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Preachers and teachers have a choice, this weekend:  to use the readings for Advent 21, or to belatedly explore the lessons for All Saints’ Day.  I’ve always liked the liturgy for the Communion of Saints, so I’m opting for that.  Besides, November 1st is my birthday, and I get to choose…  Congregations need a bit of good news in the midst of Things that Go Bump in the Night; perhaps worshipers will find some affirmation here, especially after the procession of weird characters that have recently trouped from door to door.

I never know what to do with Daniel.  In today’s story, 7:1-3,15-18, Daniel had a troubling dream about four sea-creatures that thrashed about fiercely and disturbed the status quo.  He asked a friend what he thought about this, and he said that the thrashing beasts were kings who would turn the sedate into chaos.  We also are threatened by sea-beasts and you can fill in the blanks of their current names–I’d include racism, dishonesty, materialism and selfish pride on my own list.  What divine revelation would make them quiet again?

HAGIOI is used often in the New Testament, meaning the “holy ones” or saints.  The term isn’t limited to only those who’ve accomplished miracles, but extends to the entire family of believers in Christ.  The author of these verses prays that those who read them may know “the riches of [God’s] glorious inheritance among the saints”–not only as an intellectual exercise, but especially as an experience of “the fullness of him who fills all in all.”

The Gospel lesson in Luke’s collection of four Blessings and four corresponding Woes, 6:20-31.  Perhaps strange affirmations, yet they reflect Luke’s unique understanding of the complete reversal of the social and economic order (see 1:50ff; 4:18-19).  No cutting corners, here Jesus sets up the bad news with the good, a reminder to the DISCIPLES–and thus the whole church–that blessings come to the needy and that woes come to the complacent.  “To be blessed is to have a special place in God’s heart, not merely to be happy.” (E. Elizabeth Johnson in FEASTING on the WORD, C 4:239)  Knowing that we are blessed requires that we realize that we’re living precariously on the edge.

I’ve heard it said that you can’t really appreciate the Spring unless you’ve come through the Winter.  The most blessed are ones who’ve put themselves in jeopardy for their faith or to help the outcast and the persecuted.

God Bless Us, Every One                               Horace Brown King

My suppositions about scripture for the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com

“Hope,” says Walter Brueggemann, “is the conviction that this out-of-sync world will not last and cannot finally refuse God’s intent….We belong to the company of those who have not blinked!”  (SOJOURNERS, July 2019, p.36)  I’m weary of headlines and “breaking news”.  Was there really an age where William Wordsworth could wander lonely as a cloud and dance with the daffodils?  Contemporary pew-sitters hunger for encouraging and quieting words which can announce with audacity that despite the perceived chaos God is yet in charge!  Scriptures for the upcoming weekend lift up three crises which were resolved through unmerited Grace.

The prophet Joel, who spoke sometime between 530 & 330 BC, observed that the Children of Zion had gone through a bad spell of locusts and drought, attributed near & far to a God who was angry about lax worship. (2:23-32)  But better days are at hand:  “You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God….You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I, the Lord, am your God and there is no other.”  Not only does Joel announce God’s reconciling love, he forsees a day in which ALL people are recipients and channels of the Holy Spirit, and a divine drought will be no more.

The second crisis is that of Paul’s impending trial and execution, as relayed in II Timothy 4:6-8,16-18.  Paul–or someone standing in for him–bravely asserts that his ministry can bear fruit even after his death:  a libation is a drink for thirsty people.  To the anxious he points out three benefits of ministry:  there is joy in perseverance in hardship; God is in the midst of strife; and there’s a legacy in our words and actions which lasts far beyond our meager years of actual service.  In the greater picture, we’re not forsaken, even when the snows are piled high around our door.

The third crisis is one of getting right with God, set forth in Luke’s Gospel, 18:9-14.  Jesus tells of two men, polar opposites, who go to the temple to pray.  The first was a Pharisee, a pride to his community, a rule-keeper and a great man in his own eyes.  “God, I thank you that I’m not like other people: rogues, adulterers,or even like this (eww) tax-collector.”  He fasted and he tithed; he didn’t smoke and he didn’t chew and he didn’t go out with the girls that do…  The other fella was indeed a tax collector; and his neighbors probably crossed the street to avoid meeting him.  HIS prayer was real:  “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”  Thus HE was the one made right with God. The Good News for us who yearn for stability is that “all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.”

We small and vulnerable creatures fear the dark and all that may go bump in the night.  There’s no doubt that we’re surrounded by terrors and hatred that eat our hearts away.  Julian of Norwich (England) was a 13th-century anchorite saint who was prone to visions.  It seems to me that her visionary teachings can be summed up in three words, “All is Well”.  “And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long, steals on the ear the distant triumph song, and hearts are brave again, and arms are strong–Alleluia!  Alleluia!”

God Bless Us, Every One                            Horace Brown King

My encounter with lessons assigned to the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook, or at horacebrownking.com

Most of us recognize that our hearts are complex muscles which ensure that oxygen-carrying blood circulates throughout our bodies.  Several generations ago, the “heart” was considered to be the residence of the persona, the keeper of valid or invalid decisions and the container for the Essence of Life.  Today’s readers of scripture under-stand “heart” to be a metaphor for the belief and ethical life-style which ensue from our faithful relationship to God.  Readings for the upcoming weekend address God’s persistence in rebuilding that which has been damaged, and the constant flow of life which we too simply call “prayer”.

Jeremiah’s words, 31:27-34, are about as close as the Gloomy Prophet gets to “good” news.  He tells the disenfranchised that God hasn’t yet given up on them, that God is soon going to plant a new ‘n’ improved edition of the Holy People–and since the former covenant seems to be easily forgotten, this NEW covenant will be engraved upon their HEARTS!  To some of his hearers, this will border on blasphemy; ‘course, that’s what they said about Jesus, too.  But we do crave a God who will wipe the slate clean:  “I will forgive their iniquity, and remember  their sin no more.”  “God sees that forgiveness is an act of compassion prompting worth and value in another but forgetting is an act of love that reinforces the desire that the relationship not be broken.”  (Bruce G.Boak, in FEASTING on the WORD, C 4:174)

II Timothy is jam-packed with advice and exhortations from an older mentor (Paul?) to his protege.  This weekend we’ll look at 3:14 to 4:5.  Simply put, it says, “Keep on keeping on, and don’t be influenced by all the ‘wisdom’ going around.”  Despite all the baloney, God is still working and is there for us.  I’ve always been attracted to the Process Theologians, who maintain that Creation isn’t static, but is rather an idea in the mind of God, in the process of unfolding.  Wandering and return are necessary parts of this saga called the Faith Journey–and the defining news is that God rebuilds our hearts!  Every day!

Jesus’ parable of the Unjust Judge, as told in Luke 18-18, can be both confusing and abused.  It pits one at the peak of power and prestige against the culture’s most vulnerable, and seems to provide a happy ending.  The pews are full of those who’re disillusioned, tired and given up to accept the prevailing injustice, whatever they name it.  Will Jesus find those who faithfully believe that there can be a happy ending for them?  To Luke, persistence in prayer and courage to live a holy life are not abstracts, but necessities.

I remember only snippets of this song from my Sunday School days in the last century:     If the dark shadows gather as you go along, there is joy in their coming, sing a cheery              song;                                                                                                                                               In the gloom of your sadness there will soon be light,  Every cloud will wear a rainbow           if your heart keeps right.

If your heart keeps right, If your heart keeps right, there is grace for your journey                     through the darkest night;                                                                                                             If your heart keeps right, If your heart keeps right (pause here for old Mrs. Grissom to                                    hit the high note)                                                                                               Every cloud will wear a rainbow If your heart keeps right!

God Bless Us, Every One                           Horace Brown King

My encounter with lessons assigned to the upcoming weekend can be witnessed every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com

When I was a young man, so much younger than today–in days of Flower Power & the Age of Aquarius–I possessed a button which read “Bloom Where You’re Planted”.  I wore that button almost all of the time, pinned securely to my cardigan sweater.  Those were the days!  Filled with hope for the New Age, predicting an immediate end of hunger and war…  If only the Old Guard woulda listened to us Young Turks…  Nostalgia feels so good; but it’s never entirely correct.  According to Gordon Livingston, “Nostalgia is the enemy of hope.”  (quoted by Diana Butler Bass, A PEOPLE’S HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY, p.307)  Scriptures for the upcoming weekend deal with picking up the pieces and keeping on with keeping on.

Jeremiah, left behind in Jerusalem, wrote a letter to those who had been taken without their consent to Babylon (29:4-7).  In it he urged them not to be held captives by The Good Old Days in Jerusalem, rather to build houses & gardens, get married and implanted within the new place!  “But seek the welfare of the city where I [God] have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you shall find your welfare.”  This is also a religious expansion; the God of territorial Judah is evidently the God of Babylon and the rest of the world, too!  Exiles and aliens of all sorts are reminded to live in hope, because God’s still in charge.

As I was reading the Epistle, II Timothy 2:8-15, verse 9 jumped out at me.  Paul is saying that even though HE is chained, “the Word of God is NOT chained”.  This is certainly good news to the prisoners and all those feeling chained by contemporary crises.  Evidently bad experiences of derision and being ignored could have tempted Timothy and the rest of us to dismiss the Christian story as a dream, to lose confidence in the Kingdom.  “The sense of failure and loss of social status that haunts the Christian life finds future redemption in sharing Jesus’ victories.”  (Lewis R. Donelson, FEASTING on the WORD, C 4:163)

Luke’s Gospel, 17:11-19, tells the story of Jesus on his way to Jerusalem, but first he has to pass through a no-man’s land of conflicting traditions, those of Judah and Samaria.  (What a wonderful analogy!)  Here he meets and touches ten lepers (eww) and sends them off whole/affirms that they’re ok.  The story could be about gratitude, for only one returns to give thanks.  Being grateful acknowledges that God IS good even in Samaria, and thus completes the journey from outcast to valuation.

The flood brought on by Hurricane Agnes in 1972 was extremely destructive to Northern Pennsylvania and Southern New York.  Jim Baker, one of my colleague pastors of a congregation near Wilkes-Barre told of the desolation when the water finally went down:  there was mud drying over everything, and piles of debris created by those trying to clean up.  And, Jim says, one morning there was a tiny flower growing from a crack in the driveway, bravely shouting that there was still Life despite the surrounding wreckage!  I often think of that flower when my world seems overly dark and fetid–I guess I need to live it up wherever I am…

God Bless Us, Every One                    Horace Brown King

My journey with scripture lessons for the upcoming weekend can be joined every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com

Early literature from almost all civilizations includes stories of some hero who vanquished the Guardian in order to claim the Treasure.  We know of Jason & the Argonauts and the Golden Fleece, and of Parsifal the Pure and the Holy Grail.  We’ve also heard stories about the fierce or wise creature/person who guards this Treasure:  a fearsome dragon, the Fisher King, Prester John–or even a killer rabbit.  More recent episodes of this adventure bring us Dirk the Daring, The DaVinci Code or Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade.  Scripture lessons for the upcoming weekend tell of God’s Treasure lost and newly appreciated.  Will this increase our faith?

The Old Testament reading, Lamentations 1:1-6, needs to be set in the context of national disaster, conquest and the ruination of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 586 BC.  The speaker–Jeremiah?–calls up the pathos of utter loss of the Treasure:  national pride, economic strength and personal freedom.  No hope of glory by’n’by can assuage this anguish of defeat and Divine rejection.  Israel has reaped the natural result of her brokenness from God, and God has “let nature take its course”.  In the midst of the pain, then and now, we proclaim in the Eucharist, “In life, in death, in life beyond death, we are not alone!  Thanks be to God!”

Whoever wrote II Timothy has occasional flashes of brilliance.  In 1:3-14, he (?) mentions hurts and shame with the admonition to move beyond them to a positive relationship with God, sharing in the grace accorded to Christ.  “The mentor encouraged his faith-child on the journey of faith by focusing on the gifts of God in a spirit of gratitude.”  (J. Peter Holmes, FEASTING on the WORD, C 4:137)  Timothy is encouraged to see Grace as the greatest of God’s Treasures:  “Guard the good treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us.”

Thus to Luke’s Gospel, 17:5-10, which seems to hang on the Disciples’ request to “increase our faith”.  In a somewhat cranky manner, Jesus tells them that a little faith goes a long way; and that we servants of God are rarely commended for doing only what was expected.  You may have to do some verbal acrobatics to join these two!  Maybe this is a reassurance after all, in that we already have the resources to be good servants?  The Reformed tradition reminds us that Faith is a human response to God’s Grace, and that faith cannot be measured, only enacted.  Our faith, then, can only be “increased” as we’re touched by grace and develop in the holy life.

David M. Griebner brings us a delightful tale of “God’s Gold” in The CARPENTER and The UNBUILDER (Upper Room books, 1996): a certain man was in his great-aunt’s will, and when he received his legacy it was a pitcher and a note!  “In this pitcher is the Gold of God.  You may empty it once a day, and it will always be full the next.  But take care, for only one vessel will hold this gold long enough for it to be of any use to you.”  At home, he poured it into a glass–and a golden stream filled the glass…but immediately evaporated.  The next day, and EVERY day, he tried a different cup with the same result.  He even tried a church chalice–but still had the familiar evaporation. Finally, with desperation, he poured it down his own throat, drinking it into himself!  Many years later, when the man died, friends remarked at his great change after this aunt’s death:  he had filled their lives with a glowing joy and had made their lives sunnier.  And his great-niece puzzled over the gift his will left her–a pitcher and a note…

God Bless Us, Every One                               Horace Brown King

My meeting with readings assigned to the upcoming weekend can be observed every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com

Well, this is awkward–Scripture readings for the coming weekend remind me that I just may be too rich!  Folks in developing nations often have to walk some distance for water; they have limited electricity and their homes are filled with smoke from the cooking fire.  Closer to home, elderly and handicapped live in appalling situations.  I sadly shake my head and drive on by…  Was I more aware of God when I myself lived on honey and saltines, and drove an old beater with the floorboards rusting out?

Jeremiah, always at odds with the Establishment, spoke his message from house-arrest in Jerusalem during Nebuchadnezzer’s siege.  Despite the hopelessness of the outlook, he exercised his right to buy a field from his cousin.  32:1-15 tells in detail how all the “normal” customs were observed in the transaction, and how the deeds were tucked away in an earthen pot to survive the impending destruction.  Jeremiah has redeemed a portion of the land in the ultimate hope that “houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land.”  Riches and values evidently were ultimately considered to be in the hand of YHWH.

I appreciate the words written to Timothy  (I 6:6-119), often ascribed to St. Paul:  he speaks of godliness combined with contentment.  Be OK with what you’ve got and do not covet, for “the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil”.   Yet it’s the third part of the pericope which may be cutting-edge for you in North America–“As for those who in the present age ARE rich, command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.  They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share.”

Which brings us to the story of Lazarus (Eliazar) who couldn’t get any help from the rich guy at whose gates he lay (Luke 16:19-31).  Ah, but when they were both dead, THEN the rich fella knew Lazarus’ name and wanted him to relieve his torture.  Too late, you had your chance!  The tales of Luke and lucre appear now and then as reversals, see Mary’s song of The Magnificat (Luke 1:46ff), then again in Acts 5. The rich man wasn’t evil; his sin was one of omission–he looked the other way.  Father Abraham suggests that “stepping out of one’s privilege is perhaps one of the most difficult journeys of trans-formation.  Two chapters ahead, Jesus will compare it to getting a camel through the Eye of the Needle.”  (G. Penny Nixon, in FEASTING on the WORD, C 4:121)

OK, so I send my useless clothes to the Clothing Center, and support Shepherd’s Supper…I”m a bit of a fanatic about my weekly envelope to the church, and I give to UMCOR…  Heifer International, FINCA, and many local charities receive my semi-annual contributions…  I guess (in addition) I need an attitude adjustment.  Shall I move into a neglected third-floor apartment downtown?  Perhaps start doing my laundry in a laundromat?  I suspect that what that fellow Lazarus who hangs out at the Library really needs is my friendship and conversation…  Do I care more for my purse or my principles?

God Bless Us, Every One                                 Horace Brown King

My understanding of scripture assigned to the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com

Every age has its systems of political government, of economic value and of social mores.  There are certain standards of behavior which meet public approval; or which place an offender in isolation.  The scriptures we look at this weekend recognize that the People of God don’t always fit in with the greater surroundings–we seem to be always at odds with the prevailing Good of our country or our pocketbooks.  Is it better to “go along to get along?”  Or do we cling to our perceived high-ground even if it means poverty and/or death?  Here are some instances of going against the popular grain…

Jeremiah has been called “the weeping prophet”, and our lesson (8:18-9:1) is a good example of this.  His “heart is sick” with the images/idols Zion worships.  The People trust in YHWH, to be sure; so much so that they think YHWH doesn’t care WHAT they do.  An insider of the Temple and all its corruption, Jeremiah bears his own awkwardness in being part of this People of limited integrity.  Jeremiah takes God’s ethic seriously, so much that he’s eventually put to death for standing up for the unpopular system of God.

Paul urges the Christian movement through Timothy (I 2:1-7) to include EVERYONE in their prayers and concerns:  the high and the lowly, us and them.  As God is One, so then is the Creation, diverse as we are.  This of course goes against the idea that We’re Number One, and that the rest of the passengers on the bus are somehow inferior.  So can we pray for Republicans and immigrants in the same breath?  Can we affirm oil-drillers as well as tree-huggers?  Are we stretched beyond our comfort-zones to recognize terrorists and rapists as children of God?  I have a lot of anxiety about this unpopular system…

The Gospel, Luke 16:1-13, depicts Jesus at his snarky and ironic side:  his parable is about a crooked manager who tries to ingratiate himself by reducing his friends’ bills.  Since he’s about to be fired anyway, he figures that at least THESE guys will take him in.  And Jesus concludes that this is the way the world turns, and if you want to play the system right you should be as corrupt as the rest!  Guess what?  He’s really not advocating this, but he is commenting on How Things Are.  His famous words here are, “You cannot serve [both] God and wealth”.

Alas!  Most of us would opt for “normalcy” over unpopularity.  And so the world turns on, groaning in imbalance like a washing machine with all the towels on one side.  To be scripturally sound, we’ve gotta acknowledge that God’s System is unpopular, and that it’s very difficult to follow Biblical ethics.  Preachers, wear your armor!

God Bless Us, Every One                        Horace Brown King

My encounter with Bible passages assigned to the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this space on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com

So whaddya  think?  Does God always have forgiving grace, or does Divine patience sometimes grow thin?  We humans put our own attributes on God and try to mold God in our own image.  Worse, we claim to know best about how the world should turn–and advertise our ignorance widely abroad.  Scriptures this weekend should provoke lively discourses either in classes or around the dinner table!  Is there a limit on our brokenness?  Can we always presume upon God’s loving nature?

Jeremiah imaged God as at the end of God’ s rope in Chapter 4, vv.11-12, 22-28.  “Now it is I who speak in judgment against them….They are skilled in doing evil, but do not know how to do good.”  The prophet pictures God as ready to let the forces of Chaos undo Creation.  The desert wind of judgment is the destructive counter to the holy Wind of God which blew Creation to birth.  YHWH has grown discouraged in that the people are foolish and do not know righteousness.  This anthropomorphic God is ready to pull the plug.

Paul marvels (I Timothy 1:12-17) that Christ judged him faithful, even after being “a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence.”  (read all about it in Acts 8)  Here’s a chance for the preacher or class-leader to out themselves–with caution–about their own imperfections.  “Sin” needs to be seen as BROKENNESS more than specific evils.  Paul dwells often (!) on his former opposition to Christ, in order to emphasize a greater contrast with the wholeness now bestowed upon him.  Despite his intentional disconnect, God keeps breaking in to re-weave the fabric of his life.

Luke 15 has three rich stories, and this week we’ll look at the first two, vv 1-10.  The first is the story of  the Lost Sheep:  the Good Shepherd, not content with “almost all”, went out on a major search in order to make his sheepfold whole.  The woman of the second story isn’t OK with only her remaining coins, but turns the house upside-down until the set–her dowry?– is whole again.  “Just so,” says Jesus, “I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”  If the shepherd and the woman are so meticulous in their human desire to re-create Wholeness, how much more is the Creator obsessed with those who coulda fallen through the cracks?

“I fled Him, down the nights and down the days;                                                                   I fled Him, down the arches of the years;                                                                                 I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways  Of my own mind; and in the midst of tears    I hid from Him, and under running laughter,                                                                     Up vistaed hopes I sped; and shot, precipitated,                                                                  Adown Titanic glooms of chasmed fears,                                                                             From those strong Feet that followed, followed after….

“Of all man’s clotted clay the dingiest clot?  Alack, thou knowest not                          How little worthy of any love thou art!                                                                              Whom will thou find to love ignoble thee  Save Me, save only Me?”                                          — from Francis Thompson’s THE HOUND OF HEAVEN

God Bless Us, Every One                       Horace Brown King

My exploration of Scripture lessons assigned to the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com

“After all I’ve done for you!  After all I’ve given you!”  In human terms, the Beloved berates the Lover for gross neglect.  Readings for the upcoming weekend will help the worshiper to define the question:  “Have I neglected God?”  Neglect of Providence happens gradually–most of us get in the habit of receiving many blessings without much more than a nod to their Benefactor.  Worse, lots of us feel entitled to these gifts, mistakenly pretending that we worked for them and that they’re products of our craftiness and smart investing…  At times I’d like to be an anchorite; but I really prefer indoor plumbing…

A word of caution before sailing into Jeremiah 2:4-13:  the prophet of necessity speaks human words to describe heavenly thoughts.  Be careful not to portray YHWH as the Destroyer, for here is a God who loves God’s creation despite humanity’s neglect of Providence.  Jeremiah reminds the careless people of Judah that God has done mighty works in them–bringing them from Egypt’s slavery through the terrors of the wilderness “into a plentiful land to eat its fruits and its good things.  BUT…my people have changed their glory for something that does not profit.”  “Consistently placing global economic and military domination ahead of the needs of the poor at home and abroad is, ultimately, a ‘leaky cistern’.” (Sally A. Brown, FEASTING on the WORD, C 4:7)  Preachers & teachers, make sure to bring this oracle into the 21st Century!

The Letter to the Hebrews concludes (13:1-8,15-16) with a potpourri of moral admonitions.  Included are two phrases of “do not neglect”, concerning hospitality and doing good; and likewise two phrases urging the People to remember both the unfortunate AND their saintly leaders (a reprise of Chapter 11).  “Remembering” is not just a mental exercise, but an actual contact, often with gifts and tokens for their needs!  Here again is an unshakably reliant reminder that “I will never leave you or forsake you”.

The Gospel, Luke 14:1, 7-14, is basically a reminder of humility and accepting our “proper” place.  It says, when you’re invited to a fancy dinner party, don’t grab the best seat (away from the sound system?) for yourself, ’cause you might have to give it up to a VIP that weighs more than you!  And, by the way, true generosity looks like inviting the homeless and down on their luck people to YOUR fancy dinner…they can’t pay you back, just as you can’t pay GOD back.  Ah, now we’re getting to it!  Here comes that abundance again, without money, without price…  God evidently hasn’t forsaken US.

So much of this seems as if it coulda been written this morning.  God must feel very neglected in the present global turmoil and lack of ethical behavior.  Our holy-history gets put on the back burner by those who live only for today.  There’s a scramble for the best and most prominent places.  Why shouldn’t God sing, “You don’t bring me flowers any more…”!

God Bless Us, Every One               Horace Brown King

My encounter with scripture assigned to the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com

Through the ages, we’ve had certain ideas about what’s proper, what’s normal:  Gaining territory and wealth by killing current tenants.  Pushing others out of the way to get their resources.  Abuse of power over strangers, women & children, and the chronically poor.We’ve coined phrases to excuse our selfish behavior–“Look the other way”, “Boys will be boys”.  Big Ag and Big Pharma get away with unfathomable profits while the sick pinch their pennies.  Ethical discussion stops when someone plays the Economy card.  Readings for this weekend tell the stories of some whom God has raised to Break the Mold, who will shake up business-as-usual.

Jeremiah, the Reluctant Prophet, has a lifetime of confronting the idolatry of Judah who is trying hard to be as corrupt as their surrounding nations.   God tells Jeremiah that he had set him aside for prophecy before birth (1:4-10).  Jeremiah understandably replies, “Who, ME?  I’m only a KID!”  Yet God places words and responsibility with him to speak Truth to Power.   “…we find ourselves grasped by a God passionate for the fate of human beings.  When we are called as individuals or congregations into the service of God’s word and way, God’s passion for goodness and wholeness becomes our passion as well.”  (Sally A. Brown, in FEASTING on the WORD, C 3:367)

The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews points out the difference between the Church and those of pre-Christian tradition:  the blazing terror of Mt. Sinai yields to Mt.Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, replete with angels, God & Jesus plus “the spirits of the righteous now made perfect” (12:18-29).  The Way of the World will yet again be shaken, as a waiter shakes the crumbs from a tablecloth.  Here again Jesus is presented as “warning” the earth from heaven, I believe against self-made material idols.

Luke tells how Jesus was criticized by the leader of the synagogue for healing a woman on the Sabbath (13:10-17).  Here’s a direct breaking of the normative mold: the customs of the Sabbath law were challenged by need.  The leader of the synagogue equated healing with WORK; Jesus presented healing as God’s good pleasure.  Relieving the woman’s suffering isn’t the point; Jesus’s actions are seen to undermine the social order and religious law.  Controlling Sabbath practices are a way to feed an established system that was often oppressive.  Truly, the afflicted woman got whole; but the story is included to remind further generations that God continues to rattle the cage of entrenched manipulation.

And yet the power game goes on.  The nations just don’t seem to get it.  Pre-emptive strikes ensure that Number One won’t be challenged by Developing Peoples:  “Do unto others BEFORE they do unto you.”  Fatigued and ground down by the selfish-ness and materialism around me, I’m torn daily between running into the desert in a frenzy or battling at Agincourt–“Once more, dear friends, into the breach”.  Or maybe I’ll just follow the advice of Hobbes the Tiger, taking a nap until suppertime…

God Bless Us, Every One                                      Horace Brown King

My angst when met by scriptures for the upcoming weekend can be clinically observed every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com