Homilies

Readings: Note that these readings are for Sunday rather than All Saints.  Much better readings.

Wisdom 11, 22-12, 2, You love all things that are.

Psalm 145,  I will praise your name forever, my king and my God.  Also, check out the marvelous second stanza, my favorite.  What a portrait of our God.

2 Thessalonians 1, 11-22  We always pray for you.  Good old Paul, two long sentences.

Luke 19, 1-10, The beloved Zacchaeus in his tree.

 

 

Wisdom (of Solomon) observations:

Author: Not Solomon, but a compilation by numerous
people.

Date:  around 200 years before Christ.

Subject: Wise statements like

          "Righteous people are
protected by God and will never suffer torment." 3, 1

          "Is it good to have riches
in this life?  Nothing can make you
richer than wisdom."  8, 5

Today:  Nice reading, especially for All Saints.  Note the beautiful line, “You love all things
that are.” Line 24

 

 

Psalm 145 observation:

Can you spot my favorite line?  Someone
has composed a beautiful portrait of God.

Sources, Good News Bible, The New Interpreter's Study Bible, Wikipedia.

 

 

Saints?  Ever met One? 
Never met One?

I would like to talk today about saints. 
Ever met one?  Never, you
say.  I would say, on the contrary, I
have known many, and I know many.  Let me
spell out a bit what this saint person is or does from my perspective.

First I would suggest the saint is fully alive or trying to be fully
alive.

Secondly, I think this person shows me that Our God is what the Psalm writer
says.  Namely, using my translation, Our
God is gracious and merciful, never gets angry and is abounding in love.

Zacchaeus exemplifies these two qualities.  He shows me this portrait of God and he is so
alive that he climbs a tree to compensate for his shortness.  A terrific model.

 

I have another.  This person came
into my life around fifth grade at Christ the King.  He was a young guy in his twenties, out of
the navy where he had been wounded. 
He was our all sports coach, scout master, teacher, and mentor.  

His name was Frank and at least twice in his life he showed me God. 

 

The first time it happened started after I had entered the Boy Scouts
and we went off to camp Texoma. I don’t think Frank was there this year.  I immediately did not like this, was homesick,
and scared that some of the big guys, the eighth grade boys, who were going to
initiate me, it being my first time out.

So I pretended to be sick, cried a bit, and eventually got taken
home.  I remember coming home.  It was mid-summer and hot.  We had no a/c, of course.  I think my parents were embarrassed.  That event was one of the most humiliating
times in my life.

My dad & some of the other dads had gotten involved with the Scouts
at this time and, therefore, I stuck around. 
Summer came again, camp came, and I did not want to go.  But my dad had volunteered to do an
overnight.  Each night a dad stayed with
the troop. 

 

I did not want to go, but figured I had better go along with my
dad. 

I’ll never forget arriving in that campsite at twilight.  They used the old canvas, walled tents on
platforms.  Each tent had 4 cots.  When we arrived, we went straight to Frank’s
tent and he was seated on his cot.

When I  entered the tent rather queasy, Frank was so warm in his
greeting and so accepting that I immediately felt at ease and at home.  I think Frank’s support of me that night
helped me turn a big corner in my life.

 

Could this have significantly helped me to enter the Jesuits in ’58?  Despite the fact that I knew I would be
coming home for nothing, and despite the times I felt homesick, like especially
around Thanksgiving and Christmas, I never returned home.

The second time Frank showed me Our God was when we planted trees on Marsh
Lane from LBJ to Love Field, probably around 1993-4.  We had so many trees that we used two Sundays
in October-November. 

Frank owned a restaurant just north of LBJ west off of Marsh.  When he heard about what we had done the
first Sunday, he invited all the planters to eat dinner at his restaurant after
the second planting. 

We did and those trees are still there. 
Moreover, for some years Frank’s oldest son, likewise, Frank, whom I
taught at Jesuit in the 60’s, and who owns Back Country Bar-b-que on Greenville
Ave., Frank Jr. catered a lunch for all the tree planters.

Frank Sr. is retired and living at Tremont, and he is one of my saints.  He is fully alive and he has shown me that Our
God is merciful and gracious, never gets angry, and is abounding in love.

Who are your saints?   For whom
are you a saint?  

 

 

 

Readings: 

Sirach 35, 12-14, 16-18, He hears the cry of the oppressed.

Psalm 34,  The Lord hears the cry of the poor.

2 Timothy 4, 6-8, 16-18  I have competed well.

Luke 18, 9-14, Two people went up to the temple to pray.

 

Sirach observations:

Again we take
up one of the books of the Apocrypha, the 12 books written in Greek and not
originally considered part of the Bible.  This book is basically a
collection of Jewish wisdom statements and teachings, like, "A father who loves his son will whip him often, so that he can be proud of him later." 30, 1

Who:  Joshua, who was translated from Hebrew into Greek by his grandson.

Date:  ca. 200 years before Christ.

Our selection in chapter 35 talks about the nature of god
and what happens to the person who serves god.  It sets up Luke's parable
about the pharisee & the tax collector in the temple.

 Self-righteous,
Me?

I love this little parable about the two people who went up to pray in
the temple.  Two lines are especially
sneaky.  The first line is where Jesus
says he has a parable about people who are convinced of their own righteousness
and who despise everyone else.  That old
sense of superiority.

That’s me!  I’ll give you an
example.

I mentioned once that I think I am a hot bike mechanic.  Well, I also can think I am a hot shot bike
rider.  I have ridden the 5 Boro in NY, the Hotter ‘N Hell
Hundred, and I have ridden across Iowa for a week.  Hot Stuff.  Am I not super?

One morning this past summer Rosemary & I went for a ride around The
Lake, White Rock, The Jewel.  We picked
up the White Rock Creek Trail at Northwood Park on Royal Lane just east of
Central.  It is about 4 miles to The Lake. 

I have what I call “rabbits.” 
Rabbits are other bikers I want to beat, 
motivators for me to really push it. 

This particular morning as Rosemary & I are getting our bikes set up
at the parking lot, I see three guys go zooming by heading for the lake.  When I tell Rosemary that I think I see some
rabbits, she knows what that means.  We will
start together and I will race ahead to catch these characters.  Then I will wait for her at our arranged meeting
place on the north bridge over The Lake.

So I take off after these three bikers.   I can see them in the distance
occasionally.  They have all the colorful
clothing and good street bikes as opposed to hybrids.  They are a challenge.  I follow them under the bridges at Walnut Hill,
Fair Oaks, Abrams, Skillman, and even the Dart Bridge. 

I finally come up behind them just before the Northwest Hwy. Bridge.  I follow them for a bit, watching for an
opportune straight stretch so I can pass them. 
We are all moving at a good pace, 16-20 miles per hour. 

Suddenly I notice something about the third guy.  He has a withered right leg.  I don’t even know how he pedals his bike, let
alone pedaling at such a pace on this winding trail.  His leg is there and his foot has a shoe, but
it is like shriveled up.   He must use the leg as just dead weight to
push down the right pedal.

I cannot pass them.  I am
embarrassed at my own sense of superiority and impressed with his
achievement. 

Where they finally went I do not know. 
We parted when I stopped at the north bridge to wait for Rosemary.   I have never seen the guy again.  Was he some divine messenger sent to humble
me, to say to me ‘Whoever thinks he is superior will be humbled’?  The second good line.

A blessing hidden in biking is that just as soon as you think you are hot stuff, along comes somebody who rides by you like as if you are waiting for the Dart train.  Try, try, and try as I might, I cannot catch that person.

I confess I still chase rabbits, but I often think about the man with
the withered leg.  And feel appropriately humbled.  

Over whom do you feel superior?

 

 

 

Readings: 

Exodus 17, 8-13  Joshua mowed down Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.

Psalm 121,  Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

2 Timothy 3, 14-4, 2,  Remain faithful to what you have learned.

Luke 18, 1-8, Because this widow keeps bothering me I shall deliver a just decision for her.  

 

 

Introduction to Exodus:

 Recall that the Book
of Genesis ends with the Israelites still in Egypt.  When the Book of Exodus begins, a new Pharaoh
ordered that all newly born Hebrew males were to be thrown into the Nile River
to die, for he feared the sheer number of the Israelites. The Egyptian men
would continue to take their young women and use them as slaves, the older
would die, and the Israelites would vanish from the face of the
earth—genocide.  

The inspired writers tell us that God had something else in
mind.  He used Moses, who had been hidden
at birth, to have Pharaoh change his mind and set the Israelites free.  The ensuing journey of the Israelites to
receive the Law, a covenant with God, and finally their own land is presented
in the rest of the first five books of the Bible.

 

That journey would take forty
years.   Our First Reading from the Book
of Exodus is from the first month of that journey.  

The reading from Second Timothy is also part
of today’s theme of having faith in God.

 

 

Homily

 Jesus presented a
parable to his disciples to teach them to pray always. Widows, along with the
orphans, are the poorest of the poor.  The
widow who had been ripped off in our gospel was from apparently a very small
village.   The judge is her worst
nightmare!  He does not respect God or
neighbor. He’s unwilling to even listen to her.

 However, we are told
that she doesn’t lose heart.   Why?  Because Jesus’ words have taught her that
women do have rights and power, and that ‘one with God is a majority.’  In faith she perseveres; and her prayer is
answered.  

 

I visualize her using a walking stick as she comes to the
gate of the village where this judge arrogantly resides for business.  Each day she stands a little closer to him as
she speaks; and each day, to the judge, the size and appearance of her walking
stick becomes a little larger and more ominous. 
Finally, standing very close to him one day, he decides that he will
deliver her a just decision so that she will not strike him! 

Jesus states that his Father will bring justice to those who
put their faith in him.  But today’s
parable story ends with the question, ‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory
will he find faith on earth. 

The answer was given by the poor widow of the parable.  His faithful bride, who prays without ceasing,
who listens to, and obeys his words, will be waiting for him when he comes in
glory.

Today, as always, we have come together to be united in
prayer. We have come to pray without ceasing, and in everything give thanks,
for that is God’s will for us in Christ Jesus.’  

 

This Liturgy is the Prayer of the People of God, and it
joins us at this moment with people celebrating it all over this world as we
ask the Spirit to come upon us through the Gospel and the Bread about to be
blessed and broken. 

 

We are Christ’s body
especially when we join our hands and raise them toward God in prayer with the
words that Christ taught us to bring about his kingdom by forgiving others,
like the unjust judge, as we have been forgiven.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Readings: 

2 Kings 5, 14-17,  Naaman went down and plunged into the Jordan seven times.

Psalm 98,  The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power.

2 Timothy 2, 8-13,  The word of God is not chained.

 Luke 17, 11-19  Where are the other 9?

 

 

2 Kings observations:

Time of the events: 900 B.C.

Time when written: 550 B.C., during the Babylonian captivity.

Subject of 1 Kings: This book continues the history of the kings
taking up with the death of King David and continuing through the story of
David & Bathsheba's son Solomon.  He builds the famous Temple of Solomon.  After his death the
nation divides into the northern & southern states, Israel in the north, Judah
in the south (including Jerusalem;
remember by the "J's").

 

Subject of 2 Kings: This book continues the history of the decline
of the two states until Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon defeats the people. 

Subject of our chapter 5 (read it all, it is delightful): one of
the leaders of the Syrian-Babylonian army goes to visit the prophet of the day,
Elisha.  Naaman, the general, has leprosy.  Note the twist of the
story at the end.  Thanks is a theme of this selection and it sets the
stage for Luke's story about gratitude.  Three characters: Naaman, his little slave girl, and Elisha.

 

Gratitude

 

This morning I would like to talk about the theme coming from Luke’s
story and the neat little story about Naaman, the general with leprosy.  Specifically, gratitude. 

To put together a story, I looked back over the week for special gifts,
events I am grateful for.  I thought of
our ROMEO lunch Friday, of my 2 French sessions, and the fact that my nice skin
doctor, Sara Scott, gave me a pass. 

Despite how grateful I am for these events, two others really stood out.

 

Friday night Rosemary and I were privileged to be part of a special
celebration.  It was the marriage of
Kristin Urbanczyk and her fiance’ Josh 
Eddings.  You all know that I take
delight in celebrating weddings and get to do quite a lot, especially now that
I am not officially Catholic.

As precious as all of them are, it is a unique jewel of an event when I
get to celebrate the wedding of a person whom I have known since
childhood.   Kristin I have known for maybe 18-20
years.  She used to throw water balloons at
me when she was a supposedly nice little girl.

 

Folks, it does not get better than last night for me. 

Thursday morning before this event took place, Rosemary and I went for one
of our early morning bike rides down to and around The Lake, our beloved White
Rock.  At one point we are riding south
on the path at the edge of the lake and along East Lather Drive.  We have just passed in front of the
Arboretum.

 

As we approach the bridge just before Garland Road, the tarmac path curves
left then right and is wet from earlier sprinklers.  I am about 30 years ahead of Rosemary.  I go up on the bridge and for some reason I
look back.

 

What I see scares me to death. 
Rosemary is sitting on the path, her bike down, and people are running
to her side.  I turn around and race  back. 
She has slid out on the wet tarmac. 
She has hit the back of her head on the path but not broken her
helmet.  She says she is okay and will
walk on to the boat house over near the dam. 
I race back to the car, return, and tell her I really would like for her
to call our M.D. right there in the car.

Later he checks her out and says nothing is wrong.  Just bruises and sore ribs. 

Folks, I am so grateful and cannot give thanks enough.

 A few observations.

 

First.  The temptation is to think I am one of the
nine who did not return to thank Jesus. Yes probably & No, also.   I would suggest
again: we are both.  Lots of times we forget to thank.  Lots of times
we thank. 

Second.  There could be symbolism in the nine and
one.  Perhaps I am nine tenths ungrateful and one tenth grateful.  Is this a pretty normal proportion? A lot of times, however, I am not so much ungrateful
as just insensitive, totally unaware.  Perhaps the lepers who did not
return just figured they were lucky and went on their way.  The other guy
realized he had been given a gift by that stranger and wanted to respond.

Jesus tells him his faith has saved him.  I would
suggest that his gratitude transformed him.

Third.  How is it possible to rearrange the
percentages?  Practice.  Practice make perfect. Rosemary & I have a favorite little practice that we do
every night.  I've mentioned it before. We ask each other what were the blessings
of the day.  I recommend this. I even recommend it for sitting alone,
while savoring the first coffee in the morning, driving or riding the DART to
work & back, getting ready to go to school.  Simple question: what
were my blessings today, yesterday, or this week?

 

You may start now: what were your three biggest blessings
this week?

 

Readings: 

 Habakkuk 1, 2-3, 2, 2-4,   I cry for help but you do not listen.

Psalm 95,  If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

2 Timothy 1, 6-8, 13-14,  Take as your norm the sound words that you heard from me..

Luke 17, 5-10,  We are unprofitable servants.

Habakkuk (What a
Name!), Observations:

Author: 
Habakkuk, one of the 12 minor prophets (small book, only 3
chapters).  Less known about Habakkuk than any other scripture writer.

Date:
Probably right before the great Babylonian Captivity, i.e., around
600. 

Subject: 
The Babylonians are coming.  Get ready for bad times, because
you Jewish people have been bad.  Like all prophets, prophesy of doom and
disaster for sin, followed by peace after purification by Yahweh.  There
is an imaginary dialogue between Yahweh & Habakkuk.  

Sources:
Good News Bible, The New Interpreter’s
Study Bible, Wikipedia.

 

 Unprofitable Servant?

I
would like to talk this morning about the idea of being an unprofitable
servant.   But first, a story to exemplify my thinking.

I have
this self image of being a hot bike mechanic. 
  It is true I love working on
bikes, fixing flats, cleaning and lubricating, adjusting the gears.   To me
a light-weight road bike is a work of art. 

The
true self image I have, however, is, as they say in French, a faux image.  Ask Rosemary, ask Claire Ochipinti, whose
gears I tried to adjust to no avail. 

It
is the marvelous gears that are my regular downfall.  This past week I ate some true humble pie
with Rosemary’s bike.  I adjusted the
gears after Rosemary had problems.  I did
not get it right. 

So
I took the bike to REI near us.  I know
two really good mechanics, who actually offered to hire me in the shop.  One of the guys, Chad, worked on the bike.  The next day Rosemary still had gear
trouble.  I tried again to adjust the
gears to no avail. 

So
this time, Friday, after ROMEO’s, I visited Rick Guerney’s Plano Cycling.  I have two more favorite mechanics there, Aaron and
a girl named Lorenda.  If Plano Cycling
were not so friendly when I walk in, I would not always head there when I really
need help. 

I
meet both Aaron and Lorenda.  She
immediately takes my bike, puts it on a repair pole, asks me the problem, and
fixes it in, of course, a couple of minutes. 
I am humbled. 

I
am doubly humbled because she gives the bike a quick overall check out and
finds that Rosemary’s brakes are squishy. 
She even installs a new rear brake cable.  I am embarrassed because I try to keep
Rosemary’s bike 100% safe.  And Lorenda
finds the brakes squishy, wow.

I
remember this event when Luke tells me I am nothing but an unprofitable
servant.   After all the humble pie of
the week, I can believe him.    First I
think I am a hot bike mechanic.  Then I
find out I not only can’t fix the gears, but I neglected Rosemary’s brakes, the
most elemental thing.  Yes, I am pretty unprofitable.

From the psychological perspective, I see a trap in considering myself simply as an
unprofitable creature, in other words, fairly useless.  Could this not end up being a description of a low self image?   

From a relationship perspective, I also see a trap.  Have we not begun to focus on the passages in Scripture where God and we have a special relationship?  Servant and master is not where we are at.  

I
would propose two thoughts:

1. 
Let me change from master & servant to Giver and
Gifted.  The Lord gives all this to us and we are gifted.  

2. 
Secondly, we are givers to others.  We are both.    And want to know when we are specially gifted?    When we are giving, not as unprofitable and
useless servants, but as people in a special relationship.     

So how do you see yourself as gifted and how do you see yourself as giving to others?

 

 

 

Readings: 

 Amos 6, 1, 4-7,   Woe to the complacent.

Psalm 146,  Praise the Lord, my sould.

1 Timothy 6, 11-16,  Pursue righteousness, devotion, faith, love.

Luke 16, 19-31,  The rich man and Lazarus.

 

 

Amos observations :  (from last week's Mass)

What :  One of the 12 minor prophets, only 9 chapters.

Who: 
the book presents the thoughts and observations of Amos, who was a sheep herder
and a fig farmer.  He was born in the southern kingdom of Judah in a
little town south of Jerusalem, but he is condemning the people, especially the
rich, of the northern kingdom, Israel.

Time: 
Amos was active around 755 before Christ, but his words and message were
revised and edited down through the years, especially during the Babylonian
Captivity, around 555 before Christ.  He lives just before the Syrians
destroy the northern kingdom of Israel, around 700 before Christ.

Message: 
Prayer and sacrifice don’t make up for social injustice and oppression of the
poor by the rich. 

 Today: 
God will punish you rich and prosperous for your abuse of the poor.  Amos
may have seen the threat coming from the Syrians. 

Sources:  Good News Bible, New Interpreter’s Study
Bible, Wikipedia

 

 

Some of Francis’ points in his homily this morning:

1.  The first sin
   of the rich man is that he is blind.  He
   came and went every day and did not even see Lazarus at his doorstep.  Wealth can blind us, too.
2. The second sin of the rich man is that even in Hades
   he still thinks he is significant enough to tell Abraham to order Lazarus to
   warn his 5 brothers.  His self image is
   inflated and blinds him to this character flaw.  Entitlement?
3. The rich man is condemned not because of his wealth in
   itself, but that because of it he feels self righteous.  The trap of wealth, I am better than that one.
4. There may be a parallel in Luke’s mind between Lazarus
   and Jesus, which comes out in the talk between the rich man and Abraham.  Jesus was poor, died, and returned to
   life.  Were Lazarus to die and return to
   life, neither would he be believed, any more than Jesus was believed.
5. There is a play on words with Lazarus.  In ancient languages the name Lazarus could
   be equivalent to Abraham.  Therefore,
   Luke rubs it in: Lazarus may be a personification of Abraham himself, lying on the
   doorstep of the rich man who never sees him.

 The lesson: Who is the Lazarus, who is the poor
person at your own doorstep?

Source:   The Liberating Stories of Jesus, Francis Vanderwall

 

 

 Readings: 

 Amos 8, 4-7,   Never will I forget a thing they have done!

Psalm 113,  Praise the Lord who lifts up the poor.

1 Timothy 2, 1-8, I ask that supplications be offered for everyone.

Luke 16, 1-13, A rich man had a steward who was reported for squandering his property.

 

 

Amos observations :

What : 
One of the 12 minor prophets, only 9 chapters.

Who:  the book
presents the thoughts and observations of Amos, who was a sheep herder and a
fig farmer.  He was born in the southern
kingdom of Judah in a little town south of Jerusalem, but he is condemning the
people, especially the rich, of the northern kingdom, Israel.

Time:  Amos was
active around 755 before Christ, but his words and message were revised and
edited down through the years, especially during the Babylonian Captivity,
around 555 before Christ.  He lives just
before the Syrians destroy the northern kingdom of Israel, around 700 before Christ.

Message:  prayer and
sacrifice don’t make up for social injustice and oppression of the poor by the
rich. 

Today:  God will
punish you rich and prosperous for your abuse of the poor.  Amos may have seen the threat coming from the
Syrians. 

Sources:  Good News Bible, New Interpreter’s Study Bible,
Wikipedia

 

 

The Wiley
Steward

Anybody get any rain Thursday night?   We got 3 whole inches, an amazing gift.  We also got a surprise. 

It was just time for the sun to come up Friday morning.  I wanted to take my first cup of coffee on
the back porch where I could watch that special rain.  I go out and sit down with Aviana beside me. 

I look toward the street and I see a huge tree branch lying half way
across the street, Camellia, and half in our parkway.  I immediately look at the front yard of my
neighbor, hoping to see where it came from his red oak.  Nope. 
It did not come from there.  Oh,
Lord, it must be from one of our trees. 
And in fact it is a pecan branch. 
We have three large pecan trees on that side of our yard.  It is our branch. 

What to do?  It is still raining seriously.  I decide that I will wait until the rain
stops, even though cars are having to negotiate around the branch. 

I must then have gone in for a minute. 
When I come out I see a boy from St. Mark’s School a block away out
in the rain, trying to lift the trunk of the branch out of the street and pull
it into our parkway.  I am embarrassed
that I am still on the porch while he is working in the rain.

He can only barely move the trunk to the edge of the street, although
many branches are still lying in the street. 
At one point he looks over at me and I thank him, saying I am planning
to tackle the branch when the rain stops. 

He finishes up what he can do, looks back, I thank him again, and I tell
him he did great work.  He says, “Sure,
it is really heavy, have a nice day,” and takes off for St. Mark’s.  I could not see whether he was on foot or got
back in a car.  He had no rain gear
on.  So I sent a note to St. Mark’s,
complimenting the boy and them for helping to train a kid like that.

Moral of the story: we got lots of good kids out there, and good people,
too.

I tell this story as a bit of a contrast to our parable today, the
parable of the wiley steward.  It is
quite coincidental, but this parable is also explained by Francis Vanderwall in
one of his books.   

The steward was in charge of collecting promissory notes from the owner
of the farm.  Here is where the customs
and culture of the times open it all up. 

The steward made his living by adding a little sur-charge, a commission
on each transaction.   The charge went to
the steward.  Francis points out that all
the steward did was call the debtors in and cancel his commission.  Granted, he was also cheating a bit, and
cheating the farmer. 

There are some other crazy statements at the end of the story, but I
will leave them to Francis to explain. 
Watch out for that either/or stuff at the end, either God or mammon,
hate one master/love the other.  Life is
not either/or, it is both.

The moral of the two stories?  Not
either/ or, but sometimes you got to use your wits like the wiley steward, and
other times you just pitch in and help some poor guy (like me!).

When did you last pitch in and help?

Source: The Liberating Stories of Jesus, Francis
Vanderwall

Leo and Cowboy Cole at work.

Readings: 

 Exodus 32, 7-11, 13-14,   I see how stiff necked this people is.

Psalm 51,  I will rise and go to my father.

1 Timothy 1, 11-17, I am grateful to him who has strengthened me.

Luke 15, 1-32, The Prodigal Son (The Best).

 

 

Exodus observations :

What : a story, a long parable.  It has 2 parts, the exodus or exit from Egypt
and the years wandering in the desert.

Who: the work is all about Moses, but he
did not compose it.  Rather, it was put
together by a committee during the Babylonian Captivity, 555 before Christ.

Subject: it appears that the purpose of the
work was to encourage the people during the Babylonian Captivity.  It is not history and borrows stories from
other cultures.  For instance, the
parting of the Red Sea comes from a Mesopotamian creation myth and the 10
Commandments resemble the Code of Hammurabi.

Our Subject: The people have been bad, God is
mad at them, and Moses defends the people.

Sources: Good News Bible,
The New Interpreter’s Study Bible, Wikipedia

 

 

 

The Prodigal Son: A Work of Art

 This story is my favorite parable of the whole Bible.  Note one thing: this is story, not
history.   The author carefully crafts
his work of art to show how much God loves us unconditionally.  Let me give you three observations about the
son, three about the father, and an extra three to show you how astounding this
story is. 

First, the younger son:

 

        1.  He has no right to ask for inheritance.  None. 
By asking he is saying he wishes the father and the older son dead.  A symbolic murder.  Father can kill him for this.

        2.  He works feeding pigs instead of asking for
help from the temple.  This means he
rejects the religious tradition and is considered a traitor not only to the
family, but to the religion.  

    3.  So, as a horrible failure as a son of the
family and a son of the religious tradition, he decides to return.  He makes up his little speech and heads
home.  He is hungry to the point of
dying.  Do this or die.  Many listening Jews would say, Die.  

The Father: he actually commits as many crimes and sins as
the son.

 

    1.    
He runs down the road to
the son when he sees him coming.  A very
undignified action.  Outrageous.  People who emphasize conditional love point
out that the son at least came back. 
Despite this point, all the other elements of the parable point to a
father with unconditional love.

        2.  He embraced and kissed the son.  Huge violation of Jewish religious custom and
law.  By doing this the father positions
himself outside of the religious & cultural community.  He is a reject like the son. 

        3.  He cuts the son’s speech off before he can finish, eliminating the last sentence, “treat me as you would one of your
hired workers.”  And to make it worse, he
orders the servants to bring the finest robe, ring, and sandals. 

 

The robe, the ring, and the sandals:

        1.  The robe: restores the son’s dignity. 

        2.  The ring: gives authority to the son, even
equal to the father and certainly more than before he left.

        3.  The sandals: gives the son freedom.  Slaves were not given sandals so they would
not run away.  The father is doubling the
message he gave when he cut the son’s speech off before he could say the third
part about being treated as a servant.  

 

A word about the older son, because we so often identify
with him.  Two additional and final
points.

        1.  That he tells his father how he feels.  Great. 
In those days, it meant the father can kill him.  Today: communication. 

        2.  What is his challenge: acceptance of his
brother, his father, and himself; focus on gratitude for all he has; move from
trying to be a good boy to loving?  Any
one of these?  Or all?  All.  

I apologize for so much data.  There is even more.  The point is that the story is a carefully
crafted literary work of art that attempts to describe how totally unconditionally
loving our God is.

How does this image of God reflect your image of God? 

 

 

Source: The
Liberating Stories of Jesus, Francis Vanderwall (Dallas’ Open Window will
present Francis Saturday, September 28, for an all day seminar.  Welcome. 
More info below.  Sunday he will
be with us at Vines.  He is an ex-Jesuit
and one of my best old Jesuit buddies.)  
Download Fall 2013 Conference 9-20-13

 

 

 

 

Readings:

Wisdom 9, 13-18, 28-29,  Who can know God’s counsel?

Psalm 90,  In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.

Philemon 1, 9-10, 12-17,  I, Paul, an old man…

Luke 14, 25-33, If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother.

 

 

Sorry no Homily today. 

 

We had a Communion Service and discussion of the readings today.  Thanks to all who attended and contributed to our discussion.

Readings:

Jeremiah 38, 4-6, 8-10,   They threw Jeremiah into the cistern.

Psalm 40,  Lord, come to my aid.

Hebrews 21, 1-4,  We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses.

Luke 12, 49-53, Do you think I have come to establish peace on the earth?

 

 

Jeremiah Observations:

Author:  really Jeremiah or at least his scribe.

Date:  after the Babylonian Captivity again, say 555 years before Chrsit. Jeremiah sees the Babylonian catastrophe coming and says it is going to be how Yahweh punishes the people for their evil and unjust ways.

Subject:  Jeremiah is the classic prophet.  He does the 3 things characteristic of a prophet.  He criticizes the behavior of the people.  He promises punishment from Yahweh.  He indicates that a better day will come.    Jeremiah lives to see the punishment, that is the Captivity.  Probably not the return from captivity.

Our selection:  Jeremiah pays the price of most real prophets.  The people are enraged, turn against him, and watch what happens.  

 

 

Do you think
I have come to establish peace on earth? 
No!

This morning I would like to talk about this line supposedly attributed
to Jesus that he has not come to establish peace on earth.  “No,” he says.  As you can probably guess, I don’t like this
statement.   I can see him aiming it at
the big people who are abusing the poor.

 

However, I live on the passage from John 15 where he says, “As the
Father has loved me, so I have loved you, live in my love.  I have told you this so that my joy may be in
you and your joy may be complete.”  There
are numerous other lines where Jesus says, “Peace.”

 

So, I confess I not only don’t like this line, but have my doubts about
who said it or wrote it.  Instead I focus
on the positive, on peace.  I see this
everywhere.  Let me give you a bunch of
examples. 

I had and saw peace and joy Friday when I was honored to do Ryan McClurg’s
wedding in Ogden, Utah.  I was
overwhelmed by it when I saw the tears in Diane’s eyes as I stood with Ryan in
front of everyone at the very beginning of the wedding.

 

Then when his fiance, Grace came up the aisle with tears pouring down
her face, the peace and joy was even stronger. 
I had a hard time getting started. 
The whole wedding and reception was peace and joy.

I experienced peace and joy when I saw the peace and joy in Ryan’s face
and remembered the difficult days he went through after breaking his ankle in
his freshman year at OK State on his football scholarship.  His football days were over and it really hit
him hard.  He had been tight end on one
of Plano Senior High 5-A state championship teams.  We talked about that time and he is so happy
to have gotten through it.

 

I experienced peace and joy when our Cole, who was there, of course,
with Chuck and Erin, Ryan’s big sister, did a great one.  There was a little blond girl his age named
Peyton whom Cole frequently informs everyone he will marry.   At one point
Thursday or Friday he put her head into the ice chest where the beer and drinks
were chilling.  What a hoot.

 

This was followed by, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”  And they are back being best buddies. 

Peace and joy was found on the big back porch of a big old mansion the
McClurgs rented.  At least 20 people
stayed there along with 4 or more little kids around Cole and Peyton’s
ages.  2 hours sitting on that porch
early in the morning drinking coffee and watching the kids play in the house
and yard was total heaven.

 

Closer to home, how about the peace and joy of Leo getting his head
stuck in the chair up here last week? 
And Beth coming to Shonda’s rescue to pull Leo straight out?

And the week before that, how about Emma, who has been shy once upon a
time, slowly coming up here as we celebrate, finally climbing right up beside
me and laying her little toy car on the altar?  
Talk about peace and joy.

 

I do not even talk here about the peace and joy that comes from working
Habitat on a Saturday. 

It is there, folks, despite what the writer of this line says.  Every day. 
You just got to look or, rather sometimes, look back. 

Your peace and joy, today?