Category: SSCSJ
Paragraphs from SSCSJ
Here are a few paragraphs from Sacred Steps: Children’s Sermon Journal. Subscribers generally get 8 to 10 pages of commentary and exegesis on the Lectionary texts each Friday.
Job 42:1-6, 10-17
In this week’s reading, Job responds one last time to this Divine encounter. Job finally gets what he has been asking for, an audience with the divine. However, the experience is more powerful than perhaps he had anticipated. In the presence of the Holy and given the opportunity to present his rebuttal, Job is reduced to only a few, well-chosen words. Like the reader, he realizes that God has not answered his questions, but he has lost his courage and bravado when confronted with God’s power. Job never says that he was wrong to question God’s part in his suffering. Instead he accepts that he will never get a straight answer to his questions from God and that even if God did try to answer, his humanity would prevent him from fully understanding the answers given. In essence, Job accepts defeat, and God has succeeded in making Job realize that God is God and he is not.
There are too many times when the suffering of people seems to be without any explanation, and it would be best to let that question of “why?” exist without feeling the need to answer it. Even if we could explain why a human suffers, would that really help to address that person’s needs? The other lesson we should take away from the Book of Job is that we should follow the example of Job’s “friends”, when they came and sat with Job in his misery and did not say anything. We do not need to explain the situation; being present is the best response. Finally, even the folktale in Job 1-2 has a message for us in the 21st century. Yes, God does make a bet with Ha-Satan that involves Job’s faith being tested by his suffering; however, God does this expecting to win. God has confidence in Job and in his ability to be faithful even without any “rewards.” Since this folktale is meant to teach a lesson, we can see ourselves in Job and know that God has faith in us. How can this shape our living today?
Hebrews 7:23-28
There are some weeks when the obligation to make the biblical witness “meaningful” for our context and our living is harder than it needs to be, because of New Testament texts like Hebrews and those who have used it as a foundation to build Christian theological hierarchies. My interpretation of the ordination promises (vows) of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), which ordained me into Christian ministry, is that I willfully accepted the responsibility to represent the good, the bad, and the questionable history of Christianity, and the good, the bad, and the questionable present of Christianity, and what Christianity can mean for future believers and the world. I willfully accepted this task and this role, which are both a burden and a sacred obligation. I often think of my response to each question of the promises (vows) I spoke, “I will with the help of God.”
The text provides the opportunity for an inspection of how one reads the bible, and specifically, how one reads the First Testament. This may be the best way for this text, and others like it, to be meaningful teaching and preaching moments in our context. What hermeneutic do you bring to the text? As noted in the Oct 14, 2013 SSCSJ, many Christians follow the example of the author of Hebrews and read Jesus into (or find Jesus in) the First Testament, where he does not belong and never existed. The author creates a “supersessionist” view of Christianity that continues to coat much of Christendom today. Like last week, the text references “King Melchizedek” of Salem as an other-worldly king of peace (or righteousness or Jerusalem depending on your translation). It is this deity-like human with which the author of Hebrews associates with Christ Jesus and his work as an intercessor for humanity in the hands of an angry God.
Mark 10:46-52
After reading this week’s text, one might ask, “What does it mean to see Jesus?” Mark’s Jesus passes through Jericho on his way to Jerusalem and is haunted by a man who sees Jesus of Nazareth without every laying eyes on him. Bartimaeus, son of Timaeus, a blind man, “sees” Jesus of Nazareth, calls him “Son of David” to get his attention, and receives a rebuff from the disciples. The blind can “see” Jesus, and in another gospel, we are told that, if the people were silenced about Jesus, the stones would shout out. When Bartimaeus’ eyesight is restored, he follows Jesus on the way. From what, metaphorically speaking, have you been restored and how have you followed Jesus on the way?
Is there a Bartimaeus figure in your congregation? Is there a person who sees Jesus and the good news of God more often than others, but who is often on the periphery of the community? What does that person need to “shout” to get the attention of your community and help you see? Think of it this way. Jesus and the disciples are walking along, and here is another outcast on the side of the road asking for help. Is it a miracle that Jesus hears, stops, listens to Bartimaeus, and sees him as a child of God?
Paragraphs from SSCSJ
A few paragraphs from Sacred Steps: Children’s Sermon Journal for the Lectionary texts, October 21, 2012.
Psalm 91
Perhaps what this psalm is trying to communicate is that, when we trust in God, no matter what befalls us, we know that the LORD is always present in every situation. We need not see illness or other forms of suffering as a punishment from God or as a sign that the LORD has abandoned us. Things happen in life that cannot be explained, and even if we could explain them, the pain would still remain. This does not mean that we cannot get angry with God about tragedies, but the very fact that we can express those feelings to God is a statement of faith and trust. By doing so, we are declaring that God does hear our prayers and cares about what happens to humanity. This is certainly not the kind of protection we might want, but it may be just enough assurance that grants us comfort.
Job 38:1-7 (34-41)
The book of Job has been considered by most scholars to be the wisdom text par excellence of the Jewish and Christian canons. Perhaps best known by Christians and secular society for the phrase, “the patience of Job,” it has been a favorite read, and text for interpretation, by laity, clergy and biblical scholars alike. No other biblical text addresses the question of theodicy (“why bad things happen to good persons”) in quite such a confrontational and artistic way as the book of Job. It is a story that speaks to every generation and to every individual who has known unexplainable suffering.
Identified as part of the Wisdom Literature in the Hebrew Bible (along with Prov & Eccl), Job contains most of the recognized common themes and characteristics of this collection of writings. However, some have described Job as a unique form of wisdom writing, possibly displaying a wisdom conundrum. The story of this righteous sufferer seems to be a direct rebuttal of the traditional idea of “you reap what you sow.” found in other biblical texts (e.g., Prov, Judg, 1-2 Sam, 1-2 Kgs, etc.). This questioning of divine justice is not entirely unique among the texts of the Hebrew Bible. Other examples include Abraham’s questioning God concerning the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 18:22-32) and some of the lament psalms (e.g., 37 and 73). What is frustrating for some readers of Job, but liberating for others, is the book’s refusal to impose an answer for the issue of human suffering and divine justice. While it clearly debunks a simplistic understanding of the reward/retribution understanding of justice, it never gives the audience a clear answer to the question of theodicy.
Hebrews 5:1-10
A portion of this text has already seeped into the Lectionary this year. Do you remember it? Yes, we encountered Hebrews 5:5-10 near the end of Lent. The language of “high priest” requires Protestant imagination because most do not relate to their minister as a “priest” in the way that Catholics and Episcopalians do. In mainline Protestant language, ministers serve a “priestly” role, even as some, like my denomination [Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)], cling to the language of a “priesthood of all believers,”5 while continuing to honor some form and understanding of “Ordained into Christian Ministry.”6 Visiting the text will require imagination, which is not a bad suggestion for reading the entire bible. Can you imagine being in those places, being those people, and being in those situations that are part of the original audience’s experience? Would you have written the stories differently? Can you imagine another way of understanding Jesus that is as faithful as the orthodoxy of sacrificial atonement most hear at the communion table each week? Maybe imagination is a key hermeneutic to reading the bible.
Mark 10:36-45
Have you ever had a moment or experience similar to that of James and John at work, in a club, or in your local congregation? Which character in this story resonates with you first and the most? It is unfortunate that the Lectionary omits vv. 32-34, which act like a rejoinder between, “the last will be first and the first last,” and “whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave (servant) to all.” The omitted words are the third time that Mark’s Jesus speaks of his death and in much greater detail than he did previously. Perhaps, Jerusalem is visible in the distance, and that is why Jesus picks this moment on the road to offer another explanation for their journey and share what he thinks will happen. Verse 32b speaks of two groups following Jesus, “the amazed and the afraid.” Based on my experience in congregational life and ministry, I would add a third generalized group, “the apathetic,” to the followers of Jesus. We don’t know which group(s) the disciples represent, but after Jesus tells them what he thinks is awaiting them in Jerusalem, this is the moment that John and James speak up, in the presence of the others, about their desire for preferred seating in the hierarchy of glory. I wonder if they were remembering the “ask, knock, seek,” parable?
There are at least three layers in this story: 1) An example of what it means to follow Jesus (vv. 36-40); 2) Another teaching about what it means to be a citizen of the kindom of God (41-44)12; 3) Jesus proclaiming the good news of God, which he summarized in 10:27, with different language (v. 45). The text invites a conversation about those layers, as well as about the Greek words diakonos, (servant), the word from which the term “deacon” was born, and lytron, translated as “ransom.” What does Mark’s Jesus mean or claim about God by choosing this word?