Words 11.12

 Words Twice a Week    11.12

At camp still – water pump froze but didn’t break; water line froze.  Packing up to come home for a couple of days.  And, [qm] = question mark; [ep] = exclamation point.  Not having shift keys that work is getting old[ep]

Some thoughts on some of the lessons for Sunday -

Ps 123 

-  another of the ‘psalms of ascent’ that the people possibly sang on their pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

-  ‘as the eyes of the servant/maid look to the hand of the master/mistress’ – has a sort of Downton Abbey ring to it.  That’s probably a little softer than the original sense.  Servants and maids were probably more like what we would call slaves.  So would they look to the hand of the master for reward, for chastisement, for orders[qm].  The psalm obviously intends ‘for rescue’.

-  ’we have had more than enough of contempt’ – these are Biden voters[question mark] Perhaps the contempt of the towns they were passing through.

-  Or, ‘the scorn of those who are at ease’.  The ‘undeserving poor’, the Cadillac queens, and all the other derogatory slights those who are ‘at ease’ [and most of us are ‘at ease’] use to label and separate those who are not as well off.

-  the psalm says that God’s mercy can override the contempt of the world.  Does that seem to work out for you[qm]

-  ‘my eyes’ changes to ‘our eyes’ – mercy is communal, which is hard when we are living more and more isolated lives.

Judges 4.1-7   Deborah

-  fitting to have a story about a strong female leader[exclamation point]  Deborah would sit under ‘Deborah’s Palm’ and dispense words and wisdom.  Interesting that she chose a natural setting, rather than a human built edifice.  Is that a female thing[qm]

-  this is part of the whole story of the people moving into and settling in ‘the land God was giving them.’  Of course, when the land already has people living in it, that raises issues, as we have noted before.

-  also, the underlying paradigm is ‘God taking care of them when they behave, God selling them out when they misbehave, God rescuing them when they cry for mercy.’  How does this fit with our understanding of God and reality.  Does a story sometimes get twisted [spun] to explain reality[qm]

-  if Deborah were active today, where would she sit, what would she say[qm]

-  the story goes on beyond the limits of our passage – Deborah tells Barak to raise fighters from the tribes Naphtali and Zebulun and confront Jabin, King of Canaan, by the River Kishon.  [that should tip us off – don’t fight the Israelites near water.  Think Frodo and what’s her name fleeing from the Nine Riders near Rivendell].

-  and then Jael, another strong woman, [wife of Heber the Kenite, just so you know who she is] drives a tent stake through the head of Sisera, enemy general, while he is trying to retreat, is a guest in her tent [an unwelcome guest, but a guest all the same], and is sleeping.  So some issues there.

-  as a story of God’s forgiveness and mercy, it’s nice.  As a story of ‘those who disagree with you are enemies [even enemies of God], not so nice.  All in all, a little hard to embrace if you are trying to follow the Prince of Peace.

-  one writer notes that Deborah and Jael act on faith [and are thus heroes]; Barak stops to consider and calculate [and is thus average] and goes on to say ‘the preacher may wish to reflect on where his/her congregation is merely average, where it is heroic.’  Hmmmm….

1 Thess 5.1-11

-  the Lord will come ‘like a thief in the night.’

-  be ready to be faithful in each new moment.

-  one writer puts it - ‘the Day of the Lord is always Now.’

Matthew 25.14-30  the servants and the talents and the Master’s return

-  note that this follows the wise and foolish girls with their lamps – could this be the wise and foolish servants/investors with [the master’s] talents[qm]

-  again Swanson reminds us that this is a story of master and slave, not employer and employee.  And that a talent is 38 years worth of average income.  He notes that the Talmud says that when a ‘master’ gives a ‘slave’ – who does not even own him/herself – such a huge amount, the safe thing to do is bury it in the ground[ep]  Winning the lottery is not always a safe thing to do[ep]  So how would Matthew’s readers have heard this story[qm]

-  if the ‘unwise/wicked’ servant/slave had given the money to the poor, or invested through Kiva, would that have been different[qm]  Seems like there was a story of a dishonest manager who made friends for himself with the master’s money, and that servant drew praise.

-  How did the ‘wise’ servants double their money[qm]  Does that matter[qm]

-  ‘Everyone who has will get more, those without will have even less’ – especially if they are immigrant farm workers.  Is this simply ‘unregulated capitalism’ or something worse[qm]

-  Swanson also notes again that Matthew’s readers would have heard ‘Rome’ in any story about a ‘master who returns.’

-  Matthew puts this story in a series about ‘last or ultimate things’ [eschatology is the technical word].  Issues while we wait for the end – faithfulness, preparedness, risk.  Love demands, or perhaps entails, risk.  For Matthew’s readers, perhaps the risk of public disclosure.  What risks do we encounter in being a Christian[qm]

-  and another writer notes that the ‘talent = 38 years of income’ suggests that we have been given great riches of skills and abilities to use while we wait for some kind of completion, either to ultimate reality or to our reality.  And this line – ‘grace employed abounds, grace buried does nothing.’   On the other hand, seeds buried grow into food and trees[ep]

-  note the first two slaves gain more responsibility and the joy of the master’s presence.  [that’s presented as a good thing – is it always[qm]]  The third looses the responsibility/joy of being a steward and the joy of the master’s presence. 

-  Swanson – again[ep] – notes that this is the last time we hear about ‘the outer darkness where men weep and gnash their teeth’ until we see Jesus on the cross. [well – it does get briefly noted in passing after the sheep and the goats in vs 46, but…]  He suggests Jesus recognizes abandonment when he experiences it, because he has pronounced it so many times on those who did not measure up.

-  so most writers note that while this often gets wrapped up in the congregational stewardship effort, and that even the word ‘talent’ in the sense of skills, abilities, talent show apparently comes from this Greek word, we should be careful….

A Prayer for this week -

God over all -

you are almighty in ruling not by force or violence but by love.

We lift our eyes to you, to our fellow travelers and pilgrims, and to the hills.

Our help comes from you;

our gifts and skills are at your command;

our lives are laid before you.

At least this is what we say with our heart.

As we stop to consider and calculate, we sometimes hold back.

Today we lift our heads and hearts to you

for guidance, for encouragement, for strength,

and we take these few more steps forward 

following Jesus, Lord of Life and Prince of Peace.