Not Quite Yet...

Mark 11:11 (NRSV)

Then he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple; and when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.

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Sitting In The Stand Of The Sports Arena
Waiting For The Show To Begin

"Venus and Mars/Rock Show" by Paul McCartney from the album "Venus and Mars" by Paul McCartney and Wings (1975)

The smallest things make all of the difference sometimes. Jesus and the apostles and the disciples enter Jerusalem on the back of a colt upon a way strewn with cloaks and palms. Cloaks on the ground are traditional for the entry of the Kings of Israel. The colt takes the nation of Israel back to Jacob's blessing to his son Judah.

Jesus comes into Jerusalem days before his last supper. He knows there isn't much time left. He knows it is late. Still, he knows that there are times for action and times for patience. Jesus comes and soaks in all that is the Temple before going to Bethany for the night. Plenty is about to happen, but it isn't going to happen right now.

Jesus is the show, but even he is waiting for the show to begin. The opening act, the entry into Jerusalem has come to pass. It is what we call the triumphant entry. Still, Jesus knows that this is the start, not the end.

Now, nearly 2,000 Easters later, we wait for the next triumphant entry. We wait for the show to begin, and patience is a virtue. But let us follow Jesus who got up the next morning and did the work the Father called him to do. Let us as the sons and daughters of the Lord join in the work the Father called his Son to do.

Holy Winds

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Genesis 1:1-2

In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.

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Call me the breeze
I keep blowin' down the road
Well now they call me the breeze
I keep blowin' down the road

"Call Me the Breeze" by J. J. Cale, recorded by Lynyrd Skinner from "Second Helping"

My favorite word in the Hebrew language is Ruach. There is an airy quality to the word that is appropriate because it means wind and breath. When you pronounce it, ru-aaaaach (heavy on the "a" light on the "ch") it sounds breathy, positively ethereal. It also means Spirit. So that wind from God that swept over the face of the waters is in truth the Holy Spirit of God.

Gotta love the breeze that creates, it continues to create, it keeps blowin' down the road. Even after six days of active creation of stuff and a seventh day where Sabbath is created, the breeze moves on down the road and continues the amazing work of God in all creation.

In Genesis, the breeze that blows across the waters, this breath of God, this spirit is imparted just before the light is created. It is the breath that blows across the chaos, across the darkness, across the void. This is the breath that precedes life. This is the breath that gives life to all creation.

This is the wind that comes off of the water in the morning. It’s the cool breeze that brings the dew to fall on the grass. It’s the summer breeze that rustles the leaves in the trees and tells us that all is right in the world. It is the Spirit that reminds us that God is in charge and regardless of the chaos of the world around us, it is the Spirit that says Emmanuel, God is with us.

The wind that blows across the waters of the formless void makes the form of our lives. And still, this wind calls us to listen and believe. When we stop listening to the word of God, when we quit feeling the breath of the Lord blowing across our faces, across our lives, we are not able to respond according to the Word. We instead pay attention to the words we hear from other voices.

When we stop listening to the voice of God, when we stop feeling the breeze on our faces and in our lives we stop forgiving and start retianing other’s sins. When we hear other voices, we do not hear the blessing of the Lord, “Peace to you.”

Temptation and Redemption

2Samuel 11:1-3(NRSV)

In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab with his officers and all Israel with him; they ravaged the Ammonites, and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.

It happened, late one afternoon, when David rose from his couch and was walking about on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; the woman was very beautiful. David sent someone to inquire about the woman. It was reported, “This is Bathsheba daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite.”

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OPP, how can I explain it
I'll take you frame by frame it
To have y'all jumpin' shall we singin' it
O is for Other, P is for People scratchin' temple
The last P, well, that's not that simple

"O.P.P." written by Alphonso James Mizell, Freddie Perren, Deke Richards, Berry Gordy, Jr Anthony Shawn Criss, Keir Lamont Gist, and Vincent E. Brown; recorded by Naughty by Nature

Anybody who doesn't know that parts of the bible could make Soap Opera stars blush doesn't know the bible very well. This is one of the stories we learn because it is so sordid. King David should have been out in the field with the troops; it was the time of year when kings went out to battle, but David was not. So he sees this really hot woman and he has to have her.

First lesson: Don't pin this one on the woman. Bathsheba did not have a real choice in the matter. She could either go to David or she could die for disobeying by not going to the king. These are her choices. "Appealing to the better nature" of an ancient king was not in the cards.

David calls her knowing Bathsheba is the wife of Uriah the Hittite. The adultery is not hers, he faces his temptation by thinking below the waist. What follows is not on her head. This is why I don't highlight the second verse of this song where the woman is blamed for her part in the indiscretion. In this case she is without blame.

So she goes as called and she becomes pregnant.

David connives several ways to try to get out of his adultery. To David's frustration, Uriah the Hittite remains honorable to his king and his men in the field and does not partake in the comforts of home, if you know what I mean.

David finally to free himself from his shame gets Uriah killed in battle. David all but kills Uriah himself. The prophet Nathan discerns this and calls David on his sin. Nathan tells David of the consequences of his sin too, Bathsheba will miscarry.

This is what happens when you fool with O.P.P.

Yet ultimately, this relationship begun in sin will bear fruit and good fruit too. David and Bathsheba will have a child. They have a son and name him Solomon. The wisest of all the kings of Israel; it will be Solomon builds the Lord's temple.

This is not an encouragement to go and sin so you can bear a wise son, that's probably a one time only thing. What this does show, that temptation exists. Seeking deliverance from evil is the better way to live.

Yet, through the work of the Lord, the sins of the people can be redeemed for God's purpose. God is sovereign, God is in control, even when we're out of control.

The Hunter and the Hunted

Song suggested by Marie Andresen. An assist goes to the Reverend George Pabst for getting the ball rolling on this entry.


Matthew 7:15

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves."

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Burning the ground I break from the crowd
I'm on the hunt I'm after you
Scent and a sound, I'm lost and I'm found
And I'm hungry like the wolf

"Hungry Like the Wolf" by Duran Duran

Let's face it, as words in the English language go, ravenous doesn't get nearly enough play. When was the last time you used it in a sentence or in a conversation? It's been a long, long time. Honestly though, just as soon as the word came up on the page, images of that wolf separating the weak from the herd, isolating the prey, and springing for the kill take center stage in the imagination.

When it's used there is no question about its intent. Sure it deals with hunger, but there is also more than a little menace in the word. Ravenous, it's hungry turned mean. So when I hear "Hungry Like the Wolf" there's a lot going on in that little phrase.

The wolf hunts. The wolf goes for the weak. The wolf separates the young from the mother. The wolf snaps its jaws shut around the head of the lamb and scats off to consume its prey. Let's face it, the food chain, the circle of life, they're brutal.

So in biblical times the wolf was not seen as a particularly noble beast. In a society of shepherds you could hardly associate a hunter of the weak as noble. Particularly when your society is the weak and all around you are the big bad wolf.

Using this image, Jesus warns us, beware the false prophets. They come upon us disguised as one of us. They seem to want the same things, but what they truly want is to devour and destroy what God has created.

They wait and they bide their time. They're on the hunt. They're after us. They follow the scent and the sound of the young and the unsure. They also are on the scent and the sound of those who are too sure of themselves too. Those who are overconfident and those who have nothing to be confident about are just the sort of people the wolf hunts. The wolf hunts both the lost and the found.

So beware false prophets. Test the spirits. Matthew teaches that only the good trees can produce good fruit, fruit worthy of helping us grow physically and in faith. We won't find good grapes among the thorns so we shouldn't rely on good words from ravenous wolves. Don't rely on feelings to help judge the spirits either, because false prophets can infiltrate those too. Seek first the kingdom of God. It is the things of God that will satisfy us with good food and not make us fodder for the ravenous wolf.

A Holy Kiss

Romans 16:16
Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.

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You don't have to be rich
To be my girl
You don't have to be cool
To rule my world
Ain't no particular sign I'm more compatible with
I just want your extra time and your

Kiss

"Kiss" by Prince recorded by The Art of Noise with Tom Jones.

Everyone knows what a kiss is, but what makes a kiss holy? The simplest definition of holy is "set aside for particular service to God." This is what makes communion holy, it is a meal set aside by the Lord who calls us to share it until he returns in glory.

But what makes a kiss holy?

This section from Romans is where Paul wraps up the letter. In this section he sends his greetings to the people of the Church at Rome who have supported the cause of Christ, and him in particular. Paul greets and thanks many, many people. Some of the names are Latin, some Greek, some Asian. Paul greets people from all over the globe at the church in Rome.

It's also the source for a joke from the movie "Dogma" where Kevin Smith introduces the world to the 13th Apostle Rufus. Verse 13 contains a greeting to Rufus who is chosen in the Lord, but that's for another day.

Paul greets them all and bids they greet one another with a holy kiss. A kiss of welcome to all of God's disciples. He asks them to kiss one another with a kiss set aside for the Lord. He isn't asking them to develop a kiss that would rival a fraternity handshake, he is asking them to set aside time and action to welcome and greet one another in the name and the sight of the Lord.

Paul reached out to all sorts of people in this chapter from Romans. It's easy to imagine that the people he greets can be rich and poor, cool and geeky, man and woman.

Tom sings of not needing to be compatible with a particular sign, presumably a zodiac sign. As for Christ, he is compatible with is the sign of the cross. This a sign that was set aside so that we will all know and remember his holy life.

That's all he wants, our time and our

Kiss. (Think I better dance now.)

Bum Rush the Show

Galatians 3:27-28

As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.

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What we got to say
Power to the people no delay
To make everybody see
In order to fight the powers that be

"Fight the Power" by Chuck D and Flavor Flav from Fear of a Black Planet by Public Enemy

Rock and roll does anger very well, and every beat of angry rock can easily be met with angry rap. It is said that freedom delayed is freedom denied, Chuck D says "Power to the people no delay."

It's amazing how many believe one people to be superior to another in the eyes of God and man. Somehow, people forget that in Paul's writings-when in Christ discinctions between people disappear.

If Paul had been asked to make a better list of those in whom there is no distinction, He would not have written a disclaimer worthy of a car ad on TV. Something like: “there is no distinction between people; including but not limited to Jew and Greek, Israelite and gentile, slave and free, men and women, black and white, rich and poor, homosexual and heterosexual, oppressor and oppressed, western and eastern, Catholic and Protestant, ninety days same as cash with approved credit, dealer retains all incentives.”

Given this, anger seems to be a logical response. When those who are powerful put themselves above others, they put themselves not beside God but in place of God. We are called to judge behavior, there are both right and wrong things to do. But as the children of God, we are all the judged not by another person, but by the High Priest of the Faith; the Prophet, Priest, and King--the Lord Jesus Christ.

Anger that burns city blocks is not productive. Anger that riles against injustice, that is the anger Jesus himself showed in the temple, that's something no moneychanger will ever forget.

The Time Has Come to Tell the World

Acts 1:6

So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?”

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Time has come today
Young hearts can go their way
Can't put it off another day
I don't care what others say
They say we don't listen anyway
Time has come today

"Time Has Come Today" by Joe and Willie Chambers recorded by The Chambers Brothers

Pink Floyd sings "Time is the same in a relative way but you're older, shorter of breath and one day closer to death." There's a pessimistic fatalistic attitude in our time that can't disagree with this statement. I guess if you look at life one day at a time with the only goal being the end of days, this is your song. It's tempting on a very bad day, but this is not our call. This view of time is not our vocation.

So the Apostles asked Jesus "Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?" Jesus said, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority.” The time is not for us to know, but Jesus shares two words with his disciples. He tells them that they will receive the power of the Holy Spirit and they are to be God's witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. They were called to share the Good News from the End of the World to their towns.

Well, we still don't know the time when Jesus will return in glory. So far everyone who has made that prediction was wrong. But the time has still come today. The time has come that we have been filled with the Holy Spirit. The time has come that we have been given the power of God. The time has come when we are called to share the word of God with the world.

We are called to tell the world that Christ has come, Christ has risen, and Christ will come again. Scripture doesn't tell us to get ready, scripture tells us to be ready. So take the power we have been given and share the word with the world.

As the Chambers Brothers sing, there are people who will not listen. There are those who are so hard hearted that they may never hear, but there are still others who haven't listened in the past who may hear today. So share and know that it doesn't matter what others say, the time has come today!