My Blog

How often have I said it, either out loud or somewhere in my head?  Confronted with climate change, urban discouragement and poverty, mistrust of the strangers near us, and persistent racism, I often wish to be King…or better yet, GOD!  How quickly my good intentions turn to blasphemy, tempted by the myth of an immediate fix to wade in ‘way over my head.  One definition of Sin could be “defaming a holy process with a human insufficiency”.  This weekend, the first in Lent, reminds us of the tenacity with which our brokenness meets us: our evil deeds and half-spun plans bear witness to our wanderings on the way to perfection.

The reading from the Hebrew Scriptures is that of the Temptation of Adam & Eve, Genesis 2:15 – 3:7.  This is a great old story, with talking snakes and our ancestors, and how they all wrestled with obedience.  The snake’s question, “Did God really say that?”, has plagued us through the centuries:  are there loopholes?  is God withholding some great goodness from us?  how can God understand my hunger?  And so their “eyes were opened” and they made clothing to be a barrier to intimacy with the Creator.  (Despite what your Grandmother said, this isn’t about sex!)

The Epistle, Romans 5:12-19, isn’t an easy read.  It may be better presented with TWO readers alternating verses, acknowledging that each voice can be tempered with “on the other hand…”  The academics among us may well be encouraged to spin off a treatise on Original Sin and/or Atonement.  More to the point is an admission that sin remains strong long after our baptism…BUT this doesn’t have to lead to death, because  “just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all.”

The Gospel, Matthew 4:1-11, introduces the 40 days of Lent with Jesus joining us in the wilderness.  Just after the high of Baptism and the heavenly voice confirming his Son-ship, he’s challenged to trust God and so be himself.  Full of Holiness, Jesus was tempted to be relevant (stones to bread could end world hunger!  “Son, on your way home, pick up a handful of gravel so we can have croutons with the salad”), to be spectacular (jumping safely from the Temple roof will get good press coverage and bring lots of people closer to God), and to be powerful (I could do a lot of good  if I were king of the world).  If only I could!   Then God could retire, since the Kingdom would be complete!…’cept for that tempter-guy…  Sin isn’t just the presence of Evil Things, it’s also trust in Incomplete Things.

I like the story about the fella watching a flock of sparrows in his driveway, one blustery mid-winter night.  The birds were obviously trying to keep warm, and Our Hero thought, “If I open the garage door, they could fly in and keep out of the bitter wind.”  And so he did; but no sparrow came into the relative warmth of the garage.  “Now”, said the man, “if only I could become a sparrow like them, maybe I could lead some of them into safety.”  This is the Gospel of our Lord:  Thanks be to God.

God Bless Us, Every One                       Horace Brown King

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

Ask any three people to describe an elephant…or a marching band…or a baseball game.  Most will emphasize something that evaded the others, causing us to wonder if they had observed the same object or event.  My own household encounters the same phenomena:  the Guy says that something is red, or blue; the Woman says that it’s lavender or cerise or magenta…  A vehicle in our neighborhood has survived many fender-benders through transplants–a new door, a new rocker panel, a new trunk.  Each of these seems to fit on the vehicle, yet all are different colors!  If the car were to be used in a felony, witnesses would contradict each other for days!

Readings for Transfiguration Sunday point to an intimacy with the Divine which is too encompassing for verbal description.  We begin with the story in Exodus (24:12-18) of when Moses was summoned up Sinai to receive the ten basic commandments for life within a holy community.  Moses entered the cloud at the top, and was hidden from sight for a LONG time (“40 days & 40 nights”: twice what you can count on your fingers and toes).  He never told all that he saw; but when he returned to the waiting Hebrews his face glowed and he was obviously changed.  Where can we see glory?

What stories we can tell!  We yearn to pass on these tales which have shaped our own lives to our grandchildren–but sometimes they become lost.  Near the beginning of the Second Letter attributed to St. Peter we read, “For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty.  For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, ‘This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.’  We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven, while we were with him on the holy mountain.” (1:16-18)  The Apostle knew what he’d seen and experienced, and how this had affected him.  Is there some way, then, to affirm this with others?  Where can we see glory?

The account of how Peter, James & John were overwhelmed by the intimacy of God’s Presence on the mountaintop is in all three synoptics.  Matthew’s version (17:1-9) which we read today is especially concerned with links to Moses and the Sinai experience.  The Church has long told this to connect Jesus to the Law (Moses) and the Prophets (Elijah).  Not only does the encounter solidify Jesus as “my Son, my Beloved”, but it begins to open the disciples’ eyes to see a holy light within and despite the chaos soon to come.  Did they all see the same thing?  Where can we see glory?

We can only imagine the post-encounter conversations:  “What did YOU see?  What do you think God meant?”  That’s why the Church is necessary, as a common forum for us to share and interpret our visions.  The details are often debatable, and the exactness can be likewise hazy.  But the centrality remains:  that God’s remarkable and bright Presence overflows then and now on a hilltop near you!  O Lord, give us eyes to see.

God Bless Us, Every One                  Horace Brown King

My thoughts about scripture readings assigned for the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com

I love jigsaw puzzles!  They’re just a box of messy pieces ’til I spread them out; and then the corners are identified, and pretty soon the frame develops.  There’re two schools of where to go next, both of them valid.  Many folks like to assemble an identifiable block: a red barn, a white church-steeple, etc.   My Dad always searched for the next piece on the tier in process; and I too like this kind of order.  No matter:  when the picture is complete, there’s an artistic-almost-holy satisfaction in owning its “done-ness”.   Look there!  All those pieces came together and made something!  This weekend’s scriptures are for those who believe (or want to believe) that they’re on the road to Completeness, by God’s Grace.

People can really get bogged down in Leviticus:  is it OK to eat ostrich?  When should I consider stoning my children?  Yet the multitude of instances named are all to acknowledge God’s Presence in daily living, in our internal integrity and outward relationships.  Chapter 19 begins with God addressing Moses, “Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them:  You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy…”  The People of a Divine Image are expected to be on the way to completeness, being Whole in body, mind & spirit.

Paul’s Letter to the Corinthian congregations reprimands them for their brokenness.  He tells them that it’s not Apollos or himself, but Jesus alone who has cast the footprint for the community.  Whatever super-structure develops must be compatible with Christian teachings, as the Indwelling Spirit resides in such a temple.  Be intentional about your daily church-life, he says, “for all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future–all belong to you, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.”  (I Corinthians 1:21-23)

The Gospel is another installation of the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:38-48.  Jesus is taking ancient authority (“you have heard it said…”) and bringing it to himself within the contemporary society (“but I say to you…”).  Pretty radical stuff:  turning the other cheek, going the second mile, generosity to all; loving the enemy, praying for your oppressor…  These, of course, are undoable without a dose of external Grace.  The call here is for the remnant of Israel and the community just beginning to solidify around Jesus to display the patience and wholeness of those who know God.  “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

“Jesus himself is never upset at sinners.  He’s only upset with people who don’t think they’re sinners….The moment you become whole and holy is when you can accept your shadow self, or, to put it in moral language, that is when you can admit your sin..” (Richard Rohr, in THINGS HIDDEN)  Being Complete is a journey, a sacred process.  But we have a valid Guide for the route, whatever the terrain and the detours may be.

God Bless Us, Every One                        Horace Brown King

My musings on the lectionary scripture to be read in the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this space on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com

I’m inundated with choices.  Just turning on the computer yields a whole series of menus (dashboard), glassy-eyed checkers at the cash register ask me about paper or plastic, the weekly entertainment supplement describes a deluge of places and events.  My server asks questions about beverage, then hands me TWO booklets of choices!  Sometimes I long for college-food meals; the only choice was Take It or Leave It.  Thomas Oden once said, “Choice demands negation.”  This weekend’s scriptures may speak simplicity to modern folks drowning in too much!

Deuteronomy presents parental advice of Moses to the Hebrews on the doorstep of the Promised Land (30:15-20).  “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses.  Choose life so that you and your descendants may live…”  An important note is that Divine Preference is NOT for dead ends but is an active hope for restoration!  God hopes that this People, this community, will make the right choice.  Today’s worshipers resist having our menu sliced to an on-off button because it causes us to re-examine the myth of our autonomy.

We’re always a bit surprised, St.Paul tells the Corinthian churches, that God pays so much attention to our daily choices!  “For as long as there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving according to human inclinations?” (I 3:3)   An image presents itself of primary school kids being quiet only because Teacher is hanging over their shoulders.  Not yet ready for universe-changing equations, their learning-moment  involves choosing acceptable behavior.

Didn’t you always hate it when Teacher made the WHOLE CLASS miss recess because Jimmy was raising a ruckus?   Readers of the Sermon on the Mount need to understand that these directives were issued to the Community of Faith, albeit composed of individual members.  As Matthew 5:21-37 is read, hearers should see the Greater Picture:  that is, not as alternative mores, but as BETTER ones.   “You have heard it said…but I say to you…”  The existing ways are OK, but there are refinements.  Anger and lust and empty promises are more than legal infractions, they cripple and divide the People of God.

I always resonate with Robert Frost–                                                                                            I shall be telling this with a sigh, somewhere ages and ages hence:                                    Two roads diverged in a wood, and I–I took the road less traveled by…                          And that has made all the difference.

God Bless Us, Every One                  Horace Brown King

My thoughts about lectionary scriptures for the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this space on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com

Many Christians today believe that the rest of the world has never been so corrupt, so self-centered.  Yet the Lessons read this upcoming weekend illustrate the maxim that “the more things change, the more they stay the same”.  Stories here suggest that the People of God of antiquity share the same fuzzy logic and arrogant hypocrisy as our contemporary faith communities.  Me too, I’m afraid.  What about you?

The third section of the book of Isaiah is said to have been created sometime between 538 and 515 BC, during the Persian period.  Recently restored Israel claimed devotion to Yahweh in their words, “as if they were a nation that practiced righteousness and did not forsake the ordinance of their God” (58:7).  But actually–“you serve your own interest on your fast day, and oppress all your workers.  Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to strike with a wicked fist.”  There’s really a gap here:  piety is useless when divorced from justice and righteousness.  “True fasting involves dealing with those conditions, situations, and people that are ethically corrupting and corrupted, for the sake of the oppressed individual and for the common good.”  (Carol J. Dempsey, FEASTING on the WORD, A 1:316)  Godly fasting involves loosing the bonds of injustice, undoing the thongs of the yoke, sharing bread with the hungry, clothing the tattered and taking care of your extended family.  “Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly…[the Lord] will say, Here I am.”

St. Paul continues his irony in his lover’s quarrel with the Corinthian congregations (2:1-12).  He tells them that they may be “wise”, but that God’s wisdom is much different.  Congregations who buy into the world’s understanding of wisdom and power will cease to be the Church.  (Do you know of any congregations who’ve lost their meaning because they’ve sold out to “good business practices”?)  “My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.” (v.4)   Will someone please light a candle?

What’s that you say, Jesus?  WE’re the light of the world?  (Matthew 5:13-20)  You want us to get involved, to be transparent in our holy ethic of caring for the hapless and “those” people?  But they might be TERRORISTS!  Besides, we know our way around our prison cells in the dark:  a candle would show us the cracks in our safety and the leaks in our comfort…  The hearers of the Sermon on the Mount remembered being once taught that Israel was chosen to bring God’s Light to the rest of the world.  “It only takes a spark to get a fire going…”

These are intense days.  Darkness has eaten the daylight, and even the stars can’t give us direction in the overcast.  If anything can pierce the haze of our despair, it’s the rays of God-light which continue to force their way through.

God Bless Us, Every One                     Horace Brown King

My meditations on lectionary passages for the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this space on Facebook; or at horacebrownking. com