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You probably remember the meme of a wall in Britain where the authorities had posted a sign, “Bill Stickers Will Be Prosecuted”.  And someone had added in chalk, “Let Bill Stickers Go!”  Many persons of responsibility and moral desire have recently looked about in despair at today’s abundance of selfishness,  exploitation and other chicanery:  where is Divine Justice?  Does God really hear and care?  “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”  Scripture lessons unveiled today present a God whose timetable of Justice is different than ours, perhaps because this God looks at the larger picture.

Our story from Exodus 3 is the familiar theophany of Moses and the Burning Bush.  Surprised as he is, Moses has the sense to listen to a Holy Voice:  “And now the cry of the People of Israel has come to me, and I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.”  Moreover, Moses himself has been chosen to be the instrument of release to these enslaved generations!  (“Who?  Me?”)  “Tell them I AM sent you.”  Divine Justice seems to work this way, using human partnership as a catalyst to right the wrongs and to co-create free nations on the far side of the desert…

After a whole long list of important holy-habits, Paul comforts the Romans with “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.'” (Romans 12:19)–Moses’ words as the new nation of Israel is ready to occupy the Promised Land.   The exhortations which precede this tend to be the defining ethic which identifies the trusters in I AM: practitioners of these traits have already observed and subscribed to the hope of Divine Intervention in their community.  We’re to “play nice”–if Justice is due, God will eventually handle it.

Matthew’s Gospel, 16:21-28, tells how Peter–fresh from his epiphany about Jesus the Messiah–tries to dissuade Jesus from the Crucifixion.  Are you going against God, Peter?  “If any want to become my followers,  let them deny THEMSELVES and take up their [own] cross and follow ME.”  Again, God seeks out human partners for his daily remaking of society.  Disciples are those who follow God even to deserts where we often wonder how this is gonna turn out:  all we can do is trust that there’s a Plan in all this…

It’s hard for me to wait for Divine Justice in this age where greedy individualism and Might Makes Right seem acceptable and desirable.  My partnering with God often slips into a day-dream of anarchy.  Here’s hoping that the lectors of the weekend will pull me into a more patient frame.  Valerie Bridgeman reminds me that, “the only way to participate in God’s project is by overcoming evil with the good we do.  We must be willing to lose ourselves in God’s vision and be willing to lose our lives for the sake of it.  These words are radical and, frankly, scary.  Discipleship is costly,”(SOJOURNERS, August 2020, page 49)

In the process of unfolding,               Horace Brown King

Evidence of my encounter with scripture assigned to the upcoming weekend can be seen every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com

The first thing we invariably do when meeting a new person is to learn their name.  We feel that knowing their name tells us something about them; our nicknames often reflect a physical attribute or a habit–there’s Frugal Fred, Curly, Stretch, and The Baron.  We name our pets and sometimes our vehicles.  We spend a great deal of anguished time selecting names for our children.  The Bible has many instances of special names, sometimes changed to denote an encounter with God:  Saul/Paul, Jacob/Israel.  It’s a great compliment–and responsibility–to be named by someone!  What will this mean for our lives?

Having safely delivered the Children of Abraham to Egypt, we resume the narrative some generations later, in Exodus 1:8-2:10.  The liturgist may well wish to summarize this story about the persecution of the Hebrews and the birth of Moses.  The verse which sprang out at me was the last, where the daughter of Pharoah named the child Moses, meaning that she “drew him out” of the water.  ‘Course, in later years YHWH drew him out of slavery, along with the other habiru/desert wanderers, and established the new community of God’s People on a long journey to the Land of Promise.

Naming is a process of discernment of just who this is, and Paul addresses this in Romans 12:1-8.  “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God–what is good and acceptable and perfect.”  The following moral expectations will help define the Person of God to the outside (Gentile?) world, and will also help the believer to bear the name of the holy.  We note that the “transformation” is not accomplished by our intent, but is an occasion of external Grace–a naming by God.  As Pastor Michelle asks during prayer-time, “Where have you seen God in your life this week?”

“Who do you say that I am?”, Jesus asks the Disciples in Matthew 16:15.  What do people call me?  and what do YOU call me?  Here is the ultimate identification.  The unclean spirits, John the Baptizer and the Samaritan villagers at the well all ascribed authority and right teaching to Jesus, but it remained for Peter to name Jesus as the Messiah, “the son of the living God”.  And then Jesus announces that this sort of inspiration is the true foundation of the Church which he himself will build!  (Whew, I’m glad that’s off MY shoulders!)  Later believers used such an affirmation, “Jesus is Lord”, as a password to their worship gatherings.  What name do we carry to others?

There’s a country-western song that says, “You’ll know you’re just a number if she never calls your name”.  In the Sacrament of Infant Baptism we announce what God has done/is doing in a particular and specific life.  In many rites of the Church we name the person, and thus value them.  In evening shadows, a respected Parent stands at the door and summons us by name to come into the light and warmth.  We long for a place Where Everybody Knows Your Name…

In the process of unfolding                              Horace Brown King

My search for meaning in scriptures assigned to the upcoming weekend can be observed every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com

I’m a traditionalist.  I like holiday customs, Christmas cards and pumpkins.  I like the little things families do just because we’ve always done it this way.  In church, I like credos and liturgy; I like processions and music from long ago.  Yet I also reluctantly realize that some of these things which define who I am may serve as barriers to others who would like to get closer, but fear my prejudices.  And there are many.  Scriptures for this upcoming weekend speak about human barriers to God–and about how God bestows Grace anyway….

In Genesis 45 (1-15) we come to some sort of climax to the story of how the Children of Abraham went to Egypt.  The sons of Jacob were amazed to find that their brother Joseph, whom they had sold into slavery lo these many years, was now the chief muckety-muck of the super-power which they feared!  “Uh-oh”, said they with wide eyes.  But Joseph said to them, “Do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.”  These desert wanderers in this alien and opulent country were hearing about their tribal divinity and how this grace appears where you least expect it!  No longer was there a fence between cultures, races and traditions of worship…

Paul spends much of Romans grieving over the fact that many of his people (the Jews) rejected Jesus as the Christ.  Were they forever condemned?  In Chapter 11, verse 29, he says,  “But the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable”.  Can there yet be hope for those whom we consider beyond the fence?  Paul’s whole mission to the Gentiles affirms his conviction that God hasn’t let them unattended, despite the traditions of the Israelites.  Martha C. Highsmith reminds us that “the peoples’ rejection of God does not lead to God’s rejection of the people….Nothing we do can convince God to let go of us.” (FEEDING on the WORD, A 3:352)  What an amazing inclusion for the Church of Today!

Matthew’s Gospel presents us with two instances of going beyond the tradition in 15:10-20 and again in 21-28.  Jesus speaks of food laws by implying that what we eat isn’t nearly as important as what we say:  “it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles”.  To explore this further, he takes his followers to the toxic wasteland of Tyre & Sidon, where no good Jew would be caught dead.  Even in this alien land he’s met by a woman seeking healing: one of “those sinners” who reminds Jesus (and us) of the wall-busting nature of God’s love.  What would it mean to the world if contemporary disciples went to these front-lines?

There are so many announced or assumed fences that keep would-be worshipers away:  homophobia, dress-codes and the fear of female leadership…  Previous generations excluded smokers, drinkers & gamblers.  Must I now look at a person’s soul instead of their outward trappings?  “Grace is God’s alone to offer, and God offers it, it seems, to all people–the Jew and the Gentile, the ins and the outs, the faithful and the disobedient.” (Highsmith, ibid., p.354)  Thanks be to God!

In the process of unfolding,               Horace Brown King

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

We’re reminded of that time-worn story about two sets of footprints on the beach:  when the writer couldn’t walk farther, Jesus carried her.  Recent times have brought much anxiety, especially when we wonder if our daily life will ever look like it once did.  Many of us have tossed and turned and asked if God has moved away; our late-night terrors sneer at us and tell us that there’s nothing left.  Has the sky fallen?  Has such wide-spread despair ever happened before?

The story of Joseph’s arrogance and brotherly comeuppance is read in Genesis 37, focusing on verses 12 to 28.  The reason for the story is to keep the narrative flowing, to explain how the Children of Abraham got to Egypt and to set up the Exodus, the central foundation of Israel.  The Story Teller could make a case for mercy and good intentions as the brothers decided not to kill Joseph; implied here is a sense of a Divine Hand in the whole proceeding.

Paul’s writings in Romans 10:5-15 continue his attempts to speak logic into illogical material.  This text quotes liberally from Deuteronomy 30, reminding the reader that “the word is near you,  on your lips and in your heart”.  Paul is exhorting the Roman audience to live actually believing in Christ, more than an intellectual affirmation such as one would make about the Emperor.  And the good news is that this is all-inclusive: “EVERYONE who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved”.  This concludes with the admonition to be a Christ-bearer with this welcome message.

Matthew’s Gospel narrative is the story of Jesus walking on the water–included in Mark and John, where it lacks the foray of Peter attempting to join him.  The storm-blown disciples are tired & discouraged, which may in a way explain their fright.  Yet just when they need saving most, here he came–not around the tempest, but right through it!  Peter was OK until he acknowledged the ferocity of the wind ‘n’ waves; then he remembered that he couldn’t do this–and sure enough, he couldn’t!  Happy ending, though:  Jesus kept Peter afloat despite his vacillation,  and calmed the head-winds which had so distressed the others.

Perhaps these can be encouraging words to church-folk desperate to hear that God is still in town.  Perhaps these can still my desolations of the wee hours in my gloomy bedroom.  And perhaps these passages will speak courage to the world which feels that the current malevolence is worse than it’s ever been.  Through it all, “Jesus is Lord”!  And he’s closer than you think…

In the process of unfolding,                          Horace Brown King

My journey through the storms of scripture assigned to the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com