separation or engagement?

Good afternoon friends, 

Today's reading brings us one step closer to the judgment of Babylon/Rome. As we've been reading, empires always collapse eventually. It's interesting that God warns God's people to leave Rome so they can escape its judgment. That's a good reminder that even passive participation in injustice is dangerous, because it involves us in evil. To me that's not usually about leaving a troubled area;  we are called to engage in situations of injustice to promote justice. The reminder is that we are always involved in what's going on, either by actively engaging or by sitting back and doing nothing. 

God bless,
Sam

Revelation 18:1-10

After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority; and the earth was made bright with his splendor.²He called out with a mighty voice, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! It has become a dwelling place of demons, a haunt of every foul and hateful bird, a haunt of every foul and hateful beast. ³For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxury.” 

⁴Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, so that you do not take part in her sins, and so that you do not share in her plagues; ⁵for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. ⁶Render to her as she herself has rendered, and repay her double for her deeds; mix a double draught for her in the cup she mixed. ⁷As she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, so give her a like measure of torment and grief. Since in her heart she says, ‘I rule as a queen; I am no widow, and I will never see grief,’ ⁸therefore her plagues will come in a single day— pestilence and mourning and famine— and she will be burned with fire; for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.”

⁹And the kings of the earth, who committed fornication and lived in luxury with her, will weep and wail over her when they see the smoke of her burning; ¹⁰they will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say, “Alas, alas, the great city, Babylon, the mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come.” 

final plagues

Good evening sisters and brothers,

The images of wrath continue. This passage has a really interesting parallel to the Exodus both because saints in heaven are singing the song of Moses that Moses and Miriam sang when Israel crossed the Red Sea into freedom from slavey. There's a sea too in this passage, but rather than a foamy, divided sea, it is smooth, made of glass. God's judgment is scary, but the end result is freedom from bondage and oppression. That's good news for the oppressed, for those whose faithfulness has been held against them, but it's not good news for those in power now. When we're honest, we all have some oppressor in us; that means we all need to repent in the face of God's judgment. But God judges to heal; he destroys, ultimately to bring peace and justice.

God bless,
Sam

Revelation 15:1-8

Then I saw another portent in heaven, great and amazing: seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is ended. ²And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. ³And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb: “Great and amazing are your deeds, Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, King of the nations! ⁴Lord, who will not fear and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your judgments have been revealed.”

⁵After this I looked, and the temple of the tent of witness in heaven was opened, ⁶and out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues, robed in pure bright linen, with golden sashes across their chests.⁷Then one of the four living creatures gave the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever; ⁸and the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were ended.

judging to allow life

Good evening sisters and brothers,

I want to start by extending a special invitation to worship on Sunday. We'll supplement our wonderful choir with an additional lovely voice and with two solo offerings by guest soloist, Madeline Cain. Madeline is in the final semester of her opera performance masters program at the University of Maryland.  She serves as a soloist and section-leader at Emmanuel Church in Alexandria, VA throughout the school year. From the little bit I heard of Madeline's voice at rehearsal on Wednesday, you're in for a treat. 

Our reading today is the "judgy" part of our passage. Jesus says that God has given the power and responsibility to judge all people (like the creed says, the living and the dead). We often think of judgment as bad or scary. This passage, and the healing story we read the last two days as its context, remind us that Jesus judges in order to bring life. Human pride, selfishness and rules (in this case, rigid religious rules) often get in the way of the just, peaceful life God intends. God's judgment stops human evil to allow true flourishing.

God bless,
Sam

John 5:19-29

¹⁹Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise.²⁰The Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing; and he will show him greater works than these, so that you will be astonished.²¹Indeed, just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whomever he wishes. 

²²The Father judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son, ²³so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. ²⁴Very truly, I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come under judgment, but has passed from death to life. 

²⁵“Very truly, I tell you, the hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. ²⁶For just as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself; ²⁷and he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man.²⁸Do not be astonished at this; for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice ²⁹and will come out—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. 

convicted

Good evening/morning sisters and brothers,
We're skipping through these readings from Jesus' life pretty quickly, since the story is familiar to most of us. Throughout the story of Jesus' ministry, the conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders grows. Jesus challenges their sense of order and their power. Finally, things come to a head and they see an opportunity to have Jesus arrested. They try him of blasphemy and convict him in religious court, but they don't have the power to put him to death. For that, they need the Roman governor to condemn him as well. His next step is off to see the governor, Pontius Pilate. As we see, Pilate condemns him to avoid upsetting the crowd, not because he believes Jesus is guilty. Jesus was innocent, but suffered for us.

God bless,
Sam

Mark 15:1-15

As soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. They bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate. ²Pilate asked him, ‘Are you the King of the Jews?’ He answered him, ‘You say so.’ ³Then the chief priests accused him of many things. ⁴Pilate asked him again, ‘Have you no answer? See how many charges they bring against you.’ ⁵But Jesus made no further reply, so that Pilate was amazed.

6 Now at the festival he used to release a prisoner for them, anyone for whom they asked. ⁷Now a man called Barabbas was in prison with the rebels who had committed murder during the insurrection. ⁸So the crowd came and began to ask Pilate to do for them according to his custom. ⁹Then he answered them, ‘Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?’ ¹⁰For he realized that it was out of jealousy that the chief priests had handed him over. ¹¹But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas for them instead. ¹²Pilate spoke to them again, ‘Then what do you wish me to do with the man you call the King of the Jews?’ ¹³They shouted back, ‘Crucify him!’ ¹⁴Pilate asked them, ‘Why, what evil has he done?’ But they shouted all the more, ‘Crucify him!’ ¹⁵So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified.

Elisha continues the work

Good morning sisters and brothers,
We skip ahead in our story, but you'll notice that today's passage follows up on the events we've been reading about. We read how much injustice Ahab and Jezebel encouraged as King and Queen of Israel. We also saw how the Prophet Elijah opposed them. God told Elijah to anoint Elisha as his successor and told him he would also anoint Jehu as King of Israel. In today's reading Elijah has gone to heaven and Elisha has taken over his ministry. Elisha sends a younger prophet on a stealth mission to anoint Jehu as King of Israel.

Like when Samuel anointed David, there's great danger in anointing the next king while the current king is still ruling. In this case, part of the reason for anointing Jehu is to bring God's punishment on Ahab and his family. The best example of how Ahab and Jezebel earned God's anger is the story of Naboth's vineyard in 1 Kings 21, in which they take a vineyard from an innocent man by having him killed. The story continues in the passage below.

God bless,
Sam

2 Kings 9:1-10

Then the prophet Elisha called a member of the company of prophets and said to him, “Gird up your loins; take this flask of oil in your hand, and go to Ramoth-gilead. ²When you arrive, look there for Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi; go in and get him to leave his companions, and take him into an inner chamber. ³Then take the flask of oil, pour it on his head, and say, ‘Thus says the Lord: I anoint you king over Israel.’ Then open the door and flee; do not linger.”

⁴So the young man, the young prophet, went to Ramoth-gilead. ⁵He arrived while the commanders of the army were in council, and he announced, “I have a message for you, commander.” “For which one of us?” asked Jehu. “For you, commander.” ⁶So Jehu got up and went inside; the young man poured the oil on his head, saying to him, “Thus says the Lord the God of Israel: I anoint you king over the people of the Lord, over Israel. ⁷You shall strike down the house of your master Ahab, so that I may avenge on Jezebel the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord. ⁸For the whole house of Ahab shall perish; I will cut off from Ahab every male, bond or free, in Israel. ⁹I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha son of Ahijah. ¹⁰The dogs shall eat Jezebel in the territory of Jezreel, and no one shall bury her.” Then he opened the door and fled.

oppression and resistance

Good morning brothers and sisters,
We fast forward again several generations. Joseph has led his family into Egypt to escape a major famine. They have been honored guests given choice land in Egypt. Years later, Egypt's king has forgotten where they came from and sees only that they are not Egyptian. Difference becomes fear, and fear becomes oppression. Not only do the Israelites become slaves, Pharaoh even seeks to kill the male babies to reduce their population. Even in this situation God acts for Israel through the courage of two women who are midwives. This is the first act of non-violent resistance in the Bible and a great example of living faith. May that courage inspire us today.

God bless,
Sam

Exodus 1:8-22

⁸Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. ⁹He said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and more powerful than we. ¹⁰Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase and, in the event of war, join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” ¹¹Therefore they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labor. They built supply cities, Pithom and Rameses, for Pharaoh. ¹²But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread, so that the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites. ¹³The Egyptians became ruthless in imposing tasks on the Israelites, ¹⁴and made their lives bitter with hard service in mortar and brick and in every kind of field labor. They were ruthless in all the tasks that they imposed on them.

¹⁵The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, ¹⁶“When you act as midwives to the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, she shall live.” ¹⁷But the midwives feared God; they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but they let the boys live. ¹⁸So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and allowed the boys to live?” ¹⁹The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” ²⁰So God dealt well with the midwives; and the people multiplied and became very strong. ²¹And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. ²²Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “Every boy that is born to the Hebrews you shall throw into the Nile, but you shall let every girl live.”

Hagar and Ishmael

Good evening or morning brothers and sisters,
Today we continue our theme of mothers and children looking at the trouble story of Abraham, Sarah and Hagar. Both before and after God called Abraham and Sarah to leave their home for the promised land, Sarah was unable to have children. That was a problem not only because wanting to have children and being unable to is heart-breaking, but especially because God had promised to make Abraham's descendants into a great nation. That promised felt like a dead end without any kids. At one point Sarah proposed the idea of having Abraham sleep with Sarah's slave Hagar so they could have children that way. The trouble was when Hagar did conceive she and Sarah stopped getting along. When God's promise of a son through Sarah finally came true, Sarah wanted to make sure her son wouldn't have a rival for his inheritance. That's where our story takes off. God's love works even when our injustice seems worst.

God bless,
Sam

Genesis 21:9-21

⁹But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, playing with her son Isaac. ¹⁰So she said to Abraham, “Cast out this slave woman with her son; for the son of this slave woman shall not inherit along with my son Isaac.” ¹¹The matter was very distressing to Abraham on account of his son. ¹²But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed because of the boy and because of your slave woman; whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for it is through Isaac that offspring shall be named for you. ¹³As for the son of the slave woman, I will make a nation of him also, because he is your offspring.”

¹⁴So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed, and wandered about in the wilderness of Beer-sheba. ¹⁵When the water in the skin was gone, she cast the child under one of the bushes. ¹⁶Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot; for she said, “Do not let me look on the death of the child.” And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept.

¹⁷And God heard the voice of the boy; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Do not be afraid; for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. ¹⁸Come, lift up the boy and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make a great nation of him.” ¹⁹Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. She went, and filled the skin with water, and gave the boy a drink. ²⁰God was with the boy, and he grew up; he lived in the wilderness, and became an expert with the bow. ²¹He lived in the wilderness of Paran; and his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

righteous anger

Good morning brothers and sisters,

We saw Moses plead with God for mercy on behalf of Israel, now Moses sees Israel's sin for himself. His anger is understandable, but even so God written word is destroyed in Moses' rage. Jesus warns his hearers that anger is closely related to murder. Anger is part of being human, but a part we need to watch carefully. May we always be angry with injustice, but may we use our anger in just ways.

Blessings on your day,

Sam

Exodus 32:15-20

15Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain, carrying the two tablets of the covenant in his hands, tablets that were written on both sides, written on the front and on the back. 16The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved upon the tablets. 17When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a noise of war in the camp.”18But he said, “It is not the sound made by victors, or the sound made by losers; it is the sound of revelers that I hear.”

19As soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses’ anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets from his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. 20He took the calf that they had made, burned it with fire, ground it to powder, scattered it on the water, and made the Israelites drink it.

trouble and care

Good morning sisters and brothers,
Joseph's mistress sees an opportunity to get revenge on Joseph for refusing her advances, and Joseph ends up in jail. Even there, God's care follows Joseph and he prospers. Even when everything seems to be going wrong for us, God won't leave us alone. God's care isn't usually as obvious as it is in Joseph's case, but we are never alone.

God bless you with your day,
Sam

Genesis 39:13-23

13When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled outside, 14she called out to the members of her household and said to them, “See, my husband has brought among us a Hebrew to insult us! He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice; 15and when he heard me raise my voice and cry out, he left his garment beside me, and fled outside.” 16Then she kept his garment by her until his master came home, 17and she told him the same story, saying, “The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought among us, came in to me to insult me; 18but as soon as I raised my voice and cried out, he left his garment beside me, and fled outside.”



19When his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, saying, “This is the way your servant treated me,” he became enraged. 20And Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined; he remained there in prison. 21But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love; he gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer. 22The chief jailer committed to Joseph’s care all the prisoners who were in the prison, and whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. 23The chief jailer paid no heed to anything that was in Joseph’s care, because the Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made it prosper.

success and danger

Good morning brothers and sisters,
Joseph's brothers sold him into slaver in Egypt because they were jealous. Here we follow Joseph to see what happens next. Everything went well for him at first, even in slavery, because God was with him. Before long, a complication comes up in the form of his master's wife. We'll see how this turns out for Joseph. Unfortunately many people continue to face sexual exploitation in their work place. The vulnerability is greater for those who are already vulnerable in other ways: workers with less education, women, minorities and those whose immigration status (in whatever country) makes it hard for them to change jobs or go to the police. As Christ's people we are called to stand up for the vulnerable.

God bless,
Sam

Genesis 39:1-12

Now Joseph was taken down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there. 2The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man; he was in the house of his Egyptian master. 3His master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord caused all that he did to prosper in his hands. 4So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him; he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had. 5From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had, in house and field. 6So he left all that he had in Joseph’s charge; and, with him there, he had no concern for anything but the food that he ate.



Now Joseph was handsome and good-looking. 7And after a time his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.” 8But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, with me here, my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my hand. 9He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except yourself, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” 10And although she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not consent to lie beside her or to be with her. 11One day, however, when he went into the house to do his work, and while no one else was in the house, 12she caught hold of his garment, saying, “Lie with me!” But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside.

oppression and rescue

Good morning friends,
Stephen continues his defense by continuing the story. Yesterday his telling brought Joseph and his brothers to Egypt as guests of the king. Today's reading shows that that family became a nation, how the nation became oppressed and how God raised up a leader to free them from slavery. Stephen isn't saying much new, but he is showing his accusers that he and they take the same scriptures seriously. Let's see where this defense taie srphen.


God bless,
Sam

Acts 7:17-29

17“But as the time drew near for the fulfillment of the promise that God had made to Abraham, our people in Egypt increased and multiplied 18until another king who had not known Joseph ruled over Egypt. 19He dealt craftily with our race and forced our ancestors to abandon their infants so that they would die. 20At this time Moses was born, and he was beautiful before God. For three months he was brought up in his father’s house; 21and when he was abandoned, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. 22So Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in his words and deeds.


23“When he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his relatives, the Israelites. 24When he saw one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian. 25He supposed that his kinsfolk would understand that God through him was rescuing them, but they did not understand. 26The next day he came to some of them as they were quarreling and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers; why do you wrong each other?’ 27But the man who was wronging his neighbor pushed Moses aside, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? 28Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ 29When he heard this, Moses fled and became a resident alien in the land of Midian. There he became the father of two sons.

suffering for righteousness

Good morning brothers and sisters,
It's been a few days since we read from Peter. He left off exhorting everyone to obey authorities and encouraging slaves to obey their masters even if their masters were abusive. Here he explains why: when we suffer unjust abuse we are following in Christ's footsteps. Christ came into the world with sinners in mind. A big part of the point of his ministry was to take on the evil of this world in his body to free us from its power. That Christian call to non-violence is a hard one, but when we withstand trouble and continue to bless others, violence can give way to healing.

God bless,
Sam

1 Peter 2:19-25

19For it is a credit to you if, being aware of God, you endure pain while suffering unjustly. 20If you endure when you are beaten for doing wrong, what credit is that? But if you endure when you do right and suffer for it, you have God’s approval. 21For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps.

22 “He committed no sin,
and no deceit was found in his mouth.”
23When he was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. 24He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. 25For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.

blood money

Good morning brothers and sisters,
First, tonight we are not having Supper and Scripture, but we are meeting at the Boulevard at 8 to continue our ongoing discussion of The Shack. For this week we are discussing up through chapter 15. Tomorrow night we are having a potluck supper at 6:15 with worship to follow to remember Jesus' last supper with his disciples. I hope to see you there.

Earlier in Holy Week Jesus criticized the religious leaders for scrupulously following the details of the law while missing the big picture. In this passage we see a striking example of this behavior. The leaders are careful to avoid putting Judas's returned money in the treasury because it is blood money and would pollute the temple treasury. At the same time, they don't seem at all disturbed at having spent the money to get someone arrested, not do they seem bothered by Judas's remorse and recognition that Jesus is innocent.

Before we condemn the religious leaders, this passage invites us to look at ourselves. How do we shift blame to others? How do we focus on purity in minor details while missing major areas of injustice in our lives? How do we condemn the innocent? I'm so grateful Jesus always welcomes and forgives us.
May this week take you deeper into Christ's love,
Sam

Matthew 27:1-14

When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people conferred together against Jesus in order to bring about his death. 2They bound him, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate the governor.


3When Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he repented and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. 4He said, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” But they said, “What is that to us? See to it yourself.” 5Throwing down the pieces of silver in the temple, he departed; and he went and hanged himself. 6But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since they are blood money.” 7After conferring together, they used them to buy the potter’s field as a place to bury foreigners. 8For this reason that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. 9Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah, “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of the one on whom a price had been set, on whom some of the people of Israel had set a price, 10and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.”


11Now Jesus stood before the governor; and the governor asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus said, “You say so.” 12But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he did not answer. 13Then Pilate said to him, “Do you not hear how many accusations they make against you?” 14But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed.

Coming at an unexpected hour

Good morning all,
This morning's passage feels like it comes out of nowhere. It is actually the Gospel lesson the lectionary assigned for this past Sunday. Since Advent is the beginning of the church year, we begin a new lectionary year and a new Gospel, Matthew. It seems strange that our first reading would be from so late in the book, but Advent is not only about preparing to celebrate the birth of Jesus; it's also about preparing for Christ's return. Jesus teaches his disciples that he will return suddenly, so they should always be ready.

There's a part of me that is ready for Jesus to return, part of me that knows we can't solve all the world's problems, that we need God's righteous kingdom to make everything right. But I the bigger part of me is scared of Christ's return because I am too attached to the injustice of our current system. It's that part of me that most needs to hear Jesus' warning to be ready. I need this Advent season to prepare my heart and to turn my whole being towards God. Into my fear and into my selfishness, come Lord Jesus.

God bless,
Sam

Matthew 24:36-44

36"But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, 39and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man.


40Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. 41Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left. 42Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour."

refining silver

Good morning sisters and brothers,
Isaiah uses a powerful string of metaphors to call Judah back to God. Earlier in this chapter he used the image of Jerusalem as God's children who rebelled. Today he uses the image of Jerusalem as God's bride (though he doesn't use the word "bride"), an image used several times in the Old Testament and brought to it's conclusion in Revelation. Isaiah claims that Jerusalem was once faithful but has become a whore. That's a pretty shocking image, especially considering that this city was God's chosen and special city, the place where the temple and king were established. If we imagine a Catholic teacher saying that Rome had become a whore we can picture what kind of reaction that would get; I expect Isaiah's words were heard the same way.

Isaiah also uses images of impure silver, which allows him to talk about repentance as burning away those impurities. As we've seen before, Isaiah is mostly talking about injustice in Judah. His criticism is that those in power are using their power to their own advantage instead of looking out for the powerless. Isaiah also seems to accuse Jerusalem of idolatry since trees and gardens were often places to worship other gods. Isaiah holds out hope for repentance, but his images of lye and smelting make it clear that repenting won't be easy. Once people get used to the "benefits" of unjust power and profits, it is costly to repent. In the end Jerusalem will again be righteous; God doesn't abandon his people.

God bless,
Sam


Isaiah 1:21-31
21How the faithful city has become a whore! She that was full of justice, righteousness lodged in her— but now murderers! 22Your silver has become dross, your wine is mixed with water. 23Your princes are rebels and companions of thieves. Everyone loves a bribe and runs after gifts. They do not defend the orphan, and the widow’s cause does not come before them.

24Therefore says the Sovereign, the Lord of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel: Ah, I will pour out my wrath on my enemies, and avenge myself on my foes! 25I will turn my hand against you; I will smelt away your dross as with lye and remove all your alloy. 26And I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city. 27Zion shall be redeemed by justice, and those in her who repent, by righteousness. 28But rebels and sinners shall be destroyed together, and those who forsake the Lord shall be consumed. 29For you shall be ashamed of the oaks in which you delighted; and you shall blush for the gardens that you have chosen. 30For you shall be like an oak whose leaf withers, and like a garden without water. 31The strong shall become like tinder, and their work like a spark; they and their work shall burn together, with no one to quench them.

Sodom and Judah

Good morning friends,
First, the sharing blog is up and running, so take a look or post something if you'd like to get in on the conversation. In today's and tomorrow's passages we see Isaiah compare Judah to Sodom and Gomorrah. The story of Sodom and Gomorrah is probably somewhat familiar to us; if you'd like to refresh your memory it's in Genesis 19. At the same time when we hear the story now we have a hard time separating out the later meanings from the original story. The basic story is that Sodom and Gomorrah were cities in the Middle East with a reputation for injustice and evil. In Genesis 18 God decided to make a fact finding trip to see if the reputation was deserved, and to destroy the cities if the reports were true. The way God investigated was to send two angels as visitors to the city. When the angels visited Sodom, no one invited them into their home. In those days hospitality was a sacred duty, so this is already a huge indictment against the city. Finally Lot, Abraham's nephew who had settled in Sodom, saw the visitors and took them home. Not long after that the men of the city came knocking on Lot's door wanting to sexually assault the visitors. In a shocking indication of that culture's understanding of women and the importance of protecting guests, Lot offers the angry crowd his daughters instead, but they are intent on the visitors. At that point the angels strike the crowd blind, lead Lot and his family out of the city to escape, and destroy the city.

Many people understand this story as a judgment against homosexuality, but that's not true. The crime that brought judgment on Sodom was injustice, violation of the duty of hospitality and attempted gang rape. There certainly is an assumption behind the story that men sleeping together is a sign of disorder and that has all kinds of cultural reasons behind it we can discuss another time. Suffice it to say that when this was written (probably the 6th century from much older stories) Israel had no concept of the possibility of committed, same-sex relationships between consenting adults. At any rate, after this story Sodom and Gomorrah stand as symbols for civilizations that were totally wiped out by God because of widespread injustice. Isaiah uses this story to compare the devastating judgment facing Judah with the total destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. His point is that even though Judah is God's special children, they have turned away completely and have fallen into self-destructive patterns that will lead to judgment. May God guide us as we consider difficult stories and as we listen for God's warning.

Blessings,
Sam

Isaiah 1:1-9
The vision of Isaiah son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
2Hear, O heavens, and listen, O earth; for the Lord has spoken: I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me. 3The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s crib; but Israel does not know, my people do not understand. 4Ah, sinful nation, people laden with iniquity, offspring who do evil, children who deal corruptly, who have forsaken the Lord, who have despised the Holy One of Israel, who are utterly estranged! 5Why do you seek further beatings? Why do you continue to rebel?

The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. 6From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but bruises and sores and bleeding wounds; they have not been drained, or bound up, or softened with oil. 7Your country lies desolate, your cities are burned with fire; in your very presence aliens devour your land; it is desolate, as overthrown by foreigners. 8And daughter Zion is left like a booth in a vineyard, like a shelter in a cucumber field, like a besieged city. 9If the Lord of hosts had not left us a few survivors, we would have been like Sodom, and become like Gomorrah.

hardship and repentance

Good morning brothers and sisters,
This morning's reading is a challenging one. Amos lists off disasters that have fallen on Israel beginning with "Cleanness of teeth" (famine) and including things like "killing your young men with the sword." All of these disasters are said to have come from God and were sent to call the people back to faithfulness to God. When things went badly for our puritan ancestors when they first moved to this continent, whether it was a bad harvest or illness or anything else, they considered the possibility that God was correcting them for some sin. Their response to hardship was to fast and meet together to pray so they could see where they were going wrong and mend their ways.

Today we usually understand different sources for our hardships: crops fail because the weather wasn't right; illness comes from germs, etc. The advantage to our viewpoint is that often by seeking a scientific cause to our problems we can find a cure. Also, we don't end up burdened by the idea that God is causing our hardship, which often makes our relationship with God more positive. On the other hand, we've lost the habit of repenting and seeking God anytime something goes wrong, and sometimes we feel like God is far away from real life. I wonder if there is a way to balance the two approaches where we can take hardship (and success too) as a call to examine our lives and repent while not assuming that everything that goes wrong is God's doing. Scripture has three main ways of looking at suffering. Sometimes suffering is random, things just happen. Other times suffering is the result of injustice: an abused spouse suffers not for her sin but because her spouse is unjust. And sometimes we suffer because we have done something wrong. These different causes are often mixed together, but we can always respond by seeking the Lord and trying to be more faithful.

God bless,
Sam

Amos 4:6-13
6I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and lack of bread in all your places, yet you did not return to me, says the Lord. 7And I also withheld the rain from you when there were still three months to the harvest; I would send rain on one city, and send no rain on another city; one field would be rained upon, and the field on which it did not rain withered; 8so two or three towns wandered to one town to drink water, and were not satisfied; yet you did not return to me, says the Lord.

9I struck you with blight and mildew; I laid waste your gardens and your vineyards; the locust devoured your fig trees and your olive trees; yet you did not return to me, says the Lord. 10I sent among you a pestilence after the manner of Egypt; I killed your young men with the sword; I carried away your horses; and I made the stench of your camp go up into your nostrils; yet you did not return to me, says the Lord. 11I overthrew some of you, as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were like a brand snatched from the fire; yet you did not return to me, says the Lord.

12Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel; because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel! 13For lo, the one who forms the mountains, creates the wind, reveals his thoughts to mortals, makes the morning darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth— the Lord, the God of hosts, is his name!

the prophet's threat

Good morning all,
Today we finish our reading of the story of Naboth's vineyard. Ahab gets the news about Naboth's death and goes to take possession of the vineyard. There Elijah meets him and proclaims God's judgment against him. Notice that Elijah not only tells Ahab what God said, he even speaks for God using first person ("I will bring disaster on you.") It's interesting too that Ahab calls Elijah his enemy but doesn't try to kill him. It seems that Ahab, despite turning away from God, still respects Elijah because he is obviously God's prophet.

We leave this story here, but the real conclusion is a bit further in 1 and 2 Kings. A few chapters later Ahab is killed in battle and the dogs indeed lick up his blood. Not too long after that a new king of Israel will kill Jezebel and the rest of Ahab's family and the dogs eat Jezebel's body. Even the most powerful human being is ultimately powerless against God. People can oppress others and hurt them, but all human power comes to an end and in the end God alone rules creation. That truth gave strength to the early Christian martyrs and to all the faithful who stand up against injustice to witness to God's love for all people. May we always put our trust in God.

God bless,
Sam

1 Kings 21:15-26
15As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, Jezebel said to Ahab, “Go, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money; for Naboth is not alive, but dead.” 16As soon as Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, Ahab set out to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.
17Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying: 18Go down to meet King Ahab of Israel, who rules in Samaria; he is now in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone to take possession. 19You shall say to him, “Thus says the Lord: Have you killed, and also taken possession?” You shall say to him, “Thus says the Lord: In the place where dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, dogs will also lick up your blood.”

20Ahab said to Elijah, “Have you found me, O my enemy?” He answered, “I have found you. Because you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight of the Lord, 21I will bring disaster on you; I will consume you, and will cut off from Ahab every male, bond or free, in Israel; 22and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha son of Ahijah, because you have provoked me to anger and have caused Israel to sin. 23Also concerning Jezebel the Lord said, ‘The dogs shall eat Jezebel within the bounds of Jezreel.’ 24Anyone belonging to Ahab who dies in the city the dogs shall eat; and anyone of his who dies in the open country the birds of the air shall eat.” 25(Indeed, there was no one like Ahab, who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the Lord, urged on by his wife Jezebel. 26He acted most abominably in going after idols, as the Amorites had done, whom the Lord drove out before the Israelites.)