Psalm 116:1-4, 12-19

Easter 3 - Year A


An ear of the Universe has been turned in our direction. That which burns within us, but is yet inarticulate, is listened into being. The cry for meaning takes shape from an appeal for simple escape to a participation in service.

What is interpretation of scripture but the listening for the deep desire and finding ways to respond to it in such a manner that it becomes clear. This clarity becomes a clarion call to action.

It is so easy to have interpretation mean "spin," trying to get someone to see things in a very particular way.

The more difficult and useful approach to interpretation is mutually discovering what it is that ties us together so we can see through one another's eyes. In this way being saved leads directly to being in service and being served (each in their own time which sometimes is the same time).

http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2005/april2005.html

 


 

Psalm 116:1-4, 12-19
Acts 2:1-4a, 36-41
1 Peter 1:17-23
Luke 24:13-35

"Save yourself from this corrupt generation." So goes the appeal in every troubled time.

The question is not so much an us/them mentality or saved/unsaved designations. Those are constantly changing according to experience and willingness to have same. Rather, how does one be in while not of the world (and it's lesser known counterpart which is just as important - to be of while not in the world)? This question comes from the little word "from" [apo in the Greek] that has two definitions:
     1) from - "of separation"
     2) in - "of origin"
So it might also read, "Save yourself within your originating generation."

In particular this is a question of intention or direction. Does saving oneself mean oneself alone or does it mean that saving oneself entails the salvation of all?

Repentance and Baptism are very much like a Sabbath. Is the Sabbath made for us or are we made for the Sabbath? Sabbath, Repentance, and Baptism (and other Sacraments) are best considered as stimuli for the reestablishment of community that has fractured. They are mediational tools. They are vehicles for saving a generation.

- - -

purified truth in angry hands
is dangerous to one and all
such truth becomes organized
for its own sake, not yours

growing truth in hopeful hands
builds genuine mutual love
among differing generations
for their sake, not mine

cooperative truth in faithful hands
grows heart-deep love in our midst
binding our differences with balm
for healing wounds, including yours

birthed anew from perfect to whole
fractures perish in a new light
living enduring inviting feasts
for bountiful living, including mine

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2007_04_01_archive.html

 


 

"What can I give back to God for the blessings poured out on me?"

Good question.

Suggestions begin with a toast to G*D and moving on to being honest enough to do what we say we will do.

In this we have echoes of loving G*D (acts of piety) and loving neighbor (acts of mercy).

Now comes the difficult part of making these generalities manifest in our time, in our life. What one thing will you intentionally do this week to express thanks toward G*D? What one thing will you concretely do this week to express thanks from G*D toward another?

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2008_04_01_archive.html

 


 

“Because!”

We are a results driven people. Something good happens and G*D did it for G*D can do no wrong. Something bad happens and we did it for we can do no right. Sometimes we claim the good that happens and blame G*D for catastrophic, “acts of god”.

In focusing on the outcome and working backward we find a multitude of ways to avoid simply being thankful for an opportunity in which to live and move and have our being. If there is not a direct tie to an outcome, our current behavior is dismissed as irrelevant.

The word “because” is still a valuable tool, but only if it works in a forward direction, not reflexively. Because I have done the best I can, I can stand whatever result comes along. 

Being part of a larger system and systems within systems, there is not a single cause and effect. To denigrate what I can do based on immediate results or quarterly financial gain, is to put Ourselves and G*D and Neighbors and even Enemies in impossible situations where miracle is the only out available.

So, If we give up, we still have our supporters who can carry us onward. If all we can do is stand mute in the face of unfairness, it is a valuable revelation of the meanness of the principalities and powers. If we engage injustice with all our will and skill, the fears of a broken community can still overwhelm our witness as well as process and decision-making. If we are dependent upon the outcome, that which occurs “because” of a specific action of ours, we never get to rejoice in the relief, delight, and triumph of the mystery of adding our part to a transformation of this wobbly old world into a new paradise on earth.

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May you avoid the trap of “Because!” things didn’t turn out the way I wanted, what I did was valueless.

May your use of “Because!” give you a forward leaning, powdermilk biscuit, perspective, thankful for the strength to get up and do what needs to be done, regardless of the result.

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2011/05/psalm-1161-4-12-19.html

 


 

There are appropriate and inappropriate complaints. Some of us have a very low tolerance for anything that doesn’t go our way (from bewailing not finding a parking place close to our destination to dying if a significant other dies). Here we have an affirmation that a complaint was voiced and resolved to the psalmist’s satisfaction.

A next question is how to respond to such a blessing (as distinct from responding to a blessing present in an unrequited complaint).

The psalmist in verse 9 (elided) admits that they were so fixated in getting a positive outcome that they responded, “Liar!”, to any who would suggest acceptance of their experienced plight. It might be said that an affliction makes one unaware of their inflicting their affliction on others.

At any rate, now that a resolution has been achieved, how does one respond?

Look again at 16b, “You have loosed my bonds.”

On one level this is a recognition that a complaint has been successfully negotiated and the knot it had caused has been cut.

In a community there is no response that can only be individualized. This loosening has also set free a community that has had the complaint imposed upon it, one they would have otherwise been ignorant of. A community has also been freed.

A thanksgiving is in order, but there is also a need to re-establish relationships for all the “Liar!” type responses that had been given along the way.

Can we respond to our bonds being loosed by loosing our bonds of entitlement and privilege that our cares are to be attended to before those of others. Easter frees us from the being bound by a stone sitting on top of us. In our joy of having a stone rolled off us, a knot cut, a light re-lit, we express our thanks by assisting others to have their constraint lifted. If our praise does not re-purpose prayer from words to actions, we have not been loosed yet. If praise does not bring repentance we simply await a next testing of this supernaturally attuned-to-me “Lord” and the complaint/loosening cycle rolls back over us.

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2014/05/psalm-1161-4-12-19.html