Monthly Archives: March 2019

Bold Action & Wild Patience

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Third Sunday in Lent, March 24, 2019

Exodus 3:1-15. I AM has sent me to you.
Psalm 63:1-8. Love, my Love, for You I search. My throat thirsts for You.
1 Corinthians 10:1-13. Flee from the worship of idols.
Luke 13:1-9. Do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem?

O God of our longing, grant us the strength, the wisdom and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may, and cost what it will.

When I encounter our three lessons and the Psalm appointed for today, the third Sunday in Lent, I find myself drawn to the story of Moses’ encounter with the Holy One – with the disclosure of the divine – the Great “I AM” and Moses’ response: “Here I am.” It’s a story that is always close at hand in my spiritual topography: the common bush burning up but not burning out; the name of Love that can be translated: “I AM BECOMING WHO I AM BECOMING” or “I WILL BE WHO I WILL BE” and the great call to free people from the oppressively narrow places of taskmasters (external and internal). I also want to say some things to you about the language of yearning in Psalm 63.

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Don’t leave here without love!

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Second Sunday in Lent, March 17, 2019

Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18 I am your shield.
Psalm 27 Be strong and of good courage. (Jewish Publication Society translation)
Philippians 3:17-4:1 He will transform the body of our humiliation.
Luke 13:31-35 How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings.

O God of our longing, grant us the strength, the wisdom and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may, and cost what it will.

At the beginning of the Ash Wednesday service, the presiding minister invites the congregation to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial, and by reading and meditating on God’s holy Word. The spiritual purpose is named in the beginning of our Eucharistic Prayer during Lent: to respond to the bidding of the Holy One to cleanse our hearts and prepare with joy for Easter, and to experience the fullness of grace prepared for those who walk in Love. In Lent, we are urged to prepare for Easter by focusing our attention on our hunger and thirst for right-relationship with one another and with God. According to the Bible, God is Love, and I find that saying Love (capital L) in place of the word God is a helpful Lenten discipline.

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Building up Belovedness

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First Sunday in Lent, March 10, 2019

Deuteronomy 26:1-11. You, together with the Levites and the aliens who reside among you, shall celebrate with all the bounty that the Lord your God has given to you.
Romans 10:8b-13. The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart.
Luke 4:1-13. It is written … it is written … it is said.

O God of our many songs: grant us the strength, the wisdom and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may and cost what it will.

Earlier in the week, when our Deacon Bob suggested that our Gospel lesson be read by both of us, to emphasize the dialog, I jumped at the chance to read (and embellish) the lines given to the devil because, in my experience, the voice of the devil always sounds reasonable, and I am nothing if not reasonable. You might know that the Greek word for devil, diabolos, or the Hebrew word, satan, can refer to anyone who brings charges or challenges against someone else. It’s the role of prosecutor. According to Luke, Jesus had just experienced at his baptism, a voice assuring him that he was the beloved child of the Holy One. Then, curiously, Luke adds Jesus’ 78 generation genealogy. It starts with: He was the son (as was thought) of Joseph son of Heli, son of Matthat, son of Levi…and so on, about 50 more generations through David, back to son of Judah, son of Jacob, son of Isaac, son of Abraham, son of Terah….and back 16 more generations to son of Seth, son of Adam, son of God. According to Luke, Jesus is (by adoption) “son of God” because he is a direct descendant of Adam, who was the son of God. The point is, Jesus has heard a voice from heaven saying, “You are my Son, the Beloved,” and Luke has listed Jesus’ lineage, back to son of Adam, son of God.
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Subversive Alleluias

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Last Sunday after the Epiphany,
March 3, 2019

Exodus 34:29-35. Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone.
2 Corinthians 3:12-4:12. Since it is by God’s mercy that we are engaged in this ministry we do not lose heart.
Luke 9:28-43a. And all were astounded by the greatness of God.

O God of glory, grant us the strength, the wisdom and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may, and cost what it will.

Those of you who have heard me preach before will know that my desire to preach against the ways that the Christian Church has promoted supersessionist theology (that is, the idea that Christianity supercedes Judaism) gets stronger every year. Supersessionism is very much like racism – it’s systemic, it’s oppressive, it’s insidious, it’s often internalized, unexamined, and always wrong. It distorts our vision and injures our souls.
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