also. In the same way whoever eats me will live because of me. This, then, is the bread that came down from heaven; it is not like the bread that your ancestors ate, but then later died. Those who eat this bread will live forever.
Jesus said this as he taught in the synagogue in Capernaum. Many of his followers heard this and said, “This teaching is too hard. Who can listen to it?”
Without being told, Jesus knew that they were grumbling about this, so he said to them, “Does this make you want to give up? Suppose, then, that you should see the Son of Man go back up to the place where he was before? What gives life is God's Spirit; human power is of no use at all. The words I have spoken to you bring God's life-giving Spirit. Yet some of you do not believe.
(Jesus knew from the very beginning who were the ones that would not believe and which one would betray him.) He added, “This is the very reason I told you that no people can come to me unless God makes it possible for them to do so. Because of this, many of Jesus' followers turned back and would not go with him any more. So he asked the twelve disciples,
“And you - would you also like to leave?”
Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. Now we believe and know that you are the Holy One who has come from God.”
************************************************************************
More than any other of the Gospels, John presents us with the “hard sayings” of Jesus to wrap our heads around. Today’s reading is one of the hardest. On first read it is offensive. It is not only somewhat offensive to us, it would have been really shocking to Jewish listeners. As a result, many preachers have tried to sanitise the text, and make it more genteel, by turning it into yet another text about eucharist or communion, and thereby making it more palatable. Most clergy have tried not to preach it - because it is a really hard text.
In the time of Jesus, it was pagans who ate flesh with the blood still in it; eating flesh or drinking blood would have been anathema to the Jewish hearers; they would have been shocked and probably outraged to hear Jesus even utter these words. A quick read of Corinthians will demonstrate that the church got itself into all kinds of knots over whether or not to eat meat which had been killed in a pagan temple. The suggestion of eating flesh with the blood still in it would have been repugnant to the Jews altogether. How could Jesus even suggest such a thing?
Theologian Reinhold Niebuhr places this text at a period of Jesus’ ministry usually designated as “the crisis”. Jesus had been popular for the first while. The multitude had followed him to listen, to catch the charm of his personality, and to be cured of their ills. “But gradually”, says Niebuhr, “as Jesus unfolded the full meaning of his way of life, the multitude found his ideals as difficult as they were engaging, and began to desert him, muttering, "These are hard sayings, who can hear them?" Only the twelve disciples stayed, in the end, along with some of the women and others, although John specifically names the twelve. Jesus asked the disciples, did they also wish to leave? Peter, always the spokesman for the rest, answered “Where shall we go?” Niebuhr interprets this to mean that Peter is saying, "Yes, what you ask of us is so difficult that we are tempted to give up too. We don’t know if we can follow your way and truth, but we can’t find a better alternative.”
Is Jesus offering immortality in this quote? We have tended to take the phrase “eternal life” to mean immortality. I don’t think that is at all what is inherent here. This is another example of Jesus trying to communicate a difficult concept using the most ordinary things of life, crucial to everyone - bread, wine, meat, water - to teach about a way of living which saves us from being ruled by fear and anxiety for the future. Jesus reminds them that it is the Spirit which gives life, and that his words are both spirit and life. Yet they choose to turn away because living it out is “too hard”.
The crowds had got used to the comfort of being around Jesus, and were prepared to take some small challenge to their discipleship. There was comfort in the affirmations of Jesus’ faith, and they were to some extent willing to accept them; but Niebuhr comments that “inextricably intertwined with that assurance is a moral challenge” which most people find too difficult to consider. He says that the Christian church, at its best, is a community of the few who have seen, however dimly, “that the assurance and the challenge belong together”. The teaching of Jesus presents both a way of looking at reality, and a way of living.
At the beginning of his presidency, as Barack Obama began to lay out the foundations of a health-care plan, arguments for and against were all over the news, and still are. People have threatened violence, extreme responses to the proposal - accusing Obama of being Hitler. There have been accusations of fascism and socialist medicine, as if somehow socialist is a bad thing. An American colleague of mine noted “how easily scaremongering can prod people to act against their own best interests.” I’ve found the comments of people fascinating - people who claim that their country is founded on Christian principles, yet who scream at the notion of paying for someone else’s health care as un-constitutional, too difficult, if people want good health care they are “free to pursue it”, but others should not have to shoulder it for them.
Rev. Amy C. Howe says this: “Our culture tells us we are in control of our lives, our destiny. If we work hard, we will be rewarded with material gain.” She goes on “My theologian sister says that we prefer religion to God. We, like the disciples, are offended by Jesus’ offer of spirit and life. We make religion about the rules because we can control the rules.” I wold say we make the living of our faith about the “rules”, because we think then we can control outcomes.
Well, the words Jesus uses “abide in me” present comfort, but they also present challenge. A handful of followers remains, and when Jesus asks if they also want to run away, Peter responds “Where else can we go? You have words of life. We have come to believe.” In that moment, Peter who is generally a little thick, realises that despite the hard path Jesus calls the followers to walk, he is ready to give up some control in order to accept the offer of the gift of life.
The gift of life for the church is the moment we realise that giving up control gives life. It may not be the life we envision out of our own experience. It may not be the way things have always been done in our church. It may be that the creative spirit moves into that space created by our willingness to let go, and does something completely unexpected. The decision of the followers not to walk away but to follow and give up control marks them as a community of faith. Nothing else matters - budgets, fundraisers, mission statements, worship attendance - none of these mark us as a community of faith. It is how we live in relation to each other, how we come together to follow Jesus, no matter how hard it is - that marks us as a community of faith - and in following Jesus we receive spirit and life. May it be so.
Sources:
1. Reinhold Niebuhr, “To Whom Can I go?” in The Christian Century, March 10, 1927.
2. Rev. Amy C. Howe, essay in “Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary” Year B Volume 3.
Saturday, August 11, 2012
“A Cry from the Depths” A sermon based on Psalm 130. Humber United Church, Corner Brook, NL August 12, 2012
Psalm 130 A song of ascents. By David:
Adonai, I call to you from the depths; hear my cry, Adonai! Let your ears pay attention
to the sound of my pleading.
YAH, if you kept a record of sins, who, Adonai, could stand? But with you there is forgiveness,
so that you will be feared.
I wait longingly for Adonai; I put my hope in his word. Everything in me waits for Adonai more than guards on watch wait for morning, more than guards on watch wait for morning.
Isra’el, put your hope in Adonai! For grace is found with Adonai, and with Adonai is unlimited redemption. He will redeem Isra’el from all their wrongdoings.
*****************************************************************************
On Thursday morning this week, I went to have breakfast with my niece who was visiting Corner Brook. She has been going through a divorce, and part of her, in anxiety - thought that because I had performed her marriage ten years ago I would be angry that this happened. My response was “You are family - married into this family you are now one of us. I love you no matter what happens, and I am not keeping score.”
As I looked at David’s Psalm, I could not help but think of my niece, worried that her aunt would make judgment and put a black mark against her name, and hold it against her.
The biblical King David was known for his skills as both a warrior and a writer of psalms. In his 40 years as ruler, between approximately 1010 and 970 B.C.E., he united the people of Israel, led them to victory in battle, conquered land and paved the way for his son, Solomon, to build the Holy Temple.
David was the eighth and youngest son of Jesse from the tribe of Judah, and a direct descendent of Ruth the Moabite. He began his life as a shepherd in Bethlehem, and was anointed by the prophet Samuel without the knowledge of the king, Saul. David returned to his sheep, and did not meet Saul until he was summoned to play the *kinnor* or lyre for Saul. He made such an impression he was called into Saul’s service as a musician.
We know parts of the story - David as an inexperienced boy armed with only a slingshot and a few stones, confronted the nine-foot, bronze armored Philistine giant, Goliath of Gath, and killed him. David as commander of Saul’s troops and a close friendship with Saul’s son, Jonathan.
Saul’s jealousy of David; Jonathan hiding David and convincing Saul not to kill him. The deaths of Saul and Jonathan on Mt. Gilboa in a fight with the Philistines. David becoming king of Judah at the age of 30; building a palace in what is now the City of David in Jerusalem. His final victory forcing the Philistines out of Israel. Bringing the Holy Ark to Jerusalem.
David had an almost perfect reign as king, but many problems in his personal life - culminating in his affair with Bathsheba, the death of her husband Uriah when David sent him to the front lines so he would be killed; the death of the child they conceived, and the birth of a second son, Solomon.
David had started life as a poet and musician, and it is believed that he wrote some of the Psalms, and edited the book. Today’s Psalm is one of those ascribed to David, and it is called a Psalm of Ascents.
This Psalm, perhaps more than any other, is marked by its mountains: depth; prayer; conviction; light; hope; waiting; watching; longing; confidence; assurance; universal happiness and joy. Just as the barometer marks the rising of the weather, so does this Psalm, sentence by sentence, record the progress of the soul. David gives a mini-version of his spiritual journey through life, as he looks back. (3)
Internally the Psalm is broken down in four pericopes (sets of verses) - and each becomes a “set” or an “ascent”. David begins his Psalm “Lord, I call to you from the depths - “, the cry of a human in spiritual pain, who looks at his life and the things he has done. He says clearly he is right down there in the depths of remorse and depression. “Hear my cry.”
The depths usually silence all they engulf, but they could not silence David; on the contrary, it was in the abyss itself that he cried out. Prayer lived and struggled even in the darkest place. It does not matter where we are to pray, and prayer is never more real and acceptable than when it rises out of the worst places. The depth of our distress moves the depths of our being. Though David suffered the painful realisation of his actions and wrongdoings, and so was in the depth, his faith pleaded in the teeth of conscious unworthiness; he knew that God’s promises did not depend upon human character.
Verses three and four are two strong statements of recognition. First he says, “God, if you kept a record of our sins, none of us could stand.” and then he says “But you don’t keep a record. Forgiveness is the very basis of who you are, so that everyone will stand in awe of you.” David says that if God kept a record of all our misdoings, none of us could stand. If JAH, the all seeing, should call every person to account for every lack of sense and right behaviour, where would any one of us be? If humanity were to be judged upon no system but that of works, who among us could answer, and hope to stand clear.
Verse 4. The power of pardon is permanently resident with God: forgiveness is always there and instantly given. Gratitude for forgiveness and another chance produces far more awe and reverence than all the fear inspired by threat of punishment. It is grace which leads the way to a holy regard of God. This verse forms some of the basis for our Reformed theology. God’s prevenient grace, that grace given regardless of what we do or who we are, the grace given before we know we need it, the forgiveness given before we recognise that we need it. David says that God *is* forgiveness.
Verses five and six speak of David’s waiting for God. Even the waiting itself has benefit: it tries faith, and exercises patience. God’s people have waited in the depths of despair, and are able to wait in any condition. The waiting regardless of the condition is called “hope”.....the basis of all we believe..the soul waits even more than those who stand watch around a city, or women waiting to give birth, or sitting by a sickbed.
In 7 David says “Let Israel hope in God”. Yahweh is Israel's God; therefore, let Israel hope in him. God has great things in store for the people, they ought to have large expectations. God’s very nature is compassion; we have also the light of grace, and therefore we see more compassion. The attribute of compassion, and the faith of redemption, are two most sufficient reasons for hope. Is it not better to be in the depths with David, hoping in God's mercy, than up on the mountain tops, boasting in our own fancied righteousness?
To me this is a Psalm of recognition, of partnership. We live in partnership with each other and with God, or with the universe, or creation, or whatever we wish to call it. If we sever the partnership for our own gains, whether personal or political, our lives suffer. God calls us to reflect on ourselves and our lives - but the grace and compassion is always given.
David is perhaps a prime example from biblical texts of how power can corrupt so thoroughly. We watch David through his life story - as a simple shepherd playing a kinnor, to a leader of armies, to a king - and we watch as he is drawn in by one small transgression here, another there, and each time the transgressions get bigger, and the justifications get more elaborate.
We can see how these things happen in our own lives; but we can also see what we are called to do. *If* we claim to be followers of Jesus, *if* we claim that as our example, then we can only respond the way Jesus would, the way we hope God would respond to us: “You are family. I love you, despite what has happened. How could you think I would not still love you?” May it be so.
Sources:
1. Psalm 130 from “Ketuvim”, the Writings. Section 3 in the Tanakh (Hebrew Scriptures)
2. http://www.spurgeon.org/treasury/ps130.htm
Note: Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-92) was England's best-known preacher for most of the second half of the nineteenth century. In 1854, just four years after his conversion, Spurgeon, then only 20, became pastor of London's famed New Park Street Church (formerly pastored by the famous Baptist theologian John Gill). The congregation quickly outgrew their building, moved to Exeter Hall, then to Surrey Music Hall. In these venues Spurgeon frequently preached to audiences numbering more than 10,000—all in the days before electronic amplification. In 1861 the congregation moved permanently to the newly constructed Metropolitan Tabernacle.
3. James Vaughan, in "Steps to Heaven," 1878.
Adonai, I call to you from the depths; hear my cry, Adonai! Let your ears pay attention
to the sound of my pleading.
YAH, if you kept a record of sins, who, Adonai, could stand? But with you there is forgiveness,
so that you will be feared.
I wait longingly for Adonai; I put my hope in his word. Everything in me waits for Adonai more than guards on watch wait for morning, more than guards on watch wait for morning.
Isra’el, put your hope in Adonai! For grace is found with Adonai, and with Adonai is unlimited redemption. He will redeem Isra’el from all their wrongdoings.
*****************************************************************************
On Thursday morning this week, I went to have breakfast with my niece who was visiting Corner Brook. She has been going through a divorce, and part of her, in anxiety - thought that because I had performed her marriage ten years ago I would be angry that this happened. My response was “You are family - married into this family you are now one of us. I love you no matter what happens, and I am not keeping score.”
As I looked at David’s Psalm, I could not help but think of my niece, worried that her aunt would make judgment and put a black mark against her name, and hold it against her.
The biblical King David was known for his skills as both a warrior and a writer of psalms. In his 40 years as ruler, between approximately 1010 and 970 B.C.E., he united the people of Israel, led them to victory in battle, conquered land and paved the way for his son, Solomon, to build the Holy Temple.
David was the eighth and youngest son of Jesse from the tribe of Judah, and a direct descendent of Ruth the Moabite. He began his life as a shepherd in Bethlehem, and was anointed by the prophet Samuel without the knowledge of the king, Saul. David returned to his sheep, and did not meet Saul until he was summoned to play the *kinnor* or lyre for Saul. He made such an impression he was called into Saul’s service as a musician.
We know parts of the story - David as an inexperienced boy armed with only a slingshot and a few stones, confronted the nine-foot, bronze armored Philistine giant, Goliath of Gath, and killed him. David as commander of Saul’s troops and a close friendship with Saul’s son, Jonathan.
Saul’s jealousy of David; Jonathan hiding David and convincing Saul not to kill him. The deaths of Saul and Jonathan on Mt. Gilboa in a fight with the Philistines. David becoming king of Judah at the age of 30; building a palace in what is now the City of David in Jerusalem. His final victory forcing the Philistines out of Israel. Bringing the Holy Ark to Jerusalem.
David had an almost perfect reign as king, but many problems in his personal life - culminating in his affair with Bathsheba, the death of her husband Uriah when David sent him to the front lines so he would be killed; the death of the child they conceived, and the birth of a second son, Solomon.
David had started life as a poet and musician, and it is believed that he wrote some of the Psalms, and edited the book. Today’s Psalm is one of those ascribed to David, and it is called a Psalm of Ascents.
This Psalm, perhaps more than any other, is marked by its mountains: depth; prayer; conviction; light; hope; waiting; watching; longing; confidence; assurance; universal happiness and joy. Just as the barometer marks the rising of the weather, so does this Psalm, sentence by sentence, record the progress of the soul. David gives a mini-version of his spiritual journey through life, as he looks back. (3)
Internally the Psalm is broken down in four pericopes (sets of verses) - and each becomes a “set” or an “ascent”. David begins his Psalm “Lord, I call to you from the depths - “, the cry of a human in spiritual pain, who looks at his life and the things he has done. He says clearly he is right down there in the depths of remorse and depression. “Hear my cry.”
The depths usually silence all they engulf, but they could not silence David; on the contrary, it was in the abyss itself that he cried out. Prayer lived and struggled even in the darkest place. It does not matter where we are to pray, and prayer is never more real and acceptable than when it rises out of the worst places. The depth of our distress moves the depths of our being. Though David suffered the painful realisation of his actions and wrongdoings, and so was in the depth, his faith pleaded in the teeth of conscious unworthiness; he knew that God’s promises did not depend upon human character.
Verses three and four are two strong statements of recognition. First he says, “God, if you kept a record of our sins, none of us could stand.” and then he says “But you don’t keep a record. Forgiveness is the very basis of who you are, so that everyone will stand in awe of you.” David says that if God kept a record of all our misdoings, none of us could stand. If JAH, the all seeing, should call every person to account for every lack of sense and right behaviour, where would any one of us be? If humanity were to be judged upon no system but that of works, who among us could answer, and hope to stand clear.
Verse 4. The power of pardon is permanently resident with God: forgiveness is always there and instantly given. Gratitude for forgiveness and another chance produces far more awe and reverence than all the fear inspired by threat of punishment. It is grace which leads the way to a holy regard of God. This verse forms some of the basis for our Reformed theology. God’s prevenient grace, that grace given regardless of what we do or who we are, the grace given before we know we need it, the forgiveness given before we recognise that we need it. David says that God *is* forgiveness.
Verses five and six speak of David’s waiting for God. Even the waiting itself has benefit: it tries faith, and exercises patience. God’s people have waited in the depths of despair, and are able to wait in any condition. The waiting regardless of the condition is called “hope”.....the basis of all we believe..the soul waits even more than those who stand watch around a city, or women waiting to give birth, or sitting by a sickbed.
In 7 David says “Let Israel hope in God”. Yahweh is Israel's God; therefore, let Israel hope in him. God has great things in store for the people, they ought to have large expectations. God’s very nature is compassion; we have also the light of grace, and therefore we see more compassion. The attribute of compassion, and the faith of redemption, are two most sufficient reasons for hope. Is it not better to be in the depths with David, hoping in God's mercy, than up on the mountain tops, boasting in our own fancied righteousness?
To me this is a Psalm of recognition, of partnership. We live in partnership with each other and with God, or with the universe, or creation, or whatever we wish to call it. If we sever the partnership for our own gains, whether personal or political, our lives suffer. God calls us to reflect on ourselves and our lives - but the grace and compassion is always given.
David is perhaps a prime example from biblical texts of how power can corrupt so thoroughly. We watch David through his life story - as a simple shepherd playing a kinnor, to a leader of armies, to a king - and we watch as he is drawn in by one small transgression here, another there, and each time the transgressions get bigger, and the justifications get more elaborate.
We can see how these things happen in our own lives; but we can also see what we are called to do. *If* we claim to be followers of Jesus, *if* we claim that as our example, then we can only respond the way Jesus would, the way we hope God would respond to us: “You are family. I love you, despite what has happened. How could you think I would not still love you?” May it be so.
Sources:
1. Psalm 130 from “Ketuvim”, the Writings. Section 3 in the Tanakh (Hebrew Scriptures)
2. http://www.spurgeon.org/treasury/ps130.htm
Note: Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-92) was England's best-known preacher for most of the second half of the nineteenth century. In 1854, just four years after his conversion, Spurgeon, then only 20, became pastor of London's famed New Park Street Church (formerly pastored by the famous Baptist theologian John Gill). The congregation quickly outgrew their building, moved to Exeter Hall, then to Surrey Music Hall. In these venues Spurgeon frequently preached to audiences numbering more than 10,000—all in the days before electronic amplification. In 1861 the congregation moved permanently to the newly constructed Metropolitan Tabernacle.
3. James Vaughan, in "Steps to Heaven," 1878.
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