Words 10.1

 Words Twice a Week    10.1

Ok – as promised here is the setting to At the Name of Jesus that I mentioned last week.  The  tune is Camberwell, by Michael Brierley.  Yes, they look a little odd – it’s the Glossop Victorian Weekend    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HH0Yn5Unwh8  

As an added bonus, here Paul Ayres, a name familiar to Mqt Choral Society folks, playing his ‘last verse harmonization’.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWCICGy84mc   

Now – some thoughts on some of the lessons for this Sunday -

Psalm 19   The heavens are telling; the law of the Lord is perfect; may the words of my mouth…

+a piece from Buechner on praise -

  YOU PRAISE THE HEARTBREAKING beauty of Jessye Norman singing the Vier Letzte Lieder of Richard Strauss. You praise the new puppy for making its offering on the lawn for once instead of on the living-room rug. Maybe you yourself are praised for some generous thing you have done. In each case, the praise that is handed out is a measured response. It is a matter of saying something to one degree or another complimentary, with the implication that if Jessye Norman's voice had sprung a leak or the puppy hadn't made it outside in time or your generous deed turned out to be secretly self-serving, a different sort of response altogether would have been called for. 

  The way Psalm 148 describes it, praising God is another kettle of fish altogether. It is about as measured as a volcanic eruption, and there is no implication that under any conceivable circumstances it could be anything other than what it is. The whole of creation is in on the act—the sun and moon, the sea, fire and snow, Holstein cows and white-throated sparrows, old men in walkers and children who still haven't taken their first step. Their praise is not chiefly a matter of saying anything, because most of creation doesn't deal in words. Instead, the snow whirls, the fire roars, the Holstein bellows, the old man watches the moon rise. Their praise is not something that at their most complimentary they say, but something that at their truest they are.

  We learn to praise God not by paying compliments, but by paying attention. Watch how the trees exult when the wind is in them. Mark the utter stillness of the great blue heron in the swamp. Listen to the sound of the rain. Learn how to say "Hallelujah" from the ones who say it right.

+Day pours forth speech, night declares knowledge, but nothing is heard – does the day speak when we look at ourselves in the mirror in the morning?  Is the night’s knowledge what we face when we climb into bed and close our eyes?  Which speaks to you most clearly – the sun or the moon?  Especially when it is as full as it is tonight.

+speech, words, voice not heard – God’s Creation is experienced, God’s Word is lived not just heard.  How does Creation speak to you?

+the sun is like a strong man, and climate change is amplifying his strength – just ask the folks in California, just ask the folks on the Gulf coast

+vs 7 switches from the Creation to the Law of God.  The law, decrees, precepts, commandments, fear, ordinances all have their role to play.  But why is “fear” in this list?  The others are all legal terms; fear is a feeling?

+the psalmist calls for obedience, but is not blind to the ambiguity of life.  Rather he/she is “aware of what it means for living to have a settled center outside of one’s self.”  -Nice.

+”the law/commandments/words liberate life from brutality, alienation, anxiety, guilt.”  Or, they do that if we pay attention to them!

+the Creation and the Law interpret each other.  Creation is more than just technical explanations.  Creation has a moral shape.  The Law is not restrictive, but life giving because it reflects the character of Creation – to be life-giving.

+vs 13 the dominance of the insolent leads others to “become blameworthy”.  Did Trump cause Biden to act worse than he would have otherwise?  How have we been insolent and caused others to be less than they would have otherwise?  Who has been insolent to you?  What happened?

Exodus 20.1-4, 7-9, 12-20   The Ten Words for Life

+context – after this long journey, Israel has arrived at Mt Sinai and in Ch 19 has purified, and thus protected, themselves.  This was back when God was God and the people trembled – what causes you/us to tremble today?  Force of nature? Beauty of nature? Human behavior? Vastness of space? Beauty in the arts?  Is God in these?  Elijah reminds us that God is also in the “still, small voice.”

+the issue here is covenant.  God and these people are still getting to know each other.  Note “test” in vs 20.  God and the people are not equals, but “Law” is not the order of a master to slaves.  The Law is not a human creation to make God manageable, but a divine gift/revelation to transform persons.  What words would you use to describe your relationship with God?

+the negative formulation reflects traditional legal documents.  Jesus uncovers a more appropriate and positive understanding – “Love God, Love your neighbor.”

+so the Ten Words – 3 about our relationship with God, 1 about worshiping on the sabbath, and 6 about our relationships with each other.  Worship/Sabbath is the pivot from one to the other.  How does that work when some are not comfortable getting there for worship?

+which of the Ten Words give you the most trouble?  The old joke about the minister whose hat was stolen – he thought he would preach on the 10 commandments, coming down hard on #8.  When he got to #7 he remembered where he had left his hat!

+”Honor your father and mother” is reflected in the respect indigenous cultures pay to elders.  Does our culture do that, or if not, when, how did we drift away?

+there used to be a tradition in some churches of using the 10 commandments as a prayer of confession before Holy Communion, I suppose because it was seen as covering just about every sin or bad behavior.  Are there sins or bad behaviors that don’t seem to be covered and you wish they were?  

Alternative track -

Is 5.1-7  Let me sing for my beloved a love song concerning his vineyard…

+A powerful song – “the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the house of Israel, and the people of Judah are his pleasant planting, but…”

+so also a clear word to a people who have received great blessings and advantages, but have not allowed them to blossom and bear fruit.  A caution for our day?

Phil 3.4b-14  Paul counts all his “bona fides”/reasons for boasting/reasons to be confident as loss…

+again context – in 2-4a Paul warns against those who would require Jewish observance for non-Jews.  Could the same charge be leveled against those Christians and missionaries who require other cultures and faiths to give up their traditional beliefs to follow Jesus?  On the other hand, you can’t just stick “Jesus” on anything and call it good.

+what do you have in your life that you might boast about, that might cause you to be confident?  It’s not that these are necessarily wrong or bad, Paul says, but that Jesus is so much more. It’s the righteousness of the law vs the righteousness that comes from God through faith in Christ.  That’s great for me, but can I also celebrate it for others?

Mt 21.33-46   The wicked tenants

+again, context – Jesus is talking to the people and the religious/civic leaders.  Swanson expands our understanding of the context by noting that in Jesus’ day tenants were probably original inhabitants who had been pushed off their land by colonizers or the wealthy elite.  Landowners building structures and leaving would call to mind the Romans.  In our day we might be reminded of Anishinabe people losing the right to live on their hereditary homeland because they had not paid taxes to a conquering nation.

+the owner said – “They will respect my son.”  Huh?  Blind arrogance of the dominant culture? Or “They will respect my son because he has the power to bring in an army and squash them”?

+the stone the builders rejected/the cornerstone – I think it is somehow wrapped up with the idea that the master would come and take revenge, with the idea that “evil doing calls for evil destruction for them” – but I’m not sure I can articulate how it fits exactly!  Maybe that’s the stone they used, the one they rejected was that the master would come and forgive?  That’s what happened instead and has become the cornerstone of our faith.  But can we really believe and deal with that?

+one last time, the kingdom/vineyard is given not to any specific people or church, but to those who will allow it to blossom and bear fruit.  

That’s what I got for now – it’s late; maybe I’ll get back later with a prayer!