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Every so often the texts to be explored on the upcoming weekend don’t really go together. Blame Vicki of Nashville. This week is one of those where the Golden Thread is difficult to find. But it seems to me that God uses these varied experiences of The People to underline the point: that humanity isn’t ordained for suffering and insecurity, but for the fulfillment of a Dream, an idea in the mind of God. We remember many times when we thought we were starving–and God provided! So what we’re looking at is the experience of a Providential God giving us more than we expected.

EXODUS 16:9-15 is part of the story of how the Hebrews, the desert wanderers, gradually became the ethical and spiritual community of God. The Back to Egypt committee had been whining that they needed more sustenance. YHWH told them, “OK, have it your way.” And a multitude of quails came to the Hebrew camp, and the Bread of Heaven appeared with the dew. MANNA means, “What is it?” These gifts became part of the Jewish story-tradition, and reminded hearers through the centuries that a loving God has signed a relief to them.

Paul, or a member of his team, wrote encouraging words to the EPHESIAN Church. Here in 4:11-16, the hearers are urged to tune in to holy gifts as discovered in their members and in the body as a whole, “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the Body of Christ…” Part of that ministry is to proclaim the abundant provision of a very present God.

The Gospel of JOHN, 6:24-35, continues the story of the holy intersection between Jesus and his hungry people. Having been fed in the wilderness, they wanted to squirrel away Jesus’ power so they’d ALWAYS be fed. (As you may remember, this didn’t work with the manna, either.) But look!, the provision ascribed to Moses was really from GOD who always appears just at the right time. Thus Jesus walked the earth–and still does. Those who ingest his presence and his being are blessed with a nourishment which goes beyond quail and manna.

In telling these stories, we’re enriched by the remembrance and implicit knowledge of a God who provides. We ‘self-made’ persons would do well to accept our position within the wholeness of Heavenly Culture, to devote our time and energy to the development of our community, “to equip the saints for the work of ministry…” Will there be enough manna to go around? Most assuredly!

In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King

You’re invited!–to join with us each Tuesday to hear the lessons to be read in worship during the upcoming weekend. And bring a friend….

I guess it’s whether we see the glass as half-full or half-empty. I admit that hearing and reading the news makes me very cynic: poverty levels in developing nations; the hopelessness of the homeless; the social isolation of sick elderly… I mean, what can my little bit do in the face of so much need? Lessons to be heard on the upcoming weekend acknowledge that the need is great, BUT that God’s aid is never scarce.

II KINGS 4:42-44 tells the story of an unnamed fellow who was doing OK, although he lived in turbulent times. (Don’t we all?) He brought a significant share of his “first fruits” to the prophet Elisha–whose name translates to “God has granted salvation”–and God had him distribute the food to the people there, collecting many crumbs. The brief reading says 1), that there really is need in the world; and 2), that God surprises us with the realization of many blessings. In the midst of need, God provides. Can you risk thinking outside the box?

EPHESIANS 3:14-21 has lots to talk about–the verse that jumped out at me is the 21st, “Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine…” God’s provided bounty isn’t dependent upon where we live or with whom; we are not under the rules of “scarcity”. How many good programs never have seen the light of day because “we just don’t have enough__”? The Church at Ephesus and her descendants is commended for risking, and challenged to risk more.

JOHN 6:1-21 is this apostle’s telling of the Feeding of the Great Crowd. The followers of Jesus thought that this doesn’t make any sense at all, but they trusted him enough to do it. At the end of common sense is Jesus, calling the Crowd to enjoy the abundance. “…in the hands of Jesus, little can become much, the few can become the many, and the weak can become strong.” (Cheryl Bridges Johns, in FEASTING on the WORD,B 3:289)

This is hard for me to remember. I grew up (?) pinching pennies and worrying about whether I had “enough”. But I did, through God’s largesse. Maybe this is you, too?

In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King

Please share this with your friends, and join with us every Tuesday to explore scriptural texts which will be presented on the upcoming weekend; at horacebrownking.com

The word PATHOS, from the Greek, is usually meant to convey the feeling of sympathy, or even pity. From this we get our words of “passion” and “compassion”. Texts to be explored on the upcoming weekend address God’s direct encounters with the comings and goings of humankind. Here is a God who’s not an absentee landlord on a cloud somewhere, but has specific concerns with people and joins with them in their perplexities.

JEREMIAH has some pretty tough words for the rulers of Judah in 23:1-6. He accuses them of being careless with the sheep, even to the point of scattering them to other pastures. God expects more. There is a divine pathos/compassion expressed here to restore the holy fields and to fill them with justice. “I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply.” And there’s always a promise involved: we are to look for and welcome the Great Shepherd, emulating God’s protection and justice.

EPHESIANS 2:11-22 speaks about the human barricades we’ve constructed to separate “our own” sheep from “those others”. “The peace of Christ is a shocking new reality in which former enemies who would not touch or eat with one another now reach out to one another in recognition of their common humanity.” (Edwin Searcy, in FEASTING on the WORD, B 3:257) “Our reunion in Christ reunites us not only to one another. It is the path to our reunion with God.” (op.cit.) The Holy One continues to seek us out, to be involved with our human wanderings.

The Gospel, MARK 6:30-34, 53-56, tells us many things surrounding the Feeding of the Multitudes, the “missing” passage. “(Jesus) saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd…” This compassion could be said to be the center of Creation, and the life force of holy humanity. Cheryl Bridges Johns indicts us all by claiming that Holy Compassion is to “people who are weak, overwhelmed by evil forces, and unable to sustain a viable existence.” (ibid.,261) Who, me?? Here Jesus is more than a dispenser of Grace, he actually joins this crowd of directionless and desperate people.

Our God is an empathic God, one who will stoop down to the dust from which we were Created and get God’s hands dirty along with the people. We also are supposed to go to the wandering and bring them home to safety.

In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King

Please join us each Tuesday to explore scriptures to be presented on the upcoming weekend–and pass this on to your friends!

Norman Podhoretz has described prophetic action as two-pronged: speaking God’s Word as it’s perceived; and confronting the prevalent idols. (THE PROPHETS, Simon & Schuster, 2002) Scriptural passages heard on the upcoming weekend lift up this tradition of continuing God’s Presence and speaking out against rival gods. Contemporary followers of God are twisted & turned by forces seeking allegiance. We the People often find it more convenient to go along, get along.

AMOS, a herdsman from Tekoa near Jerusalem, was sent by YHWH to the Northern Kingdom of Israel– out of bounds–to illustrate with a plumb line how far out the people were. King Jeroboam was the leader of this spiritual defection, thus he would be killed and Israel overthrown (7:7-15). (see the 10 Lost Tribes) The entire Book of this prophet has to do with the abuse of the poor and the aggrandizement of the rich. You may well say, “That’s no longer OUR position: we’ve fooled God with our empty words and shallow justice!” Michael Jinkins reminds us that “Amos’ integrity lies in his ability, in his willingness, and ultimately in his courage to bear testimony to this word.” (FEASTING on the WORD, B 3:220)

“The best solution” to the authorship of the Letter to the EPHESIANS “is to posit a follower of Paul who wrote a general letter, and, in accord with ancient custom, attributed it to the one whose ideas he was expounding.” (ibid., Paul Achtemeier, page 231) Here in the very beginning, 1:3-14, we encounter the gracious intent of God to heal, redeem and forgive our brokenness. We who are marked by the Holy Spirit–ALL of us!–are to share in these blessings by announcing (again) what God is doing in the midst of our troubled world.

Many of us are familiar with the beheading of John the Baptizer: today it is presented in MARK 6:14-29. It seems that John had been speaking out about King Herod Antipas’ lecherous involvement with his sister-in-law, Herodias. For this he was thrown in jail, and martyred for his faithfulness. Herod gave a dinner-party to impress the local toadies, and rashly promised his step-daughter, Salome, that he would give her whatever she wished. Coached by her mother, who was smarting about the inferences of John, she asked for his head on a platter. Was John a prophet, speaking Truth to Power? Are you?? To what lengths will you risk your head?

Note well: none of these occasions did much to change the world’s systems of power, greed and injustice. Nor should you expect to make an immediate difference, should you pick up the prophet’s mantle. BUT these heroes of days gone by are still enshrined for their boldness, as are the innumerable victims of the intervening years. How will you deal with the world God loved?

In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King

We’re challenged every Tuesday to plunge into the texts being presented during worship on the upcoming weekend. Tell your friends to join in at horacebrownking.com

Human society is torn between being “Godly” or the prevailing system of prestige/ownership/wealth. This is nothing new: lessons being heard on the upcoming weekend tell of prophets who have tried to speak God’s Word only to be met with the Beatles’ response, “Yeah, Yeah, Yeah”. These texts tell again the stories of those on the brink of giving up, tired and burnt out with the constant rejection.

EZEKIEL’s book jumps right in with the vision of the Chariot of God. And here in 2:1-5 he is summoned by the Almighty to go to “a nation of rebels….impudent and stubborn”. Is this Israel in the Babylonian Captivity? or is it us?? Many will say that they’re waiting for a Special Person to peel back the clouds, but here God addresses Ezekiel as “Mortal”–an everyday sort of guy. The Church–Zeke’s descendants–is called to say “Thus says the Lord”, whether or not the surrounding culture hears. Even in a strange and alien “land”, God finds us and encourages us to keep on fighting the dragon.

The collection of messages we call II CORINTHIANS is actually a chain letter probably written by Paul’s team on his behalf. 12:1-10 describes Paul’s vision(s) of heaven and thus his tenacious handling of his own “thorn in the flesh.” How do we respond to Rachel Maddow and the Supreme Court? How can we find the words to address this corrupt society and be heard? Or does anyone really care…? I guess that we’re to be the presence of Christ to others despite our personal weaknesses, daring the opportunity of rejection.

MARK 6:1-13 tells the story of Jesus preaching in his hometown, Nazareth-not-Pennsylvania. The Old Timers there remember him as Mary & Joseph’s kid, and won’t let him grow up. The second part tells about Jesus sending out his Disciples, always with the risk of not being heard. Even still, they cast out many demons and cured the sick. In the midst of rejection, a few will respond–to Ezekiel, to Paul, to Jesus and his followers. These tales encourage us to take a deep breath and plunge in again. And again.

Maybe this weekend I’ll want to pound the pulpit as we read the Psalm for the day, Number 123: “Have mercy on us, for WE HAVE HAD MORE THAN ENOUGH OF CONTEMPT. Our soul has had MORE THAN ITS FILL of the scorn of those who are at ease, of the contempt of the proud.”

In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King

Please forward this on to some of your enraged friends; and be sure to join us every Tuesday as we unpack scripture texts which will be engaged on the upcoming weekend.