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Easter, the Sunday of Resurrection, is the centrality of the Christian faith.  This event is that which differentiates us from other belief-systems.  The resurrection of Jesus calls us to new levels of thinner air, where our credulity and acceptance of Mystery approach naivete.  Nearly all of those around us reject the story as “anti-scientific” –like Thomas, they need physical evidence.  All we can do is let the scripture tell the story.

The reading from Isaiah (25:6-9) is apocalyptic: the “mountain” is that high-place of destiny for “all peoples” where an exotic banquet has been prepared.  AND the shroud of death will be removed, the Lord of hosts “will swallow up death forever”. This is an amazing step beyond the often-noted exclusiveness of the House of Israel!  Here is an acknowledgement of an ultimate realization that humanity is an idea in the mind of God, in the process of unfolding.  This goes far past a prevalent idea of reward for Being Good; tears will be wiped from ALL faces.  This is far more than we had expected!

Acts 10:34-43 should be prefaced with the reminder that Peter was speaking to the household of Cornelius, a seeker who was a Gentile officer in the Roman army.  Peter had just had a vision of  “clean & unclean” critters, accompanied by a Voice telling him that God never made anything to be unclean, not even those –shudder!– Gentiles.  What follows is a very condensed synopsis of Jesus’ ministry, featuring his death & resurrection, but no Christology as such.  According to Peter, “all the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

The Gospel is that of John’s account found in 20:1-18.  Mary Magdalene came to the tomb expecting to find it as she had left it–but it wasn’t.  Then Peter & John bumbled their way to the tomb, checked it out–and went home!  “Well, I didn’t know WHAT to expect.”  Faithful Mary hung around, though, met some angels and even Jesus!  Mary was still in corpse-mode, and didn’t expect the Risen Christ.  Well, would you?  Do you?

I’m interested in scientific discoveries, and delight to see new incidences of Creation unveiled daily.  Yet we who’ve been spawned by the Age of Reason have often tried to explain away what needs to remain a Good Mystery.  Easter is one of those occasions when churches are full of those desperate to hear a word of God’s love amid the noisy gears of the cosmos.  Will they return to their homes with a secret smile, happily thinking, “Well, that’s not what we had expected!”?

God Bless Us, Every One                         Horace Brown King

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

The preacher/worship leader always has a choice on Palm (Passion) Sunday: shall we adhere to the Triumphal Entry story,  or shall we confront those who ignore Holy Week with at least a scent of the aroma of terror leading to the Resurrection?  I’ve chosen to explore the liturgy of the Palms, simply because I expect to participate in Maundy Thursday and Good Friday events.  The occasion melds both Hebrew tradition and that unique expression of  in-breaking soon to be canonized by the nascent Christian movement.

The Old Testament reading comes from Psalm 118, an affirmation of the unwavering steadfast presence of an ultra-loyal  God.  It’s a psalm of pilgrimage, music for the journey from worldly pursuits to and through the “gates of righteousness”.  The pilgrim is expected to give thanks for the steadfast love of God extended to an undeserving humanity.  On this special day which the Lord has made, God continues to visit and restore those who’ve been in deep despair, those who’ve feared that their lives have been ruined.  “Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord.”

The Gospel is Mark’s version of the Triumphal Entry (11:1-11).  Passover processions were probably common.  THIS Passover was different because Jesus entered the procession as an ALTERNATIVE to the “prayers & thoughts” shallowness of both priests and politicos.  Those noticing the greater picture of Mark’s narrative will see the event as a pivot:  up to now, Jesus has been gathering and instructing disciples, healing and teaching in Galilee, and warning his close friends that the Kingdom of Heaven is born through human pain.  And now God comes as near as possible:  “Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord.”

As a preacher of habit, I’m always looking for three points for my sermons.  If I were to craft a sermon this week, I think that segments I & II would explore, respectively, these texts from the Old and the New.  Segment III should bring steadfast love home to those sitting in the pews:  that God continues to support even those undeserving of Holy Inclusion (all of us).  Also we need to be reminded that those near to us who’re thrashing around in life may be looking to US (who, me?) for words & deeds of mercy and kindness.  “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.”

I love a parade!  I mastered few survival skills as a Boy Scout, but could I march!  Later, in High School, my summers were filled with marching in the band, sometimes twice per week, in Firemen’s Parades.  And later still, in college, I spent four cold Autumns learning football band formations–8 steps to the next 5-yard line–on VanNorman Field at Mansfield.  But I still like parades.  Avery & Marsh have a song about joining the Great Parade, celebrating the long line of Christians marching through the centuries.  Perhaps some little boy will point and shout, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.”

God Bless Us, Every One                         Horace Brown King

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

The full title of Walter Wink’s 1992 book is “Engaging the Powers: Discernment and Resistance in a World of Domination” (Fortress Press).  I’m often confused about John’s term “The World”:  is this the Creation which God loves enough to enter personally in the person of Jesus (John 3:16), or is this the System which Jesus warns us to avoid?  Wink maintains that the kosmos “is not synonymous with God’s creation, but is rather the fallen realm that exists in estrangement from God and is organized in opposition to God’s purposes.”  Readings this weekend address the Otherness of God –and those who follow this God.

The prophetic passage from Jeremiah 31:31-34 recounts the renewed covenant with Israel:  “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts”.  More recent students of soul-ethics call this “conscience” (which may actually be a cultural term).  However it’s seen, this action is a sacramental inbreaking which demands our yielding to a Greater Power.  Yet this is the essence of freedom, “to be who one truly is, knowing that one’s true character is what is most pleasing to God and therefore reflects the best of what the law requires.” (Woody Bartlett, FEASTING on the WORD, B 2:125)

Hebrews 5:5-10 can be an awkward read.  Jesus is compared to the mist-wrapped high priest of legend, Melchizedek, an archetype given credence specifically because he DOESN’T have human credentials.  The writer likens Jesus to the traditional high priest who bears to God the most intimate human need–not gaining access once a year, but each day “offering up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears”.  All the World-System’s oppressed, those with reason for tears & loud cries, are privileged through Christ to thus daily engage the powers.

“Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out”, says Jesus at the Passover festival  (John 12:20-33).  The Gentile seekers represent the entirety of Creation:  Jesus sees this occasion as confirmation that “all people” will be drawn to him, even through the Cross.  “In this text the crucifixion is interpreted as an exorcism, in which the System is judged and its driving force is cast out” (Charles L. Campbell, FEASTING etc.,ibid, page 143)   Once we see the System for what it is, we’re on the way to liberation from its demands!   The Cross exposes the System as selfish and shallow, judging it and rejecting its ruler.

Walter Wink’s book introduces us to the “myth of redemptive violence” which maintains the System.  Imperial soldiers (storm troopers?) enforce the PAX ROMANA.  Popeye restores order by beating up Bluto.  War is Okay, because we can’t trust those ____ (fill the blank with the enemy-du-jour).   Our guides down the path of death have many names: consumerism, exploitation, selfishness, arrogance, false patriotism…  I often have difficulty imagining anything else:  we’re numb, sheep going to the slaughter-house.  Will these passages enable us to more readily Engage the Powers?

God Bless Us, Every One               Horace Brown King

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

Many on their Lenten journey have attempted all sorts of acrobatics as they make a big thing about denial.  Some have fasted from things which they’ve perceived as vices, only to count the days ’til Easter, when they can go back to harming themselves.  Others have tried an attitude adjustment, refraining from anger or arrogance, yet still counting the days…  The problem is that these maneuvers  all stem from a conscious Act of Will, essentially bypassing a recognition of our own inadequacy and neglecting an external Grace.  Readings for the upcoming weekend address this ongoing sin of self-reliance.

The People of God described in Numbers 21:4-9 were desert wanderers seeking a home.  The writer claims that poisonous snakes were God’s answer to their griping: this could be a good debate about the Origins of Evil; my own take is that I can get into enough trouble by myself without blaming God for sending it! More important, God through Moses provided a way out by making an image of the offending snakes: the sources of trouble weren’t banished, but now there’s a way to live again despite them.  To be healed from Evil, we must look at it and name it.

Paul describes God’s transforming power to the Ephesians (2:1-10): from death to being made alive to sitting with Christ in glory.  “This is not your own doing; it is the gift of God”.  The “passions of our flesh” which have kept us zombie-like are acts of rebellion against God, and putting our trust in anything less than God.  BUT Christ alone yanks us not only into new life, but Royalty no less!

The danger within the Gospel, John 3:14-21, lies in its familiarity.  Many of us memorized John 3:16 in Confirmation class or before, and now think that we know everything.  For me, the following verse, “God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him”, brings a lot of assurance.  The connection with the serpent mentioned in Numbers has been used to presage Jesus’ crucifixion–but even more powerful is the idea about seeing the Evil for what it is…and knowing that here again is God’s initiative for salvation.

Lent is our opportunity to once again contemplate the mystery of a God who loves so passionately that he/she breaks into our wandering in a sacramental entrance which transforms us “from glory to glory”.  This is not of our own doing, despite our well-meant exercises.  Thanks be to God!

God Bless Us, Every One                          Horace Brown King

My subservience to the power of the Scripture lessons for the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com