My Blog

Christians are supposed to be optimistic! After all, Scripture is loaded with the eventual wholeness of Creation: God wins! And yet…it may be my advancing Old Age, but I oftentimes feel that Murphy may have been right… The GOOD news is that even though laments seem to have risen from the beginning of time, we’re not done yet. Lessons for the upcoming weekend–not including those congregations observing All Saint’s this weekend–lean toward those of us who are naturally gloomy.

After the opening lament, HABAKKUK 2:1-4 pictures the watchman at the top of the tower taking the long view; that is, the prophet/priest scans the horizon for a word of hope from God. And that word came: “For there still is a vision for the appointed time; it speaks of the end, and does not lie. lf it seems to tarry, wait for it; it will surely come, it will not delay.” The Church must keep on looking for this vision–and celebrating those small instances of personal fulfillment where we’ve seen God at work.

Who wrote II THESSALONIANS, and does it matter? The opening greeting is from “Paul, Silvanus & Timothy”, indicating a team approach to planting church congregations. According to this greeting, there IS a peace in troubled times that appears through Christ. At times the troubles of the world drive folks together for mutual support, and perhaps the Grace of God is accentuated by this gathering (verses 1-4) What is the “worthiness” of God’s call (verses 11-12)? Some translate this word as “deserving”: not that we are now, but in the love of Christ shall be…

Can anyone read the story of Zacchaeus (LUKE 19:1-10) without singing the song? (When I asked Zacchaeus for a loan, he replied that he was a little short, today…) Anyway, he climbed a nearby tree to get a better look at Jesus; a new perspective, if you will. Now Zacchaeus wasn’t really a bad guy, he was dissed because he worked for The Man–Caesar. Moreover, he seemed to be head of a pyramid scheme involving other tax-collectors. He was looking at the long view of Jesus/God drawing near, and renewed his own commitment to charitable love of the downtrodden. This is a story about Grace developing off the horizon, more than one of Z’s new vision.

Habakkuk, Zacchaeus and Paul all climbed to new heights to check the horizon for God’s Goodness. “It hurts a lot when the wicked win at your expense. God’s promise is what we have to rely on: though it tarry, it will come. Though it linger, it will arrive. How do we find the patience to wait…?” (Donna Schaper, in FEASTING on the WORD, C 4:243)

In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King

Every Tuesday I explore the texts assigned by the Lectionary to services on the upcoming weekend. Join me at horacebrownking.com

Years ago, my big project was to make a compendium of all the Prayers of Confession I’ve written across the years. Quite a few of them are pretty good. My working title was “We Know Who We Are: Prayers of Confession for the Christian Year”. But I guess it proved too much for me… I may yet do it. Someday. Texts to be heard during the upcoming weekend could be seen as ancient history–OR they could be analogies of our contemporary crimes against God (COMmission and OMmission); and, of course, God’s ultimate grace.

JOEL 2:23-32 is most famous for a reading on Pentecost: verses 28 & 29 speak of the “pouring out of the spirit”. But there’s a lot more in there! The expression of Grace is especially noted in the Recognition Formula, “You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I, the Lord, am your God and there is no other.” God announces that even though our darkness is terrifying, there is coming an Ultimate Light. A happy ending is in store! In all of this, do we know who we are?

A side trip into PSALM 65 is in order: a reading generally reserved for harvest festivals also includes the verse, “When deeds of iniquity overwhelm us, you forgive our transgressions.”

We’re still perusing the mentoring of TIMOTHY, II 4:6-8,16-18. Paul (?) isn’t hung up on his previous hostility to the Christian movement, but gives thanks for the many opportunities of a full and prosperous life. The author acknowledges that there’ll be conflict, and occasion to bemoan our shortcomings and brokenness. Yet the disciple can be assured that even the “most hopeless” can know who they are–and move on from there, guided by Christ.

So Jesus tells a parable (as retold in LUKE 18:9-14) about the best of guys and the worst, both praying in the Temple. Surprisingly, the Pharisee with all of his lengthy prayers and fancy clothes has to leave empty–mostly because he thought himself better than the (UGH!) Tax Collector. This despised Tax Collector was justified–made right with God–not for his behavior, but for his willingness to admit his imperfections. “All who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.” Obviously the fellow knew who he was, as opposed to the holier-than-thou Pharisee who was blinded by his own glitz…

I once thought that when I grew Old, I wouldn’t be as prone to separation from God. Wrong!! Not to have a pity-party, but I realize more ‘n’ more how imperfect and broken I am! I need these times of Confession to admit to these defects–and our culture also needs to know who we are…

In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King

Please join me on Tuesdays at horacebrownking.com to be met by scripture lessons to be read on the upcoming weekend.

Years ago, I had a cartoon that showed a heron trying to swallow a frog. This wasn’t successful: the frog was choking the heron with his front feet. The caption read, NEVER GIVE UP! Right. I confess that there seem to be times when I’ve done all I can, yet nothing has changed for the better. Scriptures to be heard this weekend are for others like me who are just tired of trying to “do good” and change the world.

JEREMIAH (31:27-34) continues to give comfort to the Exiles now living in Babylon: “The days are surely coming, says the Lord….so I will watch over them to build and to plant…” The People of Israel appeared to be incapable of Righteousness, so YHWH is taking the initiative to establish a NEW covenant, the Way of God to be within them. So God hasn’t abandoned us after all! Are there those on the doorstep of giving up on redemption, saying “God can never love ME”? Yet God keeps on initiating a relationship with those exiles in a Strange Land.

II TIMOTHY 3:14-4:5 is an exhortation from experience to all of us who are timid. “Continue in what you have learned and firmly believed.” OF COURSE it’s tough to Do Good–but hang in there! Despite our tiredness, the Lord is still with us. There will be those with “itching ears” who will seek out popular doctrines of success and worldly gain. Scriptures–both sacred and civil–are full of stories of people who’ve wandered away but returned.

LUKE 18:1-8 is Jesus’ story of the judge who “feared neither man nor God” and the widow who kept pestering her by pleading her cause. Afraid that she’d come and slap her in the face (a big insult in those days), she declared in the widow’s favor. Warning–this is a story, not an allegory of God! It’s told to encourage the disciple to be persistent in prayer and to expect a favorable result in God’s Good Time. To Luke, persistence in prayer and focus on the righteousness of God are matters of faith: if we believe, then we’ll keep on praying.

John M. Buchanan, lately of the CHRISTIAN CENTURY, reminds us in FEASTING on the WORD (C 4:193), “Count on God to come down on the side of justice. Count on God to hear the ones who have no power, no influence, no voice. Count on God to hear those who have nowhere else to turn. Count on God not always to grant your requests, but to hear, with loving, parental patience, the persistent prayers of your heart.”

In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King

Join me every Tuesday to be encouraged and confronted by texts to be read on the upcoming weekend–at horacebrownking.com

Last night Marie dropped me off at Barnes & Noble while she went grocery shopping. (Believe me, it’s better that way.) While I strolled around looking at things, I ran across the “Fantasy” section–shelf after shelf after shelf of stories about dragons, witches and voices from the Past. Maybe it’s because Hallowe’en is soon upon us… Or maybe it’s a general phenomenon of bored Americans looking for less-explored lands? Lots of us would like to be Somewhere Else. Lessons to be read on the upcoming weekend urge hearers to be alive where they are.

The backstory to JEREMIAH 29: 1, 4-7 is that the citadel of Jerusalem has fallen to the Babylonians, and almost all of the people have been deported. So Jeremiah wrote them a letter in which he told the Exiles not to waste time & energy bemoaning their fate, but rather “build houses, plant gardens…take wives and have sons & daughters….But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in ITS welfare you will find YOUR welfare.” The Psalmist wrote (137:4), “How could we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?” Jeremiah’s rebuttal, “Just DO it!” Stop moping around and get on with it!

St. Paul (??) also told his associate TIMOTHY to get on with it (2:8-15). The younger fellow showed some honest anxiety about his Christian ministry and evidently had mentioned that he felt uncertain about getting involved for the whole nine yards. Paul speaks of his own imprisonment for standing up against the current, but reminds Timothy/us that “the word of God is not chained”. Timothy has been chosen to bear the gospel to others, “a worker who has no need to be ashamed”.

LUKE alone has the story of the 10 Lepers 17:11-19). This group of outcasts approached Jesus in the no-man’s land “between Samaria and Israel” seeking healing. (How did they know about him?) Says here that they were healed “as they went”. Went to be pronounced Whole, to resume their daily lives, to rejoin their families. One not steeped in Judaism returned to thank Jesus: “Where are the other nine?” (Old seminary joke says that “those ingrates moved to my parish, and their descendants live there to this day!”) Evidently God’s power and mercy extend to ALL, whatever their tribe calls themselves…

No one said that life is fair. Sometimes life gives us lemons. So while we’re searching for the juicer to make lemonade, we stay alive in God’s Wholeness/Holiness, aware that “There’s a dawn in every darkness, bringing hope to you and me”. Hey, I’m not dead yet!

In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King

Please join me every Tuesday as we’re confronted by Scripture texts to be read during worship on the upcoming weekend: at horacebrownking.com

“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

Ah, for the days when God was in [his] heaven, and all was “right with the world”! Now in my dotage, I get overwhelmed by the seriousness of Life, especially Life often marred by the contentiousness and anger of “corrupt” politics. Texts for the upcoming weekend are hard words for those wanting to be left alone: professing disciples are slapped by justice issues and those of racism, militarism and profiteering. This Christian life is difficult–thank God that we have God’s strength to see and act beyond our own meager resources…

Down in the dumps? Better not read JEREMIAH 18:1-11, the famous tale of the potter and his clay. As Jeremiah watched, he saw the potter discover a glitch in the vessel he was throwing. The potter worked the clay into something else. Extra time, extra work, maybe extra money. Although modern folks understand this as an analogy of their own lives being reformed, Jeremiah/God’s direction was to recast the PEOPLE of Israel. Notice, please, that the prophet’s concept of God is one of continuous creation, that God is constantly doing new things (as opposed to a pre-ordained clockwork Creation). This process is a messy one: Sally A. Brown envisions God being messy up to the elbows. Has God become the clay itself to model how the People can be integrated into a holy vision?

The Letter to PHILEMON is certainly different from Paul’s community admonishments. The impetus of this letter–and why it’s in the Bible– continues Paul’s envisioning of holy communities where folks exist as siblings, where there is “no slave or free”. What does it cost to free our slaves? Will I be able to invest in the stouter-than-I person who walks into the restaurant? What I do now is to pat myself on the back, congratulating myself on being thinner…thereby enslaving that person…

LUKE 14:25-33 continues the story of Jesus marching on Jerusalem. Large crowds were joining his parade, and he reminded them of their holy priorities: whoever puts family or even life itself ahead of carrying their own cross should turn around now. Two illustrations follow: the would-be builder who didn’t count the possibilities; and the ill-prepared ruler whose army didn’t have a chance against his neighbor’s. If you’re gonna join a movement, you’d better count the cost of what this is gonna involve…

I was thrilled at age 16 to be able to buy an old car! Dad said, “What about insurance?” and Mom said, “What about repairs?” “Oh, ” said I, “I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.” Well….good thing I had a profitable paper-route, ‘cuz those bridges came pretty quickly! I guess it was a “teaching moment”: I learned the hard way to Count the Cost. Now some call me Stingey, but I think of myself as Frugal, enshrining my Scottish heritage. Seriously, what will it cost to be a practicing Christian?

In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King

Join me in confronting scriptural texts to be heard on the upcoming weekend; every Tuesday at horacebrownking.com

My father-in-law had a knack of saying funny things without realizing it. One day when Marie and I were first engaged, he and I were discussing my life-prospects and possibilities. I told him, “Someday, I’ll get ahead”; to which he replied, “Yes, and you’ll probably need one”. {!!} Scriptural texts read during worship on the upcoming weekend are two cautionary tales plus some ways of doing the Christian life.

JEREMIAH 2:4-13 finds our boy immediately (?) taking on the people of God, grown careless about their part of the Covenant. He says that they’ve forgotten their ancient holy-history and derisively chortle, “Where is the Lord?” They’ve addressed things as equally important as YHWH: “But my people have changed their glory for something that does not profit.” Two evils are noted–1) that they’ve forsaken God, the fountain of living water; and 2) they’ve dug out cracked cisterns that can NEVER hold living water… It’s a small leap forward to our own culture, where many things and values are idolized.

The Letter to the HEBREWS gives us some possibilities of living the life of a disciple (13:1-8, 15-16). I especially like the bit about offering hospitality to all, ’cause they might be angels! Among other things, we’re encouraged to reverence those who introduced us to God’s Presence: “Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.” Nothing particularly new about this; it’s a reiteration of the message God gave from the beginning. “Do not neglect to do good [by following the way of Jesus] and to share what you have…”

Ah, how great I am! LUKE 14:1, 7-14 recalls a story that Jesus offered about choosing your seats at a dinner, or maybe standing last in line at the pot-luck. It’s supposed to make us uncomfortable, since most of us think more highly of ourselves than others do! King Arthur had the right idea by making his table round…and we read with horror the concluding legend of the knights’ vanity as they fell away from the “brief shining moment that was known as Camelot.” Compare this with the Table of Our Lord, which shares a holy essence with ALL who come, especially the imperfect and the downtrodden.

So…how do I get to be more humble? How do I pull down the idols of my shiny toys which stand between me and the God of Forever? Maybe I should start to follow the way of Jesus more closely, and to share my many riches with others who could use them? Tomorrow…

In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King

My ruminations about the texts assigned for the upcoming weekend continue each Tuesday: come help me chew over what I believe to be a message from God.