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“After all I’ve done for you!  After all I’ve given you!”  In human terms, the Beloved berates the Lover for gross neglect.  Readings for the upcoming weekend will help the worshiper to define the question:  “Have I neglected God?”  Neglect of Providence happens gradually–most of us get in the habit of receiving many blessings without much more than a nod to their Benefactor.  Worse, lots of us feel entitled to these gifts, mistakenly pretending that we worked for them and that they’re products of our craftiness and smart investing…  At times I’d like to be an anchorite; but I really prefer indoor plumbing…

A word of caution before sailing into Jeremiah 2:4-13:  the prophet of necessity speaks human words to describe heavenly thoughts.  Be careful not to portray YHWH as the Destroyer, for here is a God who loves God’s creation despite humanity’s neglect of Providence.  Jeremiah reminds the careless people of Judah that God has done mighty works in them–bringing them from Egypt’s slavery through the terrors of the wilderness “into a plentiful land to eat its fruits and its good things.  BUT…my people have changed their glory for something that does not profit.”  “Consistently placing global economic and military domination ahead of the needs of the poor at home and abroad is, ultimately, a ‘leaky cistern’.” (Sally A. Brown, FEASTING on the WORD, C 4:7)  Preachers & teachers, make sure to bring this oracle into the 21st Century!

The Letter to the Hebrews concludes (13:1-8,15-16) with a potpourri of moral admonitions.  Included are two phrases of “do not neglect”, concerning hospitality and doing good; and likewise two phrases urging the People to remember both the unfortunate AND their saintly leaders (a reprise of Chapter 11).  “Remembering” is not just a mental exercise, but an actual contact, often with gifts and tokens for their needs!  Here again is an unshakably reliant reminder that “I will never leave you or forsake you”.

The Gospel, Luke 14:1, 7-14, is basically a reminder of humility and accepting our “proper” place.  It says, when you’re invited to a fancy dinner party, don’t grab the best seat (away from the sound system?) for yourself, ’cause you might have to give it up to a VIP that weighs more than you!  And, by the way, true generosity looks like inviting the homeless and down on their luck people to YOUR fancy dinner…they can’t pay you back, just as you can’t pay GOD back.  Ah, now we’re getting to it!  Here comes that abundance again, without money, without price…  God evidently hasn’t forsaken US.

So much of this seems as if it coulda been written this morning.  God must feel very neglected in the present global turmoil and lack of ethical behavior.  Our holy-history gets put on the back burner by those who live only for today.  There’s a scramble for the best and most prominent places.  Why shouldn’t God sing, “You don’t bring me flowers any more…”!

God Bless Us, Every One               Horace Brown King

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

Through the ages, we’ve had certain ideas about what’s proper, what’s normal:  Gaining territory and wealth by killing current tenants.  Pushing others out of the way to get their resources.  Abuse of power over strangers, women & children, and the chronically poor.We’ve coined phrases to excuse our selfish behavior–“Look the other way”, “Boys will be boys”.  Big Ag and Big Pharma get away with unfathomable profits while the sick pinch their pennies.  Ethical discussion stops when someone plays the Economy card.  Readings for this weekend tell the stories of some whom God has raised to Break the Mold, who will shake up business-as-usual.

Jeremiah, the Reluctant Prophet, has a lifetime of confronting the idolatry of Judah who is trying hard to be as corrupt as their surrounding nations.   God tells Jeremiah that he had set him aside for prophecy before birth (1:4-10).  Jeremiah understandably replies, “Who, ME?  I’m only a KID!”  Yet God places words and responsibility with him to speak Truth to Power.   “…we find ourselves grasped by a God passionate for the fate of human beings.  When we are called as individuals or congregations into the service of God’s word and way, God’s passion for goodness and wholeness becomes our passion as well.”  (Sally A. Brown, in FEASTING on the WORD, C 3:367)

The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews points out the difference between the Church and those of pre-Christian tradition:  the blazing terror of Mt. Sinai yields to Mt.Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, replete with angels, God & Jesus plus “the spirits of the righteous now made perfect” (12:18-29).  The Way of the World will yet again be shaken, as a waiter shakes the crumbs from a tablecloth.  Here again Jesus is presented as “warning” the earth from heaven, I believe against self-made material idols.

Luke tells how Jesus was criticized by the leader of the synagogue for healing a woman on the Sabbath (13:10-17).  Here’s a direct breaking of the normative mold: the customs of the Sabbath law were challenged by need.  The leader of the synagogue equated healing with WORK; Jesus presented healing as God’s good pleasure.  Relieving the woman’s suffering isn’t the point; Jesus’s actions are seen to undermine the social order and religious law.  Controlling Sabbath practices are a way to feed an established system that was often oppressive.  Truly, the afflicted woman got whole; but the story is included to remind further generations that God continues to rattle the cage of entrenched manipulation.

And yet the power game goes on.  The nations just don’t seem to get it.  Pre-emptive strikes ensure that Number One won’t be challenged by Developing Peoples:  “Do unto others BEFORE they do unto you.”  Fatigued and ground down by the selfish-ness and materialism around me, I’m torn daily between running into the desert in a frenzy or battling at Agincourt–“Once more, dear friends, into the breach”.  Or maybe I’ll just follow the advice of Hobbes the Tiger, taking a nap until suppertime…

God Bless Us, Every One                                      Horace Brown King

My angst when met by scriptures for the upcoming weekend can be clinically observed every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com

I’m really not whining:  I’ve got a good life, more than anyone could expect.  Yet…there are so many castles and cannons and pirate ships that I haven’t visited–and there’s little likelyhood  that I ever will…  I suppose that we all have unseen mountains to climb; I have no reason to be disappointed.  Scriptures for the weekend describe God’s disappointment–impatience?–with Creatures in the Garden.  The comfort may lie in that we’re all under grace together; the challenge is more obvious, that is, to make ready as if the Kingdom of Heaven were right here.

Isaiah’s Song of the Vineyard, 5:1-7, is masterful poetry standing alone:  God has planted the finest of vineyards, expecting the finest harvest.  But when the harvest comes, only SOUR grapes result!   “What more can I do?  I’m gonna break it down and turn it back to nature.”  Well, the people of Israel & Judah are the vineyard:  God expected justice & righteousness, but saw bloodshed and heard a cry!  We, of course, are the current vineyard; and God is just as disappointed to find even now the sour grapes of injustice and neglect of Godliness.

God’s love evidently comes with expectations.  The writer “to the Hebrews” lists a roster of the Faithful in Chapter 11:   besides the obvious, she mentions Rahab, Gideon, Barack, Samson…and many others “who through faith conquered kingdoms, administrated justice” and escaped all sorts of tribulations.  Yet many of these also met gruesome ends, or wandered homeless in primitive situations.  “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every [training] weight and the [outer garments] of sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us…”  I recall from High School track team that part way into each race I asked myself, “Why am I doing this??”  But I finally crossed the finish-line, fully expecting Coach to be there with a stop-watch and a pat on the back.

Luke’s Gospel, 12:49-56, brings us a tough and perhaps impatient Jesus with a pointed message–“Things aren’t always what you expect!”  “These words assert that Jesus has not come to validate human institutions and their values but to initiate God’s radical will….This imagery of household divisions carries with it the notion of the complete collapse of current structures.”  (Richard P. Carlson in FEASTING on the WORD, C 3:359-361)  Jesus upbraids the general populace for being so obtuse:  we can see signs of the changing weather, why can’t we see the Kingdom knocking at our door?

Part of the current malaise is that we’ve imaged God as a comfortable Rich Uncle who indulges our every whim.  We’ve given little thought to the idea that there might be rules.  It’s not all about us, thanks be to God!

God Bless Us, Every One                           Horace Brown King

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

Long before Jonathan Edwards scared the bejeebers out of us with “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” in the 1600’s, earthlings have tried to bribe God with their CORRECTNESS to defer God’s supposed grumpiness and to get into the Kingdom of Heaven.  We’ve tried all sorts of spiritual acrobatics:  windy prayers, correct posture, sacrifices & high holy days, obligatory worship…  The concept of God being untouchable and disdainful of Incarnation yields two results:  either we move the earth to reveal The Secret Code (gnosticism); or we merely give up, saying “God can’t possibly love the likes of ME!”  Scripture texts this weekend will possibly dispel the rumor that God doesn’t like us, and hopefully will allow us to live in more freedom.

The people of Isaiah’s time “feared” the Lord, and this lesson (1:10-20) could support that fear:  is the prophet speaking to all people, or those outside the community, as allegorized by “Sodom & Gomorrah”?  I think this is God’s indignation to everyone– “I have HAD ENOUGH of burnt offerings…I do NOT delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats…..Who asked THIS?”  And besides, stop trampling my yard!  But here’s an alternative, some real signs of devotion:  “cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.”  If we’re willing and obedient, we’ll “eat the good of the land”.

Hebrews 11 affirms our hope in the first three verses:  “the conviction of things not seen”.  We believe that God’s Kingdom is really here, despite the evils around us.  It’s hard to maintain hope in the shadow of White Supremacy, hate crimes, and the abuse of immigrants.  We shout in pain as Big Interests savage our environment for their own profit.  Yet this reminds us to keep our belief in that which is not yet seen!  We believe that God is still in charge, and that this God is not rejoicing in our despair but delighting in giving us holy things.  The long list of the saints reminds us that none of these could say for sure where they were going–but if God says so, it’s gotta be good!

The Gospel, Luke 12:32-40,  tells us to override our fears, “for it is your Father’s GOOD PLEASURE to GIVE you the Kingdom”.  It goes on to encourage us to give away our stuff, for we already have “treasure in heaven”.  Stay awake and ready, ’cause you just never know when the Master comes in.  Not just in the Final Coming, but Today (Tomorrow at the latest).  David J. Shlafer, writing in FEASTING on the WORD:  “What Jesus enjoins, rather, is an orientation toward the whole of life as abundant gift from a generous God–a gift that can, therefore, be given away with abandon.” (C 3:337)

Isaiah’s contemporaries were surprised when God gave them an alternative to fear.  The saintly sojourners listed in Hebrews were surprised when God called them beyond the horizon to new environs of promise.  Jesus’ hearers were surprised that he spoke of his Abba as a generous parent.  Walter Brueggemann writes in SOJOURNERS That “Hope is the refusal to let our lives be defined by that present world arrangement.” (July ’19, p.36)  Fear is the watchword of Today; join me in doing something Hopeful?

God Bless Us, Every One                         Horace Brown King

My encounter with Bible passages to be read at services on the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com