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backspace, backspace to 2.23 – it was the birthday of George Frideric Handel – of The Messiah fame. With due respect to all productions past, present, and future, the most exciting one we ever experienced was Too Hot to Handel in Denver a couple of years ago. It was really fun. You can catch last year’s 7 minute Hallelujah Project on Facebook – there’s a link on the website. Or you can order a full length cd from earlier years, or I suppose if you search around you can probably find it on Youtube, like just about everything else these days. (Note, this is NOT Too Hot to Handle – a “reality show” TV series where apparently young men and women in skimpy attire have to forgo sex to earn money!?)
(Nor is it (She’s) Too Hot To Handle, a 1977 “Sexy adventure film has international hit lady Caffaro involved in James Bondish escapades in Manila.”
(And note this is not Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah which is a dynamite song, but never really seems that “religious” to me. But maybe that’s just me. Maybe you have to sink deeper into it!)
Anyway, Hallelujah for Handel for The Messiah and lots more!
Then – this week’s challenge (write a “short fiction” – 280 characters or less - of the gospel story) -
We were drifting along.
Power running roughshod over truth.
The lamp of Justice flickering,
Kindness getting lost in self-interest,
Humility overshadowed by bluster…
In short, temperature dropping, wind rising, darkness falling, we were heading for “Texas”!
Love came knocking….
I still suspect you could do better than that one…
And finally, here are some thoughts on some of the lectionary texts for this Sunday-
Genesis 17.1-7, 15-16
+ Abram becomes Abraham, Sarai becomes Sarah. Abram was 99 years old. Does that mean Abraham and Sarah were 1 year old when Isaac was born? Note Abram was 75 years old when God first appeared and promised land to the sojourner and descendants to the childless. 24 years is a long time to wait! We were 14 years married when Christopher was born and that seemed like a long time!
+ “I am God Almighty” – first time Abram hears this name of God. Walter Bruggemann notes that the divine name contrasts nicely with the “body-given despair of this old couple.” Do you have a favorite among the many names of God? What “body-weariness” are you experiencing and how does one of the divine names contrast with it?
+ “You shall be the ancestor of many nations” – I was just reading something (climate related, I think) that said our most important task is to be a good ancestor. Man – it used to be that I would remember where I read something like that.
+ “Walk before me and be blameless” (CEV “do right” - “If you want a do right all night woman, you gotta be a do right all night man”) This is not a matter of moral purity, but rather of loyalty.
+ vs 7 God will keep this promise because he/she is God – it’s what God does.
+ so the infertility is in fact a theological problem, because God had promised a child 24 years ago. The tension between infertility and the promise of a child mirrors the tension in the promise of land to a sojourner.
+ Then I was listening to a podcast about a book Land: How the Hunger for Ownership Shaped the Modern World by Simon Winchester, about the concept of land ownership and how it is different among different peoples, especially indigenous people. Think Chief Seattle – “How can you sell the land?” He also noted that for example in Scandinavia, people are allowed to wander on private land, as long as they behave well. Does that maybe color our thoughts to some extent when we read about God “giving the land to Abraham”, especially when it had “belonged” to someone else?
+ and just a little pet peeve aside here, when you search for that book title, five of the first seven results are Amazon, and one is Good Reads which is owned by Amazon. Does anyone else feel somewhat smothered by Amazon?
+ God’s promise provides protection and resources for an open future. Even for us, a new possible future that we could never devise for ourselves.
+ note that we are still dealing in “family stories” – the faith comes down to us through families, and our families pass it on to others. Did your faith come through your family?
+ my favorite line in this story is just a few verses on when Abraham says “Why not just let Ishmael be my heir?” A child in the arms is worth 2 in the dreams/eyes? Especially after 24 years?
Psalm 22.23-31
+ the second half of Ps 22. The first half is a lament over hardship; this half is a word of promise. The state of helplessness does not imply God’s ire or disapproval – when the psalmist called (from helplessness) God did not turn away but answered.
+ note this is not some interior feeling, but for “when the people gather”. What kind of gathering is working for you these days – youtube, zoom, phone calls, emails, cards and notes?
+ vs 26 – “the poor shall eat and be satisfied” because the psalmist, as integral part of his/her praise activity, is sharing food with them.
+ the psalmist “offers testimony” as a part of the celebration – in general terms which the individual could then fit into their specific situation. Testimony moves into the realm of preaching or proclamation. Does “testimony” make preaching more relevant, interesting, significant, moving, believable for you? If you were going to give your testimony, what would you say?
+ God is in control, the ruler of all nations – how’s that working out today?
+ vs 30 and 31 - “future generations” – again, be a good ancestor!
Romans 4.13-25
+ Paul explains how the promise rested on Abraham’s faith, not on his works. Sometimes I think – just say it, don’t explain it, but that’s just me.
+ God is the one who gives life, who opens possibilities; so faith is “giving room for God to work”. What’s that mean for Abraham and Sarah? Where might that come into play in your life? The joke about the person who kept praying to win the lottery and finally God said, “Give me a break, you gotta buy a ticket!”
+ God does what God has promised, not just what we want. (Even if 2 or more are together?)
+ This all has to do with God “who raised Jesus from the dead”, so Abraham is not a hero (well he is, but that’s not what this is about) for believing which would be “works”; God is the hero for “doing” so Abraham can believe. Like I say, sometimes just believe it, don’t try to understand it!
Mark 8.31-38
+ First of three “passion predictions” in the gospel, each of which is followed by a story showing that the disciples aren’t really getting it.
+ going back a few verses, Peter proclaims “You are the Messiah” and Jesus corrects “Don’t tell anyone.” Now Jesus proclaims/teaches what “being the Messiah” means and Peter corrects – “this shall not happen to you!” And then Jesus corrects – “Get behind me, Satan”
+ note this was not speaking in stories or parables – “He said this openly”.
+ Jesus began to teach them – so this is something they have not heard before, they are unprepared to hear.
+ “Get behind me, Satan” Well, obviously the “Satan” part is bad. The “get behind me” – Jesus called them by saying “Come behind me” (and is about to say to the crowd “those who would come behind me”). So – how does it sound to you? “Go away” or “get in line”?
+ setting the mind on human things or divine things – how do you tell them apart? Or “thinking like God vs thinking like humans” – how do you “think like God”?
+ “Pick up your cross and follow; if you try to save your life, yourself, your soul, you will lose; what could you give to get back your soul?” Powerful, if familiar, words.
+ “Don’t be ashamed of me” – “Be loyal”
+ From Fred Craddock -
The rather elaborate reference to suffering, rejection and death in contrast to the very brief mention of resurrection is significant. The same proportion holds at the end of this gospel. Clearly, Mark does not want his church to use Easter to escape Lent and Good Friday. Then, at the heart of the passion prediction is rejection by the religious establishment, both lay and clergy. That may have been the sharpest pain of all. Whether the cross-bearing Christ still suffers such a fate is a judgment each one has to make. One popular preacher recently explained his approach by saying,”You cannot succeed preaching the cross. People do not want to hear that; they already have enough problems.” No wonder he is popular.
+ the passage included both private (to the 12) instruction and public (to the crowd). Suffering and sacrifice are not just items of first-century history but are inherent in the Gospel.
That’s what I got for now….
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