Psalm 31:9-16

"Passion" Sunday - Years A, B, C


I hear the whispering of many—“terror all around!”


If those are the last words we hear from this Psalm, it is a sad song. No wonder we hedge our bets and get as strong as we can possibly get. Paying attention to that whisper may help us to be as wise as a serpent. Paying overmuch attention to that whisper, so it appears to be a din, will lead one to being a snake and preemptively terrorize.

To lead us back toward the innocence of a dove we have to hear about trust and steadfast love, even in the face of terror.

What is today’s pervasive whisper of terror? It has been heard in Syria, Iran, North Korea, percentage of incarcerated in the USA, racism and all the other isms dividing one from another, and global rape of labor, not to mention all the etceteras. May we listen more deeply to an eternal trust that involves us in living out steadfast love, no matter what else we hear.

“Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress .... save me in your steadfast love.”

Can’t you just hear G*D reply, “April Fool! I already am gracious to you and all. You are already saved.”

April Fool’s Day comes to puncture our seriousness. It arrives to grant us a renewed perspective. It is so easy to get caught up in the Sturm und Drang of life and not see our next step so we give it over to some deity or other. Thanks be for April 1and a Sunday after Easter when a court jester can play to our ruling self and point a better way. Would that such were several times a year.

 

As found in Wrestling Year A: Connecting Sunday Readings with Lived Experience

 


 

I hear the whispering of many -- terror all around!

If those are the last words we hear from this Psalm, it is a sad song. No wonder we would hedge our bets and get as strong as we can possibly get. Paying attention to that whisper may help one to be as wise as a serpent. Paying overmuch attention to that whisper, so it appears to be a din, will lead one to being a snake and preemptively terrorize.

To lead us back toward the innocence of a dove we have to hear about trust and steadfast love, even in the face of terror.

As we are hearing a pervasive whisper of terror in Syria, Iran, North Korea, percentage of incarcerated in the USA, racism and all the other isms dividing one from another, and global rape of labor, not to mention all the etceteras -- may we listen deeper to an eternal trust that involves us in living out steadfast love, no matter what else we hear.

http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2003/april2003.html

 


 

Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress.... save me in your steadfast love.

Can't you just hear G*D reply, "April Fool."

"I already am gracious to you and all. You are already saved."

April Fool's Day comes to puncture our seriousness. It arrives to grant us a renewed perspective. It is so easy to get caught up in the sturm und drang of life and not see our next step so we give it over to some deity or other. Thanks be for April 1 when the court jester can play to our ruling self and point a better way. Would that such were several times a year.

http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2004/april2004.html

 


 

One of the deepeners of distress is a consideration of control. Where we think and feel and behave as though we have or deserve a place of privilege because of one small factor or another, we find ourselves in distress when our expectation of an edge doesn't pan out in ways measurable by our idiosyncratic standards.

G*D, in particular, sets us up for a distressing downfall. We invest all manner of powerful privilege in G*D and expect it to redound to our benefit in the context of whatever modernity is around us. It is difficult to think and feel and behave beyond the culture in which we live and move and have our being.

When we find ourselves at odds with getting an edge or another rung on our ladder, the establishment (be it religious, political, economic or whatever) intentionally adds to our distress to bring us around to its standard. Our steadfast love, will be called upon to preemptively celebrate defeat and continue living with provocative beauty and challenge in the face of such expected distress.

Riding into the hypocrisy of a city named for peace that acts otherwise is a powerful moment that can inform the generations to come. Where has your steadfast love ridden these past days? What has encouraged that and what has gotten in the way?

http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2006/april2006.html

 


 

Psalm 31:9-16
Isaiah 50:4-9a

Passion:

What word sustains a weary Jesus?

The Lord God is already helping me, even though it is hard to see right now?
This is the confrontation that clarifies our relationship?
It is for times like this that my practice of trust comes to the fore?

Or should those question marks become exclamation points? (Better to spell that out, otherwise it looks like: should those ?s become !s? - and that is a bit confusing.) Some folks find possibilities more energizing. Some find certainties to better sustain them.

What word sustains a weary you?

A word that sustains me is, "My times are not mine alone."

- - -

a weariness unto
a vanity of weariness
wears our vanity
into weariness

circular repetition
or steady state
trap weariness
into our bones

passion beaten
into weariness
beats us down
to misery

passion in the midst
of weariness
shines light
beyond time

which was
and is
and may yet be
freedom

one kingdom
stringing up another
calls for a new realm
freedom

freedom - morning awake
freedom - learns to listen
freedom - open eared
freedom - beyond time

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2007_03_01_archive.html


 

Passion Sunday
Psalm 31:9-16
Isaiah 50:4-9a
Philippians 2:5-11
Mark 14:1 - 15:47
Palm Sunday
Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29
Mark 11:1-11 or John 12:12-16

Palms: Here at least permission is directly given for the lending or leasing of a colt (perhaps because it only entailed one animal? [grin]). Or, a young donkey is "found".

It is instructive that the Gospels (at least part of them) are written from the perspective of the resurrection. Later folks remembered more than they knew at the time. This remembrance was just in time to be recorded as eternal truth for all time. In this circle we are freed, if we desire to live in freedom, to anticipate future insight as well as newly appreciating past experiences. It is helpful to both name the original understanding and the later revision. This grounds both in a larger reality of growth and allows a better appreciation of the witness.

A process of "midrash" is still of the utmost importance to breaking through the religious restrictions that have accumulated down through the years about expected meaning of particular passages. These midrash moments are appropriately responded to with, "Hosanna!"

Passion: Any of the numberless deadly sins could be used as a lens for this section. An easy one to use is that of greed. The set up is John's version of an anointing story and the harassing of the woman on the basis of perceived loss of revenue (greed excused as a good thing because it is "concerned" about the poor - not that they would have received any real help after an appropriate amount of administrative costs and overhead were taken out).

From there we can ask about greed of position, greed of power, and greed of control (all experiences can be commoditized).

We can also ask about generosity as we follow the story of a number of Marys. They offer their time and energy to a faithful presence. It is not as though they have any position, power, or control - they simply are witnessing. I am reminded of the women of the disappeared who publicly dance in solitude with the missing loved ones. To speak would be to be disappeared, but their act of witness is critical.

- - -

looking back brings new insight
mining experience is valuable
we polish events
bringing their deeper significance
to the surface

standing quietly by
witnessing events is valuable
we avoid secrets
pushing common realities
into the background

hands over eyes, mouth, ears
quickly diminish values
we increase ignorance
keeping insight restricted
to authorized versions

looking standing vulnerable
caring presence is valuable
we join life
partnering common good
with uncommon good

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2007_03_01_archive.html

= = = = = = =

Passion Sunday
Psalm 31:9-16
Isaiah 50:4-9a
Philippians 2:5-11
Matthew 26:14 - 27:66
Palm Sunday
Matthew 21:1-11
Psalm 118:1-2,19-29

Ahh, the joy of choosing to walk a slow walk, even though many will not know how to slow down that long, and focus on Palm Sunday, or to take all of pre-Easter week in one big gulp and focus on the Passion.

Thanks to the wisdom of Robert Frost you are encouraged to take whichever path is least traveled by you and/or your community of faith.

Palms: There is still hospitality in the big city. Someone needs your donkey and colt, you lend it. That's the happy spin.

Less happy is the implication of an entitlement to have one's needs met. There is no reporting here of a question being asked when the disciples followed Jesus' command and took the animals. This is the moral equivalent of stealing. Just being Jesus doesn't get anyone off the hook of the commandment.

From there we are on to Hosanna and a recognized, but too easily passed over, understanding that Jesus is a Prophet. It would be clarifying to counterpose Palms and Prophets.

Passion: Where we usually look at the Passion of Christ and focus on his suffering, we might also look at the Passion against Christ and focus on what it is that drives people to participate with the principalities and powers.

In this vein we would investigate the commonalities between Judas, Chief Priests, (Peter, John, James and the other disciples who choose betrayal after a first betrayal), a crowd ready for violence with swords and clubs, false witnesses, Governor Pilate, a crowd still ready for violence with voice, military cohort, and guards. What passion sustained them, one to the next, until passion led to passion, in not a good way?

- - -

Thief Jesus dies alongside thieves
like calls to like

Messiah Jesus dies alongside thieves
like calls to like

do you like the call you're calling?
who are you living with?

do you like the call you're receiving?
who are you living with?

like still calls to like
like still lives with like

better like what you like
better like what you like

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2007_03_01_archive.html

 


 

Palms:
Hey, Hey, Hey!
Steadfast Love, Forever!
G*D Answers!
Salvation - Present!
This Is the Day for Rejoicing!
We Bless the Blessed for a House of Blessing!

Passion:
i am in distress
wasted by grief
a life of sorrow
years of sighing
misery sapped
bones rubbery
i am scorned
a horror
a dread
fled from
death's equivalent
broken
schemed against
plotted against!
can i trust
any hand
any love?

and so?
are you expecting to find what you bring to the table?
might a day of rejoicing in the midst of danger, yet be appreciated?
which is foreground, which background?

Is any predisposition driven by physiology or philosophy?
Here is a suggestion it is a result of brain structure based on this source data.

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2011/04/psalm-1181-2-19-29-or-psalm-319-16.html