posting

it is time for me to stop comparing myself with everyone else and just blog. I always feel less than
Here is what I wrote based on todays lectionary readings. Not perfect but who the hell is anyway?


Lectionary readings Proper 12 Pent. +9

Genesis 18:20-32

Psalm 138

Colossians 2-6-15 (16-19)

Luke 11:1-13





With just a cursory glance, today’s scripture readings seem simple enough, The theme seems to be to persevere in prayer. We have the Genesis passage which has the dialog between God and Abraham. Abraham is bargaining with God, but stops short of saying “if there were one righteous”. I always wondered why he stopped. The gospel reading is Luke’s version of the prayer that Jesus taught. Included in the passage is the parable of the midnight visitor, and “Ask, Seek, Knock”. In the middle however is a portion of Colossians that suggests we should use our minds to understand what we are being taught.

The author of Colossians encourages us to live our lives in Christ, to be rooted and built up in intimacy with God through Christ. As I was reading verse 8 I was struck by the idea that it is important to use reason as we look at scriptures. “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, …and not according to Christ.”
How easy it is to sit passively and allow others to tell us what the scriptures mean. Paul seems to be saying; "hey folks, wake up use your mind, reason this stuff out. Does what you are hearing from some people really gel with what Jesus said?" Later in the passage it says that Jesus disarmed the “rulers and authorities.” I always assumed this meant demonic influence, I wonder, though, could this be referring to the people who are spouting their own interpretation of the bible as if it has been downloaded from god? With this in mind I am looking at the other readings assigned for today.

I think it is important to point out that, although many of us have been taught that this sin that had God so mad at Sodom and Gomorrah was homosexuality, in reality it was about the lack of hospitality, the downright cruelty to the poor, preying on the weak and vulnerable and same sex rape as a way of degrading people. Perhaps God’s wrath was the only way to explain an earthquake, a flood or even an airplane crashing into a building. I remember hearing people say after the tidal wave, hurricane Katrina and 9/11 that God was punishing the people for something. Some of the “grievous sins” mentioned were not worshiping the right god, homosexuality, and abortion. Unfortunately, many believe that explanation and many are turned off to Christ because of that attitude.

Did Abe bargain with God? I don’t know. Did God destroy thousands of people? I don’t think so. Through the teachings of Jesus I see God as all loving, merciful, on the side of the lost and the least. I don’t see God as a thug.

On to Luke, there was a time when I could give you a quick and easy interpretation of this reading based on all I had been taught. Things aren’t so simple any more. When I look at Luke’s version of the prayer that Jesus taught I am struck my its simplicity. I liked the way it is written in The Message Bible:
When you pray say “Father/Mother, reveal who you are
Keep us alive with 3 square meals, keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others, keep us safe from ourselves

I wasn’t aware that there could be another interpretation of hallowed be your name, I really thought it had to mean that we must always say how holy God is whatever that means. However, because of the tense of the verb some believe it can mean “reveal yourself to us so we can know you better”. As I look at this prayer I see that living in God’s realm provides us sustenance, freedom, safety and strength. We can look at it as a petition, or as statements of what God does for us.

As I reflect on the midnight visitor I realize the first man had enough bread for the day but not enough for unexpected guests. The neighbor had some extra that could be shared. To not give the extra bread would be an embarrassment in a culture that is hospitality oriented. I don’t think this has so much to do with persistent knocking begging and nagging but rather is a picture of God not refusing to give what we need.

There are people who take the “ask, seek knock” passage out of context and use it for all sorts of things. It is often the basis for the “name it and claim it” theology, as well as the secular “The Secret” and “The law of attraction”. This teaching says that if we don’t get what we want, then it is our fault. So if we are laid off from our job, lose a child, our house burns down or we never get a Mercedes Benz we didn’t pray hard enough or long enough. We blame ourselves and others blame us with statements like “you spent too much time worrying about your child’s health, that’s why she is ill”. This kind of thinking doesn’t do much to endear God to me in fact it drives me away.

Prayer is about our relationship to God’s presence in our lives, talking to God, sharing our thoughts, hopes and dreams. As we dwell in God (and?) are rooted in Christ there is an awareness of the divine and the ability to see God’s vision for us. Let us be bold in prayer, knowing that God is able to transform us, and in that transformation let us pray that we can work with God to heal the world.