My friend and colleague Jim Somerville from First Baptist Richmond has inspired me to try to read the whole Bible in 2020.
Friends can follow along too. I’m posting a link to the daily reading assignments. The readings are ordered chronologically for the sake of context and clarity.
I plan to take my Daily Lessons from the prescribed readings. But then, if you’re actually reading the whole Bible yourself you may not want to read much else!
https://www.blueletterbible.org/assets/pdf/dbrp/1Yr_ChronologicalPlan.pdf
Tuesday, December 31, 2019
Sunday, December 29, 2019
A Prayer on the Day of the Slaughter of Holy Innocents
On a day when many churches read the story of the Slaughter of the Innocents and what Joseph did to protect his Holy Family from evil, yet another House of Worship was attacked in America, this time here in Tarrant County.
We pray for those who were murdered this morning in a holy place.
We pray and give thanks for those modern-day Josephs who quickly and bravely acted to stop the further shedding of innocent blood.
We pray for the families and friends of those who mourn the loss of loved ones tonight — including those left to mourn the life and death of the assailant.
We pray God will act to thwart the plans of madmen and deliver us all from evil.
Maranatha, LORD, hear our prayer.
We pray for those who were murdered this morning in a holy place.
We pray and give thanks for those modern-day Josephs who quickly and bravely acted to stop the further shedding of innocent blood.
We pray for the families and friends of those who mourn the loss of loved ones tonight — including those left to mourn the life and death of the assailant.
We pray God will act to thwart the plans of madmen and deliver us all from evil.
Maranatha, LORD, hear our prayer.
Saturday, December 28, 2019
The Darkness Did Not Out It
I wonder if it was the Star itself
That hid in the night’s sky when
The wise men rode their camels
Into Jerusalem asking everyone
Who would talk
Where they might find Him
Who was born king of the Jews
For heaven knows
No Herod can abide light
So the Light hid in darkness
And the darkness,
To its credit,
Did not out it
That hid in the night’s sky when
The wise men rode their camels
Into Jerusalem asking everyone
Who would talk
Where they might find Him
Who was born king of the Jews
For heaven knows
No Herod can abide light
So the Light hid in darkness
And the darkness,
To its credit,
Did not out it
Wednesday, December 25, 2019
Daily Lesson for Christmas Day, December 25, 2019
Today’s Daily Lesson for Christmas Day comes from the final stave of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol:
Yes! and the bedpost was his own. The bed was his own, the room was his own. Best and happiest of all, the Time before him was his own, to make amends in!
"I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future!" Scrooge repeated, as he scrambled out of bed. "The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. Oh Jacob Marley! Heaven, and the Christmas Time be praised for this. I say it on my knees, old Jacob, on my knees!"
He was so fluttered and so glowing with his good intentions, that his broken voice would scarcely answer to his call. He had been sobbing violently in his conflict with the Spirit, and his face was wet with tears.
Today is a day for glowing. It is a day for rejoicing, and giving thanks, and making amends, and truly being alive. It’s a day for charity. It’s a day for Justice. It’s a day for declaring intentions. We have made it once again. The darkest days of the year are behind us. The past is the past. The future is the future. But this one day of Christmas present is ours and ours to keep.
So let us commit ourselves to Love. To forgive. To seek forgiveness. To watch over widow and orphan and welcome the stranger. Let’s even pray for Scrooges. And, when necessary, let us trample on snakes — but only for the sake of the simple and vulnerable.
It’s Christmas. No more let sin and sorrow grow; nor thorns infest the ground.
It is Christmas. So let us keep it; and keep all the year long.
Yes! and the bedpost was his own. The bed was his own, the room was his own. Best and happiest of all, the Time before him was his own, to make amends in!
"I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future!" Scrooge repeated, as he scrambled out of bed. "The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. Oh Jacob Marley! Heaven, and the Christmas Time be praised for this. I say it on my knees, old Jacob, on my knees!"
He was so fluttered and so glowing with his good intentions, that his broken voice would scarcely answer to his call. He had been sobbing violently in his conflict with the Spirit, and his face was wet with tears.
Today is a day for glowing. It is a day for rejoicing, and giving thanks, and making amends, and truly being alive. It’s a day for charity. It’s a day for Justice. It’s a day for declaring intentions. We have made it once again. The darkest days of the year are behind us. The past is the past. The future is the future. But this one day of Christmas present is ours and ours to keep.
So let us commit ourselves to Love. To forgive. To seek forgiveness. To watch over widow and orphan and welcome the stranger. Let’s even pray for Scrooges. And, when necessary, let us trample on snakes — but only for the sake of the simple and vulnerable.
It’s Christmas. No more let sin and sorrow grow; nor thorns infest the ground.
It is Christmas. So let us keep it; and keep all the year long.
Tuesday, December 24, 2019
Daily Lesson for December 24, 2019
Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Luke chapter 2 verses 1 through 16:
In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register.
4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.
Behold the Mystery. Emmanuel. God came to be with us. And when God came God chose to show up amidst the poor and indigent of this earth, far from the throne of power.
And so there God was, in a weekly-rate motel rental, with hand-me-down clothes from the Methodist community closet, and the bathtub for a bassinet. Mary and Joseph thanked the heavens that the hotel heater worked, though it smelled like old dust and they worried for the baby’s fragile lungs. In the middle of the night cowboys coming home from Billy Bob’s knocked and giggled at the door wanting to get a look at the new baby. They were from Paducah and they brought beer. And cigars. When they saw the baby in the bathtub they sang Amazing Grace and then Robert Earl Keene’s Merry Christmas From the Family. During the Spanish parts they went cowboy operatic: “Feliiiizzz Naaavidaaaad.”
This was the scene. The low-brow, budget motel Mystery of Incarnation. It was. And it still is. And ever more shall be.
And may those who with eyes let them see . . .
In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register.
4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.
Behold the Mystery. Emmanuel. God came to be with us. And when God came God chose to show up amidst the poor and indigent of this earth, far from the throne of power.
And so there God was, in a weekly-rate motel rental, with hand-me-down clothes from the Methodist community closet, and the bathtub for a bassinet. Mary and Joseph thanked the heavens that the hotel heater worked, though it smelled like old dust and they worried for the baby’s fragile lungs. In the middle of the night cowboys coming home from Billy Bob’s knocked and giggled at the door wanting to get a look at the new baby. They were from Paducah and they brought beer. And cigars. When they saw the baby in the bathtub they sang Amazing Grace and then Robert Earl Keene’s Merry Christmas From the Family. During the Spanish parts they went cowboy operatic: “Feliiiizzz Naaavidaaaad.”
This was the scene. The low-brow, budget motel Mystery of Incarnation. It was. And it still is. And ever more shall be.
And may those who with eyes let them see . . .
Monday, December 23, 2019
Daily Lesson for December 23, 2019
Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Luke chapter 1 verses 26 through 38:
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.”
38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
In yesterday’s sermon I reflected on the Annunciation and its relation to women in ministry. The story, I tried to say, is quite clear that there are certain things conceived in women which men cannot claim to have put there nor should they prohibit.
The Annunciation is the good news the angel brings to Mary of the LORD’s intention to do something wonderful in and through her. “It is the gift of God,” as Paul says, “so that no man can boast.”
What God wishes to place in the wombs of our bodies, and minds, and spirits is gift. And if we say, “Yes,” it gestates and grows, first hidden in darkness, then later bursting to be born. Finally it breaks forth, born of water and spirit, still needing to be nurtured and fed and loved for the gift it is.
It comes naked, vulnerable, in dire need of protection. For Herod is out there somewhere. So too is somebody who will want to quench this tiny, flickering wick with words of scorn.
So we hold it. We swaddle it. We run with it all the way to Egypt if we have to. Because the angel said this is the Holy Spirit’s baby; and its ours to keep . . .
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.”
38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
In yesterday’s sermon I reflected on the Annunciation and its relation to women in ministry. The story, I tried to say, is quite clear that there are certain things conceived in women which men cannot claim to have put there nor should they prohibit.
The Annunciation is the good news the angel brings to Mary of the LORD’s intention to do something wonderful in and through her. “It is the gift of God,” as Paul says, “so that no man can boast.”
What God wishes to place in the wombs of our bodies, and minds, and spirits is gift. And if we say, “Yes,” it gestates and grows, first hidden in darkness, then later bursting to be born. Finally it breaks forth, born of water and spirit, still needing to be nurtured and fed and loved for the gift it is.
It comes naked, vulnerable, in dire need of protection. For Herod is out there somewhere. So too is somebody who will want to quench this tiny, flickering wick with words of scorn.
So we hold it. We swaddle it. We run with it all the way to Egypt if we have to. Because the angel said this is the Holy Spirit’s baby; and its ours to keep . . .
Friday, December 20, 2019
Daily Lesson for December 20, 2019
Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Luke chapter 1 verses 57-63:
57 When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. 58 Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.
59 On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, 60 but his mother spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.”
61 They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who has that name.”
62 Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. 63 He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, “His name is John.”
“So that’s how it is in their family.”
That’s what the neighbors must have thought when they heard Zechariah confirm Elizabeth in the naming of their child John.
And why did it have to be mansplained like that, anyways?
Because in that world — as is too often the case in our own — the people wouldn’t believe the woman.
But — regardless of what the neighbors thought — the baby’s name was John; and Elizabeth was the one who gave it.
And so, with the coming of this child a new age was being ushered in. No longer would custom dictate. The settled order of things would be disrupted. The established would be disestablished, the mountains leveled, the valleys raised, and the women would speak . . . and be heard.
57 When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. 58 Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.
59 On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, 60 but his mother spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.”
61 They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who has that name.”
62 Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. 63 He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, “His name is John.”
“So that’s how it is in their family.”
That’s what the neighbors must have thought when they heard Zechariah confirm Elizabeth in the naming of their child John.
And why did it have to be mansplained like that, anyways?
Because in that world — as is too often the case in our own — the people wouldn’t believe the woman.
But — regardless of what the neighbors thought — the baby’s name was John; and Elizabeth was the one who gave it.
And so, with the coming of this child a new age was being ushered in. No longer would custom dictate. The settled order of things would be disrupted. The established would be disestablished, the mountains leveled, the valleys raised, and the women would speak . . . and be heard.
Thursday, December 19, 2019
Daily Lesson for December 19, 2019
A Prayer for Our Nation:
God of Justice and Light,
We pray today for the future of our country and its government.
We seek your wisdom for our leaders in these troubling times. We ask that you would light the torch of truth and open the blind eyes of Justice.
As we move forward towards a trial of Impeachment, we ask your grace over all people.
We pray for the President.
We pray for the Senate.
We pray for the Chief Justice.
Before you all hearts and deeds are known. Grant to our senators the conscience to truly weigh the evidence set before them, and the courage to judge and vote without prejudice of party as is required by the oath and duties of their office.
And we pray also for our republic and its citizenry. Guide us as a Nation, LORD. Protect us as a people. May the more perfect Union continue to be formed, Justice established, domestic tranquility assured, and the blessings of liberty and biddings of justice for all — both high and low — be assured.
In the name of God, the Almighty Sovereign over all. Amen.
God of Justice and Light,
We pray today for the future of our country and its government.
We seek your wisdom for our leaders in these troubling times. We ask that you would light the torch of truth and open the blind eyes of Justice.
As we move forward towards a trial of Impeachment, we ask your grace over all people.
We pray for the President.
We pray for the Senate.
We pray for the Chief Justice.
Before you all hearts and deeds are known. Grant to our senators the conscience to truly weigh the evidence set before them, and the courage to judge and vote without prejudice of party as is required by the oath and duties of their office.
And we pray also for our republic and its citizenry. Guide us as a Nation, LORD. Protect us as a people. May the more perfect Union continue to be formed, Justice established, domestic tranquility assured, and the blessings of liberty and biddings of justice for all — both high and low — be assured.
In the name of God, the Almighty Sovereign over all. Amen.
Wednesday, December 18, 2019
Daily Lesson for December 18, 2019
Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Luke chapter 1 verses 39 through 45:
39 In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, 40 where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit 42 and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 43 And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? 44 For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”
What a great gift a Joyful spirit is.
Joy is not jealous or envious. It delights in the Joy and graces of others. Joy is the gift of God inside us that leaps for Joy at the gifts of God in others.
Joy is the grace we are given to rise up and call others blessed, especially when — like Mary — they are young and scared and feel judged by everyone else in the world.
‘Tis the season for Joy. ‘Tis the season for delighting in the gifts and graces of others. And ‘tis the season for speaking words of blessing and encouragement to those who may need a little help finding and embracing their own Joy within.
Elizabeth did all these things in today’s Lesson. And the next verse says, “Mary sang.”
And I bet Elizabeth sang with her . . .
39 In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, 40 where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit 42 and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 43 And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? 44 For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”
What a great gift a Joyful spirit is.
Joy is not jealous or envious. It delights in the Joy and graces of others. Joy is the gift of God inside us that leaps for Joy at the gifts of God in others.
Joy is the grace we are given to rise up and call others blessed, especially when — like Mary — they are young and scared and feel judged by everyone else in the world.
‘Tis the season for Joy. ‘Tis the season for delighting in the gifts and graces of others. And ‘tis the season for speaking words of blessing and encouragement to those who may need a little help finding and embracing their own Joy within.
Elizabeth did all these things in today’s Lesson. And the next verse says, “Mary sang.”
And I bet Elizabeth sang with her . . .
Tuesday, December 17, 2019
Daily Lesson for December 17, 2019
Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Luke chapter 1 verses 26 through 35:
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.
In his poem “For the Time Being: A Christmas Oratorio” W.H. Auden has some brilliant phrasing:
“How could the Eternal do a temporal act,
The Infinite become a finite fact?
Nothing can save us that is possible . . .”
Nothing can save us that is possible. What a powerful statement.
The Annunciation is God’s good news of deliverance. The eternal became temporal and the infinite finite. Something beyond possible had to save us because we could not save ourselves.
This is a cardinal doctrine, meaning it cannot be proven. It comes to us as it came to Mary — given by grace, received through faith, and born in hope. It is a miracle, coming from the Latin word “mirus”, meaning wonderful.
Nothing is too wonderful for God, or too impossible. And when the days are dark, and it seems that there is nothing new under the sun and no future beyond it, suddenly there is a surprise knock at the door and the greeting of an angel with glad tidings of Joy, and wonder, and the good news of what God will do which we could never do ourselves.
“And, behold, a virgin shall conceive . . .”
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.
In his poem “For the Time Being: A Christmas Oratorio” W.H. Auden has some brilliant phrasing:
“How could the Eternal do a temporal act,
The Infinite become a finite fact?
Nothing can save us that is possible . . .”
Nothing can save us that is possible. What a powerful statement.
The Annunciation is God’s good news of deliverance. The eternal became temporal and the infinite finite. Something beyond possible had to save us because we could not save ourselves.
This is a cardinal doctrine, meaning it cannot be proven. It comes to us as it came to Mary — given by grace, received through faith, and born in hope. It is a miracle, coming from the Latin word “mirus”, meaning wonderful.
Nothing is too wonderful for God, or too impossible. And when the days are dark, and it seems that there is nothing new under the sun and no future beyond it, suddenly there is a surprise knock at the door and the greeting of an angel with glad tidings of Joy, and wonder, and the good news of what God will do which we could never do ourselves.
“And, behold, a virgin shall conceive . . .”
Monday, December 16, 2019
Daily Lesson for December 16, 2019
Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Luke chapter 1 verses 5 through 19:
5 In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. 6 Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. 7 But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old.
8 Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, 9 he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.
11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. 13 But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. 14 He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, 15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. 16 He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
18 Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”
19 The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. 20 And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”
This time of year we think so much on the Holy Family and plan all kinds of events at church to touch children and youth and their mostly-young families. But in all our focus on Jesus, Mary, and Joseph and all the families which could play them in the Live Nativity, we too-often forget the Advent began not with a young family, but with an old.
Zechariah and Elizabeth were aged people. They had no children; and they thought their child-rearing days were long past. So what a surprise when Gabriel the angel came to them with good news of a child came to them. Surprise is an understatement. Shock really. As one old woman in a senior living center up in New York said when a friend of mine preached this story in their chapel, “Yeah, sure; try telling THAT to Medicare.”
The Advent comes. And it comes with surprising news not only for the young, but also for the old. Just like the surprise Abraham and Sarah, and Hannah and Elkana received when they got word of their own child to be born after their long years of waiting, Zechariah and Elizabeth now receive surprising news of a child to be born in their old age also.
Advent is not just for the young. It’s also for the old. It’s for those who have given up. It’s for those who think their best days have passed them by.
New things can come! Old bodies can be made useful again! The closed future can be opened! Surprises can happen!
No matter what Medicare thinks . . .
5 In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. 6 Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. 7 But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old.
8 Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, 9 he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.
11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. 13 But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. 14 He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, 15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. 16 He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
18 Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”
19 The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. 20 And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”
This time of year we think so much on the Holy Family and plan all kinds of events at church to touch children and youth and their mostly-young families. But in all our focus on Jesus, Mary, and Joseph and all the families which could play them in the Live Nativity, we too-often forget the Advent began not with a young family, but with an old.
Zechariah and Elizabeth were aged people. They had no children; and they thought their child-rearing days were long past. So what a surprise when Gabriel the angel came to them with good news of a child came to them. Surprise is an understatement. Shock really. As one old woman in a senior living center up in New York said when a friend of mine preached this story in their chapel, “Yeah, sure; try telling THAT to Medicare.”
The Advent comes. And it comes with surprising news not only for the young, but also for the old. Just like the surprise Abraham and Sarah, and Hannah and Elkana received when they got word of their own child to be born after their long years of waiting, Zechariah and Elizabeth now receive surprising news of a child to be born in their old age also.
Advent is not just for the young. It’s also for the old. It’s for those who have given up. It’s for those who think their best days have passed them by.
New things can come! Old bodies can be made useful again! The closed future can be opened! Surprises can happen!
No matter what Medicare thinks . . .
Friday, December 13, 2019
Daily Lesson for December 13, 2019
Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Luke chapter 1 verses 26 through 38:
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.”
38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
In ancient Christian theology, Mary was called the “theotokos” — Greek for the “the God bearer”. Mary said yes to the angel’s message and so she bore God into the world.
We are all in a sense “theotokoi” — God bearers. Some messenger — whether angelic or human or simply the stirrings within our own soul — speaks to us and then suddenly we find our lives and bodies have been given to some call or mission or job which brings forth God into the world.
We say with Mary, “I am the Lord’s servant. May your word to me be fulfilled.” And then suddenly we find ourselves pregnant and readying to give birth to God and the things of God in this world.
Conception is our stunned and fearful, yet also joyous, “Yes.” Gestation is our growth in and by the spirit. The womb is our own soul. And the birth is our Godly gift to the world.
And, so we say, “Let this little child come in . . .”
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.”
38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
In ancient Christian theology, Mary was called the “theotokos” — Greek for the “the God bearer”. Mary said yes to the angel’s message and so she bore God into the world.
We are all in a sense “theotokoi” — God bearers. Some messenger — whether angelic or human or simply the stirrings within our own soul — speaks to us and then suddenly we find our lives and bodies have been given to some call or mission or job which brings forth God into the world.
We say with Mary, “I am the Lord’s servant. May your word to me be fulfilled.” And then suddenly we find ourselves pregnant and readying to give birth to God and the things of God in this world.
Conception is our stunned and fearful, yet also joyous, “Yes.” Gestation is our growth in and by the spirit. The womb is our own soul. And the birth is our Godly gift to the world.
And, so we say, “Let this little child come in . . .”
Thursday, December 12, 2019
Daily Lesson for December 12, 2019
Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Matthew chapter 2 verses 13 through 15:
13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”
14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”
Every Sunday of Advent the lights in the sanctuary dim and and a single candle is brought forth into the darkened space. Then a strong and consulate voice is heard:
“O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear . . .”
The Advent season is a time of waiting. The captives wait in darkness, in exile, in Egypt. They mourn. They grieve. They suffer. They pine. They endure.
And then a light appears — a star in the sky, a burning bush in the desert, a proclamation of emancipation from someone somewhere that says, “Arise, shine, your light has come.” And suddenly the exile turns to exodus. And mourning to laughter. And the long, midnight of hell to the hard, yet joyous road to starting again . . .
13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”
14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”
Every Sunday of Advent the lights in the sanctuary dim and and a single candle is brought forth into the darkened space. Then a strong and consulate voice is heard:
“O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear . . .”
The Advent season is a time of waiting. The captives wait in darkness, in exile, in Egypt. They mourn. They grieve. They suffer. They pine. They endure.
And then a light appears — a star in the sky, a burning bush in the desert, a proclamation of emancipation from someone somewhere that says, “Arise, shine, your light has come.” And suddenly the exile turns to exodus. And mourning to laughter. And the long, midnight of hell to the hard, yet joyous road to starting again . . .
Wednesday, December 11, 2019
Daily Lesson for December 11, 2019
Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Matthew chapter 2 verses 16 through 18:
16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. 17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
18
“A voice is heard in Ramah,
weeping and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more.”
Sorrow, anger
A madness of inconsolable grief
Gathering like lightning
Rachel is weeping
Rachel is raging
She feels like her guts
Have been torn
From her womb
And her breath
A fire
She can neither catch
Nor control
Do not touch her
Do not even go near her
Do not say, “There were mistakes.”
Or, “God has a plan.”
Or, “God needed another angel.”
Who’s God?
We can say, “Sorry.”
Sorry is a drop in the ocean of sorrow
But we can say it
And we can say her children’s names
We must say Rachel and her children’s names
And not forget them
16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. 17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
18
“A voice is heard in Ramah,
weeping and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more.”
Sorrow, anger
A madness of inconsolable grief
Gathering like lightning
Rachel is weeping
Rachel is raging
She feels like her guts
Have been torn
From her womb
And her breath
A fire
She can neither catch
Nor control
Do not touch her
Do not even go near her
Do not say, “There were mistakes.”
Or, “God has a plan.”
Or, “God needed another angel.”
Who’s God?
We can say, “Sorry.”
Sorry is a drop in the ocean of sorrow
But we can say it
And we can say her children’s names
We must say Rachel and her children’s names
And not forget them
Tuesday, December 10, 2019
Daily Lesson for December 10, 2019
Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Matthew 2 verses 13 through 18:
13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”
14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”
16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. 17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
18
“A voice is heard in Ramah,
weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more.”
I don’t know which article of faith is more scandalous, that Jesus was God or that He was a refugee.
According to Christian tradition Jesus was God, and he was a refugee, and therefore if you wanted to find God you had to look amongst the refugees.
This is still true today. If we want to find the Son of Man then we will find him among the refugees. “And I was a stranger and you welcomed me . . .”
This should upend all our judgments and all our suspicions when it comes to refugees. Brutal regimes come to power. They terrorize their own people. The only choice is escape or be killed. Jesus’ family chose to flee. And so when it comes to our response to refugees, it should worry us, absolutely haunt us — not that we might be letting in criminals in — but that we might be keeping Jesus and his family out.
13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”
14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”
16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. 17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
18
“A voice is heard in Ramah,
weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more.”
I don’t know which article of faith is more scandalous, that Jesus was God or that He was a refugee.
According to Christian tradition Jesus was God, and he was a refugee, and therefore if you wanted to find God you had to look amongst the refugees.
This is still true today. If we want to find the Son of Man then we will find him among the refugees. “And I was a stranger and you welcomed me . . .”
This should upend all our judgments and all our suspicions when it comes to refugees. Brutal regimes come to power. They terrorize their own people. The only choice is escape or be killed. Jesus’ family chose to flee. And so when it comes to our response to refugees, it should worry us, absolutely haunt us — not that we might be letting in criminals in — but that we might be keeping Jesus and his family out.
Monday, December 9, 2019
Daily Lesson for December 9, 2019
Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Matthew 2 verses 9 through 12:
9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
In the book of Matthew Jesus is the new Moses. And just like at the birth of Moses, when Pharaoh tried to kill all the infant boys immediately after their birth, so too does Herod try to kill Jesus at his.
But in both stories, these great leaders lives are spared by the refusal of some to follow orders. Shiprah and Puah were the midwives who refused to kill Moses at his birth as they were directed by Pharaoh. And here in today’s Lesson the Magi refuse to tell Herod where they’ve found Jesus, and this ultimately spares Jesus from murder.
These were courageous people. The world needs more like them. The world needs more courageous people who refuse to participate in or go along with acts of oppression and cruelty towards children — even if that means disobeying and even openly defying Pharaoh.
9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
In the book of Matthew Jesus is the new Moses. And just like at the birth of Moses, when Pharaoh tried to kill all the infant boys immediately after their birth, so too does Herod try to kill Jesus at his.
But in both stories, these great leaders lives are spared by the refusal of some to follow orders. Shiprah and Puah were the midwives who refused to kill Moses at his birth as they were directed by Pharaoh. And here in today’s Lesson the Magi refuse to tell Herod where they’ve found Jesus, and this ultimately spares Jesus from murder.
These were courageous people. The world needs more like them. The world needs more courageous people who refuse to participate in or go along with acts of oppression and cruelty towards children — even if that means disobeying and even openly defying Pharaoh.
Friday, December 6, 2019
Daily Lesson for December 6, 2019
Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Matthew chapter 2 verses 1 through 6:
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea,during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’”
“Mirror, mirror on the wall . . .”
These are famous words of the Wicked Queen in the Snow White story as she daily inquired who was “the fairest of them all”. And the Queen was absolutely violently evil when she learned that she was not the fairest.
Today’s Daily Lesson is that moment for King Herod, as he learned of some other king of the Jews besides himself. And the Scriptures were his mirror of truth.
But it was not only the Scriptures themselves, but also its interpreters who dared to tell the truth. And it’s stunning that they did so.
These Priests and teachers were not corrupted. They were not his “spiritual advisors” or “faith cabinet” or his anything. The Scriptures say they were Priests and teachers OF THE PEOPLE. They were Priests and teachers of the law FOR THE PEOPLE. They did not work for Herod. Nor had they sold their souls to him. And when he asked, they did not tell him what his itching ears wanted to hear. They told him the truth.
Would that we had more like them today.
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea,during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’”
“Mirror, mirror on the wall . . .”
These are famous words of the Wicked Queen in the Snow White story as she daily inquired who was “the fairest of them all”. And the Queen was absolutely violently evil when she learned that she was not the fairest.
Today’s Daily Lesson is that moment for King Herod, as he learned of some other king of the Jews besides himself. And the Scriptures were his mirror of truth.
But it was not only the Scriptures themselves, but also its interpreters who dared to tell the truth. And it’s stunning that they did so.
These Priests and teachers were not corrupted. They were not his “spiritual advisors” or “faith cabinet” or his anything. The Scriptures say they were Priests and teachers OF THE PEOPLE. They were Priests and teachers of the law FOR THE PEOPLE. They did not work for Herod. Nor had they sold their souls to him. And when he asked, they did not tell him what his itching ears wanted to hear. They told him the truth.
Would that we had more like them today.
Thursday, December 5, 2019
Daily Lesson for December 5, 2019
Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Matthew chapter 2 verses 1-2, and 9-12.
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
The Magi had lost site of their star. For some reason, unbeknownst to them or to us, the star which they had seen at its first rising was lost to them.
And now they were in the dark.
Or perhaps they were too much in the light. It’s hard to see the stars in the City at night. Perhaps that was their problem, they were looking for the newborn King in the City of Jerusalem, while he was born out in the country, in the little village of Bethlehem. In any case, they had lost their star. And a long, long way from home, they didn’t know where to go next.
So they turned in to ask for direction. (Proof, a friend of man says, that at least one of them was a woman, because if it had been all men they would still be out their wondering around in the desert, too proud to stop and ask for help.)
And then the spiritual guides gave them direction, coming from the Scriptures:
“‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’”
And so, they set out again, Westward still just a short distance more, towards Bethlehem only 7 miles away.
“And the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them . . .”
Some lessons from this story: We all at times get lost, both literally and spiritually. We all at some point need help finding our way again, because we’ve lost our star. In those times, we need to stop and ask for help. Sometimes the answers really are right there in the Bible, and sort of leap off the page when we find them. And sometimes, we’re a whole lot closer to what we’re looking for than we think or fear, if we will dare to just keep going and searching . . .
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
The Magi had lost site of their star. For some reason, unbeknownst to them or to us, the star which they had seen at its first rising was lost to them.
And now they were in the dark.
Or perhaps they were too much in the light. It’s hard to see the stars in the City at night. Perhaps that was their problem, they were looking for the newborn King in the City of Jerusalem, while he was born out in the country, in the little village of Bethlehem. In any case, they had lost their star. And a long, long way from home, they didn’t know where to go next.
So they turned in to ask for direction. (Proof, a friend of man says, that at least one of them was a woman, because if it had been all men they would still be out their wondering around in the desert, too proud to stop and ask for help.)
And then the spiritual guides gave them direction, coming from the Scriptures:
“‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’”
And so, they set out again, Westward still just a short distance more, towards Bethlehem only 7 miles away.
“And the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them . . .”
Some lessons from this story: We all at times get lost, both literally and spiritually. We all at some point need help finding our way again, because we’ve lost our star. In those times, we need to stop and ask for help. Sometimes the answers really are right there in the Bible, and sort of leap off the page when we find them. And sometimes, we’re a whole lot closer to what we’re looking for than we think or fear, if we will dare to just keep going and searching . . .
Wednesday, December 4, 2019
Daily Lesson for December 4, 2019
Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Matthew chapter 2 verses 1 through 3:
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.
All our Nativities are out now. The cattle are lowing, the angels descending, and the shepherds quaking, but I will bet there’s one person in the story who’s not in your Nativity this year: Herod.
For good reason. Herod was a vile and pernicious ruler. A scoundrel and an hedonist, out of lust and the will to political power he had 10 wives, murdered one, and also murdered three of his own sons. This fact led a tour guide I once had in Israel to understatedly say, “He wasn’t exactly a good, family man.” No he was not.
But he did have the economy booming. He ruled with an iron fist, kept the so-called Pax Romana, pretty-much ended war, and re-built and built and built the Temple, and, in the eyes of the people, and with Rome’s backing, was restoring Jerusalem to all its former glory.
And so when Herod heard of these wise men coming from the East, asking about a rising King of the Jews, he was afraid, and all Jerusalem with him. Herod was afraid, and so the people — priests, and scribes, and soldiers, and merchants, and traders, and mothers, and fathers, and farmers and seamen— were afraid also. They were afraid, not because they necessarily liked Herod or even believed that he was really their “King” (a title given to him by Rome and not the Jewish people themselves) but for the very same reasons he was — because maybe this so-called new “king” might come along and disturb the peace, and ruin the good thing they had going.
This Lesson today tells us maybe we ought to put Herod into our Nativities. Because he was there. And, maddeningly, all the people were with him.
May those with ears to hear let them understand.
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.
All our Nativities are out now. The cattle are lowing, the angels descending, and the shepherds quaking, but I will bet there’s one person in the story who’s not in your Nativity this year: Herod.
For good reason. Herod was a vile and pernicious ruler. A scoundrel and an hedonist, out of lust and the will to political power he had 10 wives, murdered one, and also murdered three of his own sons. This fact led a tour guide I once had in Israel to understatedly say, “He wasn’t exactly a good, family man.” No he was not.
But he did have the economy booming. He ruled with an iron fist, kept the so-called Pax Romana, pretty-much ended war, and re-built and built and built the Temple, and, in the eyes of the people, and with Rome’s backing, was restoring Jerusalem to all its former glory.
And so when Herod heard of these wise men coming from the East, asking about a rising King of the Jews, he was afraid, and all Jerusalem with him. Herod was afraid, and so the people — priests, and scribes, and soldiers, and merchants, and traders, and mothers, and fathers, and farmers and seamen— were afraid also. They were afraid, not because they necessarily liked Herod or even believed that he was really their “King” (a title given to him by Rome and not the Jewish people themselves) but for the very same reasons he was — because maybe this so-called new “king” might come along and disturb the peace, and ruin the good thing they had going.
This Lesson today tells us maybe we ought to put Herod into our Nativities. Because he was there. And, maddeningly, all the people were with him.
May those with ears to hear let them understand.
Tuesday, December 3, 2019
Daily Lesson for December 3, 2019
Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Matthew chapter 1 verses 18 through 20:
18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
“Joseph was a righteous man”. That’s how the New International Version phrases it in verse 19 of today’s Lesson. Joseph was a righteous and decent man, and there was probably no more righteous man than Joseph in all the earth. He was meek, and gentle, and true as steel.
Joseph was all these things — full of virtue — and yet, he was still going to divorce Mary. And Joseph would have divorced Mary, and been perfectly justified by the Law and by everyone else in leaving her and her baby behind, had not the angel miraculously intervened.
Joseph’s story should serve as a warning to us all about the limits of our own virtues. And it should serve as a warning about the limits of the Law. Law and virtue are fine things; but they would have ended in Mary’s dismissal. Joseph would have been esteemed for his decency and even mercy in having not called for Mary’s stoning, yet the mother would still have been dismissed, and the child, who knows.
And that is what makes Joseph’s story so remarkable — that what truly made him righteous was the fact that in the end he trusted not in his own righteousness, nor in the righteousness of the Law, but trusted rather in the Revelation of the Gospel, spoken through words of the angel, by the power of the Holy Spirit.
“Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife,” the angel said. And Joseph heard the inner voice, and believed it to be the word of God’s and so he said, “Yes.”
“And it was credited to him as righteousness,” (Genesis 15:6).
18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
“Joseph was a righteous man”. That’s how the New International Version phrases it in verse 19 of today’s Lesson. Joseph was a righteous and decent man, and there was probably no more righteous man than Joseph in all the earth. He was meek, and gentle, and true as steel.
Joseph was all these things — full of virtue — and yet, he was still going to divorce Mary. And Joseph would have divorced Mary, and been perfectly justified by the Law and by everyone else in leaving her and her baby behind, had not the angel miraculously intervened.
Joseph’s story should serve as a warning to us all about the limits of our own virtues. And it should serve as a warning about the limits of the Law. Law and virtue are fine things; but they would have ended in Mary’s dismissal. Joseph would have been esteemed for his decency and even mercy in having not called for Mary’s stoning, yet the mother would still have been dismissed, and the child, who knows.
And that is what makes Joseph’s story so remarkable — that what truly made him righteous was the fact that in the end he trusted not in his own righteousness, nor in the righteousness of the Law, but trusted rather in the Revelation of the Gospel, spoken through words of the angel, by the power of the Holy Spirit.
“Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife,” the angel said. And Joseph heard the inner voice, and believed it to be the word of God’s and so he said, “Yes.”
“And it was credited to him as righteousness,” (Genesis 15:6).
Monday, December 2, 2019
World AIDS Day
It was an honor to observe World AIDS Day by taking part in a service of remembrance at Celebration Community Church this evening.
Thank you to Jorene Taylor Swift and the Celebration Community for its courageous your o going and courageous witness.
And thank you to Jane Rogers for reminding us of the roles strong advocacy and activism played in getting the resources needed for breakthrough research and treatment.
Friends, HIV/AIDS patients continue to need our voices to assure access to affordable medication for all and to one day, hopefully, find a cure for this disease. This is one small way we show repentance for the sins of our society’s silence, negligence, and contempt. Another way is by raising our voices in support of the full rights and inclusion of LGBTQ persons in our country and world.
As we go forth committed to the works of mercy and justice, may the words of the Departing Prayer I was asked to lead serve as our guide:
“O God of love, whose mercy has always included those whom we have forgotten, bless, we ask, all who are afflicted with AIDS. Comfort them, sustain them by your Holy Spirit, that they may engage in life with the joy that is their birthright.
“Holy One, open our hearts to provide for their needs, to share their journey, to love them with our whole hearts. Bless those who mourn the death of their loved ones. May they know your comfort and the blessings of community as they grieve.
We pray in your many names. Amen.”
Thank you to Jorene Taylor Swift and the Celebration Community for its courageous your o going and courageous witness.
And thank you to Jane Rogers for reminding us of the roles strong advocacy and activism played in getting the resources needed for breakthrough research and treatment.
Friends, HIV/AIDS patients continue to need our voices to assure access to affordable medication for all and to one day, hopefully, find a cure for this disease. This is one small way we show repentance for the sins of our society’s silence, negligence, and contempt. Another way is by raising our voices in support of the full rights and inclusion of LGBTQ persons in our country and world.
As we go forth committed to the works of mercy and justice, may the words of the Departing Prayer I was asked to lead serve as our guide:
“O God of love, whose mercy has always included those whom we have forgotten, bless, we ask, all who are afflicted with AIDS. Comfort them, sustain them by your Holy Spirit, that they may engage in life with the joy that is their birthright.
“Holy One, open our hearts to provide for their needs, to share their journey, to love them with our whole hearts. Bless those who mourn the death of their loved ones. May they know your comfort and the blessings of community as they grieve.
We pray in your many names. Amen.”
Daily Lesson for December 2, 2019
Today’s Daily a lesson comes from Matthew chapter 1 verses 1 through 16:
This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham:
2 Abraham was the father of Isaac,
Isaac the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
3 Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,
Perez the father of Hezron,
Hezron the father of Ram,
4 Ram the father of Amminadab,
Amminadab the father of Nahshon,
Nahshon the father of Salmon,
5 Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,
Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,
Obed the father of Jesse,
6 and Jesse the father of King David.
David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,
7 Solomon the father of Rehoboam,
Rehoboam the father of Abijah,
Abijah the father of Asa,
8 Asa the father of Jehoshaphat,
Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram,
Jehoram the father of Uzziah,
9 Uzziah the father of Jotham,
Jotham the father of Ahaz,
Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,
10 Hezekiah the father of Manasseh,
Manasseh the father of Amon,
Amon the father of Josiah,
11 and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.
12 After the exile to Babylon:
Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel,
Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,
13 Zerubbabel the father of Abihud,
Abihud the father of Eliakim,
Eliakim the father of Azor,
14 Azor the father of Zadok,
Zadok the father of Akim,
Akim the father of Elihud,
15 Elihud the father of Eleazar,
Eleazar the father of Matthan,
Matthan the father of Jacob,
16 and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.
This morning we are given the genealogy of Jesus. Like most young people I used to think genealogies were boring and of little value, but like a lot of people when they old, I’m suddenly into them and what they might tell us.
One thing Jesus’ genealogy tells us is that he didn’t come from the purest of Israelite stock. Yes, he had royal ancestry, but he also had slaves, swindlers, foreigners, a prostitute a woman faked being a prostitute so she could conceive a child with her father-in-law (you read that right), and a ruler whose youthful arrogance was the downfall of the entire kingdom of Israel.
Not exactly a spotless pedigree.
But the genealogy reminds us that God has been working out God’s purposes since the beginning of time, sustaining each successive generation through trial and tribulation.
God is the God of all in our genealogies — even the mean and rascally ones. As we say in West Texas, “It ain’t always been pretty”; but it’s been true. And even more so, God has been true. And, somehow, we’ve made it this far.
Thanks be to God.
This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham:
2 Abraham was the father of Isaac,
Isaac the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
3 Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,
Perez the father of Hezron,
Hezron the father of Ram,
4 Ram the father of Amminadab,
Amminadab the father of Nahshon,
Nahshon the father of Salmon,
5 Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,
Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,
Obed the father of Jesse,
6 and Jesse the father of King David.
David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,
7 Solomon the father of Rehoboam,
Rehoboam the father of Abijah,
Abijah the father of Asa,
8 Asa the father of Jehoshaphat,
Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram,
Jehoram the father of Uzziah,
9 Uzziah the father of Jotham,
Jotham the father of Ahaz,
Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,
10 Hezekiah the father of Manasseh,
Manasseh the father of Amon,
Amon the father of Josiah,
11 and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.
12 After the exile to Babylon:
Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel,
Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,
13 Zerubbabel the father of Abihud,
Abihud the father of Eliakim,
Eliakim the father of Azor,
14 Azor the father of Zadok,
Zadok the father of Akim,
Akim the father of Elihud,
15 Elihud the father of Eleazar,
Eleazar the father of Matthan,
Matthan the father of Jacob,
16 and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.
This morning we are given the genealogy of Jesus. Like most young people I used to think genealogies were boring and of little value, but like a lot of people when they old, I’m suddenly into them and what they might tell us.
One thing Jesus’ genealogy tells us is that he didn’t come from the purest of Israelite stock. Yes, he had royal ancestry, but he also had slaves, swindlers, foreigners, a prostitute a woman faked being a prostitute so she could conceive a child with her father-in-law (you read that right), and a ruler whose youthful arrogance was the downfall of the entire kingdom of Israel.
Not exactly a spotless pedigree.
But the genealogy reminds us that God has been working out God’s purposes since the beginning of time, sustaining each successive generation through trial and tribulation.
God is the God of all in our genealogies — even the mean and rascally ones. As we say in West Texas, “It ain’t always been pretty”; but it’s been true. And even more so, God has been true. And, somehow, we’ve made it this far.
Thanks be to God.
Friday, November 29, 2019
Daily Lesson for November 29, 2019
Today’s Daily Lesson comes from
Isaiah chapter 24 verses 21 though 24:
21 On that day the Lord will punish
the host of heaven in heaven,
and on earth the kings of the earth.
22 They will be gathered together
like prisoners in a pit;
they will be shut up in a prison,
and after many days they will be punished.
23 Then the moon will be abashed,
and the sun ashamed;
for the Lord of hosts will reign
on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,
and before his elders he will manifest his glory.
And Matthew chapter 20 verses 20 through 28:
20 Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, and kneeling before him, she asked a favour of him. 21And he said to her, ‘What do you want?’ She said to him, ‘Declare that these two sons of mine will sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.’ 22But Jesus answered, ‘You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?’* They said to him, ‘We are able.’ 23He said to them, ‘You will indeed drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left, this is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.’
24 When the ten heard it, they were angry with the two brothers. 25But Jesus called them to him and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. 26It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, 27and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; 28just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.’
We come down to the next to last day of the liturgical calendar, and the readings given for the day are about power and its right use.
We all know the saying, “Power corrupts; and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” This is so often the case in the world and the reason why Jesus says those in power must be willing to give it up. The “great” among us, he says, must be a “servant”.
There are other ways of being great; Jesus admits that. And the rulers of this world are great because of the abuse of their power. It’s what got them where they are.
“But not so among you,” Jesus says. Not in God’s kingdom.
The days are coming, Isaiah says, when the rulers of this earth will be held accountable for their use and misuse of power. Did they use it wisely as true public servants of common good; or did they use it for their own personal gain? The day is coming, Isaiah, says when the truth will be told, and “the moon will be abashed and the sun will be ashamed” of all that has been done both under the cloak of darkness and also even in bright of broad daylight.
In the end, it’s the “Son of Man” who will judge both the host of heaven and also the kings and nations of the earth. He will judge between many nations, and sift between many so-called “great” rulers. And in the end, the kings and queens and presidents and CEOs and countries will be judged not by how much absolute power we amassed for ourselves, but rather by how much power we used for the aid and benefit of others.
So may it be.
Thursday, November 28, 2019
Daily Lesson for Thanksgiving Day, November 28, 2019
Today’s Daily Lesson for Thanksgiving Day comes from the Book of Common Prayer (slightly altered):
Almighty God, Father and Mother of all mercies, we your unworthy servants give you humble thanks for all your goodness and loving-kindness to us and to all whom you have made. We bless you for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all for your immeasurable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory. And, we pray, give us such an awareness of your mercies, that with truly thankful hearts we may show forth your praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up ourselves to your service, and by walking before you in holiness and righteousness all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory throughout all ages.
Amen.
I love the plea to God for an awareness of mercies. With all that rightfully concerns us about the present we fret and worry over about the future, O what a gift to be made aware of God’s mercies. This is not to diminish or deny all the challenges, injustices, and just plain wrong doings in this world; but if we had just an inkling of all the mercies we’ve received in the past year then we would know for sure and forever that God is on our side.
And God is on our side.
I’m about to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. For some reason — and its a little embarrassing to admit this — it always makes me cry. That’s probably because the Parade is the first official act of Thanksgiving and therefore the whole Holiday season. We’ve made it another year around the sun. And what untold number of graces and mercies we must have received to have made it happen — especially when some of us drive like we do!
Give us an awareness of your mercies, dear LORD. An awareness of life, of love, of second, and third, and fourth, and 77x7 chances, and of the goodness of this day’s daily bread and all our days’ — even the worst ones — daily grace.
Wednesday, November 27, 2019
Daily Lesson for November 27, 2019
Today’s Daily Lesson comes from 1 Peter chapter 2 verses 4 through 8:
4 Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and 5like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6For it stands in scripture:
‘See, I am laying in Zion a stone,
a cornerstone chosen and precious;
and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.’
7To you then who believe, he is precious; but for those who do not believe,
‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the very head of the corner’,
8and
‘A stone that makes them stumble,
and a rock that makes them fall.’
They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.
and Matthew chapter 19 verses 27 through 30.
27 Then Peter said in reply, ‘Look, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?’ 28Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man is seated on the throne of his glory, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold, and will inherit eternal life. 30But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.
We are coming down to the final days of the liturgical year and today’s Lessons tell of a time of great reversal, when the first shall be last, the last first, and the stone rejected at the founding becomes the cornerstone for a new foundation. And those who have fallen out with family and friends for God’s sake will receive a hundredfold family members and friends and also eternal life.
I know so many who have lost so much for the sake of their convictions. People I know have been rejected by communities, churches, denominations, friends, and families because they stood up for what they thought was just, right, and loving. Friendships ended, and families split, and the prophet has no place to lay his or her head.
The Thanksgiving holiday is a reminder to many of these of what has been lost. There’s division at the table. Or maybe the division is so deep that the table can’t be shared. Family isn’t really family anymore — not like it used to be.
So the Lessons today comes as words of consolation. There are things worth standing up for, Jesus is saying — even if it means rejection. But the rejection will not last forever. One day there will be a righting and reckoning. One day others will see also.
And then, “the first shall be last, the last shall be first”, and the rejected stone shall one day have the place of honor, and the rejected child shall have the place of honor at the head of the table.
So then may it be, on earth even as it is in heaven.
Tuesday, November 26, 2019
Daily Lesson for November 26, 2019
Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Nahum chapter 1 verses 2 and 3, and 6-8.
2 A jealous and avenging God is the Lord,
the Lord is avenging and wrathful;
the Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries
and rages against his enemies.
3 The Lord is slow to anger but great in power,
and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty.
6 Who can stand before his indignation?
Who can endure the heat of his anger?
His wrath is poured out like fire,
and by him the rocks are broken in pieces.
7 The Lord is good,
a stronghold on a day of trouble;
he protects those who take refuge in him,
8 even in a rushing flood.
He will make a full end of his adversaries,*
and will pursue his enemies into darkness.
Yesterday we visited Montgomery, Alabama and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice which acknowledges America’s history of racial terrorism against blacks and other minorities. Among the thousands of victim names at the Memorial, we found the name of Porter Turner, Irie’s great-uncle who was lynched by the KKK in Dekalb County, Georgia in 1945.
The specter of that lynching and the thousands of other murders at the hands of white terrorism in America have hung over black families like Irie’s for generations. The Memorial is a significant step in remembering the horror of lynching, and hopefully beginning to come to terms with its legacy of brutality, terror, and social control.
This, too, was America. Even in 1945 — just days after the end of WWII, a war fought and won in the name of liberty and justice against totalitarian brutality and dehumanization.
This week is Thanksgiving week. And I am drawn to recall yet again a line from Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Proclamation issued amidst the horrors of the Civil War in 1863. Lincoln summoned the nation to give thanks. We almost all remember that. But he also summoned it to repentance — something we too often forget. The nation was to give thanks “with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience”.
Slavery was our national perverseness and disobedience, and Lynching her ugly daughter. Lynching was born because what in his sermon upon Lincoln’s assassination Philips Brooks called “the Spirit of Slavery” refused to die. That Spirit of perversity and disobedience disobedience outlived the Civil War. It outlived WWII and the Southern Freedom Movement. And it still lives today. It lives anywhere and everywhere we refuse “humble penitence” for the sins of our nation.
It’s Thanksgiving week. There is much for which to be thankful. Yet gratitude is only one part of the summons. The other is penitence, it’s acknowledgment, and remembrance, and reparation for the perverseness and disobedience of the past, and the foresworn end of the Spirit of Slavery even in the present that we might, in the words of Lincoln’s Proclamation:
“implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.”
So may it be.
Monday, November 25, 2019
Daily Lesson for November 25, 2019
Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Matthew 19.
“Why do you ask?”
That’s the question a preacher friend of mine asks when someone seems to be asking a Gotcha Question — a question designed not really to get at sincere truth but only to make somebody look bad or get them in trouble.
Make no mistake, the question in the Lesson this morning is a Gotcha Question. It’s not intended to get at the truth about marriage and divorce; it’s meant to entrap Jesus. That’s why they ask. They ask because they know in answering he’ll either have to side with the Law of Moses and therefore be publicly opposed to Herod, who married his wife Herodias after she divorced her husband Philip, Herod’s brother.
So which one is it, Jesus, the Law or King? It was a question the Pharisees designed to frame him — just like their question about paying taxes to Caesar. They didn’t care what his answer was. They didn’t want truth or instruction or a way forward. They wanted ammunition.
There’s much to be said about marriage and divorce and Caesar — and a whole lot that can be said about all three together.
But why do you ask?
Friday, November 22, 2019
Daily Lesson on the Feast Day of C.S. Lewis
Today is the Feast Day for C.S. Lewis. In observance, I am reposting a link to a dispatch from my 2015 British Evasion and trip to Lewis’s old stomping ground, Oxford.
https://ryonprice.blogspot.com/2015/08/british-evasion-10-august-8-2015.html?m=1
Thursday, November 21, 2019
Daily Lesson for November 21, 2019
Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Matthew chapter 18 verses 1 through 7:
At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ 2He called a child, whom he put among them, 3and said, ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.
6 ‘If any of you put a stumbling-block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea. 7Woe to the world because of stumbling-blocks! Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to the one by whom the stumbling-block comes!
Earlier this in preparation for Sunday’s sermon I went back and re-read President Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Proclamation, issued on the third day of October 1863 in anticipation of a National Day of Thanksgiving set aside for the fourth Thursday of the following month. I have read this many times over the years; and I am always touched by the pastoral nature of Lincoln’s words as he called our nation to give thanks even amidst our terrible Civil War.
But what I had forgotten is in this Proclamation is another pastoral task — the call of the people to a greater humility and repentance from what he called the Nation’s “national perverseness and disobedience” which ended in the scourge of widow and orphan hood afflicting both North and South. By the time of the Proclamation, Lincoln had decided the War was a judgment upon the Union for its sin of slavery, and the Proclamation was a pastoral call to prayer of thanksgiving for God’s mercies even amidst the sword of judgment, and also a call to humility and contrition, that the victims of the Nation’s hubris be spared even greater suffering.
One hundred fifty-eight years after Lincoln’s Proclamation, our nation is again caught up in a time of deep division. The closing words in Lincoln’s Proclamation speak to us in our own time that we might “fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.”
“Peace”, “harmony”, “tranquility”, and “Union” are wonderful words of hope for us now. But they come not without another important word Lincoln used in the Proclamation: “penitence”. We will not have the former without first having the latter. And the wounds of the nation will not be healed, lest we see and admit what sad suffering our hubris has caused, especially for the young and vulnerable.
This is the season for giving thanks, and also the season for making contrition. Let us prepare ourselves for both as we make our towards the fourth Thursday of November yet again.
Wednesday, November 20, 2019
Daily Lesson for November 20, 2019
Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Psalm 109 verses 1 through 4:
1 Hold not your tongue, O God of my praise; *
for the mouth of the wicked,
the mouth of the deceitful, is opened against me.
2 They speak to me with a lying tongue; *
they encompass me with hateful words
and fight against me without a cause.
3 Despite my love, they accuse me; *
but as for me, I pray for them.
4 They repay evil for good, *
and hatred for my love.
Much of our nation is transfixed by the Impeachment hearings testimony now daily before the House of Representatives. I have only caught bits and pieces of the witnesses’ testimony, but have been appalled by their treatment by public officials from the highest of offices on down and by the general public.
These public servants did not wish to be in the positions they now find themselves. They have been asked to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, which they seem willing to do to the best of their ability and in accordance with their duties as citizens and patriots. For these things we ought to give them due honor and respect. Their reward from much of our nation, however, has been neither honor nor respect but personal scorn, contempt, and tawdry insult.
They deserve better.
So does our nation.
Tuesday, November 19, 2019
Daily Lesson for November 19, 2019
Today’s Daily Lesson is Psalm 99:
1 The Lord is King;
let the people tremble; *
he is enthroned upon the cherubim;
let the earth shake.
2 The Lord is great in Zion; *
he is high above all peoples.
3 Let them confess his Name, which is great and awesome; *
he is the Holy One.
4 "O mighty King, lover of justice,
you have established equity; *
you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob."
5 Proclaim the greatness of the Lord our God
and fall down before his footstool; *
he is the Holy One.
6 Moses and Aaron among his priests,
and Samuel among those who call upon his Name, *
they called upon the Lord, and he answered them.
7 He spoke to them out of the pillar of cloud; *
they kept his testimonies and the decree that he gave them.
8 "O Lord our God, you answered them indeed; *
you were a God who forgave them,
yet punished them for their evil deeds."
9 Proclaim the greatness of the Lord our God
and worship him upon his holy hill; *
for the Lord our God is the Holy One.
We are coming to the end of the liturgical calendar and Sunday is Christ the King Sunday, the last Sunday of the year before the beginning of Advent. So the psalms for this week echo as a refrain leading up to Christ the King Day: “This is the King, strong and mighty to save, an arbiter of justice and equity in the world.”
I used to look skeptically at Christ the King. The monarchical language seemed both patriarchal and passé. In fact, I’m still uncomfortable with the gendered language of “king”.
But a day set aside to remember Christ’s righteous rule of the cosmos now speaks to me. Christ the King, set at the very end of the calendar, is a reminder of God’s justice and righteousness and the end of history. Jesus has set down on the throne, at the right hand of God, and to him belong the eternal judgments of this world, its nations, their leaders, and their misleaders. This is, indeed, good and hopeful news to the faint of heart.
Desmond Tutu used to say, “This is a moral universe!” It is! Or, as Dr. King used to say, “The moral arc of the universe is long; but it bends towards justice.” It does. The moral arc of the universe bends towards Christ the King.
Thanks be to God!
Monday, November 18, 2019
Daily Lesson for November 18, 2019
Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Psalm 89 verses 13 through 15:
13 You have a mighty arm; *
strong is your hand and high is your right hand.
14 Righteousness and justice are the foundations of your throne; *
love and truth go before your face.
15 Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you,
who walk in the light of your presence, Lord.
This morning’s Psalm tells us of the governance of God and God’s kingdom. It is a kingdom built on justice and righteousness. These are its foundations. The world can trust that God’s judgments are grounded in the principle of justice for all who are judged and the virtue of righteousness in the one who judges. The people can trust that God judges the world to the world rightly and for the right reasons.
And how do we know these judgments are just? Because love and truth go before God’s judgments. The roots, Eugene Petersen says, are justice and righteousness, and the fruits are truth and love.
Friends, only when we see the fruits of both love and truth can we be assured there is also righteousness and justice in our governance. These are what give legitimacy to a nation and its leaders and what ordain and establish a more perfect and divine rule of law.
So may it be in these United States and all across this green earth.
Friday, November 15, 2019
Daily Lesson for November 15, 2019
Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Revelation chapter 19 verses 11 through 16:
11 Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse! Its rider is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. 12His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems; and he has a name inscribed that no one knows but himself. 13He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called The Word of God. 14And the armies of heaven, wearing fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. 15From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron; he will tread the wine press of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 16On his robe and on his thigh he has a name inscribed, ‘King of kings and Lord of lords’.
This morning’s Lesson comes from Revelation of John, or in Greek — the “apocalypse” of John.
Apocalypse literally means “showing” or “revelation”. And apocalyptic literature is a way of writing which shows or reveals the world as it is in heaven and/or as it shall be on earth. It is a kind of window into the realm of the kingdom of God i heaven and into the future when that kingdom comes on earth as it is in heaven.
Today’s apocalyptic vision gives us us a vision of the one who is “Faithful and True”, riding upon a white horse of deliverance, with all the armies of heaven. It is John’s the Seer’s way of describing to a people held in bondage by ruthless and cruel rulers a coming deliverance by the one who is “King of Kings and LORD of Lords”.
Believe the vision, friends. It will not always be as it is now. Truth and Fidelity will win out. The sharp sword of justice shall prevail. And with righteousness God will judge the nations.
So may it be.
For something fresh and new inspired by this text see:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hkCUdiP2Qsc
For something fresh and new inspired by this text see:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hkCUdiP2Qsc
Thursday, November 14, 2019
Daily Lesson for November 14, 2019
Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Psalm 34 verses 1 through 6:
1 I will bless the Lord at all times; *
his praise shall ever be in my mouth.
2 I will glory in the Lord; *
let the humble hear and rejoice.
3 Proclaim with me the greatness of the Lord; *
let us exalt his Name together.
4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me *
and delivered me out of all my terror.
5 Look upon him and be radiant, *
and let not your faces be ashamed.
6 I called in my affliction and the Lord heard me *
and saved me from all my troubles.
I have some friends who received some tough news this week and everyone is shaken. Yet in talking with them, their sense of God’s goodness and grace remains. I called to console them, but they kept talking about how blessed they’ve feel.
This followed on the heels of a conversation I had with a friend’s dad who buried his wife this week. He, too, talked about grace, the grace of the life he had with his wife of 67 years and the family they made together. “The LORD knows I couldn’t handle money so He didn’t give me any,” he told me. “But He gave me 67 years with wonderful wife, and children, and grand children. I’ve been exceedingly blessed.”
So the first words in today’s Psalm leap off the page at me this morning:
“I will bless the LORD at all times,
His praise shall ever be in my mouth.”
I think I want to live like that . . .
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