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Many of us subscribe to the erroneous view that God is out to get us if we sin/transgress/deviate from being good. Scriptures to be heard on the upcoming weekend’s services try to tell us that God created us for life and not death, for perfection and not suffering. There’s not a scorecard in the sky! We do rightly believe that God has expectations about truth and justice, and that exposure to the Christian ethic will lead us on to a right relationship which lasts for ever.

The WISDOM of SOLOMON is rarely read in Protestant circles, and that’s too bad. Here in 3:1-9 is a contrast between Righteousness and Business as Usual. Sometimes ugly things happen; “for though in the sight of others they were punished, their hope is full of immortality”. The “ungodly” rationalize away the Believers’ attempts at love and justice: “we’re gonna die anyway”. Wisdom maintains that righteous souls remain with God eternally, and that a Creative God cares for each one. Can we, do we, totally trust God?

HEBREWS 9:11-14 continues to compare earthly priests with Jesus, who has entered the Holy Place in our behalf. This action makes all of Creation a Holy Place, where the People of God can gather without fear of devilish temptation. The Tempter tries, of course, to charm us with good ideas: relevance, being spectacular, power–but our relationship with Christ stands with us even in the storms.

The Gospel walks us with MARK (28-34) into Jerusalem itself, the seat of tradition and political cowardice. The seeker who asks about the commandments is ready to move beyond perfunctory prayers into a total commitment; the first and greatest commandment is to totally love the Creator, and the second is to totally love the Creation. (Scholars will remind us that commandments 1 through 4 are related to holiness; while number 5 through 10 are related to how we live out this holiness.) The man affirms that whole love of God and neighbor are worth much more than sacrifices and offerings.

Perhaps these readings will offer you peace–or perhaps show you how much you really don’t care for God of the Christian ethic. Some will go away sorrowful, because the little they do announces our lack of commitment. Others will rejoice, not because they ARE perfect, but they’re now on the road…

In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King

You’re invited to read these meanderings and comment on them every Tuesday, at horacebrownking.com

Richard Rohr, one of my heroes, writes that “there must be a happy middle”. He’s talking here about the Great Question, “Why does this stuff happen to me? (I’ve been good…)” There well may be disconsolate persons in the pew who need to know that a Loving God doesn’t guarantee them a safe passage through the Valley of the Shadow of Death. Scriptures to be heard on the upcoming weekend remind us that there may be rough roads on our journey to Life.

Some of us have been looking at JOB for several weeks. This old story is about an honest man who’s been assailed by the Tempter to see how much he can take. He’s lost everything, and has railed against God: “How can you let this happen?” But today’s passage, 42:1-17, describes Job’s now-broader understanding about how God works. “I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eyes see you.” Job has moved from being rewarded for being good to receiving God’s grace just because God loves him. The restoration (?) of Job’s lands and the prosperity of his new family will not take away the grief and suffering of before, but it reflects the honor of beginning anew.

The author of HEBREWS continues to assail us with the comparison of Jesus, the eternal High Priest, to earthly counterparts who’re blessed/hampered by their foibles of imperfection. Here in 7:23-28, those who “priest” others come and go, but Jesus is immutable. “Forgiveness is Jesus’ amazing discovery that we do not need to be bound by our 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 in FEASTING on the WORD, B 4:211)

The Gospel continues us in MARK 10:46-52, where Jesus responds to blind Bartimaeus who has been begging near the roadside. We don’t know the backstory of Bartimaeus, but we DO know that Jesus has been trying to impress upon his followers the necessity of not conforming to the world’s systems but GOD’s authority. Friends and onlookers tried to stop the beggar from meeting Jesus–it just wasn’t done–yet Jesus asked for the man’s presence and healed him because he believed that Jesus could and would. The last verse is the kicker: “Immediately he regained his sight…” Isn’t that what we all want??

Our liturgies are full of restoration. Even in the ashpits of life God joins us. God’s acquainted with suffering and knows well our human frailties. The Good News is that “earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal”.

In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King

Bring your friends to join with us each Tuesday at horacebrownking.com as we explore Scripture texts to be heard on the upcoming weekend.

Every so often, perhaps every other day, I speak to a theory or concept of world importance; and I’m always wrong. I don’t know what I’m talking about. Scripture passages to be heard on the upcoming weekend remind me and others who worship that humans have a very small voice compared to the creative words of God. The Reformers have a saying, “Man proposes, God disposes”. Yet the air is thick with rage and invective, misinformation and plain silliness…

In JOB 38, God finally answers Job’s complaints out of the whirlwind. “Where were YOU?!” Job finally gets to the realization that his discomforts are but temporary, even though God has singled him out to speak in person. What is this humanity of which we speak, and how does it differ from a holy overview? And whose world is this? Do I really know how the world should be run, or is God’s vision greater than can be experienced from my streaky front window?

HEBREWS 5:1-10 is the usual hodge-podge of otherwise holy thoughts. One of my colleagues said some time ago that the author of Hebrews had notes on 3×5 cards, but the electric fan blew them every which way. This passage could be seen as a paean to Grace: we become priests to one another “according to the order of Melchizedek” through Divine Appointment. And we accomplish this role by accepting Jesus’ model of Perfection through our own prayers and concerns. Those who speak words without knowledge are still on the Journey; treat them tenderly.

MARK 10:35-45 tells about even close disciples missing the point. James & John, the Sons of Thunder, ask Jesus for special prominence in the Kingdom. Jesus tells them that they don’t know what they’re asking. He’s talking about ministry, they’re talking about political safety. “Blessed Assurance, Jesus is MINE!” When the other guys in the group heard that the Sons of Zebedee were looking for special treatment, they were pretty mad! This was a good opportunity for Jesus to tell them–and us–that Discipleship wasn’t in their comfort zone, that many of them would really suffer for being his adherents. Here again was Mark’s constant reminder that this is an ALTERNATIVE life, whether or not we speak with a limited vision.

Nothing has changed, each generation spews sludge where knowledge is elusive. It’s only when we admit that the world is bigger than I am, and that a loving God is still in charge, that we can truly revel in the majesty which is, after all, around us.

In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King

Come every Tuesday with your friends to be challenged by the lessons to be read on the upcoming weekend: at horacebrownking.com

Are there times when it’s’ OK to yell in despair, “Where ARE you, God?” Honest pew-sitters have to admit to those moments when it seems as though “the right must fail, the wrong prevail”. Where in headline-land are those moments of Peace on Earth? Lectionary readings give us permission to rant and rave against the unGodliness all around us despite our own good intentions and playing well with others…

JOB 23 sees our hero as complaining, “Oh, that I knew where I might find [God], that I might come even to [God’s] dwelling!” He wants to plead his case of Being Good even when the storms of life are raging at his ears. He believes that God is a good ruler, a Creator of that which God called Good. This Book is Biblical because it invites us to acknowledge the darkness. Thomas Edward Frank suggests that God is waiting for us to be quiet…

HEBREWS 4:12-16 appears to go in two directions: we have the image of a double-edged sword, or is it a surgeon’s scalpel, cutting away the excess fat to revealthe barebones of the soul beneath. And then there’s the idea of a high priest who bears our needs to God, an act of grace. There’s a tension here of the human tendency to indulge and God’s tendency to restore. This sharp sword cuts into our darkness and lets the light out. Cuts through the illusions we cling to and allows God to be God.

You’ll notice that the last several weeks we’ve been studying MARK’s Gospel: Jesus telling his students that they need to be different from the rest of the world. 10:17-31 continues this exercise: an overly-rich fella asks Jesus what he has to do to inherit Eternal Life someday. Jesus tells him about the PRESENT Kingdom: “Go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.” What?! Today?! But I meant Beyond the Sunset! Well, he was close, but no cigar.

Susan B. Andrews tells us that “we can cry out with complete honesty…confessing the worst–and the best–of who we are.” (FEEDING on the WORD, B 4:160) Christianity isn’t a life-style of accepting what comes along as God’s Intent, but it IS an excercise of Hope that the downcast shall be restored.

In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King

Every Tuesday we explore the prescribed scripture passages for the upcoming weekend. You’re invited! At horacebrownking.com Gods Beyond the River

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Again, scripture to be read on the upcoming weekend is a mixed bag. Persons in the pew may be there to be comforted–but these will present more of a theological challenge. Please remember that these were written/spoken in a context not necessarily our own, and that the cutting edge of the lesson (ever so valid) may well be seen in an expression of historical morality.

We begin with some verses from JOB, 1:1 and 2:1-10. These may be some of the earliest segments of what we consider sacred, and address the universal Problem of Evil. You should understand “Satan” to be the opposite of YHWH; the Tempter, more than Old Horns ‘n’ Pitchfork. Satan tells YHWH that Job can’t POSSIBLY love him when the going gets tough. Satan also tells us that YHWH can’t love us, or why do these bad things happen?

The writer of HEBREWS deals with the same conundrum: in 1:1-4 and 2:5-12, he or she presents a suffering savior, “the pioneer of [our] salvation”, called on to “suffer” with the rest of humanity. All the picture of Christ takes its shape in the momentary incarnation of Jesus as a person. The question is reframed: how can a holy Creator allow his own perfection to be trampled so? And does a Loving God really care for me despite the earthly sufferings that seem to come along?

MARK 10:2-16 isn’t about divorce. The hearer should be reminded that in much of the “pagan” culture–Rome, Greece, perhaps Persia–marriage was a matter of convenience, not commitment. Even good Jews understood that divorce was a matter of patriarchal privilege, that a woman was property which could be put away when she became a hindrance. Jesus is here saying that Marriage is a bonding, not just a here-today sort of arrangement. Mistakes can be made, of course; are there reasons why a marriage can sour?

In “Fiddler on the Roof”, Tevye suddenly confronts the idea of Love rather than Convenience as the basis of marriage. He asks his wife, the long-suffering Gilda, if she really loves him. The answer comes in traditional style: She does his laundry fixes his meals, raises his kids… She MUST love him! Does God love us? “To the Moon and back!”

In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King

Tell your friends! –that Scripture to be read on the upcoming weekend slaps us here first; please join us every Tuesday to be examined in its light…