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During the Sundays after Easter, tradition substitutes readings from the Book of the Acts of the Apostles for the “ordinary” Old Testament lessons.  This lends itself to a  guided and intentional study of the Early Church as it formed and spread; and to the post-Easter activities of the Holy Spirit, just in case we think that God’s done after Resurrection.

When we saw Peter last, he was breathless from running to the empty garden tomb.  Recently a man of the shadows, he appears in Acts 5 as very confidently standing up to the high priest:  “We must obey God rather than any human authority.” (v.29)  What changed?  Our sole clue is the Resurrection, which announced a New Day and a new way of doing things.  If this reading can bring some Holy Audacity to the People of the Church, it’s well worth the insertion into the day’s liturgy!

The Epistle reading is from the opening chapter of the always-mysterious Revelation.   I especially like verse 6: “…and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. AMEN.”  Another word of encouragement to the uncertain Church, cowering before the wave of secularism which was then and still is now.  In the light of the Cross & Tomb, who are we?  “A kingdom of priests”!

And of course the traditional Doubting Thomas story:  Thomas, who dared speak for the rest of us about needing something tangible.(John 20:19-29)   The Jesus Bunch were in lock-down, afraid of “the Jews” (read “establishment, system, business as usual”), but Jesus shows up anyway.   Again, the preaching- point is to ennoble the Church to come out of our locked rooms, for we are the Resurrection People!  “BLESSED are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

This Sunday after Easter is called “Low Sunday”  (clergy say that it refers to the attendance) because the Disciples were feelin’ mighty low.   Discouraged, hiding, confused, they were paralyzed as the People of Jesus.   Can the Church be still catatonic, having been to and through Easter?

God Bless Us, Every One             H   B   King

Writing about Easter deep in Holy Week is, on the whole, pretty reflective of my spirit-life.  How about you?  Fickle as the weather, this liturgical season is a patchwork of sunshine and cloud; and that’s not only in Holy Week.  Truth be told, my devotions plod on with an occasional fit of fervor–and those regrettable detours into shallowness which I’ve never outgrown.  Lord have mercy; Christ have mercy; Lord have mercy.

Third Isaiah speaks a Word from a most-patient and steadfast God. (65:17-25)   As Believers are swiftly becoming overwhelmed by the forces of Hell Itself, only Grace can say, “But be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating;”  and then goes on to describe a Peaceable Kingdom where wolves and lions will not hurt or destroy on this holy mountain.  A bit before Resurrection; yet we suppose that Isaiah was seeing an ultimate resolution to all the slings and arrows. (Come quickly, Lord Jesus!)

And then, in retrospect, Peter spoke:  “They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear….All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” (Acts 10:39-40, 43)   Peter addressed what he saw, not in the cold pre-dawn discouragement of Good Friday morning, but in the bright sunshine of God’s New Day.

It’s probably easy to get caught up in the Easter Morning story of faithful Mary, who came to the garden alone while the dew was still on the roses.  But let this message rise far above a dime-store romance with a happy ending!  It’s about running men who’re trying desperately to see God’s work in all this mess:  “[John] bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there….Then [Peter], who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed.”  (John 20:5-8)  Mary saw two angels in white, and then she saw Jesus himself!

So much of what we do on Sunday will be visual.  Most of the women of our congregation will dress beautifully, and we guys will try to look as good as possible, too.  There will be bright flowers all ’round!   We’ll smile and strut in the spring sunshine.  In the midst of it, look diligently for signs of the Risen Christ.  The Kingdom of God has drawn near! 

May every morning be Easter Morning, from now on!

God Bless Us, Every One….

                                                H   B   King

  A fence built around a graveyard is a thing of wonder, no doubt:                                              those  outside don’t want to get in, and those who are in can’t get out!                                       –as heard on “the Benny Hill Show”

So the theme this Palm Sunday weekend is Gates, especially the Gates of the City.   I once had a young man of the parish, a computer nerd, who did all the tech stuff around the church.   When at Advent we’d sing, “Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates”, he thought it was about BILL!  

The Jewish community traditionally reads Psalm 118 during Passover, and therefore it’s not a bit surprising that Jesus & Co. honored its verses of thanksgiving as a sign that the Lord is near.   The singer calls to the watcher of the gate, “Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord.  This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it.” (verses 19-20)   Those who followed Jesus through the gates of Jerusalem, the Holy Center of the world, shouted loudly, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!” (v.26)

Perhaps for me the significant verse in Luke’s recounting is the first one in the reading: “(Jesus) went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.” (19:28)  It woulda been really easy to escape the heat for a while–but he was not to be dissuaded.   He went right to the heart of the faith.

Interestingly, Luke shows his non-Jewishness by omitting what is central to many Church people:  Nowhere in the text do we read “Hosanna!”, which means “save us, Lord!”  As a Greek, Luke wouldn’t have participated in the Long Despair the Jews had suffered under Syrian & Roman occupation–so being “saved” from idol-worshipers wasn’t on his front burner.

And what’s this?  NO PALM BRANCHES!   To the Jewish folks in Jesus’ day, the palm fronds were symbols of rebellion:  the Zealots and other revolutionaries waved palms as flags, and some appeared on old coins, as well.   Luke may not have known this tradition, so he saw no real reason to include it.   However, the folks around Jesus expected an immediate restoration of the Throne of David–and an expulsion of those uppity Romans.

On Sunday, YOU can wave (sterilized) palm branches in order to announce a revolution and a civil overthrow of the systems which enslave our lives!   And shout “Hosanna!” loudly, fully expecting that Jesus is the One to Save Us!   Do you believe in this revolution, this salvation??

Don’t stand outside the Gates to the City of God.   C’mon in!

God Bless Us, Every One                        H    B   King

                                                                                                          graveyard                                                                                                       

The ugly-duckling girl in junior high suddenly became gorgeous!  That skinny farm boy who’d trip over his big feet suddenly filled out to be suave & handsome!   What in the world happened?   Or did I just see them in a different light as I matured myself…..  Part of our Lenten journey is change or transformation — and seeing in a different light ourselves.

A brief passage in the saga of Joshua tells about the Exodus Pilgrims finally arriving in the Land of Milk & Honey.  “The manna ceased on the day they ate the produce of the land, and the Israelites no longer had manna; they ate the crops of the Land of Canaan that year.”(Joshua 5:12)   The Bread of Heaven, a necessity for so many years, didn’t happen any more because the new arrivals saw that they had their own fields and gardens.  They saw that they were no longer Wanderers, but Residents, by God’s Design.

The core of Psalm 32 seems to be a change felt through healing.   “While I kept silence, my body wasted away….Then I acknowledged my sin to you…and you forgave the guilt of my sin.”  (vv.3-5)   The self-exiled sufferer couldn’t get to be herself until she trusted in God enough to partake in God’s steadfast love:  she saw herself differently, as a beloved child in the process of unfolding.

Some have difficulty with Paul’s admonitions to the Corinthians, II, 5:17 — “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!”  When anyone puts on Christ, everything looks different:  we take a big-picture look at Creation, we understand those we meet as important carriers of God’s Image!   How different from seeing the challenged in front of us in line at the food market as just an unpleasant obstacle to our daily agenda!  Or that idiot driver who won’t leave the intersection at the stroke of green!  Or those who need medical assistance.  Or food stamps. Or job training…

The Gospel is the story of the Prodigal Son, recorded by St. Luke in Chapter 15.  Better preachers that I have suggested that we have all at some times been the adventurous son, the good son, and the devoted father.  The son in question eventually “came to himself” after blowing his fortune on high living.  He saw things differently.  We don’t know, but we hope that the older brother eventually saw this event in a different light, too.   And the ever-gracious father watched for the transformation every day….

When was that amazing day that I was tall enough to see over the top of the dining room table?  (I bet my mother knew!)   Or when I could throw from Third to First?  Or when I first successfully manipulated the clutch?  Or when I learned discretion?  (The jury’s still out, on that one…)    These milestones are hard to pinpoint, as is our New Vision  through the eyes of Christ.   As you “press forward for the prize”, take occasion this Lent to appreciate how far you’ve come!

In the words of Sir Humphrey of Bogartus, “Here’s lookin’ at YOU, kid”

God Bless Us, Every One………                  H   B    King

Norman Podhoretz has written a scholarly (dry) book on THE PROPHETS.  He describes the mission of the Old Testament Prophets –including Moses! — as waging war against “an enemy as insidious and seductive as he was cruel and evil: the enemy they knew as idolatry.” (page 2)….”this enemy keeps coming back under different names and in mutated forms that are not always easy to recognize as his.”   The scriptures many of us will be studying this weekend address this idolatrous battle.

“Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?  Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food….listen, so that you may live.”  says Isaiah 55:2-3.  Long before the days of Empty Calories, this prophet appealed to our habits as consumers:   why waste the essence of your worth on this year’s fad-idol, which will be out of style by NEXT year?  Anticipating Lent, he spoke of responsible choices and care of our resources.

St. Paul harangues the Corinthian church, warning against pious complacency:  “Do not become idolaters as some of [the ancient Hebrews] did…..So if you think you are standing, watch out that you do not fall.” (I Corinthians 10: 7,12)  Please note that these warnings are addressed to the Whole Community, as well as applied to individuals thereof!  And what makes you think you’re so special?  “No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone….with the testing [God] will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.” (v.13)  Ah, now that IS Good News!

Jesus is directly connected to the prophetic tradition, often wounding before healing.  St.  Luke remembers his examples of Jewish worshipers massacred by governmental soldiers; and of innocent bystanders killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them — evidently current events. Those folks were no worse than others, he said, but if you don’t repent of your complacent idolatry you won’t have any better luck!  He then begins the healing process with the parable of the unproductive fig tree and the Gardener who intercedes on its behalf:  one more year, one more time… (but the fig tree is expected to ultimately live up to its potential!) You can read this in Luke 13:1-9.

It’s hard for me to admit my idols; but I have lots of distractions from citizenship in God’s Kingdom.  Well-fed, sheltered in my warm study against the winds of late winter, and sated with anthems of William Boyce, it’s easy to use holy-talk.   Without these idols, would my heart be as eager in devotion??

  God Bless Us, Every One!     H    B    King

Is there anything beyond today, with its greed and cynicism?  Will the sun really shine tomorrow?  On these dreary days when Winter just won’t give up, when messages of violence and cheap life fill us with nausea….?  Most everyone looks at Christians as hopelessly naive:  a sweet teenaged girl at Wendy’s laughed at my sooty face after Ash Wednesday services.  Neither of us thought the other had a clue!

Abraham looked for clues (Genesis 15:1-8):  “how am I to know?”  It surely didn’t look as though he would be ancestor of a Great Nation, or possess a Land of Milk & Honey.  He was Just Getting Old — who could he trust?

One commentator has called the Philippi of the First Century a Mardi Gras.  True enough, there were all sorts of diversions and pastimes.   “Their end is destruction; their god is the belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things.” (3:19)  Woe to those prophets who would dare say there is More!  Yet Paul announced a heavenly Savior who will “transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of this glory…” (3:21)

Jesus was disgusted with Jerusalem, and all it represented. “How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” (Luke 13:34)  The image is of immature and recalcitrant searchers, putting off protection and care for just one more morsel…  Just one more, Mama!

Lenten preaching this week will try to remind both Believers and Party-goers alike that a gracious Creator intends to call us from scrabbling in everyday dust, and has sent Christ to guide our journey.  “I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.  Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!”  (Psalm 27:13-14)

God Bless Us, Every One!     H   B   King

Scriptures for the First Sunday in Lent are deliciously full of imagery and holy narrative!  Any of them will be informative and challenging to a congregation:  as indeed they were written to bolster the faith-communities of Hebrews on the doorstep of the Promised Land; the worshiping family at the Jerusalem Temple; the underground Church scattered through Nero’s Rome; and the second-generation Disciples tempted to accept the Good Enough.

The writer of Deuteronomy warns the new inhabitants of Canaan about neglecting their allegiance to Yahweh now that they’ve arrived.  “When you have come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you ….take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground…”  These were to be presented to the priests, along with a ritual of remembrance and thanksgiving.  (Deuteronomy 26:1-11)  When we present our tithes and offerings, is it not an acknow-ledgement  of God’s deliverance, protection and completeness??

Being a member of the Christian Church in Rome was an act of civil disobedience.  Believers had to choose between a comfortable (?) life as a law-abiding Roman citizen OR holding fast to their core understandings, that is, allegiance to Christ FIRST!  Paul goes beyond confession to demonstrable discipleship:  “if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord AND believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9) 

Which brings us to the traditional lesson for the First of Lent, Jesus’ Temptation in the Desert (this year found in Luke 4:1-13).  To begin, please understand that the stiffest temptation  is not between Good & Evil, usually a no-brainer.  Rather, the tough ones are between  Wonderful and Perfect!   Should Jesus have turned stones into bread and fed the whole world from henceforth?   That’s a GOOD idea — but not the completeness of Christ.  Or should Jesus have taken advantage of ruling the world, directing all nations in holy living?   Now that’s also a Good Idea — but not the completeness of Christ.   And if he were to  exercise death-defying stunts, so that he’d be famous and influential?   That could be a Good Idea — but not….   You get it, Jesus wouldn’t be authentic if he did all these things, no matter how relevant, powerful or spectacular.

Individually and as a body, we’re tempted to put all our energies into doing Good Things.  Not bad–but will we lose our integrity as Disciple or Faithful Congregation?   Sometimes the tail wags the dog, and that’s when we lose our identity.  The Season of Lent gains its intensity from the self-awareness of our faith journey, and our recognition in the desert spots that God has given a still-higher calling.  Can good things lure Jesus from a focus on God’s Will?  Will Good Ministries lure our congregation into a warmth of complacency?

God Bless Us, Every One                          H  B   King

Most of our churches will observe Transfiguration Sunday this weekend.  During the Season after the Epiphany —AHA!, remember — we’ve been exploring ways in which God has been displayed through Jesus.   Implicit in this journey is the underlying question, “What has God been showing ME?”  And like unto it, “How will this revelation confront and guide those around me?”  What changes?

Moses was on Mt. Sinai for a LOOONG time, twice as many days as you could count on your fingers and toes.  Most people back at camp said that he’d NEVER come back…did he get too close to God and was burned?   But here he comes, carrying Ten Laws about how we’re to approach God and others in the community.   And look!  What’s with his FACE?   It really glows and shines!  Every time Moses would talk with The Lord, “the Israelites would see the face of Moses, that the skin of his face was shining…” (Exodus 24:35)

St. Paul recollects this holy history when he reminds the Corinthian congregations about the changes which occur from being with Christ.  He said that Moses veiled his face so that his people wouldn’t see the glory fade.  Only Christ removes the veil.  “And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.”  (II Corinthians 3:18)  Well, THAT’S certainly Good News!

`The Gospel (Luke 9:28-36) is the traditional account of Jesus and his closest lieutenants climbing into the clouds, and there conversing with Moses (the Law) and Elijah (the Prophets).  (These fellows also had mountain-stories, you may remember)   “The appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white.”  Once again, God’s Voice identified Jesus as The Son and demanded that he be heard.

Know anyone who’s had an encounter with God and is markedly changed?  A prime duty of the Church is to welcome and nurture those who’re being transfigured, those who are obvious in their journey ” from glory unto glory”.  We who are Wesleyan may well fix on the doctrine of Perfection, and this is a perfect day for it!

Emmet Kelly, the hobo clown with the battered derby, had the trademark gimmick of sweeping the light from the far corners into a little ball of glory at his feet.   May you be steppin’ in the Light….

God Bless Us,Every One            H  B  King

When I took typing, back in the last century, I found that my favorite spot on the keyboard was the key that said MarRel — the Margin Release.  Long before digital wonders that justify the edge of our printed messages, this key was necessary to jump the fence.  That is, when the typist reached the end of the line and needed just one or two more letters, a click of the MarRel key would allow the right-hand margin limit to be exceeded!  Now I could explore beyond the frontier, could march off the map with impunity!  (Impunity never knows when to stay home)

Weekly scriptures are good at pressing the limits, squeezing the envelope.  Jeremiah reminisces about his boyhood call to Prophesy, to release the margin.  “But the Lord said to me, ‘Do not say, I am only a boy; for you shall go to all 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….Now I have put my words in your mouth…'” (Jeremiah 1:7-9)  Jeremiah spent a long and controversial life troubling the complacency of Israel, probably perishing with the Babylonian conquest, about 610 BC.

I Corinthians 13, the infamous Love Chapter.   Widely overused at weddings, this really isn’t about hearts ‘n’ lace and sloppy kisses.  What Paul has in mind here is a discussion of how the Church can show compassion and charity within the community which surrounds them/us.  If we Corinthians are really serious about Releasing the Marginal, there are opportunities all around to care for the homeless, the hungry and the hurting.  Even illegal immigrants.  Or ex-cons.  Or those battling depression or addiction.

Remember last week?  Jesus has returned to his hometown synagogue and has identified himself as the vehicle in which God’s Kingdom is revealed.  “TODAY this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:21)  But then he hits the MarRel key:  Elijah fed a Gentile woman, Elisha healed a Gentile leper.  Uh-Oh.    Even worse, he implied that these Children of Abraham at Nazareth could use some feeding and healing themselves!  That did it:  they hustled him off to a nearby cliff and threatened to throw him off; but it wasn’t his time.  He had lots more frontier to expand.

Beyond the Margins is where vaccines against children’s diseases, computer chips & symphonies are found.   We who hear the Gospel are to follow Jesus to the brink of the cliff, to the frontiers of Holiness, Justice and Mercy.  And note this:   the God who sustained Jeremiah and Jesus as they marched off the map will sustain YOU, as well!

God Bless Us, Every One.           H    B   King 

“This is the word of the Lord,”  I said.   “Thanks be to God,” they responded.   Why?   What’s this all about, and why is it important?   We honor the weekly reading of Scripture, often standing when the Gospel is read.   Our individual devotions are likely centered on a particular passage; and some of us meet regularly to debate the finer points of what we consider Holy.

The Book of Nehemiah (yes, that’s in the Hebrew Bible) recalls the Great Reading in Jerusalem which re-launched the Jewish nation.  Finally the last of the exiles straggled in from Babylonia, only to find wreckage and ruin.  After seventy years, only a few grandfathers remembered how the Temple  had been.  So Ezra the High Priest called them together in WaterGate Square and read aloud the Old Law–probably the Book of Deuteronomy–  to re-identify the central points that were unique to this people, that is, to make them again a Nation Under God.  All the people wept when they heard the words of the law:  can we really be Holy before the Lord?  But the leaders told them, “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.”   (chapter 8, verse 9)

St. Paul, still urging the Corinthians to level their playing field and love the diversity, urges a unity in the Body of Christ through the centrality of their own purpose together.   We don’t know how this passage (I 12:12 and beyond) was received, yet we can bet that some crying turned into laughter….

St. Luke’s Gospel remembers the time Jesus went to his hometown synagogue in Nazareth (4:14-21).  He asked to read, and chose a passage from Isaiah which spoke of the role of God’s Servant.  They liked it until he began his remarks with, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Confronted with a Word we respect, we’re aware that something about our life must change!  Those who read aloud to the nation/Body/people of Old First are charged to be audacious in their presentation, for the Life of the Community –the World? — hangs upon this.

God Bless Us,Every One!          H   B   King