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“The trouble with incest,” she said, “is that it’s all relative!” Lessons that we look at today are all about relationships: God with the People, Paul with Timothy, the master and slaves. We hear them as analogies of our own lives, our own relationships. Are we doing/being all that we should, and are we expecting rewards for doing our jobs well?

Jeremiah, or someone writing in his name, laments over the dissolution of Judah by the Babylonian Captivity. In LAMENTATIONS 1:1-6 he speaks of the lonely Jerusalem–the navel of the Hebrew world–as a faded rose of days gone by: “Among all her lovers she has no one to comfort her; all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they have become her enemies”. There is no promise of restoration, only continued desolation: where IS YHWH? Does God weep over our brokenness, then and now? Can we yet see God as the Parent who’s disappointed with us, but still loves us deeply?

It really doesn’t matter about the historical Paul or his recalcitrant disciple Timothy. The point is that we ourselves tend to drift away from the passion of our mentors and explore some strange highways. One of my favorite verses when I was a younger preacher is that in II TIMOTHY 1:1-14 which says, “For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline”. In my salad days, I imagined clerical life to be peaceful and somewhat bucolic, sipping tea at garden parties. Wrong!! Gotta tell you, there are days of broken friendships & voluntary abasement, tears & self-doubt. Our mentors tell us to look beyond the hurts of today, to see the whole scope of Christ’s ministry. But….it’s easy to lose sight of early grace. “I am not ashamed,” says the mentor, “for I know the one in whom I have put my trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard until that day what I have entrusted to him.” Will Timothy continue in his ministry? Will you?

Vicky of Nashville did it again. LUKE 17:1-10 is a mishmash of teachings. With Wm. Barclay’s permission, I’m gonna confine myself to vv.7-10. Are we to lord it over our servants/slaves? No, but we expect them to do their appointed jobs. It’s an acknowledgment that God is God–and we’re not! Some worry about Free Will, yet this text tells us about our obligations: our actions will never get us worthiness. What’s missing here is a mention of Love. We know that God loves US; but do we love God enough to do our expected jobs? And go a second mile?

Cannibal A.: “Y’know, I don’t think I like your mother-in-law.” Cannibal B.: “That’s OK–just eat the noodles!” E=mc2

In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King

Every Tuesday, we explore scriptural passages which will probably be read on the upcoming weekend: you’re invited to join in at horacebrownking.com

Scripture lessons to be read on the upcoming weekend are a prophetic story about trusting in God even when tomorrow looks pretty uncertain; an exhortation to prioritize each one’s wealth; and a parable about the man who was careless about what he had and how he got his just desserts. Even though there seems to be no Golden Thread here, it feels as if they’re all tied together with the passage of time: our Eternity is developed by our ethical and compassionate actions now.

JEREMIAH 32:1-15 brings us to the prophet’s middle years. He’s already raised enough questions to have been put under house arrest. Still, he buys a field even though the enemy is at the gates. “What?? Don’t you understand the seriousness of the situation?” “For thus says the Lord…Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land.” YHWH evidently hasn’t given up on us completely. Note that Baruch (not a major player) has been given the responsibility of caring for the transaction through all of the ups ‘n’ downs. Just as Jeremiah has redeemed the field, so YHWH is redeeming Israel.

I TIMOTHY 6:6-19 is a pastoral exhortation about the earthly behavior of the Explorer of the Christian Faith. The disciple is discouraged to not become rich in an earthly sense; instead she is urged to adopt a lifestyle of “righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness”. So what about those who already ARE rich? “They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous and ready to share.” The life which really IS life will lead us to contentment beyond our accumulated lucre.

There needs to be some synopsis before reading LUKE 16:19-31–Jesus includes this teaching as only one of many: lost sheep, lost coins, lost sons, lost virtue. And now we can read about Lazarus the beggar, who was ignored by the Rich Man (some have named him Dives) and eventually died. From Hades (Jesus didn’t say that, it’s a Greek concept) the wealthy guy sees Lazarus in the bosom of Abraham–but it’s too late. The Rich Man wasn’t necessarily evil, but careless about sharing with the needy at his gate. Jesus’ pointed message to the Pharisees was this: look around, see who’s needy, and share your stuff before it’s too late for YOU!

These all are intended to remind us to step away from our comfort-zones. Frankly, I’m embarrassed by my position of privilege: I watch the newscasts of victims of weather anomalies, or walk on by the guy panhandling on the post office steps. I mean, I CAN’t donate to every Native American mission west of the Mississippi, can I? Or is Lazarus closer?

In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King

Every Tuesday I write some comments about my journey in the light of scriptural lessons to be read on the upcoming weekend. Come & share at horacebrownking.com

Once upon a time, you & I had a vision of what the earth/culture/society could be. After a bit, we incorporated some form of spirituality into this vision, and innocently attempted to live with values and plans which reflected our hopes. As we accumulated days & years, our world-involvement side took over and we became cynic and selfish about our lifestyle. We knew that holiness wouldn’t cut it, that only the tough survive. Nothing new here. Scripture readings address the tension of many generations–ours, too–of living a responsible life in the face of so many material pressures.

The desolation of JEREMIAH shows up in 8:18-9:1: “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved….Is there no balm in Gilead?” The Prophet speaks for YHWH, wishing to cry over the “slain of my poor people”. Jeremiah adopts a stance between YHWH and the people, who have abandoned their ethics and trust in a half-tolerated liturgy… The “wounded” here are the “sin-sick souls” who recognize their afflictions to be a matter of dis-ease and un-wholeness/un-holiness. Ancient words challenge modern hearers to hold onto the Vision.

I TIMOTHY, probably a disciple of Paul, urges his readers to nurture that vision to ALL–even (uggh!) kings & rulers (2:1-7). The Savior desires EVERYONE to be included within the fold! (What about despots of all ages, military conquerors and corrupt former presidents?) It’s always difficult for me to invite the homeless and the unwashed in a spirit of hospitality. It would be easier if Jesus had come to only rich heterosexual white guys… but All means ALL. God continues to stretch the envelope of my comfort zone, and displays The Vision in surprising places.

LUKE 16:1-13 is a satirical story told by Jesus, where a crooked manager is getting sacked. “What’ll I do?? Who’ll invite me to dinner NOW?” So he told the boss’ creditors to fudge their accounts–and the boss commended the manager for looking out for himself! (Ethics? But think of the JOBS!!) Long ago I was urged to file a complaint about a misplaced raincoat, which I declined to do. I was then told, “Nice guys finish last!” Do they? On whose racetrack? Helen Montgomery Debevoisek says, “Even in the present age, with the imperfect treasures of this world, we are stewards of God.” (FEASTING on the WORD, C 4:97)

And so we struggle, one foot on the dock and one foot in the rowboat. Paradise looks SO nice…yet we’re caught in the daily rat race of getting and having. Despite my best intentions, momentary valuations creep up on me–and I’m once again embracing commerce and rationalizing my morals. I guess that participation in the holy is the singular way to Hold Onto the Vision.

Even without looking at the calendar you can tell it’s late Summer, for now the spiders outside are coming into the house to establish their winter quarters. Each one seems to be claiming a corner of the room or bookcase or doorframe, and spinning a complex web to trap any small insects who might blunder into it. Sometimes they’re bigger webs, and they trap ME! That brings us to the upcoming weekend’s texts, which describe the rip we humans have made in the complexity of Creation.

A searing desert wind leads JEREMIAH to speak at the People of God, and especially their leaders (4:11-12, 22-28). He calls the people “foolish” and “stupid”, “skilled in doing evil, but do not know how to do good”. God sees only a deserted desolation, absent of song and of human community. “The behavior of Israel, its leaders and people, amounts to a rejection of the generous purposes and character of God in creating the world and then Israel itself.” (Dwight M. Lundgren, in FEASTING on the WORD, C 4:55) The GOOD news comes in the 27th verse, “Yet I will not make a full end.”

A more positive note is struck by the writer of I TIMOTHY 1:12-17: he describes how broken Saul’s/Paul’s life and conduct had been, and what a great change was seen in Paul after his blindness/conversion. “But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience, making me an example to those who would come to believe in him for eternal life.” It seems as if God is willing to take lemons and make lemonade! God goes to remarkable extremes to repair Creation, to let the people know that evil and brokenness shall not prevail; and that wholeness of body, mind and spirit is the ultimate connection that binds each to the other…

In LUKE 15:1-10, Jesus tells two dinner-table stories: one is the story of the Good Shepherd who leaves his 99 faithful sheep and goes searching for the one who’s wandered off; and the second is the account of the conscientious woman who has mislaid one of her ten matching coins (a dowry?), and who turns the house inside out to find it. They’re jubilantly successful, of course–“Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” (Is that why I spend so much time repenting about Yesterday? to give the angels joy Today?) Note that the joyful community is because the evil-doer has been restored to them, and wholeness once again reigns.

Back to the spider-webs–even though we diligently try to sweep ’em away, soon the persistent little arachnids have spun a new and improved castle in the corner. Every time we humans tear the completeness of their cloth, they repair it! Maybe a tenacious God is telling me a parable about the wholeness designed by the Creator…and how I can yet be part of that…

In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King

Please join me every Tuesday to again wrestle with scripture lessons assigned to the upcoming weekend; at horacebrownking.com