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One of the disadvantages of Being Old is that people don’t understand me.  When I’ve laid out my plans and agendas and procedures in what I feel is perfectly good English, there are those who ask, “What do you mean?”  People of Earth have always wondered, I suppose, what it ‘s all about.   Those who hear readings for this Pentecost weekend will resonate with believers who continue to ask, “What Does This Mean?”  Will insight follow?

We begin with a reading that is actually TWO readings.  If I were  planning worship, I’d separate the Joel 2 section from the larger one of Acts 2:1-15.  The Acts passage is the traditional Pentecost story about the coming of the Holy Spirit to citizens of the entire known world, with tongues of fire and the rush of a mighty wind.  Whereas at the ancient Tower of Babel the people’s language was confused, now God has made plain to all near ‘n’ far the universality of the Word.  This idea of God takes Jesus beyond a local Jewish sect into a realization of a world-wide phenomenon.  What was once divided has been mended–if folks can accept the wholeness of What This Means.

Be careful with the Joel 2:28-32 part:  Peter–or Luke?–twists this a bit to work in an Old Covenant prophecy.  Is “afterward” (Joel) the same as “in the last days” (Peter)?  Splitting hairs, perhaps.  At any rate, a nice image is proclaimed of the Spirit liberally POURED; not dribbled or sprinkled.  Some will get hung up on the portents of bloody-red moons and other ominous signs…my own feeling is that these are but a background for this world-wide baptism.

The Gospel, John 7:37-39, tells about Jesus’ presence at a whole ‘nother festival, the Feast of Booths or Tabernacles.  “Originally a harvest festival, it came to be associated with the eschatological hope for a time when God’s life-giving presence would flow out in rivers from the Temple…”  (Meda A.A. Stamper, in FEASTING on the WORD, A 3:21)  Jesus offers himself here as a Holy Stream for the relief of the world’s thirst (remember the Woman at the Well).  Does this apply, then, to all who believe?  Are they/we conduits of this living water to those who crave sustenance in the arid times?

Receiving God’s life-giving flow of water and fire and wind enables the new “church” to speak fluently to the nations and situations of the world.  It doesn’t promise the Reign of Christ–yet–but affirms the actions and presence of Believers then and now.

In the process of unfolding,                        Horace Brown King

My encounter with scriptural passages lined up for the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com

Long, LONG ago, Marie and I were returning late in the evening from a family funeral.  As we came north on the Pennsylvania Turnpike extension, we ran into a huge fog-bank which only got worse as we drove along.  At length we came up behind another vehicle and were able to follow it for a few miles of relief from trying to keep on the pavement.  Every five miles or so, the lead car would pull over and the other guy would navigate through the cloud.  To the unknown driver, THANK YOU for getting us home!  Scripture readings for the upcoming weekend–Ascension Day–seem to be written for all of us who struggle to see the way.

Acts 1:1-11 is a synopsis of Jesus’ post-Resurrection instructions to the Disciples during forty days of companionship and presentation of the Kingdom of God.  Having assured them of the coming Holy Spirit, “he was lifted up and a cloud took him out of their sight”.  An image from some movie pictures Jesus being enswirled by the gathering fog; and when it lifted he was no longer there (sort of a reprise of the scene at Transfiguration).  But don’t overlook the two angels, who told the witnesses to stop gawking and get on with it.  Including us.

Pauline take on the Ascension is to link it to the enthronement of Jesus as Christ at the right hand of God, “far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named…”  The author has asked that the “eyes of your heart [be] enlightened”, a reference to seeing through and beyond the Cloud, to my way of thinking.  “He wants the Ephesians to know that Christ’s resurrection and ascension both prefigure and make possible their own resurrections and ascensions.”  (David L. Bartlett, in FEASTING on the WORD, A 2:513)

Luke 24:44-53 is the ending to Luke’s Gospel.  Perhaps the worship leader may choose to read this passage just BEFORE the lesson from Acts, which would provide continuity.  Whichever, the point of this Ascension story is to recognize that Jesus is here carrying the fullness of humanity before God.  Our ancestors in the faith returned “with great joy”, somewhat like the shepherds at Christmas; and did not separate themselves from the rest of the world, but met in plain sight in what most contemporaries would call the holiest of all places, the Temple.

An anonymous English writer (or writers) penned a book on spirituality sometime near the time of Chaucer’s CANTERBURY TALES, called “The Cloude of Unknowyng”.  The reader is urged to put aside the machinations of space and time, and to fully take the hand of God as together they walk into the Cloud.  More recently, a TV commercial pictures an office-worker stumbling and confused by all the mist around him–until he buys the product, and the cloud all fades out the door!  Some days are cloudier than others, and we spend much time & energy peering into what lies between us and Paradise.  Our virtual realities have become lost in the Cloud.  Ascension Day reminds us that we’re not abandoned in the mist!

In the process of unfolding,                         Horace Brown King

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

When Professor Harold Hill first came to RiverCity, Iowa, he had to convince the towns-folk that they had lots of Trouble (“With a capital T, which rhymes with P, which stands for POOL!”).  Then, when he had their attentive concern, he began to paint a glorious picture of how good it would be when they had a Boys Band.  We tend to follow after those artists who raise our hearts and our vision to loftier things.  Scriptures for the weekend should brighten the lives of those who’re currently taking a dim view of the quarantine frustrations and the anxiety brought by a sagging economy.

We begin with a reading from Acts 17:22-31.  Paul speaks to the citizens of Athens about their concerns for “an unknown god” (just so they don’t miss any).  “What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.”  And then he tells them of the Creator God who can’t be confined to one place, but whose energies and graces extend “to all nations …though indeed {God} is not far from each one of us.”  Paul paints a picture of hope to those shackled by their worries about not catching the wholeness of an extended pantheon.

We also hear some words of Peter (?), writing in his First Letter 3:13-22:  “For Christ also suffered for [our] sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring YOU to God.”  This letter is addressed originally to the dispersed Jews/Christians in Asia Minor, many of those who have been “suffering” in servitude to harsh masters.  Surely, he says, if we’re gonna get beaten, it’s better to be maligned for being faithful than for our bad conduct.  Even when bad things happen, it’s hopeful to know that even then, we can be “in Christ”.

The Gospel is that of John 14:15-21, the table talk of Jesus after the Last Supper:  “I will not leave you orphaned….I will ask the Father and he will send you another Advocate to be with you forever.”  The Disciples have been gloomy, wondering what’s next, without an anchor in a rough world.  But Jesus’ last meeting with them is construed as a time of hope, a fulfillment of the agenda which God continues to unfold within and before them.  This hopeful Spirit/Advocate is timeless, just as important today as in ancient days.

Celeste Kennel-Shank quotes Henri Nouwen (SOJOURNERS, May 2020, “Being neither an optimist nor a pessimist, Jesus speaks about hope that is not based on chances that things will get better or worse.  His hope is built upon the promise that, whatever happens, God will stay with us at all times, in all places.”  God’s People are called more than ever to paint pictures of hope to our prevailing audience of bleakness and gloom.

In the process of unfolding,                                 Horace Brown King

Tales of my encounter with lessons assigned to be read on the upcoming weekend can be shared every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com

Among my favorite things when I was quite young was a set of wooden blocks.  Not just ordinary blocks, these had painted windows and storefronts and fancy doors…  I could build a city!  My town could have hotels, high rises, churches, even mansions…  Did I mention that there were chimneys and roofs and steeples?  Wish I had ’em back.  Folks sitting in virtual pews this week can join God in building a continued Creation as they hear positive words from the assigned lessons.

Acts 7:55-60 tells the story of the stoning of Stephen (that’s positive??).   The early Church seemed to think this account seminal:  not only is Stephen’s faith glorified, but the resulting dispersal of disciples carried a belief in Jesus as the Christ into further reaches of the Empire.  This scattering moved the gospel from Jerusalem as well as touching more gentiles where they lived.  Stephen, the first Saint, became a visionary,  seeing “the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God”.  Funny that the thrown stones weren’t collected as relics:  they could be seen as foundations of the coming Kingdom.

I Peter 2:2-10 has a lot to say about stones.  Loaded with building analogies, it declares Jesus the Christ as the chief cornerstone of the New Zion–and his followers as “living stones” allowing themselves to be “built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood”.  The author tells that the stone which didn’t appear to the surrounding culture to be what they had expected now “has become the very head of the corner”!  Many will trip over the ethics of grace and love as they search for the Law’s righteousness and pass by us disciples who are odd-shaped yet doing our best to usefully fit into the growing Kingdom.  “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you might proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

As you read John 14:1-14, try not to think of a funeral!  Or if you do, land hard on the verses where Jesus says that he’s going away to prepare a place for us.  Another building program in an ever-expanding Creation which not only includes all believers, but is especially built so that Christ might be ever near us, and we with him.  Some will yearn for mansions over the hilltop–but I’m looking forward to a maximum entry apartment complex, where we all can circulate in a mask-free environment!  “How can we know the way?” asks Thomas on our behalf.  Jesus replies, “From now on you do know [ Father] and have seen him.”

And so, Rocky, plunge on with the project.  Don’t give too much thought to legalism and holy acrobatics, but concentrate on imitating Jesus in works of charity and outreach, devotion and hospitality.  God has chosen your company in refining Creation–be built into the evolving Kingdom…and while you’re waiting, leave no stone unturned.

In the process of unfolding,                        Horace Brown King

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