tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-348319552024-03-09T01:25:31.026+01:00monteskewedSEEKING TO SKEW YOU TO MY WORLDVIEW:
thoughts on cross-cultural life in France as a follower of jesus, foodie and urban farm-gardnerMontehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07241568086581773981noreply@blogger.comBlogger973125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34831955.post-58617722821025155892012-12-12T21:55:00.001+01:002012-12-12T21:56:49.264+01:00Blogging Towards the 2nd Sunday of Advent, December 9, 2012<br />
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<b><a data-mce-href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=221742301" href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=221742301">Malachi 3:1-4</a> & <a data-mce-href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=221742319" href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=221742319">Luke 3:1-18</a></b><br />
The Second Sunday in Advent<br />
PEACE | The Holy Family</div>
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Advent is both terrible and hopeful. It’s terrible because it’s about a hopeful word, a newness about life – which promises to overthrow all our old, comfortable, sinful ways. And it’s hopeful for the very same reason. We know the shape of Advent, and yet we don’t know it. We may know the stories of the prophets, the Exile, the Exodus and the birth of the Messiah – but we often struggle to see that this “old” God is also breaking in upon human life in awesomely new ways still today – even here in 2012! Who would ever have looked for God to enter the world through a baby born to poor parents in a dry desert land dominated by the Romans and overshadowed by the wealth of Egypt?</div>
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<i>The passage from <a data-mce-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Malachi" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Malachi">Malachi</a>: preparation, anticipation, apprehension</i></div>
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We count the days until Christmas. Our family always has an advent calendar to mark the arrival of the anticipated day. Yet maybe we should be a bit more apprehensive, not because we won’t get what we’ll ask for, but because maybe we don’t take it seriously enough. Malachi talks of the messenger to come, to prepare the way – not just for a party - but for a transformation of the universe, of the world being turned upside down – of what’s wrong being made right, what’s crooked being straightened, what’s broken made whole. We don’t know much about the historical context of Malachi’s day. The text begins on a note of great good news which involves the lift of the community of faith. Curiously though this messenger bring good news of judgment. Not exactly what we’d expect or anticipate. Malachi reminds us that Advent isn’t just the waiting for the cute baby in the manger, but for God to put the world on notice, to uproot things and replace them with the values of God. It’s easy to just see the evil in the world – but it’s also about us, about being made whole, being completed, being sanctified.</div>
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<i>The passage from <a data-mce-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel_of_Luke" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel_of_Luke">Luke</a>: Who’s the boss? Not settling for the status quo.</i></div>
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Luke starts this chapter with a historical note. He follows the pattern established in other First Testament writing, with a reference to the current ruler (Jeremiah 1:2; Micah 1:1; Zephaniah 1:1). Paradoxically we see in this chapter who appears to be in charge of things, and a hint at who really is the boss.</div>
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In the middle of the status quo, when life is going along something weird happens. The Word of God comes – but not to the famous priests, or to the capital cities of Rome and Jerusalem. Rather God speaks to an unknown man in the wilderness, a man who isn’t part of the status quo and is outside of the norm. He comes proclaiming a radical message of conversion, of turning one’s life around and heading in the opposite direction (that’s what convert literally means). John is the one who reminds Christians of the need to be prepared for the Christ who comes again. He also is a reminder that the word of God emerges in unlikely places, anticipating the work of the church as a subversive status-quo-challenging community. The advent of the baby Jesus, not the arrival of an army of the wealth of a king, will demonstrate that real power lies elsewhere then where our world expects it to be. John proclaims a message of good news that is challenging and disturbing. Peace is directly related to justice. He calls for repentance beyond the community of those gathered on that day in the desert along the river. He calls us as well to turn and follow a different leader than the one we often settle for in our culture, economy and learned behaviors.</div>
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<b>Textual Curiosities:</b></div>
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<i>The passage from Luke: paths, light and the Way</i></div>
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Verses 4-5 are a citation of <a data-mce-href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=221742395" href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=221742395">Isaiah 40:3-5</a>, looking back to the announcing of good news to the exiles in ancient Babylon and a current announcement of good news to those living in the Roman Empire – and by extension us today. Before a king made a journey to a distant country, the roads he would travel were improved. John come to make the way easier. Curiously when you’re on a good road it seems like you can see farther ahead, where you’re headed so that you can remember what the journey is all about. As I studied these texts I’m reminded of the words of <a data-mce-href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=221742413" href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=221742413">Romans 13:12 </a>“The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, ad let us put on the armor of light.”</div>
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<b>Questions for wondering and exploring:</b></div>
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1. What troubles you and/or encourages you in these texts? Why? How?</div>
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2. How might God be challenging, healing and inviting us through this word to be, act and speak in our cities of Oakland, Berkeley and Piedmont today?</div>
Montehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06730050375349279795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34831955.post-38778960092310935952012-12-12T21:52:00.003+01:002012-12-12T21:53:14.959+01:00Blogging Towards the 3rd Sunday in Advent, December 16, 2012<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><a data-mce-href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=222290649" href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=222290649">Zephaniah 3:14-20</a>, <a data-mce-href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=222290664" href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=222290664">Isaiah 12:2-6</a> &<a data-mce-href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=222290680" href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=222290680"> Luke 1:26-38</a></b></div>
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<b>The Third Sunday in Advent</b></div>
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<b>Joy | The Shepherds</b></div>
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Joy is a great thing, one of the best parts of human life. And yet completely unexpected joy, the realization that deeply held hopes will be or have been fulfilled, is especially awesome and freeing. It’s not just waking up to find presents under a tree, it’s like waking up and discovering that you do have a tree and gifts underneath it. Joy is the realization that life is a gift, which we haven’t earned, deserved – or even really asked for. It’s what set the shepherds in motion to see what happened in the manger that night – and sent them exuberantly into the world to share what they’d witnessed. Joy is our response in faith to the discovery of the love of God that we know in Christ – a love that overcomes all things, heals all things, undoes all things, frees all things<br />
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<b>Theological Themes:</b></div>
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<i>The passage from Zephaniah: light in the darkness</i></div>
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<a data-mce-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zephaniah" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zephaniah">Zephaniah</a> probably isn’t on your most commonly read books of the bible list. The suggestion in 1:1, the introduction to the book is that Zephaniah was the great-grandson of the Judean <a data-mce-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hezekiah" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hezekiah">King Hezekiah </a>(715-687 BC). He’s recorded as being one of the few “good” kings who did what was right in the sight of Yahweh (<a data-mce-href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=222290591" href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=222290591">2 Kings 18:3</a>). Between Hezekiah and Zephaniah came the 50 long year rule of the evil king Manasseh with a resulting decay of faithfulness and morality among the people (<a data-mce-href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=222290577" href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=222290577">2 Kings 21:1-16</a>). Things had become so bad, the world seemingly so rotten to the core that faithful people like Zephaniah could only lament the terrible reality of the world, and conclude that God had no option but to destroy all of creation (<a data-mce-href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=222290606" href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=222290606">Zephaniah 1:2-9</a>). He prophesies during the reign of King Josiah (640-609 BC) who would eventually set things right (<a data-mce-href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=222290629" href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=222290629">2 Kings 22-23</a>).</div>
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Our passage is expresses the joy of God’s redemption of Judah – even in the wake of evil and injustice left behind by Manasseh. It’s the glimpse of dawn on the horizon just when everything seems lost to darkness. God’s coming isn’t just the end of the bad, it’s a reversal of fortune – the oppressed will be judged, the lame rescued, the forgotten gathered up, the lost brought home. Fear is replace with strength and confidence. God’s heart is to gather the people to him, to bring them home. I can’t help but think of the story of the Two Sons, or the Prodigal Son, in <a data-mce-href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=222290699" href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=222290699">Luke 15:11-32</a>. It’s a signal that in the midst of human darkness the light of God shines – a remarkable miracle that cannot be understood (<a data-mce-href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=222290712" href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=222290712">John 1:1-5</a>).</div>
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<i>The passage from Isaiah: waiting for God inevitably involves faith</i></div>
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Our passage today concludes chapters 1 through 12 of <a data-mce-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaiah" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaiah">Isaiah</a>. It represents the response invited by the whole book of Isaiah, addressed to people in waiting. Isaiah lived and prophesied during the Exile – when the nation of Israel had been defeated by Babylon, and most of the powerful, wealthy and intelligentsia had been deported as slaves to live in Babylon (current day Iraq). Waiting for God involves patience, but also faith that God rules the world even when it doesn’t seem like it (which is what happened during the Exile and what we often feel like today.) Those who wait for God are not be be passive observers but active witnesses.</div>
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<i>The passage from Luke: God’s ways are not our ways</i></div>
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Today’s passage introduces Mary, who becomes the mother of Jesus, or as the orthodox Christians call her the <a data-mce-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theotokos" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theotokos"><i>theotokos</i></a> – the mother of God. She was most likely a very young girl, in her early teens. We get sidetracked over whether she was a virgin or not in terms of her pregnancy. Yet that was a given in her world. Young girls were virgins because they weren’t yet married, which is what they all would do before they were in the mid to late teens. What’s more important in the text is why she was chosen. You would think God would chose some powerful, with a good pedigree. He chooses a young girl, unmarried, poor, not from the right side of the tracks. Why? We only have to look at her response of faith, trust and confidence. She believes that nothing is impossible for God, and by extension that whatever God says or promises will indeed come to pass – even when it seems unlikely or impossible. She is the one who births, or represents God to her world – giving birth to Jesus – as we today are invited to also be <i>theotokoses</i>, re-presenting God for our world.</div>
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<b>Questions for wondering and exploring:</b></div>
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1. What troubles you and/or encourages you in these text? Why? How?</div>
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2. How does faith bring you joy? How do you pay it forward? If it doesn’t why doesn’t it?</div>
Montehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06730050375349279795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34831955.post-25883894719599013022012-11-28T19:07:00.001+01:002012-11-28T19:08:15.427+01:00<br />
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<b>Questions for going deeper with the Scriptures for Sunday, December 2<sup>nd</sup></b></div>
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<b><a data-mce-href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=221125739" href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=221125739">Jeremiah 33:10-16</a> & <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=221125844">Luke 21:25-36</a></b></div>
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<b>The First Sunday in Advent</b></div>
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<b>Hope | the Prophets</b></div>
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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advent">Advent</a> is the liturgical season or period marked by the four Sundays preceding Christmas. In the Ancient Church it was a reflection of the season of Lent – a time of preparation, reflection and celebration before the feast of Easter (for Lent) and Christmastide (for Advent). The word Advent comes from the Latin for coming, or arriving. We celebrate Advent by special markers: the colors purple or blue and the Advent Wreath of 4 candles, one for each Sunday, culminating with the lighting of the Christ Candle (the 5<sup>th</sup> one) on Christmas. It’s a concrete way for us to articulate the waiting that defines this season. </div>
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<a name='more'></a>Advent has two faces, or two orientations. I<i>t looks to the past</i> in the sense that is a recapitulation of the longing with which women and men of faith living in a bygone era anticipated the coming of God’s Messiah. And <i>Advent also looks to the future</i> in an attitude of expectancy over what God has yet to do in the life of humankind. (C. Cousar) It’s an active remembering, not a passive waiting, an ardent expectancy that God is at work in the world, is going to complete was has been started in the first coming of Christ. It’s an invitation to be alert, stay awake, be looking for God in creation – in the city – the divine invitation to join in with what God is already doing.</div>
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The Advent texts, proposed by the Lectionary, the three year cycle by which the church reads and preaching through the Bible in ecumenical worship, contains a weekly reading of the prophets, the psalms, the pastoral church letters [epistles] and the gospel story leading up to the birth of Christ. We are invited to read, meditate and live from them not just as history of God’s people, but also as our continuing story as the people of God. The coming of Advent jolts us out of “ordinary time” to remind and declare to us the invasive good news that God’s grace is impending, on the cusp of presenting fresh possibilities of deliverance and wholeness.</div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>Theological Themes:</b></div>
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<i>The passage from Jeremiah: judgment as salvation.</i></div>
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This passage draws heavily on the prophetic language of judgment to make an important statement about God’s grace to come ... “in those days.” Judgment is pictured less as destruction, than it is as a time of restoration and salvation. That which was intended for judgment is now purposed by God to be a moment of salvation. The love of God finds its desired fulfillment in the redemption of the people, but this same love also results in judgment on human sinfulness.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<i>The passage from Jeremiah and Luke: waiting and watching</i></div>
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Jesus gives an apocalyptic vision of the end, the last day, harkening back to the message of the prophets when they spoke of “in the last days…” Is it metaphorical or literal? Has it happened already, or not yet? For us modern readers the apocalyptic language (of violent upheaval and destruction) is complicated and can lead us to skip over the word underneath the words. We focus on the literal fulfillment (or not) of these events. But Jesus uses them as word pictures to get across a more radical message: God is at work in the world. Stay awake. Stay alert. Expect God to act. Watch and look for God’s leading, then join in. The language is larger than life in order to remind us that God is larger than life. How God acts in the world (and God’s thoughts) are not our thoughts or plans (See <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=221125929">Isaiah 55</a>). Watching and waiting are not easy, precisely because other things do interfere and distract.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Textual Curiosities:</b></div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<i>The passage from Jeremiah and Luke: apocalyptic judgment as transformational salvation.</i></div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
Jeremiah is not the only Biblical prophet to seize upon this future moment in God’s time (the day of the Lord) to proclaim a message of great joy. See also Jeremiah 23:5-6; Psalm 72, Joel 2:30; Acts 2:17-21; Psalm 46:6; Psalm 89:9. This judgment will be brought by a new king, sovereign, descendant of David (<a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=221125962">see Isaiah 11</a>) – like a branch sprouting from a dead tree.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Questions for wondering and exploring:</b></div>
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1. What troubles you and/or encourages you in these text? Why? How?</div>
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<br /></div>
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2. To look only at things that seem to be close at hand is to miss the larger picture. What distracts you from seeing the larger picture of what God is doing, or to expect God to act?</div>
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<br /></div>
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3. How might God be acting, waiting for you – or for us – to see the big picture and join in with the divine initiative already in progress? At work?; home?; CAPC?; in Oakland?</div>
Montehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06730050375349279795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34831955.post-10575293623630651672012-11-07T21:33:00.000+01:002012-11-07T21:33:04.326+01:00
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Questions
for going deeper with the Scriptures for Sunday, November 11<sup>th</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=219319863">Exodus: 18:1-27</a></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Tkd2uDHfk-s/UJrDYjrsY9I/AAAAAAAAA38/-Nfzmaxfh80/s1600/Liminal+Photo+Final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="165" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Tkd2uDHfk-s/UJrDYjrsY9I/AAAAAAAAA38/-Nfzmaxfh80/s320/Liminal+Photo+Final.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">This week has been filled to overflowing with talk
of politics, partisanship, gridlock, decision-making and agenda-setting. We see the unavoidable challenges
before us that cannot be ignored away with a magic wand, or avoided until the
solve themselves. How do we do
leadership as Christians? The day
after the election I heard CNN talking about how Protestants and Born-Agains
voted for Romney while Catholics and people of color vote for Obama. I doubt that things are that clear and
simply categorized. Maybe part of
the reason for which we have such difficulty in our democracy regarding
addressing the problems we face is that our media outlets play to the extremes,
they like “good TV” – rather than speaking with bridge-builders and
door-openers they focus upon fear mongerers and demagogues.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></div>
<a name='more'></a>Being Christian is more about how we live, than what
we believe, more about living together than acting on our own. So how do we do Christian
community? We have no problem
seeing the places and spaces where we have trouble: worship wars, fights over
music, trouble with leadership when we disagree with it, challenges of mental
health, personality challenges and characters who don’t play (or work) well
with others. As
Presbyterians we are part of a way of being Christian, living out the teachings
of Jesus in community which is based upon the principle of lay leadership – led
by the congregationally elected elders (in Greek the word is <i>presbyteros</i> – hence our name). A common joke is that Presbyterians do
it in committee. That we do all
things decently and in order (<a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=219319915">1 Corinthians 14:40</a>) – which harkens back to the
constitution which forms our identity and ecclesiastical way of working and
being together.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Our
constitution (the Book of Order) begins not with a rule, but with the
affirmation that “All power in heaven and earth is given to Jesus Christ by
Almighty God. Christ calls the Church into being, giving it all that is necessary
for its mission to the world, for its building up, and for its service to God.
Christ is present with the Church in both Spirit and Word. It belongs to Christ
alone to rule, to teach, to call, and to use the Church as he wills, exercising
his authority by the ministry of women and men for the establishment and extension
of his Kingdom. Christ gives to his Church its faith and life, its unity and
mission, its officers and ordinances.”
God calls men and women, young and old to leadership and participation
in the Church. G-1.01<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">We
also affirm that “God alone is Lord of the conscience, …therefore we consider
the rights of private judgment, in all matters that respect religion, as
universal and unalienable.” We
believe that God speaks to us all, bringing us to unity in mission,, identity
and action. This doesn’t
mean we’ll always agree…but it does point to a mutual trust and forebearance
that we are working towards and for a common good. G-1.03<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Theological
Themes:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Bridge-Builders
or Threshold People.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Throughout the Bible God uses unique people, like
Jethro and Moses, to build bridges between cultures and to open doors in terms
of the community of faith. Jethor
is a Midianite. He’s descended
genealogically from Abraham through his third wife (see <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=219320020">Genesis 25:1-2</a>) but he
is not part of the line of Isaac and Jacob, through which passes the covenant
and promise of God (<a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=219320057">Genesis 17:15-22</a>; <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=219320088">21:8-21</a>; <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=219320117">25:5-6</a>). He is neither purely an outsider or an
insider of the people of God. He
redefines identity, holding the door open for those “outside” the community of
faith to enter and reminding those “inside” the community that God – not they –
define and shape things.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">People of
other faiths:<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">What god does Jethro serve as priest? How is he priest, offering a sacrifice
to Yahweh when he recognizes what the LORD has done for the Israelites in
18:12? What does that mean for us
in relationships with our neighbors in our pluralistic world and city?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Leadership:<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Moses is advised to get other leaders, to recognize
that he shouldn’t serve alone, that he wasn’t created to be alone (compare this
to Adam in <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=219320150">Genesis 2:18</a>). How are
appropriate leaders or “judges” to be discerned and distinguished? How do they relate to one another?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Textual Curiosities:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Why
is the text so insistent upon the identity of Jethro as a priest, and Moses’
father-in-law?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Where
have Zipporah and the sons of Moses been?
Why weren’t they in Egypt?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Questions for wondering and
exploring:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">1. What troubles you and/or encourages you
in this text? Why?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">2. How does this story shape our story in
terms of leadership, how we work together, how we relate with our neighbors,
and our cultural belief in Chaos theory...that the world tends towards Chaos?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">3. How does this story and
what it states relate to the affirmations of <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=219320186">Romans 8:18-39</a>?</span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Montehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06730050375349279795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34831955.post-64169159625720804772012-10-31T01:04:00.000+01:002012-11-02T00:35:52.343+01:00Blogging Towards Sunday, November 4, 2012<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: 15px;"><b><a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=218812881">Exodus 16:1-26</a></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dcQj51TK8sQ/UJBpGUDJZpI/AAAAAAAAA3c/Ysu3T3C3NM8/s1600/manna.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="128" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dcQj51TK8sQ/UJBpGUDJZpI/AAAAAAAAA3c/Ysu3T3C3NM8/s320/manna.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">We live in culture plagued by a vicious cycles of
instant and incessant gratification.
We want to quench our thirst, satisfy our hunger – and we want it our
way! Our culture has become a
society defined as consumer and consumeristic. In the midst of our hungers and thirsts (which are natural)
somehow we get lost. The fear that
there isn’t enough to go around, leads us to symbiotic anxiety and
mistrust. We need to get ours or
get git. In such presumed scarcity
our needs are morphed into wants, desires and fantasies. We want it all, otherwise we might not
get any. We want it how and when
we want it, otherwise it might not be around. And yet the God of the Bible points towards a
different way of life together, a community of <i>koinonia</i> or fellowship based upon the shared life-transforming
experience of God’s love known in Jesus of Nazareth who gave his life rather
than give into the anxiety of scarcity.
His sacrifice changes everything, giving us a new lens through which to
see the world as it truly is. How
do we live this paradoxical truth by faith in a society based upon the myth of
scarcity? How do we love our
neighbor when we are told that our neighbor is out to get what we have? How do we testify to a life-sustaining
God in a culture in which we are told to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps
and to save ourselves, because no one else will?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Theological
Themes:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Today’s passage (and the larger body of this
text/story in <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=218641412">Exodus 15:22-17:16</a>) wrestles with several theological themes,
telling basically the “same” story about God providing for the people in the
desert three times: Bitter Water - Exodus 15:22-27; Manna & Quail – Exodus
16:1-36 and Water from the Rock – Exodus 17:1-16.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The
Identity of God: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Shaddai">EL SHADDAI</a> [“God Almighty”] & <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahweh">YAHWEH</a> [“I Am, or I Am who I
will Be] : In Genesis El Shaddai is the name most used for God, an indication
that they saw God as the provider, the creator, sustaining them in terms of
food, crops, livestock and blessings.
In Exodus, the name YAHWEH is increasingly used. It has a connotation of God as a Holy
Warrior, God known through deliverance, freedom and exodus, who makes himself
known through the salvation of the people. This passage uses both names, insisting upon both – God who
has freed the people from slavery, and who sustains them in the food desert. </span><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Does God exist just to
sustain us? Or does God exist to
redeem and liberate us? Why do the
Israelites continue to murmur, or complain about God, when God repeatedly saves
them?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">TIME & ECONOMY: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The
people as slaves of Pharaoh must scatter day by day to look for straw with
which to make their daily quote of bricks. Here the people of God scatter day by day to look for the
daily quota of food that God promises to provide. The name Manna sounds like the Hebrew words for “What is
it?” God provides for the people
in the emptiness of the desert and in the desertion of their faith. Scientists tell us that manna was most
likely the secretion of insects living on the tamarisk tree, and is said to be
prized by Bedouins (desert dwellers) for its sweetness. Quails annually
migrated to Europe in the Spring and returned in the fall when they can be
captured. T<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The
emphasis in the text is less on God providing for the people than it is upon
time, and the fact that the people are invited to collect food 6 days a week,
trusting God to provide for the Sabbath or 7<sup>th</sup> day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">We
no longer have blue laws, which obligated our observation of the Sabbath. Today
our economy is 24/7. There is no
economic distinction between Jew, Christian and Atheist. Both in time – and in the way we live. How does our economic practice point to
and reveal our spiritual priorities and practices? A question that this passage asks us as Christians is
whether we have ceased to serve God as the Lord of time and have begun to serve
Pharaoh [who dictated incessant work and toil] instead.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Textual Curiosities:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The
story of Manna and Quail serves as the rhetorical foundation for many of Jesus’
sayings, as the theological background of the communion meal. Jesus is spoken of as the Bread come
down from Heaven (like Manna) <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=218641676">John 6:22-59</a>. Jesus claims to be a sort of spiritual manna – intended to
deliver the people from their hunger.
God is faithful. We
experience divine faithfulness in Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Murmuring
is a common metaphor for the mistrustful attitude of the people of God in the
desert. It appears throughout the
Second Testament as well: Matthew 20:11, Luke 5:30, John 6:41, 43, 61 &
7:12, 32; Acts 6:1; Philippians 2:14; 1 Peter 4:9; Jude 16; and twice in 1
Corinthians 10:10.</span><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Natural
calamities like drought and famine are beyond our power to modify. Yet if we learn to pray the prayer in
<a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=218641566">Proverbs 30:7-9</a> – not too little and not too much - and to conform our economic
activities to the spirit of that prayer, how might we be more open to the
rhythms of work and rest seen in this passage of Exodus 16?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Questions for wondering and
exploring:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">1. What troubles you and/or encourages you
in this text? Why?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">2. How do we live the story of the Exodus as
individuals – or as a church community?
How have we? How do we
celebrate and remember God’s faithfulness in our individual lives and in our
community life together? How could
that be different? Why?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">4.
Theologian <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Brueggemann">Walter Brueggemann</a> develops the themes of this chapter, and
the teachings of Jesus into what he terms belief in the <a href="http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=533">myth of scarcity</a>, that
there is not enough to go around for all of us – whether it be food, resources,
or love. How do you see that myth
as the ethos of our culture?; our relationships?; our church culture? How is Jesus inviting, feeding and
exhorting us to reject this myth?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Montehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06730050375349279795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34831955.post-37501136734220331702012-10-26T22:59:00.000+02:002012-10-26T22:59:12.043+02:00
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Blogging Towards Sunday, October 28<sup>th</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Exodus:
<a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=218284978">14:1-31</a> & <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=218285001">15:19-21a</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zMwPu_jPuls/UIr4UBKkP1I/AAAAAAAAA28/dBQAq39cnoQ/s1600/BulletinCover102812.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zMwPu_jPuls/UIr4UBKkP1I/AAAAAAAAA28/dBQAq39cnoQ/s320/BulletinCover102812.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The Exodus.
This is the big climax (or is it?) of the story of the Exodus the
Israelites are free. Chased out of
Egypt, they pillage their former slave masters. They leave not just free, but masters of their own
future. But quickly Pharaoh
changes his mind, and the greatest army of earth sets off in pursuit of a
ragtag bunch of slaves hobbling along with their cripple and lame, their
livestock and unleavened bread.
And just as quickly the Israelites change their mind about the nature
and purpose of God. They seem to
lose faith. Is this story just
history, myth, good story or does it have something to say about the way that
we live and an answer to our own metaphysical questions about the existence and
activity of God?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Theological
Themes:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Today’s passage (and the larger body of this
text/story in <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=218284915">Exodus 13:1-15:21</a>) wrestles with several theological themes:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><i>FEAR:</i> The Israelites quickly become afraid that
they’ve made the wrong choice, followed the wrong God, been duped by this Moses
guy. Why does they lose faith so
quickly? What has God has already
done for them? How can they so easily forget that? How do we struggle with the same challenge of believing in
God when we think that God is absent? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><i>BELIEVING:</i> What convinces the Israelites to trust
God, to believe that YHWH is on their side? How are they to remember what happened? Why are they to remember it for the
future? Have you experienced God’s
deliverance in your life?
When? How? What difference did it make for you
then in that moment? What
difference does it make today?
Does God save us from every peril?
Why? Why not? How does God’s past faithfulness – in
our life – or in the life of others – keep us going, focused and faith-full?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><i>GOD AS GOOD:</i>
Is God good or does God play favorites? Why is God so cruel to his enemies? Personally I wouldn’t wish what the
Egyptians got on my worst enemies (or at least I’d like to think that). So how can we understand God as good in
this story of deliverance and destruction?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">A
Talmudic saying “My Children Have
Perished” is a rabbinical response to that question:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">When
the Egyptians drowned In the Red Sea, the angels rejoiced about the deliverance
of the children of Israel. They
gathered their voices and music to give praise to the Creator, the Rock of
Israel, the Lord of the heavens and the Earth. God, he had tears in his eyes. The more the angels played, the more God cried.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Finally
the angels asked God, “Why are you crying? Rejoice, the ennemies of Israel have perished!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The
God of compassion responded to the angels, “My children have perished. My children have perished. Why should I rejoice at the destruction
of my children?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Textual Curiosities:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Chapter
14 can be broken down into a chiasm, or sandwich structure. This is a literary construction
commonly used in Hebraic literature, specifically the First Testament. It structures a story like a sandwich
with layers and the principal part in the middle. Like a cheese sandwich has bread, condiments and in the very
middle the cheese.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">14:1-10
: Israel is trapped between the sea and the Egyptian Army<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">14:11-12:
The children of Israel are mad at Moses for taking them out of Egypt<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> (compare 14:5 and 14:11) - the fear or question of Israel.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">14:13-14:
Moses responds that the LORD will deliver them from the Egyptians.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">(compare
14:14 and 14:18 and 14:26) – the answer to the question.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">14:15-31:
Israel is delivered and freed from the trap.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">What
do you think is the main point or part of this story of the Exodus? Why?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Questions for wondering and
exploring:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">1. What troubles you and/or encourages you
in this text? Why?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">2. How do we live the story of the Exodus as
individuals – or as a church community?
How have we?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">3.
How do we celebrate and remember God’s faithfulness in our individual
lives and in our community life together?
How could that be different?
Why?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">4.
Do you believe that God is still speaking, acting and redeeming in the
world? Why? Why not?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Montehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06730050375349279795noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34831955.post-44483116829370659412012-10-18T21:31:00.002+02:002012-10-18T21:32:21.749+02:00Blogging Towards Sunday October 21st<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Blogging Towards Sunday, October
21<sup>st</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; tab-stops: .25in; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=217588472">Exodus 12:1-42</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SNfrp0YrUGs/UIBY-qjqyzI/AAAAAAAAA2M/YBSed66YrHE/s1600/yeast.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="259" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SNfrp0YrUGs/UIBY-qjqyzI/AAAAAAAAA2M/YBSed66YrHE/s320/yeast.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Passover: it’s the beginning of months, the
religious festival that marks time from the freedom of Israel from slavery,
it’s the celebration of the experience of God’s redemptive action – it turns
the past into a celebration of the future. As Christians we don’t necessarily follow, observe or
celebrate Passover – and yet it’s more than just history, more than just the
cultural background of the world of Jesus. It’s also an invitation to us as seekers of God, followers
of the teachings of Jesus, and practitioners seeking our center in the
Spirit. Passover is an invitation
for all those who follow God to live with a new sense of time, a new sense of
social relationships and identity, and to have a new relationship to the past
and the future.</span><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></b></div>
<a name='more'></a><b>Theological
Themes:<o:p></o:p></b><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Today’s passage (and the larger body of this
text/story in <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=217588560">Exodus 11:1-13:16</a>) wrestles with several theological themes:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">TIME: how do we understand time as followers of
God? Is time a circle or cycle
from which we can never escape our destiny? Is time something that we choose and create based on our
choices? Are we victims or time or
are we in the driver’s seat? In
Pharaoh’s Egypt one day is an endless repletion of wearisome toil that seems to
go on forever. Past and Future are
just limitless extensions of an intolerable present. Yahweh invites this people to celebrate Passover as a
beginning of something new, which is the redemption of something from the
past. It points forward towards
hope, not in circles towards an inescapable past. How do you live that?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">COMMUNITY | CONGREGATION: The Exodus story, ritual
and history marks a new way of defining the Israelite identity. It’s not just a
tribe of people who share a common ancestor, or who are circumcised. There is a
connection between all those who eat the Passover meal, celebrating the
redemptive activity of God in the world.
By extension as Christians we believe that Baptism (a cleansing ritual
which marks our identity as having died and risen with Christ [See <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=217588578">Romans 6</a>])
and Communion (an eating ritual in which our participation marks us as desiring
belonging to Christ and the new community of the body of Christ gathered in the
experience of our salvation in Christ) are similar. They both tell a story, and shape our story, they define the
people of God, and open the door to others, they both free us to move towards
God’s future by first pointing us to the past. How do you experience the sacraments (Baptism and Communion)
in that way? How do you see them
related to the Passover?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">PASSOVER:
the name literally comes from the verb Pesach: “to pass over” found in
Exodus 12. But what kind of a God
would Passover the Israelites but strike down the, seemingly innocent, first
born children and even the livestock, of the Egyptians? How do you react to that? If the blood on the lintel is a sign
that the family therein wants to be included with the circle of those God is
saving, is it fair that the Egyptians didn’t know to paint the blood on the
doorposts?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">YEAST: It’s the celebration of both the
Passover Lamb and the unleavened bread.
The text can make it seem like two different holidays. What’s so special about not eating
bread with yeast? Why is it important
– or how is it – for latter generations?
Yeast can take forever to act, but then rise quite quickly. It’s a bit like God’s deliverance which
sometimes seems as if it will never come, and then comes so quickly that we’re
not prepared for it. Leaven is
actually old fermented dough. So
to make new bread you use some of the old bread. If Exodus is about God creating a new people, then why would
eating unleavened bread be so important and significant? What do the Israelites need to leave
behind before they get to receive freedom, let alone get to the promised land?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Curiously
Jesus also talks about yeast in his parables of the leaven (<a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=217588599">Luke 13:20-21</a> and
<a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=217588617">Matthew 13:33</a>). There Jesus says
that the yeast is powerful because it works through all the dough transforming
it into something new. Are these
two teachings about yeast contradictory, or are they getting at the same
thing? How do you hear them?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Textual Curiosities:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The
story is told in a curious way.
It’s the 10<sup>th</sup> plague recounted in 11:1-10 and also in
12:29-36. In between the
foretelling of the event and the happening of it there is a long section of
teaching on the observance and the importance of the Passover feast in 12:1-28.<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Questions for wondering and
exploring:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">1. What troubles you and/or encourages you
in this text? Why?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">2. How do you need to mark that your life as
a Christian, that you live with a different sense of time and a different sense
of social relationships? How might
that be revolutionary and grace-giving in our technological focused society in
which we are all alone together?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">3.
From what old “yeasts” do you need to be freed in order to move towards
the Promised Land that God wants for you?
From what old “yeasts” do we need to be freed as a congregation?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">4.
Passover, Baptism and Communion are about experiencing something. It’s not just hearing a story of God’s
past faithfulness, but experiencing it in the retelling of it so that we too
participate. How is that
important? How is it relevant to
the ways in which we share faith with others, with our children? Which comes first the experience of
God’s love or the knowledge of it?
Does that even matter? How?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Montehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06730050375349279795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34831955.post-64173049807399270822012-10-12T00:21:00.000+02:002012-10-12T00:22:43.647+02:00<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; tab-stops: .25in; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Blogging Towards Sunday, October
14<sup>th</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; tab-stops: .25in; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=216993528">Exodus 6:9-13</a>;
<a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=216993602">7:8-11:10</a>; <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=216993644">12:29-36</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mhiJDKstrUM/UHdDMJwaYhI/AAAAAAAAA1M/5Gvv2FDZbJ8/s1600/BulletinCover101412.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mhiJDKstrUM/UHdDMJwaYhI/AAAAAAAAA1M/5Gvv2FDZbJ8/s320/BulletinCover101412.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Freedom: it’s the bedrock value of our national
identity. Freedom is also at the
heart of what it means to be a follow of Jesus the Christ, who promised, “You
shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.” (<a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=216994106">John 8:32</a>) And yet how often do we feel truly free
– to see and be who we are? Are
our actions determined by our past, our psychological baggage, family systems,
our racial and cultural identity, our educational experience, and our faith
journey? Exodus wrestles with the
metaphysical question: From what are we free? What are we given freedom to do? Can you have freedom and yet have constraints, rules or
limits? It’s not just a question for adolescents. We are faced with our freedom
in terms of the decisions we’ve made, or not made, in our lives, in our
relationships, and the paths for action that seem to lay before us. </span><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></b></div>
<a name='more'></a><b>Theological
Themes:<o:p></o:p></b><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Our next section of Exodus is the portrayal of the 9
plagues, which end with the 10<sup>th</sup> and final plague: the death of the
firstborn among the Egyptians. It
wrestles with this theme of freedom.
Ironically, the major problem in the text is Pharaoh’s freedom. Is he free to follow his own will, or
is God pulling his strings as if he were a puppet by hardening his heart? What
is the God of Israel like? A
God who leaves us no room to make our own choices?, who has favorites? Or a God who interacts with us, giving
and taking in a dynamic relationship?
If we follow God are we free, or merely puppets, destined, tricked and
forced to do God’s will?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Textual Curiosities:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The
plagues are also spoken of in Psalms 78 and 105. In Exodus a pattern can be discerned in the text. The parables are organized by threes
(or in <i>triades</i>), with progressing
statements about why Pharaoh refuses to concede.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-variant: small-caps; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Pre-Plague: Last-chance warning </span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">and turning of staffs into
snakes by Moses & magicians. (Exodus 7:1-13)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">v. 13 Pharaoh’s heart is hard<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-variant: small-caps; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">1<sup>st</sup> Plague: the Nile turns to blood.</span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> Effects Egyptians & Israelites. Some see this as a
extreme flooding of the Nile, which happens in the summer, and turned up red
particles making the water flowing from Sudan to Egypt appear as blood. (Exodus
7:14-25)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">v. 22 Pharaoh’s resolve remained
strong<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-variant: small-caps; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">2<sup>nd</sup> Plague: the Frogs.</span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> Effects Egyptians & Israelites. Frogs commonly invade
during the flooding of the Nile in late summer – but this is extreme. (Exodus
8:1-15)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">v. 15 Pharaoh hardened his
heart<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-variant: small-caps; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">3<sup>rd</sup> Plague: The Gnats.</span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> It could be mosquitoes reproducing in the numerous pools
lefts from the flooding of the Nile (plague of Blood) in Sept/Oct. Effects
Egyptians & Israelites. (Exodus 8:16-19)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">v. 19 Pharaoh’s resolve
remained strong<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-variant: small-caps; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">4<sup>th</sup> Plague: the Flies.</span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> Effects Egyptians. Israelites are protected. (Exodus
8:20-32)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">v. 32 Pharaoh hardened his
heart<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-variant: small-caps; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">5<sup>th</sup> Plague: Pestilence against the
Livestock.</span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">
Effects Egyptians. Israelites are
protected. (Exodus 9:1-7)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">v. 7 Pharaoh’s hear remained
hard<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-variant: small-caps; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">6<sup>th</sup> Plague: Festering Boils.</span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> Effects Egyptians. Israelites are protected. The magicians can do no more
magic as they too are afflicted by boils, similar to anthrax. (Exodus 9:8-12)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">v. 12 Yahweh strengthened
Pharaoh’s resolve<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-variant: small-caps; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">7<sup>th</sup> Plague: Hail.</span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> It’s no longer a battle between Moses & the
Magicians. It’s now an apocalyptic
battle of God versus Pharaoh which impacts all of creation. Effects the whole
country. God gives a warning that
some heed, but which Pharaoh refuses (Exodus 9:13-35)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">v. 34, 35 Pharaoh sinned yet
again hardened his heart. So Pharaoh’s resolve remained strong.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-variant: small-caps; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">8<sup>th</sup> Plague: Locusts.</span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> An apocalyptic battle to
persuade the Israelites and teach the Egyptians to believe. Servants of Pharaoh plead with him to
concede. The destruction of the
spring and summer harvests for the coming year effects the whole country.
(Exodus 10:1-20)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">vv. 1, 20 “I have hardened
Pharaoh’s heart.” Yahweh strengthened Pharaoh’s resolve<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-variant: small-caps; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">9<sup>th</sup> Plague: Darkness.</span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> Pharaoh will let them go to worship Yahweh in the desert, but not with
the livestock and animals which are needed for sacrifice. (Exodus 10:21-29)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">v. 27 Yahweh strengthened
Pharaoh’s resolve<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-variant: small-caps; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">10<sup>th</sup> Plague: Death of the Firstborn.</span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> Pharaoh concedes and
demands that the Israelites leave.
They don’t just leave, but plunder the wealth of Egypt. (Exodus 11:1-10
& 12:29-36)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">v. 10 Yahweh strengthened
Pharaoh’s resolve<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Questions for wondering and
exploring:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">1. What troubles you and/or encourages you
in this text? Why?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">2. In <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=216993698">Exodus 3:1-15</a> Moses is transformed as
he encounters God who “is who God will be”. In the space that God creates Moses discovers the capacity
to become something he had not been before. In <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=216993846">7:8-13</a> Pharaoh will not listen or recognize the God of
Moses. He will not move beyond his
own settled-mind set to adopt a new policy. Moses experiences God as God is,
while Pharaoh experiences God a he expects God to be. Who is free?
Why? Who is a captive? To what are they captive? How does this touch our lives today?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Montehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06730050375349279795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34831955.post-72422096979355670102012-09-30T16:24:00.004+02:002012-09-30T16:24:51.673+02:00
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Questions for going deeper with the Scriptures for Sunday, September
30<sup>th</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=216015030"> Exodus 5:1-9,15-6:9</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Vh6K3Li3AaM/UGhV2W0Gq3I/AAAAAAAAA0s/UArGCd846uI/s1600/BulletinCover93012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Vh6K3Li3AaM/UGhV2W0Gq3I/AAAAAAAAA0s/UArGCd846uI/s320/BulletinCover93012.jpg" width="262" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Is God really there for and with us? If so, shouldn’t life be easier? Shouldn’t we not suffer? Since we still suffer, struggle and
live in strife, does that mean that our hope is misplaced in God? That God is
unloving? Or that God is
impuissant to save, protect and heal us?
Theologians call this existential question that of THEODICY: is God good? Is God all powerful?
If so why is there evil? If
not, how can God be God? Today’s
passage tells the return of Moses to Egypt, his initial confrontation with
Pharaoh, and what seemed to be a great failure in the eyes of the enslaves
Israelites. The Israelites only
see the bricks their made to make.
God sees something else: the bricks with which God wants to build a new
land, a new people, a new hope.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Theological
Themes:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The
passage deals with Pharaoh not knowing the God of which Moses speaks. Pharaoh was himself seen as a god by
the Egyptians. So his claim of
ignorance is actually a claim of superiority. Pharaoh’s wisdom is based upon production. To allow the Hebrews three days off to
worship their God in the desert would be a loss of production, a shut down of
the production line generating the power of Egypt. For Pharaoh idleness is an expense and a liability. Granting them time off would be like
giving them the straw they need to make the bricks: an added expense that
reduces the bottom line of profit. For Pharaoh there is a clear hierarchy: certain
people are in charge and above the others who must serve their superiors. The
God of Moses is different, calling the people to Sabbath rest, structuring
human life and society around rest time.
For God, there is a different kind, or nested hierarchy in which greater
authority and power are used to undergird those with smaller spheres of
responsibility and influence. In a sense God is more about quality while
Pharaoh about quantity. God is
more about the process and the workers, while Pharaoh is focused on the end
product. To reread this story
through the lenses of unionization, Marxism or capitalism is mistaken, forcing
our worldview upon an ancient story.
The two opposing worldviews, that of Pharaoh and that of God, articulate
different ways of valuing human life, defining the worth of life, and
articulating the meaning of life.
One system seems to be a catch-22 while the other points to the promised
land. One has to wonder if God is
seeking only to free the Israelites from physical slavery, or if there is more
going on here?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Textual Curiosities:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">In
the ancient worldview of the Hebrews they thought of the heart as the center of
one’s being: the place and space where the thoughts, feelings and passions of
human existence come together – for us we divide it up as the soul, heart and
mind.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=216015030">5:22-6:9</a>
is a linguistically rich text. God
is called “El Shaddai” (or God Almighty) in verse 3 and Yahweh (or LORD/YHWH)
in verse 2 and the end of verse 3.
There is an implication that until now [that moment] God has only been
known as El Shaddai [the God who gives blessings: life, birth, the creating God
in the cosmos and the God of salvation who saves from the enemies]. But now in the time of Moses and the
future liberation and exodus of the Hebrews God will be called, experienced and
known as YHWH: the GREAT I AM, I WILL BE WHO I WILL BE. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Blessing
often works like yeast in the world, gradually, secretly and undeniably (think
of the parables of Jesus in <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=216015065">Mark 4:26-32</a>). Salvation is portrayed as a dramatic intervention. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">In
6:6-8 there is a connection between God the GREAT I AM – and what God will do …
I will fee you … I will deliver you .. I will redeem you .. I will take you to
me … I will be with you …. I will bring you …. And I will give to you. Is the text implying that a new side of
God will be known through the Exodus then was known before? Is it implying that it’s a different
God? Will the Israelites be free
when they escape from slavery in Egypt, or is in not complete until they are
brought by YHWH into this new land?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Why
is the expression “I am Yahweh” repeated so much? Did you notice that it frames the whole of God’s speech and
occurs at the core of the passage in verse 6 to identify the purpose and result
of God’s action? What is that saying
about God?; about Pharaoh?; about Moses?; the Israelites?; and by extension us
today?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Questions for wondering and
exploring:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">1. What troubles you and/or encourages you
in this text?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">2. How have you experienced God, come to
know who God is in your life? As
El Shaddai?; as Yahweh? As Jesus (which means God saves)? As the Spirit of God
(which linguistically means the breath or wind of God)? What name do you call God? Why? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">3. How is God trying to free the
Hebrews? How is God trying to free
us today? How might we also be
enslaved in the land of bondage (what the Hebrew for Egypt means)?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Montehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06730050375349279795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34831955.post-72987694244273754432012-09-21T03:14:00.001+02:002012-09-21T03:15:12.439+02:00<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div align="center" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; tab-stops: .25in; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Blogging Towards Sunday, September
23<sup>rd</sup>
<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; tab-stops: .25in; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=215189890"> Exodus 3:1-22</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yqbidz984og/UFu-pPF4DEI/AAAAAAAAA0M/jg0vVGu9Buw/s1600/burning-bush-seth-weaver.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yqbidz984og/UFu-pPF4DEI/AAAAAAAAA0M/jg0vVGu9Buw/s320/burning-bush-seth-weaver.jpg" width="297" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">What’s in a name? That’s the question with which today’s scripture from Exodus
wrestles. Always a propos, the
question seems even more poignant in this time of increasingly vehement and
violent religious discourse, political action and violent extremism. All the religions of the world lift up
compassion, justice and peace. And
yet multiple mysterious things are done in the name of divinities: the storming
of an embassy in Libya, the Japanese invasion and occupation of the Korean
Peninsula, the blockade of the West Bank, the enslavement of Africans, the
Crusades, the 9/11 bombing, the Spanish Inquisition and the cold blood murders
of medical workers who perform abortions.
It’s easy for us to look at actions taken in the name of other gods and
traditions as see how they are twisted, and yet we have to admit that in our
own faith community tragically destructive things have been done in the name of
the God we serve and follow. So
where does that leave us? If we
claim to do things in the name of God, are we religious extremists? When we pray in the name of Jesus of
Nazareth are we intolerant activists?
If we don’t invoke the name of God in our actions, decisions and talk
are we denying our faith out of the fear of being labeled extremists or even
terrorists?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Theological
Themes:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Today’s passage continues with the story of Moses
and begins his redemption and return to his people and Egypt and acceptance of
his vocation. God calls Moses in
this passage, in a way that is both similar and different than the divine calls
to. How of Abraham (<a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=215189909">Gen 22:1</a>),
Jacob (<a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=215189930">Gen 31:11</a>), Joseph (<a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=215189950">Gen 27:13</a>) and Samuel (<a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=215189974">1 Samuel 3:4, 6 &8</a>). How are we called like Moses? How are you?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Moses
curiously makes excuses, trying to get out of his vocation. And yet somehow in this unfathomably
sacred experience of God’s presence Moses is invited to be at home and to be
himself. He’s been residing in a
foreign land, hiding from Pharaoh and God, confused about his identity. Yet here knowing who God is – Moses is
finally able to start to grapple with his own identity. He first becomes aware of God’s plan
and <i>call for the people</i>, and then
becomes aware of God’s <i>call for his life</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The
Burning Bush is a revelation of God’s mysterious unfathomable presence (what
theologians call Transcendence) which is only understood when we experience
God’s presence with us (what theologians call Immanence). How have you experienced that? If God’s redemptive coming down in our
lives can take the form of revelation, that revelation need not be a disclosure
of other-wordly mysteries but simply God enabling us to look at our this-wordly
situation under a different pretext, seeing the world as God sees it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Textual Curiosities:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">What’s
going on with the burning bush? Is
it God’s presence or the presence of the Angle of the Lord? What does the text
say? What does that mean? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">God
gives God’s name – the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetragrammaton">tetragram</a> (YHWH) – the Hebrew word for to be. Yahweh, commonly translated as the
LORD, is difficult to translate.
Some translations might be “I is and I will be” or “I am who I am” or “I
will be who I will be” or even “I was, and am, and will be”. It conveys that God is – present,
alive, active, involved, personal, caring. It also conveys that God is beyond our grasp, beyond our
limited experience of time and life.
God cannot be put into a box or pigeon-holed in the past, the present or
the future. God IS. It’s a radical message for Moses who is
afraid and confused, feeling abandoned and sent alone to do an impossible
task. It’s also a radical message
for us today in a massive multi-national society in which we often can feel
identified only by our email account, our paycheck or our address.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Why
does Moses complain? Is he
refusing to do what God wants? Why
doesn’t God get more upset? Is
Moses being respectful or self-centered?
Read <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=215190001">chapter 4 of Exodus</a> to see what else happens and how God moves
Moses beyond his fear into action, from flight into acceptance of his vocation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Questions for wondering and
exploring:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">1.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">What troubles you and/or
encourages you in this text?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">2.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">How have you experienced
God, come to know who God is in your life? Was it a one time experience, a processes, a mix?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">3.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">How do you understand your
call (vocation), your identity and God’s identity as connected?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">4.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">How are you – are we –
called like Moses to reveal God’s radical presence in the world?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 150%;"><i>Painting "The Burning Bush" by Seth Weaver</i></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Montehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06730050375349279795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34831955.post-72524769507273700792012-09-14T20:04:00.000+02:002012-09-14T20:04:17.765+02:00
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Blogging Towards Sunday, September
16<sup>th</sup>
<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=214645800"> Exodus1:1-2:22</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-viOA9Ld-Ogo/UFNxbjW69tI/AAAAAAAAAzs/9DCgz4KD1kM/s1600/BulletinCover91612.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-viOA9Ld-Ogo/UFNxbjW69tI/AAAAAAAAAzs/9DCgz4KD1kM/s320/BulletinCover91612.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">“Even the smallest person
can change the course of the future.” – J. R. R. Tolkien<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">We’re
starting a new series wrestling with the story of the Exodus. The underlying theme of the book is
about freedom. That God frees us
from slavery for covenant life together.
As you read that sentence, and as we work through the text in the coming
weeks our guiding interpretive question is what does that mean? Then? Now? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">We
also should ask ourselves How does this mean? “Unlike the recipes in a cookbook or the instructions in an
elementary arithmetic book, there are meanings and truths that simply are not
sayable in a series of simples sentences.
Indeed the richer the meanings, and the more important the truths, the
more difficult it is to say them simply in the spirit of one plus one equals
two. Therefore, poets, and
storytellers, too, resort to a variety of strategies for using words in ways
that will catch and embody meanings and truths that we may all have felt and
believed to be real or at least hoped against hop might be so, but find it
difficult to express.” – J. Gerald Janzen in <i>Exodus</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></b></div>
<a name='more'></a><b>Theological Themes:<o:p></o:p></b><br />
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The
beginning of today’s passage is concerned with the themes of children and land:
themes that have to do with the fundamental human concern to find and remain
where we can flourish and to extend ourselves in to the future. Throughout the
passage there are multiple responses to change, ancestry, legacy, fear,
ignorance, oppression, unexpected actions, trust in the context of
relationships. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Who
is actually wise in the text? Who
is actually powerful? Who should
be feared? Who is successful and
who fails in accomplishing their goals?
Why?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The
text tells us both much about human nature and human society, as well as about
the nature of God. The Exodus is
the major story of the First Testament, the principal revelation of how God
loves and how God wants us to live and how God moves in the world to bring
freedom, covenant partnership and life-sustaining community. But God isn’t just acting in the big
things – like the plagues and the parting of the Sea of Reeds. Where do you see God acting in the text
today? Where do you see God
possibly acting in our world, your life, and our church life in this season?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Textual Curiosities:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">As
we read through Exodus pay attention to the choice of just the right words in
the texts: vocabulary, turnings of phrases, expressions. Like music, good storytelling, accumulates
meanings and makes connections through repetition, echo and allusion. Repetition of words, phrases and whole
scenes is an invitation for us to sit up straight and listen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The
story of the Exodus seems to be told twice in the text, for chapters 25-31
repeat chapters 35-40. The story
wrestling with oppression, sin, redemption, covenant and planning a place to
welcome God’s presence as well as preparing one. We’re not fleeing Egypt nor building a tabernacle, yet we do
struggle to live faithful lives of faith in a culture based upon consumption,
not covenant, and together as the church, which often times becomes focused
upon institutional preservation over missional living.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Often
the Bible is decried as a sexist, even misogynist text written in an ancient
patriarchal culture. Curiously
today’s text lifts up women as the ones through whom God acts and creates in
the world. Does that surprise you? Why? Why not?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Questions for wondering and
exploring:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">1.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">Where do you find God in
the worst of times?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">2.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">Who are "small"
people who do big things that transform situations?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">3.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">How do you think God works
in difficult situations?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">4.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">How would you describe the
role of water in this story, and in the life of faith?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">5. How are we invited to be like Miriam
and the Pharaoh's daughter today… in our 21<sup>st</sup> century life and in
our life together as a community of faith in the East Bay?</span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Montehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06730050375349279795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34831955.post-47879423453965923072012-09-07T22:34:00.001+02:002012-09-07T22:35:00.555+02:00<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Blogging Towards Sunday, September
9<sup>th</sup>
<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; tab-stops: .25in; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=214049929">Mark 16:1-8</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">We’ve
been reading through the gospel of Mark on Sundays for several months. Today we arrive at the end of the
story. It’s either the worst
ending to a story, or a great ending that’s actually a re-beginning. Most Biblical scholars esteem that the
original ending of the gospel concludes with verse 8 (our proposed reading),
advancing that the early church added what we call verses 9 – 20 in order to
smooth the rough edges of the story of the women who remain mute, passive and
afraid.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SlTgrqTBgAE/UEpaJE9XxiI/AAAAAAAAAzM/Erh8Y3NP2bo/s1600/MakeYourLifeASotryWorthTelling.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SlTgrqTBgAE/UEpaJE9XxiI/AAAAAAAAAzM/Erh8Y3NP2bo/s320/MakeYourLifeASotryWorthTelling.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></b></div>
<a name='more'></a><b>Theological Themes:<o:p></o:p></b><br />
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Resurrection
is different than reincarnation.
One is about new life reinvigorating old life. The other is about an old life being changed into a new one. The Christian promise of resurrection
isn’t just a recycling of life and hopes, in a chain of ever-improvement, but a
radical inbreaking of newness, a restoration that is also a transformation,
it’s both continuity and a new thing; an affirmation of who we are and who God
is making us to be.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The
women respond is a way that we don’t expect. It’s not who most people would end a best-selling
story. Mark alone ends his version
with this silence and passivity.
There must be a reason, for we have seen how he repeatedly develops the
themes of the authority of Jesus being different than other teachers, his power
over all powers, and his life-transforming encounters with the holy and
profane, the clean and unclean, the Jew and the Gentile. So why would Mark end the story with a
climactic scene of these faithful women hearing and seeing that Jesus is not
dead but alive, and then leaving in haste not saying anything to anyone because
they’re afraid?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Textual Curiosities:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Mark
gives a special place to the women followers of Jesus in his retelling of the
story. They alone are the
consistent characters, being present at this death, burial and
resurrection. How is it that we
often forget this importance of women in Christianity?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The
women come to “lay another wreath” on the tomb, to honor Jesus in his death.
They’re only partially prepared: they have the anointing spices, but didn’t
bring anyone big enough to move the stone. They don’t come expecting an
encounter, a revelation or a commissioning – which is what they get. Why do they react the way that they do
to such earth-shattering good news?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The
angel of the LORD greets the women with the traditional angelic greeting found
through both Testaments: “Do not be afraid!” Who is this young man?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The
angel says that the Resurrected One will be found in Galilee. If you go back to the beginning of
Mark’s telling it starts with Jesus coming from Galilee to be baptized (1:9)
where he is recognized as the Son of God.
Then 1:14 has him entering Galilee to proclaim “That the time has
come. The Kingdom of God is at
hand.” The third iteration of Galilee in 1:17 is Jesus inviting Simon and his
brother to “Come, follow me. I
will make you fishers of men and women.”
Galilee seems to be associated with the basics of who Jesus is and what he’s
about. In a sense it’s the part
platform of the Jesus party: Jesus of Nazareth is unique because of his
relationship and identity as the Son of God. He is unique because he proclaims a good news – promise and
potential – not just about the distant future – but which is hear and now at
hand. He’s not a tyrant or emperor
who lords over others, but a Lord who empowers and invites, involves and sends
out in a dynamic collaborative relationship through which the world is being
remade and healed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">One
of my favorite books, <i><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/zack-exley/jesus-for-president-a-boo_b_93078.html">Jesus forPresident</a>, </i>concludes with a paragraph that seems to be wresting with the
particularity of today’s text.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">“The
idea that the church is to be the body of Christ is not just something to read
about in theology books and leave for the scholars to pontificate about. We are literally to be the body of
Jesus in the world. Christians are
to be little Christs – people who put flesh on Jesus – in the world. YOU are the only Jesus some people will
ever see. The promise of the
church is this: none of us alone
are Christ [<i>that’s blasphemy</i>], but
all of us together are Christ to the world [<i>that’s
ecclesiology</i>].” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Questions for wondering and
exploring:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">•
What is Jesus saying to you and our church community today through this text?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">•How
if resurrection good news for you, for us as a church? How do we not just understand it, but <i>practice</i> it in our world, in our life
together, in our daily existence?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">•How
do you – how can we – life our lives as a story worth telling, living as little
Christs in a world hungry for hope, thirsty for grace and desperate for a
different way of living?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Montehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06730050375349279795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34831955.post-89723338484586096372012-08-16T03:18:00.001+02:002012-08-16T03:38:59.288+02:00<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Questions for going deeper with the Scriptures for Sunday, August
19<sup>th</sup> </span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=212081117">Mark 14:32-72</a></span></b></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Qz8-qpNrJ4M/UCxIjBLp0iI/AAAAAAAAAyg/JjRL6L0SIcY/s1600/christ-in-gethsemane-p.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Qz8-qpNrJ4M/UCxIjBLp0iI/AAAAAAAAAyg/JjRL6L0SIcY/s200/christ-in-gethsemane-p.jpg" width="198" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">"The
killing of Jesus, however incidental to the tasks of governance for the Roman
and Jewish authorities, masks the worst in human brutality. Regimes do this to
people in the name of all kinds of claims to common good and, not least, to the
furtherance of peace. People do this to people, when anger and fear conspire to
suppress love and goodness. We all do it. Mark's is an 'in your face' account of the killing of love." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">–
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Loader">William Loader</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Theological Themes:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">This
week’s passage in our ongoing reading of Mark, is commonly read on Good Friday,
as the passion narrative. Other
texts habitually read with it are <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=212079683">Isaiah 50:1-9</a> and <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=212079699">Philippians 2:5-10</a>. We reflect and celebrate the
paradoxical horror of Good Friday because, as the world continues to turn
upside down, Jesus is still at work transforming lives, transforming governments,
and transforming societies. That’s
the theological affirmation underneath this story of suffering, desertion and
ultimately death and finally new life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a name='more'></a><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Textual Curiosities:</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">v.33
– distressed | agitated | : indicates a profound disarray, expressed physically
before a terrifying event. A shuddering horror. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">This
language of suffering points back to <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=212079717">Psalms 6</a> & <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=212079736">42</a> in which David [or is it
Jesus seen prophetically?] is on the point of collapse, complaining in prayer
to God.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">If
the disciples weren’t physically with Jesus, how did they know what he
prayed? Did he tell them after his
resurrection? Did they overhear
him?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">What
does the word “hour” mean? It is a
term for predestined eschatological crisis like in Esther 10:3, <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=212079758">Daniel 11:40,</a>
45; Mark 13:32 and Romans 13:11?
What are the links between “hour” in this chapter and “hour” in the
apocalyptic vision of<a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=212079786"> Mark 13</a>?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Praying
to God as father has deep roots within the First Testament, though the context
is usually as a community to God the Father of Israel as the Creator, Lord and
Savior (see Deuteronomy 32:6; Isaiah 63:13 & Jeremiah 3:19). But the term father is never used in a
personal way. Jesus’ use of the
word “abba” which might translate more as “Daddy God” is unthinkable in the
prayer practice of Judaism in Jesus’ day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Cup:
is a metaphor for one’s portion in life, can be a positive one (Psalm 116:13)
but usually negative (Psalm 75:8; <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=212079828">Jeremiah 25:15-29</a>, <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=212079806">Ezekiel 23:31-34</a>). What links do you see between Mark
10:38 and 14:23, 36?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Jesus
is betrayed by a friend to his enemies, by one who is close to him to those who
are distant. It’s foretold in Mark
9:30-32 This passage is filled
with vocabulary about physical weakness and strength, as well as physical
proximity and distance, between daylight and nighttime. It also contains a reference to a
specific hour and repeated fallings asleep. There is a stark contrast between
Jesus and everyone else. Why did
Judas have to identify Jesus, didn’t they recognize him themselves?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">People
frequently greeted each other with a kiss, but here the usual sign of
friendship becomes that of the ultimate betrayal. With his arrest Jesus seems
to change, he moves from an active role to playing a more passive part. It’s curious that in Christian circles
the “kiss of peace” became the established greeting among believers. Scripture is fulfilled (v 49) not just
in the arrest of Jesus, but also in the desertion of his friends.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Who
is this naked man? Is it
historical, an actual man whose clothes were ripped by the soldiers, like an
animal of prey attacks its victim?
Or is it metaphorical: the negative example of discipleship – one who
runs away in shame, deserting and fleeing the master? Is it connected to Amos 2:16?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The
Sanhedrin was a legislative and judicial body in Judaism which met ad hoc to
address problems and find solutions. They’re portrayed as on the offensive, dishonest,
mischievous, and instigators. In
the light of this accusation Jesus remains passive and silent, an action which
echoes passages about the patient suffering of the just person (<a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=212079857">Psalm 38:12-15</a>;<a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=212079877">Lamentations 3:28-30</a>, and Isaiah 53:7).
In the end the one response of Jesus is the testimony used to condemn
him. He affirms the statement of
the high priest. Some scholars see
in that Jesus claiming to be God by answer “I am” which in Hebrew is “Yahweh”
the most sacred name of God. How
do you understand this scene?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The
passage ends with Peter’s triple denial of Jesus (v 66-72). During the scene Peter physically moves
away from where Jesus is held. In
the end he is distressed and weeping, as Jesus was in 14:33-34. It seems as if what happens to the
Master happens in turn to the student.
Jesus, who spent his life building community with others, is left alone
in his hour of most need.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Questions for wondering and
exploring</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">•
What is Jesus saying to you and our church community today through this text?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">•I
find myself thinking about the paradox of this story: power in weakness,
community and desertion, death and life, truth and lies. The God of the cross doesn’t fit into
my vision of what God should be like.
How about you?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Montehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06730050375349279795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34831955.post-56529628842691513412012-08-01T00:45:00.002+02:002012-08-01T00:48:40.418+02:00<div align="center" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; tab-stops: .25in; text-align: center;">
<h2>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Questions for going deeper with the Scriptures for Sunday, August
5<sup>th</sup> </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=210774042">Mark 14:12-31</a></span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"></b><br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bNrW0932siU/UBhe-uYM1BI/AAAAAAAAAxw/ufAdKP4ku5o/s1600/11lastsupper_s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bNrW0932siU/UBhe-uYM1BI/AAAAAAAAAxw/ufAdKP4ku5o/s200/11lastsupper_s.jpg" width="200" /></a>As
we finish our reading of Mark’s gospel, we arrive at the climactic end (and
re-beginning) of the story of Jesus.
I’m struck by the way in which the passage for today, commonly called
“the Last Supper” is presented as customary, normal, the established way of
celebrating the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passover">Passover</a>: the ritual meal that creates community and names the
love of a God who delivered the Hebrews from slavery in Ancient Egypt. Jesus takes this “normal” or
“customary” way of explaining God, naming God’s love and experiencing God’s
freedom and reinterprets it, turning it upside down and right side up. His interpretation of the meal is sandwiched
between two stories of betrayal, denial and desertion. His love – best summarized in the
offering of the communion meal – seems to be ineffective, not stopping
betrayal, but preceding it; not preventing denial but rather naming it. Is the Love of Jesus that we invoke,
proclaim and ask for merely a metaphor?
Is it just pretty words intended to make us feel better in our own
betrayals and suffering? How can
it be true when Jesus seems to be a failure more than a victor in the story of
the cross?<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"></b></div>
<a name='more'></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Theological Themes:<o:p></o:p></b><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
The
story of Mark 14 lifts up the theological themes of God’s love, omnipotence and
saving action in history. It’s in
the context of the Passover: the meal eaten each year in the Jewish month of
Nissan to commemorate the exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt. It’s not just a remembering of the
past, it’s an <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">active </i>remembering in
which the past is claimed as a promise for the future and a truth for the
present. This defining moment in
Jewish history is at the heart of Jewish faith, and the experience of the
Divine as a loving, powerful, compassionate and freeing God. But how do we understand that in the
context of the story of the cross, in which Jesus seemingly is defeated and his
followers scattered?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Textual Curiosities:<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The
Passover meal, or Seder, is celebrated by Jesus and his friends, yet there is
no reporting of the slaughtering of the lamb or the rites of purification which
are essential parts of the ritual.
Did Jesus celebrate the Passover without eating lamb? Is he reinterpreting this theologically
laden meal? You can hear an echo
of Psalm 23, “you prepare a table for me in the presence of mine enemies.” This story is filled with irony. Jesus speaks only of bread and wine,
leaving aside the lamb, bitter herbs and other customary Seder elements. Why?</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In
the Ancient World your importance was visibly articulated by the proximity with
which you were seated to the host.
So Judas, who dips into the same bowl as Jesus, must be close to
him? Is seems to be an echo of
Psalm 41:7-9: “All
my enemies whisper together against me; they imagine
the worst for me, saying, <sup>8</sup> “A vile disease has beset
him; he will never get up from the place where he
lies.” <sup>9</sup> Even my close friend, someone I trusted, one who shared my
bread, has lifted up his heel against me.” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The
last supper seems to be a way in which to participate in the blessings that God
gives, to receive a blessing from Jesus (See <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=210774508">1 Corinthians 11:23-26</a>). So why does Jesus serve and share it
with Judas before he betrays him, when Jesus seems to know what will take
place? Is he naïve? Or is there
something else at work when the symbolic language of Jesus when he says that
his death will accomplish an ultimate cleansing, an unimaginable Passover?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The
disciples might have been horrified to drink his blood, for they thought that
it was the very life of life force (see John 6:52 and Genesis 4:10). Jesus expects to be present at the
messianic banquet in God’s kingdom or dominion (See Isaiah 25:6; Matthew 8:11;
Luke 14:15 and Revelation 19:9).
His words suggest that the death of Jesus is some way instrumental in
bringing about the arrival of God’s kingdom.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MvClJdOC4oc/UBhgeQoXSoI/AAAAAAAAAyA/-M_uoCY9uWg/s1600/BulletinCover8512.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MvClJdOC4oc/UBhgeQoXSoI/AAAAAAAAAyA/-M_uoCY9uWg/s200/BulletinCover8512.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
Mark
14:27 quotes from Zechariah 13:7, but changes the verse a bit. The allusion to <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=210774626">Zechariah chapters 9</a> to
14 may provide a contract to the interpretation of those passages circulating
in revolutionary circles in Jesus’ day.
But instead of seeing the arrival of the kingdom of God in the
appearance of a triumphant Messiah figure on the Mount of Olives, a miraculous
deliverance of Jerusalem from the Gentile armies that surround it, and a
resanctification of the Temple through its cleansing from pagan influence, Mark
saw the arrival of the kingdom of God, paradoxically, in the deliverance of
Jesus to his Jewish enemies on the Mount of Olives, his humiliating death at
the hands of Gentiles in Jerusalem and the proleptic act of Temple destruction
that accompanies that death. (Ben Witherington III).<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Ironically
the end of the passage has all of the disciples wondering if they will be the
one to denounce and renounce Jesus.
What a radical stance by Jesus to stay with such faithless and
self-doubting friends. It makes me
think of the teachings of Jesus
about an eye for an eye (<a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=210774581">Matthew 5:38-42</a>) and love for enemies (<a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=210774600">Matthew 5:43-48</a>).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Questions for wondering and
exploring:<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
•
What is Jesus saying to you and our church community today through this text?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
•I
find myself thinking about the irony of this story. Granted we know the end, that Jesus resurrects and that his
death and new life change the universe.
But it’s a hard thing. When
everyone thinks Jesus is being defeated his is actually triumphing, even though
appearances seem contrary. How do
you feel defeated, experience suffering, betrayal, desertion in your life –
thinking that God has deserted you?
How has Jesus brought the victory of resurrection in some of the places
where you have known a little death?
We might take such a truth as a simple way of justifying suffering; or
we might take it as a radical, counter-cultural affirmation that the God of
Jesus works in irony and paradox, not merely to make us laugh, but to transform
death into life, darkness into light, to bring resurrection. How do you need resurrection practiced
in your life today?<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>Montehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06730050375349279795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34831955.post-20765606665302704752012-07-19T20:25:00.000+02:002012-07-19T20:25:35.403+02:00<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; tab-stops: .25in; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Questions for going deeper </span></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">with the Scriptures for Sunday, July
22<sup>nd</sup> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; tab-stops: .25in; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> <a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_2106662690"> </a><a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=209722149">Mark 14:1-11</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-co-yi8xp81A/UAhQzxz2WeI/AAAAAAAAAxM/BHwrpCJW3aw/s1600/ShowMeDonttellme.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-co-yi8xp81A/UAhQzxz2WeI/AAAAAAAAAxM/BHwrpCJW3aw/s200/ShowMeDonttellme.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Show
and Tell. That’s both the game and
the expression that keeps bouncing around in my mind while I wrestle with this
text from Mark’s gospel telling.
Increasingly it seems that the best way to talk about faith in Jesus is
to show it – to live what he taught, practice what he preached, draw close to
the people, needs and purposes to which he drew close. It seems like there are too many words
– too many things spoken and said – in our culture inundated with words,
images, status updates, tweets and programs. What we hunger for is an encounter, human interaction. And yet while a picture says a thousand
words, and an encounter can be expressed in a novel – words still are vital,
the bedrock of how we communicate, share what we know and name what we
live. Where is the balance between
showing and telling faith in our pluralistic postmodern image inundated
society?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"></b></div>
<a name='more'></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Theological Themes:<o:p></o:p></b><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
The
story of Mark 14 lifts up the theological themes of hospitality, how we
proclaim the good news (which we often call hermeneutics or evangelism) and
praxis (how we live our faith).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jesus
is in the home of Simon, an ex-leper.
In ancient Israel according to the law lepers were unclean. Consequently their homes were
unclean. Research tells us that
oftentimes, even after being healed, a strong stigma remained upon ex-lepers
who were excluded although well.
Jesus goes to his home, into it, staying there. He’s proclaim a reversal of the established
ways of understanding who is holy, righteous, whole and worthwhile.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The
act of this woman is recorded without words, at least on her part. Her action is a radical proclamation of
the gospel, of her faith and hope in Jesus, her desire to trust and come close
to him as the most important force in her life. It’s an action that is portrayed as a world-wide
proclamation of evangelism – and yet she doesn’t say anything (at least in the
text!) What then are we do to in
terms of talking of and about our faith (hermeneutics)? It’s it a question of showing, or
telling, or both?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There
is a troubling statement about the poor always being with us as part of our
society. Yet Jesus seems to fight
consistently against the exclusion and destruction brought about by poverty of
resources and relational inclusion.
So what is he saying? How
are we to act? <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Praxis</i> is the five letter theological
word for how we act. What does
this text say about the current struggle to understand what Christianity is
about which is being articulated around two poles: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">orthodoxy</i> (believing the right things) and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">orthopraxis</i> (doing the right things)?<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Textual Curiosities:<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Today’s
text isn’t included in the regular lectionary reading list, a three-year cycle
often used to read through the whole Bible in worship. Why is that? It’s similar to <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=209722169">Luke 7:36-50</a>; <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=209722185">Matthew 26:1-16</a>; <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=209722200">John 12:1-11</a>. Are these the same story
retold differently or different stories?
Who is this woman? Is it
Mary Magdalene, an unnamed former prostitute, or an anonymous woman whose story
is not recorded?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uY_EfeWQeDE/UAhQ5E52PfI/AAAAAAAAAxU/0-UUZ3uih24/s1600/MaryMagdalene+He+Qi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uY_EfeWQeDE/UAhQ5E52PfI/AAAAAAAAAxU/0-UUZ3uih24/s200/MaryMagdalene+He+Qi.jpg" width="198" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The
text forms a sandwich, the beginning [verse 1-2] and end [verses 10-11] deal
with the efforts to arrest and then the betrayal of Jesus, while the middle
section verse 3-9 present this story that will not be forgotten. The text focuses on the central figure
(Jesus) and a memorable saying or deed of his. Other persons involved in the narrative fall into the
background and not usually given much personal attention. Here though we are told that the
women’s deed will serve as a memorial to her wherever the gospel is preached,
and yet she is no more named than the disciples who objected to her
extravagance. It is what she did
for Jesus, more than who she is, that is of consequence in the biographical
text. What do you hear as the main
point or points of this text?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Questions for wondering and
exploring:<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
•
What is Jesus saying to us and our church community today through this
challenging text?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
•How
is this example of generosity of the woman related to the story of the widow
who gave all that she had (<a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=209722218">Mark 12:41-43</a>)? In early Jewish culture there were a
variety of reasons for anointing a person. Anointing the scalp or skin with oil usually did not serve
the same purpose as anointing someone with perfume, especially expensive and
fragrant perfume. The latter was
saved for romantic or cosmetic purpose or for burial purposes. The worth o the perfume may indicate
that it was a family heirloom, something that could be sold in times of
financial need. If so, this woman
is acting very much like the widow with the two lepta, using all her social
security for an act of devotion.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
•The
act of the woman is interpreted as preparation for burial. Mark may see the woman playing a
priestly or prophetic role, for it was they who performed such royal
anointings. Mark describes it as a
beautiful deed, a paradigm or act that his audience is to emulate. What does that look like for us today as
we live and work here at the crossroads of Berkeley, Oakland and Piedmont?<o:p></o:p></div>
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[Image:: "Mary Magdalene" by He Qi]</div>
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<br /></div>Montehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06730050375349279795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34831955.post-80693731544948331072012-07-12T20:40:00.002+02:002012-07-12T20:40:58.577+02:00<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; tab-stops: .25in; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 11pt;">Questions for going deeper with the Scriptures for Sunday, July
15<sup>th</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; tab-stops: .25in; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 11pt;"> <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=209118329">Mark 13:1-37</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VDhak0XRXE8/T_8Y9IFMFLI/AAAAAAAAAw0/3OiX_Q-7dFI/s1600/theendisnear.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VDhak0XRXE8/T_8Y9IFMFLI/AAAAAAAAAw0/3OiX_Q-7dFI/s320/theendisnear.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apocalypse">Apocalypse</a>. The word has many connotations for us.
Even more in this year of 2012 seen as auspicious and foreboding in the Mayan
Calendar which stops at it. Our
current pop culture imagination is seemingly obsessed by it. We can see that in the ever popular
Zombie catastrophes that have become the major theme of many movies, shows and
books.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">Is
it merely a way to sell books, products and movies or is it a deeper fascination
or fear of where our world is headed in the sociological jungle of the Arab
Spring, deepening technological dependence, growing social isolation and the
ever-widening global market? Often times apocalyptic talk can push towards a
fight or flight mentality: fight to preserve the purity of what we’ve known, or
a flight or retreat waiting for an escape or something better. The word literally means uncovering, as
in revealing something that was hidden or obscured. Quite different than the popular and despairingly hopeless
visions of total annihilation and mayhem.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">Theological Themes:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">“Mark
13 contains some of the most interesting and problematic material in the whole
of Mark’s Gospel, being the longest single discourse or block of continuing
teaching. There is perhaps no
single chapter of the synoptic Gospels which has been so much commented upon in
modern times as Mark 13. There can
be no doubt that this section is heavily indebted to the Hebrew Scriptures both
by way of allusion and also brief quotation, and it should be seen as an
example of late prophetic literature which includes some images and notions
common in Jewish apocalyptic literature.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">Rhetorically
speaking, one must see this discourse as the final example of the sort of
private explanation and inside information Jesus gave his disciples. One of its rhetorical goals is to get
the disciples to focus less on the things that will happen and more on the one
who will bring all things to a conclusion in due course – the Son of Man.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">Biographically
speaking, the discourse in Mark 13 answers indirectly how Jesus could indeed be
both the stone the builders rejected and at the same time the heard of the
corner in God’s building of the new temple, the new people of God.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">The
discourse concludes with an exhortation Mark’s audience needed to heed – don’t
be caught napping, be prepared for that sudden and unforeseeable coming. The reference to the four watches of
the night, coupled with the reference to sleeping, points the narrative forward
to the Gethsemane story [see <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=209118352">Mark 14:32-51</a>] and what will happen to the
disciples beginning at that Juncture.
It is as if Mark is saying to his own audience, we all live in a
Gethsemane moment in human history; we must not be caught napping like the
first disciples were when the crucial moment arrived. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">The
major function of this discourse, then is not to encourage eschatological
forecasting [or talk about the end of the world], but rather to encourage
watchfulness and diligence in Christian life and witness.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">- The above comments are reproduced from <a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_359802916">Ben
Witherington III, </a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Gospel-Mark-Socio-Rhetorical-Commentary/dp/0802845037">The Gospel of Mark. A Soci0-Rhetorical Commentary.</a><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">Underneath
this teaching, in the background of the words of Jesus are eschatological
images and apocalyptic vocabulary in <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=209118369">Daniel 7:8-27</a>; <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=209118387">8:9-26;</a> <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=209118407">9:24-27</a> and
<a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=209118425">11:21-12:13. </a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">Jesus
is speaking against the Temple: the headquarters of established religion in his
day. Historically we know that the
Temple of Jerusalem was taken over in 67-68 by the Zealots (fundamentalist
terrorists trying to free the Jewish state from the Roman Empire). Jewish historian Josephus tells us that
at that time they wallowed criminals to roam the temple, including the Holy of
Holies, and even to murder in the Temple.
The Romans eventually captured, sacked and destroyed Jerusalem and the
Temple in 70. We’re told that they
didn’t leave one stone on top of another and even took the time to melt and
remove traces of gold from between the building stones. It was a complete and utter destruction
of a city and the Temple which represented the forces of resistance to the
power of Rome.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Questions for wondering and
exploring:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">• What
is Jesus saying to us and our church community today through this challenging
text?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">•
How does this text scare you?; offend you?; spark your interest?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">•
In my study I googled the words apocalypse, revealing and revelation. For the first I saw mostly pictures of
zombies and destroyed cities. For
revealing, all the images were of women models, and the third were pictures of
cities destroyed by catastrophes or Jesus on four horses. How does that image search communicate
the ways in which we might be missing what Jesus is saying to us?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">• How
are we – you – living in a Gethsemane moment, a time in which we are challenged
to stay awake and alert, to receive a new and renewed focus on what’s important
and what God is doing? How does
that apply to what you’re facing or dealing with in your life? How does that apply to our community
life together as we live and work here at the crossroads of Berkeley, Oakland
and Piedmont?<o:p></o:p></span></div>Montehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06730050375349279795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34831955.post-8313891036773482372012-07-03T23:45:00.000+02:002012-07-03T23:45:00.267+02:00<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; tab-stops: .25in; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 11pt;">Questions for going deeper with the Scriptures for Sunday, July
8<sup>th</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; tab-stops: .25in; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 11pt;"> <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=207142253">Mark 12:28-44</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1iByxB6fZLQ/T-Dy8DJ7PgI/AAAAAAAAAwc/vrDuGrX_Z2k/s1600/widows-mite1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="255" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1iByxB6fZLQ/T-Dy8DJ7PgI/AAAAAAAAAwc/vrDuGrX_Z2k/s320/widows-mite1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt;"><o:p><span id="goog_1000186428"></span><span id="goog_1000186429"></span></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">Greatness. It’s what many in our society strive for, on a certain level
it’s the American dream. But what
makes a person great? Wealth?
Accomplishments? Relationships?
Possessions? Achievements?
Diplomas? Having your wedding announced in the New York Times Sunday
edition? The encounters in today’s
passage wrestle with the notion of greatness in Jesus’ day. The example was the religious
leaders. Those that weren’t great
were the everyday poor. Things
don’t seemed to have changed much, except that in on our culture today rare is
it that the religious leaders define greatness with their example. What makes the church so great? – at
least historically? And why do we
struggle with that today?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;"></span></b></div>
<a name='more'></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Theological Themes:<o:p></o:p></b><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">These
encounters of Jesus sparring rhetorically with the religious leaders of his
day, specifically the scribes, tease out the theological questions of
greatness, importance, and power.
How is what Jesus says about status and value similar and different than
the way in which our world, or human culture views them? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">Jesus
summarizes the 10 commandments – and the 613 laws (or mitzvots) of the First
Testament with two. How does that
resonate with you? What is Jesus
saying about in terms of the importance or value of our actions, thoughts and
passions? How does what we do or
think matter in terms of the universe and the daily existence of others? How is doing what Jesus asks us living
in a way that makes us not far – or even in – the kingdom of God?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">Textual Curiosities:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">The
story of the Greatest Commandment Mark 12:28-34 is one of the best known
regarding Jesus. Commonly called
the Golden Rule it points back to the 10 commandments, which are listed twice
in the Bible: in Exodus 20:1-17 and Deuteronomy 5:1-22. The summary of Jesus points to the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Shema</i> (which is the Hebrew word for
“hear” – the first word in the text) in Deuteronomy 6:4-12. This became the dominant Jewish
confession of faith. Jesus then combines
it with the commandment of Leviticus 19:18 to show that love for neighbor is a
natural and logical outgrowth of love for God.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">What
does it mean in verse 34 when Jesus says that the man is not far from the
kingdom of God? How is his
response and reasoning different than that of the Sadducees in Mark 12:18-27?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">Verses
35-37 retell a curious way of doing exegesis or philosophical reasoning. Jesus is quoting Psalm 110:1 in an
effort to explain that the Messiah, or Lord, doesn’t have to be son of David. This is curious because elsewhere in
Mark Jesus is identified correctly as the Son of David, by blind Bartimeus in
Mark 10:47-48 and the jubilant crowd in Mark 11:9-10. How then do we reconcile this passage with those early
statements? Is Jesus saying
something different? Or is it the
way in which the same message is being said in a different way that seems
incoherent? Jesus is arguing that
the Messiah, or Lord, if he’s the son of David, is also at the same time the
Lord of David. The word Lord is being
used, as it was in that day, to represent authority, elder respect, paternal
relationships and as a messianic title – all in a few phrases. Why would Jesus be arguing against the
scribal assertion that the Messiah has to be a particular way?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">Verse
38-40 is a stern warning of the false example of piety and ethical action by
the religious leaders. What Jesus
is referring to is that the teachers of the law were also like judges and
lawyers. In the case of the death
of a man they would legally represent the widow. Jesus is implying that some of them abuse their position,
charging or taking more than they should.
Throughout the prophets and the Psalms God is repeatedly identified as
the God of the orphan, the widow and the foreigner. Widows have a special place in the theology of how God sides
with the people of the margins.
What is Jesus warning against in this passage?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">The
last verses, 41-44 lifts up the reverse example of piety, ethical actions or
lived-out faith. The widow gives
the smallest coins that existed, from her great poverty there is great
generosity whereas from the seemingly great wealth of the teachers there is
only great stinginess that is created.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Questions for wondering and
exploring:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">• What
is Jesus saying to us and our church community today about how we profess and
live out our faith? How do you
apply this teaching to us? How is
it culturally deviant? How does
the church need to be in the world of today?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">•
How might we be more creative – intentional – or subversive in how we love our
neighbor as an extension of how we first love God? How do you seek to love your neighbor through your passion,
intelligence, skills and time?
What difference does it make?
How have you (or haven’t you) experienced this service of others as a
spiritual practice or an experience of the presence of God? How would you like to?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">• Is
their a third way to following Jesus and his teachings in life that is between
the rigid dogmatic stance of fundamentalism and the laxist hyper-reductive
progressive desire to not offend or exclude anyone? How does Jesus speak to this challenge of living our faith
in Jesus in 21<sup>st</sup> century East Bay in his summary of the will of God
through love and service? <o:p></o:p></span></div>Montehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06730050375349279795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34831955.post-39228213015004748382012-06-13T21:55:00.003+02:002012-06-13T21:55:19.626+02:00<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Questions for going deeper with the Scriptures for Sunday, June
17<sup>th</sup><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; tab-stops: .25in; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=206617215">Mark 12:18-12:34</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4jXoMh_e8YM/T9jvQ2_cXBI/AAAAAAAAAv8/vD4fKsKI6Co/s1600/love_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4jXoMh_e8YM/T9jvQ2_cXBI/AAAAAAAAAv8/vD4fKsKI6Co/s320/love_2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s both a noun and a verb.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet often times it seems like in the
church we’re better at talking about it as a concept, subject or noun as
opposed to actively, creatively and imaginatively doing it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I wrestle with the passage for this
Sunday I’m struck by the two encounters including in the proposed reading.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first is a hypothetical situation
posed as a philosophical conundrum by the religious rulers of the day (the
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadducees">Sadducees</a>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus responds
directly, bluntly telling them that their question isn’t the correct one to be
asking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rather than dealing in
hypotheticals, they should be living in reality, not wondering who is the
neighbor they should love, but actually practicing what they preach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I read that and wonder how it
interrogates me and challenges my life?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>How do I practice love more as a noun than as a verb?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And is it an either/or situations or a
both/and one?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></b></div>
<a name='more'></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Theological Themes:<o:p></o:p></b><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">These
two encounters wrestle with 2 principle theological questions: the Resurrection
– or afterlife – versus life here and now on earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The second has to do with the commandments, how our ethical
choices reflect and actually express our religious convictions and
identity-shaping worldview.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">What
does Jesus say about life after death and life here and now?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Does he prioritize them, with one being
more important than the other?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>What does he seem to be the most interested in through his words?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Jesus
summarizes the 10 commandments – and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/613_commandments">613 laws</a> (or mitzvots) of the First
Testament with two.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How does that
resonate with you?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What is Jesus
saying about in terms of the importance or value of our actions, thoughts and
passions?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How does what we do or
think matter in terms of the universe and the daily existence of others?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How is doing what Jesus asks us living
in a way that makes us not far – or even in – the kingdom of God?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Textual Curiosities:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">What’s
curious about the encounter with the Sadducees (12:18-27) is that the Sadducees
were different than the Pharisees in regards to death and the afterlife.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharisees">Pharisees</a> (not present in this text)
believed in the resurrection of the dead, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadducees">Sadducees</a> didn’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So why then are they asking Jesus this
question about whose wife the woman will be in heaven?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Jesus
responds to this hypothetical marriage situation by quoting the story of how
Moses first encounters God in the burning bush in <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=206617236">Exodus 3</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus answers the question posed by the
Sadducces by telling them a story, reminding them of the identity of God – the
first – or earliest – revelation of who God is in the First Testament.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s the way rabbinical conversation
went.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whoever answered with the
reference in the Torah nearest the beginning was the most authoritative.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So what is Jesus saying by pointing
back to the story of the Burning Bush?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The
story of the Greatest Commandment Mark 12:28-34 is one of the best known
regarding Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Commonly called
the Golden Rule it points back to the 10 commandments, which are listed twice
in the Bible: in <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=206617265">Exodus 20:1-17</a> and <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=206617251">Deuteronomy 5:1-22</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The summary of Jesus points to the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Shema</i> (which is the Hebrew word for
“hear” – the first word in the text) in <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=206617282">Deuteronomy 6:4-12</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This became the dominant Jewish
confession of faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus then
combines it with the commandment of <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=206617302">Leviticus 19:18</a> to show that love for
neighbor is a natural and logical outgrowth of love for God.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">What
does it mean in verse 34 when Jesus says that the man is not far from the
kingdom of God?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How is his
response and reasoning different than that of the Sadducees in Mark 12:18-27?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iv0iujQVXwk/T9jvV6uvygI/AAAAAAAAAwE/mXtukzkg6B4/s1600/LoveThyNeighborAsThyself.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="187" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iv0iujQVXwk/T9jvV6uvygI/AAAAAAAAAwE/mXtukzkg6B4/s320/LoveThyNeighborAsThyself.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Questions for wondering and
exploring:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">• What
is Jesus saying to us and our church community today about how we profess and
live out our faith?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How do you
apply this teaching to us?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">•
How might we be more creative – intentional – or subversive in how we love our
neighbor as an extension of how we first love God?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How do you seek to love your neighbor through your passion,
intelligence, skills and time?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>What difference does it make?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>How have you (or haven’t you) experienced this service of others as a
spiritual practice or an experience of the presence of God?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How would you like to?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">• Is
their a third way to following Jesus and his teachings in life that is between
the rigid dogmatic stance of fundamentalism and the laxist hyper-reductive
progressive desire to not offend or exclude anyone?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How does Jesus speak to this challenge of living our faith
in Jesus in 21<sup>st</sup> century East Bay in his summary of the will of God
through love and service?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Montehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06730050375349279795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34831955.post-90240303993672095282012-06-08T05:07:00.003+02:002012-06-08T05:08:27.530+02:00<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; tab-stops: .25in; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 11pt;">Questions for going deeper with the Scriptures for </span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 11pt;">Sunday, June
10<sup>th</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; tab-stops: .25in; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=206124839"> Mark 11:27-12:17</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yro6eMwKWXI/T9FsQE-ug1I/AAAAAAAAAvw/Bqk7lpQ_9QA/s1600/BulletinCover61012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="137" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yro6eMwKWXI/T9FsQE-ug1I/AAAAAAAAAvw/Bqk7lpQ_9QA/s200/BulletinCover61012.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">Authority. That’s the key issue underneath the
scriptures that we wrestle with this morning. The religious leaders of the day are challenged and confused
by the authority that Jesus seems to have. Their antagonism seems to come from the fact that he has
taken a different path then they have.
He’s not studied like them.
He doesn’t speak like them.
He’s outside of their sphere of influence. Are they jealous?; insecure?; threatened?; </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">close-minded? What we see throughout the text is the
fear the leaders have of the crowd (11:32 & 12:12). The leaders are politically isolated,
fearful of the very people they purportedly serve. As I study the text I find myself wondering how I – how we
as a faith community – are like these leaders – out of touch with the crowd,
the people on the street, the larger population? How are we stuck in our own
box and unable to think outside of it?
How do we understand that in a time of great, radical and overwhelming
change that impacts us in terms of society, technology, relationships,
communication and life-style? How
do we act as coherent, authentic followers of Jesus in a world that is increasingly
pluralistic?</span><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">Theological Themes:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">There
is a striking similarity between the parables in Mark 11:27-33 & Mark
12:13-17 which are constructed around the principle parable of Mark
12:1-12. They all deal with the
authority of Jesus – that he is sent by God. We call it the incarnation. It also addresses our continuing
challenge of understanding the divinity of Jesus and his authority. Is he merely an image of God, one of
many ways of understanding the heart of God?; or is he the definitive one?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">Textual Curiosities:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">“One
of the most volatile of all social situations in Israel was the phenomenon of
absentee landlords holding property in the Jordan valley and elsewhere
something which had been going on to some degree for nearly three hundred years
before the time of Jesus. It had
been a bone of contention for a very long time. Research shows that the action of the tenants in this
parable is explicable in terms of Jewish law, where possession was nine-tenths
of the law when it came to land.
If the possession of the current landholders had not been disputed for a
period of time, they could claim to be the true owners.” There’s a danger in
over-allegorizing. It’s a judgment
parable with a point: God has sent
many servants, (a term which is synonymous with “prophet” in Jeremiah 7:25;
25:4; Amos 3:7 & Zechariah 1:6) but Israel had abused them. Jesus equates the leaders with the evil
tenants, with the historical religious leadership of Israel which repeatedly
ignored, and persecuted, the prophets God sent to call the people back to the
heart of God and the purpose of God in the world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">The
passage condemns the religious leaders for their passivity and blatant
inaction. “For Mark, a parable is a way of speaking about God, to which a mere
intellectual response is not possible.
The only person who can understand a parable is one who is willing to
accept or to reject its message. It must produce either faith or disbelief.” –
Albert Schweitzer, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Parables of
Jesus. </i>Curiously, we see that
these religious leaders, who compose the Sanhedrin (the governing body of the
Temple – like our Session), do finally act in the end of the gospel. It’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">their</i> judgment of Jesus that leads to his execution.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">The
parable of the denarius in Mark 12:13-17 spins around a form of a Roman poll
tax, a form of tribute imposed in 6 AD by the Romans across their empire, which elicited various reactions from
Jews. The Herodians [for
collaborating with the Romans] supported it in principle; the Pharisees [for
cultural purity] seem to have resented it and even resisted it, but not violently;
but the more zealous of the Jews would not pay the tax on principle. Were Jesus to give a simple yes answer
to the question posed by the leaders in
13 & 14 he would be seen as a traitor in the eyes of the people,
while a negative response would suggest he was a revolutionary who would need
to be dealt with for the crime of treason or sedition.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">In
Jesus’ day, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiberius">Tiberius</a> was the Roman emperor (14-37 AD). Coins were inscribed with “Tiberius
Caesar, son of divine Augustus,” implying at least Tiberius’s quasi
divinity. On the other side the
coin read “pointifex maximus” indicating that Caesar was the high priest, the
highest religious figure in the empire. The zealots wouldn’t even touch the
coins since they contained a graven image. Jesus isn’t a revolutionary, but
rather recognizes the role and importance of the state in life. Yet the state or emperor isn’t
sovereign, of over all things – God alone is. Everything should be rendered to him. Jesus’ response is
ironic. He basically says, “give
these worthless pieces of metal back to Caesar. But give your life – all of your life – back to Yahweh.” The tenants in the parable forget who
actually owns the “vineyard”, a metaphor repeatedly used by the prophets, to
symbolize Israel and the world (Isaiah 5). It’s as if the religious leaders, like the tenants, think it
all belongs to them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">Jesus
sees through the philosophical tests or verbal trickery of the leaders and
doesn’t just reject them, he exhorts them to true faith. His parables force them to make a
choice: for or against the Kingdom of God that Jesus is preaching. Inactivity isn’t an option. If you understand, and hear the
invitation from God – you either respond by joining in or in becoming an
adversary to God’s work.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Questions for wondering and
exploring:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">• What
is Jesus saying to us and our church community today about how we profess and
live out our faith? How do you
apply this teaching of Jesus’ divine Sonship and divine authority in a
pluralistic society? How can we
claim that Jesus is The Way and be in respectful, open relationships with those
that think it’s Buddha, Mohammed, or evolutionary chance?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">• Is
their a third way to following Jesus and his teachings in life that is between
the rigid dogmatic stance of fundamentalism and the laxist hyper-reductive
progressive desire to not offend or exclude anyone? How does Jesus speak to this? How are we to live as a community of faith centered around
knowing God through Jesus in 21<sup>st</sup> century East Bay?<o:p></o:p></span></div>Montehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06730050375349279795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34831955.post-86920000361798243622012-05-29T22:26:00.004+02:002012-05-29T22:26:57.949+02:00<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Questions for going deeper with the Scriptures for Sunday, June
3<sup>rd</sup><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; tab-stops: .25in; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> <a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_2091444062"> </a></span><a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=205323001">Mark 11:12-26</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-N2LNaSN8aLE/T8UwJXymGbI/AAAAAAAAAvY/R6kVSD0FZ7M/s1600/PrayerWalk.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="124" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-N2LNaSN8aLE/T8UwJXymGbI/AAAAAAAAAvY/R6kVSD0FZ7M/s200/PrayerWalk.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Prayer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s something that we all invoke, even
if we claim to be spiritual but not religious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But what is prayer all about?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is it us expressing our needs, hopes and fears?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is it God listening to us?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is it an energy that we plug into
through centering actions of silence and mindfulness? Is it a way in which we
relinquish our will and accept God’s, connecting with the work that God is
already about in our world?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today’s
scripture points to all these facets of prayer and also offers a deep challenge
to an exclusive vision that God only listens to prayers done in one particular
spot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Common in Jesus’ day, and
mostly foreign to us, this notion of having a privileged or exclusive
relationship with God still makes up part of the religious perspective we move
in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How do you experience
prayer?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How do we as a community?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How is God calling us to move beyond
our expectations, to being a house of prayer in a deeper and wider way?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></b></div>
<a name='more'></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Theological Themes:<o:p></o:p></b><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Theologically
Mark 11 wrestles with several themes: the purpose of the Temple – or any sacred
place – set aside and used for worship as a house of prayer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Are
there places where God listens to us – or where we connect with the Spirit of
God – more than others?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus
seems to connect prayer more with the way we live than with the space in which
we pray.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">What
is the power of prayer all about?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Is it about us making things happen through our faithfulness? Or is it
about us connecting with what God is making happen around us?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Textual Curiosities:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Intertextually
this text is connected with many others through stories connections and the
repetition of common Biblical motifs and metaphors and intertextual citations:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The
Fruit or Figs on the tree are a common motif for fruitfulness or fruitlessness
in the Bible, a symbol for spiritual health or disease [see for example: <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=205323038">Psalm 92:12-15</a>; <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=205323051">Hosea 10</a>:1, 13,<a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=205323067"> Matthew 7:16-20</a>; <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=205323080">John 15</a>:1-11and <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=205323095">Galatians 5</a>:22-24].<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Jesus
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">throws out</i> the money changers (it’s
the same word used for the exorcism of unclean or unholy spirits elsewhere in
Mark 1:34, 39 ; 3:15, 22-23).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The
words of Jesus in verse 17 are citations of <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=205323112">Isaiah 56:7</a> and <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=205323126">Jeremiah 7:11</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are a criticism of the Temple
hierarchy and business model which is abusing the sanctity of the Temple
sanctuary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To worship animals were
needed for the ritual sacrifices and offerings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Greek and Roman money had images on it, and were Gentile –
thus profane and not welcome in the Temple – even here in the Courtyard of the
Gentiles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So the money had to be
exchanged for Temple money, and hence the money changes would collect a
commission on the money exchange (as we do today).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When you look at the larger context of Isaiah 56 [which
talks of God gathering people from all the nations (which always means
Gentiles)] and Jeremiah 7 which is a denunciation by the prophet of the false
religion being practiced in the Temple of his day (check out 7:3-8 in
particular) in which the people of Judah did whatever they wanted claiming to
be righteous because of their genetic inheritance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What is Jesus saying about the Temple system and community
of faith in his day?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How does that
challenge and invitation apply to us today?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Jesus
is starting what we might call an occupy movement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The crowds are so enthralled with his words and the
authorities are insecure and threatened by this massive public support for the
movement Jesus is starting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’ve
also seen such amazement in Mark 1:22; 6:2; 7:37 and 10:26.</span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The
double encounter with the fig tree and the curse miracle of this text is
similar to a parable about a fig tree found in <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=205323144">Luke 13:6-9</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is it possible that this cursing of the
fruitless fig tree compared to the cursing of the fruitless Temple is related
to this parable of a tree that doesn’t bear fruit?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Biblicists say that Mark has split the fig tree story,
making it an interpretative envelope in which Mark relates the cleansing of the
Temple.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The fig story helps us as
readers make sense of the real story, in the center of it all, what Jesus does
and says about the Temple.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Scholars also say that this split-story points towards Jesus’ ultimate
condemnation of the Temple and prophesy of its destruction in <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=205323183">Mark 13</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Jesus’
words in Mark 11:22-25 echo back to Zechariah and other prophets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What mount is he talking about: the
Mount of Olives [Zechariah 7-14]? Or the Temple Mount [Isaiah 2:2, Micah 4:1,
Zechariah 4:7]?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Verse 25<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>sends us to a teaching on forgiveness
<a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=205323165">Matthew 5:23-24</a> and the text of the Lord’s Prayer [Matthew 6:9, 12].<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What is Jesus saying about prayer and
forgiveness?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How are they
connected to the Temple, the public space and sacred space in which prayer was
usually offered and forgiveness received through ritual action and
sacrifice?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Questions for wondering and
exploring:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">• What
is Jesus saying to the people of his day about connecting with God in
prayer?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who can connect?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Where?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How is
Jesus critical of religious authority then?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ours now?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">• What
is Jesus saying to us and our church community today about how we connect with
God in prayer?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>About our worship?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our the way in which we live what we
believe and what Jesus taught in our individual lives and in our life
together?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do we practice
forgiveness, or merely talk about it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Do we create space for others to worship – in particular those who might
be “new” to faith (like the Gentiles in Mark 11) or are we so busy, making our
worship space into a loud, busy marketplace in which others cannot encounter
God’s presence?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What do you hear
the Spirit inviting us to do or become?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Montehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06730050375349279795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34831955.post-32156867298988462912012-05-23T22:34:00.004+02:002012-05-23T22:34:31.821+02:00<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div align="center" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; tab-stops: .25in; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Blogging Towards Pentecost
Sunday, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>May 27<sup>th</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; tab-stops: .25in; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=204805012"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mark 11:1-11</a>
(Crowning the King),<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; tab-stops: .25in; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=204804998">Acts 2:1-21</a> (what does this mean?),<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; tab-stops: .25in; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">& <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=204804984">Acts 2:42-47</a> (the gospel embodied in community)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0rqTVJhsBV4/T71ImCD8xWI/AAAAAAAAAuA/BxycsYy0mUM/s1600/Pentecost+2008d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0rqTVJhsBV4/T71ImCD8xWI/AAAAAAAAAuA/BxycsYy0mUM/s320/Pentecost+2008d.jpg" width="115" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentecost">Pentecost</a>
is a unique day in the life of the Church Calendar in which it is connoted by
the color <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">red</span>, (remember our Godly Play lesson from 2 weeks ago?)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Red is the color of passion, strong
feelings, fire.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It evokes the heat
and passion of fire similar to the passionate purpose and transformative presence
of God’s Spirit when it moves in the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pentecost is a reminder that God calls the Church to a risky
endeavor, to engage the world, in the world, to declare in word and action that
God loves the world and that we most know God through the life and teachings of
Jesus of Nazareth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If that’s the
meaning of the birth-day of the Church, I find myself wondering what kind of
legacy we’ve been leaving as the church?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When folks encounter our church on College Avenue, or when the wonder
about the Church in general, do they imagine a community of people making
meaning in life together around a shared core value that we most know,
experience God and grow in faith through knowing Jesus & practicing what he
preached?</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></b></div>
<a name='more'></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Theological Themes:<o:p></o:p></b><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Theologically
Mark 11 wrestles with several themes: the meaning of Jesus as the Messiah – the
anointed new King of Israel, awaited to usher in God’s dominion in the world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Acts
2 wrestles with the church – it tells the birth-day of the church and frames
the legacy that the church is invited to leave and become.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The church is a community of people set
on fire, given purpose and a transformative passion to share the good news of
Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s an affirmation that
the Spirit of God is alive, moving and creating in the world – through us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a radical affirmation of the call
to community at the center of Christian life. It’s an unadulterated invitation
to the Church to go out into the world, engaging the world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Eric
Law, an Episcopal priest and expert on the multicultural church in the 21<sup>st</sup>
century, interprets this Pentecost story asking what is the miracle of
Pentecost?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is it a miracle of the
tongue: meaning that the disciples could speak other languages to declare God’s
goodness in Christ Jesus?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or is it
a miracle of the ear: meaning that the people gathered in Jerusalem,
representing the nations of the world, are able to hear, recognize and respond
to the good news of the love of God?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Is there a difference?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What
do you think?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is it about a
miracle of the tongue or the ear?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Textual Curiosities:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Underneath
the story of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, which we celebrate as Palm
Sunday, are multiple layers of scripture from the First Testament built around
the themes of God’s kingship and the royal leadership that God will provide to
complete Israel: these include <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=204805101">Zechariah 9:9</a>; <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=204805083">Genesis 49:10-11</a>; <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=204805067">Psalm 118</a>; the
oracle of <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=204805149">2 Samuel 7</a>. Curiously in <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=204805122">Matthew 21:8</a> & <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=204805135">John 12:12</a> it’s the
crowd, not the disciples, who hail Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Underneath
the narrative of Pentecost are multiple layers of stories about how God’s
Spirit – or immanent presence – is experienced and known in the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In both Hebrew and Greek, the languages
of the Bible, Spirit and Breath are the same word.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God’s spirit, or breath, breaths life into the church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s also the back story as told in
Acts 1:1-2:1<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Repeatedly
in the Bible narratives about the presence of God’s Spirit describe that
presence like that of a wind [Genesis 2:7], a fire or flame, or a dove [<a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=204805165">Mark 1:9-13</a>] who overcomes all barriers to witness creatively to the ends of the
earth giving people with a heart for service [Luke 1:15, Acts 9:17] or
inspiration to speak God’s word [Exodus 19:18; 2 Samuel 22:16; Ezekiel 13:13; Acts
4:8, 31; 13:9] or to do mighty deeds [like Samson]. Curiously in the First
Testament only priests, judges and kings receive – or are <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">filled</i> with the Spirit, whereas at Pentecost the Spirit is given to
the disciples and to all those that God gifts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Pentecost
was a Jewish Holiday [The Festival of Weeks] celebrated 50 days (hence the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">penta</i>-) after Passover, a celebration of
God’s gift of the Torah to Moses on Mt. Sinai. This Pentecost moment is
interpreted as a completes revelation of God’s word for the world. [Luke 24:35]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Some
interpreter this Pentecost moment as a direct response – and dramatic reversal
– of <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the Tower of Babel (<span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=204805260">Genesis 11:1-9</a></span>), God’s
reversal of the divisive diversity of different languages healed and overcome
by the unifying presence of God’s Living Spirit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other texts often associated with Pentecost are Ezekiel’s
vision of dead bones returning to life in</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">
</span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=204805200">Ezekiel 37:1-14</a></span> and Paul’s words of <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=204805221">Romans 8:22-27</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some also compares Acts 2 to <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=204805235">Acts 10</a>
(specifically 10:46) and the Cornelius episode as a sort of Gentile Pentecost.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Questions for wondering and
exploring:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">• Eric
D. Barreto writes “[At Pentecost,] God meets us in the messiness of different
languages and does not ask us to speak God’s language. Instead, God chooses
to speak our many languages.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How
does that invite us to speak faith, to testify to the faith that animates our
lives, in our changing neighborhood which is increasingly hipster and populated
by many over-worked, hyper-stressed, under-rested, tech-savy, service-oriented
urbanites?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">• We
gather for worship each week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
to do what?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Are we celebrating
that God is alive and active?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or
are we merely continuing old traditions and routines? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Are we waiting for the world to come to
us? Or are we going out to encounter the world?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some would say churches have often become more about the
preservation of an institution than the radical living out of a
life-transforming message of hope and grace in God’s love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How do we as a community invest time
and resources in preserving an institution?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How do we invest them to proclaim and embody this radical
love and transforming solidarity in our cities of Berkeley, Oakland and
Piedmont?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;"><br /></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Montehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06730050375349279795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34831955.post-11052516631567602312012-05-19T17:17:00.003+02:002012-05-19T17:17:48.356+02:00<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Questions for going deeper with the Scriptures for Sunday:
May 20th<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; tab-stops: .25in; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%2010:32-52&version=MSG">Mark 10:32-52</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The
Way of Jesus is different than the way of the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today’s scripture point to that mystery, which supersedes
any discussion that merely reduces faith to a particular set of morals or
ethical actions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Way of Jesus
leads to and through the cross, and then out of the victory of the resurrection
and the paradox of the empty tomb.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Today’s passage closes the center literary nugget of Mark’s gospel which
began with the healing of an anonymous blind man in 8:22, echoed and inverted
in today’s healing encounter of another blind man Bartimaeus in 10:46-52.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Way of Jesus moves us from
anonymity, to relationship with God through Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In that movement we confess, naming Jesus as the Christ and
in the life-giving and universe-transforming love of that relationship we too
receive our true name and discover our identity as servants of the Resurrected
One.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></b></div>
<a name='more'></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Theological Themes:<o:p></o:p></b><br />
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Theologically
this text wrestles with several themes: the meaning of suffering, the promise
of resurrection, which both frame the Way of Jesus where all disciples are
called to walk bearing their cross.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Jesus
is the Suffering Servant, the Messiah or Christ, the Anointed One, who has come
to call others to a new exodus from bondage, a new way of knowing and being
known, a deeper and freer life in abundance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Underneath the talk of suffering and death are the inter-textual
connections with the ancient prophecies of the First Testament, in particular
of the prophet Isaiah.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Read Isaiah
</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=204440556">Isa 50:4-9</a>;
<a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=204440536">52:13-53:12</a> and <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=204440618">Daniel 7</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s in
this context that Mark writes Jesus uttering three passion statements or
declarations that he will suffer, be crucified and rise from the dead. [<a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=204440571">Mark 8:31-32</a>; <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=204440586">9:31-32</a>; <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=204440603">10:32-34</a>] How are they similar?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How do they differ?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>What might that mean?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The
request for places of privilege from James and John lift up the theological
question of power relationships in the dominion of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rather than privilege what is exalted
is servanthood, it’s a paradox and inversion of power by abasement (not
weakness), another way of saying that the first shall be last and the last
first.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Spiritual
Blindness is another key point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
don’t just need fixed eyes – we need new vision, to see the world and the Way
of Jesus with new eyes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Faith
isn’t an add-on to our life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s
a radical transformation and shift of how we are in the world.</span><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Textual Curiosities:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Underneath
the talk of suffering and death are the inter-textual connections with the
ancient prophecies of the First Testament, in particular of the prophet
Isaiah.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Read Isaiah </span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Isa 50:4-9; 52:13-53:12 and
Daniel 7.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s in this context
that Mark writes Jesus uttering three passion statements or declarations that
he will suffer, be crucified and rise from the dead. [Mark 8:31-32; 9:31-32;
10:32-34] How are they similar?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>How do they differ?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What
might that mean?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">In
their misguided power grab, Jesus talks to James and John of an invitation to
share in Jesus’ cup and baptism: suffering, death and resurrection. (verse
38)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The cup is a metaphor for
one’s portion in life; what one has been given to “drink” whether good or
ill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus is pointing to a
different way of being, a different way of seeing how God acts and
creates.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>True greatness comes not
in power and victory at least how we understand it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>True greatness comes from service and self-sacrifice, and
emerges out of seeming defeat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>True greatness points back to the teaching in Mark 9:33-37 and towards
the beautiful hymn of servanthood found in <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=204440649">Philippians 2:5-11</a>. How do you
struggle to understand this paradox of power and service?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How do we struggle as a church to live
out this mystery of victory and new life?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The
healing of a blind man section in our text today 10:46-52 refers back to
another such healing at the beginning of this section of the gospel in <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=204440511">Mark 8:22-26</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How does Bartimaeus react
to the gift of sight versus the un-named man in Mark 8:22-26?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bartimaeus is healed in one encounter
with Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The other man needs
two of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What is that
referring?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While the first man in
chapter 8 sees vaguely, mistaking people for trees, Bartimaeus see clearly and
immediately responds, coming after Jesus and following him on the Way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What might this theological framing of
sight have to say about us in our individual and community lives today? In
verse 50 Bartimaeus throws off his cloak, leaving all that he owns to follow
Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How is it that he “gets it”
where as Peter voices his fear in verse 28 about how much he and the other 12
have sacrificed to follow Jesus?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Questions for wondering and
exploring:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">• Last
week we did a Godly Play lesson in worship, learning about the circle of the
liturgical year the lessons dwelt on the mystery of time as a circle, the
notion that every beginning is a sort of ending, and every ending contains a
beginning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How does that apply to
Jesus’ words about his passion and purpose in today’s text?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How does that relate to the notion of
resurrection and spiritual sight?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">• We
welcome this day brothers and sisters from Fruitvale Church which has chosen to
close.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a death, one that has
to be taken seriously in terms of suffering, grief, confusion and hurt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Much like the crucifixion of Jesus. We
live in an age where many of our institutions are struggling with the
perspective of death and closure: schools, city governments, hospitals,
non-profits, even entire nations like Greece and Italy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can choose to fight to preserve our
institutions at any cost, or we can choose to recognize that the changes we
need to undertake are beyond our means, strength and imagination.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only God can do a new thing that is
required. Yet how is the promise of resurrection, or being raised to new life
and new ways of being present in both this text and in our life as a church?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">• How
do you need spiritual sight – a new vision - and to practice resurrection in
your life, work, relationships and identity?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Where do you need God to save you, where only a new thing
can set you free to truly live?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">• How
do you hear the Spirit of God talking to you, and to us through this text
today?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What invitation to action
or a new way of being do you hear?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--EndFragment-->Montehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06730050375349279795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34831955.post-43910088008690020502012-05-04T22:52:00.003+02:002012-05-04T22:53:28.119+02:00<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 11pt;">Questions for going deeper with the Scriptures for Sunday, </span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 11pt;">May 6<sup>th </sup></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=%20%20Mark%2010:17-31&version=TNIV"> Mark 10:17-31</a>|
Salvation as a Gift</span></b></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hLFteGfyR4U/T6RBBfwPbsI/AAAAAAAAAtk/i-cJzWA2qBQ/s1600/BulletinCover562012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hLFteGfyR4U/T6RBBfwPbsI/AAAAAAAAAtk/i-cJzWA2qBQ/s200/BulletinCover562012.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">We
often look for answers, but maybe it’s our questions that most define and shape
us as human beings. What defines us?
Is it our jobs?; zip code?; possessions?; faith?; class?; ethnicity?;
choices? <a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_748950479"> </a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Paul_Sartre">Jean-Paul Sartre</a> wrote,
“Commitment is an act, not a word.”
In his existential viewpoint he echoes to a certain extent what Jesus is
getting at in his encounter with the young rich ruler in today’s section of
Mark. Philosophy grew out of the
essential human question as posed by the ancient Greek Socrates: What is a good
life? How does one live one? Can
one even live a good life? Does the good we do come from a greater good? Do we have to be religious, or
spiritual, to have a good life? Do we need to be saved from something? If so, what? It gets at the fundamental
heart of Christian faith.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;"></span></b></div>
<a name='more'></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Theological Themes:<o:p></o:p></b><br />
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">Theologically
this text talks of faith and salvation as a gift. Humanity can’t achieve or obtain it by its own means,
efforts and work. It’s the
theological affirmation at the heart of the message of Jesus and the discovery
that ignited the Protestant revolution of the Reformation in the hearts of Luther
and Calvin. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sola fides. Sola gratia.</i> [Faith alone. Grace alone.] Jesus spells out what it means and how it looks to enter
into the realm of God’s saving activity here on Earth. Philosophically the text wrestles with
the question of the meaning of life?
What is important? What is
eternal? What is intrinsic to the
human condition? What defines a
good life? What can you take with
you? <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Calvin">John Calvin</a>, the greater
shaper of Presbyterianism, or Reformed Theology summed it up like this: “Faith
is never a human achievement, but it is always a human event, a human
affirmation, a human act. Faith is a gift [from God] that must always be
humanly exercised. As the bond by which we are bound to Christ faith is
that ‘fellowship’ to which <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">we must hold
fast bravely with both hands.”</i> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">Textual Curiosities:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">The
text starts with flattery, a common custom in oriental cultures. He doesn’t address Jesus as “rabbi” but
as “good teacher.” Why? To be
kind?; to adhere to cultural customs?; to get something?; or was he speaking
flattery in order to receive a flattering comment in return, perhaps about his
own faith and religious devotion?
Jesus takes this initial flattery and deepens it into an existentially
challenging conversation, which invites, challenges and points towards deeper
faith, the deep meaning of life, and an occasion to deepen existential
commitment to the God who Moses experienced as who was, and is and is to come”
(Exodus 3:14-15).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">Scholars
point to the authenticity or historicity of this text in particular in the
curious response of Jesus in verse 18 in which he claims to neither be good nor
God. It’s doubtful that in the
voice of the early church would have uttered such a potentially
incarnation-challenging statement.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">Verse
21 is the only time in the body of the Gospels that we’re told that Jesus loved
someone. What is underneath this
observational comment as he looks the young man in the eyes? Is it compassion?; empathy?;
understanding?; grace in seeing his limits?; hope for a new beginning? The young man, who we’re told is rich
by implication, wants to live a good life, to do good. But he sees that as doing the Law,
following the rules. Jesus
stretches the definitional boundaries of what it means to be good and the image
of a good life. It’s more than
following the Law. It’s more than
being pious. It’s about
discipleship: a relationship; about obedience: actually doing, practicing,
observing what God teaches about human relationships, justice, devotion,
worship and solidarity; about going beyond to merely following the rules to
knowing and living acting from that primary relationship with God as center of
life and existence. It’s a recognizing that God is bigger than us. Knowing what
a good life resembles isn’t enough. It must be lived.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">The
sayings of verses 23-24 are challenging: difficult to translate. In its purest form Jesus is contrasting
the largest animal and the smallest hole, that a Jew of his day and time would
have known and imagined. Salvation
is unobtainable despite our best & purest efforts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">Peter
is terrified, afraid that he’s made a bad choice, wanting reassurance that the
sacrifices he’s made were worth it.
His reaction is ironic, a paradoxical comparison with that of the young
rich man who can’t give up what he has to obtain of what he dreams, while Peter
seemingly has received of what he’s dreamed but wonders if what he gave up was
enough. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Questions for wondering and
exploring:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">•
It’s easy to write off this encounter, for which of us is rich enough to be
like the young man? Or we say that
only the hyper-rich can face such a faith challenge. And yet we all walk in the tension of seeing faith as
something we obtain through sacrifice and experiencing faith as a gift freely
given through sacrifice. The young
ruler has much he can’t give up, not just possessions, but also social status
& position, his familiar life, daily comforts and established
identity. How are you like the
him? What’s too hard to give up?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">•
In terms of faith as a gift, we have to ask ourselves do we live faith as a
gift we’ve received or do we seek to earn salvation: the gift of faith? How do you struggle in the theological
tension of faith versus works, or perceiving the love of God as something we
must earn or deserve; or as something we merely have to receive or to which we
must respond? How does John
Calvin’s definition of faith as a gift touch your and your life?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">•
How does this text seem to associate faith, grace and salvation? What’s it mean for you?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">•
The theological notion of faith and grace as the free gift of God is at the
heart of the Protestant vision of Christian faith. How is this notion empty, void or meaning-less for our
culture and society today? How
would you translate it in order for it to be understood? How do you need to experience it in
your own life in order to “get it” with your mind?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>Montehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06730050375349279795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34831955.post-57236955328111146502012-04-29T17:17:00.001+02:002012-04-29T17:17:56.812+02:00<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Questions for going deeper with the Scriptures for Sunday:
April 29<sup>th</sup><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1631603078"> </a></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=202712576">Mark 10:1-16</a> |
Bonhoeffer’s notion of Costly Grace</b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 11.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">If you've been to Frog Park in Oakland's Rockridge district this past week you've seen some major construction and trench-digging emerge. I go there for dog park breaks with my dog David during the day. Throughout the week I reflected upon the marks that appeared on the street, sidewalks, even the bushes indicating what was below. It was striking to realize how much is down there, and how ignorant I am of its presence - and exactly how important it all is to and in day to day life. I think this week's passage is like those markings, pointing to what lies below in our identities, our relationships and our day to day life.</span></div>
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<a name='more'></a>Jesus
leaves his base at the home of Peter in Capernaum, returning to public after a
fortifying time away, in order to receive curve balls from his opposition. The Pharisees ask him about divorce –
an issue that everyone agreed upon in that day. Why? How are
they trying to trap him? As
foolish? As a religious
extremist? As a doctrinal laxiste
and relativist?<o:p></o:p><br />
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">In
their context divorce was permitted (<a href="ttp://bible.oremus.org/?ql=202712620">Deut 24</a>): but only for men, who could
dismiss or divorce their wife if she was unfaithful and even if she just was no
longer pleasing (ie beautiful, willing or subservient). Jesus challenges this cheap vision of
relationships based upon mutual commitment and covenant. He rejects the established status quo,
redefining adultery not as a third person crashing a two person relationship,
but as one of the originally committed two people leaving and choosing someone
else. Jesus goes deeper, beyond it
is permissible or not, to the nature of relationship, what God intends for all
of us – a mirror of what relationship God wants with us (quoting Genesis 1:27,
2:24, 5:2 [in Mark 10:6-7]). There
is no easy way out. You have to go
the distance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">He
then compares faith to the unconditional joy of a child. Think of how kids receive gifts at
Christmas or Birthdays: with unconditional excitement, openness to new things,
eagerness to experiment, zeal for the present moment free of the burdens of the
past and the fear of the future.
That’s how we are to welcome the kingdom or dominion of God :: what God
is doing in and through us and in the world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant: small-caps;">What does that mean for us? Contrasting Mark 10:1-16 with the notions of Cheap vs Costly
Grace according to German Theologian <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dietrich_Bonhoeffer">Dietrich Bonhoeffer.</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"> Cheap
grace means grace as a doctrine, a principle, a system. It means forgiveness of sins proclaimed
as a general truth, the love of God aught as the Christian “conception” of God. An intellectual assent to that idea is
held to be of itself sufficient to secure remission of sins. The Church which hold the correct
doctrine of grace has, it is supposed, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ipso
facto</i> a part in that grace. In
such a Church the world finds a cheap covering for its sins; not contrition is
required, still less any real desire to be delivered from sin. Cheap grace therefore amounts to a
denial of the living Word of God, in fact, a denial of the Incarnation of the
Word of God. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"> Cheap
grace means the justification of sin without the justification of the
sinner. Grace alone does
everything, they say, and so everything can remain as it was before. … Cheap grace is not the kind of
forgiveness of sin which frees us from the toils of sin. Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on
ourselves. [It merely empowers us
to live contented with our worldliness with higher ethical standards rather
than to achieve renunciation, practice self-effacement, to distinguish his life
from the life of the world.]. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"> Cheap
grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism
without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution with
personal confession. Cheap grace
is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus
Christ, living and incarnate.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"> Costly
grace is the treasure hidden it he field; for the sake of it a man will gladly
go and sell all that he has. It is
the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all her goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for
whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble, it is the
call of Jesus Christ at which the disciples leaves her nets and follows him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"> Costly
grace is the gospel which must be <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sought</i>
again and again, the gift which must be <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">asked
for</i>, the door at which a man must <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">knock</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"> Such
grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">grace</i> because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his
life, and it is grace because it gives a woman the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin,
and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">costly</i>
because it cost God the life of his Son.
… Grace is costly because
it compels a man to submit to the yoke of Christ and follow him; it is grace
because Jesus says: “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.” p.45-48 of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Cost of Discipleship.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">Bonhoeffer
is saying that discipleship, choosing to follow Jesus, adopt his teachings, his
example, his life-giving-death as the center of our life, is a costly action,
which demands obedience, adherence and transformation of every aspect of our
life, existence and identity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 11pt;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';">
</span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">How do you see the invitation to costly grace (to costly discipleship)
in Jesus’ answer to the rhetorical curve ball of the Pharisees? What is Jesus trying to focus the
conversation around? Is Jesus
talking about marriage?; gay marriage?; the status of women in his society?;
religious extremism?; doctrinal laxism?; the nature of faith?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 11pt;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';">
</span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">How do you struggle with this invitation to costly discipleship? How does it attract you? How does it discourage you?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 11pt;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';">
</span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">How do you struggle to accept God’s love, to welcome the gift of faith,
the embrace the challenge of resurrection life as a child accepts a gift? How do you need God to heal, liberate,
complete or challenge you to be more child-like in how you receive God’s gifts,
Divine direction and the charismas of life in community?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>Montehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06730050375349279795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34831955.post-56360031150249299672012-04-20T22:40:00.002+02:002012-04-21T01:51:39.919+02:00<div align="center" class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; tab-stops: .25in; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 11.5pt;">Blogging Towards Sunday April 22<sup>nd</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"><a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=201954368">Mark 9:38-50</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EQ5WLkPAl28/T5HJOeKhVgI/AAAAAAAAAtI/kBXUwfAOAE4/s1600/group-of-people-class-t18730.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="141" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EQ5WLkPAl28/T5HJOeKhVgI/AAAAAAAAAtI/kBXUwfAOAE4/s200/group-of-people-class-t18730.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">A common joke among pastors goes like this: “If it weren't for the people, I'd love my church!" While irreverently funny, it points to the true challenge of following the teachings of Jesus: other people. It’s easy (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">or at least seems easier</i>) to work to love God, as Jesus said, with all our intelligence, passion and life-energy. It’s other people that are difficult. There’s a reason that Jesus claimed that anyone can love their friends and family. What’s truly revolutionary is to actively love your enemies in a way that transforms us, them and the world.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"></span></div><a name='more'></a>Most people in our context commonly claim to be “spiritual but not religious”; to “not need a church community to be spiritual”. While the church can seem tired, boring and irreverent; it’s life in the community of church that reminds us what is hard, and actually quite impossible, about following Jesus: loving our neighbor as God first loves us. It’s easy to talk about love in platitudes, philosophical sound bytes or self-aggrandizing statements. It’s much more challenging to be confronted by the ways in which we need each other and struggle to get along.<o:p></o:p><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">Often we talk of loving our enemies in a way that diverts from the reality that we struggle to love those people that get under our skin, or those we think have too much power or influence in our community, or those that we envy in terms of their position, beauty or connections. The French Existentialist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Paul_Sartre">Jean-Paul Sartre</a> wrote a play entitled “<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Exit">No Exit</a>” (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Huis Clos</i> in French), which has the tag line: “Hell is the other.” Being in relationship, life in community, is both the sustenance that we need to survive and the thorn in our side that often brings us down.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">In the text today the disciples are irritated by another worker of great deeds, in this case exorcism. They’re jealous. He’s crowding in on their territory, using the authority that Jesus gave <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">to them</i>, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not him</i></b>. In 4 verses the phrase “in the name of Christ” is used three times. An expression that invokes authority transmitted to followers or partners, the disciples are irritated first that this guy is using a power that wasn’t given to him. He’s an outsider. Secondly they’re irritated that Jesus doesn’t seem upset. It’s as if Jesus thinks that those that invoke his power can’t slander his cause, and will inevitably be drawn into his movement of world transformation through love of neighbor. The disciples draw a line in the sand between us and them. Jesus doesn’t seem to see a division between insiders and outsiders.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">From verse 41 to 48 Jesus turns to speaking about the challenging of loving not those outside the community, or radically different than we are, but about those we walk with, know by name, share life with on a regular basis. We’re responsible for them. Our example – or testimony to use old school Christian talk – isn’t negligible even when we think we’re doing something small, trite and insignificant, like offering a glass of water to a thirsty traveler or friend: offering hospitality. What we say, do and embody; whether with our hand, food or eyes can either help or harm, build up or destroy, point to the truth of God or bend to the truth to serve our selfish interests. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Vkk9CbnJ2Ik/T5HJWkOWXgI/AAAAAAAAAtQ/3WZ-3p3Uo9w/s1600/no+salt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Vkk9CbnJ2Ik/T5HJWkOWXgI/AAAAAAAAAtQ/3WZ-3p3Uo9w/s200/no+salt.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">Salt is the dominate metpahor that Jesus uses to talk about the ways in which he invites us to love others: both those whom are outside the groups that we call community; and those that walk with us in that same community. Where we draw lines, Jesus brings together. Salt in the ancient world was the precious element that preserved food (no refrigerators during the Roman Empire); secondly, it penterated into whatever it came into contact with, entering into a sort of relationship; and three, like today, it brought our flavor transforming the bland into the extroardinary. Jesus talks of salt as a purifiying fire, a judgment, that God will hold us all accountable for the ways that we have loved – or haven’t – our neighbors. Jesus calls all those who follow him to live as salt, as pentetrating preservatives and flavorfull additives in our world; to relationally be people that are connected to others, seeking the welfare and the fulfillment of themselves and others, and to lift up and point to the extraordinary that is present in our world created by God, and in us – human beings – creatures created together in God’s image. Peace is some sort of liberation, which comes from such subversive community and transformative relationships. What’s curious is that salt can both perfect a meal, and destroy one if carelessly used.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">In the end I think that the gift of church, is that it’s a community of fellow travelers, collaborators in a relational laboratory trying, failing, tryng again, and learning to love each other – and to love our own selves – as God first loves us. Where do you point the finger at others who don’t seem to be with the program, or cause others to stumble either through your conscious choices or unconscious actions? Where do you need to be less like salt rubbed into a wound, and more like salt added to a perfectly cooked steak?<o:p></o:p></span></div>Montehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06730050375349279795noreply@blogger.com0