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“…What its signs of promise are.  Traveler, O’er yon mountain’s height  See that glory beaming star!  Watchman, doth its beauteous ray   Aught of joy or hope foretell?  Traveler, yes; it brings the day,  Promised day of Israel.”  The language is a bit archaic, that’s why it’s not in the current hymnal:  but it’s a good Advent thought, or even for late-Epiphany when world-clouds keep our vision from the Daystar.  I suspect that I’m not the only traveler weary of racism & injustice, materialism & distrust of the stranger.  This weekend’s scriptures offer comfort in affirming that there is Light in the Darkness, and challenge for those striving to see to point this out to most of the world still looking at the ground.

“Have you not known?  Have you not heard?  The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.” (Isaiah 40:28)  The Prophet continues to remind us that God “gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless…those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles…”  I wish I’d said that!  Richard A. Puckett acknowledges that “the apparent power of the nations and their rulers is temporal and inconsequential compared to the power of the one who created the universe itself.”  (FEEDING on the WORD, B 1:317)  Dare I believe that?  Do I care enough to tell others about it?  Bring a lunch, folks:  this may be a long sermon.

St. Paul tells his soul-friends in Corinth, “…woe to me if I do NOT proclaim the gospel!  For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward; but if not of my own will, I am entrusted with a commission.” (I 9:16b-17)  The preacher/teacher could here ask us to name points in our lives where we DO feel a passion, enough to do something about it.  Karl Barth is reported to have commented that preaching is impossible, for we have not the words of heaven–yet our duty, our passion compels us to somehow make the attempt!  And St. Francis is credited with  “Preach constantly; use words when necessary”.

Jesus could’ve stayed around Capernaum and been acclaimed as a beloved healer and pillar of the community–a nice safe occupation.  BUT, as he told Simon after a bout of prayer, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.” (Mark 1:38)  Mark considered the dual role of healing and preaching as restorative of wholeness:  preaching exists in order that demonic spirits might not.  Those of us who have a healing ministry are first to confess that any wholeness originates in God alone, that we are but conduits to announce what God has done, what God is doing.

I’m not big on “triumphalist” hymns:  they usually imply the negation of others of God’s choosing while cheering “Hooray for Our Side!”  But do you remember                 “O Zion, haste, thy mission high fulfilling, To tell to all the world that God is Light…    Publish glad tidings, Tidings of peace; Tidings of Jesus, Redemption and release”?   In this cultural gloom, I celebrate the Daystar which cuts the clouds.  Will I keep watch?

God Bless Us, Every One              Horace Brown King

My encounters with scriptural passages assigned to the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com

You should know, gentle reader, that there are days when I–even I–question the reality of daily statements.  “No Parking”?  Who says so?   “65% less cholesterol”?  Who says so?  “End of the world tomorrow”?  Who says so?  Scripture lessons to be heard this weekend are evidently aimed at me and my cynic friends who harbor these nagging fears that there’s really no one in charge, that the chaos-monster is nipping at our heels and there’s no safe haven…

Deuteronomy 18:15-20 remembers how Moses led Yahweh’s People through the wilderness until they’d formed a social & religious community.  But Moses is aging, and there’ll have to be a new leader to present the Law and to call the people from where they may scatter.  He assures them, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people….I will put my words in the mouth of the prophet, who shall speak to them everything that I command”.   In effect, don’t follow just ANYone, but realize that we can trust God’s providence alone.

The diverse backgrounds of the Corinthian Christians spawned many superstitions, a lot of them counter to Christian doctrine.  Paul scoffs at them, “Anyone who claims to know something does not yet have the necessary knowledge”  (I 8:2).  Then comes a small dissertation on the invalidity of idols, and the futility of debating the worthiness of eating what has been sacrificed to them.  BUT, although we “know” this, we need to be respectful of the scruples of other believers, whose personal journey may be derailed by observing our freedom.

Don’t get lost in this Gospel reading (Mark 1:21-28) in debating about demons and unclean spirits:  this is how Mark describes the ugly spots in the world’s collective conscience which run over and against Jesus.  The key for us today is to observe that by general teaching and personal conversation Jesus presented Wholeness as an antidote to the life-scarred cynicism of the world around him.  Witnesses took the opportunity to ascribe Divine Authority to Jesus:  “He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.”

In this Information Age, I get ‘way too many factoids and half-baked sound bytes, most of which contradict each other.  I’m a bit weary of this extensive menu of expertise, and I cry loudly, “Who says so?”  I yearn for someone I trust to tell me, “This is for real!”  This weekend, I intend to sit deep and let reliable Divinity immerse me in that which I must believe, that God is able to be Sole Authority for me.  Thanks be to God!

PS–my mother’s birth-name was Helen Fry.  During her school years, she was often invoked to verify facts: “If you don’t believe me, go to Helen Fry!”

God Help Us, Every One                        Horace Brown King

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

A procrastinator by habit, I like to take my time with life-changes.  If I wait long enough, maybe the problem will have gone away by itself.  Or perhaps someone else will step in to do what’s needed.  If there’s anyone like me in the pews where you worship, this weekend’s readings may speak volumes to all of us in the “man~ana” club.  Evidently when God calls us to do something important, we’re expected to respond!  What a novel (and scary) idea!

The challenge to the preacher/teacher/worship coordinator in presenting the short- story of Jonah is in addressing the whole context.  I mean that the entire epic begins with a Holy Call to a proper Jewish man to evangelize the pagan and unclean city of Ninevah.  Jonah saw no reason to do that, so he ran the other direction,  taking his chances with the sea-monsters of the unknown rather than the vices of Sin City.  You know about the tempest, about being thrown overboard,  and the sacramental entrance of the Big Fish.  Dried out, Jonah was told, “Okay, let’s try it again”.  Which is where our snippet of the tale begins (Chapter 3).  Jonah belatedly mumbles through his mission–and wonder of wonders, all the citizenry of Ninevah turn to God!  See what happens, Jonah, when you quit screwing around and get to it…

The brief Epistle lesson (I Corinthians 7:29-31) is given by an enthusiastic Paul who over-reacts to “the present form of this world is passing away”.   Yes, so it is, through the birth of Christ–but his advice to abandon marriage, griefs & joys, and commerce and daily life are premature.  What we can extract, though, is the proclamation of the immanence of God’s Kingdom.  Compare this to the bumper-sticker which reads “Jesus is Coming:  Everyone Look Busy!”

Mark’s Gospel, 1:14-20, is a scene-shifter from last week’s account by John of the calling of the first disciples.  Here we see Jesus visiting some fisher-folk, Simon & Andrew, James & John, who “immediately” made the life-change of abandoning father & business to follow Jesus.  Mark’s Gospel is full of “immediately”‘s–he’s trying to convey the momentary urgency of taking the window while it’s open.  He means “right this minute”, “without delay”.  Unlike the anti-hero Jonah (and me), The Rock & Andy and the Sons of Thunder recognized that There’s No Time Like the Present.

There’re quite a few fish mentioned today, encouraging our graphics people to display some simple “Icthus”-type logos.  Was it Emerson who remarked that “after three days, visitors and fish begin to [smell bad]”?  Jesus promised his detractors that the only “sign” to which they were entitled was the “sign of Jonah”.  The day has symbols in abundance!  And at the close of my hospital visits, I usually pause at the door of the room and tell the patient, “Remember what the fish said about Jonah:  it’s hard to keep a good man down!”

God Bless Us, Every One                 Horace Brown King

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

The Season of Epiphany is that when human-folk begin to know the New Baby more thoroughly.  Having journeyed to the manger, the spiritually wise find newness in their return…and now begin to open their senses to recognize a Holy Presence in all that is around them.  This weekend’s lessons address the persistent voice–perhaps unknown ’til now–that begins to reveal God as being involved in the wholeness of culture, justice and society.

We begin with the familiar story of the boy Samuel (3:1-20), who is awakened from sleep three times by someone calling his name.  Thinking it was his priest-mentor, old Eli, he presented himself for some late-night request.  “Not I,” said Eli, “go back to bed.”  Finally after three such occasions, Eli caught on:  “This is the Lord; listen carefully, and tell me everything.”  As you know, the message was one of complaint against Eli’s family…but the core of the reading for contemporary saints is the ultimate recognition of a Holy Voice.

Now, what to do with the passage aimed at the Corinthian Church (I 6:12-20)?  Whether the bulk of this is from the hand of Paul or from a later redactor, it appears that a major concern of the congregation was lots of casual sex.  Some have defined “fornication” as having sex without an emotional or loving involvement with one’s partner.  Too many generations have shunned the God-gift of sexuality, when the problem has mainly been selfish fulfillment alone!

John’s Gospel account (1:43-51) tells of Jesus’ call to Philip and Nathanael.  “Come and see”, said Jesus.  “Come and see”, said Philip to skeptic Nathanael.  Come and experience, come and get involved, paint your wagon and come along…!  This time the Holy Summons wasn’t subtle, and both Philip and Nathanael quickly responded, the latter naming Jesus “Son of God, King of Israel”.  When Jesus told Nathanael that he saw him “under the fig tree”,  it meant that Nathanael was ready for this challenge.  God had evidently been marinating these guys in the Holy Spirit, and now they were seasoned to go.

Each of us has their own recollection of where & when they first heard God; and all of them are valid.  I was fortunate to have been in and around the church as early as I can remember, so I was well-steeped in soul-questions.  I admitted to Christ as Lord and Guide somewhere around age 11; but again, this was a subtle process.  I wasn’t quick to acknowledge my ministerial vocation, finally giving in during my first semester of working on a Master of Music degree.  Even after, the trip hasn’t always been bagels ‘n’ lox:  many Clouds of Unknowing and self-doubts attest to my humanity.  However you may have heard a Holy Voice, be glad for that sacramental in-breaking–may you know that the Lord is with you!

God Bless Us, Every One               Horace Brown King

My wrestling with the scripture assigned to the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com

Those following this weekend’s lectionary have several choices to follow:  it could be the Second Week after Christmas, or it could be The Baptism of the Lord.  Or it could be the Epiphany–which I’ve chosen, because this should be observed as cloture (?) to Christmas.  Shrouded in delicious legends, the showing of Christ to the Gentiles/ whole world has been prodded and tweaked by ages and cultures.  Dr. Becky Harrison loaned me an article by Michael Molnar which proposes that the Star of Bethlehem was the planet Jupiter (King of the Solar System?) arising and proceeding into the House of Aries, Aries being the zodiacal sign which governed the Near East and especially Israel… (THE ANCIENT WORLD, Vol.29, #2; 1998)  Interesting enough; yet I tend in my old age to prefer the mystery over the explainable.

Third Isaiah, in the tradition of magi, tells readers to “arise, shine; for your light has come,  and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you” (60:1).  Despite the thick darkness which we all know too well, a welcome shower of hope soaks into our parched land.  The Presence of the Holy comes both as a slow dawning or a flash of power.  Each of us describes our own Epiphany differently.  Yet we do see and become radiant, our hearts do thrill and rejoice:  lift up your eyes and look at the gift-givers who proclaim the praise of the Lord!
The Pauline author of Ephesians speaks of revealing “the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things” (3:10).  An interconnection within all readings affirms that the sons & daughters of Israel will bring costly gifts; the Gentile magi of the Gospel bring costly gifts; and the Ephesians are now reminded that Christ–the costliest gift of all–has been brought by God to Israel  and Gentile alike!  The epiphany here is that both have been included since the beginning; the Church (the Body of Christ) is instructed to pass along God’s wisdom to all rulers and authorities.

Most of us have heard the story of the Three Kings since we were tiny.  Art, written literature, music have all robed these visitors with personality; we’ve named them Melchior, Caspar & Balthazar (sounds like a law firm) and assigned them camels, licorice and magic powers.  They studied not only the stars but also sacred traditions and expectations: they were ready and willing to recognize a Sign of Divinity, a holy moment.  “The star is pure grace; their travel is sheer faith; their worship is the dawn of a new age whose fullness will see all peoples come to the mountain of God.”  (Thomas R. Steagald, in FEASTING on the WORD, B 1:211)

Steagald sums up the readings:  “The primacy of Christ in God’s gracious initiative and the consequent unity of all God’s children–and all people, now, beneficiaries of Christ’s unsearchable riches–are the heart of this day’s proclamation….Epiphany unveils, proclaims, celebrates God’s gift to all people.” (ibid.,p.207)

God Bless Us, Every One                 Horace Brown King

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