"I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind-- just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you-- so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord."
My task for Nov 30th is three-fold (not in any particular order): to not suck, to teach about oblations, and honor that it is Advent I. We begin, in that ongoing cycle of approach, retreat, and renew to grapple with the profound mystery that Christ is, was, and will be again. Advent itself means Adventus which means the coming. As Christians we look back to that time that proceeded Christ's birth... the time of our spiritual ancestors awaiting God to be made manifest... and find ourselves, even the faithful who hold tight to Christ's being-ness, in similar straits with those wandering israelites who, even after gaining the promiseland, seem to understand completely that gaining the land was not enough. Even with the covenant fulfilled, even with Christ's entry, ministry, death, and resurrection, the world seems particularly off. Certainly, even the most pious defender of God's activity in the world, has to wonder at times, what God is doing for evil still exists and the meek certainly have not inherited the earth. Advent throws us right back into the pot. It seems to profess our lineage as God's people... God's people it seems must wait.
Why oblations? Well the pragmatic in our common ministry at Good Shepherd also acknowledges the needs of the everyday. It may be Advent but we certainly have not stopped being at least a part of the world. We happen to be in the middle of our stewardship drive. The following Sunday we collect pledge cards and offer them on the altar. If we are to wait, we hope to enjoin our congregation to afford the clergy and staff of Good Shepherd to be able to do it in our current positions! We may be called to wait but God has not yet guaranteed that in a year of financial insecurity that our waiting will take place here. At staff yesterday the following was uttered to help focus the task on Advent I. It was mentioned that this sermon is to help prepare people to act in faith... an oblation is the offering of our life (and the things that make up our life) as a gift from God... We, the people, offer every Sunday the fruits of our labor, the bread and wine and money, so that they may be transformed. Each week they approach the altar, given to the priest, and by God's grace they are transformed into the body and blood of Christ. The good news is that the action does not stop there. Christ acts, through the sacrament, through failable priests (starting with Peter and the lot) to transform our offerings, into himself and then trusting again, He gives himself to the whole body of the church. Our offerings become Him... He enters into us and we are transformed into Him (I'm riffing on rite one- And here we offer and present unto thee, O Lord, our selves, our souls and bodies, to be a reasonable, holy, and living sacrifice unto thee; humbly beseeching thee that we, and all others who shall be partakers of this Holy Communion, may worthily receive the most precious Body and Blood of thy Son Jesus Christ, be filled with thy grace and heavenly benediction, and made one body with him, that he may dwell in us and we in him. ) And what becomes apparent more clearly to me is that all things move through the altar during Holy Eucharist... it becomes akin to the wind moving on the waters of creation, a point where the infinite gathers the mundane. There in Holy Eucharist the bread, wine, and financial gifts are offered up unto God and while we don't (thankfully) make Sacrament out of the money, it is offered to His service. The bread and wine, somehow in whatever way it does becomes God incarnate, moves from the altar and then feeds the people... uniting us with him... God from God, Light from Light.
We tend to minimize the money part don't we. It is lifted up and then leaves the sanctuary to be counted, deposited, and put to work. We don't really think of its mission do we. As heirs to a culture that thinks it uncouth to talk about income and money (even though it seems to drive us and our conversations in this difficult time... ie the number one issue, our economy, up to and through the election) We prefer to speak about it as gifts... treasure... than say money... yet it too moves through the altar. It too is acknowledged and offered up to God... just as the bread and wine is and (we often gloss over it) we are. Yet it too has a mission. It too has a role to play. It too has a purpose, which we pray, will go to the mission of the church. And it does doesn't it. Through it ... the people... without minimizing your evident and neccessary ministry... help some of us... the staff and clergy of the church... to do needed ministry this church feels called to. The money that will leave the altar... much like the bread, wine, and you all... will allow some of us from the body, to in the middle of the day to visit the sick. Some of it will allow some of us from the body the luxury to write sermons. Some of it will keep the lights on so that we may gather for prayer, bible study, fellowship. Some of it will go to electricty which will power computers and telephones which will be used week to week to encourage , collaborate, and comfort... comfort parishioners and strangers alike with words of hope. Some of it will go directly to feed the hungry. Some of it will go to support our fellow brothers and sisters travel either as youths or adults to be transformed in the world by serving Christ.
I heard it said ... and I liked it even though I struggled with the ramifications of the statement... that Grace is free but that the Gospel cost money. First we are to be intirely thankful that God accepts me, even when I am farthest from him, based on nothing that I could possibly offer him. It means that God reaches out to us as Paul writes, (I think this is true) before we even know we are in need of God. And Gods love for us is at the center of the good news... the gospel... that God loves us so much that he sent his Son for us. So God acts with Grace toward us... and it is free. The Gospel costs though. If we have received this love, we are called to love as God loves us... and to love as God loves us is to love sacrificially... it costs to love like this... it costs to reach out to those who may never find or wish to find what we have found in Christ. It costs to understand that though things might be tough that we are not without means. For most of us in this room there is money in the bank, food on pantry shelves, gas in the tank, grass on yard, electricity on at home, and a roof hanging over our heads. We have been given so much and I say that not to make us feel guilty but as a reminder that to he or she whom has been given much... much will be demanded. It costs. We shed a portion of what we have, acknowledging that God has shared with us more than we could possibly deserve, and trusting that God will continue to sustain us.
Next time- Oblations boil down to trust- God acts first giving himself to us (coming to church receiving- true wholeness will be denied until we begin to move from receptivity to sharing)
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Thursday, November 06, 2008
Intervention...choose Joshua 24
If anyone is following along... not that I think anyone is... you have been following the development of line of thought in the last two posts. I've been trying to wrestle with the reading for Joshua which is the OT reading for November 9th. The reading itself is the final say on a book of the Bible that demonstrates Gods strength in protecting his people but is also quick to point out that if God's people fail to commit, they will be nothing. God as revealed in Joshua is not a warm, squishy God but one of might. As evidenced by the disjointed nature found in the last two posts this line of thought has not been all that concise nor very strait. Two posts ago I became impressed not only with Joshua's cojones... ie the ability to stand up with strait truth to his people instead of trying to convince him that he was correct or they were in error... but also the image of God being proclaimed who either receives us or spits us out. The image that came to me was that of God as a center in basketball. If he be for us then our commitment will be recieved like a point guard feeding him the ball. Exploding out of the paint he'll jam it home. If we say we're for him but have not really made a commitment, then, as this reading reveals, God will stand like a lion blocking our feeble attempts from even getting close. The point of fact is that Joshua seems completely ok with the Israelites either chasing after false gods and getting de"vow"ered or living up to their conviction and sticking the covenant. In the last post I spent more time with the book of Joshua, recognizing that like Marcion, God's wrath in Joshua might interfere with Christian sensibilities and have modern Christians, like Marcion, seek to remove the book and all that it has to offer from sight. I did play with the way Jesus does demonstrate his 'wrathfulness' in the Gospels seeking to unify God's will and as essential found both in the old and new testaments. Emasculating Jesus does not seem the best solution in seeking to nullify God's strength as reavealed in the OT. Like Joshua seems to suggest in today's reading- God will not be mocked.
And where did the path lead? It led right to the most damning question that a preacher should wrestle with... why does any of this matter to the souls who show up on Sunday morning? It matters because this question of commitment.... true genuine commitment.... is about life. It is to damn easy to get caught up in trying to figure out God. We'll spend countless hours wondering if Jesus was correct or if the writers of the old testament actually had a clue or if the church has any value beyond supporting itself. And why do we do this? Because it is easier to wonder what God is about then to stare into the void of life and death. Give me starbucks. Give me my childrens homework. Give me even a failing economy... anything but that deep dark void of death that will come when the bio-electrical system that supports this very typing shuts down.
Death is morbid! Don't go there! The fact that life precedes it does not much make it easier to deal with. Easier to wonder what God might be about then live into the claim that it is God Himself who sustains our life and the other dramatic claim that if we are to live we must live to the Lord. This is in fact the claim that Joshua is suggesting to the people. What will your choice be? Whom will you live for? Will you live for life itself? Choose this day...
Most of the time we live lives that do not make us aware of this ongoing choice. The fact is that I can idly while away my time thinking of other things. That fact does not make the central question go away or eliminate it from always being a very present reality. The fact is the choose this day option is alway on... always present... always knock, knock, knocking. It is my ignorance of this that sends me following false Gods. Not in the sense that on thursday I'll bow down to baal and on Friday I'll chat with Vishnu. No like the israelites in the promiseland (A christian baptised) I can on time to time remember that God has liberated me, acknowledge that my life is infinitely better due to the relationships I've had with the faithful, be conscious that based on past experiences and the reading of scripture that God is wonderful and after doing so go back to my own devises and pursuits of my heart. These too are false Gods. This certainly is weak commitment. It is this weak game that God smacks away. Don't bring me your clouded delusions, God says, I am the God of life... and life is what I take.
And it is when life comes down on the line do we begin to see the commitment that Joshua is presenting to the people. Choose the living or choose the dead. To follow God is to choose the living. This becomes most apparent in an intervention.
An intervention is a hard thing. It's purpose is to present a choice to one who is lost. In most cases interventions are done on drunks or drug addicts... their lives so spent on death that the option for life or death must be clearly drawn. No longer are they able to see truth. They think their way of life, consumed by false Gods of delusion, apathy, and the numbness of toxins is the only way out. Often the only way to save their life is for a group of people to intervene on them. Sobriety or the street they often say. Life or death and if you choose death you will do it on the street.
An intervention does not come about easy. It is the result often of a family who in watching their loved one die drink by drink have exhausted every hope in trying to help their sick person get well. An intervention for the family is often the last result... an admision of powerlessness... dad, mom, uncle bill has squandered all hope. We must act abandoning even the result. Dad, mom, uncle bill we love you but we will no longer watch you chase the false Gods of addiction, selfishness, greed, remorse... we are powerless... to stay in covenant with us you must choose. Choose this day... life or death.... we want you to choose life.
And that question at the moment of intervention is presented and sits out there. Our drunk who has allowed this question past the defenses of a lifetime knows now the God whom Joshua presents in todays reading. He or she may attempt to justify trying to remove the mantle of God's weight upon their shoulders... but I'm a Christian, but I have been good, but I have prayed and tithed and loved... and like the false God's that have led to this moment they will be swated aside. God will not be mocked. God will dismiss them not because he does not love the broken child of God there in front of him but because he does. There in that hoped for moment of awareness, where the drunk or addict, comes face to face with the true powerless self, he or she comes face to face to the God in the paint. Bring anything but life and it will be swated away. Choose life and God will open up the Red Sea. I am the God of life Joshua reveals I am the God whom chose you. Chose me and I will open up the promiseland. Chose me and nothing, not plague, war, terror, or power will seperate you from me. I am life God says... I love you....only I am able to transform you...from the lowest bottom to newest life....choose.
And that is what hangs in the balance in an intervention. The individual, through prophets who they themselves have experienced the powerlessness of watching sickness consume their loved one, present the choice of life or the ongoing persuit of death. Get sober or get dying. Like Red in the shawshank redemption announces, Get busy living or get busy dying. Our God will not be mocked. He is not a pinch hitter. His love appears like razors to the one pursuing death- chipping away at all that is not life.
And these thoughts this morning are not easy thoughts. They are not designed to comfort or soften. I say them because life hangs in the balance. Each soul here today from the smallest to the oldest to the wisest to the most miserable is God's very own. In your baptism you were marked.... marked! Christ's very own. There is no distance that God will not go for you. There is no breadth God will not stretch accross to uphold you. He is the alpha and the omega... the source of life. And this morning.... and this afternoon.... and this evening.... and in the middle of the night when your terrors and worries and doubts creep accross you mind... he is there and he is there in the birth of your children, and when they cut their knee and when you first kiss your passionate lover and fight like cats and dogs about life, your children, work, the economy. He is there, knocking at your door, I love you so much he says... I love you so much I will allow you to discover for yourself that I am the only way. I love you so much, this wrathful God of the OT says, that I will give myself to you in my son, and be there for you now in my spirit. Choose this day, he calls, choose.
Life hangs in the balance...
And where did the path lead? It led right to the most damning question that a preacher should wrestle with... why does any of this matter to the souls who show up on Sunday morning? It matters because this question of commitment.... true genuine commitment.... is about life. It is to damn easy to get caught up in trying to figure out God. We'll spend countless hours wondering if Jesus was correct or if the writers of the old testament actually had a clue or if the church has any value beyond supporting itself. And why do we do this? Because it is easier to wonder what God is about then to stare into the void of life and death. Give me starbucks. Give me my childrens homework. Give me even a failing economy... anything but that deep dark void of death that will come when the bio-electrical system that supports this very typing shuts down.
Death is morbid! Don't go there! The fact that life precedes it does not much make it easier to deal with. Easier to wonder what God might be about then live into the claim that it is God Himself who sustains our life and the other dramatic claim that if we are to live we must live to the Lord. This is in fact the claim that Joshua is suggesting to the people. What will your choice be? Whom will you live for? Will you live for life itself? Choose this day...
Most of the time we live lives that do not make us aware of this ongoing choice. The fact is that I can idly while away my time thinking of other things. That fact does not make the central question go away or eliminate it from always being a very present reality. The fact is the choose this day option is alway on... always present... always knock, knock, knocking. It is my ignorance of this that sends me following false Gods. Not in the sense that on thursday I'll bow down to baal and on Friday I'll chat with Vishnu. No like the israelites in the promiseland (A christian baptised) I can on time to time remember that God has liberated me, acknowledge that my life is infinitely better due to the relationships I've had with the faithful, be conscious that based on past experiences and the reading of scripture that God is wonderful and after doing so go back to my own devises and pursuits of my heart. These too are false Gods. This certainly is weak commitment. It is this weak game that God smacks away. Don't bring me your clouded delusions, God says, I am the God of life... and life is what I take.
And it is when life comes down on the line do we begin to see the commitment that Joshua is presenting to the people. Choose the living or choose the dead. To follow God is to choose the living. This becomes most apparent in an intervention.
An intervention is a hard thing. It's purpose is to present a choice to one who is lost. In most cases interventions are done on drunks or drug addicts... their lives so spent on death that the option for life or death must be clearly drawn. No longer are they able to see truth. They think their way of life, consumed by false Gods of delusion, apathy, and the numbness of toxins is the only way out. Often the only way to save their life is for a group of people to intervene on them. Sobriety or the street they often say. Life or death and if you choose death you will do it on the street.
An intervention does not come about easy. It is the result often of a family who in watching their loved one die drink by drink have exhausted every hope in trying to help their sick person get well. An intervention for the family is often the last result... an admision of powerlessness... dad, mom, uncle bill has squandered all hope. We must act abandoning even the result. Dad, mom, uncle bill we love you but we will no longer watch you chase the false Gods of addiction, selfishness, greed, remorse... we are powerless... to stay in covenant with us you must choose. Choose this day... life or death.... we want you to choose life.
And that question at the moment of intervention is presented and sits out there. Our drunk who has allowed this question past the defenses of a lifetime knows now the God whom Joshua presents in todays reading. He or she may attempt to justify trying to remove the mantle of God's weight upon their shoulders... but I'm a Christian, but I have been good, but I have prayed and tithed and loved... and like the false God's that have led to this moment they will be swated aside. God will not be mocked. God will dismiss them not because he does not love the broken child of God there in front of him but because he does. There in that hoped for moment of awareness, where the drunk or addict, comes face to face with the true powerless self, he or she comes face to face to the God in the paint. Bring anything but life and it will be swated away. Choose life and God will open up the Red Sea. I am the God of life Joshua reveals I am the God whom chose you. Chose me and I will open up the promiseland. Chose me and nothing, not plague, war, terror, or power will seperate you from me. I am life God says... I love you....only I am able to transform you...from the lowest bottom to newest life....choose.
And that is what hangs in the balance in an intervention. The individual, through prophets who they themselves have experienced the powerlessness of watching sickness consume their loved one, present the choice of life or the ongoing persuit of death. Get sober or get dying. Like Red in the shawshank redemption announces, Get busy living or get busy dying. Our God will not be mocked. He is not a pinch hitter. His love appears like razors to the one pursuing death- chipping away at all that is not life.
And these thoughts this morning are not easy thoughts. They are not designed to comfort or soften. I say them because life hangs in the balance. Each soul here today from the smallest to the oldest to the wisest to the most miserable is God's very own. In your baptism you were marked.... marked! Christ's very own. There is no distance that God will not go for you. There is no breadth God will not stretch accross to uphold you. He is the alpha and the omega... the source of life. And this morning.... and this afternoon.... and this evening.... and in the middle of the night when your terrors and worries and doubts creep accross you mind... he is there and he is there in the birth of your children, and when they cut their knee and when you first kiss your passionate lover and fight like cats and dogs about life, your children, work, the economy. He is there, knocking at your door, I love you so much he says... I love you so much I will allow you to discover for yourself that I am the only way. I love you so much, this wrathful God of the OT says, that I will give myself to you in my son, and be there for you now in my spirit. Choose this day, he calls, choose.
Life hangs in the balance...
Friday, October 31, 2008
More about Joshua- My House
When do you know God is involved? At times God can seem like a whisp. At time's at least, this faithful misfit wonders where God is and when that happens along come the undercurrents: have I just imagined this God thing? Was it any more than a gas bubble? Have I surrounded myself with other wishful thinkers... we're all just confirming the illusion one to another...like lemmings in a dark room hoping for a light that will never come? Doubt, faith's ugly sister, comes a courting at times.
Yet at the same time there are moments in life that seem to be so infused with God's presence. He appears like a line of Gold thread in a blue sweater or the way cream mixes with coffee. In an instant there is change... evidence. The problem is that while God is fleetingly found in the moment the evidence seems more real looking behind. I am better at seeing God's handiwork in the way the myriad of past events seem to flow so smoothly than in the trials and tribulations of today.
My bible tells me that the story of Joshua is both historical and a theological reflection. Joshua, the leader of the Israelites, blazes into the promiseland. He is recounted, much like Moses, uplifting the law, challenging the Israelites to covenant , and even in one stunning event in chapter 5, Joshua has a vision. "Once when Joshua was by Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing before him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went to him and said to him, "Are you one of us, or one of our adversaries?" He replied, "Neither; but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come." And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and he said to him, " What do you command of your servant, my lord?" The commander of the army of the Lord said to Joshua, "Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy." (5:13-15) Echos, no scratch that, almost duplication of Moses. The book seems to pass on the torch. As my editors note reveal, "the promises made to Moses and the ancestors are now becoming fulfilled und Joshua." God has not been silent.
Yet even the editorial notes reveal that this book of the bible was probably written some time after the events. It makes one suspicious, as Obama spoke of Biden, of it making editorial flourishes. It may be but what about this post event understanding. Was it written trying to shore up a marginal leader or to make theological sense of the Israelites entry into the promiseland? For the writer (s) they saw that God had been true to his promise... the challenge as it is repeated through out the book of Joshua is either God or Joshua exhorting the people to remain faithful. As it seems to appear in cycles the people are told to be faithful, the people swear obedience (as they have done in the selection for the 9th) and through out the book it is not the people, but their faithfulness that determines their success. God does not want their power... it is not enough... God wants to be their power... and like the 4th man in a baton race he demonstrates his power but only when it has been handed off to Him.
As in this weeks reading the vision shows God's wearing of peoples like a loose blanket. Joshua throws back in the peoples face their half measure commitment... the angel in the vision is neither one of Joshua's people or one of his adversaries. The angel's fealty is only to God and as an agent he calls Joshua and the Israelites to that same fealty. It appears that God is not intersted in luke warm (no pun intended about the gospel) Israelites. God seems to want them completely... maybe even with jealosy. So like the angel who is the agent of none it could be possible in this weeks reading that God stands in the middle of the paint waiting to see what the peoples descision will be. If his people bring half heartedness God swats it out of play... If the choose to turn it over to him he turns and dunks it home.
Now some might have difficulty with the OT. Certainly there are some in our culture and this time that seek to dismiss the OT. I mean after all through out the story of Joshua we have a people at war. There is conflict, difficutly, and one people being led by God to overcome another people. This kind of event conflicts with persons understanding... at least as it has presented by some in Christianity, in a God of love. Bloodshed, war, does not fit in easily with the Gospel of Love. We're not the first to struggle with the OT at times. In fact this difficulty with the OT has led some to challenge the canon or even the inclusion of the OT as part of what we should hold as Christians. In the second century there was a son of a Bishop.. and that is kind of fun to say from the pulpit... son of a Bishop Marcion who himself became a bishop. He came to the conclusion in the second century that as a church we should jettison the OT as not neccesary to our salvation because it contained the worship of a lesser God Yahweh. Marcion held that in Jesus we are introduced to the God of love so we really only need to focus on the Gospels... and for Marcion it was the Gospel of Luke. Eventually the church disagreed with the truth that Marcion was offering and he was excommunicated. His teaching was understood as a Heresy or theological error. The church held that the OT was neccesary... even if at times we may scratch our head about it. Our own church certainly holds it in high regard... at the consecration of a Bishop, the ordination of a priest, and the ordination of a deacon, they all "solemnly declare that the bishop, or priest, or deacon do believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God and to contain all things necessary to salvation." So if we believe that God has helped form and maintain this church we least have to wrestle with the claim that the Old Testament contains God's word...ie we need to hear it to become attuned to Gods call on our lives. Now I don't think we should just take the OT claims because the church says we should. After all what Joshua reveals is that God, as a God of Love, is understood to be very active in what appears to be retributive events. Can this God be found as well in the NT? Do we have any evidence that this God who appears to knock weak game out of the court in the gospels? Does God as evidenced in Jesus Christ show up?
I think to a certain extent this rough and tumble God shows up. Jesus is not placid. I imagine at times he was quite serene. I also believe he had a wonderful sense of humor .I also believe he had the ability to love his creation in ways that surpass even our best. I also note that I would not want to be in his way, if he saw difficulty or falsity. In those situations Jesus is rough like the angel appearing with a drawn sword. His actions reveal he was not afraid to show he was not with one or another but only with those as they were seeking the kingdom of God. Certainly, Jesus knocked the rich mans weak game out of the court. Certainly when the pharisees and lawyers kept coming at him with their understanding of law over salvation or righteous behavior over mercy they experienced a defense that itself was merciless. At one point Jesus response was so sound the gospels reveal... No one asked him questions anymore. And before we think that Jesus defense was only directed at Jesus opponents we can not forget the moment when Peter almost laughs off Jesus statement about having to die before being raised, you can almost see Jesus rise to 8 feet tall and devore Peter telling him "Get behind me satan" Swat! Not in my house, Peter.
God wants us to offer ourselves to him but he wants all of us. He wants us to grow/develop/ see beyond the shackles of our foolish beliefs or ways of living which lead not to life but death.
Next time- The power of intervention as evidence of God's duel role in the paint
Yet at the same time there are moments in life that seem to be so infused with God's presence. He appears like a line of Gold thread in a blue sweater or the way cream mixes with coffee. In an instant there is change... evidence. The problem is that while God is fleetingly found in the moment the evidence seems more real looking behind. I am better at seeing God's handiwork in the way the myriad of past events seem to flow so smoothly than in the trials and tribulations of today.
My bible tells me that the story of Joshua is both historical and a theological reflection. Joshua, the leader of the Israelites, blazes into the promiseland. He is recounted, much like Moses, uplifting the law, challenging the Israelites to covenant , and even in one stunning event in chapter 5, Joshua has a vision. "Once when Joshua was by Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing before him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went to him and said to him, "Are you one of us, or one of our adversaries?" He replied, "Neither; but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come." And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and he said to him, " What do you command of your servant, my lord?" The commander of the army of the Lord said to Joshua, "Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy." (5:13-15) Echos, no scratch that, almost duplication of Moses. The book seems to pass on the torch. As my editors note reveal, "the promises made to Moses and the ancestors are now becoming fulfilled und Joshua." God has not been silent.
Yet even the editorial notes reveal that this book of the bible was probably written some time after the events. It makes one suspicious, as Obama spoke of Biden, of it making editorial flourishes. It may be but what about this post event understanding. Was it written trying to shore up a marginal leader or to make theological sense of the Israelites entry into the promiseland? For the writer (s) they saw that God had been true to his promise... the challenge as it is repeated through out the book of Joshua is either God or Joshua exhorting the people to remain faithful. As it seems to appear in cycles the people are told to be faithful, the people swear obedience (as they have done in the selection for the 9th) and through out the book it is not the people, but their faithfulness that determines their success. God does not want their power... it is not enough... God wants to be their power... and like the 4th man in a baton race he demonstrates his power but only when it has been handed off to Him.
As in this weeks reading the vision shows God's wearing of peoples like a loose blanket. Joshua throws back in the peoples face their half measure commitment... the angel in the vision is neither one of Joshua's people or one of his adversaries. The angel's fealty is only to God and as an agent he calls Joshua and the Israelites to that same fealty. It appears that God is not intersted in luke warm (no pun intended about the gospel) Israelites. God seems to want them completely... maybe even with jealosy. So like the angel who is the agent of none it could be possible in this weeks reading that God stands in the middle of the paint waiting to see what the peoples descision will be. If his people bring half heartedness God swats it out of play... If the choose to turn it over to him he turns and dunks it home.
Now some might have difficulty with the OT. Certainly there are some in our culture and this time that seek to dismiss the OT. I mean after all through out the story of Joshua we have a people at war. There is conflict, difficutly, and one people being led by God to overcome another people. This kind of event conflicts with persons understanding... at least as it has presented by some in Christianity, in a God of love. Bloodshed, war, does not fit in easily with the Gospel of Love. We're not the first to struggle with the OT at times. In fact this difficulty with the OT has led some to challenge the canon or even the inclusion of the OT as part of what we should hold as Christians. In the second century there was a son of a Bishop.. and that is kind of fun to say from the pulpit... son of a Bishop Marcion who himself became a bishop. He came to the conclusion in the second century that as a church we should jettison the OT as not neccesary to our salvation because it contained the worship of a lesser God Yahweh. Marcion held that in Jesus we are introduced to the God of love so we really only need to focus on the Gospels... and for Marcion it was the Gospel of Luke. Eventually the church disagreed with the truth that Marcion was offering and he was excommunicated. His teaching was understood as a Heresy or theological error. The church held that the OT was neccesary... even if at times we may scratch our head about it. Our own church certainly holds it in high regard... at the consecration of a Bishop, the ordination of a priest, and the ordination of a deacon, they all "solemnly declare that the bishop, or priest, or deacon do believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God and to contain all things necessary to salvation." So if we believe that God has helped form and maintain this church we least have to wrestle with the claim that the Old Testament contains God's word...ie we need to hear it to become attuned to Gods call on our lives. Now I don't think we should just take the OT claims because the church says we should. After all what Joshua reveals is that God, as a God of Love, is understood to be very active in what appears to be retributive events. Can this God be found as well in the NT? Do we have any evidence that this God who appears to knock weak game out of the court in the gospels? Does God as evidenced in Jesus Christ show up?
I think to a certain extent this rough and tumble God shows up. Jesus is not placid. I imagine at times he was quite serene. I also believe he had a wonderful sense of humor .I also believe he had the ability to love his creation in ways that surpass even our best. I also note that I would not want to be in his way, if he saw difficulty or falsity. In those situations Jesus is rough like the angel appearing with a drawn sword. His actions reveal he was not afraid to show he was not with one or another but only with those as they were seeking the kingdom of God. Certainly, Jesus knocked the rich mans weak game out of the court. Certainly when the pharisees and lawyers kept coming at him with their understanding of law over salvation or righteous behavior over mercy they experienced a defense that itself was merciless. At one point Jesus response was so sound the gospels reveal... No one asked him questions anymore. And before we think that Jesus defense was only directed at Jesus opponents we can not forget the moment when Peter almost laughs off Jesus statement about having to die before being raised, you can almost see Jesus rise to 8 feet tall and devore Peter telling him "Get behind me satan" Swat! Not in my house, Peter.
God wants us to offer ourselves to him but he wants all of us. He wants us to grow/develop/ see beyond the shackles of our foolish beliefs or ways of living which lead not to life but death.
Next time- The power of intervention as evidence of God's duel role in the paint
Thursday, October 30, 2008
My House!
"You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the LORD, to serve him."
Joshua is no pansy. He is not weak. He is not afraid of upsetting people's applecart. He has a passion to serve God and is intent on calling others not only to the reward but also the challenge of doing so. If nothing else he certainly is not worried that they might become upset and walk out. Church's should pay heed...not that we want people to leave but that we should not hold the power of God hostage (even if that were possible) for fear that some might find it too daunting.
Obviously I am wrestling with something here. I know what it is like to waffle. I know what it is like to wonder if a message will be received if not by the church than my colleagues. The truth be told I am envious of Joshua's passion and conviction. Here he his in the midst of his people. He is speaking to them as adults. He, without apology, offers them a crossroads. He is not pleading with them telling them "no, no don't go down that path of idolatry or chasing false God's." He is not trying to convince them "See our Lord is good... follow him" He simply and passionately makes a crossroad apparent... whom will you serve? Followed by that oft quoted line that hangs in so many Christian houses, "Me and my house serve the Lord."
And then the people ponder... HMMMMMMMMM... and they even reply well "yes we must respect the Lord. After all he has saved us/ lead us out of slavery/did great signs/went out before us etc, etc" "yes," they say "we will serve the Lord." And then it gets interesting.
Joshua then lays it out. Although he does not say it, Joshua tells the crowd that God will not be mocked. Joshua lets them know that God plays for keeps. It is as if the crowd there is playing basketball. They think they are driving the lane on some gauky and gangly seventh grader who would rather be anywhere else than the basketball court. The crowd may even think that God is on there side... did He not deliver them from all their distress? They think that God is driving the lane with them... then Joshua reverses the scene...
They are not playing against some mambee pambee pimply 7th grader but Kevin Garnett, Marcus Camby or Dwayne Wade. God stands there in the middle of the lane and asks "Don't bring your weak game to me because if you do, I'm going to swat it out of here."
What makes the scene interested is that Joshua... in caring for the people... challanges them to A.) realize that God has stayed true to His Covenant and B.) understand that to choose God is a commitment.
Joshua is no pansy. He is not weak. He is not afraid of upsetting people's applecart. He has a passion to serve God and is intent on calling others not only to the reward but also the challenge of doing so. If nothing else he certainly is not worried that they might become upset and walk out. Church's should pay heed...not that we want people to leave but that we should not hold the power of God hostage (even if that were possible) for fear that some might find it too daunting.
Obviously I am wrestling with something here. I know what it is like to waffle. I know what it is like to wonder if a message will be received if not by the church than my colleagues. The truth be told I am envious of Joshua's passion and conviction. Here he his in the midst of his people. He is speaking to them as adults. He, without apology, offers them a crossroads. He is not pleading with them telling them "no, no don't go down that path of idolatry or chasing false God's." He is not trying to convince them "See our Lord is good... follow him" He simply and passionately makes a crossroad apparent... whom will you serve? Followed by that oft quoted line that hangs in so many Christian houses, "Me and my house serve the Lord."
And then the people ponder... HMMMMMMMMM... and they even reply well "yes we must respect the Lord. After all he has saved us/ lead us out of slavery/did great signs/went out before us etc, etc" "yes," they say "we will serve the Lord." And then it gets interesting.
Joshua then lays it out. Although he does not say it, Joshua tells the crowd that God will not be mocked. Joshua lets them know that God plays for keeps. It is as if the crowd there is playing basketball. They think they are driving the lane on some gauky and gangly seventh grader who would rather be anywhere else than the basketball court. The crowd may even think that God is on there side... did He not deliver them from all their distress? They think that God is driving the lane with them... then Joshua reverses the scene...
They are not playing against some mambee pambee pimply 7th grader but Kevin Garnett, Marcus Camby or Dwayne Wade. God stands there in the middle of the lane and asks "Don't bring your weak game to me because if you do, I'm going to swat it out of here."
What makes the scene interested is that Joshua... in caring for the people... challanges them to A.) realize that God has stayed true to His Covenant and B.) understand that to choose God is a commitment.
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