Daily Lesson for March 31, 2016

Today's Daily lesson comes from Exodus chapter 13 verse 8:

8 You shall tell your son on that day, ‘It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’

The Exodus is what theologian Jurgen Moltmann calls "a perpetual event" -- an event which takes place "once and for all."  And it is to all that the command is given to observe the Passover meal, year by year in rememberance of what The LORD did to free his people from slavery in Egypt.

Yet it is a special kind of rememberance that the Israelites are commanded to observe. The Israelites are commanded to remember in the past tense, but also always in the first person. The child asks at the Passover meal, "What is the meaning of this meal?" And the answer is a first person answer:  "It is because of what the LORD did for ME when I came out of Egypt."

It is this first person rememberance which has kept the Jewish people always mindful of the plight of the stranger, the refugee, and the sojourner.  As soon as the Israelites crossed over the Red Sea they were given the Law which again reminded them in first person that they were strangers in Egypt and that experience was to shape the way they ought to think and act towards the stranger among them. "So you, too, must show love to foreigners, for you yourselves were once foreigners in he land of Egypt," (Exodus 10:19), "Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt," (Exodus 22:21), "You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God," (Leviticus 19:34).  These words are not only for that first generation of Israelites brought from slavery to freedom, but binding on all generations.  Again, in Moltmann's words, they were spoken "once and for all."

How would it shape us to think of ourselves, to remember ourselves, as people who were once slaves, once sojourners, and once foreigners?  How would it shape the way we think of the foreigner among us?  What about the manual laborer?  The community wishing to worship their own God in their own way?  Persons enslaved by forces of death and oppression, whether personal or societal? Would we have more sympathy, more compassion, less judgment if we were to remember that it was "out of Egypt" that we came also?

"It is because of what the LORD did for me," the lesson says. In other words, I couldn't do it by myself -- I needed help; and therefore it's required of me to help others also.

Exodus is a "perpetual event" -- something which happened to me and is a blessing for others also.

Daily Lesson for March 30, 2016

Today's Daily Lesson is from 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verses 35 through 37:

35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” 36 You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain.

In order to know the power and reality of resurrection we must first of all know the power and reality of death. Something must always die before it is to be born again. It must wither in its fall of life, die, be buried and lost forever in its former nature before its new nature can spring forth.  This is true not only for our physical bodies, but in fact for all things. Resurrection without death is simply not possible. The death of what is must come and all that is must be grieved in order for all that will be can be embraced.

It is Spring and before too long the butterfly eggs will begin hatching into larvae. But a butterfly larvae was not created to be a larvae -- which can only crawl. It was created to be a butterfly -- which can fly. So in order for it to become what it was created to be the butterfly larvae must cocoon.  It was say goodbye to its former state and all that it knows in order to embrace what it does not. In a very real sense, the larvae must die so that the butterfly can be born.

"There is a time and season for everything under the heavens," the writer of Ecclesiastes says, "a time to sow and a time to harvest, a time to be born and a time to die."  Wisdom is knowing what time it is, and being ready, when it is time, to die to what is now so that what is next can be discovered -- not only under heaven, but also in.

The butterfly was made to fly in the heavens and not just crawl on the earth.

Fly butterfly, fly.

Daily Lesson for March 29, 2016

Today's Daily Lesson comes from Exodus chapter 12 verses 29 through 32:

29 At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock. 30 And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians. And there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where someone was not dead. 31 Then he summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Up, go out from among my people, both you and the people of Israel; and go, serve the Lord, as you have said. 32 Take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone, and bless me also!”

The story of Exodus is a reminder to us of just how much, and how quickly all may be lost when a nation is left in the hands of the arrogant, obdurate, and hard-hearted. Was it years, or just a few months?  Perhaps it was just weeks, and the great Egyptian empire was brought to its knees because of the pride of Pharaoh and his people.

I think of other houses ruined by the pride of leaders and nations. I think of the first photographic images of total war taken of Richmond, VA in the aftermath of the Civil War. And with that goes in my mind Lincoln's words from his Second Inaugural, that "every drop of blood drawn with the lash" was being repaid by another "drawn with the sword".  Then there are the pictures of Berlin and Dresden, while cities brought to rubble by Allied bombs.  Or, even closer, we look at pictures from Syria, where Assad's refusal to give up power has left him president of a nation in ruins.

The words from Lamentations come to mind, when the city of Jerusalem was left vacant and desolate upon its own fall, "Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?"

The Exodus story is a cautionary tale, warning us against hubris, folly and the arrogance of power.  And the warning for us is not to pass by the Egypts in our history books and consider them as nothing. For they were something indeed -- mighty and powerful and great.

And then the midnight hour came; and there was a cry in all the land.  And by then it was too late.

Let the people's with ears to hear always hear.

Daily Lesson for March 28, 2016

In the church calendar Easter is more than a single-day event.  Easter is a whole season of 50 days leading up to Pentecost.  These 50 days are known as the "Eastertide".

The word "tide" is a fitting description.  When Jesus is raised from the dead all of the disciples at first doubt the news. When they hear rumors of a resurrection they  think it's "an idle tale".  Later, seeing Jesus in flesh and blood they still doubt. They literally cannot believe their own eyes. But the Resurrection waves keep coming in, and the tide of belief rises and swallows all unbelief.

The Eastertide keeps rising.  Wave by wave, it keeps washing ashore, deeper and deeper onto dry land until all the earth is bathed in Resurrection, until the whole world is baptized in the sea of hope and new creation.

Holy Saturday Reflection

Holy Saturday is a day of mourning and reflection. In the aftermath of Jesus' crucifixion we are shocked and confounded by the brutality of Friday. Who could do such a barbarous thing to another human being? We miss the point, however, if we think we are incapable of doing the same or similar kinds of evil for the same reasons they put Jesus onto the cross.

Reflecting on another horrific event, the Holocaust, philosopher Arne Vetlesen, has written that separating those who commit crimes against humanity and marking them as abnormal actually in the end helps "perpetuate the very conditions which made its occurrence a historical fact in the first place."

And as history has taught us, one condition often present when genocide happens is the condition of war. Genocide is justified as a matter of course, unfortunate or otherwise, simply because it is seen to be necessary. As genocide scholar and social psychologist James Waller has written, [T]he greatest catastrophes occur when the distinctions between war and crime fade; when there is dissolution of the boundaries between military and criminal conduct . . ."

The distinction between war and criminality dissolved at the very center of Christ's cross. It is tradition that the two men who were crucified beside him were "thieves". But in fact, a better translation of the Greek word is "insurrectionists".  This is the same word Josephus used to describe Jewish enemies of the Roman state. And we know the charge against Jesus was treason.  He was crucified as a matter of course in a time of war -- and two beside him, and how many hundreds of thousands, nay millions, others?

We are in jeopardy of missing the point if we fail to see just how possible it would have been for us to put Jesus to death, if we had been told to do so, because it was said to be necessary. We would have just been following orders.

"We're you there when they crucified my Lord?" the old spiritual asks. And the answer is: we could have been; and we could be again if we're not careful.

Art:

Flagellation of Jesus, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=55447[retrieved March 26, 2016]. Original source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hallstatt_5928.JPG.

Special from Jerusalem

Special from Jerusalem

A tumultuous week in the Judean city of Jerusalem came to an end today when Jesus of Nazareth, a Jewish religious leader who many Jews claimed to be the Messiah but who Sanhedrin and some Roman officials saw as a threat to Pax Romana, was crucified on grounds of treason against the Empire.

Tensions mounted on Sunday when Jesus and his disciples marched into the capital and blocked the entryway to the Jewish Temple where thousands of pilgrims came to celebrate the Jewish Passover Festival.  This was the second time in three years Jesus' protest actions put a temporary stop to Temple transactions.  On Sunday it was reported he disrupted religious ritual by turning over the tables of the Temple Court money changers and chasing those selling sacrificial animals out of the courtyard.  Later Jesus purportedly threatened to take his protests even further.  Witnesses say he threatened to destroy the Temple altogether and to then raise it up after three days.

Jesus' actions jeopardized an already tenuous truce existing between Jewish religious and political authorities and Roman peacekeeping forces during the Passover Festival.  As Passover is a holiday celebrating the ancient Hebrews escape from slavery in Egypt, it has in recent years been a week fraught with clashes between Roman soldiers and pro-liberation extremists.  The actions of Jesus and other zealot-minded Jews necessitated Pontius Pilate, prefect of Judea, to move the bulk of his force from the Judean capital of Caesarea Maritima to Jerusalem for the festival to ensure order.  There was speculation Pilate might even go so far as to decide to shut the city down altogether if peace could not be assured.

But Jerusalem religious officials moved quickly Monday to keep crowds in order during the festival.  "The Feast of Passover is a religious event - not a political one.  The great masses of Jews are peace-loving people who are glad for the peace and prosperity Rome has brought to the region," Zacharias of Bethany, a member of the Sanhedrin said in a public statement endorsed by the body.  The statement went on to denounce Jesus.  "We reject the kind of opportunism exhibited in people like Jesus of Nazareth.  He is an extremist, an outside agitator whom the prefect is justified in apprehending."

Rival separatist leaders were quick to release their own statement in turn.  "The so-called peace Rome has brought is no peace at all," the separatist statement said.  God's promise for our people and our land is a promise for freedom.  It is a promise given to our Father Abraham and verified in the blood of the Passover lamb.  Moses did not lead our people across the Red Sea only to in turn now be slaves in our own land."

It was notable, however, that the separatist statement did not mention Jesus by name.  Jewish political observers suggest a leader like Jesus is unlikely to garner the support of pro-liberation Jews because of his apparent openness toward Gentiles, including a highly publicized meeting between Jesus and a Roman centurion in the Galilean town of Capernaum.  As one religious expert put it: "Jesus may wear Moses' sandals, but he does not carry his staff."

But it wasn't Moses who came to mind when Jesus made his way into town Sunday.  Instead it was David, the greatest of Israel's past kings.  As Jesus entered the city, sitting proudly astride a small colt - a gesture intended to reenact an ancient Jewish royal tradition - crowds lined the path shouting, "Hosanna," - a Hebrew word meaning "save" - "to the Son of David."  The crowd's message was clear.  They wanted their king - and they did not mean the Emperor Tiberius.

By Friday, however, it was evident to all in Jerusalem that Jesus was not the king they were looking for.  Late Thursday night he was arrested by Temple police and found guilty by the Sanhedrin in a hastily organized emergency trial.  Early Friday morning the Sanhedrin turned Jesus over to Pilate requesting the execution of the man known as "the Nazorean" on grounds of treason.  By 3pm that afternoon Jesus' body hung bloody and lifeless from a tree atop a high ridge just outside of the city.  At Pilate's order a sign was placed over his body written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin: "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews".

The pointedness of the sign was characteristic of Pilate's strong-armed reputation as prefect, but conflicted with what sources close to Pilate say actually happened inside the governor's courtyard.  Those sources reveal the case against Jesus was not as cut and dry as Jesus' accusers, and later the sign, suggested.  The sources said Pilate saw the conflict over Jesus as primarily a struggle for control among the ranks of Jewish leaders; as such, Pilate was inclined to have Jesus simply flogged and released.  In the end, however, political expedience won out, sources say, as Pilate became convinced that Jesus' execution was in the best interest of the Sanhedrin and the region as a whole.  "It is better that one man should die than the whole nation perish," said a Sanhedrin member speaking on condition of anonymity.

Whether that man was innocent or guilty was apparently beside the point for Pilate.  This is Judea - one of the most lawless places in the Roman Empire and insiders within Praetorium say law and order will only be regained if the Jewish people learn not only to avoid treason but also even the appearance of treason.

On Friday afternoon a dark cloud settled over the city as the Nazorean struggled in his final hours of crucifixion.  It was a short time as these things go, but agonizing for those who kept watch.  A commiserate spirit among the onlookers accompanied the man's last gasps.  A woman was heard gently weeping in the distance.  "We had hoped he would be the one to redeem Israel," she said through her tears.  "We had hoped."  That was when Jesus, "King of the Jews" hung his head and died.

Pilate ordered the body be pulled down from the cross and given to some of Jesus' followers.  As the soldiers lowered the cross to its parallel position those around could see the body more clearly in its gruesome and mangled state.  One of the soldiers, who stood guard throughout the execution, looked up from the body and toward Jesus' followers and then spoke.  The language was Aramaic, but the words were spoken with the tongue of someone who grew up in perhaps the Palermo region.  "This," he said, "was a son of God."  

It was not altogether obvious what the soldier meant.

les marched into the capital and blocked the entryway to the Jewish Temple where thousands of pilgrims came to celebrate the Jewish Passover Festival.  This was the second time in three years Jesus' protest actions put a temporary stop to Temple transactions.  On Sunday it was reported he disrupted religious ritual by turning over the tables of the Temple Court money changers and chasing those selling sacrificial animals out of the courtyard.  Later Jesus purportedly threatened to take his protests even further.  Witnesses say he threatened to destroy the Temple altogether and to then raise it up after three days.

Jesus' actions jeopardized an already tenuous truce existing between Jewish religious and political authorities and Roman peacekeeping forces during the Passover Festival.  As Passover is a holiday celebrating the ancient Hebrews escape from slavery in Egypt, it has in recent years been a week fraught with clashes between Roman soldiers and pro-liberation extremists.  The actions of Jesus and other zealot-minded Jews necessitated Pontius Pilate, prefect of Judea, to move the bulk of his force from the Judean capital of Caesarea Maritima to Jerusalem for the festival to ensure order.  There was speculation Pilate might even go so far as to decide to shut the city down altogether if peace could not be assured.

But Jerusalem religious officials moved quickly Monday to keep crowds in order during the festival.  "The Feast of Passover is a religious event - not a political one.  The great masses of Jews are peace-loving people who are glad for the peace and prosperity Rome has brought to the region," Zacharias of Bethany, a member of the Sanhedrin said in a public statement endorsed by the body.  The statement went on to denounce Jesus.  "We reject the kind of opportunism exhibited in people like Jesus of Nazareth.  He is an extremist, an outside agitator whom the prefect is justified in apprehending."

Rival separatist leaders were quick to release their own statement in turn.  "The so-called peace Rome has brought is no peace at all," the separatist statement said.  God's promise for our people and our land is a promise for freedom.  It is a promise given to our Father Abraham and verified in the blood of the Passover lamb.  Moses did not lead our people across the Red Sea only to in turn now be slaves in our own land."

It was notable, however, that the separatist statement did not mention Jesus by name.  Jewish political observers suggest a leader like Jesus is unlikely to garner the support of pro-liberation Jews because of his apparent openness toward Gentiles, including a highly publicized meeting between Jesus and a Roman centurion in the Galilean town of Capernaum.  As one religious expert put it: "Jesus may wear Moses' sandals, but he does not carry his staff."

But it wasn't Moses who came to mind when Jesus made his way into town Sunday.  Instead it was David, the greatest of Israel's past kings.  As Jesus entered the city, sitting proudly astride a small colt - a gesture intended to reenact an ancient Jewish royal tradition - crowds lined the path shouting, "Hosanna," - a Hebrew word meaning "save" - "to the Son of David."  The crowd's message was clear.  They wanted their king - and they did not mean the Emperor Tiberius.

By Friday, however, it was evident to all in Jerusalem that Jesus was not the king they were looking for.  Late Thursday night he was arrested by Temple police and found guilty by the Sanhedrin in a hastily organized emergency trial.  Early Friday morning the Sanhedrin turned Jesus over to Pilate requesting the execution of the man known as "the Nazorean" on grounds of treason.  By 3pm that afternoon Jesus' body hung bloody and lifeless from a tree atop a high ridge just outside of the city.  At Pilate's order a sign was placed over his body written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin: "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews".

The pointedness of the sign was characteristic of Pilate's strong-armed reputation as prefect, but conflicted with what sources close to Pilate say actually happened inside the governor's courtyard.  Those sources reveal the case against Jesus was not as cut and dry as Jesus' accusers, and later the sign, suggested.  The sources said Pilate saw the conflict over Jesus as primarily a struggle for control among the ranks of Jewish leaders; as such, Pilate was inclined to have Jesus simply flogged and released.  In the end, however, political expedience won out, sources say, as Pilate became convinced that Jesus' execution was in the best interest of the Sanhedrin and the region as a whole.  "It is better that one man should die than the whole nation perish," said a Sanhedrin member speaking on condition of anonymity.

Whether that man was innocent or guilty was apparently beside the point for Pilate.  This is Judea - one of the most lawless places in the Roman Empire and insiders within Praetorium say law and order will only be regained if the Jewish people learn not only to avoid treason but also even the appearance of treason.

On Friday afternoon a dark cloud settled over the city as the Nazorean struggled in his final hours of crucifixion.  It was a short time as these things go, but agonizing for those who kept watch.  A commiserate spirit among the onlookers accompanied the man's last gasps.  A woman was heard gently weeping in the distance.  "We had hoped he would be the one to redeem Israel," she said through her tears.  "We had hoped."  That was when Jesus, "King of the Jews" hung his head and died.

Pilate ordered the body be pulled down from the cross and given to some of Jesus' followers.  As the soldiers lowered the cross to its parallel position those around could see the body more clearly in its gruesome and mangled state.  One of the soldiers, who stood guard throughout the execution, looked up from the body and toward Jesus' followers and then spoke.  The language was Aramaic, but the words were spoken with the tongue of someone who grew up in perhaps the Palermo region.  "This," he said, "was a son of God."  

It was not altogether obvious what the soldier meant.

Going to dark Gethsemane

The night sets in. Soon Jesus will go to dark Gethsemane. And God will enter the agony of Pharaoah and the Egyptians weeping over the loss of their children.

Did e're such love and sorrow meet?

Art Attribution:	Chagall, Marc, 1887-1985. Passover Angel of Death (detail), from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN.  http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=54649 [retrieved March 24, 2016]. Original source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/28268439@N04/3478029092/.