Reflecting God for Thursday, July 9, 2009

Today’s Question
When someone has recently been Christ to you?

Question of the day:
How is Jesus’ Father like a mother?
SCRIPTURE READING: 2 Samuel 12:8-14
7-12 "You're the man!" said Nathan. "And here's what God, the God of Israel, has to say to you: I made you king over Israel. I freed you from the fist of Saul. I gave you your master's daughter and other wives to have and to hold. I gave you both Israel and Judah. And if that hadn't been enough, I'd have gladly thrown in much more. So why have you treated the word of God with brazen contempt, doing this great evil? You murdered Uriah the Hittite, then took his wife as your wife. Worse, you killed him with an Ammonite sword! And now, because you treated God with such contempt and took Uriah the Hittite's wife as your wife, killing and murder will continually plague your family. This is God speaking, remember! I'll make trouble for you out of your own family. I'll take your wives from right out in front of you. I'll give them to some neighbor, and he'll go to bed with them openly. You did your deed in secret; I'm doing mine with the whole country watching!"

13-14 Then David confessed to Nathan, "I've sinned against God."

Nathan pronounced, "Yes, but that's not the last word. God forgives your sin. You won't die for it. But because of your blasphemous behavior, the son born to you will die." (The Message)

KEY VERSE: David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the Lord" (2 Sam. 12:13).

Sin Equals Guilty

When I confessed that I had stolen his toy airplane and crushed it under angry feet, mother made me apologize to my brother. Furthermore, she required that I give my allowance to him until restitution was made and he could buy another airplane.
But that was not enough. She told me that while I had sinned against my brother, I had truly sinned against God and needed to seek His forgiveness.
David had murdered and committed adultery, doing terrible harm to Bathsheba and Uriah, as well as the baby conceived in the illicit affair. The entire nation of Israel that looked to its king for moral leadership was wounded. But David acknowledged that his sin was preeminently against God. "Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight" (Ps. 51:4).
All sin is violation of God's holy law. When we fail to do good, we are also guilty of sin. "Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins" (James 4:17). When we sin, we are guilty before God. We can only fall back on His mercy for forgiveness.
-Marlene Chase

SING TO THE LORD
I once was an outcast stranger on earth,
A sinner by choice and an alien by birth!
"A Child of the King" by Harriet E. Buell

REACH OUT IN PRAYER
Developing Christian leaders in Cote d'Ivoire.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
When I have to appear before my Lord . . . I will only say one thing: "Lord, be merciful to me, a poor sinner" (Karl Barth).

SECOND THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Tending Our Own Wounds First
Our own experience with loneliness, depression, and fear can become a gift for others, especially when we have received good care. As long as our wounds are open and bleeding, we scare others away. But after someone has carefully tended to our wounds, they no longer frighten us or others.
When we experience the healing presence of another person, we can discover our own gifts of healing. Then our wounds allow us to enter into a deep solidarity with our wounded brothers and sisters.--Henri J. M. Nouwen

THROUGH THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
Isaiah 7-9

A Virgin Will Bear a Son
1-2 During the time that Ahaz son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, King Rezin of Aram and King Pekah son of Remaliah of Israel attacked Jerusalem, but the attack sputtered out. When the Davidic government learned that Aram had joined forces with Ephraim (that is, Israel), Ahaz and his people were badly shaken. They shook like trees in the wind.
3-6Then God told Isaiah, "Go and meet Ahaz. Take your son Shear-jashub (A-Remnant-Will-Return) with you. Meet him south of the city at the end of the aqueduct where it empties into the upper pool on the road to the public laundry. Tell him, Listen, calm down. Don't be afraid. And don't panic over these two burnt-out cases, Rezin of Aram and the son of Remaliah. They talk big but there's nothing to them. Aram, along with Ephraim's son of Remaliah, have plotted to do you harm. They've conspired against you, saying, 'Let's go to war against Judah, dismember it, take it for ourselves, and set the son of Tabeel up as a puppet king over it.'

7-9But God, the Master, says,

"It won't happen.
Nothing will come of it
Because the capital of Aram is Damascus
and the king of Damascus is a mere man, Rezin.
As for Ephraim, in sixty-five years
it will be rubble, nothing left of it.
The capital of Ephraim is Samaria,
and the king of Samaria is the mere son of Remaliah.
If you don't take your stand in faith,
you won't have a leg to stand on."


10-11God spoke again to Ahaz. This time he said, "Ask for a sign from your God. Ask anything. Be extravagant. Ask for the moon!"

12But Ahaz said, "I'd never do that. I'd never make demands like that on God!"

13-17So Isaiah told him, "Then listen to this, government of David! It's bad enough that you make people tired with your pious, timid hypocrisies, but now you're making God tired. So the Master is going to give you a sign anyway. Watch for this: A girl who is presently a virgin will get pregnant. She'll bear a son and name him Immanuel (God-With-Us). By the time the child is twelve years old, able to make moral decisions, the threat of war will be over. Relax, those two kings that have you so worried will be out of the picture. But also be warned: God will bring on you and your people and your government a judgment worse than anything since the time the kingdom split, when Ephraim left Judah. The king of Assyria is coming!"

18-19That's when God will whistle for the flies at the headwaters of Egypt's Nile, and whistle for the bees in the land of Assyria. They'll come and infest every nook and cranny of this country. There'll be no getting away from them.

20And that's when the Master will take the razor rented from across the Euphrates—the king of Assyria no less!—and shave the hair off your heads and genitals, leaving you shamed, exposed, and denuded. He'll shave off your beards while he's at it.

21-22It will be a time when survivors will count themselves lucky to have a cow and a couple of sheep. At least they'll have plenty of milk! Whoever's left in the land will learn to make do with the simplest foods—curds, whey, and honey.

23-25But that's not the end of it. This country that used to be covered with fine vineyards—thousands of them, worth millions!—will revert to a weed patch. Weeds and thornbushes everywhere! Good for nothing except, perhaps, hunting rabbits. Cattle and sheep will forage as best they can in the fields of weeds—but there won't be a trace of all those fertile and well-tended gardens and fields.
1 Then God told me, "Get a big sheet of paper and write in indelible ink, 'This belongs to Maher-shalal-hash-baz (Spoil-Speeds-Plunder-Hurries).'"
2-3I got two honest men, Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah, to witness the document. Then I went home to my wife, the prophetess. She conceived and gave birth to a son.

3-4God told me, "Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz. Before that baby says 'Daddy' or 'Mamma' the king of Assyria will have plundered the wealth of Damascus and the riches of Samaria."

5-8God spoke to me again, saying:
"Because this people has turned its back
on the gently flowing stream of Shiloah
And gotten all excited over Rezin
and the son of Remaliah,
I'm stepping in and facing them with
the wild floodwaters of the Euphrates,
The king of Assyria and all his fanfare,
a river in flood, bursting its banks,
Pouring into Judah, sweeping everything before it,
water up to your necks,
A huge wingspan of a raging river,
O Immanuel, spreading across your land."

9-10But face the facts, all you oppressors, and then wring your hands.
Listen, all of you, far and near.
Prepare for the worst and wring your hands.
Yes, prepare for the worst and wring your hands!
Plan and plot all you want—nothing will come of it.
All your talk is mere talk, empty words,
Because when all is said and done,
the last word is Immanuel—God-With-Us.

A Boulder Blocking Your Way
11-15God spoke strongly to me, grabbed me with both hands and warned me not to go along with this people. He said:
"Don't be like this people,
always afraid somebody is plotting against them.
Don't fear what they fear.
Don't take on their worries.
If you're going to worry,
worry about The Holy. Fear God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
The Holy can be either a Hiding Place
or a Boulder blocking your way,
The Rock standing in the willful way
of both houses of Israel,
A barbed-wire Fence preventing trespass
to the citizens of Jerusalem.
Many of them are going to run into that Rock
and get their bones broken,
Get tangled up in that barbed wire
and not get free of it."

16-18Gather up the testimony,
preserve the teaching for my followers,
While I wait for God as long as he remains in hiding,
while I wait and hope for him.
I stand my ground and hope,
I and the children God gave me as signs to Israel,
Warning signs and hope signs from God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
who makes his home in Mount Zion.

19-22When people tell you, "Try out the fortunetellers.
Consult the spiritualists.
Why not tap into the spirit-world,
get in touch with the dead?"
Tell them, "No, we're going to study the Scriptures."
People who try the other ways get nowhere—a dead end!
Frustrated and famished,
they try one thing after another.
When nothing works out they get angry,
cursing first this god and then that one,
Looking this way and that,
up, down, and sideways—and seeing nothing,
A blank wall, an empty hole.
They end up in the dark with nothing.
A Child Has Been Born—for Us!
1 But there'll be no darkness for those who were in trouble. Earlier he did bring the lands of Zebulun and Naphtali into disrepute, but the time is coming when he'll make that whole area glorious— the road along the Sea, the country past the Jordan, international Galilee.
2-7The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light.
For those who lived in a land of deep shadows—
light! sunbursts of light!
You repopulated the nation,
you expanded its joy.
Oh, they're so glad in your presence!
Festival joy!
The joy of a great celebration,
sharing rich gifts and warm greetings.
The abuse of oppressors and cruelty of tyrants—
all their whips and cudgels and curses—
Is gone, done away with, a deliverance
as surprising and sudden as Gideon's old victory over Midian.
The boots of all those invading troops,
along with their shirts soaked with innocent blood,
Will be piled in a heap and burned,
a fire that will burn for days!
For a child has been born—for us!
the gift of a son—for us!
He'll take over
the running of the world.
His names will be: Amazing Counselor,
Strong God,
Eternal Father,
Prince of Wholeness.
His ruling authority will grow,
and there'll be no limits to the wholeness he brings.
He'll rule from the historic David throne
over that promised kingdom.
He'll put that kingdom on a firm footing
and keep it going
With fair dealing and right living,
beginning now and lasting always.
The zeal of God-of-the-Angel-Armies
will do all this.

God Answered Fire with Fire
8-10The Master sent a message against Jacob.
It landed right on Israel's doorstep.
All the people soon heard the message,
Ephraim and the citizens of Samaria.
But they were a proud and arrogant bunch.
They dismissed the message, saying,
"Things aren't that bad.
We can handle anything that comes.
If our buildings are knocked down,
we'll rebuild them bigger and finer.
If our forests are cut down,
we'll replant them with finer trees."
11-12So God incited their adversaries against them,
stirred up their enemies to attack:
From the east, Arameans; from the west, Philistines.
They made hash of Israel.
But even after that, he was still angry,
his fist still raised, ready to hit them again.

13-17But the people paid no mind to him who hit them,
didn't seek God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
So God hacked off Israel's head and tail,
palm branch and reed, both on the same day.
The big-head elders were the head,
the lying prophets were the tail.
Those who were supposed to lead this people
led them down blind alleys,
And those who followed the leaders
ended up lost and confused.
That's why the Master lost interest in the young men,
had no feeling for their orphans and widows.
All of them were godless and evil,
talking filth and folly.
And even after that, he was still angry,
his fist still raised, ready to hit them again.

18-21Their wicked lives raged like an out-of-control fire,
the kind that burns everything in its path—
Trees and bushes, weeds and grasses—
filling the skies with smoke.
God-of-the-Angel-Armies answered fire with fire,
set the whole country on fire,
Turned the people into consuming fires,
consuming one another in their lusts—
Appetites insatiable, stuffing and gorging
themselves left and right with people and things.
But still they starved. Not even their children
were safe from their rapacious hunger.
Manasseh ate Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh,
and then the two ganged up against Judah.
And after that, he was still angry,
his fist still raised, ready to hit them again. (The Message)

All Scripture quotations not otherwise designated are from the Holy Bible, New International Version® (NIV®). Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.
All hymn texts are taken from the hymnal Sing to the Lord. Copyright © 1993 by Lillenas Publishing Company.
Copyright © 2009 by WordAction Publishing Company. All rights reserved. WordAction.com

Weekly Prayer:

O God, thank you for valuing me, even when I struggle to value myself. Help me to love myself as you have loved me. Give me contentment in being the person you’ve made me to be, and in serving you and others the ways I am gifted to do. Then, help me to love my neighbor as I love myself. I thank you that your ways are so much higher and greater than mine. Amen.

Commentary of the day :

Saint Ephrem (c.306-373), Deacon in Syria, Doctor of the Church
Diatesseron 8, 3-4 (cf SC 121, p.159)


"If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it"


«On entering any house, first say, 'Peace to this house,'» (Lk 10:5) so that the Lord himself might enter and remain there, like with Mary... This greeting is the mystery of faith, which shines forth in the world. Through it, enmity is stifled, war is stopped, and men acknowledge one another. The effect of that greeting was hidden by a veil, in spite of the fact that the mystery of the resurrection is prefigured... when the light rises and dawn chases away the night. From the moment when Christ sent his disciples, men began to give and to receive this greeting, a source of healing and of blessing...

This greeting with its hidden power... is amply sufficient for all men. That is why Our Lord sent it together with his disciples as a forerunner, so that it might bring about peace and that, carried by the voice of the apostles, whom he sent, it might prepare the way before them. It was sown into all the houses...; it entered into all who heard it, so as to separate and to put aside its children, whom it recognized. It remained in them, but it denounced those who were foreign to it, for they did not welcome it.

This greeting of peace did not dry up; it began in the apostles and then sprang up in their brothers, revealing the Lord's inexhaustible treasures... Present in those who greeted in this way and in those who welcomed the greeting, this announcement of peace was neither diminished nor divided. It announced that the Father is near and in everyone; it revealed that the Son's mission is entirely with everyone, even if its goal is to be with his Father. It will not cease to proclaim that the images are now fulfilled and that the truth will finally chase away all shadows.

CHILDREN’S SUNDAY
(BIRTH-AGE 12)

LECTIONARY COMMENTARY

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Herbert R. Marbury, Guest Lectionary Commentator
Assistant Professor of Hebrew Bible, Vanderbilt University Divinity School,
Nashville, TN

Lection – 1 Samuel 3:1-10 (New Revised Standard Version)

(v. 1) Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord under Eli. The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread. (v. 2) At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his room; (v. 3) the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was. (v. 4) Then the Lord called, “Samuel! Samuel!” and he said, “Here I am!” (v. 5) and ran to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down. (v. 6) The Lord called again, “Samuel!” Samuel got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” (v. 7) Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. (v. 8) The Lord called Samuel again, a third time. And he got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. (v. 9) Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. (v. 10) Now the Lord came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

I. Description of the Liturgical Moment

Cultures and faith communities around the world celebrate the gift that God offers to humanity through children. African American Christians are no different. In many black churches, Children’s Day is a time for recognizing the achievements of young congregants who have earned a place on the honor roll, recently graduated, or distinguished themselves by their athletic prowess or creative genius. Children’s Day is also a time for adults to offer children the space to display their gifts by leading worship. Many churches will encourage children to form a choir, serve as primary liturgists, and more on that Sunday. In these churches, children live out the biblical saying that “a child shall lead them.”1

II. Biblical Interpretation for Preaching and Worship: 1 Samuel 3:1-10

Part One: The Contemporary Context of the Interpreter

I remember as a young boy the annual bustle leading up to Children’s Day. The energy devoted to preparation rivaled the preparation given to any of the high holy days of the liturgical year. As kids, we planned for months in advance to conduct the perfect worship experience. I remember the children and youth director, along with mothers and fathers of the church, joining the effort to teach us the conventions of worship. It was also a day when the order of service juxtaposed the latest hip-hop with a baroque anthem and traditional liturgical dancers took notes from a teen step team. The sermon, preached by an older youth, resonated with all the cues of youth culture and held young people in rapt attention. Our children’s group, like many others, also involved children of the community whose families did not attend the church. So, on Children’s Day, both the congregation and kids leading worship reflected our neighborhood: churched and unchurched, Christian, Muslim and Hebrew Israelite. It was a marvelous exercise in interfaith fellowship because our church took seriously the challenge to “suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not for such to the Kingdom of God belong.”2

Part Two: Biblical Commentary

I Samuel 3:1-9 inaugurates Samuel as a prophet of the Lord. What an exciting occurrence--a vision at a time when visions of the Lord were rare! One would expect such an auspicious event to be heralded by both Samuel and Eli’s celebration. But, ironically, the event passes almost unrecognized by God’s new prophet or by his ailing teacher. What happened? How could they miss God? How could Samuel mistake God’s voice for Eli’s? In verse seven, the text informs the reader that Samuel did not yet know the Lord. So, sadly, Samuel hears the voice but does not recognize his creator. In other words, in a society where children are not valued as gifts of God with their own agency and ability to hear from the Lord, why would they be taught to hear God for themselves? Both Samuel and Eli find themselves confused by the experience, because Samuel has not yet been given permission to hear God for himself.

In verse 2, we are told that Eli is ailing. With failing vision, he cannot see God as clearly as he might have during the height of his ministry. Although Eli could not see it, God had already called his student, Samuel, to lead Israel. With neither army nor political office, Samuel would join the tradition of prophets who would anoint and depose kings, such as Saul and David. Samuel’s word would send Israel to war, prophesy God’s vision, and admonish rulers to repent and return to the ways of the Lord. Today, black families, communities, and civic organizations find themselves plagued by ailing leadership who still have much to teach, but have not taught a younger generation to hear from the Lord for themselves. Thankfully, it took Eli only three attempts to recognize God’s voice. The omniscient narrator heightens the reader’s frustration by clueing the reader in to the identity of the voice before Eli identifies its source. Finally, Eli realizes the gift that God had given to Samuel.

Many black children live in a world where their gifts go unrecognized or live lives where their gifts are rejected. Black communities are replete with sad anecdotes of brilliant young kids, whose intellectual prowess surpasses fortune 500 CEOs, but who grow up to build empires in the drug trade because no one received and nurtured their gifts. Worse, when families and communities fail to recognize and cultivate their children’s gifts, others may do so for their own purposes. Black communities were late in claiming hip-hop as a worthy and legitimate music expression of black youth. Within a few years of hip-hop’s inception, the larger music industry exploited the creative energy of black youth for profit rather than cultivating God’s gift in them. For years, the market consumed the production of images and lyrics that degraded young people, only exacerbating the pathology in black communities.

However, God has not left our youth in silence or darkness. God persisted in the darkness of Samuel’s room until Samuel recognized God’s voice. Just as Samuel finally recognized God’s voice, God persists until we listen. God is still speaking to black children and youth and they are responding in marvelous ways.

In 1969, Weldon Irvine and Nina Simone collaborated to tell us that we must learn to teach our young that they are “Young, Gifted and Black . . . and that’s a fact!” Each one is endowed with agency, a calling, and a particular connection to the Creator. Our responsibility is to teach them to be available to God, and then to receive from them the good thing that God has for humanity.

Celebration

When we empower children by ensuring that they have healthcare and housing, quality education and safe environments, then they will hear a word from the Lord and heal our land! When we teach our children to be available to God, they will imagine themselves in the image of their Creator, not in the images developed by market-driven mass media. On that day, when no child is hungry or alone, naked or unloved, when each one has what she needs to respond, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening,” then the blessings of the Lord will be revealed among us.

Descriptive Details

The descriptive details in this passage include:

Sights: Eli lying in his room, aged, blind, and weary (v. 2); a dark room lit only by dim candle light (v. 3); a young boy, startled, running into the next room and rousing an old man (v. 4); and

Sounds: An old man snoring; a voice piercing the darkness; Samuel, awakened abruptly, running toward Eli’s room, an annoyed Eli instructing Samuel to return to bed (vv. 4,6); and Samuel asking the Lord to speak as he listened (v. 10).

Notes

1. Isaiah 11:6b, NRSV
2. “Luke 18:16.” The Holy Bible: Containing the Old and New Testaments with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books : New Revised Standard Version. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1989.