Words 9.28

 

Words Twice a Week    9.28

Two flashbacks before we get started - 

First, Sept 25 

-in 1789 the Bill of Rights was approved by Congress and sent to the states for ratification. [Note, there were originally 12 proposed amendments.  The 11th had to do with the size of the House, which quickly became irrelevant, the 12th was to prevent members of Congress from raising their pay without letting the constituents have a say.  It finally became law when Michigan ratified it on 5.7.1992, pushing it over the 2/3’s requirement.]

- in 1981, Sandra Day O’Connor was installed as the first female member of the Supreme Court, 

-and in 2020 RBG became the first woman to Lie in State in the Capital.  [And it just is such a sadness that the Republican leadership did not attend the service.  The times we live in - ]

Second, Sept 26, was National Pancake Day; in fact the second National Pancake Day as IHOP holds one each year late in Feb or early in Mar.  Anyway, even though we missed it, The Cheesecake Factory has a recipe for Lemon-Ricotta Pancakes – which sound like they could be worth trying, even a couple of days late.  We didn’t have any ricotta, so we went with gingerbread pancakes – ginger, cinnamon, molasses, applesauce.  They were good. 

Ok – on with the week -

A few days from the church calendar

Sept 29 – Michael and all Angels - in particular Gabriel and Raphael   [Michaelmas]  [ok, I grew up Methodist/United Methodist – anything like “Michaelmas” just sounds exotic and cool.]  Michael is thought of as chief of the angels after defeating Lucifer.  It marks the end of the harvest, and is one of the ‘quarter days’ when school terms started, accounts were settled, rents were paid.  Also the last day to pick blackberries.  “It is said that when St Michael expelled Lucifer, the devil, from heaven, he fell from the skies and landed in a prickly blackberry bush. Satan cursed the fruit, scorched them with his fiery breath, stamped, spat and urinated on them, so that they would be unfit for eating. As it is considered ill-advised to eat them after 11 October (Old Michaelmas Day according to the Julian Calendar), a Michaelmas pie is made from the last of the season.”  Sounds like a good idea to me.

Oct 1  Threse of Lisieux  She became a French Carmelite nun at age 15 and died of tuberculosis only nine years later.  Her spirituality was characterized by a child-like trust.  ‘She was content to be the toy with whom the child Jesus could play’.  Her motto was ‘repay love by love alone.’  There’s a lot more to her story – it’s worth reading over.

Oct 3  John Raleigh Mott   An American Methodist layperson, he was an evangelist and long-serving leader of the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) and the World Student Christian Federation (WSCF). He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1946 for his work in establishing and strengthening international Protestant Christian student organizations that worked to promote peace.

Here’s the collect for his day -

  Give us grace, O merciful God, to seek and serve you in all nations and peoples, 

  following the example of your servant John Raleigh Mott, 

  that all the peoples of the earth, who divided and enslaved by sin, 

  might be led into that glorious liberty that you desire for all your children; 

  through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom with you and the Holy Spirit be all honor and glory, 

  now and for ever. Amen.

Oct 4 Francis of Assisi  What can we say – he lived the high life as a young man, heard a voice saying “Francis, Francis, rebuild my church”.  He renounced his family’s wealth, some say stripping naked until the bishop covered him with his cloak.  He started the Franciscan Order, dedicated to Lady Poverty, striving to live like Christ and do his work.  He had a great affection for all of God’s Creation.  The Canticle of the Sun is his most famous work and there are a variety of hymn and anthem settings.  It is one of the first pieces of literature written in Italian.  Oh, oh – spoiler alert ‘Lord, make me an instrument of your peace…’ usually attributed to him is probably not from him, is not found in his writing, and in fact has not been traced back further than 1912.  Apparently it was printed on the back of a St Francis holy card.  

And a few days from the world calendar -

Sept 29

- Louis Pasteur died.  He developed pasteurization, and a vaccine against anthrax.

- W.H.Auden died in 1973.  Here’s his page at The Poetry Foundation – I don’t know enough of his work to pick one.

Sept 30 

- George Whitefield died.  He encouraged John Wesley to preach outside the church building, where the people were, and was one of early Methodism’s most powerful voices.

-The Flintstones premiered in 1960   “Ya ba da ba do”?

Oct 1  

- The first World Series game was played in 1903 between the Pirates and the Pilgrims. According to W Paul Jones, “baseball has been theologized as the only game where time is irrelevant and whose goal is to go ‘home’ to a place from whence one has come.”

- Full moon – in fact it’s the Harvest Moon – “Snow time”, no time to sit around and spoon, is coming!  And get ready – it’s a Blue Moon on Halloween!

Oct 2  

- The comic strip Peanuts was created in 1950.  Wow, 70 years of Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and the gang.  Have a favorite theme from the strip?

- Paavo Nurmi died in 1973

Oct 3 

- [1849] Edgar Allen Poe was seen in public for the last time – sick and delirious.  He died a few days later on Oct 7.  He was one of the country's earliest practitioners of the short story. He is also generally considered the inventor of the detective fiction genre and is further credited with contributing to the emerging genre of science fiction. Poe was the first well-known American writer to earn a living through writing alone, resulting in a financially difficult life and career.  The Coterie Theatre in Kansas City is doing a play in a cemetery, instead of tickets for a seat, you can have four people on a plot. 

- in 1863, Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day.

- Woody Guthrie died [1967], after telling us, among other things, that This Land Belongs To You And Me.  He opposed all forms of fascism.

Oct 4

- Rembrandt died [1669]  His life took on a sadness after his wife died early, and he became a master of light and dark, perfect vehicles for themes of forgiveness and compassion in many of his religious paintings.

- Russia launched Sputnik in 1957.  There was a piece on the radio about all the space junk in low earth orbit that threatens the space station and other critical space infrastructure.

Question for the week – what are you going to do with all those green tomatoes?  Bread? Cake? Curried Green Tomatoes?  Here’s a green tomato pasta toss – saute a chopped onion in some olive oil.  Add 6 chopped green tomatoes and cook for 10 minutes while a pound of tri-colored pasta cooks.  Drain the pasta, toss with tomatoes, top with 1 cup crumbled feta cheese.  Try it?n

Words 9.24

 Words Twice a Week    9.24

From camp – formatting may be a little different.  Geese flying over both yesterday and today.  Hauled in the last of the green tomatoes here – hopefully some are still ripening in Mqt!

Some thoughts on some of the lectionary texts -

Ps 78.1-4, 12-16 We heard from our ancestors/elders and will tell to the next generation the wonderful things the Lord has done…

+this is a nice little passage – we note that it is just part of the whole psalm which is a bit more complex.  One writer calls it (the whole psalm) the mystery of history – about why Judah was chosen instead of Ephriam.  We’ll stick with just our partial portion.

+the psalm runs over the whole story of the Exodus, our part looks at the escape through the sea and the water in the dessert.  More on that when we get to the Exodus reading.  

+what have you learned from your elders/ancestors (or refused to learn, or thought you knew enough already, or thought you knew better, or thought new times brought new understandings)?  Are there some kinds of things our ancestors are better authorities on and other kinds of things current thought, science, discoveries are better at?  Prayers vs vaccines for the virus?  “Thoughts and prayers” vs laws in gun issues?  Moral codes vs laws at establishing community behaviors?

+How does our culture do at paying attention to both the elders and the children?  Where do you see difficulties, or positives?  I continue to be awed by indigenous understanding and behavior, at least as much as I understand it.  I don’t think I really respected older pastors when I was starting out, and since I have been retired….?

+in particular, with regard to the faith, how do we do at telling the next generation what we have heard?  One confirmation curriculum we used for a while was basically built around pairing each youth up with an elder.  I still remember a few of my Sunday School teachers with great affection.  We still say the same grace before meals that my parents said.

Exodus 17.1-7   The people murmur and God provides water from a rock!

+again, as last week, part of the early years “wandering in the wilderness.”  Israel is still “a people at risk”; this first generation is a people in training.  Is God still with us?  Are we still with God?  I suppose today it resonates with the question – what difference does it make if I am a Christian?

+last week we read how God tested Israel with the quail and the manna, this week we read how Israel tested God.  Does this seem disrespectful or collaborative?  An evolution from Abraham’s “unconsidered OK” to a more conversational relationship with God?

+here’s an intriguing thought – “Israel’s liberation is really dependence on Egypt transferred to dependence on God”.  Wow – what do we depend on, really?  

+what wilderness have you wandered in/are you wandering in?  Is it too much of a stretch to suggest that our national and international political situation is something of a wilderness?  What do you “thirst” for in your wilderness?

+the people murmur, Moses speaks with God, God gives instructions and Moses follows them.  Note that “Horeb”/”Sinai” in vs 6 foreshadows the 10 Words for Life that we will come to next week.

+the place is named “Massah” and “Meribah”, “testing” and “complaining”.  (Some scholars now think the sense is more “conversing” or even “negotiating”.)  “Testing vs trusting”?  “Complaining vs accepting”?

+finally, water issues – how do/will we respond as more and more people (in the world and even in the US) lack clean water?  What about clean water protections?  There is a World Water Day – I need to look up when it is when I get back to internet availability.  How often do you use bottled water, your own water bottle?  There was a fundraiser where you could buy water bottled in celebrity’s homes.  How about a fundraiser where we sold water bottled at St Paul’s, or your church, or various church leaders?

Phil 2.1-13  Be like Christ, who emptied himself…

+so this is a really big passage for scholars.  This is one of the earliest expressions that Christ pre-existed (and “post-existed”) Jesus.

+”live in harmony, be united,” Paul says, even though there were certainly a variety of understandings and beliefs in the early years.  Cindy McCain (widow of John) talked the other day about how there were always differences between Democrats and Republicans, but we were first of all Americans and could/would talk about our difference from a perspective of unity, and maybe even some humility.  How well do we deal with conflicting beliefs or understandings (faith or political) in the church?  I would suggest, not always that well!

+with a new tune, ”At the Name of Jesus” is one of the most popular hymns in England.  Again, when I get back to civilization, I’ll try to find a link.

+what would you have the most difficulty giving up for God?  What do you think God asks/has asked you to give up?  Specifics!!!

“work out with fear and trembling what it means to be saved” – further evolution of conversation and collaboration in our relationship with God.  Humans are both responsible for themselves and subject to God’s will.  How does that work out?

Matthew 21.23-32  Questions about authority and the story of two sons…

+Swanson notes that this comes as Jesus starts teaching, and after Jesus’ unconventional behavior in the Temple and cursing/blasting a fig tree (as we say today “without evidence”!); probably someone at the door should ask for his ID, for his teaching credentials!  How do we confer authority – in families, in church, in corporations, in government?  How do we respond to authority?  How do you react to religious brothers and sisters swearing obedience to an Abbot or Abbess?  And Swanson notes that the religious leaders here are caught between the power of Rome and the popular movements, in particular following the failed Jewish revolt.

+Jesus links himself to John – are they a team to be accepted or rejected together, or is it that  John is dead and hard to speak ill of?  Does the same apply to John McCain?  I vaguely remember a prayer for the dead, I think in the Jewish tradition, about how their faults grow dimmer and their strengths ever brighter.

+Or is this whole thing about John just to show Jesus’ skill at turning a question?  Again, a comtemporary political skill!

+Ok – the two sons – one says he will but he doesn’t, the other says he won’t but then he does.  Does this really connect with the faith leaders and the tax collectors and prostitutes?  They seem to be caught up not in “saying vs doing” but in “believing/doing in response to hearing”.  How would you say we do with hearing, saying believing, doing?  

+Jesus suggests that life is a matter of doing, not just saying, but that saying now does not preclude doing later.  It’s possible to have a change of heart.  I’ve known people who have had a change of heart and come to the faith later in life.  They have been pretty moving stories.    The husband/father/grandfather who after 50 years suddenly shows up and kneels with his family for communion.  Not many dry eyes in the church that day…

+those who are unconcerned with God can sometimes be caught up more fully than those who have been comfortable with God.  And can sometimes be kind of obnoxious!

Ok – that’s what I got for today.

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Words 9.21

 
Words Twice a Week 9.21
Answer from last week - “God does but I don’t, and God will but I won’t, and that’s the difference between God and me” - Lyle Lovett

From the church calendar
Mon 21 Matthew, Evangelist and Apostle He was a tax collector when Jesus called him. Mark and Luke tell about Jesus calling a tax collector they name Levi. It could be the same person. When Jesus goes to Matthew’s house for dinner, it leads the Pharisees to complain and Jesus to say it is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Among others, he is the patron saint of bankers, tax collectors, accountants! Just as an aside, who needs a doctor today, and are they able to see one? Who has insurance and who is on their own? Well, here’s the collect for Matthew -
  We thank you heavenly Father, for the witness of your apostle and evangelist Matthew to the 

  Gospel of your Son our Savior; and we pray that, after his example, we may with ready wills 

  and hearts obey the calling of our Lord to follow him; (and maybe even invite him for dinner 

  at our house!); through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy 

  Spirit, one God, now and forever.       - BCP
Fri 25 Lancelot Andrewes An English bishop and scholar, he held high positions in the Church of England during the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I. During the latter's reign, Andrewes served successively as Bishop of Chichester, of Ely, and of Winchester and oversaw the translation of the King James Version of the Bible (or Authorized Version). Yes, there are some issues with the archaic language, but I don’t think any other translation matches the beauty and elegance. I guess sometimes you have to trade off some beauty and elegance for simple clarity. Maybe for this week anyway, we could get out the KJV. For a real treat, I have cd’s of Johnny Cash reading the KJV New Testament!
Sun 27 Vincent de Paul He grew up in poverty. His family sold their ox to send him to seminary and he became a priest. There are letters saying he was captured by pirates and sold into slavery, but historians question them. "Although Vincent had initially begun his priesthood with the intention of securing a life of leisure for himself, he underwent a change of heart after hearing the confession of a dying peasant.” He organized the wealthy women of Paris to raise money to help the poor.

From the world/earth calendar
Mon, 21 – last day of summer write a haiku ending with ‘summer meets autumn’? have a picnic? rip out the garden? plan a road trip to see the leaves? - how will you spend this day?
- The Hobbit was published in 1937. [so you could spend it reading about Bilbo!]
Thurs, 24
- nine children were escorted through an angry, cursing crowd to integrate Central High School in Little Rock in 1957. We were there a couple of years ago – there’s a National Park Interpretive Center across the street. It’s a pretty moving experience.
  Dear God,
  In our efforts to dismantle racism, we understand that we struggle not merely against flesh  

  and blood but against powers and principalities – those institutions and systems that keep 

  racism alive by perpetuating the lie that some members of the family are inferior and others 

  superior.

    Create in us a new mind and heart that will enable us to see brothers and sisters

    in the faces of those divided by racial categories.

  Give us the grace and strength to rid ourselves of racial stereotypes
  that oppress some of us while providing entitlements to others.
    Help us to create a church and a nation that embraces the hopes and fears
    of oppressed people of color where we live, as well as those around the world.
  Heal your family God, and make us one with you,
  in union with our brother Jesus, and empowered by your Holy Spirit.
                    - Pax Christi, https://socialjusticeresourcecenter.org/prayers/racism/
- Dr Seuss died in 1991. What is your favorite – Green Eggs, The Grinch, The Cat in the Hat, One Fish Two Fish, Yertle the Turtle, 500 Hats, Horton, Oh the Places You’ll Go, The Lorax?
- it’s the birthday of Jim Henson Hey, I could watch a Muppet movie tonight.
Sat, 26
-Shay’s rebellion in 1786 – the first armed internal conflict in the US as farmers protested economic and civil rights injustices
- the last known Bali Tiger was shot and killed. Anyone for extinction

a haiku -
green leaves shiver in
light breeze, turn red, yellow, gold -
summer meets autumn

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Words 9.17

Words Twice a Week 9.17

Some thoughts on some of the lectionary lessons -

Psalm 105:1-6, 37-45 Give thanks to the Lord; make God’s deeds (in the Exodus) known among the people, particularly the quail and manna
+it does end up pretty problematically, as “God gave them the land of the nations” 1) still today we have Israel/Arabs/Palestinians trying to sort it out. In that day, Israel justified taking another people’s land because God was giving it to them. That doesn’t work today. And 2) isn’t this the same White Privilege/White Superiority/White Supremacy issue we are dealing with today? The colonists believed God had given them the land and the people to work it. How would this story read from a Native American perspective?

Exodus 16:2-15 Israel complains (“murmurs” is the traditional term) and God sends quail and manna.
+let’s linger a moment on the word ‘murmur’ – sometimes it’s the things whispered under the surface, unsubstantiated claims or rumors, that cause the most trouble;
+the “fleshpots of Egypt” - stewpots or stripclubs? Somehow I always associated it with the latter.
+As you look back – 10 yrs, 50 yrs, 100 yrs - what in life do you long for that you no longer have?
+so is this more of a story about God’s goodness or about God’s people’s fickleness? How does it read to you?
+the quail - some people think it shows God’s generosity; some think it shows a more petulant side of God saying “You want meat – here it is, quail 2-3 feet deep around the camp!” Check the parallel version of the story in Numbers 11.18-20.
+or, it says "in the morning the quail lifted and took flight" – and what was left behind…. It might not seem all that appealing or appetizing! Probably the manna was meant to be more separated from the quail than that!

+the manna (grace) can not be hoarded or controlled – but must be gathered each day (except on the sabbath!) and gathered according to God’s instructions. How has God instructed you to “gather God’s grace” day by day?  How is that working for you?
+one writer says “It is difficult for the reader to understand the callousness and lack of gratitude on the part of these people who have witnessed such powerful expressions of God’s mercy, yet prefer grumbling and disobedience to praise.” How are we dong with that?
+note that if we extend the reading to include 22-30, we get the development of the Sabbath.
+and finally, what desert are you/we wondering through/lost within? Here’s a prayer from the Revised Common Lectionary website -
   God of all who wander in the wilderness,
   you go before us as beacon and guide.
   Lead us through all danger,
   sustain us through all desolation,
   and bring us home to the land

   you have prepared for us. Amen.

Phil 1.21-30 Living is Christ, Dying is gain
+Paul doesn’t regard either as failure or loss, even though he is currently in jail!
+what are the things that hold you to life?
- a bucket list of things to do?
- people who depend on you?
- work still unfinished – sacred or secular
- the joys of this life: _________, _________, _________
+ how is “dying a gain” for you? (what do you look forward to about dying?)
- being with the Lord?
- no more sorrows, trials, and tribulations?

Mt 20.1-16 The laborers in the Vineyard
+a strange and somewhat troubling parable, a bizarre mixture of fairness and generosity. If we tried to live this way, it wouldn’t work, would it?
+the parable stresses that God is different from us. (“God does but I don’t, and God will but I won’t, and that’s the difference between God and me” -???? [ans next week])
+Jesus’ listeners would have identified more with the workers than the landowner. It’s a story for church folk, for insiders.
+Richard Swanson, Provoking the Gospel of Matthew, writes -
Above all, play this scene so that the audience entertains the possibility that the parable is supposed to be offensive. If you play it so the only authorized point of the story is “God is good just like the owner of the vineyard, so shut up.” everyone who owns a business, and everyone who works for a living, will file the interpretation under “Once again, the Church Doesn’t Get It.”...Work carefully as you explore the ways the landowner could say the line about “doing what he wants.” Standard interpretation gives him a warm, baritone voice, easy to love. Give him Donald Trump’s voice [swear to God, that’s what it says – and the book is copyright 2007!], or Leona Helmsley’s...
+So how comfortable are we with this understanding of Grace? “Divine grace does not rest on the merit system. But because it doesn’t, we insiders are prone to grumble [maybe even “murmur”!]. We wonder if grace does not undermine the whole reason for being good, for observing standards, for keeping rules, for living justly....Divine grace is a great equalizer which rips away presumed privilege and puts all recipients on a par. That’s hard to stomach when we have burdened ourselves with a merit system and want to see some reward for our labors;...when we discover those guilty of wrongs we have long opposed (racism, sexism colonialism, and the like) are brothers and sisters to whom the divine generosity has been shown. Grace no longer seems so sentimental.” - Texts for Preaching
+Who would you have the most trouble sitting down with and accepting as equally a forgiven child of God?

God of Grace and Glory -
your love encircles all that you have made.
We are so grateful that you are not like us,
but help us be more like you.

We pray in the name of Jesus, Storyteller of Life. 

Words 9.14

 

Words Twice a Week   9.14

This from Henri Nouwen as school starts up, online, in person, or some mixture -
One of the saddest aspects of the lives of many students is that they always feel pressured. . . . The word school, which comes from schola (meaning “free time”), reminds us that schools were originally meant to interrupt a busy existence and create some space to contemplate the mysteries of life. Today they have become the arena for a hectic race to accomplish as much as possible, and to acquire in a short period the necessary things to survive the great battle of human life. Books written to be savored slowly are read hastily to fulfill a requirement, paintings made to be seen with a contemplative eye are taken in as part of a necessary art appreciation course, and music composed to be enjoyed at leisure is listened to in order to identify a period or style. Thus, colleges and universities meant to be places for quiet learning have become places of fierce competition, in which the rewards go to those who produce the most and the best.
Good insight for the rest of life as well. Read [or scroll] to the bottom for a nice word from Joan Chittister to start the week with.

From the Church calendar -
Sept 14 Holy Cross Day – in 335, Constantine dedicated a church built over the purported tomb of Jesus, anticipating the triumph of the cross over death. In 614 Jerusalem was sacked and the cross was stolen. Emperor Heraclius invaded Persia, recovered the cross, and barefoot, dressed in sackcloth, carried it up the mount of Calvary and restored it on this date to the Church of the Sepulcher.
Sept 15 Our Lady of Sorrows – for those of us who didn’t grow up Catholic, the seven sorrows of Mary are the prophecy of Simeon, the flight into Egypt, loss of Jesus in the temple, meeting Jesus on the way to Calvary, standing at the foot of the cross, helping remove Jesus from the cross, and burying him.

A prayer-
Dear God,
watch over and bless all mothers, wherever, whenever.
Comfort them and give them strength
especially in their worries and sorrows over their children.
These days we pray in particular for Mothers of Color;
help us understand, empathize, and find ways to encourage and support them.
Guide us as we address the systemic racism of our day.
Give all mothers seven joys as well, and maybe even 70x7,
in their children and throughout their lives.
For Mary’s sake, and for the sake of her Son.

Sept 17 Hildegard of Bingen A Benedictine abbess. A Christian mystic, philosopher, visionary, and polymath, she corresponded with popes. Bishops, emperors, and theologians. She wrote poetry, composed music, dictated numerous books. She is one of the best-known composers of sacred monophony, as well as the most-recorded in modern history. She is considered by many in Europe to be the founder of scientific natural history in Germany. In 2012 the pope named her a Doctor of the Church, the fourth woman among 36 saints given that title. The art work The Dinner Party includes a place setting for her. Really – she is worth looking up and reading about!

From the calendar of the world -
Sept 14 – Dante died in 1321. Ok – have you read The Divine Comedy? Here’s a digital course. I’ll read a chapter a day if you will. Let me know!
Sept 15
- penicillin discovered in 1928. As we wait for a vaccine, we can sense what a difference that made!
- birthday of Agatha Christie. Watch a Miss Marple or a Hercule Poirot!
Sept 17
- US Constitution signed.    W Paul Jones wonders if the original idea of individualism tempered by religion is giving way to secular competitive selfishness that could be our undoing. A good day to read over the constitution, perhaps?
- and here’s an ironic and somewhat cruel twist of fate – it’s also the date of the Battle of Antietam, perhaps the bloodiest day of the Civil War
Sept 19 – [2010] the Deepwater Horizon was finally sealed in the Gulf of Mexico after blowing out on April 20
Sept 20
- Jean Sibelius died [1957] – take a few moments to listen to Finlandia, or sing This Is My Song.
- George R R Martin was born. And The Game began – will it ever end? Have you read it? Did you watch it? I read one book, and all the characters I liked were killed off.

As promised, a thought from Joan Chittister to start the week with -
Try saying this silently to everyone and everything you see for thirty days: “I wish you happiness now and whatever will bring happiness to you in the future.” If we said it to the sky, we would have to stop polluting; if we said it when we see ponds and lakes and streams, we would have to stop using them as garbage dumps and sewers; if we said it to small children, we would have to stop abusing them;…if we said it to people, we would have to stop stoking the fires of enmity around us. Beauty and human warmth would take root in us like a clear, hot June day. We would change.

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Words 9.10

 Words Twice a Week  9.10

Some thoughts on some of the lessons -
and there are a lot of options for this week. The “standard” Old Testament lessons are about Israel’s deliverance at the “Reed/Red” Sea. The alternate track lessons are about the relationship of Joseph and his brothers after Jacob’s death. And this week the psalm readings seem particularly reflective of the first OT readings.

Standard track -
Psalm 114 When Israel went out from Egypt, the mountains and hills skipped like lambs
+the house of Jacob going out “from a people of strange language’. Interesting realization that our language makes a difference in who we are. How does English shape us, I wonder?
+nice images, mountains and hills skipping like lambs, the sea turning back. As we will see again in the Exodus lesson, the stress is on God’s power over the cosmos, not just humans.
+then here is a thought-provoking bit from Texts for Preaching – “The present depends on what is remembered. Without a pertinent, available memory, the present becomes a chance for distorted perception and careless conduct. Ps 114 is an act of powerful remembering that leads to present-tense confidence and ends in an awed warning.” Especially as we discover that we re-create a memory each time we remember it. Could you say the same thing, I wonder, about having a common understanding of reality, a common set of facts – that without a common understanding the present becomes a chance for distorted perception and careless [or even malevolent or malicious] conduct – with regard to climate? with regard to politics? with regard to racism? with regard to economic policies?

or Exodus 15:1b-11, 20-21 Songs of Moses and Miriam
+again, celebrates God’s salvation in history and in the cosmos. (cosmologically?) Today we might look for God to be working in our politics (history) and in issues like climate change, intense heat, wildfires (cosmologically).
+reaching way, way back in the recesses of my memory, it seems to me I learned that the Song of Miriam - "Sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; horse and rider he has thrown into the sea" is perhaps the oldest line in the Bible.

Exodus 14:19-31 Delivery at the Sea
+fundamentally a story about the reliability of God’s salvation, in history (the Egyptians and their army) and cosmologically (the sea was “chaos” – God orders it as in Creation).
+so again, history [politics, race issues, wealth inequality]; and cosmology [wildfires, climate issues, storms] - how do we appropriate this vision for today? How do we look for God’s salvation? Note that the Israelites were feeling scared and weak, complaining – they were not saved by their strength, or faith, or cleverness, but simply because it was God’s will. Are we willing to depend on and wait for that kind of salvation, or would we rather work it out ourselves? Or how much should we be working while we wait? Or, are there some things we work for and some things we wait for?
+A piece by Maya Angelou -
   The women wept, and I wept. I too cried for the lost people, their ancestors and mine. But I was also weeping with a curious joy. Despite the murders, rapes, and suicides, we had survived. The middle passage and the auction block had not erased us. Not humiliations nor lynchings, individual cruelties nor collective oppression had been able to eradicate us from the earth. We had come through despite our own ignorance and gullibility, and the ignorance and rapacious greed of our assailants.
   There was much to cry for, much to mourn, but in my heart I felt exalted knowing there was much to celebrate. Although separated from our language, our families and customs, we had dared to continue to life. We had crossed the unknowable oceans in chains and had written its mystery into “Deep River, my home is over Jordan”. Through the centuries of despair and dislocation, we had been creative, because we faced down death by daring to hope.

- or - Alternate track -
Psalm 103:(1-7), 8-13 The Lord is gracious and merciful...as the heavens are high above the earth...as far as the east is from the west...as a father has compassion for his children
+familiar words of assurance. We pause for a Prayer of Confession, and then hear them again

  Lord, forgive us, for we are fragmented persons.
  We go many directions at once.
  We seek opposite goals, we serve contradictory causes.
  We mouth liberation, we live oppression.
  We shout peace, we practice violence.
  We shout justice, we walk in injustice.
  We preach love, we practice hate.
  Through your compassion have mercy on us and make us whole.
  Enable us to discern your voice among the dissonant voices. - Nat Council of Churches, Philippines
Now, we can go back and hear the words again -
   The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
   God does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.
   For as the heavens are high above the earth, 

     so great is God's steadfast love toward those who fear God;
   as far as the east is from the west, so far God removes our transgressions from us.
In the name of Jesus Christ, and for his sake, our sins are forgiven. Thanks be to God.

Genesis 50:15-21 Joseph and brothers after Jacob dies
+ the brothers still dealing justice, not kindness; still trying to “work it out themselves.” (Come back and think about this after dealing with the gospel). Family issues, and maybe even congregational issues (see Romans!) are not to be settled with justice, but rather with kindness and faithfulness.

Romans 14:1-12 How to relate to Christians with whom we have differences...
+continuing a theme we touched on thinking about the gospel last week.
+Christians belong to God, not just to each other, or to their faction or congregation.
+Christians stand united before God, who justifies us all. If this is God’s way, Paul says, it must be our way as well.
+Is there a resonating thought about how Americans relate to other Americans with whom we differ? If my neighbor puts out a Trump sign and I put out a Biden sign, can we trust that our vision of ourselves as Americans will hold us together? Again, what common memories do we have, what common understanding of reality?
+Again from Texts for Preaching – “What Paul seeks in this passage is not merely the tolerance of diversity, a grudging acceptance of differences. Instead he articulates an active welcome for those with conflicting views and practices. If Christ welcomed (welcomes) all people then Christians must find a way to welcome one another and to respect the integrity of one another.”

Matthew 18:21-35 70x7; the unforgiving servant
+here’s a nice line – “forgiveness is not arithmetic; we are called to forgive freely from the heart, not begrudgingly from the head.”
+then the parable of the unforgiving servant (or the powerful master?) Language does make a difference – what we call the story partially determines what we hear in it!
+not a morality story – “you better forgive, or else” (to be told you ought to forgive does not really effect a change anyway!) - but rather a story of how grace experienced begets more grace. When we experience grace our lives are transformed in gratitude.
+Except that it didn’t. The forgiven servant did not forgive. One suggestion – perhaps he is still operating by justice, not yet realizing he was experiencing and living by mercy, kindness?
+And how does this (and the Romans passage) square with the “No justice, no peace” theme?
+Here’s another thought, from Provoking the Gospel -
First off, how could a servant/slave ever have amassed such a debt? Swanson does the figuring, and it would take as long to repay the debt as humanity has been around on earth. So then he suggests this is really a story about power -
  +the master lets the slave accumulate debt, threatens to sell the slave and family, then forgives the 

    debt  –  all “because he can”.
  +the slave has learned the lesson about power and abuses his over the slave who owes him money – 

    “because he can”.
  +finally the master condemns the slave to prison – “because he can”.
So – is this the world we live in if we forgive arithmetically? Is there another option?   

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Words 9.7 [adjusted]

Words Twice a Week

From the church calendar -
Sept 8 – Birth of the Virgin Mary [Marymas] This is interesting – most saints are recognized on the day they died. Mary and John the Baptist/Forerunner are also recognized on their birthday, because their births themselves were seen as holy, Mary because of the Immaculate Conception, John because he was blessed by Jesus even before he was born.
Sept 9 – Constance and the Martyrs of Memphis A group of sisters of the Episcopal Sisterhood of St. Mary, in 1873, went to Memphis, Tennessee, at the request of Bishop Charles T. Quintard, to establish a school for girls adjacent to the (Episcopal) Cathedral of St. Mary. They were confronted by an epidemic of yellow fever and began to care for the sick. Yellow fever returned in 1878. The sisters stayed in Memphis to continue to minister to the sick while others fled the city. Sister Constance and six other Sisters of St. Mary, Sister Clare of the Society of St. Margaret in Boston, and a number of Memphis clergy ministered to the victims of the deadly disease. More than 5,000 people died, including Sister Constance on Sept. 9, 1878, Sister Thecla on Sept. 12, Sister Ruth on Sept. 17, and Sister Francis on Oct. 4.
Sept 13 – John Chrysostom, an early Church Father known for his preaching and public speaking. “Chrysostom” translates “golden mouthed”. Some of his prayers and liturgies are still used today. Here’s one that might be familiar -
  Almighty God, you have given us grace at this time

  with one accord to make our common supplication to you;
  and you have promised through your well beloved Son
  that when two or three are gathered together in his name,
  you will be in the midst of them.
  Fulfill now, O Lord, our desires and petitions as may be best for us,
  granting us in this world knowledge of your truth,
  and in the age to come life everlasting.

From the world calendar -
Sept 7 - Labor Day Especially difficult this year with so many out of work, although Garrison Keillor suggests that Labor Day has come to be less about the workers and more about picnics, hot dogs, and the end of summer. Here’s a prayer by Reinhold Niebuhr -
  O God, you have bound us together in this life.

  Give us grace to understand how our lives depend
  on the courage, the industry, the honesty,
  and the integrity of all who labor.
  May we be mindful of their needs, grateful for their faithfulness,
  and faithful in our responsibilities to them;
  through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Sept 8
- Debut of Star Trek on TV in 1966. ‘Beam me up, Scotty – no sign of intelligent life down here.’
- President Ford pardoned Nixon in 1974
- Oprah Winfrey Show airs for the first time in 1986
Sept 10
– the patent for the first lockstich sewing machine was granted to Elias Howe. Many homes had one, which allowed them to make their own clothes more quickly and easily. Unfortunately it soon became a means of exploitation as sweatshops developed where women worked long hours for low wages.
- Empress Elizabeth of Austria (Sisi) died in 1898. She had difficulty adjusting to the Hapsburg Court, and often returned to Hungary, where she loved and was loved by the people.
Sept 11 – attacks on World Trade Towers and the Pentagon. Another attempted attack, presumably on the White House was thwarted by passengers on the plane.
Sept 12 – First African American woman in space – Mae C. Jemison, a physician, in 1992.
Sept 13
- first recorded automobile fatality in the US – Henry Bliss was struck by a taxi in New York City. He died the next day.
- the birthday of Clara Schumann. She was a German pianist, composer and piano teacher. Regarded as one of the most distinguished pianists of the Romantic era. She played her first public performance at age nine. She married Robert Schumann against her father’s will [they had to go to court] on September 12, 1840, the day before Clara's 21st birthday. The Schumanns had a close relationship to Johannes Brahms. When Robert went into a sanatorium for the last two years of his life, Brahms was allowed to visit him often, Clara was not allowed until just before he died. If you don’t play, you can listen to some of her compositions here.

Words 9.3

 Words Twice a Week 

Welcome to September – try to remember, and if you remember, then follow!

Here’s a prayer for the week from Henri Nouwen -

Dear Lord, today I thought of the words of Vincent van Gogh:

“It is true there is an ebb and flow, but the sea remains the sea.”

Although I experience many ups and downs in my emotions

and often feel great shifts and changes in my inner life, you remain the same.

Your sameness is not the sameness of a rock, but the sameness of a faithful lover.

Out of your love I came to life, by your love I am sustained, 

and to your love I am always called back.

There are days of sadness and days of joy;

there are feelings of guilt and feelings of gratitude;

there are moments of failure and moments of success;

but all of them are embraced by your unwavering love….

O Lord, sea of love and goodness, 

let me not fear too much the storms and winds of my daily life,

and let me know there is ebb and flow but the sea remains the sea.

Some thoughts on some of the lectionary texts -

Psalm 149  Sing a New Song

- one of the five songs of praise that wind up the whole book, this one starts out really nice and then ends up a little more problematically!

- sing a new song when the faithful meet (again, not just by yourself!); when the faithful meet – masked, distanced, no singing – how does that work today?  Dancing 6 feet apart ok?

- because God created us, we are not just a fluke of the universe.  But did God create us specifically, or did God set in motion a creative process that includes all that is, and of which we are one part or facet.  If that is the case, is there anything special, unique, about us, and if so what?  1) that we can conceive of a Creator and be thankful and in communion with him/her? 2) that we can reflect on the creation and help direct it?  (If so, we are not doing such a hot job of that!)

- “Praise God with dancing and music” – nice;

   “Praise God with songs and swords” – huh?

   “Praise God with chains of iron (long guns, AK-47’s, poisons, bombs) to punish…

     This is the privilege of the faithful…”   like I said, kind of problematic.  One writer notes that this perhaps came from, and addresses, a time when Israel was oppressed and exploited.

Exodus 12.1-14    Institution of Passover

- context: end of a series of plagues which are competitions between God and the Egyptians (Pharaoh and the Egyptian gods)

- Israelites are to kill a lamb, put the blood on the doorpost, eat together with bags packed and the motor running.  What of that resonates with us today?  “The blood?”  “Eating together”?  Living lightly and being ready to move on at a moment’s notice?

- this whole death of the first-born (animals, Egyptians, anyone without blood on the doorframe) thing.  What does the story tell us about God, does God not love the Egyptian children/innocents?  “In light of other biblical insights into the nature of God, one must also deny the portrait of Yahweh as the killer of the innocent.”  -Texts for Preaching.

- note that the Israelites are not saved because they are special or a separate people – they are saved simply because they put blood on the doorframe.  The Egyptians could have done it and they would have been saved.  It was “only by the blood”!  How does this resonate with “Are you washed in the blood of the lamb” and “The path that is my portion may lead through the flame or flood, but his presence goes before me and I’m covered with his blood.”?

- in the end, God works to save, and this is the more valid portrait that we can take from this story.

Matthew 18.15-20   Words (to the Church) about sinning and forgiving

- as we saw last week, this and Jesus’ words to Peter in Mt 16 are the only places the word we translate “church” is used in the Gospels.

- context in Matthew – vs 6+ – drastic ways (cutting off hands, plucking out eyes) to avoid sinning; vs 10+ - finding the lost sheep (one out of 100); vs 21 – how often must I forgive

- if someone sins     (followers are called to “recognize right and wrong in love.”)

  1) talk with them privately, one to one.  Resist the natural reaction to line up allies first.

  2) talk with them still somewhat privately, one to three or four.

  3) involve the whole church – note, in Matthew’s day, this would have been a fairly small close-knit community.  And those who refuse to listen are to be treated like unbeliever or tax collector – ie, not a member of the church but a person to be won back if possible.

- note that Jesus envisions differences between us, two believers are at odds about something.  Neither one is necessarily right or wrong – there is an issue to be sorted out.

- situations of alienation are to be taken seriously.  How many times have you experienced someone walking away from the church for some reason – perhaps a perceived slight, perhaps a difference of political opinion, perhaps a different understanding of some part of the faith, ??? - and it never gets resolved?  Really it’s a failure and a weakening of the whole congregation.  But we have trouble with this – one of the things a few of us were trying to work on before everything fell apart last March was how to establish a form of communication, a venue, a ritual, where someone could say “I’m stepping away from the Church for a time because of……”  Not a simple matter, but a really important one.  

- vs 18  God will allow what you allow.  In other words, the Church has great authority to address changing, evolving, times and situations.

- vs 20  If two of you agree God will do it….   Probably best to understand this in the context of finding reconciliation and winning back lost souls, not carte blanche prayer requests.

- historical context: the aftermath of the failed First Jewish Revolt against Rome as Israel experience the “full force of the wrath of Rome”.  Note that in such times, “alienation caused by the two evils of hate and fear can lead to breakdown of community and widespread violence.”

- contemporary context - ???

Another prayer -

Dear God,

we are not sure what you had (and have) in mind as you watch your creation unfold,

but in some ways things don’t seem to be going so well, at least from our perspective,

and we fear that we are to some extent to blame!

Give us the faith to trust in you even in difficult times; 

Give us the grace to forgive and accept each other;

Find us, Lord, and bring us back.

Next week - what happens if we don’t forgive, even 70x7 times!