Lent 5 Sermon

Typing up a sermon afterwards always feels so last Sunday, March 22nd, but I had a couple of requests for a copy and I need blog content (or fodder, maybe), so here it is, more or less. By the way, it preached better than it reads.

• Ezekiel 37:1-14


I really liked my opening prayer:

From all the ends of the earth, come to us, breath of God.
Breathing life of the Divine, embrace your people and your land.
Let us live again.
In the name of the One Spirit-sent for the life of the world.
Amen.


Two days ago on Friday we celebrated the Spring equinox, a verdant greening time as days get longer. And now we celebrate the Persian New Year with our friends—thirteen festive days of rejoicing in creation!

We're two-thirds through Lent, as Jesus and his followers draw closer to the holy city Jerusalem. They draw closer to Jesus' trial, conviction, crucifixion, death, and burial. Nearer to the day of resurrection, Easter Sunday.

Throughout scripture, hints and types and realities of resurrection foreshadow Jesus' resurrection. New life out of ashes, ruins, destruction, devastation. New life out of the death of the old.

Less than two weeks from the Friday called Good, the lectionary that gives us our scripture readings pairs Ezekiel's provocative and pictorial dialogue with God as Ezekiel raises dry bones from death to life, with the seventh and last of Jesus' "I Am" statements from John's gospel. After Jesus' raises Lazarus back to life from death (he really was dead, already buried in the tomb), Jesus declares "I Am the Resurrection and the life." John 11:25

* * *
Ezekiel was a priest in the holiness tradition of the Jerusalem Temple. About 600 years before Jesus, during the last years of Jerusalem and the Temple before the exile to Babylon, Ezekiel ministered with words from God and words of God. Deep into the long book that bears his name, chapter 37 happens when Ezekiel's proclamation moved from discouragement and lament to hope and a vision of the future.

This is pivotal because it came about when news of the destruction of Jerusalem and of the Temple reached the exiles.

"These people" somehow had developed bad theology that located God in a special way in the heart of the temple, accessible only once a year, only to the high priest under certain circumstances.

Had they forgotten the God who liberated them from slavery in Egypt? The God of the Exodus who journeyed alongside them and ahead of them throughout those forty years in the wilderness? God who provided gifts like water from the rock and manna from the sky? The Ten Words or Commandments of the Sinai Covenant that showed them how to honor God by living together faithfully honoring their neighbors?

Since the temple was gone, did that mean God was dead? They were away from the land of promise that yielded such agricultural bounty. Did that mean all of God's promises were null and void?

* * *
We don't know if Ezekiel's conversation in the Spirit with God was a physical event, a sleeping dream, or a waking vision. We do know his experience of God's initiative and the subsequent call and response as Ezekiel spoke words in the Spirit from God and words of God convinced him there was a future.

Although the human Ezekiel spoke words from God and words of God and raised dead bones to new life, we often consider new life and resurrection primarily God's thing.

But wait! In the second reading for today (that we didn't hear), the apostle Paul tells us:

If [since, because] the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, God who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through the same Spirit that dwells in you. Romans 8:11

Earlier on, in his first letter to the church at Corinth, we hear from Paul regarding us as the gathered body of Christ – the church, the assembly of the faithful – and us as individuals:

Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? 1 Corinthian 3:16

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? ! Corinthians 6:19

So we've moved from bad theology of God being contained (God in a box?) in the Jerusalem Temple, to biblical theology of God indwelling us, making a home with us. We are temples of God, filled with the Holy Spirit, moving, walking, and talking alongside the people.

* * *
Ezekiel's words from God in the Spirit revitalized people who had been reduced to bones.

What dry bones of loss, death, disappointment is God calling you to resurrect with Words in the Spirit? Words from God? Words of God?

* * *
Today Jesus again invites us to the table of grace, the feast of new beginnings.

In the Lord's Supper, the Eucharist, we reenact and remember the history of the world's salvation that also belongs to us.

God remembers that we forget.

Jesus welcome everyone. You are welcome. I am welcome. We are welcome!

To God alone be glory.

Amen!

Five Minute Friday :: Real

Trust in God at all times, O people
Pour out your heart before God
God is a refuge for us
Selah
Psalm 62:8
• Five Minute Friday :: Real Linkup

• The real and the ideal.

• Real or fake?

• Reality or fantasy?

Our host Kate told us she hesitated last week before writing her post because it was a sensitive topic that easily could have been a trigger.

This week she asked but why not be real, with the example of women – and others – usually replying "I'm fine" "doing okay, thanks" and similar when someone asks about your well-being. We don't want to burden anyone, but why not say, "I'm going through a terrible time, please remember me in your prayers." Why not??

We often compare our troubles and challenges with what we've observed of others, with some we've only read about. We even compare our here and now with what we've been through in the past, and because we've come this far by faith, why complain? Why complain, but better yet, why not be real and honest?

Why not be real and honest because the psalmists were real. Moses was real. The prophets were real. Jesus' disciples were real. Jesus of Nazareth was as real as they come—and he really was God!

All of them approached the throne of grace with complaints, outrage, laments, accusations, grief, pleading, pleas, and "please." Do we not trust God enough, do we not trust the Spirit that indwells God's people enough? Why do we edit and sanitize our communications? Why don't we dare be real?

In a previous life I worked in an affluent community where too many seemed to try their best to appear other than what they really(!) were, to chase expensive designer fashion and home decorating trends, to drive high end vehicles, to send their kids to elite schools and summer camps, etc.There was a tremendous concentration of wealth in that part of town; you might say those blessed with generational wealth "came by it honestly" while for many others it never was really real but they tried for a particular appearance that could fake someone out if that other someone didn't know.

One of the proudest moments of my life happened when a casual friend from that place said to me, "You were so real when you interviewed. I was astonished you got the job!" What a compliment!

# # #

Five Minute Friday :: Might

The gospel came to you not in word only,
but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with conviction.
I Thessalonians 1:5
• Five Minute Friday :: Might Linkup

Then he answered and spake unto me, saying,
"This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying,
'Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit,
saith the Lord of hosts.'" Zechariah 4:6

Zerubbabel was supposed to oversee finishing rebuilding the Jerusalem Temple, but construction had slowed down and run into a glitch, as we might say. This passage reassures him that [human] resources aren't sufficient to accomplish God's work, or even to get anything done properly and completely. Cooperation and partnership between earth and heaven gets it finished, finished well, and – maybe most important – on God's timeline, not ours.

Our human power and might and effort and related gifts aren't wrong at all. After all, they are "gifts" or givens from God, and they're necessary for the ministries God calls us to. Our work in this world always partners with God's Spirit at the behest of God's call. Do you remember when Moses dialogued with God regarding "Moses, your people" or "God, your people," because it's always both/and?

Glitches in our lives happen because too often we humans try to do too much under our own steam, looking at our own clocks and calendars, too often not acknowledging the Spirit. Maybe we don't want to bother God with those smaller concerns when so much of civilization and creation needs so much healing, repair, and rebuilding?

Late December 2023 I determined to take a six month half year gap time, but as days went by and I assessed my situation, I realized a gap year made more sense. Now the chronology has spilled over a few more months into 2025, but signs and circumstances have made it clear it's finally time to move on. On God's timeline, not mine. And I anticipate more delays, possibly a roadblock or a few.

"Trust the process" has become such a cliché because that's how life works. Immerse yourself in the journey, savor each hour and each day. Ya know what? That's how humans learn and grow, how ideas develop, how dreams and visions become real. That's the way God engages us and gets things done. Not by human might, humanity's power, but by the Spirit that created the world, the Spirit that redeemed creation, the Spirit that calls us into a new creation.

Anyone who has despised the day of small beginnings
will rejoice to see the plumbline of the Lord's house
in Zerubbabel's hand. Zechariah 4:10a

Can you imagine teaching and preaching God's word without guidance from the HS? Can you imagine spreading the gospel, being the good news of God with us, God among us, without trusting in and waiting for promptings and instructions from the HS? The same holds true for every aspect of every moment of our lives. Think about it!

The gospel came to you not in word only,
but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with conviction.
I Thessalonians 1:5

# # #

Five Minute Friday :: Worship

My header is a [large] banner I designed from the opening of George Herbert's poem, King of Glory King of Peace. The actual banner is tall, but when I realized rotating it clockwise still would read well, look good, and be more compatible wirh this format, that's what I did.

• Here's the entire poem on hymnary

• Five Minute Friday :: Worship Linkup

After Nathan accused David and predicted the death of David's child, and the child born to David and Bathsheba died. This was before the birth of Solomon:

Then David arose from the earth, washed, anointed himself, and changed his clothes. Then he came into the house of the Lord and worshiped. And then he came to his own house, and when he asked, they sat bread before him, and he ate.
2 Samuel 12:20

Reverend Herbert's poetry announces, "Seven whole days, not one in seven, I will praise Thee."

In the wake of such extreme loss, David explained he'd fasted during the boy's illness, but since he couldn't bring the dead child back to life, it was time for worship.

Losses and disappointments of different dimensions are an ongoing part of earthbound existence. Sometimes we can change the outcome after a loss; many times we cannot. Why did Israel and why does the church set aside one day every week for worship—and for rest? To know life is a gift before it is a task? To acknowledge God as creator, giver, redeemer, renewer? To admit and rejoice in our dependence on God's mercy and love?

Cornel West reminds us, "We are people of hope. Why do we party on Friday night? Why do we go to church on Sunday?" God forgives, heals, mends, forgets, and resurrects.

"Loss is real." But new life from the dead is every bit a given – a gift! – in the reign of heaven on earth.

Seven whole days, not one in seven, I will praise Thee.

Amen? Amen!

# # #

green team talk :: bulbs roots beauty

• The Lord is with you!
• And also with you.

The church's year of grace will conclude nine days from now, and then we start another season of Advent anticipation. We count each day as we look forward to winter solstice and to the birth of the Son of Light we know as light of the world a few days later. People who follow the practical and spiritual way of the wheel of the year also yearn for light and excitedly anticipate the winter solstice; their celebration of the festival of Yule coincides with our festival of Noël.

For several years I've been following the 2-year standalone daily lectionary that's separate from the Revised Common lectionary. Specifically, I've been enjoying the Presbyterian Church (USA)'s daily office app that draws upon the daily lectionary for its scripture readings; this is the week of the prophet Joel. Most likely Joel wrote after the Babylonian exile. God's people already had escaped bondage and slavery to empires of Egypt and Babylon; now yet another empire, Persia, impinged on people's lives and freedom. Whether nation-state or trans-national industry, empires appear to be here to stay, so we need to learn ways to counter them.

²¹Do not fear, O soil; be glad and rejoice, for the Lord has done great things! ²²Do not fear, you animals of the field, for the pastures of the wilderness are green; the tree bears its fruit, the fig tree and vine give their full yield. Joel 2:21-22

In Joel 2:21 we hear the constant biblical admonition, do not fear, don't be afraid! This time Joel addresses what the NRSV interprets as "soil." The Hebrew language uses the same word for earth, land, soil, dirt, ground; which one it refers to depends upon context. In Genesis God gives earth to humans as a gift and as a charge.The earth of Genesis becomes the land of Deuteronomy. The land of Deuteronomy becomes the heaven under our feet of well-tended, carefully stewarded turf in promised land Canaan, and in our cities and towns, as well. Joel assures the land and the residents upon the land prairies will be green again, trees will flower, vines will yield abundance.

Maybe especially as days become shorter, nights get longer, we long for light that brings life, for beauty that's evidence of life. Did you know flower bulbs including daffodils, amaryllis, jonquils, tulips. crocuses, hyacinth, grape hyacinth {a green team member added iris, and then there's narcissus}, carry anticipation of new, eastered life within them? Those bulbs contain everything necessary for new life! That is, they contain almost all the essentials for new life. Everything except winter. We can provide winter for spring bulbs by placing them in a cold place for six or eight weeks. In the LA coastal basin or one of our inland climates, a fridge probably is the best option, though if you're in mountains or desert, the garage or an unheated basement might get chilly enough long enough. Hushed, quiet, still, chill of winter is essential to make roots that literally give the bulbs power to make flowers; winter temps allow bulbs to grow long, deep roots. When bulbs spend enough time in the cold, they think they've experienced winter, and they grow life-giving roots. Empires and struggles are here to stay; surrounding ourselves with beauty is one way to counter them.

In scripture, well-cared-for land becomes a heaven under our feet and produces food for human and critter consumption, flowers and trees for beauty and overall planetary health. Especially in the wake of out of our control disasters like the recent night club shooting and state-wide forest fires, we need beauty to keep going on with our lives. I'm going to chill some crocus bulbs so I can anticipate and enjoy eastered new life before the season of winter's technically even over. What's your plan?

To God alone be glory; amen!

Friday 16 November 2018 • Glendale

Porch Stories :: Hope

For her Porch Story this week, as Kristin Hill Taylor considers The Thrill & Pain of Hope, she tells us about a painful ear condition and anticipates {isn't anticipation a variety of hope?} celebrating the arrival of Jesus in our midst.

Last Sunday the church opened a new Year of Grace with the season of Advent, the nearly-winter month {in the northern hemisphere} we formally watch and wait for Jesus to be born in Bethlehem. The word advent has roots in the Latin ad-venire, toward-coming—just like adventure! Every year Advent begins with a splash of scriptural apocalyptic, signaling the end of the world as we've known it.

Churches that follow the Revised Common Lectionary for their scripture readings started listening to and studying the gospel according to Mark for this new liturgical year. Most weeks in the lectionary we hear an Old Testament reading from one of the prophets; as I explained to my adult Sunday School class, people tend to think of Hebrew Bible prophets calling people to repentance {to some extent they did—they also lined out if-then alternatives}, but more than a change in human attitude, behavior, and outlook, prophecy proclaimed the inbreaking of the grace-filled reign of God, the end of the old, the birth of the new creation. They announced resurrection from actual death!

Blue is the color for Advent; blue is the color of hope. Advent with its hope is a harbinger of Easter, the great Trinitarian feast of resurrection we celebrate as the fulfillment of hope. "Advent" comes from the same root as adventure. Are we ready to trust God through the season of Advent and beyond as we anticipate the defeat of death, the adventure of resurrection, the reality of the new creation? I hope so!

Isaiah 55:10-11

Isaiah 55

¹⁰For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and return not thither but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower, and bread to the eater, ¹¹so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

This was the first lection today—Pentecost 6A.

Green Team Talk: Ezekiel

Here's an approximation of my talk this morning to open our Judicatory Green Faith Team meeting; I paraphrased the Ezekiel text rather than reading it, though I've included actuals here.

Since we'd scheduled a meeting Friday after Lent 5 and I often default to lectionary because I appreciate both the discipline and the ease, I'd planned to reflect on the first reading for Lent 5A, Ezekiel 37:1-14. When we rescheduled for Friday after Easter 3, I decided to keep the Ezekiel passage. The RCL appoints it for Lent 5 of this lectionary year A and for the Day of Pentecost in year B. As one of our primary resurrection pericopes and also majorly about the gift of the Holy Spirit, it's the eighth reading for the Easter Vigil in all three years A, B, and C.

God called Ezekiel to the office of prophet when Ezekiel was in exile in Babylon; you know how it goes!

Ezekiel 37:1-14

¹The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. ²He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. ³He said to me, "Mortal, can these bones live?" I answered, "O Lord God, you know."

⁴Then he said to me, "Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. ⁵Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. ⁶I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord." ⁷So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. ⁸I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them.

⁹Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live." ¹⁰I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.

¹¹Then he said to me, "Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, "Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.' ¹²Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. ¹³And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. ¹⁴I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act, says the Lord."

The New Heart / New Spirit

The book of Ezekiel is long, influential, and dense; it probably didn't get written-down and readable until after the exile ended, likely around the time of rediscovery of the books of Moses that we read about in Ezra and Nehemiah when Israel / the Jews became a people of the book, so in what order Ezekiel and cohorts originally recorded everything is up for grabs. Earlier than chapter 37 I just cited we find three new heart – new spirit passages. God tells the people to get renewed hearts and resolve; God also promises to provide that newness. And why? Primarily for covenantal obedience. Not in order to get the gift, but in response to the gift, to put God first, to keep covenant with and care for all creation.

I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them; I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, so that they may follow my statutes and keep my ordinances and obey them. Then they shall be my people, and I will be their God.
–Ezekiel 11:19-20

Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel?
–Ezekiel 18:31

A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you, and make you follow my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances. Then you shall live in the land that I gave to your ancestors; and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.
–Ezekiel 36:26-28

The Valleys

We know agricultural valleys as fertile places of great richness. We also know how everything trickles down the mountain into the valley: the beneficial and helpful, the not so good, sometimes the toxic. When an ecosystem is in proper balance, bugs, aquatic life, and other factors help keep it healthy. God showed Ezekiel a vision of literal dead bodies. At least as much as the reality of those physical deaths, Judah felt the death of being cut off from their God in the strange land of Babylon. They also had a sense of death because they no longer were in the Promised Land where valleys had yielded bounty as streams and rivers flowed down the hills. Judah knew Yahweh as a fertility god, but they didn't yet realize Yahweh was not a place god, a deity confined to and connected only with a particular location.

The New Creation

Near the end of his writings, Ezekiel shows us the Land of Promise reapportioned amongst the tribes of Israel. Ezekiel was a priest in the holiness tradition of the Jerusalem Temple, the tradition of "You shall be holy, for I, your God am holy!" We sometimes use water as metaphor for the Holy Spirit. Ezekiel brings us a vision of the river of life flowing from the throne of God, into the valley and the desert, out to the sea. He tells us everything whithersoever the river flows shall live, shall be healed. His vision includes trees for food and for healing on the riverbanks. Everything in the path of this river lives because people with the new hearts and new spirits have cared well for the river as part of their keeping covenant with creation. Ezekiel concludes by telling us the name of this city is "The Lord Is There!"

God commanded Ezekiel, "the human one" to speak a word of life to the dead bones; to evoke the presence of the Holy Spirit, to summon the Spirit of life! How about us? Does the human gathering of the church speak a word of life? How does the church speak a word of life? When people look at creation, will they see it so healthy and green they'll be able to say The Lord Is There?!

The Prayer

Holy God, thank you for these days of May Gray and the June Gloom we anticipate, too, as they help nourish creation. You amazingly claim and call us by water, spirit, and word. May we hear, heed, and obey your charge to speak words of life that help revive the dead in our midst! Thank you for calling us together as your Green Faith Team; please help us complete the agenda for this meeting and offer useful resources at Synod Assembly. In the name of the One Crucified and Risen for the life of the world, for the resurrection of all creation. Amen!

Nativity • Puer Natus

Isaiah 9:2-7

²The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness— on them light has shined. ³You have multiplied the nation, you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as people exult when dividing plunder. ⁴For the yoke of their burden, and the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian. ⁵For all the boots of the tramping warriors and all the garments rolled in blood shall be burned as fuel for the fire. ⁶For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. ⁷His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onward and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

Advent 4 • Rorate Coeli

Isaiah 7:10-16

¹⁰Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, saying, ¹¹Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven. ¹²But Ahaz said, I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test. ¹³Then Isaiah said: "Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary mortals, that you weary my God also? ¹⁴Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel. ¹⁵He shall eat curds and honey by the time he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. ¹⁶For before the child knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land before whose two kings you are in dread will be deserted."

Advent 3 • Gaudete

Isaiah 35:1-10

¹The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the crocus ²it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God. ³Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. ⁴Say to those who are of a fearful heart, "Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God. He will come with vengeance, with terrible recompense. He will come and save you." ⁵Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; ⁶then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy. For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; ⁷the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp, the grass shall become reeds and rushes. ⁸A highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Holy Way; the unclean shall not travel on it, but it shall be for God's people; no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray. ⁹No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. ¹⁰And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

Advent 2 • Populus Zion

Isaiah 11:1-10

¹A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. ²The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. ³His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; ⁴but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. ⁵Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins. ⁶The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. ⁷The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. ⁸The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder's den. ⁹They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. ¹⁰On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.

Advent 1 • Ad te levavi

Isaiah 2:1-5

¹The word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. ²In days to come the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; all the nations shall stream to it. ³Many peoples shall come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths." For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. ⁴He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. ⁵O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!

Three Word Wednesday: Adoption

Today in her Three Word Wednesday Kristin Hill Taylor writes about Supporting Foster Families {and looking after orphans}. I've mentioned I like the discipline, the ease, and the appeal to creativity in using Kristin's prompt, though we can write to any trio of words. Kristin provided a graphic of James 1:27 that prompts us to help care for the needy, the vulnerable, the marginalized. During the era when James wrote his letter, humans who had no responsibly employed male to care for them existed in a particularly precarious situation. The reformer and theologian of grace Martin Luther famously did not like James' epistle, believed it did not belong in the canon, and included it in a group of seven NT books he considered antilegomena – spoken against – pretty much in the category of "leftovers."

Jesus tells us "To be saved? Keep the commandments. Keep covenant with all creation."

Churches since the protestant reformation have made a huge deal of our salvation by grace through faith in the atoning life and work of Jesus Christ. There tends to be a general feeling that Roman Catholics and Latter-day Saints emphasize good works more than most protestants do, yet when we glance across the map we find hospitals with names like Lutheran General and Presbyterian Central, (alongside RC and LDS) mainline protestant church-sponsored humanitarian organizations and missions and countless church-related colleges and universities that all help resurrect people from certain death into abounding life. Kristin's selected scripture from James correlates perfectly with one of my own faves from the prophet Jeremiah's speaking truth to power, in this case to King Josiah's son King Jehoahaz.

Jeremiah 22:15-16

"…Did not your father eat and drink
And do justice and righteousness?
Then it was well with him.
He plead the cause of the afflicted and needy;
Then it was well
Is not that what it means to know me?"
Declares the LORD.

Supporting Foster Families comes under the general categories of families and adoption. The nuclear family that in many ways is a late 19^th century development is not at all prominent in the bible, yet (maybe in place of the conventional nuclear family?) the New Testament brings us Jesus of Nazareth who creates families where there were none:

• For whoever shall do the will of my Father who is in the heavens, he is my brother and sister and mother. Matthew 12:50

• And he answered and said unto them, my mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it. Luke 8:21

For last Sunday, the Day of Pentecost, the second RCL reading was from the apostle Paul's epistle to the Romans that tells us God claims us as family, chooses all of us to receive a divine inheritance!

Romans 8:14-17

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, "Abba! Father!" it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.

Saul/Paul came from a Jewish background that celebrated the good news of liberation from death and slavery in the exodus from Egypt; as Christians we celebrate the gospeled good news of the freedom from slavery and death in Jesus Christ. The Spirit of resurrection God bestows in baptism is the creative Spirit of life that brooded over the unordered chaos at the dawn of creation.

To become adopted children of God means to live literally revolutionized (turned around) relationships in the new community resurrection creates. A long time ago I'd just checked into the hostel in Lübeck; only two of us were in the bunk room, so we began talking. The other traveler announced she knew her parents wanted her because she was adopted! She then told me about the tremendous confidence and freedom being chosen and brought into their family as a daughter gave her. Does our adoption into God's family in Christ Jesus give us confidence and freedom? Does our belonging to the people of God liberate us to answer God's call to care for the needy, vulnerable, and the afflicted? Will we plead the cause of planet earth that has become exceedingly needy, afflicted, and fragile, mostly as a result of human neglect, violence, and complacency? Let's do it!

blog action day 2015: #RaiseYourVoice

blog action day | Friday, 16 October 2015

BAD tags for this year are:

#BAD2015 | #RaiseYourVoice | #Oct16 | #BAD15 | #Blogaction15 | #FreeToWrite | #JustABlogger

The BAD organizers explain:

Why we picked ‪#‎RaiseYourVoice‬ as the theme for Blog Action Day 2015:

We have the power to create the world we want to see when we raise our voice to promote positive change and expose unjust actions. This Blog Action Day we will celebrate those heroes who raise their voice when faced with censorship, threats and even violence. We will overcome silence with our words and actions.

#RaiseYourVoice is good theology, first-rate activism, and an excellent fit for this blog. As scripture demonstrates, in God's reign of heaven on earth, the priest – the ritual mediator between heaven and earth – is not the one who holds true power and authority. The prophet speaks truth to unjust power, raises their voice, brings a word from heaven to earth, counters and protests the death-dealing voices of empire. The prophet carries true power and authority. Raising a voice that challenges? Yes, of course. That exposes? Indeed agreed.

The prophet becomes the voice of God; the prophet also becomes a voice for, the voice of, the broken, needy and vulnerable. The prophet brings God's call to us to partner with heaven in re-creating justice and righteousness in a broken world.

Who are these speakers of the word? Among many others, scripture brings us a couple of women who sing of a world very different from the same old, same old—a world and a way of life so different it inverts and subverts the old.

Mary's Magnificat:

Luke 1:46-55

And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior ... He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty."

Marian icon by Scott Ward

Mary must have heard and probably even memorized Hannah's Song:

1 Samuel 2

Hannah prayed and said, "My heart exults in the Lord; my strength is exalted in my God. My mouth derides my enemies, because I rejoice in my victory. ...The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble gird on strength. Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, but those who were hungry are fat with spoil. The barren has borne seven, but she who has many children is forlorn. The Lord kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up...

Sometimes God in the Spirit raises up prophets from amidst a particular gathered people—Moses. They've been known to arrive on the scene from very elsewhere: farmers like Amos! The last century heard prophetic voices like Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Martin Luther King, Jr. Because the world heard them and heeded them, their words helped create a different world. Only a couple years ago, Pakistani teen Malala got shot for advocating literacy for girls. Her voice resounded all around the world, and resulted in a lot of action, lots of change. You get the idea from my super-short list.

"Power to create the world we want to see" by raising our voices? Would any of us speak words of justice and life? Raise your voice? My voice? Someone might hear, might even listen? We know Moses and Amos made a difference; so did Hannah and Jesus and Malala.

Jesus of Nazareth became a living word from heaven, moved into the neighborhood (as Eugene Peterson's Message version of the bible puts it), spoke justice, acted justly, embodied God's authority. Jesus was and Jesus is the word that Martin Buber tells us is "incomprehensible, irregular, surprising, overwhelming, sovereign." Buber adds, "Therefore it is the virtue of this word, and of this alone, to lead, that is to say, to show the way."

How about us? Last Sunday's readings from the Revised Common Lectionary again reminded us about The Way of Jesus, the Way of the Cross. Luke's New Testament book of Acts call Jesus' people followers of The Way—a way of living and being so different it inverts and subverts the old.

Huey Lewis & the News

Everything's gonna clear up
And the sun will shine
Everybody's gonna cheer up
'Cause it's redemption time

Don't you worry 'bout a thing
'Cause you know that
Things are gonna change
When the time has come

Walls are gonna crumble
And fall into the sea
Oh, all men will be humble
That's a guarantee

When the time has come

Scripture distinguishes between chronos that's the measurable, countable time on our clocks, devices, and schedules, and then kairos, the right and ripe fullness of time that's wholeness, redemption, and shalom. Huey Lewis & The News mean kairos, and they promise it seriously. This "redemption time" is what the prophets yearn for, sing about. This redemption time is what God through the prophets calls and charges us to help enact. This redemption time is the very un-ordinary dawn of the new day of kairos time.

So we had Amos a sheepherder, MLK a pastor with a PhD, Malala, a female teenager in a culture that devalues girls. Where else can we go to hear pleas for justice and equality? Simon & Garfunkel tell us about somewhere a lot of us urbanites have been: "The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls and tenement halls, and whispered in the sounds of silence."

Overcoming silence with our words and actions? This kairos time is God's thing? Something God enacts? Remember God's dialogue with Moses: "Moses, your people!" "No, God, these are your people!" "Your people, Moses..." so it's always both/and.

Bob Dylan

Come writers and critics who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide; the chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon, for the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who that it's namin',
for the loser now will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'

The line it is drawn; the curse it is cast
The slow one now will later be fast
As the present now will later be past
The order is rapidly fadin'
And the first one now will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'.

Moses! Hannah! Jesus! MLK! Us!

Along with celebrating those other heroes who raise their voice, let's all raise our voices to overcome silence with our words and our actions, too.

Since 2007, Blog Action Day has inspired bloggers from different countries, interests and languages to blog about a single important global topic on the same day. Past topics have included Water, Climate Change, Poverty, Food, Power of We and Human Rights.

advent 4: rorate coeli

Advent 4 – Rorate Coeli



Rain down, you heavens, from above,
And let the skies pour down righteousness!
Let the earth open,
let them bring forth salvation–
And let righteousness
spring up together.
Isaiah 45:8a

Advent 2: populus zion

Advent 2 – Populus Zion



Say to the daughter of Zion, "Behold, your salvation comes."
The Lord will cause his majestic voice to be heard,
and you shall have gladness of heart.
Isaiah 62:11b; 30:30, 29

911 – 13 years

Easter 2014

And in this mountain
shall the Lord of hosts
make unto all people
a feast of fat things,
a feast of wines on the lees,
and he will swallow up death forever.
Isaiah 25:6, 8a

Good Friday 2014

He was wounded for our transgressions;
He was crushed for our iniquities;
the chastisement for our peace was upon him,
and by his stripes we are healed.
Isaiah 53:5