Exodus 14:19-31
Proper 19 (24) – Year A
Moses baptized those Egyptian charioteers “real good.” That perspective is questionable from many directions.
With that silliness aside, remember that Moses not only dealt with water that rock might be revealed, but later he dealt with rock that water might be revealed. We are always finding balancing points.
What needs to be passed on from this “saving”? The Gospel lection associated with this passage (Matthew 18:21–35) says forgiveness (a kind of saving/healing) is to beget more forgiveness. How might ways be opened for those who are finding themselves no less trapped than the Israelites of old? Is there an economic component to this “saving” for those whose job has moved? Is there a political component for political theories (such as the liberal or progressive which has taken such a PR beating in the last generation or third-party platforms) to be revived? Is there a racial or gender or sexual orientation discrimination that hangs on long after legislation was to have done away with it or in the face of current and new legislation further marginalizing a people? Is there an educational component in the face of cultural boredom?
By and large, none of the Abrahamic religions has done well in expanding salvation past its own self-interest. How are you doing on a personal level?
- - - - - - -
transgressions removed ahead
a welcome road sign
hope for myself rises
to return to
an original blessing of good
disgust that it might be
for every Jane and Jack
or my favorite enemy
rises even quicker
and quick as a wink
my special welcome sign
becomes a road closed detour
onto winding rutted paths
leading 70x7 times back to this marker
a welcome road sign
to return to
an original blessing of good
for every Jane and Jack
or my favorite enemy
rises even quicker
my special welcome sign
becomes a road closed detour
onto winding rutted paths
leading 70x7 times back to this marker
As found in Wrestling Year A: Connecting Sunday Readings with Lived Experience
Oh my, oh my! It is power that brings reverence and belief and trust.
As we will find, that result of power doesn't last.
As soon as folks are finished singing about this power they begin complaining (stay tuned for next week).
Power brings with it a sense of entitlement that always leads to disappointment.
If you can't trust power, what can you trust? [The emphasis here is upon "you" - so what stands behind your belief and trust?]
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2002/september2002.html
"Even though you intended it for harm, G*D intended it for good," so says Joseph.
How does that work for the the next generations?
How does that work for the first born - first dead?
How does that work for Pharaoh's charioteers?
How does that work for citizens of New Orleans?
It seems that we need to own up to harm being harm before we can claim whatever good happens along. The current American administration seems incapable of owning up to its harm and so whatever good might be available is covered up by coverups.
How does the harm/good combination work for you? Wise ones can find blessings under any number of rocks but that doesn't mean the rock isn't there or that the rock was required for the blessing.
This is sort of like the expected result of the President led review of its own administration of a disaster -- "The results were harmful, but the effort and intentions were good."
This whole approach is very close to trying to comfort a bereft parent by saying G*D wanted another little angel in heaven.
This pronouncement of an attempt to always keep G*D in a good light is perhaps alright as a personal statement about a person's experience of the past in light of a now better present, but it is fraught with theological danger when moved into the communal arena. Here we are on a bit more solid ground when prophets announce that present behaviors are harmful and there will be a consequence for them that will do away with them to later allow good to flourish.
It is not too late to announce: the administration claims they intended it for good, but G*D has revealed it as harmful evil.
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2005/september2005.html
Welcome those who are differently oriented in faith. Paul uses Sabbath and Eating Rituals as examples of how those who condense the week into one Sabbath and those who spread it through the week might both do so as an honor to G*D. Likewise with those who honor G*D through their choice of food.
Unfortunately these differences are described as "weaknesses" (as seen through the eyes of someone making a choice they think everyone ought to hew to now). Seemingly both could be seen as sources of honor and weakness. An example of bothness gone awry is found in Jesus' story when asked about a persistence of forgiveness. Here the honoring of G*D gives way to entitlement for self.
When a servant is still received (forgiven) in respect to their weakness, this same servant does not participate in such a welcoming when faced with another in a respectively "weak" position.
How radical is my welcoming? - who is included in it?
- - - - - - -
transgressions removed ahead
a welcome road signhope for myself rises
to return to
an original blessing of gooddisgust that it might be
for every Jane and Jack
or my favorite enemy
rises even quickerand quick as a wink
my special welcome sign
becomes a road closed detour
onto winding rutted paths
leading 70x7 times back to this marker
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2007_09_01_archive.html
Moses baptized those Egyptian charioteers "real good." That perspective is questionable from many directions.
With that silliness aside, remember that Moses not only dealt with water that rock might be revealed, but, later, dealt with rock that water might be revealed. We are always finding balancing points.
What needs to be passed on from this "saving"? Yesterday we heard that forgiveness (a kind of saving/healing) was to beget more forgiveness. How might ways be opened for those who are finding themselves no less trapped than the Israelites of old? Is there an economic component to this "saving" for those whose job has moved? Is there a political component for political theories (such as the liberal or progressive which has taken such a PR beating in the last generation or third-party platforms) to be revived? Is there a racial or gender or sexual orientation component that hangs on long after legislation was to have done away with it or in the face of legislation further marginalizing a people? Is there an educational component in the face of cultural boredom?
By and large, none of the Abrahamic religions have done well in expanding salvation past their own self-interest. How are you doing on a personal level?
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2008_09_01_archive.html
Salvation of some by the denial of mercy to others. This is our usual way of looking at this victory passage regarding a people caught between a devil and a deep blue see (at least an enemy and marshy ground).
Assurance is evidence based. This is our usual way of looking at a providential moment and deriving a need for repeated providential actions to prove our G*D is still OUR god.
Hopefully it is not too late in a Season of Pentecost (no matter what other season we might also be in) to remember wonder-sharing is particularly for those who have been denied mercy and changes both the teller and tellee? Hopefully it is also a good time to remember that one event can change a whole life arc and never need another booster shot.
Has mercy slipped away over the course of a short 14 weeks? How about assurance? Might this be a renewal Sunday. This Sunday is actually my 42nd wedding anniversary. In remembering the forgetting of it along the way with whatever unkindness has manifested itself, renewal in a new setting of today revives the soul. This Sunday is also a 14th weekly anniversary of Pentecost. In remembering our forgetting of it along the way with whatever self-absorption has manifested itself, renewal in a communal setting of today revives the soul.