Blogging Towards Sunday, January 29^th 

Mark 6:30-44

This pericope (section of the gospel) seems to be perfect for us as we gather today for worship and our shared ministry work of discernment, discipleship and rededication as a community of faith at our annual congregational meeting.  Mark tells this story in juxtaposition with the story of the horrific feast at which the 1% of ancient Palestine gorge themselves at the table of Herod Antipas and punctuate the debauchery with the beheading of John the Baptizer all for a king to avoid shame and his mistress to exact revenge on a too courageous prophet.  (Mark 6:14-29)

In the larger scheme of Mark’s retelling of the Jesus story, we see that these two contrasted stories about feasts follow Jesus sending out the twelve disciples to do ministry (Mark 6:6-13).  On one hand it’s remarkable that he would dare to do so: the disciples seem so clueless:  They were terrified by Jesus’ calming of the story (Mark 5:35-41).  They don’t seem to get the parables and basic teachings of Jesus about the Kingdom of God (Mark 4:10).  And yet on the other hand, Jesus has redefined family – the principal thing in terms of identity in the ancient world.  Family isn’t about your family name, your gender, your tribe; but rather it’s about who you follow and how you follow them in your life.  For Jesus, anyone who follows God, seeking to do God’s will in the world, is part of his family.  So in the end the disciples might not be 100% clear on what’s going on, but they get the big picture (even if not very clearly).  They too seek to know God, to follow God, and to do God’s will in the world.  Maybe we ourselves are not all that different than the disciples today?

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Blogging Towards Sunday, January 8^th 

Mark 6:14- 29

As I read this pericope (section of the gospel) it seems to be about authenticity and boldness.  How far are we called to go in standing for what we believe to be right?  How bold are we in proclaiming what we believe to be true, right, gospel-good-news?  Do we proclaim it with just words, or do we do so with all of our lives and livelihoods?  In a world that often is toxically tainted by hypocrisy, polished messages, photoshopped images and smooth talkers who promise everything, I’ve been told to not lose my head.  No one expects you to go that far in doing what you think, or what the Bible says.  And yet in a world that’s bankrupt of belief in promises made – whether that be by politicians, bankers, bosses, union leaders or clergy – aren’t we all looking for some sort of authenticity that’s organically earned by doing what is preached and promised?   In my life, I first had a transformational faith experience as an adolescent when I encountered and dialogued with people – principally adults who weren’t in my nuclear DNA based family – who actually did what they believed and what Jesus taught.  It was experiencing that radicalness that shaped and reshaped me.

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  Blogging Towards Sunday, January 8^th  

Mark 6:1-13

We return to the Gospel of Mark after a Christmas hiatus to a challenge of Jesus’ identity and legitimacy.  The texts begins with several linguistic cues that things are going to change. Whenever there is a geographical switch in the gospels, that’s to say a movement from one place to another, it’s not just topography that’s in view.

My Top 10 Reasons For Why I Love Oakland

Oakland is the infamous ugly step-sister city to the Cinderella post-card perfection of San Francisco.  Novella Carpeter, [her blog] one of the most recently famous Oaklanders because of her urban foodie efforts and recent book, coined this fairytalesque metaphor for my favorite city.  In 2011 the Town (as opposed to the “City” as we Nor Cal-ers call San Francisco) was made famous by the indecisiveness of our mayor Jean Quan and the destructive thuggery of our non-native majority occupiers confronted with violence by our friendly neighborhood police department.  While the Oakland all too often only gets a bad rap, it’s much like Brooklyn is to Manhattan: the place the Cultural Creatives, hipsters and Bobos call home while they do their thing.

  

10.  The YMCA

9.  The Weather

8.  The Views

7.  The Parks

6.  It’s a Foodie Shrine

5.  It’s an Urban Farming Mecca

4.  Failing Successful Public Education

3.  Urban Grit: Lake Merritt

2.  Urban Graffiti Art & Politics: Oaklandish & The Grand Lake Theater Marquee

1. The People

Monteskewed Moving Soon to a New Blog Site

I'm working on creating a new blog on a different url.  I'll be moving in the next few weeks.  As I'm working I'm imagining that I'll blog about the following things:

Oakland

Oakland Public Schools or Raising a child in a Public Urban School

Foodie Things

Urban Gardening

Blogging Towards Sunday through Scripture

Reflections on the Church in the 21st century

Bumperstickers

If you read the blog what do you like?  Is there something else that I should include, or maybe something I should eliminate?

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Blogging Towards Sunday, December 18^th

Mark 5:21-42 | Luke 1:26-38 | Luke 1:47-55

The Fourth Sunday of Advent:  
3 Women | Prince | God's Radical Love

Jesus and his friends return to Israel after their failed (or was it?) effort to proclaim the gospel good news on the other side of the Sea of Galilee (the Gentile Side, present day Syria and Jordan).  As he returns to his land, his people and his culture, he’s met with overwhelming needs, hopes and prayers.  Our Mark passage today focuses upon a chiastic story: a story (of the bleeding woman who comes to Jesus) sandwiched within another story (the dead girl, whose father comes to him for help).  This was a customary Jewish way of telling stories and writing, a lot like we look for a tight relationship between an introduction and a conclusion.  The contrast between these two women in need of healing and wholeness is also paralleled by the Lectionary texts in Luke 1 which lift up the story of Mary, another woman that God seeks out to involve in his company’s radical idea of a Christmas Party: a reversal of the way things are done in the world.  Today’s texts invite us to take a closer look at the world at Christmas:  God comes into the world not to condemn it, but to heal, liberate and transform it.  Are we then called to flee it, conform to it, or engage it?

What’s the rock star Prince got to do with it?

The 80s rock star Prince, often condemned for overtly sexual lyrics and actions, is commonly recognized as a musical composer, albeit in a different style than Bach or Mozart.  A song of his  “Let’s Get Crazy” lifts up the theme that I see underneath our three scriptures: the incarnation :: God’s radical commitment to our world.  Here are the beginning lyrics of that rock song:

 Blogging Towards Sunday, December 11^th

Mark 5:1-20 | Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11 | John 1:6-8, 19-28

The Third Sunday of Advent:  Deliverance

Jesus and his friends arrive on the other side (the Gentile Side, present day Syria and Jordan) of the Sea of Galilee after the rapidly arising storm in which the messianic power of Jesus is demonstrated to the disbelief of the disciples (Mark 4:35-41).  Arriving in a foreign land, Jesus is surprisingly accosted by a foreign occupying power.  The third Sunday of Advent is the “joy” Sunday, focusing on the joy of the reversal of the depressing and destructive power of evil in the world in the light of the birth of the Christ Child.  Yet is liberation always good news?  Does freedom always bring us joy?

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Blogging Towards Sunday, December 4^th

Mark 4:35-41 | Isaiah 40:1-11 | Mark 1:1-8

Today’s passage of Mark follows the Jesus’ teaching about how God works in the world with several parables. Beginning with the Sower and the Seed (Mark 4:1-20) the parables portray the mysterious aspect of the dominion of God which starts slow, unexpectedly in ways that we overlook as human beings, yet it grows – despite us – and emerges to completely transform the universe. Mark tells us that Jesus repeatedly told stories in parable form, untying the confusing knots that people seemed to have tied themselves up into as they sought to understand God.

Blogging Towards Sunday, November 27^th

Mark 4:21-34 | Isaiah 64:1-9 | Mark 13:24-37

Today’s passage of Mark continues the teaching of Jesus in parables. Undoubtedly, since Mark is a good writer, it is directly connected to the parable of the Sower and the Seed (Mark 4:1-20).  In that parable we learn of God’s abundant and amazing grace similar to seeds scattered on diverse and different types of soil.  God gives the gift of faith and then grows it as we respond.  We’re not just passive observers, but also actively involved.

lamps | measures | seeds oh my!

The first parable of the lamp and the bushel remind me of my childhood and the song we often sang in Sunday School, “hide it under a bushel? No!  I’m gonna let it shine!”  But that’s from Matthew 5.  It’s not what Jesus is talking about here.  What is Jesus talking about with the hidden and made manifest?  A light is meant to illuminate the room.  Why then do we need ears to hear?  Isn’t it obvious?  Not to me! 

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Questions for going deeper with the Scriptures for today, November 20^th

Mark 4:1-20

Today’s passage of Mark contains the first major teaching passage included in the gospel.  Several times Mark has emphasized Jesus’ teaching prowess and the way in which his teaching has an authority that many have never yet witnessed (examples include Mark 1:21-22; 1:39, 2:1-3).  Jesus tells a parable in response to the concluding verse (35) of chapter 3.  “Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”  So how do we know what’s God will is?

structure of the text – what’s in a parable?

The first teaching narrative is a parable.  It’s a Greek word that has taken on a new meaning because of the gospel and is used in most modern languages.  So what is a parable?

 Blogging Towards Sunday, November 13

Mark 3:20-35

Today’s passage of Mark begins following the description of the 12^th of the 12 disciples as the one who will betray Jesus (3.19) and then continues describing those who oppose Jesus who range from the Jerusalem scribes – or religious experts – to include even his own nuclear family.  What role does family play in our lives? How do we understand family today?

Occupy Oakland

There's been much brouhaha about Occupy Oakland for the past days, in particular since the police intervention last week and the general strike yesterday.  I am quite progressive and believe that the Occupy movement can bring about good for our society.  So either I'm objective or subjective, as we each can only start our thought process from our own individual point of view.  Today I've heard on the radio and read in media and notes that Oakland has sunk into violence and that the occupy movement is a shame and a sham.

I spent most of the afternoon yesterday in downtown Oakland at the occupy general strike headquarters with my 9 and 7 year old children.  We heard music and speakers.  We saw signs, posters, educational murals and a candle ridden station for peace.  We inhaled marijuana that was smoked by some.  We heard prayers offered at the inter-religious tent.  We saw babies in strollers and carriers on the parents' backs.  We saw grandparents with their grandchildren.  We saw school groups in matching t-shirts.  We saw teachers, urban professionals, homeless, students, diverse clergy and random working class folks all milling around together peacefully.  It seemed much more like a music festival or neighborhood festival than a riot or chaotic gathering of looters.  Never was I afraid - for myself or my children.

Blogging Towards Sunday, November 6^th     

Mark 3:7-19

Today’s passage of Mark tells of the increasing power of the ministry of Jesus and this of his choice to name a group of twelve disciples who will be his inner circle and constant companions. 

the spreading impact of jesus among the people | Mark 3:7-12

The people are overwhelmed with gratitude for Jesus.  His words, presence and healing actions seem to touch a need, to connect with a deep common longing for something unknown, promised and dreamed of.  Mark describes the crowd as if they are going to crush Jesus, as they press upon him and exert pressure upon him to respond to their needs and desires.   Interestingly enough the entire narrative is structured around the actions of Jesus.  He is not passive, but active, setting the tone, changing the conversation, challenging the status quo (v. 7, 9 12 are his actions which frame the story).

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Blogging Towards , Sunday, October 30^th    

Mark 2:23-3:6

How do you decide what is right?  How can we agree on what is morally and ethically good?  Isn't it just a question of subjective point of view and our own particular context at any given moment?  Today’s passage of Mark contains the last 2 conflicts in a series of encounters between Jesus and the Pharisees begun back in 2:13.  Both stories have obvious parallels and contrasts: they deal with the Sabbath and one concerns the actions of Jesus and one his disciples.  Both stories invite deeper reflection upon the meaning, purpose and scope of the Sabbath as a spiritual practice and religious law in light of Jesus’ comment in 2:22 “No!  One pours new wine into new wineskins.”