Tag Archives: psalm

Love is about to do a new thing.

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Fifth Sunday in Lent (C)
April 7, 2019

Isaiah 43:16-21 I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
Philippians 3:4b-14 Press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.
John 12:1-8 You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.

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

In my nearly two decades of preaching, I have ranted many times about the story we just heard our deacon Bob read from the Gospel of John. My chief complaint is about the way the lectionary and Sunday School lessons privilege the story of Mary of Bethany anointing Jesus’ feet and wiping them with her hair, rather than the older (and I think truer) story of an unnamed uppity woman anointing Jesus’ head with costly perfume, the way a prophet anoints a king. If you haven’t heard my rant, or want to hear it again, speak with me at coffee hour![1] I have also ranted many times about the Church’s misuse of Jesus’ response to the complaint about extravagance that “you always have the poor with you.” When a complaint about extravagance comes out of the mouth of one who is stealing from the common purse, we know to suspect that the complaint is not legitimate and Jesus’ response is not about ignoring those who are poor whether he is with them a little while or not. It’s just the opposite.

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Bold Action & Wild Patience

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Third Sunday in Lent, March 24, 2019

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

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

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

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Building up Belovedness

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First Sunday in Lent, March 10, 2019

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

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

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