Blog The Scriptures

Fifth Sunday after Epiphany - Year B

2009-02-08T15:42:00.001-08:00

Isaiah 40:21-31

Psalm 147:1-11, 20c

1 Corinthians 9:16-23

Mark 1:29-39

Having skipped blogging last week because I had a migraine, it's very tempting to skip this week too for no reason at all. Funny how that happens. We skip one of our useful, good, regular practices for a good valid reason, then we use that as internal justification to drop that practice for little to no reason. If we only did at our best, the bare minimum that we can eek by with on our worst days, we clearly wouldn't be living up to anything close to our potential.

As for the lectionary, I know I tend to be too hard on Paul (particularly here, because you can't tell from this blog but I actually think he's written some beautiful stuff), but I really find his attitude in 1 Corinthians 9:16-23 to be extremely two-faced. It's one thing to play on your commonalities. I have friends who have no interest in or understanding of large portions of my life beyond the fact that it's something I enjoy, believe or participate in. (And vice versa.) I don't think it is necessary to point out every area where you may differ in belief or practice from someone. It isn't necessary, for instance, to point out that you are a meat-eater at a vegetarian dinner (although you will sometimes find it necessary to say you are vegetarian at a non-vegetarian dinner to keep to your diet and/or beliefs.) But it sounds to me that Paul is advocating out and out lying about who you are and what you believe in order to garner converts. And that's just wrong! Sure, you can argue that potential converts may not have the context to understand parts of your faith and need to be introduced to it gradually. I can buy that. Anything looks crazy if you take small parts out of context. Context building is fine, saying I need to explain this to you first is fine. But I truely believe that the most effective way to share your faith is to live it and you can not do that if you are lying about what you believe and living someone else's faith so that you can blend into their community to start converting them. Blending into their culture and community to the extent that it does not conflict with your faith, sure - that's a perfectly fine way to get to know a new group of people in a new community. Hiding your faith? That's a valid (and in my opinion honorable) survival stratigey. It is absolutely backwards, wrong and unethical as a conversion strategy.

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Third Sunday After Epiphany - Year B

2009-01-25T23:07:00.001-08:00

This week's Lectionary readings are:

Jonah 3:1-5, 10

Psalm 62:5-12

1 Corinthians 7:29-31

Mark 1:14-20

I've always liked this story from Jonah. Jonah prophesies, the people listen and repent, and God listens and staves off the threatened destruction. Later, people complain about the prophecy (and prophet) being false. I don't have any great conclusions, just new thoughts every time I read it. Today, it reminds me of staying up all night to make sure that there were no problems with the Y2K switchover (and installing last minute patches.) Like so many companies, because we worked hard (and because the people in Australasia worked out the bugs) everything went well when the moment came.

Psalm 62:10b, if riches increase, do not set your heart on them, reminds me of something my father told me about investments during the recessions of the 70's and 80's - it's only paper money. His theory was that until you cashed out your investment to use it for something else, any profit or loss was only on paper. A good reminder for these times, or any others.

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Second Sunday after Epiphany - Year B

2009-01-18T20:16:00.001-08:00

This week's Lectionary readings are:

I Samuel 3:1-10, (11-20)

Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18

I Corinthians 6:12-20

John 1:43-51

Several things from this weeks readings stuck out at me.

One was I Samuel 3:1b The word of the LORD was rare in those days; visions were not widespread. I think it's an interesting reminder that prophets and visionaries may not always be readily apparent, but that doesn't mean that they don't exist or that the Lord isn't speaking to us. And like Samuel, we may not be aware that that is what is happening.

Another interesting line is Psalm 139:6 Such knowledge [that God has] is too wonderful for me; it is so high that I cannot attain it. This is a key concept in my faith. I believe that many holy things are way beyond my understanding and I can only understand them imperfectly. That means that I (and the community of believers) can believe things that are later shown to be false because it was the best our limited human understanding could do at the time.

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Baptism of the Lord - Year B

2009-01-11T23:42:00.000-08:00

The Lectionary reading for the Baptism of the Lord is:

Genesis 1:1-5

Psalm 29

Acts 19:1-7

Mark 1:4-11

Today's reading is the second lectionary reading of Epiphany, somewhat jarringly to me, it is the first this lectionary year which deals with Jesus as an adult. It's like, Boom! Tuesday he was this baby getting gifts from the 3 Kings, today he's a an adult getting baptised. Speaking of adults getting baptised. I think there is a lot to be said for waiting to be baptised until you are at least old enough to understand what's going on and remember it. Certainly this was the case with Jesus. His parents took him to the temple to be redeemed as a baby, but as we see in theMark reading, it wasn't until he was an adult that he decided he should be baptised.

I recently read an interesting comment on Genesis 1 in a book by Jim Seybert. He points out that God didn't start by thinking about something, planning something, or discussing something, he created something and sometimes that's just what we need to do - create something.

With all the recent readings from and this week about Paul, I'd like to point out an interesting blog post I found about Paul - Declaring War on Saint Paul. Interestingly, I was having a conversation with a friend of mine a couple of weeks ago where I told him (in response to him telling me that he had major problems with Christianity because of Paul) that I thought that most of what Paul had to say needs to be filtered by the fact that he pretty obvously had some serious zeal of the convert stuff going on (particularly with regard to perfectionism) that had he lived longer he probably would have moderated. Then this weekend I've seen several references similar to what I told my friend. It's funny what you find when you start looking for it.

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Epiphany of the Lord - Year B

2009-01-06T20:36:00.001-08:00

Epiphany is also known as "3 Kings Day" and I think I may have been an adult before I was aware that the wise men didn't arrive on the night that Jesus was born (not that that was likely to have been December 25th.) Then again, most of what I know about the christmas story I learned from playing with the nativity scene.

Today's Lectionary readings are:

Isaiah 60:1-6

Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14

Ephesians 3:1-12

Matthew 2:1-12

I was particularly taken by the last 3 lines from the psalm (Psalm 72:12-14):

For he delivers the needy when they call, the poor and those who have no helper.

He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy.

From oppression and violence he redeems their life; and precious is their blood in his sight.[NRSV]

This is very much a description of what Jesus did in his lifetime.

WWJD? (What would Jesus do?) is a common catch phrase you hear a lot. And even for those who take their faith beyond catch phrases, the Messiah (whether we believe him to have appeared or are still waiting), like the prophets, is someone we should look to as a model for our behavior. This seems like good behavior for us to model.

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Second Sunday After Christmas - Year B

2009-01-04T19:57:00.000-08:00

This week's Lectionary reading is:

Jeremiah 31:7-14 (or Sirach 24:1-12)

Psalm 147:12-20 (or Wisdom of Solomon 10:15-21)

Ephesians 1:3-14

John 1:(1-9), 10-18

I don't think I've mentioned that when the Lectionary puts verses in parenthesis, they are optional. Also, when the reading calls for verses from the Apocrypha, the Lectionary provides alternative verses from the Hebrew Bible or New Testament for those who don't include the Apocrypha in their canon.

Comparing current news and the reading from Jeremiah makes it hard to believe that the Messiah has come. However, I reject that argument. I certainly don't want to get into appologetics, but I'm sure that the situation depicted in Jeremiah 31:12:

They shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow to the goodness of Yahweh, to the grain, and to the new wine, and to the oil, and to the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all. [WEB]

has occurred multiple times over the last ~2000 years. (For that matter, it could be talking about after the Second Coming but I'm not even going to get into that here.)

Many Palestinians are unitarian Christians, so I feel an extra tie to them. However, any kind of violence and terrorism is wrong and I pray for a quick resolution, healing for those who are harmed and limited damages, injuries, and deaths.

I found the first half of the last verse (18) of the John reading interesting, it says No one has seen God at any time. Yet, the stories of the early prophets (Abraham, Isaac, ...) include a number of stories of talking with or seeing God.

New Year's Day - Year B

2009-01-01T19:27:00.001-08:00

In honor of Public Domain Day, all quotes given are from the public domain World English Bible (WEB). Being in the public domain is only one of the reasons I use the WEB translation regularly. Today's image is not public domain, but it is under a Creative Commons license.

There are actually 2 potential reading for January 1st, one for New Year's Day and one for the Holy Name of Jesus/Mary Mother of God. The intention is that a congregation can celebrate one or the other. Since I'm not feeling particularly spiritual at the moment, I'm doing the readings for New Year's Day.

The lectionary readings for New Year's Day are:

Ecclesiastes 3:1-13

Psalm 8

Revelation 21:1-6a

Matthew 25:31-46

I've always liked this reading from Ecclesiastes 3:1-13, which is probably better known these days as the song Turn! Turn! Turn! You can listen to it using the widget below, which comes from one of my employer's business partners who I therefore know is very careful about getting legal permissions to stream songs (Lala.) (Not one of our artists though!)

Turn! Turn! Turn! - The Byrds

The thing I like about this reading - beyond the poetry of it, which is fantastic - is that it reminds us that there is a time for all things. It is not necessarily that war or recession or hording stuff is bad, it is that it has it's place and we need to determine if now is the proper place and time. Likewise, when it is the time for things that are difficult, bad, sad or uncomfortable, the time for their opposite - the easy, good, happy, and comfortable will come. We don't always have to love everyone, build up, and be joyful - sometimes those aren't appropriate responses. I also very much like the meaning in the later (9-13), less poetic verses:

What profit has he who works in that in which he labors? I have seen the burden which God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in their hearts, yet so that man can’t find out the work that God has done from the beginning even to the end. I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice, and to do good as long as they live. Also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy good in all his labor, is the gift of God.[WEB]

We should enjoy our work and our time off. We should do good as we can. We should party (rejoice) as we can. And although it's clearer in the NRSV than the WEB, God has given us the gift of understanding past, present and future so that we can take comfort and strength from past memories and future plans.

Psalm 8:5-8 :

For you have made him a little lower than God,
and crowned him with glory and honor.
You make him ruler over the works of your hands.
You have put all things under his feet:
All sheep and cattle,
yes, and the animals of the field,
The birds of the sky, the fish of the sea,
and whatever passes through the paths of the seas.[WEB]

along with Genesis 1:26-30

God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them. God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” God said, “Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree, which bears fruit yielding seed. It will be your food. To every animal of the earth, and to every bird of the sky, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food”; and it was so.[WEB]

and Genesis 9:2-3

The fear of you and the dread of you will be on every animal of the earth, and on every bird of the sky. Everything that the ground teems with, and all the fish of the sea are delivered into your hand. Every moving thing that lives will be food for you. As the green herb, I have given everything to you.[WEB]

are often used to prove that God has given the earth for people to use. What doesn't seem to be taken into account in those discussions, and I think should (particularly since it's in the context of BOTH the Genesis stories and I think to a large extent the point of putting it in the psalm), is that "with great power comes great responsibility."

I think the point of this section of the psalm is that God thinks so much of us that he trusts us with this amazing responsibility. And the counter-point of trust is living up to it, not taking advantage of it, as I think most people - myself included, tend to do. My friend, Craig, has a video highlighting humanity taking advantage of dominion over cows called bovinity. It's somewhat disturbing and I don't necessarily agree with all of his presentation (I'd highlight things he ignored and ignore some he highlighted if I were doing it), but he's a very interesting videographer and it's definitely on topic.

An aside on the source of "with great power comes great responsibility". I went looking for the source of this quote so I could properly attribute it. In his blog, Rabbi Josh Waxman attributes it to a maamar (formal statement/discourse by a rabbi) by Rabbi ben Chaviva (details and background including an earlier reference to the Mishnas here.) My Hebrew scholarship is not good enough to find a date. There are a number of other theories as to it's origins, including references to similar statements in the New Testament (Luke and one of the Epistles.) All three of these originate in Judaism in the 3 centuries before or after the birth of Jesus, so Waxman's attribution is probably correct. The many people who attribute the original quote to Stan Lee - well they are probably wrong, even if Mr Lee is extremely talented.

As for the Matthew reading, first off, I believe that the last line (25:46) where Jesus sends those who were uncharitable into eternal punishment(WEB), we are seeing the human side of Jesus. He is still human at that time and I personal believe that God is too good to eternally damn anyone (Yeah, yeah, pesky unitarian) and that we have ample evidence to show that. (That said, I'm not saying I believe God lets you be purposely mean and evil and have no consequences in the afterlife. Something like the LDS viewpoint seems like a good explaination to me, see here and here.)

However, I also think it is very important for us to remember and practice verses 36 & 36:

.. I was hungry, and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you took me in. I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came to me.

where "me" is clarified in verse 40 as inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you did it to me[WEB - equivalent translation from notes] Remember that this is not only a Christian tradition, there are similar statements about hospitality toward strangers and those in need in the Hebrew bible. I'm guilty of not always living this one. I'm very good at remembering that the stranger, the poor, the homeless and the vulnerable is a person just like me and speaking to them as such, but I'm not as good at pitching in and helping them. Part of this is because I feel vulnerable to being taken advantage of or worse (as a short female who tends to see the best in people and be nice, I think I get taken advantage of more than most people.) And part of it is because I feel powerless to do anything that is truly helpful, rather than condescending, enabling, or well-meant but detrimental. (My friend, Terrie Lynn Bittner, has an excellent article about this here.) Or at least, I feel powerless to do something actually useful without putting myself in a potentially dangerous situation. In my defense, however, I have had people come back to me and tell me that my treating them with compassion and as an equal when they were troubled strangers made all the difference to them. However, I would still like to be able to back my words with effective actions.

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First Sunday After Christmas - Year B

2008-12-28T20:23:00.001-08:00

This week's lectionary readings are:

Isaiah 61:10-62:3

Psalm 148

Galatians 4:4-7

Luke 2:22-40

The verse that struck me the most in today's reading was Isaiah 61:11 For as the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.(NRSV) A couple things struck me about this verse. One is that good things (assuming righteousness and praise are good things) would come to ALL nations, not just some, not just believers, not just the sinless, but all nations. Also, is this praise for all nations or from all nations? Likewise with the righteousness, will we be given examples of righteousness to follow? Or will we suddenly become righteous?

I think with praise, it is more important to give praise than get it. Not that getting praise isn't important, but I think that you need to experience both sides for it to have value and in our society, receiving praise (deserved or not) is so common - especially as a child, that you need the experience of giving heartfelt praise to really understand and value it.

As far as righteousness, it would be great to always know what is right. But I think it would be horrible to just always do the right thing without thought or choice.

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Christmas

2008-12-25T19:45:00.001-08:00

On to the next lectionary season.

For Christmas (eve and/or day) there are 3 sets of readings.

Nativity Of The Lord - Proper I

Isaiah 9:2-7

Psalm 96

Titus 2:11-14

Luke 2:1-14, (15-20)

Nativity Of The Lord - Proper II

Isaiah 62:6-12

Psalm 97

Titus 3:4-7

Luke 2:(1-7), 8-20

Nativity Of The Lord - Proper III

Isaiah 52:7-10

Psalm 98

Hebrews 1:1-4, (5-12)

John 1:1-14

I was particularly struck by Luke 2:14 - "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased!"(NRSV) I haven't seen the "with whom he is pleased in other translations" and I'm not sure if it is intended as "Peace amoung those people with whom God is pleased" or "God is pleased with mankind, peace among them."

I'd probably have more to say, but the migraine I've had for the last week is worse today and the meds aren't helping, so thought isn't exactly what my brain is doing best right now!

Most church services around here have been cancelled last night/today and the last 2 Sundays due to bad weather. My mom's husband commented that he's not sure how the churches can afford to do without the offering from the extra holiday visitors. The only denomination that reliably had services around here were the Catholic churches, although many of them cancelled midnight mass - that was both when any ice storm we were going to have was most likely to be at it's worst and when a local station was rebroadcasting the pope doing the service from St Peters.

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Fourth Sunday in Advent - Year B

2008-12-21T19:46:00.001-08:00

This week's lectionary readings are:

2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16

Luke 1:46b-55 ( or Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26)

Romans 16:25-27

Luke 1:26-38

In the Samuel reading, I was struck by the idea that God lives and wants to live in a temporary and portable structure, yet is happy for us to live in more permanent and stable structures. For me, this actually reinforces the idea that God is everywhere - or where He is needed - not just in a temple or church. And that God is eternal. Because, even a "permanent" house only lasts for some hundreds of years (and stays in one place.) A temporary shelter can be rebuilt and repaired in place to place forever.

The second Luke reading was the most advent-like reading, in my mind, of any that we have read this advent. I read somewhere that Mary's last line in the reading - "Behold, the handmaid of the Lord; be it to me according to your word." (Luke 1:38 WEB) - is very similar to what the prophets have said when they accepted their duties. This is a much stronger role for Mary than usually proposed, and I think well deserved. Mary has always struck me as a very strong woman and well worthy of being a role mode. However you interpret her story, strictly secularly or purely religious or anywhere in between, she was a strong and amazing woman.

The art this week is from my new favorite artist, He Qi. His website is full of amazing religious paintings and embroideries that, to me, strike a strong balance between historical accuracy, expected symbolism, and modern accessibility.

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Third Sunday in Advent - Year B

2008-12-14T21:07:00.001-08:00

This's week's lectionary reading is:

Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11

Psalm 126 (or Luke 1:47-55)

I Thessalonians 5:16-24

John 1:6-8, 19-28

I am still enjoying the words of Isaiah, and I've been reading (but not blogging) some additional readings from Isaiah (well, technically the prophet Isaiah as quoted in the Book of Mormon.) So I was happy to see another reading from Isaiah. I really like 61:11

For as the earth brings forth its bud, and as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord Yahweh will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.

It's such a genuinely positive image. I like the whole sense of hope of this reading from Isaiah, and the focus on pain becoming celebration and justice replacing injustice.

I particularly liked the last line of Psalm 126 - especially in the WEB - He who goes out weeping, carrying seed for sowing,
will certainly come again with joy, carrying his sheaves. I strongly believe that God helps those who help themselves, and this is a good example of that. To me it says, even when things are going badly, keep working and it will pay off.

The reading from I Thessalonians is one that I should read regularly. It has a lot of advice that I know I should take. I think 5:16 Test all things, and hold firmly that which is good. is particularly important. In religious discussions, so often I hear (and fall into) lots of black and white thinking as to what is good or bad, and particularly the assumption that we all do or should just take someone's word on these things. Testing (and determining the results) all things implies that we need to make an effort for ourself. Sure somethings we can learn from others, but we learn from observing others results, not just taking their conclusion at face value.

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Second Sunday in Advent - Year B

2008-12-07T02:46:00.001-08:00

This week's Lectionary readings are:

Isaiah 40:1-11

Psalm 85:1-2,8-13

2 Peter 3:8-15a

Mark 1:1-8

All these readings talk of better things to come. My life is pretty darn good, but of course, things could always be better. More importantly, a lot of people are really struggling right now, so it's nice to think about better things to come.

In the last month, the book of Isaiah has really spoken to me. This may be because I've been reading it in small doses - the last 2 lectionary readings and in the little daily devotional someone sends me. But it's making me want to make an effort to read more. I feel like I can really hear the poetry and feel the devotion of Isaiah.

I am particularly struck by 2 Peter 3:10, [T]he day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night. There is so much in popular culture about knowing that the end time (or second coming) is near by the signs (including efforts to force those signs to occur!) Yet this statement directly contradicts that - we won't know when the Lord is coming, he will sneak in. I think this is more likely to be true than the opposite. I also think the information on how we should live now is worth noting and particularly useful in the World English translation:

[In] holy living and godliness, looking for and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God, ..., be diligent to be found in peace, without blemish and blameless in his sight. (2 Peter 11-14)

I particularly like the line "diligent to be found in peace", and back to my earlier theme, I find that this conflicts with the dispensationalist idea that peace in the Middle East works against the coming of the lord (Good overview of Christian Zionism and it's political implications.)

The Mark reading talks about John the Baptist's ministry of baptism. I particularly liked the image at the top of this post as a piece of art. But I think the image below - from the very interesting JESUS MAFA project - is probably more realistic.

Lectionary Year B - First Sunday In Advent

2008-11-29T23:21:00.000-08:00

This week's Lectionary readings are:

Isaiah 64:1-9

Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19

1 Corinthians 1:3-9

Mark 13:24-37

In the Isaiah reading, the author is asking God to make himself known. (Perhaps in a more angry form than I, or most Universalists, would normally think of.) How easy it would be to be a believer if God did appear to us and perform "awesome deeds"!

Thanksgiving Day - Year A

2008-11-27T17:53:00.001-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today is the last reading for year A:

Deuteronomy 8:7-18

Psalm 65

2 Corinthians 9:6-15

Luke 17:11-19

I was particularly struck by the reminder in the Deuteronomy section about remembering to be greatful in good times, and also by the reminder in Luke to be grateful in general. (Although it also is about being grateful when something good happens.) I think I'm a reasonably grateful person, but gratitude is something I really value in myself and others. I think gratitude just makes life better and I know I could be more grateful.

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What and Why

2008-11-26T22:39:00.000-08:00

A few years ago, David Plotz wrote a series for Slate where he attempts to answer the question "So, what will happen if I approach my Bible empty, unmediated by teachers or rabbis or parents?" (*) As a lifelong Unitarian-Universalist and Religious Studies major, I've always felt obligated to take scripture rationally (the responsible search for truth that is valued by UU's) and in historical context (the religious studies background), so this was a new idea to me. It made me realize that while my primary test for non-scriptural material (novels, quotes, life experiences, blogs, ...) influencing my faith, belief or practice is whether or not they help me better understand the big issues (my relationship with Deity, my purpose in life, ...), but when it comes to scripture I worry about context, translation, history and other factors. It's not that those things aren't important, but there is a value in letting the text speak to you that I've missed and want to explore.

I'm not going to attempt to structure myself as strictly as Plotz or be as disciplined (he got through his scripture, the TANAK, in a year.) For several reasons, including the fact that I see great value in reading other people's scriptures, I'll leave the definition of scripture for blogging purposes open. My goal is to blog on the Revised Common Lectionary readings (which I usually follow along with my church's Christian group, albeit poorly) with other scriptures as time and interest allow. I'm blogging mostly because I think it's a good way to organize the information for later use, but if someone feels compelled to read and comment, or has complimentary goals and would like to be a blog author, you are welcome!