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?
+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!
+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
+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?
+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.
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