Proper 19 | Ordinary Time 24 - A
Anger is like a volcano. Deep in many of us there is a lake of pain, pure molten hurt. From the outside no one sees it, usually. We cover it over so well. But one day the heat rises, and the dam breaks, and the cork blows, and anger erupts like an explosion. And dogs get kicked. And triggers get pulled. And wives get beaten. And missiles get launched.
There are five levels of pain in our lives. The most obvious is that of physical injury. If someone hits me I hurt, and often I retaliate quickly seeking to share the pain back. It is the rule of the playground, the rule of hockey ice, the rule of road rage, and the rule of international politics. Most of us grow up enough to deal with that pain in more mature ways, but it is always simmering somewhere around us.
There are five levels of pain in our lives. The most obvious is that of physical injury. If someone hits me I hurt, and often I retaliate quickly seeking to share the pain back. It is the rule of the playground, the rule of hockey ice, the rule of road rage, and the rule of international politics. Most of us grow up enough to deal with that pain in more mature ways, but it is always simmering somewhere around us.
David Coffin
As the school year has begun and the autumn has churches back into their routines, these texts raise the question of what God has for practicing Christian faith or discipleship in the year to come. N.T. Wright has been writing volumes to suggest that the end game of the Christian life is not merely obtaining salvation or being made with God, then waiting out our years until we die and go up to heaven. The God who delivers Israel and Christians has much more for Christians to accomplish as stewards and co-creators for God’s eternal purposes. That is, Christianity is simply not a matter of getting saved then waiting for our heavenly home upon death. As pastors and church leaders, today’s texts remind us that the delivering God is still active in our lives. For the nation of Israel in Exodus...
David Kalas
I was summoned for jury duty recently. I was part of a jury pool of several dozen people, and so the odds were low that I would be chosen. In fact, I ended up not even being among those who were questioned. But I did get to sit in the courtroom and observe the whole process of jury selection, from beginning to end.
In addition to those of us who were part of the jury pool, the defendant was there, attorneys for the defendant and the state, a bailiff, and a court stenographer. And, presiding over the entire process, there was the judge.
The entire process was interesting and something of an education, but I was particularly taken by the judge. He was quite amazing. I believe he had been on the bench for several decades, and yet he showed neither weariness nor...
In addition to those of us who were part of the jury pool, the defendant was there, attorneys for the defendant and the state, a bailiff, and a court stenographer. And, presiding over the entire process, there was the judge.
The entire process was interesting and something of an education, but I was particularly taken by the judge. He was quite amazing. I believe he had been on the bench for several decades, and yet he showed neither weariness nor...
David Coffin
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 2 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20. In the year of St. Matthew’s gospel, if we believe Jesus has the correct interpretation of the scriptures of his time, then this “Great Commission” text might serve as a guiding principle for all of the texts today. The Greek word May Thay Tais for “disciple” is follower, pupil and lifelong learning disciple (Newman, 110). Each of today’s text relates to some form of deliverance and the discipleship lifestyle which is to follow. The Israelites will enter the wilderness in Exodus. Paul addresses differences in eating habits...
Wayne Brouwer
When Eric Lomax was posted to Singapore in 1941 he knew nothing of the horror that lay ahead of him. With hundreds of other soldiers he was taken captive, and then declared a spy by the Japanese victors. They broke both his arms and smashed several ribs, and left him barely alive. Yet somehow he survived the death camps and returned home, albeit a damaged man. For fifty years his seething bitterness poisoned his relationships, first with his father and then with his wife. The former died and the latter was divorced.
In 1985 Lomax received a letter from a former Army chaplain who had made contact with Nagase Takashi, the man who had served as interpreter at Lomax's cruel interrogation. Nagase was deeply offended by his nation's treatment of war prisoners and had devoted the...
In 1985 Lomax received a letter from a former Army chaplain who had made contact with Nagase Takashi, the man who had served as interpreter at Lomax's cruel interrogation. Nagase was deeply offended by his nation's treatment of war prisoners and had devoted the...
Wayne Brouwer
Anger is like a volcano. Deep in many of us there is a lake of pain, pure molten hurt. From the outside no one sees it, usually. We cover it over so well. But one day the heat rises, the dam breaks, the cork blows, and the anger erupts like an explosion. And dogs get kicked. And triggers get pulled. And wives get beaten. And missiles get launched.
There are five levels of pain in our lives. The most obvious is that of physical injury. If someone hits me I hurt and often I retaliate quickly seeking to share the pain. It is the rule of the playground, the rule of ice hockey, the rule of road rage, and the rule of international politics. Most of us grow up enough to deal with that pain in more mature ways but it is always simmering somewhere around us.
There are five levels of pain in our lives. The most obvious is that of physical injury. If someone hits me I hurt and often I retaliate quickly seeking to share the pain. It is the rule of the playground, the rule of ice hockey, the rule of road rage, and the rule of international politics. Most of us grow up enough to deal with that pain in more mature ways but it is always simmering somewhere around us.
David Kalas
I attended two schools in the state of Virginia. I did my undergraduate work at the
University of Virginia in Charlottesville and my seminary work at Union Theological
Seminary in Richmond.
At the center of the University of Virginia's campus is a long rectangle of grass, called "The Lawn." It is surrounded by buildings that were originally designed to serve as classrooms and residences for both students and professors. Those buildings face inward, making "The Lawn" a truly picturesque environment.
Union Seminary, meanwhile, also has at the heart of its campus a grassy rectangle of lawn surrounded by various buildings on all four sides. In the case of Union's design, however, the buildings face outward. Unlike the University of Virginia, what you...
At the center of the University of Virginia's campus is a long rectangle of grass, called "The Lawn." It is surrounded by buildings that were originally designed to serve as classrooms and residences for both students and professors. Those buildings face inward, making "The Lawn" a truly picturesque environment.
Union Seminary, meanwhile, also has at the heart of its campus a grassy rectangle of lawn surrounded by various buildings on all four sides. In the case of Union's design, however, the buildings face outward. Unlike the University of Virginia, what you...
Two of the top women's tennis players in the world are the sisters Venus and Serena Williams. In the span of less than a year, they have faced each other in the finals of two of the four major professional tournaments, the 2001 U.S. Open and the 2002 French Open. These two African-American women were born to play tennis -- literally.
Back in 1979, their father, who already had three daughters, told his wife they had to have two more daughters and had to teach them to play tennis. Why? Because that year he saw that the winner of the Women's U.S. Open claimed a prize of $48,000, compared to the $52,000 he was earning each year. As one sportswriter once put it in writing about the Williams family, "He did the math."
"Doing the math" -- it is a catch phrase in our...
Back in 1979, their father, who already had three daughters, told his wife they had to have two more daughters and had to teach them to play tennis. Why? Because that year he saw that the winner of the Women's U.S. Open claimed a prize of $48,000, compared to the $52,000 he was earning each year. As one sportswriter once put it in writing about the Williams family, "He did the math."
"Doing the math" -- it is a catch phrase in our...
Conducting a workshop for a statewide gathering of Ph.D.s in psychology, my colleague and I asked the group, "How many of you have ever said to your patients, 'You've got to forgive yourself?' " Quite a few hands in the crowd went up. The next question was, "How many of you have had success with that approach?" Not a single hand was raised.
We talked together for quite some time about that lack of success and pondered the reasons. Our lessons for the day might help us explain why the approach meets with so little success.
Genesis 50:15-21
The verses of our pericope represent the conclusion of the story that made it all the way to Broadway. The narrative about Joseph and his brothers that began in chapter 37 finally reaches its end, but throughout...
We talked together for quite some time about that lack of success and pondered the reasons. Our lessons for the day might help us explain why the approach meets with so little success.
Genesis 50:15-21
The verses of our pericope represent the conclusion of the story that made it all the way to Broadway. The narrative about Joseph and his brothers that began in chapter 37 finally reaches its end, but throughout...
The Passover and the passage through the Red Sea are inseparably linked. As future generations looked back on this stage of their history, the two are seen as one single act of God on behalf of a chosen people.
God gives signs as a visible help to those whose faith falters. Here it is a cloud, separating the Israelites from the Egyptians during the hours of the night. Later another cloud would lead them on their daytime walk through the wilderness. Rainbow, cloud, pillar of fire, star, bread, wine, cross, and spire -- God gives signs of hope, especially when they are most needed.
Possibly the most interesting element in this text is the absence of rancor and complaint when the people of Israel are in crisis and face probable extermination. They had...
God gives signs as a visible help to those whose faith falters. Here it is a cloud, separating the Israelites from the Egyptians during the hours of the night. Later another cloud would lead them on their daytime walk through the wilderness. Rainbow, cloud, pillar of fire, star, bread, wine, cross, and spire -- God gives signs of hope, especially when they are most needed.
Possibly the most interesting element in this text is the absence of rancor and complaint when the people of Israel are in crisis and face probable extermination. They had...
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