Romans 4:13-25
Proper 5 (10) - Year A
Lent 2 - Year B
It is so tempting to turn the cross and resurrection into another law to be followed (including some a priori law that Jesus' purpose was only to die rather than to live so abundantly that the principalities and powers felt obligated to do a cost/benefit analysis and to murder one for the sake of the position of many).
The focus here is on a promise of faithfulness by G*D not Abraham's, Jesus', my, or your past, present, or future worthiness. Where it seemed there was no way (impotence of Abraham/barrenness of Sarah or death of Jesus) there is a way (the Laughter [Isaac] and the Resurrection).
So, be persistent in your journey as G*D's partner. Laugh and Live. Don't give up your living abundantly or assisting others to so live.
To smash two hymn lyrics together - Where the blockages of law-oriented religionist seem so strong, G*D is the "ruler" yet - "unrevealed until its season."
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2002/june2002.html
Abraham hoped against all expectation regarding what he understood was G*D's promise to him (a promise that energized his travel and his aging) -- descendants.
An important question I am still wrestling with is what promise has so captured me that it will energize my living and aging? So far it is a picture of being able to participate in beckoning to earth and heaven to draw near to one another that they might be joined to bring forth a new heaven and a new earth -- now there's a descendant.
This is distinguishable from earth using heaven to justify its wars and from heaven belittling earth as impure, both of which keep them from joining together.
What is the promise that energizes you? That keeps you hoping against all expectation?
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2003/march2003.html
Verse 25 in the NRSV reads, "It [faith] will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification."
There is one little word of "him" that is probably a too small and narrow a description of G*D. Then there are two lines about Jesus.
The weight of words tends to turn this into a sentence about Jesus rather than G*D. I still read it, however, as "my faith is in G*D." The evidence I use for this faith (hoping against hope) is the witness of Jesus' community and the experience of my own life. Where does the church reckon its faith is? How does this open its heart, mind, and doors? How does this set its limits?
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2003/march2003.html
Acts, Paul, and other epistle writers can most fruitfully be seen through the lens of midrash on the Hebrew scriptures and Jesus.
Paul here is recasting the story of Abraham by conveniently leaving out Hagar and Ishmael. Just how faithful was Abraham and just how faithful was YHWH? Where is the locus of faith when we look at issues of law and grace?
The law can reveal grace if done according to the promises of GOD but not if there is mandatory sentencing and "three strikes and your out." GOD's steadfast love has everything to do with faithfulness, GOD's and ours.
If such as Abraham is faithful it is good to have that imaged as the same kind of faithfulness that Jesus has and you and I have. Let's all lighten up. [a wonderful lightening song about the galaxy and our place in it is found here. Hope you will hear it someday, until then, here are the lyrics.]
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2005/june2005.html
Abrahamic Promise precedes the Mosaic Law. A key question is how formative is G*D's promise? If it is the standard then the subsequent laws are to be in its service. If it is not the standard then the laws that follow attempt to reshape, repent, or restore this beginning promise to something else.
With or without Law, the Promise is present. This is a very freeing understanding. What Promise is it that frees you to move where you need to move and, Powdermilk Biscuit-wise, do what needs to be done.
To clearly state the Promise you are working forward from is to make a creedal statement, to express faith. Try, right now, before you forget, to state as succinctly as you can a Promise that stands behind your life. My expectation is that so identifying a Promise appropriate to your situation will lead to lower blood pressure, greater health, and more energy to follow where it leads.
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2005/june2005.html
We are not always consistent about our presentation of law and faith. We sure do like to be able to use the law to our advantage and so we work hard at wordsmithing (yuk on that construct) public statements of the religious organizations we are a part of. We understand that what is said and how it is said are related matters, but no matter how smoothly a harsh statement is made it is still hurtful. So we work hard at what is said.
At the same time, when the law is not to our advantage we tend to swing over to faith talk so we can proceed to act in accord with our conscience.
Hoping against hope we legislate, legislate, legislate. Hopefully we will get it said clearly enough to change lives.
Reckoning faith as righteousness is a last resort of those who are out of resorts to legislation. Faith acts as if lives were already changed.
In what arenas are you a lawist and in which a gracist?
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2006/march2006.html
The New Interpreter's Study Bible has this excursus:
"Abraham is cited more frequently in Paul's letters than any other historical figure except Jesus. By Paul's day, Abraham was honored as the quintessential believer who had worshiped the one true God in the midst of idolatrous peoples. His stature had been embellished by legend, miracles, and quasi-deification; and his grave in Hebron was regarded as a holy place. Rabbis taught that God ordained Torah 'for Abraham's sake' and that he kept it perfectly even before it was given on Mt. Sinai. A eulogy to Abraham in Sirach 44:19-21 claims that he had no equal in glory . Abraham was a bold choice on Paul's part because Jewish rabbis taught that Abraham had been justified because of works. Paul demonstrates that Abraham was justified apart from both law and works, and thus was proof of justification by faith."
Again competing forces show up. Abraham/Jesus. Law/Grace. Works/Faith. It is easy to go for one of a pair rather than both. A part of the practicality United Methodists claim in their theology is the bothness of covenants, of starting points and outcomes. Seeing the connections between seeming choices actually enhances both parts of a choice. May you continue to appreciate such enhancement without being overwhelmed by it.
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2006/march2006.html
Last week the Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness where he was tempted by Satan. Here, halfway through Mark's Gospel, Jesus again recognizes the presence of Satan in his own inner circle. In the wilderness or at home there is a temptation. Does the Spirit only lead to wilderness temptation without also leading to homeland temptation?
Most starkly put, the temptation is to be what you are not, to be ashamed of what you are not. We can put that off on G*D by claiming G*D is not what G*D ought to be. Again we are ashamed to be in the company of a G*D that doesn't get it.
It doesn't matter what the promise - of enough descendants to fill a starry, starry night, a heart that lives forever, being reckoned "in" by an alternative standard - there are those moments when we agree to get a descendant by any means, when we relinquish the responsibility of feeding the poor, or stumble over hope. Somewhere along the way we do not keep our eye on a prize and we are shamed or we shift that to shaming someone else.
Perhaps a key for us is the openness of Jesus' understanding of himself. It is this open affirmation that keeps shame at bay when it is being misused and turned into blame rather than reformation or transformation.
Sociopaths and saviors seem to not be ashamed. For the rest of us it is a marker that needs to be noted in order for us to join Jesus in living and speaking openly.
- - -
All
Shame
Has
A
Mercy
Ending
Denial
Openness
Penetrates
Entire
Need
Networks
Energizing
Sacred
Seasons
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2007_02_01_archive.html
To Abram and Matthew a call: "go from your country" and "come, follow me" - there is another spot where we will find greater life, greater hope beyond hope. Being open to this call in our own day is part of the challenge for settled individuals and congregations and nations.
This call is not just geographical. The Psalmist and Paul remind us of the changes we need to be making internally that our heritage might be healed, that our distress and sacrifice be swept away by steadfast love.
Whether an external move or an internal one, a key element is transformation from acting out of fear of further distress because our guilt needs to be atoned for by some sacrifice to being proactive beyond fear to ask for what is needed (Tabitha's father and unnamed woman with a twelve-year hemorrhage) in anticipation of steadfast love without retributive punishment needing to occur first.
Note the acceptance of Jesus of the request for him to move, not Tabitha's father or Tabitha. Note the acceptance of Jesus of a touch that slows him during his journey.
Perhaps we might envision a mutual journey - G*D's and ours - not one pulling or pushing the other from where they are, but a mutual attraction and desire to move in common.
- - -
journey without a destination
challenges our control need
even with past adventures
having turned out well
there is hesitation
to trust again
journey without a destination
raises again an insatiable god
testing and testing again
our temptation
to settle
in
journey without a destination
is a realistic assessment of our lot
no matter how we disguise it
change and death obtain
warrants to search
empty lives
journey without a destination
anticipates beyond current plateaus
use of several learnable skill sets
to envision preferred futures
to enact their foundations
to enliven generations
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2007_06_01_archive.html
Promise.
Covenant.
Contract.
Three different relationships.
How do you rank them?
Which do you live out of most?
In which do your own actions make a difference to a perceived outcome? Can your works change a promise? covenant? contract?
In which might someone else's actions make a difference to a perceived outcome? Can Jesus' "sacrifice" change a promise? covenant? contract?
If a corollary to Promise is Trust, what are the corollaries for Covenant and Contract? For the moment, playing with Obedience and Responsibility, what might this thought do to such an old standard as "Trust and Obey"?
In today's world we are politically driven to issues of verification in treaties. Presume that "Heaven" is on its way to "Earth", does verification remain an issue for those who are disposed toward promise? covenant? contract?
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2008_06_01_archive.html
So many promises yet to be fulfilled and so little time, seemingly.
In the in-between-time of promises you are holding on to and their fulfillment are two key understandings. First that our engagement with our basic promise-base is active. There is no suggestion that G*D messed around with Sarah in the same way Mary has been talked about. Apparently Abraham and Sarah were still participating in coitus at 99 and, hopefully, enjoying it. Having made themselves available for a child, even against all known odds, is active faith (as well as fun). May you keep up with your promises by putting yourself in a position to catch them when they come by – and don't forget that active faith is fun.
Second, this interesting phrase of "hoping against hope". In the Hymn/Poem we now know as Jesus, Lover of My Soul there is a verse left out of the current UMHymnal. See what you think about how returning that verse and its hope against hope might change the hymn and your life.
In Temptation by Charles Wesley
Jesus, lover of my soul,
Let me to thy bosom fly,
While the nearer waters roll,
While the tempest still is high:
Hide me, O my Savior, hide
Till the storm of life is past,
Safe into the haven guide,
O, receive my soul at last!Other refuge have I none,
Hangs my helpless soul on thee;
Leave, ah, leave me not alone,
Still support and comfort me:
All my trust on thee is stayed,
All my help from thee I bring;
Cover my defenseless head
With the shadow of thy wing.Wilt thou not regard my call?
Wilt thou not accept my prayer?
Lo! I sink, I faint, I fall!
Lo! on thee I cast my care!
Reach me out thy gracious hand
While I of thy strength receive,
Hoping against hope I stand,
Dying, and behold I live!Thou, O Christ, art all I want;
More than all in thee I find:
Raise the fallen, cheer the faint,
Heal the sick and lead the blind!
Just and holy is thy name;
I am all unrighteousness;
False and full of sin I am,
Thou art full of truth and grace.Plenteous grace with thee is found,
Grace to cover all my sin;
Let the healing streams abound,
Make and keep me pure within:
Thou of life the fountain art;
Freely let me take of thee,
Spring thou up within my heart,
Rise to all eternity!
Secondary to this second point, Hope can be easily spoken of and that kind of hope is more of a wishful thinking. I hope against this kind of hope. Hope that is bone-deep is helpful to rub up against and is more against me than I against it. If it is a honing contest, I will be sharpened by this deep hope and made dull by the wishful stuff. Depending on orientation, hoping against hope is mysterious or exactly what is needed.
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2009_03_01_archive.html
We all trust in a variety of mechanisms, processes, and theories. At question is whether these “promises” reveal grace or not. If so they will grow over time. If not, they will eventually falter and fail altogether.
If we are interested in participating in a story of creation-long development bearing witness to great fecundity, we will be asking whether or not the basic story-line we are trusting in has room for surprising twists, turns, and reorientations. This openness to mutation is trustworthy and turns out to be our grace, our righteousness.
Lent is an opportunity to remind ourselves where it is we want to be headed - into boring grace, standard grace, everyday grace - far deeper than being amazed at such.
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2012/03/romans-413-25.html