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Some people have dropped away from organized (?) religion because “there’re too many rules”. Well, I suppose, there ARE those concepts which call for enforced prayer, sacrifice and meditation times, and negate all the fun things… Scriptures read this weekend–if your congregation isn’t observing All Saint’s this day–introduce us to some folks who were trying to live a righteous life by obeying all the footnotes. There’s nothing wrong with our self-imposed disciplines/habits; if these things work for you, by all means keep at them! But are they basic to our route to perfection?

RUTH 1:1-18 has been spoken at weddings, and sung about in several “anthems”. “Where you go, I will go…your people shall be my people…” What’s happening here is the formation of a relationship, even the affirmation of that which already was a closeness. The Book of Ruth is in the Hebrew scriptures because it establishes the line of David’s ancestry; it’s in the Christian scriptures because it lifts up the necessity of selfless surrender to the needs of others. God’s grace has already been seen to function in the lives of Naomi & Ruth: each has a glimpse of What’s Really Important. Although there are many social niceties which would shape the lives of these ladies, their love for each other was remarkable…

The author of the Letter to the HEBREWS is still contrasting the Levitical high priest to the priesthood of Christ: the human priest must sacrifice once a year for the sins of the People; whereas Christ has been there, done that, and constantly carries our ongoing brokenness to God for forgiveness and wholeness. The writer implies a community unfolding in and through Christ, and infers that each of us is somehow dependent upon the Christ-image in The Other. This may be my own interpretation of the moment, yet I’m more and more aware of how dependent I am on not only my daily peers but also on those whose good deeds in the past have set me up. If we’re each in a covenant with the living God, What’s Really Important?

The Gospel according to MARK, 12:28-34, is so central to the Christian doctrine that it appears also in Matthew and Luke. The story is that Jesus is approached by a good man who has done his best to keep ALL the Law (no pork, etc.) yet feels as though there’s Something More. “Which Commandment is absolutely essential?”, he asks. “The first”, Jesus replied, “is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this, that you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” There are many codicils in the Law and the Talmud, but they all depend on these, the Love of God, and the Love of the Other. That’s What’s Really Important!

There are a lot of Good People, made in God’s Image, who get sidetracked and hung up on the details, Seems to me that Jesus’ entire ministry points to the WHY of God’s worship and ignores (downsizes?) the HOW, leaving each of us to evolve our own methods. Central to all, though, is the importance of God, often shown by how important we make the ones around us.

In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King

Join me each Tuesday at horacebrownking.com to explore how we can yet be shaped by the lessons read to us on the coming weekend.

For most of my life I’ve been speaking and writing about sacramental healing; that is, the wholeness of body, mind and spirit as God breaks in. Unfortunately some showmen have claimed special talents of healing, pointing to piles of disused braces and crutches affirming the success (?) of their methods. Others have posited the idea that healing is dependent on the person’s faith-level: if the cure doesn’t work immediately, their “faith” wasn’t enough. Above this folklore, Morton Kelsey writes “…the healer…is seen as the agency through which the Spirit of God and [God’s] power, the very creative force of the universe is transmitted….therefore sacramental.” (HEALING AND CHRISTIANITY, p,84-85) Thoughts brought to us in the scriptures of the weekend present the completion of some folks who had been separated from God.

JOB 42:1-6, 10-17 tells of Our Hero’s transformation and ultimate restoration: “I had heard of you (God)…but now my eyes see you.” Job finally allows God to BE God, and thus accepts himself (Job) as a valuable human. The long saga reaches a happy conclusion not moralizing about Job’s behavior or vices; and Job is himself again, healed and able to take his place in the community. The healing involves a deeper way of thinking about God and being aware of God’s presence. He finally acknowledges that God doesn’t necessarily follow human expectations! God’s inbreaking helps Job to recognize Grace in the Ashes.

The author of HEBREWS 7:23-28 contrasts the Old/Present order of high priests with the New priesthood of Jesus the Christ. Both offered sacrifices for the people–but the traditional priest had to do this over and again, while Jesus did it once as enough. Our humanity seems to need healing and forgiveness regularly, whereas those “in Christ” can claim an ongoing touch which frees us from the trap of the consequences of a single action. This re-orients our lives into progressive spirituality, putting to rest the boring and repetitive guilt of Yesterday! “[This] is Jesus’ amazing discovery that we do not need to be bound by past trespasses; through repentance and forgiveness we can be transformed; we can find release from past pain and learn how to forgive ourselves and others.” (Ginger Grab, FEASTING on the WORD, B 4:211)

The Gospel is the story of the restoration of sight to Bartimeus (MARK 10:46-52) also found in the account of Matthew and Luke. Bartimaeus called to the passing Jesus, who stopped and responded: “What do you want me to do for you?” Immediately the blind man answered, “My teacher, let me see again.” Although the prevailing culture assumed that this blindness was retribution for some awful sin, Jesus didn’t vet his history or admonish him to clean living–he just healed him. Gave Bartimaeus sight to participate in his surroundings, gave him insight to know God better.

I sometimes weary of my seemingly endless apology for Sacramental Healing: the humanity of today craves data and gigabytes, and disrespects the holy and the miraculous. Cynthia A. Jarvis tells us, “Miracles are those events that bring people from darkness into the light. Miracles turn our attention to what really matters in life and in death. Miracles claim no power, but reveals a Power who wills to be known. Miracles point beyond the one before us to the One who made us for love’s sake.” (FEASTING… B 4:214) In the name of Christ, be whole.

In he process of unfolding, Horace Brown King

Come join me on my pilgrimage every Tuesday at horacebrownking.com, as we are explored by scripture lessons assigned to this coming weekend.

What’ll they think of next?! Even though I say I don’t like change, I do appreciate the new gadgets in my life: solar power, electric cars, wind farms… When I think about all the technology in cell phones and computers, I feel as if we humans can do just about anything to make life better. Maybe artificial intelligence and modern medicine can save us for an everlasting future! Not. This weekend’s scriptures confront and convict those in the pew who’ve figured that they’ve arrived, mostly through their own shrewd investments and courageous bravado.

Finally JOB gets an answer from God (38:I-7, 34-41). “So you’re ready to be in charge? Where were YOU when the earth was created, and when its foundations were tested? Can you lift up your voice to the clouds….send forth lightning….hunt for the lions’ prey….and feed the ravens??” Well, CAN you? And Job came to and embraced a new perspective, that God is God and he’s not. This encounter doesn’t make Job any less human, but it puts him firmly within Creation as a loved person made in God’s image. Now Job can “go home again”, back to his human roots, humble as they are. Will those in the pews also accept all their devices as gifts, allowing God to be God? Can you?

HEBREWS 5:1-10 can be an enigma. The author reminds her readers that priesthood is a matter of being chosen, not self-appointed. Thus Jesus, a “high priest according to the order of Melchizedek” was given this role in order to intercede for the arrogance of the worldly and to help each one acknowledge their compulsion to usurp God’s plan. I begin to see that all my bright ideas about What the World Needs Now are but dust-bunnies in the corners of a Greater Movement; this “high priest” is one who suffers with us, even while rejoicing that GOD’S grace is being made perfect in US. A mystery for sure, one that I yet can’t get my mind around. (Can you?)

As Jesus and his crew moved toward Jerusalem, James & John (“sons of thunder”) desired special honor in God’s Kingdom, to be “seated on the right and on the left”. (MARK 10:35-45) “Really?” asked the Lord, “can you drink the cup of human death? Can you rise from the dead?” “Still heroic spirits answer, ‘To the death we’ll follow thee.'” Perhaps the sons of Zebedee’s request is more fear than arrogance: all of us look for the assurance that there’s really something beyond death… But for now, the only promise we get is that there WILL be suffering as well as glory; and that God is God–and we’re not…

These are hard passages for me. They threaten my comfort zone. They remind me that everything could change in the blink of an eye. Under them all, though, is a sense that a loving Creator is still in charge; and that this Creator cares for both the gimmick-endowed AND the homeless, both the multi-vehicle blessed AND those who beg for groceries on Main Street. As for me, I’m more ‘n’ more convinced that I can’t do a thing apart from God….. Can You?

In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King

Sit with me every Tuesday as we’re confronted (perhaps attacked!) by the lessons assigned for the upcoming weekend–at horacebrownking.com

Written from the dark side of the moon. Oh, nothing special; I’m just fatigued with headlines about poverty, immigrants, vaccine mandates, the military…and now there’s an oil spill from a pipeline off California. The owners of said pipeline have been warned multi times, but the abuse of the earth goes on. Scriptures assigned to this upcoming weekend bring questions of darkness to the fore–part of the Church’s mission is to acknowledge these imperfections and to let the gathered faithful know that they’re not alone nor are they aliens when they’re frustrated by each generation’s problems.

We’re still struggling along with JOB (23:1-9, 16-17) as he searches for God in all his afflictions. Job’s faith tells him that God will ultimately free him from his pit of despair–if only he could make his pitch to YHWH. Across the centuries the cry goes forth, “Where ARE you, God?” How will Job and his righteous descendants find their way in the dark? “If I go forward, [God] is not there; or backward, I cannot perceive [God]…” Nor can we encounter God by stumbling either right or left. Is God hiding from Job/us, sick of our whining?

The Epistle is the anonymous “Letter” to the HEBREWS, 4:12-16. Beware of that two-edged sharp sword that will puncture our preconceptions, which will plunge into our weakness, deception and pride! I often think that I’m being arrogant with this weekly writing, or by standing in a pulpit expounding how culture is affected by the Holy Writings. Those who know me may well say, “Yep, he’s a fake!” “Before {God] no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account.” Yet the Letter continues, introducing Jesus, our great high priest, who also wept over Jerusalem and whose final coherent words were, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And the New Order was about to dawn in grace to him, to the Hebrews, and to us.

We’ve been following Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem as remembered by MARK: today we turn to vv.10:17-31. Matthew and Luke also present this encounter with the earnest man who wanted an assurance of eternal life, but found that his many possessions stood in his way. “What can I DO?” “Begin by giving away all your stuff which blocks your view.” Money. Patriotic pride. Self-satisfaction. Well, what other junk do we have to hurdle on the way to the Kingdom? The disciples asked, “Who can be saved?” Wrong question, Jesus told them: we’ll discuss eternal life/salvation some other time, but what can you do NOW to point to the Kingdom? The darkness grows as I realize how captive I am to my Stuff.

“So what’s the GOOD news?” asked my friend Ken in lectionary study. I suspect that it’s found in Jesus’ answer to his friends, “…for God all things are possible”! A motto of our country which some find archaic is “In God We Trust”. Alas, most of us trust more in our pension plans, the pentagon and our nostalgic “remembrance” of How It Used to Be. I sound like an old curmudgeon (which I am). I could go away to a cave in the desert and be a hermit, ‘cept I like running water and TV…

In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King

Join me every Tuesday as I writhe before God, dealing with lessons assigned to the upcoming weekend; at horacebrownking.com