Sometimes I feel as though I’m from Mars, speaking a totally alien language. The Church is meant to be counter-cultural; but I sure do miss the Old Days when everyone claimed an allegiance, or at least went through the motions. Somewhere we learned to again confront the System, preaching still the doctrines of forgiveness, sharing and love. Scriptures heard in worship during the coming weekend reflect the tension between believers and the System.
GENESIS 45:3-15 tells the story of Joseph, now a high muckety-muck in Egypt, receiving his unknowing brothers who were looking for relief from the famine. The irony, of course, is that the brothers once wished to harm Joseph, and now were dependent upon his largess. What goes ’round comes ’round. Could the brothers ever forgive themselves? Is Joseph being God-like in his extreme forgiveness? What part of ego did Joseph and his brothers have to override?
I CORINTHIANS 15: 38ff is one of my favorites to use at funerals: it deals with our questions about what we’ll look like in Heaven. The verse, “If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body” always jumps out at me. Everyone believes in the after-life, just read the obituaries. But if we truly believe in the resurrection bye ‘n’ bye, it should change our moral behavior in THIS life. Or should we just go along to get along? Is there something controversial in our attitude that doesn’t kow-tow to business-as-usual?
LUKE 6:27-38 continues last week’s exploration of the Sermon on the Plane: those who still stayed to hear Jesus were given a list of how their behaviors might change to embrace Christianity. (I have my own problems of giving cheerfully to those who ask.) How do we respond to others with kindness, which may be a strange commodity for the downtrodden? Those who embrace this alternative lifestyle are embarking on disaster: the System has no room for those who are sensitive to need or wishing to change the world! These teachings call the hearer to live in a way contrary to human nature–which is impossible without a Holy Presence to undergird and comfort…
It’s scary, and sometimes I regret having a conscience. Thank Heaven we’ve been given these occasions to swim upstream against the current; and also thank Heaven that there have been much more recent demonstrations of faith even though no hope seems secure. Keep on believing! (It may be our only way out…)
In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King
Join us each Tuesday to be confronted by the holiness of scripture expected to be read on the upcoming weekend: at horacebrownking.com
My Blog 
Leave a comment