)
Daniel 1:3-7
Then the king commanded his palace master Ashpenaz to bring some of the Israelites of the royal family and of the nobility, young men without physical defect and handsome, versed in every branch of wisdom, endowed with knowledge and insight, and competent to serve in the king’s palace; they were to be taught the literature and language of the Chaldeans. The king assigned them a daily portion of the royal rations of food and wine. They were to be educated for three years, so that at the end of that time they could be stationed in the king’s court. Among them were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, from the tribe of Judah. The palace master gave them other names: Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They are one person
They are two alone
They are three together
They are for each other
"Helplessly Hoping" by Crosby, Stills, and Nash from "CSN" (1969)
Four men, four friends. They were among the men who were sent to Babylon during the exile. They knew their nation was subdued. They didn't know if they would ever see home again. By the end of this passage they didn't even have their own names anymore. All they knew is they had their Lord and they had one another.
They were brought into the compound of King Nebuchadnezzar to share their knowledge and insight. First though, they were trained, we might call it indoctrinated, into the ways of the Chaldeans. They were taught their language and literature. This taught them how to think like their captors. This took three years, three years of being some of the best kept captives in Babylon.
Never forget, the best kept captive is still a captive.
In their exile, in their captivity, they could have tried to live "every man for himself." but they didn't they were four together. Together they kept the faith even in the house of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, that couldn't have been easy. The Book of Daniel will eventually show this was not easy. Yet, through their faith in the Lord and their friendship, they persevered together. This is the hallmark of community, this is the mark of a Godly enclave.
Saturday, February 8, 2014
Friday, February 7, 2014
Sandbar Theology
Thanks to the smartest man I know,Michael Jinkins, for inspiring this one.
)
Matthew 7:24-27
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell--and great was its fall!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I enjoy this life as a jester
Seems to keep me movin' around
Like the wind that blows
Tide that flows
Have my ups and downs
All a part of some strange plan I'm sure
Start a new chapter each day
Honey, love gets lost, time gets tossed
'Cause we've both got our own different ways
I feel like I'm stranded on a sandbar
Stuck in my tracks like a street car
Playin' it for all that it's worth
I'm just payin' for my sins on earth
"Stranded on a Sandbar" by Jimmy Buffett from the album "Volcano"
As Michael Jinkins writes, "The gospels don’t have much nice to say about sand." This is the most particular reference, when the storms come there is little sand does that supports a structure. When the tide flows and the wind blows Jimmy Buffett sings of personal ups and downs. As for the walls of your house, well, there are just downs.
I went to Miami Beach for a conference about 20 years ago. As you can well imagine from the name of the town, everything was on the beach, and I mean everything. There were fences on the beach. There were swimming pools on the beach. There were restaurants on the beach. There were 30 story hotels and apartments on the beach. That's when Matthew's warning crossed my mind. How do huge hotels survive in a foundation of sand. So I asked a cabby.
He told me that before the hotels were built, tremendous concrete piers were poured as a foundation. I don't know how many cubic yards of concrete has to be poured to turn a "beach" into a "rock covered with beach," but I'm sure it is both many and as of today enough.
But that's enough about engineering.
The second stanza of the first verse of Stranded on a Sandbar is the lament of a man whose life not really in a good place. His relationship is failing because they both have their own different ways. Evidently she's moving on, but he isn't because he's stranded on the sandbar. He's stuck in his tracks and unable to move. But for some reason, he believes that standing still is a form of atonement and he's playin' it for all it's worth.
Being in a place where being swept away with the rush of life is no form of atonement. It's really not much of a way of life either. Being swept in the tide is little more than a good way to be cast out to sea without the benefit of Jonah's great fish.
We instead are called to seek the rock of ages, the rock of our faith. That is where we build our great foundation. Without a solid foundation, everything we have and everything we do will be for naught as it blows away in the wind with the sand. As Michael Jinkins writes, in the sand what is here today is gone tomorrow. It's better to place our trust in what is here always. The foundation of the Lord our God.
)
Matthew 7:24-27
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell--and great was its fall!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I enjoy this life as a jester
Seems to keep me movin' around
Like the wind that blows
Tide that flows
Have my ups and downs
All a part of some strange plan I'm sure
Start a new chapter each day
Honey, love gets lost, time gets tossed
'Cause we've both got our own different ways
I feel like I'm stranded on a sandbar
Stuck in my tracks like a street car
Playin' it for all that it's worth
I'm just payin' for my sins on earth
"Stranded on a Sandbar" by Jimmy Buffett from the album "Volcano"
As Michael Jinkins writes, "The gospels don’t have much nice to say about sand." This is the most particular reference, when the storms come there is little sand does that supports a structure. When the tide flows and the wind blows Jimmy Buffett sings of personal ups and downs. As for the walls of your house, well, there are just downs.
I went to Miami Beach for a conference about 20 years ago. As you can well imagine from the name of the town, everything was on the beach, and I mean everything. There were fences on the beach. There were swimming pools on the beach. There were restaurants on the beach. There were 30 story hotels and apartments on the beach. That's when Matthew's warning crossed my mind. How do huge hotels survive in a foundation of sand. So I asked a cabby.
He told me that before the hotels were built, tremendous concrete piers were poured as a foundation. I don't know how many cubic yards of concrete has to be poured to turn a "beach" into a "rock covered with beach," but I'm sure it is both many and as of today enough.
But that's enough about engineering.
The second stanza of the first verse of Stranded on a Sandbar is the lament of a man whose life not really in a good place. His relationship is failing because they both have their own different ways. Evidently she's moving on, but he isn't because he's stranded on the sandbar. He's stuck in his tracks and unable to move. But for some reason, he believes that standing still is a form of atonement and he's playin' it for all it's worth.
Being in a place where being swept away with the rush of life is no form of atonement. It's really not much of a way of life either. Being swept in the tide is little more than a good way to be cast out to sea without the benefit of Jonah's great fish.
We instead are called to seek the rock of ages, the rock of our faith. That is where we build our great foundation. Without a solid foundation, everything we have and everything we do will be for naught as it blows away in the wind with the sand. As Michael Jinkins writes, in the sand what is here today is gone tomorrow. It's better to place our trust in what is here always. The foundation of the Lord our God.
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
Picking Your Friends
)
Psalm 1
Happy are those
who do not follow the advice of the wicked,
or take the path that sinners tread,
or sit in the seat of scoffers;
but their delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law they meditate day and night.
They are like trees
planted by streams of water,
which yield their fruit in its season,
and their leaves do not wither.
In all that they do, they prosper.
The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
for the LORD watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bad company, and I can't deny,
Bad company, 'til the day I die.
"Bad Company" by the band Bad Company from the album Bad Company
Scripture reminds us that we are to treat all people well, because we never know when we will be treating angels without being aware that we are. We never know. We are all children of God, even the least of us, even the wicked. But that doesn't mean that we should be hanging out with the wicked.
So how do we walk this tightrope? How do we serve God's children while not hanging out with bad company 'til the day we die? The answer is that this is not the question we should be answering. This question is a smoke screen. The very first Psalm gives us a better answer, from there we can come up with the more fitting question.
Happy are those who who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers; but their delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law they meditate day and night.
The questions are "Who do you follow? Who do you serve?" Serving God, serving creation, delighting in the Lord, we serve all creation. This is how we serve all facets of God's good creation. Trying to serve humanity without serving God, it may be its own noble goal, it's just impossible to live that way with any certainty. When we do, we end up serving other masters to the detriment of those we seek to serve.
We can follow the wicked, we can be bad company 'til the day we die, but there is a better way. Following God, even in service to the weak and wicked we will be like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither.
So you see, there isn't a tightrope, serve God and we will be doing God's work, serving angels unawares, without serving the wicked.
Psalm 1
Happy are those
who do not follow the advice of the wicked,
or take the path that sinners tread,
or sit in the seat of scoffers;
but their delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law they meditate day and night.
They are like trees
planted by streams of water,
which yield their fruit in its season,
and their leaves do not wither.
In all that they do, they prosper.
The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
for the LORD watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bad company, and I can't deny,
Bad company, 'til the day I die.
"Bad Company" by the band Bad Company from the album Bad Company
Scripture reminds us that we are to treat all people well, because we never know when we will be treating angels without being aware that we are. We never know. We are all children of God, even the least of us, even the wicked. But that doesn't mean that we should be hanging out with the wicked.
So how do we walk this tightrope? How do we serve God's children while not hanging out with bad company 'til the day we die? The answer is that this is not the question we should be answering. This question is a smoke screen. The very first Psalm gives us a better answer, from there we can come up with the more fitting question.
Happy are those who who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers; but their delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law they meditate day and night.
The questions are "Who do you follow? Who do you serve?" Serving God, serving creation, delighting in the Lord, we serve all creation. This is how we serve all facets of God's good creation. Trying to serve humanity without serving God, it may be its own noble goal, it's just impossible to live that way with any certainty. When we do, we end up serving other masters to the detriment of those we seek to serve.
We can follow the wicked, we can be bad company 'til the day we die, but there is a better way. Following God, even in service to the weak and wicked we will be like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither.
So you see, there isn't a tightrope, serve God and we will be doing God's work, serving angels unawares, without serving the wicked.
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Mr. Bad Example
)
Matthew 15:1-9 (NRSV)
Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands before they eat.” He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must surely die.’ But you say that whoever tells father or mother, ‘Whatever support you might have had from me is given to God,’ then that person need not honor the father. So, for the sake of your tradition, you make void the word of God. You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied rightly about you when he said:
‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
in vain do they worship me,
teaching human precepts as doctrines.’”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm very well aquainted with the seven deadly sins
I keep a busy schedule trying to fit them in
I'm proud to be a glutton, and I don't have time for sloth
I'm greedy, and I'm angry, and I don't care who I cross
I'm Mr. Bad Example, intruder in the dirt
I like to have a good time, and I don't care who gets hurt
I'm Mr. Bad Example, take a look at me
I'll live to be a hundred, and go down in infamy
The title track from "Mr. Bad Example" by Warren Zevon (1991)
Jesus gets ticked off over hypocrisy more than any other type of sin. People who should know better, people who are called to be better, people who have received all of the benefits life has to offer--and then forsake the call to do God's work with these benefits are never spoken of well in the gospel.
The Scribes and Pharisees had a good thing going, and they knew it. They were the holy of the holy and their place in the temple and society were secure, until Jesus came to muck it all up.
Jesus came and called them out on their hypocritical behavior. Simply men themselves, they held others in far lower esteem. They had a system or rules and laws that placed a burden on people that could not be managed. They took their own rules, which began innocently enough as ways to keep the Law of Moses, and turned them into a horrible cross for the people to carry.
They tithed to the temple-which ultimately came back to themselves-instead of helping the poor and infirm. They actually caused more distress than they relieved. They would tithe spices, keeping silver and gold for themselves.
Warren Zevon is known for the images he is able to create with words and music, Mr. Bad Example is a great example. The Bad Example here describes the Scribes and Pharisees well. They knew the sins, and exercised many of them. They knew their status, and protected it at all costs, including the death of Jesus.
"I don't care who I cross." In this context, there is a bit of double-entendre that both the Lord and Warren are smiling over in heaven.
Matthew 15:1-9 (NRSV)
Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands before they eat.” He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must surely die.’ But you say that whoever tells father or mother, ‘Whatever support you might have had from me is given to God,’ then that person need not honor the father. So, for the sake of your tradition, you make void the word of God. You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied rightly about you when he said:
‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
in vain do they worship me,
teaching human precepts as doctrines.’”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm very well aquainted with the seven deadly sins
I keep a busy schedule trying to fit them in
I'm proud to be a glutton, and I don't have time for sloth
I'm greedy, and I'm angry, and I don't care who I cross
I'm Mr. Bad Example, intruder in the dirt
I like to have a good time, and I don't care who gets hurt
I'm Mr. Bad Example, take a look at me
I'll live to be a hundred, and go down in infamy
The title track from "Mr. Bad Example" by Warren Zevon (1991)
Jesus gets ticked off over hypocrisy more than any other type of sin. People who should know better, people who are called to be better, people who have received all of the benefits life has to offer--and then forsake the call to do God's work with these benefits are never spoken of well in the gospel.
The Scribes and Pharisees had a good thing going, and they knew it. They were the holy of the holy and their place in the temple and society were secure, until Jesus came to muck it all up.
Jesus came and called them out on their hypocritical behavior. Simply men themselves, they held others in far lower esteem. They had a system or rules and laws that placed a burden on people that could not be managed. They took their own rules, which began innocently enough as ways to keep the Law of Moses, and turned them into a horrible cross for the people to carry.
They tithed to the temple-which ultimately came back to themselves-instead of helping the poor and infirm. They actually caused more distress than they relieved. They would tithe spices, keeping silver and gold for themselves.
Warren Zevon is known for the images he is able to create with words and music, Mr. Bad Example is a great example. The Bad Example here describes the Scribes and Pharisees well. They knew the sins, and exercised many of them. They knew their status, and protected it at all costs, including the death of Jesus.
"I don't care who I cross." In this context, there is a bit of double-entendre that both the Lord and Warren are smiling over in heaven.
Sunday, February 2, 2014
Where the Devil?
)
Job 1:6-7 (NRSV)
One day the heavenly beings came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. The LORD said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the LORD, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Very superstitious, nothin' more to say
Very superstitious, the devil's on his way
"Superstition" written and recorded by Stevie Wonder from "Talking Book" 1972
One of the more liberal ministers and preachers from the 70's and 80's, William Sloane Coffin believed that as there is a real God--not just a concept of God--there was also a real Satan--not just a concept of Satan. Frankly, this isn't a belief that you would associate with a very liberal protestant minister, and reading his reasoning was amazing.
This is not the place to discuss the "reality" or the "truth" of an embodied devil called in Job "Satan." As far as names go, "Satan" means accuser. Specifically, in the Hebrew scriptures, this character is known as The Satan, The Accuser.
Is he "real?" Is his physical existence "true?" As for me, it doesn't matter, that's right, I think that it really doesn't matter whether we believe in a physical satan or not. I believe this for the simple reason that even if a physical satan isn't real, The Accuser is all too real. In our world there are people who try to convince us that things that are real aren't and vice versa. There are people who tell the children of God that they are not loved. There are people who believe that the only way to give love it by abuse, and even worse are those who have been so abused that they believe it is the only way to receive love. There is danger and evil used to separate us from God. There is addiction and abuse separating us from one another.
Even if there is no Dante's "Inferno" version of the Devil, it is still True that Satan, the Accuser exists. It may not look like you, or me, or a Satyr, but the truth of Satan is quite real. There are accusers ready to harm us. Yes, Satan is “going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” Of that, there is no doubt.
The joy of it all is that even when the devil's on his way, the Lord our God is on the stay. There is nothing that can separate us from the love of God. Beware for it is as Stevie sings, "When you believe in things that you don't understand then you suffer, superstition ain't the way." Not sin, not death, not the worst Satan can dish out, not the worst our friends can say about us. That is just one of the important lessons from the story of Job.
Job 1:6-7 (NRSV)
One day the heavenly beings came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. The LORD said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the LORD, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Very superstitious, nothin' more to say
Very superstitious, the devil's on his way
"Superstition" written and recorded by Stevie Wonder from "Talking Book" 1972
One of the more liberal ministers and preachers from the 70's and 80's, William Sloane Coffin believed that as there is a real God--not just a concept of God--there was also a real Satan--not just a concept of Satan. Frankly, this isn't a belief that you would associate with a very liberal protestant minister, and reading his reasoning was amazing.
This is not the place to discuss the "reality" or the "truth" of an embodied devil called in Job "Satan." As far as names go, "Satan" means accuser. Specifically, in the Hebrew scriptures, this character is known as The Satan, The Accuser.
Is he "real?" Is his physical existence "true?" As for me, it doesn't matter, that's right, I think that it really doesn't matter whether we believe in a physical satan or not. I believe this for the simple reason that even if a physical satan isn't real, The Accuser is all too real. In our world there are people who try to convince us that things that are real aren't and vice versa. There are people who tell the children of God that they are not loved. There are people who believe that the only way to give love it by abuse, and even worse are those who have been so abused that they believe it is the only way to receive love. There is danger and evil used to separate us from God. There is addiction and abuse separating us from one another.
Even if there is no Dante's "Inferno" version of the Devil, it is still True that Satan, the Accuser exists. It may not look like you, or me, or a Satyr, but the truth of Satan is quite real. There are accusers ready to harm us. Yes, Satan is “going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” Of that, there is no doubt.
The joy of it all is that even when the devil's on his way, the Lord our God is on the stay. There is nothing that can separate us from the love of God. Beware for it is as Stevie sings, "When you believe in things that you don't understand then you suffer, superstition ain't the way." Not sin, not death, not the worst Satan can dish out, not the worst our friends can say about us. That is just one of the important lessons from the story of Job.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
