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Many moons ago, my father-in-law, a farmer, decided to take a several-day vacation; would I hellp by feeding his sheep? Sure. I had seen him do it many times: he’d put feed in a bucket, walk into the middle of the pasture, and shout “Kedai!”–and they’d all come running. So my first day on the job, I put feed in the bucket, walked into the middle of the pasture, and shouted “Kedai!” A few sheep lifted their heads, but kept on grazing. After a few shouts more–and being ignored–I finally set the bucket where they could reach it and left. They didn’t know me OR my voice, Scriptures this weekend involve the knowing of the Lord by the community of Christ, and following wherever God may lead.

Luke has been trying to affirm the apostles’ actions after being touched by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. In ACTS 2:42-47 we hear about the new community being formed, and how they lived communally with no private ownership of possessions. Notice, please, that believers still worshiped in the Temple, adhering to Judaism for the time being. This is an acknowledgement of the dependence the “new” Church had on the previous spirituality–all refined by the centrality of Christ. The message for our real-time congregations is that the early Church saw the need around them, and took a risk. Where shall WE go?

Sometime thereafter, I PETER 2:19-25 assures the underground Christians that their suffering (?) is but a reflection of how Jesus suffered. I don’t really think this calls for self-flagelation–but it does reassure believers of all ages that God is still in charge when their lives go askew. Here we hear the Voice of God again, aligning our perceived trials with those of Jesus. Far too many throughout the world are still enslaved by poverty, racisim and being seen as “those” people; yet they are also part of Jesus’ community. “For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.” Joy Douglas Strome reminds us that, “The Shepherd knows our name and leads us through this age and the next. With our soul guarded by the good shepherd, the freedom to act alternatively in the world starts to look like a possibility.” (FEASTING on the WORD, A 2:440)

JOHN 10:1-10 is sthe famous Good Shepherd passage, where Jesus describes himself as the “gate” to the sheepfold. In this age of Gated Communities designed to keep the riff-raff out, this can be an unfortunate segment. BUT the purpose here is that Jesus acts to PROTECT his sheep. (Let the reader be aware that John wrote to a group of folks who knew other imposter shepherds; there can be a scent of gnosticism–I’m in and you’re not!–here.) Are there sheep that are left behind? How much does God love the world? Be careful in constructing an analogy too tightly! The bottom line is, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

We city-folk don’t know much about sheep, ‘cept that they’re cute and cuddly. We forget that they smell bad and are among the stupidist of God’s creatures. But Christ loves them all, protects and leads them to where the grass is green and the waters are still. Salvation, then, may be the proclivity to give up all our possessions and agendas, to follow where Jesus leads us without question.

In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King

You’re invited to share every Tuesday in the directness of lessons designed to be read during the upcoming weekend; at horacebrownking.com

I’m a gardener. About this time of year I get all excited about what flowers & vegetables to plant. I found some old seed packets from several seasons ago, but few plants germinated from these old seeds. They were completely lifeless, perishing right there on my shelf. BUT I got some seeds of more recent date, and now we’ll see what sprouts! Funny, they looked about the same as the others: dry, shriveled and useless… Scripture to be read on this Third Weekend of Easter is meant to advise spiritual gardeners that what seems to be dead does indeed spring to life, by God’s grace! Let those with ears hear and own for themselves this Good News.

ACTS 2:36-41 is the conclusion of Peter’s sermon on the First Pentecost, where Passover pilgrims were astounded to hear God’s message in their own languages. He said, “Save yourself from the old dry seeds–oops–this crooked generation”. N.B.–these nascent believers were just little sprouts, not yet fully ripe! Don’t razz those around you who are still in the growth process. And you? The Holy Spirit continues to guide believers old and new into a closer walk…

We continue to hear the words of PETER (or one of his team) in I 1:17-23. We go on with the agrarian simile: “You have been born anew, not of perishable but imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God.” Face it, this is a throw-away world & culture: don’t fix your shoes, get new ones; don’t worry about scratches on the car, get a new one; spouse let you down? get a new one… The hymnist writes, “Death and decay in all around I see; O thou who changest not, abide with me.” Here Christ helps us along “to Perfection”, even while nearby systems don’t deliver.

LUKE’s Gospel, 24:13-35, is the Easter story of two weary disciples on their way back home to Emmaus (not near Allentown, but near Jerusalem) suddenly joined by a stranger that told them all about Resurrection. Blinded by grief & disappointment, they didn’t recognize Jesus until supper. They had been stuck in the perishable, the story of a dead Master confined by the power of Death. But that’s last year’s seeds! From now on, the imperishable can laugh at the old dominion of wear & tear! The writer includes this call to the Gentile Church to lift it from the Road to Nowhere into a sense of possibility and hope. These weeks after Easter announce a sense of renewal, as Creation forms again…

Barbara K. Lundblad tells us, “By the time this letter [I Peter] was written, news of Jesus who had been raised from death had traveled far beyond Jerusalem. The bright light of Easter was shining far beyond the tomb. Can we help people see that spreading light?” (in FEASTING on the WORD, A 2:415). Our final prayer may well ascend, “Lord of Harvest, grant that we wholesome grain and pure may be.”

In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King

Please stay tuned every Tuesday as we wrestle with Scripture to be heard on the upcoming weekend: at horacebrownking.com

In MY FAIR LADY, Eliza sings to her would-be boyfriend, “Don’t speak of Love…Show me”. Readings for this Second (weekend) in Easter are geared to help folks like you and me ask the helpful questions. That is, these passages affirm that it’s really OK to question spiritual matters–our faith is deepened by exploring these things beyond our comprehension and asking for more insight. Our “doubts” become a conversation with God about the Risen Christ and what we’re expected to do about this.

During these weeks after Easter, the reading from the Old Testament will be replaced with one from the book of the ACTS OF THE APOSTLES, in this case, 2:22-32. Here we find Peter addressing the Pentecost crowds in Jerusalem, many of whom have just heard the Gospel of Christ for the first time in their own language. “But God raised him up, having freed him from death….This Jesus God raised up, and of that all of us are witnesses.” Those witnesses from Crete and Rome, from Egypt and Arabia and other far-off places took the message of the resurrected Jesus back home with them, to be shared and believed in the Mediterranean world. This reading tends to be a wake-up call to us who have heard the story ten or a thousand times.

PETER (or someone writing in his name) continues this sermon at a later time in I, 1:3-9: “Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy.” Don’t analyze it, just DO it! The Church’s ministry in this world is but one more opportunity to show the treasures to be shared in the real-time presence of Christ.

The Gospel is that unique story of JOHN 20:19-31, where the friends of Jesus were gathered after the Resurrection and Jesus came to them with the breath of the Holy Spirit. All but Thomas, who’s gotten a bad rap for his”doubting” when all he wanted was to verify what he was told. Is this too good to be true? Or should he believe the wistful yearnings of the others? And do we?? What is the role of the Holy Spirit in our own expressions of “My Lord and my God!”? Far too many are neglecting their appointed ministries while they’re dithering about the perceived marks of Crucifixion.

Kathleen Long Bostrom writes in FEASTING on the WORD (A 2:376) “Whether by understanding or a lightning-bolt moment,, somewhere along the way your spirit awakened to the truth that Jesus is more than the name of someone who lived a couple thousand years ago.” Thomas-like, we weigh the words of our friends–and eventually (soon?) confess that he is truly Lord. “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King

You’re invited to join in the conversation about readings assigned to the upcoming weekend every Tuesday at horacebrownking.com

Golly gee, it must be Spring! Hyacinths and daffodils are blooming, birds are calling to each other and building nests, and promiscuous Bunnies are turning to chocolate in the grocery stores. Oh, and Easter, the Day of Resurrection calls believers to raptures of joy and enthusiasm. Readings for Sunday tell the timeless story to those who’ve not paid attention before…while others tune their hearts to the challenge of “So What Now?” There’re many worthy scriptures for Easter; I’ve rather randomly chosen these three.

Why not begin with JEREMIAH 31:1-6? The prophet has recently witnessed the destruction of the Temple and the carrying off of leaders to captivity in Babylon. There’s not much to sing about. Yet he absurdly calls the People to look ahead, to see the reconstruction of the Promised Land! God is going to reverse history and reclaim the impossible? “Again I will build you, and you shall be built, O virgin Israel!” Can this message again be preached to the war-torn, to the homeless, to the huddled masses yearning to breathe free? And if this is your God, how shall we worship and serve in a Kingdom where death doesn’t have the final word?

Paul’s team wrote to the COLOSSIANS (3:1-4) some terse words of direction for the Christian. Among them is, “Set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” In other words, if you’re gonna claim to be a follower of the Risen Christ, then ACT like one.

And thus the well-told Easter message in JOHN 20:1-18. There are so many happy details to follow, but what sprang out at me just now was verse 17, where Jesus told the ecstatic Mary Magdelene, “Do not hold on to me…” Obviously on a mission, Jesus didn’t want to be detained by earthly love when he had so much to do on Heaven’s behalf. Some have assumed this encounter to indicate that only Jesus’ SPIRIT was resurrected–but no, he was as physical as you or I are. Here was one more ultimate instance of God turning the world upside-down, of reclaiming death from life, of snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. Despite the best attempts of powers and principalities, the world will never again be the same.

John C. Holbert writes, “Easter is about the sort of God we worship, a God who will always have the last laugh, even in the face of that old dog, death.” (FEASTING on the WORD, A 2:355) May your new life be a blessed one…

In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King

Please join me on Tuesdays as we’re confronted by the scripture readings for the upcoming weekend–at horacebrownking.com