Sunday Readings for July 1

2Samuel 1:1, 17-27
After the death of Saul, when David had returned from defeating the Amalekites, David remained two days in Ziklag.

David intoned this lamentation over Saul and his son Jonathan. (He ordered that The Song of the Bow be taught to the people of Judah; it is written in the Book of Jashar.) He said:

Your glory, O Israel, lies slain upon your high places!

How the mighty have fallen!

Tell it not in Gath,

proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon;

or the daughters of the Philistines will rejoice,

the daughters of the uncircumcised will exult.

You mountains of Gilboa,

let there be no dew or rain upon you,

nor bounteous fields!

For there the shield of the mighty was defiled,

the shield of Saul, anointed with oil no more.

From the blood of the slain,

from the fat of the mighty,

the bow of Jonathan did not turn back,

nor the sword of Saul return empty.

Saul and Jonathan, beloved and lovely!

In life and in death they were not divided;

they were swifter than eagles,

they were stronger than lions.

O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul,

who clothed you with crimson, in luxury,

who put ornaments of gold on your apparel.

How the mighty have fallen

in the midst of the battle!

Jonathan lies slain upon your high places.

I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan;

greatly beloved were you to me;

your love to me was wonderful,

passing the love of women.

How the mighty have fallen,

and the weapons of war perished!

   Our Old Testament lesson is David’s lament at the death of Jonathan and Saul. We can understand David’s grief at the death of Jonathan: they had been close since their youth. But what about Saul? For years, Saul had alternated between celebrating David and abusing him. He had threatened David’s life several times, and had driven him into exile. Why this outpouring of grief for Saul, one of history’s most difficult fathers-in-law?

   Here’s part of the answer: whatever else Saul was, headstrong, irrational, unfair, he was also Yahweh’s anointed. In one version of the death of Saul, a young Amelekite, one of Saul’s enemies, admits to David that he is the one who finished Saul off. Instead of being rewarded, he is punished for “lifting his hand against the Lord’s anointed.” Saul may not always have lived up to that high calling, but the calling itself must be respected. Ultimately, Saul’s status as the one anointed by God to govern Israel is more important to David than the disagreements that arose between the two men. Perhaps David is also beginning to realize just how difficult Saul’s calling was. Power is now in David’s hands. Will he fare any better? Could anyone?

   Leadership is a difficult role for any person to play. And how difficult the rest of us find it to respect our leaders, to honor the office they fill, and at the same time, have compassion on their human failings! All the more reason to respect David’s passionate lament over Saul.  All the more reason to pray for our leaders, whether our opinions match theirs or not!

2 Corinthians 8:7-15

As you excel in everything-- in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you-- so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking.

I do not say this as a command, but I am testing the genuineness of your love against the earnestness of others. For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich. And in this matter I am giving my advice: it is appropriate for you who began last year not only to do something but even to desire to do something-- now finish doing it, so that your eagerness may be matched by completing it according to your means. For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has-- not according to what one does not have. I do not mean that there should be relief for others and pressure on you, but it is a question of a fair balance between your present abundance and their need, so that their abundance may be for your need, in order that there may be a fair balance. As it is written,

"The one who had much did not have too much,

and the one who had little did not have too little."

   The Corinthian drama continues, perhaps towards a resolution! Paul and the Corinthian Christians have been through a lot together. Paul has visited the city and established a church. He has moved on, as was his custom, but in his absence he has been undermined by “false prophets”, other teachers who questioned Paul’s authority and teachings. Paul seems to have made another visit, which did not go particularly well. He has written the Corinthians a very severe letter, which seems to have found some traction: the Corinthians seem willing to accept Paul’s status as a true apostle, and are willing to be guided by his teaching, and his example.  

   With all that drama out of the way, it is time to get back down to the business of everyday faithful living. Before even setting out on the journey which took him to Corinth, Paul promised to raise funds for the Christians in Jerusalem, who were suffering through a famine, and perhaps persecution. The Corinthians had agreed to make a contribution to this cause, and now it’s time to honor their pledge.

   The combination of high theology and sensible practicality we find in this part of the letter is one hundred per cent Paul! We give, because giving in love is the true nature of God, and we are called to honor the image of God, to display the image of God, that dwells in us. We give because Christ has given to us; we give money, remembering that in Christ, God has given us everything. That’s the high theology.

   “The one that has much should not have too much; the one that has little should not have too little.” That’s the sensible practicality. In a world where two thirds of the people suffer health problems because they have too little to eat, and one third of the people have health problems associated with eating too much, maybe we have not got Paul’s simple equation right? There’s more at stake than just a sense of fairness. Communities divided by huge gaps of wealth and opportunity are inherently unstable: they tend to collapse under their own top-heavy weight, or fall prey to violence. Paul is asking the Corinthians to narrow the gap between themselves and the community in Jerusalem, for the sake of solidarity, to keep the larger community healthy, and focused on its important task: proclaiming the Good News.

Mark 5:21-43

When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered around him; and he was by the sea. Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet and begged him repeatedly, "My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live." He went with him.

And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him. Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years. She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, for she said, "If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well." Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, "Who touched my clothes?" And his disciples said to him, "You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, `Who touched me?'" He looked all around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease."

While he was still speaking, some people came from the leader's house to say, "Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?" But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue, "Do not fear, only believe." He allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. When they came to the house of the leader of the synagogue, he saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. When he had entered, he said to them, "Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping." And they laughed at him. Then he put them all outside, and took the child's father and mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, "Talitha cum," which means, "Little girl, get up!" And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement. He strictly ordered them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.

Our gospel is a typical “Mark sandwich”: we start with one story, get drawn into a second story, then finish up with the first story. Mark does this quite a bit. It is a common strategy for people telling stories from memory: embedding one story in another helps the story teller remember two stories at once. Maybe this is a holdover from an earlier oral tradition? Interesting.

   In this case, the arrangement of the stories is as important as their details. The two people approaching Jesus are very different: Jairus is a respected, powerful, secure member of society. His position as synagogue leader assures him of that. The woman who touches Jesus is just the opposite. She is completely vulnerable: she is ritually unclean, she is poor, and she is alone. More than that, she has touched a man in public, which was bad news in any circumstances; to make things worse, she has now made him ritually unclean as well. To top it all off, that man is Jesus, who has become quite a celebrity. Surely she is in big trouble.

   But, as the sandwich arrangement emphasizes, Jesus responds to their two requests equally. In fact he stops what he is doing in order to establish personal contact with the woman, not to chastise her, but to commend her faith. Clearly, Jesus’ ministry is going to cross all kinds of old boundaries, and upset all kinds of old ideas about who counts as righteous, who is worthy of God’s love, who has a place in the Kingdom. Mark makes sure we can see this, by telling us these two stories together. The Kingdom of God is as close to an impure, isolated woman as it is to a respected, powerful rabbi.

   Different as they are, Jairus and the woman share one trait: they both recognize the authority of Jesus (though perhaps out of desperation). Perhaps this is what Jesus responds to. Perhaps trust counts for more than all the respectability in the world.       

  

1 Samuel 17: (1a, 4-11, 19-23), 32-49

[Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle. And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. He had greaves of bronze on his legs and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders. The shaft of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron; and his shield-bearer went before him. He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, "Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants; but if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us." And the Philistine said, "Today I defy the ranks of Israel! Give me a man, that we may fight together." When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.

Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. David rose early in the morning, left the sheep with a keeper, took the provisions, and went as Jesse had commanded him. He came to the encampment as the army was going forth to the battle line, shouting the war cry. Israel and the Philistines drew up for battle, army against army. David left the things in charge of the keeper of the baggage, ran to the ranks, and went and greeted his brothers. As he talked with them, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines, and spoke the same words as before. And David heard him.]

David said to Saul, "Let no one's heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine." Saul said to David, "You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are just a boy, and he has been a warrior from his youth." But David said to Saul, "Your servant used to keep sheep for his father; and whenever a lion or a bear came, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after it and struck it down, rescuing the lamb from its mouth; and if it turned against me, I would catch it by the jaw, strike it down, and kill it. Your servant has killed both lions and bears; and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, since he has defied the armies of the living God." David said, "The LORD, who saved me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, will save me from the hand of this Philistine." So Saul said to David, "Go, and may the LORD be with you!" Saul clothed David with his armor; he put a bronze helmet on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail. David strapped Saul's sword over the armor, and he tried in vain to walk, for he was not used to them. Then David said to Saul, "I cannot walk with these; for I am not used to them." So David removed them. Then he took his staff in his hand, and chose five smooth stones from the wadi, and put them in his shepherd's bag, in the pouch; his sling was in his hand, and he drew near to the Philistine.

The Philistine came on and drew near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. When the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was only a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. The Philistine said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. The Philistine said to David, "Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the field." But David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with sword and spear and javelin; but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This very day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head; and I will give the dead bodies of the Philistine army this very day to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the earth, so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the LORD does not save by sword and spear; for the battle is the LORD's and he will give you into our hand."

When the Philistine drew nearer to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. David put his hand in his bag, took out a stone, slung it, and struck the Philistine on his forehead; the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell face down on the ground.

Our Old Testament lesson is one of the most well-known of all bible stories: David and Goliath. This story is a permanent part of our culture, and we refer to it in all kinds of different contexts, from sports, to business, to warfare. Everyone knows what you mean when you call some situation a “David and Goliath” story. The moral is familiar: the small and motivated can bring down the big and arrogant.

  That’s fine, but for Christians, there is much more happening here. First of all, there is a shift in power: in fighting on behalf of Israel, David is taking on the role of king. The story of God’s people is taking a dramatic turn: God is choosing a very different kind of king, because the nation of Israel has a very different purpose from all other nations. 

   We also begin to get a glimpse of a theme which will repeat in all the accounts of the monarchy: for many of the Old Testament writers, it seems, people are just not meant to be kings over one another. It’s just not something we are good at. Kingship puts ordinary humans, like Saul, into impossible situations; they react badly, and the whole community suffers. David is about as good a king as you could hope for, yet kingship will take its toll on him as well, as we all know.  As my grandmother used to say, “There will be tears before bedtime.”

   The whole monarchy story cautions us against expecting too much of our fellow human beings, whom we make kings, or even the ones we elect as our presidents and prime ministers. We long for justice, equity, mercy, wisdom, peace. We can imagine, in bare outline, a world where those things are brought to their perfection. But at some point we realize, we can’t rely on fellow human beings to get us there. We need someone willing to accept leadership, without ever using it to his own advantage. We need someone willing to make the terrible sacrifices leadership requires. We need someone whose will is always aligned with the will of the Father. It’s too much to ask of a Saul, or a David, or anyone. For that, we need God incarnate. We need the Son.

  

2 Corinthians 6:1-13

As we work together with Christ, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. For he says,

"At an acceptable time I have listened to you,

and on a day of salvation I have helped you."

See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation! We are putting no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see-- we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

We have spoken frankly to you Corinthians; our heart is wide open to you. There is no restriction in our affections, but only in yours. In return-- I speak as to children-- open wide your hearts also.

In our reading from Corinthians, Paul continues his heartfelt defense of his ministry in Corinth, and as usual, he does it in a deeply theological way. In many ways, religion in the classical world was a real free-market affair: in the cities and bigger towns, teachers and representatives of hundreds of different mystery religions, or groups devoted to particular pagan gods, or religions from exotic parts of the empire would literally set up shop in the marketplace. A common strategy was to proclaim in public some of the main attractions of your religion, get people interested, and then offer to teach them more, for a fee of course. Clearly the most successful religions were the once who could create the most demand in the market, the ones who could attract the most people, willing to shell out their hard earned cash.

   By these standards, Paul is a failure. He has been beaten up, arrested, run out of town. He has not collected enough revenue to give up his day job, making tents. Some of the Corinthians are wondering why they should listen to someone who seems so unsuccessful. There may even have been Christian “superapostles,” questioning Paul’s authority.

   Paul continues to show the Corinthians, the world has changed. The world’s measures of success are no longer relevant. His willingness to endure suffering, his willingness to speak the truth in love to the Corinthians, are signs of his sincerity and success, not signs of failure. The ultimate proof of this is the cross. The cross, the event of God’s son suffering in an act of self giving, that is the way God has chosen to act decisively in the world. The cross is the sign that “This is the acceptable time”.  Paul is saying to the Corinthians, “Do not judge me by the world’s standards of success. Judge me by the measure of the cross. Judge me by my willing self-sacrifice; judge me by my endurance in suffering; judge me by my genuine pastoral concern. Judge me by the standards of love.”

  We often fall into the same trap of judging religious life by the wrong criteria: the success of an event is appraised by the number of people who came out; the success of a minister is judged by his ability not to offend. That’s just a fact about the way we are. But, we will always have Paul to remind us, there are other standards for success.

Mark 4:35-41

When evening had come, Jesus said to his disciples, "Let us go across to the other side." And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?" And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"

Our gospel is another familiar story, with more in it than the familiar ‘moral’. Mark is talking about new creation; nothing less. For Hebrew people, water represented disorder and chaos. Water needed to be channeled into its proper place in order to be life giving and good. Remember the story of creation: the Spirit hovers over the waters, and eventually the dry land emerges to give proper boundaries to the water.

   The same thing is happening here: water is threatening to envelope the world of the disciples, and plunge them into chaos. In the bigger picture, forces opposed to God are undoing the order of creation; they are threatening and corrupting the creatures of God. God, in love, commits to an act of new creation, and the agent for that is Jesus, his Son. On a stormy afternoon in Palestine, we see a sign that God is creating the world anew.

   Notice that for Jesus the opposite of faith is not disbelief. The opposite of faith is fear. Sometimes we overestimate the importance of our opinions and beliefs. For Jesus, faith is less about our acceptance of all the right beliefs, and more about our willingness to trust.   

   

       

Reflections for Sunday June 17

1 Samuel 15:34-16:13

Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house in Gibeah of Saul. Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, but Samuel grieved over Saul. And the LORD was sorry that he had made Saul king over Israel.

The Lord said to Samuel, "How long will you grieve over Saul? I have rejected him from being king over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and set out; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons." Samuel said, "How can I go? If Saul hears of it, he will kill me." And the Lord said, "Take a heifer with you, and say, `I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.' Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for me the one whom I name to you." Samuel did what the Lord commanded, and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, "Do you come peaceably?" He said, "Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord; sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice." And he sanctified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, "Surely the Lord's anointed is now before the Lord." But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart." Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. He said, "Neither has the Lord chosen this one." Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, "Neither has the Lord chosen this one." Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, and Samuel said to Jesse, "The Lord has not chosen any of these." Samuel said to Jesse, "Are all your sons here?" And he said, "There remains yet the youngest, but he is keeping the sheep." And Samuel said to Jesse, "Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here." He sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome. The Lord said, "Rise and anoint him; for this is the one." Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the presence of his brothers; and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward. Samuel then set out and went to Ramah.

Hold on a second. Just last week, we saw Saul being anointed as king, at God’s instruction. And now the Lord is telling Samuel to get over it, Saul is finished. Clearly, there is some background here!

   It is true, God had instructed Samuel to make Saul king, but Saul was always kind of an accidental king. In fact, when Saul and Samuel first met, Saul was just out looking for a pair of missing donkeys. And there was always deep ambivalence about having a king at all. Samuel, and God, thought it was a bad idea. But, if king and people would both follow God’s ways it might work out. Maybe.

   Saul’s main attribute seems to have been his height. He was also a brave, perhaps reckless fighter. But he made rash decisions; he deferred to others when he should have taken initiative. He charged ahead when he should have deferred. One decision in particular proved problematic. Standard operating procedure during battles was to get the enemy on the run, chase them for a bit, then go plunder their stuff. Before a battle with the Amelikites, God told Saul, through Samuel, to do things differently. No plundering. Keep fighting until the enemy were wiped out. Saul let the fighters plunder. He wanted the captured animals for a really big sacrifice of thanksgiving.  This decision, more than any other, got Saul fired as king.

   One part of this we can understand: God wants obedience, not sacrifice. The other part isn’t so easy to understand: God ordered the destruction of a whole community. We can’t really make this less disturbing than it is, but here are a couple of things to think about:  1. This story is inspired by God, but recorded by a human being, and some human anger, some human vengefulness may have found its way into the telling. We must be discerning about this.  2. Israel’s survival is of paramount importance, but not for its own sake. They are chosen, not to dominate or oppress their neighbors, but to lead all people back to God. A threat to Israel at this stage in history is a threat to God’s plan for saving all. Sometimes desperate measures were necessary to ensure Israel’s continued existence. 3. This was not standard operating procedure. It was once in the many thousands of years of Israel’s walk with God.  In many other cases, God calls on Israel to experience suffering, rather than triumph, for example, when the people are exiled into Babylon. It all depends on God’s big purpose.

   Saul is a tragic figure: his strengths are his downfall. He is never quite able to get his will into line with God’s. He is also a lesson in humility: you can be chosen as king, anointed by a prophet, hailed by the people, and still mess up. Power does not mean license.

   We’ve thought a lot about someone who isn’t even in the story for the day! What about David? We all know about David. But with this background, we can see David is kind of the opposite of Saul: he is a young, small, unknown shepherd. Now that God can work with.  

2 Corinthians 5:6-10,[11-13],14-17

We are always confident; even though we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord-- for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we do have confidence, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For all of us must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense for what has been done in the body, whether good or evil.

[Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we try to persuade others; but we ourselves are well known to God, and I hope that we are also well known to your consciences. We are not commending ourselves to you again, but giving you an opportunity to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast in outward appearance and not in the heart. For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you.] For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them. From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!   

Once again, it is helpful if we think of what Paul writes as half of a conversation. Paul is not the only one claiming to have the Good News. In this letter, he takes a lot of time to defend himself against the criticisms of some other teachers. And he is vulnerable to criticism:  he claims to be an apostle, but he was never with Jesus; he invites gentiles to follow the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but he doesn’t require them to follow Torah.

We see Paul responding to these criticisms. The main point can be a little hard to make out: Paul’s opponents are looking at things from a human perspective. For them, being an apostle means having walked around with Jesus. Honoring Torah means following Torah regulations, like the dietary laws, or circumcision.

Paul says the game has changed, because of grace, and because of the crucifixion. He has confidence in his role as an apostle, not because he got a lot of face time with the earthly Jesus, but because he has been called by God, and empowered by the spirit, all as a gift of God’s grace. He has confidence bringing gentiles to the faith because he is convinced that Christ’s sacrifice transcends all human divisions, and supersedes physical things, like diet or circumcision.

It’s important to see how radical a departure this is for Paul. N.T. Wright reminds us, “I think Paul even glimpsed something of the dark humor of God, through which a fanatical, right-wing, nationalistic Jew should be the one to take to the pagans the news that the Jewish Messiah welcomed them on equal terms…” (N.T. Wright, Paul: Fortress Press, 2005. p 162)  Dark humor indeed.  Has God, in His dark humor, ever asked you to give up deeply cherished beliefs or opinions?

Mark 4:26-34

Jesus said, "The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come."

He also said, "With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade."

With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.

These two parables pick up an important Old Testament theme: God works through small things to accomplish big results. He calls a wandering herdsman and his wife (Abraham and Sarah) in order to begin to address the problem of the Fall; He calls a little boy (Samuel) to address the problem of threats to Israel’s existence; He calls an obscure desert people (the Hebrews) to bring the world back to himself, and He calls a young teacher and carpenter, arrested and crucified, to bring His great rescue mission to fruition.

  It’s not a complicated lesson, but it can be tough to embrace. Maybe that’s why Jesus leaves it as a story, for most of the people. He wants to give them time to chew it over. He wants to see who’s willing to make the effort to really understand. 

 We know all this, but sometimes we need to be reminded, because we get distracted by grand plans, and tend to forget the importance of what seem like little things, even in “Churchland”.  We look for big solutions, big things to guarantee the growth of the church, and the coming of the kingdom. When really, it’s the little things that make the church live and thrive: individual believers, and their commitment to Christ; individual disciples, and their acts of love and integrity. That’s where the real work gets done. It’s a comforting thought, and a challenging one, all at the same time: we are the mustard seed.

Reflections for Sunday June 10

1 Samuel 8:4-11, (12-15), 16-20, (11:14-15)

All the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, and said to him, "You are old and your sons do not follow in your ways; appoint for us, then, a king to govern us, like other nations." But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, "Give us a king to govern us." Samuel prayed to the LORD, and the LORD said to Samuel, "Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. Just as they have done to me, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so also they are doing to you. Now then, listen to their voice; only-- you shall solemnly warn them, and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them."

So Samuel reported all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king. He said, "These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen, and to run before his chariots; [and he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his courtiers. He will take one-tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and his courtiers.] He will take your male and female slaves, and the best of your cattle and donkeys, and put them to his work. He will take one-tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves; but the LORD will not answer you in that day."

But the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel; they said, "No! but we are determined to have a king over us, so that we also may be like other nations, and that our king may govern us and go out before us and fight our battles."

[Samuel said to the people, "Come, let us go to Gilgal and there renew the kingship." So all the people went to Gilgal, and there they made Saul king before the LORD in Gilgal. There they sacrificed offerings of well-being before the LORD, and there Saul and all the Israelites rejoiced greatly.]





“We want a king! We want a king!” said the people.

 “Oh no you don’t!” said Samuel.

“Oh yes we do!” said the people. 

Behind the low comedy of this scene, there is serious truth about economics, theology, and how they fit together.

The people want security. There have been periods of stability under the leadership of charismatic individuals called judges, but it has been a hit and miss affair, and Samuel, the latest judge, is getting old. The only social arrangement they can fathom is the one they see all around them, a dynastic monarchy. 

It sounds great, but Samuel tells them a few home truths. Kings like to have palaces, courts, and armies, which cost money. So kings start taking a cut of the gross domestic product. The trouble is most of the people are small farmers, working on very tight margins. One slightly bad harvest, and they won’t be able to pay their full apportionment. “That’s ok,” the king will say, “Just give me part of your land.” With part of the farm gone, it becomes even harder to pay up the next year. “That’s ok,” the king says, “Just give me your livestock, your farmhands, your daughter, your son, your whole farm.” As inevitably as a glacier flowing down a mountain, land and wealth are taken from the broad base and placed in the hands of the king and his entourage.

Theologically it’s a mess too! God is supposed to be Israel’s king, which implies a profound equality among people. Remember Genesis: God gave humans dominion over creation, but not over each other, not over other people. Monarchy conflicts with this vision.

Were all the kings scoundrels? No, not all. But most. And in just the ways Samuel predicted.

Is our vision sometimes narrowed by our perceptions of “the way things are done”?  Sometimes we look to the business world, or other secular institutions, for ways to organize ourselves as a Church. What might be helpful about this? What might be restrictive?

  

2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1

Just as we have the same spirit of faith that is in accordance with scripture-- "I believed, and so I spoke" -- we also believe, and so we speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus, and will bring us with you into his presence. Yes, everything is for your sake, so that grace, as it extends to more and more people, may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.

So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.

For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.



To understand Paul’s letters, especially the Corinthian ones, it helps to imagine you are listening to one half of a telephone conversation. We can hear what Paul is saying, but Paul is always responding to a real problem in the community. We have to try to fill in the other half of the conversation.

Here, Paul is addressing the problem of suffering. The Corinthians may be asking, “If Jesus has won this great victory for us, why are we having such a hard time?” Paul’s answer changes over time. In his first letters, the ones to the Thessalonians, he says not to worry about persecution, because one day God will punish their tormentors, and won’t they be sorry!

Paul’s later answer is a bit more profound. Though suffering might grind away at our “outer nature”, the life we receive from our parents, it actually can strengthen our “inner nature”, the new life we receive through faith in Jesus. Suffering doesn’t cut us off from the glory of God. It can help prepare us for the glory of God.

Like the Corinthians, we can be tempted to see suffering as a sign that something has gone badly wrong. But, can you see moments in your own story when suffering has actually brought you closer to God? Could Paul actually be right?

Mark 3:20-35

The crowd came together again, so that Jesus and his disciples could not even eat. When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, "He has gone out of his mind." And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, "He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons." And he called them to him, and spoke to them in parables, "How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come. But no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered.

"Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin" -- for they had said, "He has an unclean spirit."

Then his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him. A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, "Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you." And he replied, "Who are my mother and my brothers?" And looking at those who sat around him, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother."



You could call Mark’s gospel a story of misunderstanding. In our reading, that misunderstanding becomes very sharp. Jesus is radically misunderstood by people who should be in closest solidarity with him: his fellow teachers, and his family.

Scribes accuse Jesus of ‘having a demon’ –working with the powers of darkness and destruction, not against them. Jesus answers with a puzzle: is Satan driving out Satan? Has Jesus somehow divided Satan’s house against itself? More likely, Jesus is the one who has entered the strong man’s house, Satan’s house, bound the strong man, and taken his stuff. (Which in Satan’s case would all be stolen property anyway.)

When Jesus speaks in puzzles this way, often he is trying to shake his listeners, and us, out of their customary ways of thinking about things. He is trying to expand our vision enough for us to understand who he really is, and what he is really doing. He is not just a wandering teacher. He is the Son, and he is engaged in a desperate, life and death struggle with all the forces of evil.

This is a tough thing for people to accept, and even Jesus’ family worry about him. Has he gone out of his mind? He is claiming so much; he is making himself so difficult to understand! But do we sometimes do the same thing? Do we sometimes try to ‘domesticate’ Jesus, take the radical edge off his ministry and turn Him into a dispenser of wise truths for healthy living? I once heard the Beatitudes re-packaged as “The Be-Happy Attitudes”. Could that be a case of ‘domesticating’ Jesus? Could He be talking about something deeper than our own personal happiness? do we sometimes try to make Jesus less radical, and more attractive?     

Trinity Sunday Readings

Isaiah 6:1-8

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. And one called to another and said:

"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;

the whole earth is full of his glory."

The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke. And I said: "Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!"

Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: "Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out." Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I; send me!

A vivid scene, and one with lots to think about! Isaiah has a direct experience of the grandeur of God, and the Spirit helps him convey a sense of that to us. The hem of God’s robe fills the temple, which makes it the equivalent of several city blocks in area (dwarfing even the most spectacular Coronation dress.) Heavenly six-winged creatures sing God’s praises. But at the same time, this is all grounded in a concrete place and time, the year good King Uzziah died. For Jews, God is transcendent, above all, but He also makes Himself known to us in the concrete realities of our history. Christians think the same way. For instance, in the creed we say that Jesus was ‘crucified under Pontius Pilate’, that is, at a particular point in real history, and in a real place. For Jews and Christians, in the Old Testament and the New, God works out his plan in the broken, but good, real world He has created.

There’s a liturgical side to this (of course, I think there’s a liturgical side to everything!)  We know the words of the heavenly song, because we sing them as we prepare to gather around the altar at the Eucharist. Our hymnal has no less than sixteen musical settings for this hymn. However we choose to sing it, we are doing exactly what the citizens of heaven are doing in Isaiah’s vision: we are in God’s presence, singing about His glory. In the Eastern Church, this is the point in the liturgy when we are actually united with Heaven, all singing together. A powerful thought! Sing out!

Romans 8:12-17

So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh-- for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 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.

This little reading packs a radical punch: Paul insists on retelling the story of God and humanity in a new way. For Paul, the only criterion for someone’s being a child of God is whether they allow themselves to be led by the spirit of God. Family history, ethnic identity, genetics, have nothing to do with it. In fact, those are the things Paul means when he talks about living ‘according to the flesh’: trusting one’s status as a Jew, trusting signs of the old covenant, like circumcision, or the Law, are all matters of ‘the flesh’, the deeds of the body. The point is not that Jews are to be excluded. The point is anyone led by the spirit, Jew or gentile, slave or free, man or woman, is now included. 

John 3:1-17

There was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God." Jesus answered him, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above." Nicodemus said to him, "How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother's womb and be born?" Jesus answered, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, 'You must be born from above.' The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." Nicodemus said to him, "How can these things be?" Jesus answered him, "Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?

"Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

"Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him."



A novice was once sent to a wise old priest for spiritual direction. The novice was very intelligent and enthusiastic, and had read all kinds of books about the life of prayer. While the old priest made tea, the novice told him all about the wonderful things he had discovered in his research. The old priest poured tea into the novice’s cup, but he didn’t stop when it was full. He just kept pouring and pouring until tea had spilled everywhere.

“What are you doing, Father? The cup is full, there’s no more room.”

“You are the same”, said the old priest. “How can you learn from me, if you are already full of all your own thoughts and opinions? Come back next week, and bring an empty cup.”

Nicodemus comes to Jesus with a full cup. The first words out of his mouth are “We know”. He assumes that Jesus is another teacher, like other Pharisees. He may have a style of his own, but Nicodemus thinks he knows pretty much what Jesus is about. Jesus spends the rest of the conversation trying to empty Nicodemus’ cup, trying to get him to let go of what he thinks he knows about God, and God’s plans. For a Pharisee, a person whose reputation was built on knowledge, this is a hard thing for Nicodemus to do, and he seems to go away puzzled, even when he hears that most powerful summary of the mission of Jesus, John 3:16.

It’s a hazard of the life of faith, walking around with a full cup. Trinity Sunday is challenging, because it reminds us, we never really completely understand God. We are being guided by the Holy Spirit into all truth, but complete understanding is always a little beyond our grasp. Maybe it’s best to say that a mystery, like the Trinity, isn’t really something we never understand, it’s something we never stop understanding, as long as we keep some room in our cup.  

Pentecost Reflections

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.’ All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’ But others sneered and said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’

But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them: ‘Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

“In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams.
Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
and they shall prophesy.
And I will show portents in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
The sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.
Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Acts 2:1-21

Two years ago, I had the opportunity to go to Turkey for a Paul and Early Church course. We traveled all around Turkey (and actually got to see a number of the places listed in the reading). We happened to be in Antalya, just south of Cappadocia, on the Feast of Pentecost.

After making my way to this church (which was really the upper room of a coffee shop), I was greeted by a number of people and shortly we began the service. It was a non-liturgical church, so Pentecost was not being celebrated, but what I experienced nothing could have prepared me for.

Attending the service were five Americans, three Turks, two Russians, a Ukrainian, and myself. The sermon lasted for over an hour, because it had to be translated into our respective languages! Finally it came time to sing, and the song we settled on was “Amazing Grace.”

I expected a horrific sound. Instead, I heard the Holy Spirit sing through us as the four languages were being brought together into one. Russian, Ukrainian, Turkish and English somehow molded together, and Pentecost was experienced again. In Genesis 11, God confused the language of the people of Babel because they tried to build a tower to reach God. On Pentecost, and that day in Antalya as well, God reunited the tongues to proclaim his Gospel of love.

Scott D. Parnell

Director of Youth Ministries

Romans 8:22-27

We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

   As often happens with Paul, a lot is packed into a few words! The first thing to notice is, there's a whole lot of groaning going on: creation, we ourselves, and the Holy Spirit, are all groaning, in expectation of something new and wonderful beyond words. Paul compares this to the groans of a woman in labor: the present time is difficult, but it contains the promise of a time when the pain will be in the past, and new life will begin. Also notice that all of creation is awaiting renewal. This is a pretty important point for understanding Paul: God's plan is not just to get individual people into a distant place called heaven. God's plan is to renew the face of the Earth, to redeem the creation he loves, and bring it all back into a close, loving, trust-filled relationship with Him.
   I find great comfort in the description Paul gives of the Holy Spirit. We are a culture of words, especially written ones; we want to be able to say the right thing. I remember beginning a course in Clinical Pastoral Education, and being all excited that I would finally learn the right words to say to people in difficult situations. The first thing the instructor said was, "In this course you are not going to learn all the right words to say to people in difficult situations." What we learned was more about a "ministry of presence"; giving up the false hope of fixing things with words, and learning to be with people to listen, to pray, to just be there. Because the Holy Spirit is with us, these prayers beyond words are heard and understood, just as surely as the most eloquent collect from the Prayer Book. And that's a very good thing.

John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15

Jesus said to his disciples, "When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf. You also are to testify because you have been with me from the beginning.

"I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. But, now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, `Where are you going?' But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because they do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.

"I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you."

Henry the Eighth's favorite preacher was a priest named Lancelot Andrewes (without a doubt the coolest name in anglican history, IMHO). Andrewes made one of the first homeletical jokes ever recorded, preaching about this passage. Why did Jesus have to go up before the Holy spirit could come down? Were they like buckets in a well, on the same rope? Does pulling one up send the other down? History does not say if Henry cracked up. But the question is a legitimate one.
   Part of the answer is this: Jesus is clearing the stage for the disciples. Part of The Plan is that His ministry, His role, be carried on by the Church. Unlikely as it seems, we are now the ones who carry God's redeeming work into the world, it is through us that God's presence finds its way into this crazy, mixed-up world. Funnily enough, this makes me think of Groucho Marx: do I really want to belong to a club that would have someone like me as a member? 
   But of course we are not alone. The Holy Spirit is at work, in us. The Holy spirit is also at work in the world, bearing witness to the ministry, the teaching, the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. That can be hard to see sometimes, but something tells me it's true. For instance, even my most unspiritual, secular friends are willing to talk about Jesus, even admire him. Somehow, they see his importance, though they might find faith difficult. Maybe the Spirit is still working?
   Jesus says there are things the disciples are not ready to hear, but the Spirit will guide them into the truth. I wonder if that is true for all disciples, including us. Each generation has to come to an understanding of what the work of Jesus means in their world, and that doesn't always happen quickly. Maybe the important thing isn't having all the answers, but being willing to become lifelong learners.    

Acts 1:1-11

In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. "This," he said, "is what you have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."

So when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?" He replied, "It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven."

   Luke begins the second part of his two-volume work with another address to Theophilus, the patron of his work. We don't know who Theophilus was, but it is interesting that his name means 'lover of God'.
   Luke begins Acts the same way he ends his Gospel, with an account of the ascension.The disciples have learned a lot, but they still have a way to go. They ask if this is the time the Kingdom would be restored to Israel: a reversal in the national fortunes of Israel, perhaps the restoration of a monarchy like David's. Jesus deflects the question, but the answer is 'yes', though 'the Kingdom' is much broader than the disciples are thinking, 'Israel' will be redefined as all who accept the gospel message, and 'now' is not a day or a moment, but a new era, beginning after the resurrection, spanning to the present day, and continuing until the final completion of God's great plan of new creation. Notice how Jesus gently nudges the disciples into a broader view of things: they are not to get impatient and try to guess the timing of all this; they must prepare for faithfulness over the long haul. And this vision will encompass not onyl Israel, but Samaria (a bit of a shock) and the ends of the earth (an even bigger shock).
  Do we sometimes narrow down the scope of what God is doing in Christ, and in the Church, like the disciples did?  Some of Paul's most inspiring passages suggest the scope of god's plan goes way beyond 'Samaria and the ends of the Earth': God is preparing a whole new creation, where heaven and earth are no longer divided. How would the disciples have reacted to that? How do you react? 

“I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love towards all the saints, and for this reason I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.”

-Ephesians 1:15-23

I remember when I first visited my uncle in France, I had to learn that you couldn’t just sit anywhere at the table: you had to be placed. My mother instructed me about the special designation of sitting to the right of the host who was at the head of the table. The last night we were there, I was granted such honor… and it was a big deal. Who knew being on the right offered so much more honor than being on the left.

Jesus actually used this as an example in St. Luke’s Gospel on what the Kingdom of God will look like (Luke 14). The apparent moral of the story deals with not presuming to be entitled to anything, particularly the Kingdom of God. James and John, the sons of Zebedee, missed this and started arguing about who would sit on Jesus’ left and right when He came into power (Mark 10). I suppose it was hard to answer the brothers’ question about who would be on Jesus’ left since he’s suggestively not the host.

Along with the right hand being the place of honor, the man standing to your right is the way you get something done… much like you’d turn to your right hand man to make sure that a job gets done and gets done well. This picture St. Paul paints of Jesus ascending to the right hand of the Father makes a statement about how God was now going to work in the world: his right-hand man, Jesus.

When we say weekly in the creed, He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father, we’re not commenting on the place cards on dining room table in heaven. We’re affirming our hope as Christians that it is Jesus whom God works through in the world. And as the Body of Christ, it is our privilege to continue Jesus’ ministry in caring for the poor, neglected, sick, and lonely.

Scott D. Parnell

Luke 24:44-53

Jesus said to his disciples, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you-- that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled." Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. See, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high."

Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; and they were continually in the temple blessing God.

   In some ways, this is a retelling of the same story we heard in Acts, though this time we are more focussed on the past than the future. As he did with the men on the road to Emmaus, Jesus opens the scriptures to the disciples. This is not just about finding little snippets of scripture which predict some of the things that happened to Jesus (though you can find plenty of those). It is more about learning to see the story of Jesus as the great final chapter in the whole scriptural drama. God's plan to bring His wayward creation, and all His wayward people back into a loving trustful relationship with Him is reaching its final payoff, its great climax, in the story of Jesus.
   Both accounts of the Ascension have images of Jesus being carried up. One very ancient painting of the Asenscion shows a cloud with two feet sticking out. We respect the vividness of the scriptural account, but at the same time it can be helpful to remember the thoughts of Martin Luther: where did Christ ascend? To the right hand of the Father. Where is the right hand of the Father? Everywhere.