Month: December 2017

Bible Tuesday for Advent IV, 2017

2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16

Now when the king was settled in his house, and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies around him, 2the king said to the prophet Nathan, “See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a tent.” 3Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that you have in mind; for the Lord is with you.”

4But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan: 5Go and tell my servant lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent and a tabernacle. 7Wherever I have moved about among all the people of Israel, did I ever speak a word with any of the tribal leaders of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?” 8Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David: Thus says the Lord of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel;9and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. 10And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and evildoers shall afflict them no more, as formerly, 11from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. 12When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. When he commits iniquity, I will punish him with a rod such as mortals use, with blows inflicted by human beings.15But I will not take my steadfast love from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. 16Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever.

This passage is from the story of King David coming to power. Originally, the tribe of Judah sided with David while all the other tribes sided with Saul. It took a while for David to unite the kingdom under himself . Once that was settled, David took his army out and fought against some of Israel’s neighbors to expand Israel’s borders. During that time, David moved Israel’s capitol to Jerusalem and build for himself a “palace” there made of cedar. Heretofore, David and all Israel had been living in tents and the occasional cave, but now David was establishing himself and his kingdom more permanently.

The above text encapsulates the conflict between God and Israelite kings. David sees himself as the king of Israel, while God refers to David as the “prince”. David believes that his might and capabilities have coalesced his kingdom and now allowed him to erect a permanent structure to live in. David wants to build God a house on the same level and of the same material as his house, as if to say, “I’m going to build my buddy, God, as house right next door to mine so that he and I can hang together all the time.”

God responds to David’s hubris by turning the tables. “You think I need you to build me a house when I have all creation in which to dwell, as if it could actually contain me?! You think you are going to build me a little wooden house to live in?! I tell you who is going to build a house! I am going to build a house, a dynasty out of you! Your children after you will sit on this throne forever!”

God also states that David is not to build a Temple to the Lord, but David’s heir. This is such a frustration for David that he procures all of the building materials, prepares Mt. Moriah (aka Mt. Zion) for a construction site, and has the royal architect draw up plans for the Temple, so that when David dies, there is a ready-to-build Temple kit waiting for Solomon.

Luke 1:46-55

46And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, 47and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; 49for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. 50His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. 51He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. 52He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; 53he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. 54He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, 55according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”

When the Israelites were following Moses back to the Promised Land, they understood that land to be finite. There were only so many acres and God was going to divvy it up between everyone so that the parceling of land was fair. Israelites thought about wealth and power in the same way, it was finite. If one person was really rich, it was because he had somehow amassed the wealth of others who were now poor. It someone was very powerful, it was because he had somehow usurped the power of others we were now deprived of some of their power. The Year of Jubilee falling every 50 years was meant to be a reset button, re-leveling the playing field of life and redistributing wealth in a more even way.

In former times when the liturgical color of Advent was purple, there was one Sunday of reprieve from this shorter season of repentance, Rose Sunday. The third Sunday of Advent was reserved for Mary, The story of Mary and Elizabeth was read on this Sunday, which was marked with a pink candle on the otherwise purple candled evergreen wreath. Though the theme of Advent has shifted from the purple penitence to blue hope, we still celebrate with Mary on this 3rd Sunday of Advent.

In her Magnificat, Mary speaks an “aha moment”. Gabriel’s announcement, and Elizabeth’s greeting have given Mary eyes to see the Year of Jubilee that God is inaugurating in and with her. All the up-side-downing in her speech is God redistributing wealth and power to bring everyone back into the middle where everyone has enough and no one has too much. Because, in the Kingdom of God, all peoples’ needs are satisfied to empower them to love and satisfy the needs of others.

Romans 16:25-27

Now to God who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages 26but is now disclosed, and through the prophetic writings is made known to all the Gentiles, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— 27to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever! Amen.

These final words of Paul’s letter to the congregation in Rome are not likely Paul’s words. Some ancient manuscripts don’t have these words, while others have them inserted into other places in the book of Romans. The fact that these words are missing from many manuscripts and that these words are a doxology suggest that Paul’s letter to the congregation in Rome was used in the earliest Christian worship services.

Whether Paul wrote them or not is mute, the continue the themes most important to Paul: 1) Paul’s proclamation is gospel, the gospel of Jesus, son of God, 2) Jesus being God in the flesh is the ultimate revelation of the mystery of God, a mystery spoken about in the words of the prophets, 3) the mystery of God’s salvation for creation is made available to all, both Jew and Gentile, 4) faith is the key to participation in God’s fulfillment of all promises.

Luke 1:26-38

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.”29But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. 33He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” 34Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” 35The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. 36And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. 37For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

The angel, Gabriel, is named in the Hebrew Scriptures, most often in the book of Daniel. It is he who leads God’s army. But in this passage of the gospel of Luke, Gabriel wages war for God in a whole new way, by announcing the conception of God in the Flesh, Jesus. The “lucky lady” is Mary who is described as a “virgin”.

The Greek parthena, and the Hebrew almah, are translated as “virgin” in English. Both parthena and almah mean young, unmarried woman. There has been debate on whether young and unmarried actually meant “virgin”. In the days when women were stoned for premarital sex, whether consensual or not, being young and unmarried was synonymous with being a virgin. Therefore, I believe Mary was not only young and unmarried, but also a virgin when God miraculously implanted in her the pregnancy which was Jesus.

Gabriel’s message announcing Mary’s pregnancy is full of references to Hebrew Scriptures. The books of Isaiah, Daniel, Samuel, are all either alluded to or quoted directly in Gabriel’s short proclamation.

While Mary seems puzzled and frightened by Gabriel’s words, the news that Elizabeth is also pregnant appears to help Mary accept the angel’s miraculous annunciation. What is most astounding, most endearing to me is Mary’s response, “Here I am, the servant of the Lord. Let it be with me according to your w

Bible Tuesday for Advent III, 2017

Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11

The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; 2to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; 3to provide for those who mourn in Zion— to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit. They will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, to display his glory.

4They shall build up the ancient ruins, they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations. 8For I the Lord love justice, I hate robbery and wrongdoing; I will faithfully give them their recompense, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. 9Their descendants shall be known among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples; all who see them shall acknowledge that they are a people whom the Lord has blessed.

10I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my whole being shall exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. 11For as the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.

Prior to Pentecost, the Bible speaks of the Holy Spirit (aka: Spirit of the Lord) as being given at certain times for certain purposes, and as being taken away for certain sins. In this passage from the Third section of Isaiah, the prophet proclaims that the Holy Spirit has been given him to proclaim that God is inaugurating the Year of Jubilee.

The Year of Jubilee is prescribed in Leviticus to occur every 50 years. In the Year of Jubilee, all debts are cancelled, and those lands granted to families but which had been sold would revert to those families. All in indentured servitude were released.

The above passage of Third Isaiah was written to the Israelites who had been in Babylonian captivity for 50 years. The Persian king, Cyrus, defeated Babylonia and released the Israelites so they could go home. The Israelites were indeed servants who had been emancipated. As they were released to return to Jerusalem and the surrounding area, they were fearful of what they would find. The whole area had been ravaged by the Babylonian army as it conquered Israel. What houses, businesses, and farms that survived were occupied by others now. The Year of Jubilee called for everything to revert back to its original owners and life to begin again.

Luke 1:46-55

1 Thessalonians 5:16-24

16Rejoice always, 17pray without ceasing, 18give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19Do not quench the Spirit. 20Do not despise the words of prophets, 21but test everything; hold fast to what is good; 22abstain from every form of evil.

23May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this.

These last verses of Paul’s letter to the church in Thessalonica remind me of parent’s final instructions as a son or daughter moves away from home. All of those life lessons crammed into final, frantic instruction, concluding with a benediction of love and promise.

John 1:6-8, 19-28

6There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. 8He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.

19This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, “I am not the Messiah.” 21And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” He answered, “No.” 22Then they said to him, “Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’” as the prophet Isaiah said. 24Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. 25They asked him, “Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?”26John answered them, “I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, 27the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.” 28This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing.

In this Lectionary B year of Mark, we get a long of readings from the gospel of John. (Mark is short and terse, and John is weird so let’s just throw them together and make them share a year!) The opening verses of the gospel of John are called The Prolegomena. Prolegomena is defined by Dictionary.com as

1.a preliminary discussion; introductory essay, as prefatory matter in abook; a prologue.

Usually, prolegomena. ( sometimes used with a singular verb) a treatise serving as a preface or introduction to a book.

In this case, the first 18 verses of the gospel of John are the Prolegomena. We have part of that assigned for this week’s gospel reading. The second part of the above reading is from the second section of the gospel of John. The Prolegomena, unlike the other three gospels, proclaims Jesus eternal, the will and word of God incarnate, that is, in human flesh. The Prolegomena also introduces the metaphor of light and darkness which is woven throughout the gospel.

On this third Sunday of Advent, we zero in on John the Baptist. John the Baptist’s name actually exists on a document found in an archeological dig! He was famous, truly drawing large crowds to the Jordan. John the Baptist had disciples who did not recognize Jesus as Messiah but continued on in his tradition of baptism of repentance for preparation for God. There are actually a couple of John the Baptist congregations in the US.

The above section of the gospel of John is a strong statement of orientation correction. Here is this guy, John, devoting himself and his whole career to pointing to and preparing for someone else. And when that someone comes, John recognizes him and points him out to everyone else. While the other three gospels tell of John the Baptist, the gospel of John makes it very clear to all readers that John the Baptist was an arrow…pointing to Jesus. Don’t worship the arrow…follow its direction and worship that to which it points, the Word made Flesh.

Bible Tuesday for Advent II, 2017

Isaiah 40:1-11

Comfort, O comfort my people,
says your God.
2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that she has served her term,
that her penalty is paid,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins.

3 A voice cries out:
‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
5 Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all people shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.’

6 A voice says, ‘Cry out!’
And I said, ‘What shall I cry?’
All people are grass,
their constancy is like the flower of the field.
7 The grass withers, the flower fades,
when the breath of the Lord blows upon it;
surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers, the flower fades;
but the word of our God will stand for ever.
9 Get you up to a high mountain,
O Zion, herald of good tidings;*
lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings,*
lift it up, do not fear;
say to the cities of Judah,
‘Here is your God!’
10 See, the Lord God comes with might,
and his arm rules for him;
his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.
11 He will feed his flock like a shepherd;
he will gather the lambs in his arms,
and carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead the mother sheep.

Thank you, Lord God, for Advent. I relish the color lapis blue, the color of hope. These words of the prophet Isaiah, in my heart always arm in arm with Handel’s music, form within me a beast coiled to spring, like a deer crouched to bound through a clearing. Lord, Jesus, may we coil in crouching, “Keep[ing] awake!” And, with renewed Advent hope, may we launch ourselves, bounding into the servant life of the baptized. Amen

These verses of Isaiah come from the opening passage of “Deutero-Isaiah”, or Second Isaiah. First Isaiah is through to have truly been written and delivered by the prophet Isaiah in the time before Judah/the Southern Kingdom fell to Babylonia. Second Isaiah is thought to have been written at the end of Israel’s captivity, when Babylonia fell to Persia, but before Cyrus of Persia released the Israelites to return home.

This passage begins with words of reprieve. “Your jail time is over! Clemency has been granted! God has declared your punishment sufficient, more than double!” The next three verses proclaim God will return to Canaan, the Promised Land, along with Israel. Earlier in Isaiah, the prophet proclaimed that God’s presence will leave the land of Israel because the sin of the Israelite people has putrefied the land. But now all is forgiven and God and God’s people will return to the Promised Land.

Verses 6-8 contain a dialogue between the prophet and a commanding voice from heaven. The commanding voice commands: “Proclaim!” or “Cry out!” The prophet replies, “Proclaim what?” “or “What shall I cry out?” The commanding heavenly voice then explains that though living things are weak and temporary, God’s word is always fulfilled. In this context, “Your captors, Babylonians, are mere mortals. Yahweh was and is and is to come. The words of Yahweh are permanent and always happen.

The last section of this passage launches the good news of God’s victory to all Israelite captives, whether in Babylonia or still in Israel. The last time a herald proclaimed a victory in Jerusalem, it was Babylonia’s victory over the fallen Israel. Now, God is undoing all of that. This herald is to proclaim to Israel that Yahweh is coming. Even more, Yahweh is not coming in anger to a defeated people, but in the loving posture of a shepherd to his/her sheep.

Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13

To the leader. Of the Korahites. A Psalm.
1 Lord, you were favourable to your land;
you restored the fortunes of Jacob.
2 You forgave the iniquity of your people;
you pardoned all their sin.
8 Let me hear what God the Lord will speak,
for he will speak peace to his people,
to his faithful, to those who turn to him in their hearts.*
9 Surely his salvation is at hand for those who fear him,
that his glory may dwell in our land.

10 Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet;
righteousness and peace will kiss each other.
11 Faithfulness will spring up from the ground,
and righteousness will look down from the sky.
12 The Lord will give what is good,
and our land will yield its increase.
13 Righteousness will go before him,
and will make a path for his steps.

Here the psalmist sings of God leading the Israelites home from captivity. Verse 9 restates that God’s presence left the Promised Land during Israel’s captivity but is now returning. Verses 10-13 sing of the pleasant and peaceful conditions that God’s presence brings about.

2 Peter 3:8-15

8 But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. 9The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you,* not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance. 10But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed.*

11 Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness,12waiting for and hastening* the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set ablaze and dissolved, and the elements will melt with fire? 13But, in accordance with his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home.

14 Therefore, beloved, while you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by him at peace, without spot or blemish; 15and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation.

This letter is thought to have been written from Rome to an undetermined congregation. If written by the apostle, Peter, it would have been written at the end of his life, shortly before his martyrdom in 64/65 AD. If written by one of Peter’s congregants, it may have been written as late as 90 AD.

In the above passage, the writer takes up a question also addressed by Paul in several of his letters: When will Jesus come back?! The author quotes Psalm 90:4 in verse 8, to say that time is different with God than it is for us. Throughout the Hebrew scriptures, God declares promises which take generations to be fulfilled. Those early Jewish followers of Jesus believed that God’s promise to Abraham (of land, progeny, and to be a blessing to all people) wasn’t fulfilled until Jesus died to expiate all sin, more than 1000 years after Abraham’s death!

Verse 12 appears, in its English translation, to indicate that if Christians lead God pleasing lives, we can hurry Jesus along in his return. That certainly conflicts with what Jesus, himself, says. However, this verse represents an argument that Jesus is delaying his return to give all humanity plenty of time to repent and be baptized. The sooner everyone embraces God’s love for them, the sooner Christ will return, or so this teaching goes.

Mark 1:1-8

The beginning of the good news* of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.*

2 As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,*
‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,*
who will prepare your way;
3 the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
“Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight” ’,
4John the baptizer appeared* in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.6Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7He proclaimed, ‘The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. 8 I have baptized you with* water; but he will baptize you with* the Holy Spirit.’

The gospel of Mark is likely the first written of the four canonical (“made the cut for the Bible”) gospels. It is by far the shortest of the gospels, and was likely used as a source for the other three gospels, most especially Matthew and Luke. Since Mark has very little “original” material that is not covered in the other gospels, for many years it was all but set aside, treated as the cliff notes of Jesus’ life. However, more recent scholarship has brought Mark back into the three year lectionary cycle, though Mark does have to share his year with John.

The gospel of Mark is fast paced, making great use of the word, “immediately”. In Mark, Jesus is very human, terse at times, impatient with the disciples, but filled with passion, empathy, grief, and love. There are no announcing angels, heralded shepherds, birthgiving Mary, or magi in Mark. This gospel focuses on Jesus’ action packed ministry, life, and death, with a literary device at the end meant to launch every reader into ministry “immediately!”

The first words of this gospel tell us who Jesus is, the Christ or the “anointed one”, and the Son of God. Both Christ and Son of God are specific titles for the Jews of Jesus’ day. Christ in Greek or Meshiak (Messiah) in Hebrew means “anointed”. The “anointed one” is one whom God has chosen to be a great prophet or king, as well as a great military leader. The folk tradition was that Elijah would return from heaven to point out the Messiah/Christ to faithful Jews. Son of God is the title of God’s agent on earth, a kind of God in the flesh. In the first verse of this gospel, Mark is telling his readers/hearers that Jesus is both of these long awaited heroes, both and so much more!

Mark makes use of the Isaiah 40 prophecy, that we have discussed above, to say “back in the day, Isaiah was saying that God is leading the march home to Jerusalem from Babylon. And sure, the people left Babylon and went back to the Promised Land, but did anyone ever see God? That part of the prophecy was finally fulfilled in this guy, Jesus. He is THE CHRIST! He is THE SON OF GOD!”

Mark further makes this point by referencing John the Baptist. While Mark is not a fashion commentator, he does spell out what John the Baptist is wearing because it is the same wardrobe Elijah had. Mark wants to make sure his readers/hearers understand that the scriptures HAVE BEEN FULFILLED! THIS JESUS GUY IS MESSIAH, SON OF GOD!!!

John baptizes with water to bring about repentance to prepare for the forgiveness of sins. Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit that you may go for