Is Jesus Selling Us a Bill Of Goods?

October 31, 2010 By 4 Comments

The Beatitudes feel like Jesus is Tom Sawyer and discipleship is painting a fence

by Nadia Bolz-Weber

Gospel Reading: Luke 6:20-31

For Sunday, November 7, 2010 Year C - All Saints

Is Jesus just being a little Tom Sawyer here, trying to make being poor, hungry and hated like the Christian spiritual equivalent of painting a fence? “Oh it’s great being a miserable wretch in my name” Jesus says in his tattered overalls and corn cob pipe, his fingers crossed behind him, “…it’s being ‘blessed’ and as a matter of fact, being rich and fabulous is woeful compared to being homeless and starving.” I, for one, am not taken in. Based on this I will not be picking up a paintbrush for Jesus.

Picking Up the Paintbrush?

The Beatitudes, these blessings at the beginning of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount are so weird. Blessed are the poor? Those who are hated, those who are reviled? I tend to have one of two reactions: If this is what being “blessed” looks like, I might have to pass.

Or, conversely, I end up looking at the Beatitudes is as pure exhortation. If only I were a lot more hungry, then God would bless me. If only I just wept more. We want to hear it like that so we can take things into our own hands. Because it’s easier to try and do what it takes to earn God’s favor that to sit in the very disturbed reality of the beatitudes.

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Can We Just Keep The Nice Bits?

October 31, 2010 By 1 Comment

Welcome to Psalm 149 – the one that might turn you into a Marcionite

by Nadia Bolz-Weber

Psalm Reading: Psalm 149

For Sunday, November 7, 2010 Year C - All Saints

You gotta love a party psalm. Everyone coming together to sing praises to God; the good, faithful people of God rejoicing in song and dance; women in bangles and swirling dresses, maidens playing lyres, children banging tambourines. I can just see it: God’s people all singing joyful hymns and praises to God. It’s a delightful scene.

If Only

If only we could end at verse 6a. If only. But instead we are stuck with a verse that begins with “Let the high praise of God be in their throats” and ends with “a two-edged sword in their hands.” In Psalm 149 we basically go from joy and song and dance to swords and vengeance and chains.

So, on All Saints Day, the day in which we celebrate the heroes of the faith perhaps we do well to ask a couple hard questions, like: Why can’t Psalm 149 end at verse 6a?

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Year C – Ordinary 31 Video Response

October 25, 2010 By 2 Comments

Filed Under: Archived Video

The Cost of Salvation

October 24, 2010 By 7 Comments

Is salvation really as simple as ditching half of your stuff?

by Jake Bouma

Gospel Reading: Luke 19:1-10

For Sunday, October 31, 2010: Year C – Ordinary 31

Ah, Zaccheus. The famous little man of the Bible, whose story is excitedly taught in Sunday school classes around the country. I suppose Zaccheus’ story is expected to resonate with children, who are always struggling to get a good view of the action wherever they are. My interest, however, lies elsewhere.

Open To Speculation

Part of my struggle with this passage stems from the fact that Luke leaves so much open to speculation. Because the story of Zaccheus is not a parable but rather an account of Jesus’ ministry, we’re not given implicit permission to read into the text. In the case of a parable, we know that we’re supposed to look for meaning beyond the story for a deeper, spiritual meaning. Such is not the case with Zaccheus. We’re given what we’ve got, and it isn’t much.

Here’s what we do know: Luke goes to great lengths to communicate the extent of Zaccheus’ despicable sinfulness; it’s mentioned in the beginning, middle, and end of the story. We learn immediately that he’s the chief tax collector of Jericho and therefore he’s loaded. After Jesus chooses Zaccheus’ house for lodging, the crowd reminds us that Zaccheus is, in fact a sinner. And finally at the end of the story, Jesus proclaims that “the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost,” the lost one(s) being Zaccheus and sinners like him.

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Seriously, Isaiah?

October 24, 2010 By 1 Comment

Where do we draw the line between prophet and lunatic?

by Jake Bouma

Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 1:10-18

For Sunday, October 31, 2010: Year C – Ordinary 31

Well, this is certainly a hell of a way to open a piece of prophetic literature. Isaiah wastes practically no time at all in convincing us that he’s either a raving lunatic or a prophet with wordsmithing skills of hip-hopical proportions.

Instead of A Show

For two-thirds of our reading, Isaiah makes himself perfectly clear: God is pissed. “I do not delight,” he says, “my soul hates,” “I will not listen,” and so on. Isaiah the prophet bursts on to the scene with some really bizarre stuff. If it doesn’t seem strange to you, I suggest listening to a worship song called “Instead of A Show” by Jon Foreman, the lead singer of the Christian super-group Switchfoot. The first time I listened to the song, I remember thinking that Mr. Foreman must have an unbelievable amount of courage to have written this song for consumption by Christians (“You shine up your shoes for services,” he croons, “There’s blood on your hands.”). Either that, or he’s lost his mind.

But “Instead of A Show” is clearly based on this text from Isaiah. Jon Foreman has translated Isaiah for our modern age, and if it seems strange to us, it surely must have to Isaiah’s audience as well. Wouldn’t the hearers of Isaiah’s message have questioned, “On whose authority do you say these hyperbolic statements?” or, more straightforwardly, “Are you serious!?”

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Year C – Ordinary 30 Video Response

October 18, 2010 By Leave a Comment

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Kinda Sad

October 17, 2010 By 1 Comment

Can the privileged citizens of the empire proclaim the gospel of the oppressed?

by Russell Rathbun

Epistle Reading: 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18

For Sunday, Oct. 24, 2010: Year C – Ordinary 30

This is kinda sad. When the Epistle readings are all full of ethical demands and righteous declarations, I find them a bit off-putting and uninspiring. They never really grab me; they turn me off. Not that I always need something zingy in the text to engage me, but I do like something that feels alive.

2 Timothy Feels Alive

After looking at this week’s Epistle lesson, I went back and read the whole letter. It is beautiful and sad. It is Paul, in jail, facing his impending execution.

There is poetry in this letter.

As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come.

There is a real, vulnerable person here. It is unfortunate that the Lectionariers left out verses 9-15, almost the best part of the whole book. Paul seems a little scared and lonely. He names those who have deserted him.

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The Parable Trap

October 17, 2010 By 9 Comments

Is the Pharisee’s self-justification built on the Law or his comparison to others?

by Russell Rathbun

Gospel Reading: Luke 18:9-14

For Sunday, Oct. 24, 2010: Year C – Ordinary 30

Jesus continues with his qualifications of prayer parables this week. But first the author of Luke messes with our heads a little bit. Not only do we get more of the tumbling logic of the-first-shall-be-last-but-the-last-are-first variety, but this entire pericope is set up to contradict its implied central point.

Contemptuous Regard

Before I get into that fun at the end, I want to begin with, well, the beginning (if that’s OK). I don’t know what to make of, “He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt . . . .” Does that mean that he was telling the previous parables to people who regarded others with contempt, and now tells them this one?

That would include the both the Pharisees and the disciples. Is Luke purposely equating the two groups? Is there something about being a religious leader that makes one susceptible to self-righteousness and contempt for others? (Sorry, that’s really an obvious statement placed in the form of a question in an attempt to distance myself from its sting.)

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Year C – Ordinary 29 Video Response

October 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

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It’s a Long Way to the Punch Line

October 10, 2010 By 6 Comments

Is obsessive devotion to the law something to be mocked?

by Russell Rathbun

Psalm Reading: Psalm 119

For Sunday, Oct. 17, 2010: Year C - Ordinary 29

This is a really long Psalm.

I know that’s what everyone says about it, and it’s especially hard on those of us who have to preach about it.

Well, it is hard not to mention, it is really long. It’s the longest Psalm and also qualifies as the longest chapter in the Bible—which only seems right since it is a paean to the Bible. It’s David’s hymn of praise to the Law.

Believe it or not, I don’t always enjoy questioning everything. Sometimes, I think, I would just like to take the plain meaning of a text and accept it—that’s all there is! In this case, it’d be: This is David’s song about how much he loves the Torah and how much delight he has in following the Law. The Bible is a good thing to praise, celebrate, and go on and on about. I love the Bible, too. I read it a lot, like every day.

So why not join in, sing along with such great lines like:

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