Thoughts on some of this Sunday’s lessons -
(and I am doing this at camp so the formatting is not as helpful as I would like -)
Gen 45.4-20 Joseph and his brothers in Egypt
+And the brothers are coming begging because there is a famile at home, and they do not recognize Joseph, who has become powerful in Egypt.
+we can see three stages in Joseph’s story (Gen 37-50) -
Family dreams Egyptian dreams Family dreams fulfillment
and fulfillment
and we note that God has not been a participant in this story so far. God comes into the story as Joseph shifts from being a powerful Egyptian able to toy with this Canaanite family to being a brother, a member of the family. As part of that, he gives a theological interpretation of his brothers’ treachery – “You did not send me, God did.” One writer notes that revelation and ethical transformation are often complementary. Not that one has to precede the other, but they often come together.
+this passage begins to reverse the family disunity from ch 37 – note the use of “son”, “father”, and “brother” in Joseph’s speech.
+then note the invitation to Egypt – Joseph says “They will be given the best of everything.” Well, that worked out fine for a while, but we know the rest of the story – “Many years later a new king arose in Egypt, and he did not know Joseph…”
+also note (I love this!) Joseph gives new clothes to all his half-brothers (fine), but he gives 5 new outfits and 300 pieces of silver to Benjamin, his full brother. Wait a minute – favoritism, isn’t this kind of where this story started?
Ps 133 O Look and Wonder How Good It Is
+as with revelation and ethical transformation (above), the blessing of God is often complementary with community unity.
+and this – being together – is what we are really missing these days. Just a chance to eat lunch together, sit and have coffee, go out to a restaurant with other people.
+this is one of the “Psalms of Ascent”, perhaps to be sung by the group as they went along their pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Kind of a “demonstration chant”?
+the oil image, while not exactly too appealing to us is an anointing image; the dew on “Mt Hermon” is an image of God’s blessing flowing from the holy places. Would that be kind of like a church bell ringing through the community? Or some churches used to have speaker systems to play hymns in the neighborhood (not always appreciated!)
Alternate track
Is 56.1, 6-8
+”Be honest and fair; soon I will come”, says the Lord. Again, ethics, community unity are complementary with the presence/blessing of God.
+vs 6-8 foreigners are welcome to become part of God’s people; God’s house is a house of worship/prayer for all nations. It doesn’t really address foreigners who might want to co-exist with Israel but not want to join them. One step at a time, I guess.
Ps 67 Tell the Nations to Praise God
+That’s the title in the CEV. and it pretty much sums it up. “Be model citizens so everyone will be impressed by you and your God.” Youth group used to discuss if it was alright to do certain behaviors – dance, go to movies, listen to rock and roll – or should we not do it because someone else’s faith might be harmed by it? It didn’t make much sense then either!
+vs 6 ”God has blessed the earth with a wonderful harvest”. It’s starting to happen, isn’t it?
Tomatoes, corn, zucchini, beans – red, yellow, orange, green. What’s your favorite color from the garden?
Matthew 15: (10-20), 21-28
+vs 10-20 ritual purity – the words that come out of your mouth make you unclean, not what you put into it. Words and food images are going to play a big part in the second part of the lesson.
+”the blind leading the blind” - there was a story on the radio a week or two back about how Americans (I don’t know about other nationalities) are increasingly unwilling to accept expert knowledge, increasingly likely to trust their own individual knowledge (even if limited, and from whatever source) or even their own gut feeling more than expert information. If this is so, what reasons can you think of that might be causing it? Is it a problem just for the individual, or for all of us?
Vs 21-28 The Canaanite woman
+a really interesting story as Jesus first ignores her, then refuses her (with insult), then finally praises her and grants her wish. (Note that the question of his ability to heal is never raised.) So does Jesus learn something and change as a result of this encounter?
+Matthew is particularly careful to note that God has not abandoned the Jews, God’s faithfulness to the covenant remains, that Jesus came first for the lost sheep of Israel, and only after the resurrection is the door thrown open to all. But given that, we see God’s grace beginning to seep out of Israel even here.
+Canaanites/”dogs” – who would we/you have in that category today? Would it be a political issue? A racial issue? A cultural or nationality issue? Brings the Prayer of Humble Access to mind – ‘we are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs from your table…’
+the woman’s single-minded faith effort contrasts with the scribes, the Pharisees, even the disciples in vs 10-20. She could have been justifiably offended by Jesus calling her one of the dogs, but she was willing to put up with that for the sake of her daughter. What would you be willing to suffer for the sake of your faith, for your family? Would you say you had a “single-minded faith”?
A Prayer -
God of all times,
we come to the second half of “calendar summer”,
gardens are producing treasures red, yellow, green, gold;
Labor Day and School Startings are just ahead.
And life is still this curious mixture of caution and risk-taking
and trying to begin (again) and “not quite ready”.
Thank you for not abandoning us,
for your continued presence in our lives,
in our families, in our church and community.
Guide us through these days to a better time,
for us and for all people, for all creation.
[comments, if there were any, would be moderated – by me – and might take a day to appear]
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