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
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