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During my college days–back in the Last Century–we used to call our friends who majored in Home Ec, “HomeWreckers”.  To my limited knowledge, none of them engaged in building deconstruction.  ‘Fact, most of us lonely students longed to find or build a home of our own:  in the Wedding liturgy, “a haven of blessing and a place of peace.”  Five decades later, I can affirm that the concept of “home” is much more than a shelter from the weather.  Scriptures for this upcoming weekend recognize this yearning:  written to sojourners and aliens in different times and places, they may also speak to those even now anticipating acceptance and nurture.

Acts of the Apostles is a post-Easter book recounting the adventures of Apostles living forth the Resurrection of Jesus, the Lordship of Christ.  In Chapter 16:9-15 we’re told of Paul’s vision for Macedonia, and the disciples’ foray there–the first time Christ’s message had reached Europe.  In Philippi they sought out “a place of prayer” and found a home-base with Lydia, a local entrepeneur.  Wesley says that there are no coincidences, just connections. Home is where you hang your heart, someone said.

We also explore the very end of our Bible, John’s vision of the Ultimate Home (Revelation 21:22-22:5).  No need of sun or moon there, for the Glory of the Almighty makes everything bright!  A river of living water springs from the throne of God, and along it grow sacred trees whose leaves heal the world!   Homeless travelers must find this promise a welcome refuge from the daily grind of slammed doors and exclusion.

The Farewell of Jesus in the Upper Room at the Last Supper takes up a great portion of John’s Gospel.  The passage read today is Chapter 14:23-29, beginning with “Jesus answered [Judas], ‘Those who love me will keep my [Presence], and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.'”  To build a home could be translated to “craft or fashion” a home.  When John wrote down this Gospel, the community of faith which he pastored were looking for a home, now that the synagogues were no longer  sheltering or welcoming.  “Do not let your hearts be troubled…” N. B.– Jesus is talking about NOW, not necessarily a Future Coming; this is about a spiritual indwelling within the lives of the Believers…

It’s now up to our congregations, folks, to embrace the Homemaking skills given by God!  Our preaching is shallow if it ends without a reminder that church members are indeed the purveyors of Godly Welcome!  Greeting and caring for the “different”–the LGBT, the bi-polar, those in wheelchairs, the addicted, even those disguised as normal–should be an automatic reaction to what’s been heard.  It’s difficult, but required.

God Bless Us Every One                            Horace Brown King

My ruminations on Lectionary readings for the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook, or at horacebrownking.com

A few years ago, scientists announced the confirmation of a “new” galaxy, ‘way in Deep Space.  The spokeswoman for the group excitedly told us that “It’s bigger and brighter than we had thought!”  Readings for this Fifth Week after Easter are geared to encourage us post-Christian Christians to consider the length & breadth of God’s Presence, still probing the hitherto dark recesses of our tattered Selves.

In the Acts of the Apostles (11:1-18), we’re told of the Jerusalem Believers calling Peter on the carpet for going to Cornelius, a (gasp!) GENTILE!  And besides, they heard that those Gentiles had accepted the news of Jesus AND had been gifted by the Holy Spirit! OMG!  Is the Gospel for everyone, then??  Peter figured, “If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?”  And all responded, in a way, “Then it’s bigger and brighter than we had thought!”

Easter has brought us a new confidence, so we smugly read the Revelation to St. John.  Our passage today–21:1-6–is familiar from services of Death & Resurrection.  It gives an ultimate vision of the “new” Jerusalem, so big & bright that it spills out of heaven so that God may dwell among mortals.  I’m happy for the image of Final Grace which cannot be confined or restricted:  the Crucifixion was for the sin of ALL the World.  Some will say that this is an event for “by & by”–but I think that it’s already been happening…  Our response  to this Lesson is to begin to look for this encroaching City.

So what is this “Glory”?  Recalling part of The Last Supper (John 13:31-35), we read that Jesus said after the departing Judas, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified…”  Artists of the Middle Ages tried to paint Glory by appending halos, a holy aura.  Poets have called up a blinding, dazzling light, reminiscent of Saul’s conversion.  The AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE says that it’s “exalted honor, praise, or distinction accorded by common consent.” Is “Glory” dependent upon earthly renown?  Jesus wasn’t after renown, but the Godly.  When does the infamy of marching to a different drummer yield to the acclaim of those who finally get it?  “It’s bigger and brighter than we had thought!”

Marie says that I inherited a worry-gene from my Mother.  I worry about the economy, I worry about open-carry of firearms, I worry about the real or imaginary walls going up all over the world.  I worry that I have no friends, I worry that I’m over- or underdressed , I worry about my breath.  Hearing these snippets of scripture on Sunday may encourage me to see that God At Work has it all under control irregardless of my fussing.  This Holy Presence?  It’s bigger and brighter than we had thought!

God Bless Us, Every One                        Horace Brown King

My thoughts about lectionary reading for the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this space of Facebook, or at horacebrownking.com

An unmarried seminarian was sent to be a Student Pastor.  He soon found that every maiden between 3 & 45 in the parish sought out his counsel and company.  Overwhelmed by all the attention, he told his Superintendent that he wanted out.  “Well,” joked the Superintendent, “you know that there’s safety in numbers!”  “Maybe”, replied the fella, “but I’d rather find it in Exodus!”  (Our hero soon solved the “problem” by marrying his college sweetheart.)  Readings for this weekend are about the community of mutual love and respect which has developed around Christ:  maybe I’m not as alone as I sometimes feel…

The story from the Acts of the Apostles recounts the death of Tabitha of Joppa, a sweet lady whom every one loved for her charity and joyful faith. (9:36-43)  Her friends sent for Peter to stand by them and give comfort to their grief.  When he arrived, he prayed over her body–and she recovered!  (And people believed in the power of Jesus)  But the tale is not so much about Peter as it is the hopeful and healing community.  “The emphasis of this text is not upon a return from death, but upon a community honing all of its spiritual strength and resources passionately upon life and wholeness.”  (Stephen D. Jones, FEASTING on the WORD, C 2:431)

The Revelation to St. John is a post-Easter doxology, inviting us to see “a great multitude that no one could count” (7:9-17) singing of the ultimate fulfillment of Creation.  This has gotta be good news to those of us who’re half-afraid that Creation has been messed up beyond repair.  “John summons us to look beyond our own fearful conditions and circumstances to behold the glorious completion of God’s saving promises.” (Michael Pasquarello III, ibid. page 439)  What unifies this diverse and scarred remnant of worldly battle?  The Lamb who has taught God’s People to pray that a Holy Will and purpose is being done on earth as it is in heaven…

John’s Gospel leads us into a discussion of sheep, especially those who’re seen to be of the Flock of Jesus. (10:22-30)  A community of sheep flock together for protection, and bet their wooly lives on the wisdom and care of their shepherd.  The question of the Shepherd’s credentials arises:  some inquirers really want to know more, others are trying to discredit him.  Sometimes we in the Community have our own sheepish ambiguities about Who This Is–and it’s OK to admit this and explore it further!  But we can also see that Jesus makes us his sheep; we do not make him our shepherd…

My friend had an adolescent son who had serious questions about the Church:  Is it relevant?  or useful?  Or is it an archaic museum?  Typical questions of a seeker, and I credit him for articulating them.  My friend put the young man in the car, and they drove around the town to see church buildings.  “People have some reason for gathering here,” he said.  “All of these people can’t be wrong!”   Not deep theology, but an acknowledgement  that we are part of a continuum of Friends on Earth, and Friends Above.   “Lord of all, to Thee we raise This our hymn of grateful praise!”

God Bless Us, Every One                     Horace Brown King

My thoughts on Lectionary passages for the upcoming weekend can be found every  Tuesday at this spot on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com

“Don’t name the farm animals,” Marie’s dad told her.  “We may be eating them soon!”  Naming is ownership, an affirmation that the one named is special and unique.  Naming ceremonies are observed world-wide, and announce that a brand-new entity has a home, a reason to be alive, and some personal expectations attached to the name.  Even naming the Enemy diminishes their awe and power, for now we “know” them–and their foibles…  Naming the Other removes them from the vague and unknowable, and brings the relationship into a personal reality.

Readings for the upcoming weekend enflesh our human yearning to “know” God.  An often-read passage from Acts 9:1-20 is the dramatic story of Saul (later to be known as St. Paul) being violently confronted by the Holy near Damascus as he was on his way there to persecute followers of Jesus.  Blinded by heavenly light, Saul asked our question, “Who are you, Lord?”  The drama continues with Ananias, a Believer, reluctantly going “into the den of the lion” to restore Saul’s sight.  Healed and baptized, “immediately [Saul] began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, ‘He is the Son of God’.”

Another book we’re reading during the Easter Season is THE REVELATION TO ST. JOHN, this week in the 5th Chapter, verses 11-14.  Here is a vision of heaven, with angels and all the company singing with full voice, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”  Naming the attributes of Jesus is central both to our worship and to the way we conduct our daily journey:  if we can say these things about Jesus then our ethical walk and moral stance will reflect this Naming.

The Gospel is read from the “postscript” to John’s account, perhaps appended for the comfort and integrity of the community which grew up around John.  Chapter 21:1-14 is one more story of the disciples’ failure–or reluctance–to recognize the Lord.  Only when the Man on the Shore tells them where to fish does John come to and says to Peter, “It is the Lord!”  Once again the Risen Christ has broken into Business as Usual –if we can recognize him.  “The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not put it out.”  Naming the Lord continues to comfort and inflame the faith community.

Central UMC has a name-tag Sunday once each month, where members & guests alike are to own their names.  This lifts me from “the creepy old guy that sometimes sings in the choir” to the proud bearer of the name my parents chose for me.  Some of us mutter that “everyone knows my name”–but that’s untrue.  We need to identify the Other; we need to identify ourselves.  Mostly we need to Name the Lord, in whom we “live and move and have our being.”

God Bless Us, Everyone!            Horace Brown King

My thoughts on selected readings for the upcoming week can be found every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com.