My Blog

Every town, every village of any size, had at least one.  We’re thinking, of course, of a pottery shop.   Archeologists postulate where a neighborhood’s “center” lay by finding a trove of broken pieces, shards, of terra cotta.   Most everyday containers –pots, crocks, dishes & cups– were made from pottery.  The local potter was  a most significant fellow!

The Prophet Jeremiah, in the part of his oracle we now call Chapter 18, says that God sent him to watch the potter throw (craft) his ware.  Wet clay was shaped into something useful on a spinning wheel–and when the design wasn’t quite right, he’d start it over, spinning & molding until it WAS right.  Jeremiah used this as an analogy of warning to Jerusalem, saying that God could & would break them up: “Turn now, all of you from your evil way, and amend your ways and your doings.” (v.11)   Seen from this side of Jesus, we could rightly read this passage as a concern of God to mold and re-mold us in our righteous origins.

Speaking of re-molding, get a load of Onesimus, subject of Paul’s Letter to Philemon!   “Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful both to you and to me.” (v.11)   The letter is a plea to Philemon to forgive his slave Onesimus for running away, perhaps even freeing him!  This is pretty radical stuff, as is all of the Gospel.  What did Paul see in Onisimus?  What did GOD see in him that could be recast and polished, freeing him to full citizenship?   We’ll never know; but what’s important is the chance Paul & God & (hopefully) Philemon would take on his once-broken behalf.

Luke remembers how Jesus called for re-forming discipleship: “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple.” (14:26)  Let’s not leave it at that, but go further to the bit about counting the cost before building a tower, or for that matter, going to war.  Is this relevant today, or what?!   “None of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.” (v.33)  Counter-cultural, attitude changing….breaking old molds in favor of new designs.

A few days ago, a Jumble(cr) puzzle gave this clue:   “When the woman’s priceless vase fell off the shelve and broke, she……”    And the answer, which I didn’t get, was “went to pieces.”   Bits of life’s brick-a-brack continue to fall and break, and maybe that keeps us looking for new and better treasures.   Can the new be re-formed from what is old and yet imperfect?  The Potter keeps spinning.

God Bless Us, Every One                    H   B   King

Every once in a while, the listed readings for Sunday seem as though they’ve been written just last week!   There’s so much substance in each of these readings that the preacher is overwhelmed by an embarassment of riches.   Whatever the preacher in your congregation lifts up for you, be sure to hear ALL the readings:  they’re loaded!

We begin with the young Jeremiah (2:4-13), evidently no longer cowed with his youth:  “Thus says the Lord: what wrong did your ancestors find in me that they went far from me, and went after worthless things, and became worthless themselves?”   The prevailing culture is the poster-child of those who have chased “worthless” things: winning at all cost (A-Rod, Joe Paterno); finance (Bernie Madoff & Enron); military strength (Petraeus & Lockheed Martin); and your own household gods….   No surprise, then, that life is cheap and that a “few” gassed/mutilated civilians are considered “collateral”!   How worthless have we become?     “For my people have committed two evils:  (1) they have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, AND (2) dug out cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns that can hold no water.”   Lord, have mercy….

What then shall we do?   The reading of the Epistle to the Hebrews becomes a list of how to graciously live as a counter-cultural community (13:1-8, 15-16).   One of my favorite verses says, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.”   Marie’s Grandma Neal lived this, even with raising 6 boys without running water, indoor plumbing or other modern necessities.   If a “knight of the road” stopped to beg a meal, she would always see the divinity in him, and treat him well.   Empathize with the imprisoned and tortured, honor marriage, see the value of what you have….   “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.”

Luke’s Gospel speaks of table-manners — not of using your napkin instead of your sleeve, but Who to Invite, and Where to Sit. (14:7-14)   Worthy as we are to sit at the head of the table, there just may be someone else more distinguished than we!   It’s better to “sit low” and be elevated by the Host than to claim the best and then have to relinquish it.  Also, our own guest-lists should recognize the worth of the poor, crippled, lame & blind.  Having them in for a bite becomes a REAL blessing!

The Good News is that we ourselves have been created with great worth, despite our efforts to wrap the gold with tinfoil.   May these readings remind you of the amazing value God has put on YOU — and all these other mortals with whom you intersect.

God Bless Us, Every One           H    B    King

Our 17th-Century Puritan ancestors had some wonderful names:  “Dogood”; “Prudence” (and her sister “Patience”); and my hands-down favorite, “Fearnot”.   I’m not sure that I’ve ever actually met someone named Fearnot–yet that’s just as sensible as “Moondog”, or “Zeppellin”.   Parents often choose a name to convey a good wish for their child’s life.  How wonderful to be blessed with a family wish of having no fear!

Jeremiah felt too green to be a prophet.   After all, he’d seen pictures of prophets:  old graybeards, bald & stooped, leaning heavily on a staff, perhaps with halos….   “You certainly can’t mean ME, Lord:  I’m only a KID!  What do I know?” (1:4-10)   “But the Lord said to me, ‘Do not say, I am only a boy; for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you.  Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you,’ says the Lord.” 

The author of the Letter to the Hebrews remembers how fearsome Mt.Sinai’s volcanic rumblings could be!   She points out that the Hill of God is no longer seen as a place of horror, but a dwelling of God,  angels, saints, and (especially) Jesus. (12:18-24)  In Christ, believers are called to move beyond fear to a Kingdom which cannot be shaken, a firm foundation for life… “Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken, Zion, City of our God.”

The Gospel, Luke 13:10-13, can be seen as an analogy:  a woman was so crippled that she could no longer look anywhere but down.  We meet her every day in those whose baggage is so heavy that they can see only one step at a time.   When she met Jesus, she was able to straighten up and take in a broader horizon.   Here again is the Good News of Fear Not!  

How many times in our scripture does God or holy messengers appear with the greeting, “Don’t be afraid!”?    To Abram under the oaks of Mamre, to a virgin named Mary, to shepherds abiding in the fields, to storm-shaken disciples….   There will be people in pews near us–and in the hospital corridors and the frozen-food aisles–who’re bent double by the stuff they carry.   Will I point to Jesus and say, “Fear Not”?

God Bless Us, Every One         H   B   King

Okay, so I’m still afraid of my parents.    Or people who act like them.  Having a person in authority (worse, a friend!) express disappointment in me is devastating, sometimes  paralyzing me into inactivity to avoid the risk.  The worst possible insult to my ego is to have someone guilt me.    What do we read in this Sunday’s scriptures?

Isaiah sings the Song of the Vineyard (5:1-7) as a dramatic reprimand of Israel by Yahweh.   “I gave it my best, did all the right things,” claims the Vinedresser, “but had a harvest of wild & sour grapes!”   He “expected justice, but saw bloodshed; righteousness, but heard a cry!”   If that’s how you thank me, I’ll just abandon the whole thing…..

Psalm 80 is a remorseful plea for God to “turn again” to care yet again for the vine brought long ago from Egypt.  From the root of Jesse springs Immanuel, the Vine.

Don’t you cringe when a Parent-figure recites all the things you should be grateful for?  The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews was probably NOT trying to shame her readers, but was reminding them of a mighty holy-history for those who endured. (11:29-12:20)  These heroes of old serve to bear out the steadfast love of God, and to indicate that God’s not done yet!

Oh, what to do with the Gospel, Luke 12:49-56!?   Jesus is lighting a fire on the earth, bringing division to people even in the same household!   He’s not talking about Us & Them, he’s talking about Us & Us!  “We have met the enemy, and he is us”, says Pogo.  Don’t you see what’s happening in the “Present Time”, you hypocrites??   Not a lot of Grace here…’cept for the greater context of preparation for the Kingdom.   Hard verses.

I guess that being part of the Kingdom of God involves getting chewed out, from time to time, since none of us can achieve God’s great expectations without Christ’s intervention.   Maybe I’ll be a better person for having my feet held to the fire.  At least, that’s what my parents said.

God Bless Us, Every One                           H   B    King

To me, it seems as though we’ve had a lot of Parent/Child scripture readings, this Summer.  This week is no exception:  I trace a common thread of parental advice and bonding in these lections.   As a father of two now-successful men, I remember my concerns for their growing “in favor with God and [humans]”.   Many of us consider GOD to be a loving parent as well–what are the stories in your life that will verify this?

The Book of Hosea is a Book of Grace.  Again and again an interested God steps off his cloud to intercede and restore the Children:  not because we’re special, and certainly not because we deserve it!   Yet “when Israel was a child, I loved him.” (11:1-11)   This rebellious child has worshiped other gods, and has disowned parental loyalty:  shall he again be in slavery,  with the “sword in their cities”?    But the Lord remembers hugging the child, and teaching him to walk….how can God execute this fierce anger?   They’ll come home, they’ll come home….

Paul speaks to the Colossians with Parental Wisdom (3:1-11).    “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth…..put to death whatever in you is earthly.”   His list covers all the possibilities:  fornication, evil desire, greed, anger, malice, slander & abuse, lying.  Remember who you are, that you’re wearing new clothes in God’s Holy Image!   I used to get a similar reminder just before I stepped out the door, did you?

Jesus probably wasn’t speaking to children, per se, in Luke 12:13-21.  Yet this sounds like good advice from a Parent who thinks his kid is flying too high, wide ‘n’ handsome:  “the things you have prepared, whose will they be?  So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”  The land-owner wasn’t being chided for being rich, but for not giving God thanks by sharing with others…

At the risk of immodesty, I’d offer my poem ICARUS GROUNDED.

  One day my Father brought me wings!                                                                                 New horizons now are mine,                                                                                                           I fly above the boulders                                                                                                                    Rolling down my path.

Too bad for me.   I soon forgot                                                                                                           These wings Another’s gift of Grace                                                                                            And not my own.  I flew too high,                                                                                                 Beyond my skill and wisdom’s bound.

Dizzying spiral, earth’s plane now above,                                                                                     Now beneath me, I tumbled in flames                                                                                         On the floor of the desert.   Old friends came in awe                                                               To view my burnt-out husk.

Earthbound I sit, waiting                                                                                                                 For my melted wings to heal.

God Bless Us, Every One                    H  B   King     

Maybe it’s just me, tossing ‘n’ turning nowadays with specters of Monsanto Chemical, Trayvon Martin & over-stuffed Defense Budgets.   But there’s some prophetic thread running through Sunday’s readings that needs to be followed and unwoven from the world’s otherwise careless, life-is-cheap business.

The first three chapters of the Book of Hosea are an analogy of Grace, and can explain redemption and restoration and tenacious love.  This week we confine ourselves to the first introduction (1:2-10) of  The Problem:  Hosea is to marry a whore.   She then produces three children, which may or may not be sired by Hosea.  Following chapters tell about Hosea’s rejection of  this woman–and how he buys her back.  But today we dwell on the children themselves, and the counter-cultural care Hosea extends to them.  How God-like is this?   What do we do with the “questionables” of our neighborhood & world??

St. Paul exhorts the Believers at Colossae to reject the idolatry of following “philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition.” (2:8)  He reminds them & us that Christ is not only head of every ruler & authority, but that he disarmed them in a most public manner!  This resurrection –itself counter-cultural– erased our shady past and gave us a child-like start once again….  Good News fer sure!

Some worship-experiences introduce the Lord’s Prayer with the words, “Thus with the confidence of children, let us pray as our Lord Jesus taught, ‘Our Father….'”  Where else should we feel so vulnerable and intimate?  Luke’s Gospel (11:1-13) remembers not only these basics, but elaborates with the unspeakable magnanimaty of this Great Father:  “ask…seek…knock…”   And concludes, “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

In Sunday School we sang, “Jesus loves the little children, All the children of the world;  Red & Yellow, Black & White, they are precious in his sight:  Jesus loves the little children of the world.”  Can we do less?

God Bless Us, Every One                     H   B   King

Eliza Doolittle, in MY FAIR LADY, sings to her would-be suitor, “If you’re in love, then show me!”  Not one for empty professions, the street-wise lass expects a lover to live out their otherwise pretty words.   Sunday’s scriptures tell a bit about GOD’s expectations in the same line.  Are you walkin’, or are you just talkin’?

Amos is always an enigma, both then and now.  What meaneth this upstart who dares to hold a holy plumb-line to the Kingdom of Israel? (7:7-9)  Amos confronts all of us who praise God with the actual expectations which come with our professed devotion.   Amos’ message was against exploitation and chicanery (self-idolatry), and calls for justice and righteousness to “roll down like water”.

Sometimes I get bogged down in Paul’s long sentences.   But don’t rush through the Letter to the Colossians, because there’s lots of good stuff there.  Especially reference his prayer that believers there “may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God.” (1:10)  “Bearing fruit”, then, is a natural extension of “grow[ing] in the knowledge of God.”   Fruit is always pretty–but it’s more than a still-life because there’s a Holy Essence inside!

St. Luke remembers how an expert in Jewish legalism asked Jesus about What to DO to gain eternal life.   “Well, how do YOU read it?”, Jesus asked. (10:25 ff)  The law teacher gives the textbook response, “Love the Lord your God  with all your heart…soul… strength…  mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”   That’s what the words say, in Deuteronomy and Leviticus — but who IS the neighbor?  So Jesus tells the Good Samaritan parable:  those who subscribed to The Law ignored the victim, whereas that (shudder!)  Lawless Samaritan actually did something for him.  What does God expect?

I ponder a lot about the Frank Sinatra dilemma.   You remember it: do?be?do?be?do?  Always an introvert, I’d rather curl up in a sanctuary with my Faith to the wall.  But travelers  to God’s Kingdom are expected to flesh out their worship & devotion with signs of mercy and kindness as they journey.

God Bless Us, Every One                         H   B   King

My mother, God Bless Her, was described by her brothers & sister as a person who “could find a cloud for every silver lining.”  She always expected something to go wrong.  Alas!  I have inherited from her what Marie calls my “worry-gene”, a passive expectation that Nothing’s Right Today!  Sunday’s readings are an antidote for me and all the other Eeyore’s of the Church.

In the Second Book of the Kings of Israel comes the story of Naaman, General of Syria’s armies:  good of heart and skilful in battle, he had leprosy.(5:1-14)   A Hebrew serving-girl exclaimed to Naaman’s wife, “If only my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria!  He would cure him of his leprosy.”  To make a long story shorter, Naaman soon arrived amid pomp & splendor at Elisha’s door, with many gifts & honors.  Elisha’s instructions (delivered by butler, how disrespectful!)  were to wash in the Jordan seven times.  Grumbling,  Naaman did–and was instantly cured!   Great story!  Happy ending!  I guess Naaman was finally ready when someone unfolded Grace to him.

Paul’s Letter to the Galatian congregations is both remonstrance and encouragement, sometimes both in one sentence!  In what we call the 9th verse of Chapter 6, we read, “so let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up.”   Even when it seems as if nobody cares, and everyone’s for themselves, and death & despair in all around I see…  Do you ever get weary of doing “what is right”?   I know I do.

Jesus sends first 12 and then 70 out ahead of his tour to announce that “the Kingdom of God has come near to you.” (Luke 10:1-11, 16-20)  Just conjecture, but some of these front-men could well have muttered, “We’ll not be welcome, no one wants salvation; if they do, then let ’em come HERE.”   No, said the Lord, “The harvest is PLENTIFUL!”  He evidently saw something that the rest of us were too jaded to see.

My cynicism often troubles me.  I’d rather say that we can do it, than it can’t be done.  These scriptures are to jar me into higher expectations of God’s abilities and humanity’s readiness to accept God’s Kingdom.   As I dare to speak them on Sunday, I pray that I may expect others to be encouraged to expect more from God and each other….   “Once more, dear friends, into the breach!”

God Bless Us, Every One                 H   B   King

Our stories this week tell about Elijah the Prophet and Jesus the Christ being Taken Up, a way of describing Death in a hopeful way.   But the stories aren’t about Death at all, rather about the passing of a spiritual indwelling to the next generation of faithful Believers.  This is the time of year when Seniors “pass the torch” to Freshmen, when retiring clergy “pass the staff” to the newly ordained.   What takes up our energy, our time and our psyche?  What’s left to be Passed On?

Elijah has been mentoring EliSHA (play on words intentional) to carry on after he’s gone.  This week we find the Old Man and the New Kid at the Jordan River, that frontier between the familiar and that which is yet to be.  (II Kings 2:1-14)  They’ve just crossed the river with dry feet by striking the water with Elijah’s mantle.  (Aha!  the Law and the Prophets!)  Elijah flings the mantle to Elisha as the Fiery Chariot sweeps him home to God, and the power is passed on…

Paul has no recourse to Chariots of Fire when he upbraids the Galatian congregations for their selfish living.  (Galatians 5)  Having experienced  the new freedom of Christ, they’re taken up by all sorts of neighborly abuse (see the list in vv19-21; has he missed any of us?)  Our own arguments of today often say, “Nothing is forbidden, isn’t this the Land of the Free?”– as we gouge our customers, steal their spouses, forget the street-people and gorge ourselves in front of the malnourished!  Yet the Fruit of the Spirit take us up from abuse to reconciliation and service this side of the Jordan…

Jesus knew that he was soon to be Taken Up.  (Luke 9:51 ff)  Having “set his face to go to Jerusalem”, he made his farewell tour from Galilee south through Samaria.  He wasn’t welcome there, since the Samaritans believed that worship could be successful at Mt. Gerazim as well as Mt.Zion–and they had Jacob’s well, besides.   No, Jesus was going to the Center of Jewish Spirituality and political tradition, and nothing would dissuade him.  He was Taken Up with this conviction that Jerusalem must be the venue for his death.

With what are we taken up?   Is it the momentary pleasures which trip up the Galatians of all ages?   Or is it the steadfast resolution that the public climax of our earthly sojourn must announce some sense of Rightness with God seen in our faces?  The mantle, the torch, the staff have all been passed.  What will happen now??

God Bless Us,Every One                 H   B   King

For openers, this isn’t a philosophical question of existentialism.  Good thing, since there doesn’t seem to be any answer, in that discipline.  No, this is theology, the Reality of an all-present God, which confronts us in next Sunday’s readings.  Not for navel-gazing or dreaming in the stars, “Why are you HERE?” could be an amazed expression which translates, “I didn’t expect to find GOD here!”

Elijah was drained.  He had just killed off the priests of Ba’al, and was now running from royal wrath, first to the desert and then to Mt. Horeb (Sinai). (I Kings 19:1-15)   And God asked, “What are you doing HERE, Elijah?”   Alone and afraid, Elijah was on pilgrimage to the place where he knew that  God had once been found; still he was a bit surprised to see Yahweh so far from his home.

Galatia.  Now THAT’s a strange place to experience God!   The mountains of what’s now Central Turkey were full of wild Celtic tribes, hardly a scene for a refined Jewish scholar and Roman citizen.  Yet Paul writes, “…for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith….And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.” (Galatians 3:26,29)  What are you doing HERE, Paul?

The Gentile Gospel writer, Luke, tells a funny story (Luke 8:26-39) about Jesus healing a  fellow named Legion from his many demons, and sending these demons into a herd of pigs, who promptly rushed over the cliff and drowned!   (“See, we knew they were unclean!”)  What’s really special about this narrative is that it happened in SYRIA, near what we now call the Golan Heights.   What are you doing HERE, Jesus?

As a seminarian, one of our assignments was to go one evening each week to Greenwich Village, “deep in the heart of New York City.”  We were to wear garb which identified us as clergy, and to mingle with folks in bars & coffee-houses, perhaps to provoke Holy Conversation.  My friend Ed and I were in one of these dives when a woman said loudly to her companion, “They’re EVERYwhere, aren’t they!”   Glad ya noticed, lady!

Who’s surprised more, faith-bearers or skeptics, when God is discovered Out of Town?  Or maybe it’s God discovering US, even where and when we expect God least…….

God Bless Us, Every One           H  B   King