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During the last dozen years, I’ve become progressively deaf.  Hearing aids help a bit, but I still hear conversations differently.  I often think of the aged cartoon guy who uses an ear-trumpet, but still has to say , “What?  Huh?”  I grow tired of asking for repetition, so a lot of garbled messages remain as such….I smile and nod, which is often the entirely wrong response.  People sitting in church pews this weekend have come to hear SOMEthing:  will a still-small voice be able to register amid the din of I.T. all around us?

Lectionaries will vary with their offering of the First Lesson; I’ve opted for the ones which refer us to the Tower of Babel (babble?) story, Genesis 11:1-9.  My image is that of a family around a campfire of an evening…the smallest girl asks, “Grandpa, why are there so many languages?”  The patriarch tells the legend about trying to build a tower to climb to heaven–to be like God–and its subsequent abandonment because the Heavenly Host caused the builders to speak to each other in different languages.  This part of the Creation Story is told as a warning not to let our human ego delude us into thinking we can do God’s Work.  Is this Original Sin?  At any rate, it belongs to the Pentecost celebration with the affirmation that only the Holy Spirit can dazzle us into understanding others.

Acts 2:1-21 is the centerpiece of Pentecost.  The wind and fire of God appeared among the people, and they began to speak in all the languages of the known world.  No longer a regional cult or sub-set of Judaism, the Christ story is now told in universal languages through the grace of the Holy Spirit.  (Compare the people of Babel, who tried to access the heavenly by their own limited skills.)  Pentecost tells us the good news that our divided humanity doesn’t have to remain separated by an inability to understand each other.

The Gospel of John, 14:8-27, still leans on Jesus’ farewell instructions to the Disciples.  Here Jesus announces the coming of an Advocate, the “Spirit of Truth”, who “will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.”  Jesus had earlier referred to “the words that I say to you”  as being heavenly in origin.  The Spirit which we acknowledge at Pentecost refreshes these “words” through each generation as we tell the stories even around the campfires  and carry their implications of service, prayer and active hope before an anxious and fearful people.

Even though we know these things, we’re caught in the middle.  TV commercials scream at us to buy bigger, flashier toys.  The jargon of digitalization convinces us that with the proper software, WE TOO may rule the world.  Aircraft carriers in the Gulf intimidate lesser nations into bowing before our supremacy.  (Has Babylon moved?)  We long for Pentecost, when “the Spirit moved among them and they no longer saw each other as people to be suspicious of, but as fellow children of God.”  (Douglas M. Donley, FEASTING on the WORD, C 3:4)

God Bless Us, Every One                               Horace Brown King

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

Mother Theresa of Calcutta had some question about her vocation.  Her counselor told her, “If you are happy with the idea that God calls you to serve [God] and your neighbor,this will be the proof of your vocation.  Profound joy of the heart is like a magnet that indicates the path of life.  One has to follow it, even though one enters into a way full of difficulties.”  (A GUIDE TO PRAYER FOR ALL WHO SEEK GOD, ed. by Job/Shawchuck, p.206)  Ideas about “happiness” vary–but the upcoming Sunday’s readings call the worshiper to joy and delight in what God is doing.

The passage from Acts, 16:16-34, is a longish tale about what befell the disciples as they went about in Philippi.  Briefly, it’s about Paul’s exorcism of an alien spirit which enabled a young girl to tell the future.  This greatly distressed her owners, who made much money from her precognition.  So they incited the crowd, and Paul & Co. were jailed.  BUT a midnight earthquake opened all the locks and doors of the prison; the jailer was distraught, but Paul calmed him and baptized him and his family!  What’s as surprising as the earthquake is that the group were SINGING and PRAYING:  could I do that when persecuted?  Here’s an example of turning distress into delight, despite the wounds of being beaten…

We’re still exploring the Easter-newness of Revelation, this time from the 22nd and final Chapter.  Waiting, yearning for some positive news in the midst of all the chaos, the hearer will delight in the last words of scripture:  God Wins!  And as God is on the way, our only requirement is to “wash our robes”/clean up our lives to put our best foot forward into the Eternal Kingdom.  Skip Johnson remarks that “it is an odd directive.  It points us away from sky gazing and orients us toward the everyday work of the faithful.”  (FEASTING on the WORD, C 2:534)  We who wait must be about the possibility of cleaning up the dust and debris around us.

John’s Gospel spends a lot of time in the Upper Room:  the Last Supper must be very important.  Jesus concludes his last instructions with the High Priestly Prayer; we’ll look at 17:20-26.  Hard to read and very metaphysical, in it Jesus blesses the disciples with their equal elevation to Eternity, not through human endeavors but only by Oneness with God.  Here is reason for Believers of all generations to delight, since none of us measure up to Perfection in this world.

Martin L. Smith writes in SOJOURNERS, “It isn’t easy in threatening times to renew our gift of joy.  Confronted by venality, xenophobia, denial, and ideological violence, we tense up and wear our grimness on our face as the badge of Christian moral seriousness. But without joy we are lost.” (June, 2019)  Today I’m wearing a t-shirt with a Disney Dwarf entitled “Grumpy”.  I guess I need to post Martin’s last sentence above my computer desk.  And to put this shirt in the laundry.

God Bless Us, Every One                                 Horace Brown King

My musings on the scripture lessons to be read on the upcoming weekend are found every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com

“Charlie Brown, this is an excellent day for lying here on our backs and watching the clouds!”  “I couldn’t agree with you more….what do you see in the clouds, Linus?”  “Well, over there is a representation of Wellington’s defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo.”  “Good grief!  I see a bunny and a horsey and a floor lamp…and, of course, the little red-haired girl…”  Scriptures for this upcoming weekend are geared to the dreamers, the visionaries among us.

The first vision is described by Luke in the 16th chapter of Acts, vv. 9-15.  Stymied from doing more ministry in Asia Minor, Paul reports a vision of a “man of Macedonia” asking for his help.  This wasn’t in the original game plan, but they went with all speed to Philippi, the district capital.  There, Paul & Co. found more receptivity from Lydia and her cohort of women than from the “men of Macedonia”.  Was Lydia also a visionary?  She was certainly caught up in the work of the Spirit, and undoubtedly paved the way for a local congregation to grow and prosper.  Notice that the community continues to grow, to become more diverse and world-wide. David G. Forney reminds us that “visions from God are surprising things, for they utterly transform us and alter our course.”   (FEASTING on the WORD, C 2:478)

Vision #2 (Revelation 21:22-22:5) is that of John the Divine, who beholds the City of God pouring out of Heaven: “I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.”  The Temple of Jerusalem was considered the world-navel for generations–but now there’s no need to box God in, because in God is the centering of ALL the nations.  To those living in memory of the recent destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, and to those remembering in holy- history the downfall of previous temples, this seems like a welcome permanence:  at last, the New Jerusalem will be indestructible!  Take THAT, you ruthless empires of the world!

The Vision of the Gospel (for today) is found in John 14:23-29, during Jesus’ long farewell discourse at the Last Supper.  Jesus calls the disciples to envision the coming Advocate, “”who will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.”  What?  There’s more?  He knew that any movement wouldn’t survive and prosper without a central source which would be a template for centuries of ethical choices.  This vision deals with permanence, again–a new community is already being formed to be seen with the eyes of the heart.

I gotta confess that my lack of imagination limits me in what I see in the clouds.  I was much better at this sort of thing when I was younger and not so cluttered up with rational doubts and fears.  The trick, I suppose, is to push away world-time cataracts so that my visionary eyes can be renewed.  Help me to do this, Lord:  I’d like to see and be part of the Big Picture…

God Bless Us, Every One                         Horace Brown King

My encounters with the lectionary readings for the upcoming weekend can be witnessed every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com

God’s time is not ours.  A thousand generations have come and gone, and still the headlines record our latest idolatrys and selfish incursions into injustice and material gain.  Faithful friends through the centuries have dutifully expected that today would be the day when God would fulfill God’s Kingdom…but the End Times have remained unseeable.  Or have they?  Scripture readings for the upcoming weekend bring the audacious realization that the long-awaited Kingdom is already happening!  Dare we announce this to an already skeptic audience?

Acts 11:1-18 describes the circumcision party of the Christian Jewish sect confronting Peter about going to a Gentile’s house and eating with him/them (Cornelius the Centurion).  This gives Peter opportunity to retell his story about the sheet with “clean & unclean” critters, and the ensuing reproof by God, “What I have designated as clean you must not consider UNclean” (Acts 10:9-18).  So the Holy Spirit came to the Gentiles, too!   “If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ,” says Peter, “who was I that I could hinder God?”  New and unexpected things are happening despite our stuffy rules.

At almost the conclusion (21:1-6) of the Revelation to John, the Divine tells us that “then I saw a new heaven and a new earth…”  I firmly believe that this passage, although often relegated to pie-in-the-sky futurism, is describing an ongoing building program begun at the Incarnation–or maybe before!  We’re already living in the middle of the story now unfolding.  Christians have authority to speak an alternative to death, greed and warfare:  “See, I am making all things new.”

John’s Gospel account, 13:31-35, is always enigmatic.  The word that springs out at me is “glorified”:  Biblicly, we imagine a bright light of Heavenly Fire which illumines and warms all the dark spots.  The rest of the world talks in terms of honor and distinction:  Milton claims, “for what is glory but the praise of fame?”  Thomas Troeger reminds us that “today’s reading may reveal how the church was continuing to struggle with Jesus’ radically transformed understanding of glory.” (FEASTING on the WORD, C 2:471)  We continue to struggle with this “now”ness as all around us are mired in our own agendas As Time Goes By.

I admit to a great deal of fatigue with the ongoing news of corruption in high places, exploitation of others in not-so-high places, and the seeming lack of compassion in so many.  Now that the high energy level of my ministry and indignation is but a fading memory, I cling (desperately?) to the reassurance that the foundations of God’s Place are already built and are growing day by day.  Perhaps I can still stand in the midst of the chill winds and quaver on about how God is really at work at a minor planet about which God hasn’t forgotten.

God Bless Us, Every One                              Horace Brown King

My thoughts and hopes about lectionary readings assigned for the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com

We could say that with Social Media & texting we live in community–sorta–and yet there’s something lacking, as we’re insulated within our own homes and not prone to body language or give ‘n’ take.  I myself need a group of flesh-bearing people to sit with, to worship with and with whom to share my hopes and fears.  Our post-Easter readings have concentrated upon building and articulating the community of the Risen Christ.   This weekend we hear the expressions of three leaders–Peter, John the Divine & John the Evangelist–as they affirm and bolster their respective Christian communities.

Acts 9:36-43 continues Peter’s story:  summoned by the community in Joppa which was mourning the death of Dorcas/Tabitha, he went there and raised her in the style of Jesus himself.  But the lesson isn’t so much about the miracle as it is about the group of “saints & widows”, brought together by mutual faith and a holy calling.    Not content with The Way Things Are, the gathered disciples sought instances of conversions, healing and life after death.  Is God’s Spirit still working within a group to repair that which has been broken?  It’s been shown time and again how a faith-partnership can realign that which is sick unto death into life itself!

The second reading is from The Revelation to St. John, 7:9-17.  It’s a vision of a multitude of persons from every corner of the world praising God heartily, even though they’ve “come out of the great ordeal”.  Sometimes persecution and sorrow unite all sorts of folks, a positive spin on admitting that the bumper-sticker is usually right…. It’s good to know that the Ultimate Community of Heaven is peopled by those whose earthly life has been naturally imperfect.

The Gospel, John 10:22-30, allows that the community of Christ–the “sheep”–are those who’ve been grasped by God for eternal life.  Far from being predestined, these are those who know Jesus as the Shepherd and who follow him.  We think of sheep as members of a flock, encouraging  each other in the direction of greener pastures.  John’s purpose in writing seems to be resourcing and building the faith-community to which he ministers.

In all of these instances only the one from Acts names members of each community; even there, Dorcas is remembered for her role within the group.  Otherwise, the actors are listed as “a great multitude of disciples”, reveling in their diversity before the One who makes all humans equal.  Martin L. Smith reminds us in SOJOURNERS, “It takes maturity to realize the more we embrace the revelation that each and every single human being is intrinsically eligible for eternal union with God in the communion of saints, then the more passionately we feel that all deserve living conditions here and now that support and enhance their God-endowed dignity and freedom.” (May 2019:44)  As the liturgy reads, “In life, in death, in the life beyond death, we are not alone.  Thanks be to God!”

God Bless Us, Every One                                  Horace Brown King

My encounter with scripture lessons for the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this place on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com

Pastor Michelle usually begins prayer time at Central United Methodist by asking, “Where have you seen God this week?”  The task of the preacher or study-leader is to constantly remind us that God is in the business of clearing away those things which may obscure our vision of the ongoing Creation and Incarnation.  God continues to call us to High Places where we can observe the Spirit at work.  Today’s readings have a common thread of new vision and new recognition.

We begin with a pivotal portion of the Acts of the Apostles, 9:1-20, the “conversion” of Saul into Paul.  After the drama of the Damascus road, v.18 tells us that “his sight was restored” through the intercession of one Ananias.  What is the point of renewal that turns on an interior light, that scrapes the barnacles from the eyes of the soul?  Paul speaks often in his letters of the changed vision by which he now views others, even (and especially?) those who’ve somehow fallen off the radar.  Hearers of today are encouraged to understand more deeply how this works in their own lives.

We continue our Easter exploration of the Revelation to John in 5:11-14.  The passage is loaded with recollections of an enthusiastic crowd of  saints singing praise throughout the universe!  Yet I’m drawn to the very beginning, where it says “then I looked…”  When I’m looking for car-keys or a certain book, and I find the object right under my nose, someone is sure to say, “You didn’t look hard enough!”  Is it true that heavenly splendor can be visible if we just look?  Again, our task is to help the visually impaired to eliminate the tawdry filters through which they may now look:  how beautiful are others made in God’s Image!

The Gospel lesson of John 21:1-19 is “one more story” after the climax of the preceding chapter.  In this epilogue, the disciples try to sort things out by going fishing, something they used to do.  You probably remember the incongruity of the Stranger on the Beach finally being recognized by John, and the subsequent net-full of 153 fish.  (Somehow I think of Jesus slapping his forehead and saying, “The other side!  The OTHER side!  Oy!”)  I guess that they hadn’t expected to see Jesus on the beach.  Clouded with cynicism and disappointment, their eyes like ours needed to be re-focused.

Kathleen Norris helps wind us out:  “When a place or time seems touched by God, it is an overshadowing, a sudden eclipsing of my priorities and plans,  But even in terrible circumstances and calamities, in matters of life and death, if I sense that I am in the shadow of God, I find light, so much light that my vision improves dramatically.  I know that holiness is near.”  –AMAZING GRACE, a Vocabulary of Faith, p.31

God Bless Us, Every One                             Horace Brown King

My encounters with lectionary passages for the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this space on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com

Rueben P. Jones reminds those who’ve survived Holy Week and Easter, “At this very moment, —you and I are in the presence of the living Christ.  To remember this truth is to be shaped constantly by the presence of God in Christ in our lives.  We often forget this central truth of the Christian faith, and when we do, we are easily overcome by the troubles of the world.”  (A GUIDE TO PRAYER FOR ALL WHO SEEK GOD, p.171. )    Thanks, bishop, I needed that.  I suspect that many of us are a bit drained.

During Eastertide, you remember, we substitute readings from the Acts of the Apostles for the usual Old Covenant lessons.  (“The Old is gone, the New is at hand.”)  Early occasions for ministry led to Peter & Friends being flogged and ordered not to preach Jesus any more (5:27-32).  The nascent community of Christ didn’t set about just to be ornery towards local authorities; but they did prioritize their obedience of God over human law.  They were community organizers of the new world order that sprung from the resurrection of Jesus.

A later affirmation comes from John the Divine, writing to churches of Western Asia Minor from his exile on the Isle of Patmos in the Aegean.  In his Revelation 1:4-8, he calls these congregations to see themselves as “a kingdom [of Christ], priests serving his God and Father.”  “Revelation was written to encourage these persecuted Christians to live in the power of the resurrection when evil seemed to be the only power at work in their world….reminding the reader that God is in charge of the world and God will have the last word….From beginning to end, this text is saturated with words and images of God’s complete dominion.”  (Charles D. Reeb, in FEASTING on the WORD, C 2:393)  “The job of the church is to crash the pity party of evil by announcing that the Lord God is Alpha & Omega.” (ibid.)

The Gospel story is that of “Doubting” Thomas (John 20:19-31), who spoke for all of us in needing more evidence of Easter.  We’ve dissected Thomas much-too-much:  his purpose here is to announce that the Rest of the Gang welcomed him back, even though he was AWOL.  And so, dear readers, does the Christ-bunch welcome each of us after our own certain trips “away”!   Don’t neglect the ruach, the heavenly breath, which empowers The Twelve and those who succeed them to speak of holy things.  Can our words then be enlightened with divine hope?

Bishop Job ties it all together:  “The risen Christ is with us and therefore we need not fear the events of this day or any day that lies in our future.  We know that each day will be lived in companionship with the only One who is able to rescue, redeem, save, keep, and companion us through every experience of this life and the next.”  (op.cit., P.172)

God Bless Us, Every One.                       Horace Brown King

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

When I was a lad, in the last century–h’rumph!–Easter was a really big deal.  There were lilies by the truckload, outsized corsages for mothers, and some kid in the jr. choir who threw up in the middle of the sermon because he’d already plundered his Easter basket.  The sanctuary was full of strangers, and some locals who wouldn’t be caught dead there on any other day….  Probably not this Easter.  Wonderful music, to be sure, and cousins from Peoria; but there’s a new seriousness, now…an awareness of Death and the possibility of coming out the other side?

Isaiah 65:17-25 is an apocalyptic vision of End Times, comparable to the final chapters of Revelation in the New Testament.  The prophet speaks of fairness and restoration in a tormented world, an act which can come only from God.  We struggle to appreciate things not yet realized, yet Easter demands a renewal from the deadly order of greed & anger.  Optimists, we dare to believe that the Spirit of God still blows over the waters of chaos, and that Death doesn’t have the final word.

Acts 10 tells of a high and holy moment in Peter’s spiritual understanding:  hungry, he had a three-fold vision of animals being let down from heaven in a “sheet”.  To his amazement, there were “unclean” creatures among the “clean”!  “Why then do you call ‘unclean’ what I have created?” said a Voice.  And at that moment, some Gentiles appeared to ask his presence at the home of Cornelius the Centurion–a place no practicing Jew would consider entering.  In today’s text, vv. 34-43, we and they receive God’s message of salvation to ALL persons–at this moment, The Way went from Hebrew cult to World Religion.  As Lauren Winner says, “What seemed absurd before Easter is now a real possibility.” (FEASTING on the WORD, C 2:368)  THAT’s why these people are in Church today!

The Easter Story, as always, is the account of John (the Beloved Disciple?) 20:1-18.  Too many will get lost in the romance of it all and neglect the amazement of the three who were met with the obviation of the Resurrection.  After the dew is off the roses, will the enormity of Life after Death sink in?  Did Peter run because he was eager to confess his shortcomings?  Maybe he sensed that there was something amazing even for him, after his disappointing encounter with the rooster…  Don’t shortchange verse 17, where Mary Magdalene and those who come after are commissioned to announce Jesus’ heavenly journey.

And so it’s a New Day.  The People of God’s Creation have been gathered, designed and re-designed, and now empowered to announce that Death is not the final word.  Even when the news is so bleak.  Even though we’re often shackled by our cultural discernment.  Even though we must die in order to be found by Life.  These are world-changing terms, and few will return next weekend to find out what’s happening.  Still, the Lord is Risen!  Indeed.

God Bless Us, Every One.                             Horace Brown King

My close encounters with lectionary passages for the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this space on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com

I confess to being overwhelmed by all the possibilities for Palm or Passion Sunday each year.  Most will agree that the core of this observation is the affirmation that life, for Jesus, is drawing swiftly to a climax.  Perhaps those in the pews or chairs of Bible study are not yet willing to consign their own lives to accept the unceasing flow of events which necessarily define them.  I’ve chosen two readings from the “Passion” side, plus the Gospel account of the Entry to Jerusalem.  Some will merely want to watch the parade–but we can’t;  it’s calling us now!

“Who are my adversaries?  Let them confront me,”  says the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 50 (4-9a).  The Servant doesn’t hide away from trouble, nor does he/she go into exile.  The one who enters the stream of life fully is one who boldly goes into the arena, perhaps with no armor but faith in God:  “He who vindicates me is near; who [then] will contend with me?”  There are many who will try to contend, and they’re all represented in the street-crowd of Jerusalem, the Big Apple of its day.

Philippians 2:5-11 has been described as a parabola of the emptying of Jesus in order that God can affirm him as Christ.  Barbara Brown Taylor calls our attention to the space between verses 8 & 9–“While the first half of the passage is full of verbs [about Incarnation], in the second half of the passage, Jesus does nothing.  The verbs all belong to God.”  (FEASTING on the WORD, C 2:171)  What Jesus did best was to present a model of emptying in order that he could be filled with God.  We can make a jump to our individual journey; but what would happen if an entire congregation would empty itself in order to take the form of a slave?   And Richard Rohr tells us that this ancient hymn of the Church, whether Pauline or not, “boldly describes that ‘seecret hour’ when God in Christ reversed the parabola.” (WONDROUS ENCOUNTERS)  “However Christians decide to respond to this Christ hymn, either individually or communally, they die at verse 8.  After that, God takes over.”  (Taylor, op.cit.:173)

Don’t neglect the Bold Entry, this year found in Luke 19:28-40.  So many paintings, dramas & movies…are there folks who don’t know this story?  Just like Christmas Eve, I’m always amazed that there are one or two brave souls who admit that they hadn’t heard that before!  As I grow older, I emphasize the “triumph” less and lean on the “bold” more.  I’m realizing more ‘n’ more that joining the parade isn’t an option:  we’re in it already.

There are so many levels to the Palm Sunday narrative–and just as many dimensions of those on the Journey.  Some are more ready than others to jump into the passage of life, which includes the acceptance of death.  And that’s OK.  Christ has died; Christ has risen; Christ will come again.

God Bless Us, Every One                Horace Brown King

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

What do you say, when you receive an unexpected gift?  “Aw, gee, you shouldn’t have!”  “But I didn’t get YOU anything!” “What did I do to deserve this?”  Especially if it’s a really extravagant gift!  I remember that the bald man responded, when given a comb:  “I’ll never part with it!”  Readings of scripture that folks will hear this weekend describe unimaginable gifts–and the reactions to them.  We can take ’em straight, or we can allegorize them as representative of the Creator’s unrestrained lavishness.

Isaiah of Babylon describes the Lord as one “who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters.” (43:16-21)  Here is One who will stop at nothing to restore the People of Israel, to give them another chance at their homeland.  These people will not sneak back under cover of night, nor will they straggle along the old river road–no, God is making a direct road through the wilderness, a personal involvement in bringing back the Holy Community.  An exorbitant involvement indeed!

St. Paul reminds us, through his Letter to the Philippians (3:4b-14), just how blessed and gifted he is.  Yet he relegates all these significant trophies to the rubbish-bin in favor of the greatest gift of all, Christ Jesus the Lord.  Paul recognizes that this is an external bestowment, neither earned nor justified.  And he’s just begun to appreciate the magnificence included in it:  “Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.”  This extravagance is designed to lead us on through the wilderness to the Promised Land, even through and beyond a Cross.

The Gospel, John 12:1-8, tells of Jesus & Co. at dinner in Bethany, just outside Jerusalem, at the home of newly-resurrected Lazarus and his irrepressible sisters, Mary & Martha.  There are many nuances available:  pre-Passover, Mary’s intimacy with Jesus, the overpowering aroma of perfume, Judas’ worldly reaction, Jesus’ burial…  But the central point, to me, is the extravagance of the gesture which could be a response to the knowledge that in Jesus was God’s greatest gift.  Those who travel with Jesus reflect this generosity in their own compassion and unrestrained giving to the rest of the world.  George W. Stroup affirms, “In the figure of Mary, Christian discipleship is an act of adoration of and gratitude to the one who alone is holy.”  (FEASTING on the WORD, C 2:144)

Charles Wesley wrote, “What shall I render to my God for all his mercy’s  store?                             I’ll take the gifts he hath bestowed, and humbly ask for more.”

God Bless Us, Every One                        Horace Brown King

My understanding of lessons to be read on the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this space on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com