Well, sure. All too many of us grew up with the injunction to “be good, God will reward you”. The obverse to this is often unspoken, but it’s there: “You must’ve done something wrong, or you wouldn’t have _______.” This weekend’s readings take our simple theology deeper into the labyrinth of living. As we plod along, are we getting any closer to the Center?
The Story of Job begins, “Once upon a time…” in a galaxy far, far away–or is it? Job’s account describes our Cosmic Battle (1:1; 2:1-10) with the vacuum of evil as it sucks even our attempts at Holiness into the Vortex of Nothingness. Mark A. Thronveit, in FEASTING on the WORD (B 4:127) considers that “heaven is about to unleash a totally inexplicable assault on Job’s theologically proper existence by afflicting him with undeserved pain and suffering….What does one do when one’s theological doctrine, that the universe runs on the principle of reward and punishment, is manifestly at odds with one’s experience?” Is there grace among the ashes?
We’ll be looking at the Letter to the Hebrews for the next several weeks. An oddly- constructed piece, it consists of reminders of the Christ-role toward humanity and how we may respond. One of my colleagues complained that the Letter’s organization was as if it were written on note-cards which then were scattered by the breeze from a fan, then recollected with but a few minutes to publication. Our reading is 1:1-4 plus 2:5-12. I especially like verse 3a: “[The Son] is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being.” This image moves us past our daily attempts to please God into a timeless acceptance of salvation: the key is Christ.
What in the world do we do with Mark 10:2-16, Jesus’ polemic against divorce? This has unfortunately been used as a cudgel to guilt the abused, and ultimately to close the doors of the Church to many. Is marriage a Sacrament from Heaven, or is it a human institution to procreate the tribe? Did marriage in Jesus’ day include “romance”, or was this an arrangement by the parents? If one of these arranged matches were dissolved, was that seen as a slap at the parents? What rights were accorded the slighted spouse and children? Whose big idea was it to include “for better or for worse”? Does “worse” include verbal or emotional abuse?? How much integrity should a sad marriage claim?
We could, of course, revert to absolutism, as did the writer of Psalm 26 who boasted of his/her faithfulness. But the sensitive approach to all of these lections will include the possibilty of Grace even when life isn’t all skittles ‘n’ beer.
God Bless Us, Every One Horace Brown King
My reaction to scripture passages assigned to the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com
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