Prayer
You keep vigil, O God, over the fortunes of your people, guiding their destiny in safety as the history of the world unfolds. Increase our faith that those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall rise again and give us your Spirit to bring forth in our lives the fruit of charity, so that we may look forward every day to the glorious manifestation of your Son, who will come to gather the us into your kingdom. We ask this through Christ, with whom you have raised us up in baptism, the Lord who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen.From Prayers for Sunday and Seasons, Year B, Peter J. Scagnelli, LTP, 1992.
Some Thoughts on Mark 13:1-8
"Apocalyptic eschatology is essentially about God working on behalf of humanity, and that is what is introduced in the beginning of this discourse. It leaves God alarmingly free and open to the future."
Commentary, Mark 13:1-8, Micah D. Kiel, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2012.
"Despite the global disasters that surround us -- some instigated by First World policies -- we'd rather think about a messianic figure who has already arrived and called on us to be kind to our neighbors. But, occasionally, it may be an important reminder to hear an ancient prophet cry out about the fragile nature of the world."
Commentary, Mark 13:1-8, Emerson Powery, Preaching This Week,WorkingPreacher.org, 2015.
"In the end, 'what larges stones' is itself a statement of faith and it's a statement of faith that Jesus asks us to reconsider."
"Storied Stones," Karoline Lewis, Dear Working Preacher, 2015.
"Storied Stones," Karoline Lewis, Dear Working Preacher, 2015.
God makes me nervous. Can I just be honest about that for a moment. When I sit quietly and think about the nature of God, God's unfolding work, my human place within his cosmos, I am aware that I am very nervous about God and how "alarmingly free" the God I believe in actually is.
In our passage today we begin a series of teachings by Jesus which make clear that God's purpose is both great and forever. At the center of the events unfolding is Jesus in relationship to the Temple.
Not unlike the prophets who offered a vision of Jerusalem's future, or the future of the kingdoms, Jesus offers in our passage today a clarity about nature of the Temple and the downfall which is part of the cosmic plan.
For our comfort we might easily want to remove the power of these words from taking hold of our hearts by locating the passage historically within the writing of the Markan Gospel following the fall of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 a.d. Though I agree with this scholastic and critical view, we must always caution ourselves to keep from removing the prophetic voice from our own ears by making this passage simply about the past. Jesus has spoken but the living word also offers us a challenging word today.
The purpose here in Mark is to clearly not speak about the Temple. That is not the point of the text at all! The point of the text is to reveal that the old world is passing away. Not unlike the passage from Revelation we read last week where in it is clear that a new heaven is already rooting itself in the world and upon taking root is forcing out the world of man. The point of Jesus' words and the prophecy is to show the reality that this is the new age of God and this is an age that is to be marked by faithfulness and following the living God and Jesus Christ.
Jesus tells us: be careful though because humans will always build new temples and new religions and new teachings. People will come and they will be false prophets and false leaders. They will tell you a truth that you will want to hear - the church is ruined. They will seek to lead you - follow me for I know the truth. They will offer a vision that the things of the past are not fading away in the midst of a new future. What is rooted in Jesus' warnings is not so much that there will be these false teachers but humans out of their desire to be comfortable will seek after them hoping to extinguish the discomfort of God's unfolding destruction of the age of man.
When human beings get uncomfortable we follow instead of disciple. When we are feeling the very foundations turn into ashes below us we want a new stronger foundation; and we rarely look forward but look to those who will comfort us with the past. We look for false teachers who offer us a shelter from the storm, the safety of a castle keep, and the island home. We look for teachers and prophets who will lie to us and tell us that God is safe and predictable and not free.
I am reminded of the Grand Inquisitor in Doestoevsky's Brothers Karamazov as he questions the Messiah upon his return. The Inquisitor is a cardinal and promises that the world the church is creating is better than the world Jesus promises. He says to the Lord, "So we have done. We have corrected Thy work and have founded it upon miracle, mystery and authority. And men rejoiced that they were again led like sheep, and that the terrible gift that had brought them such suffering, [your gift of freedom] was, at last, lifted form their hearts. Were we right teaching them this? Speak! Did we not love mankind, so meekly acknowledging their feebleness, lovingly lightening their burden, and permitting their weak nature even sin with our sanction? " The temple is passing away even as we speak and it shall be rebuilt as the new heave takes root in our midst.
Nostalgia is after all the idea that we look back at a time that never really existed and make it into a reality which can be compared to the reality we experience in the here and now. It is a way of looking back to a time and place that keeps us from facing the time and place we inhabit today.
Christians have always lived in between the earth which is falling away and the heaven which is not yet fully revealed. We live in a time which calls not for seeking shelter in the storm but rather for being the shelter in the storm for the world's fearful. We are the ones, like Jesus, to see the times and the seasons, to know that the what we cling to as humans is passing, that heaven is coming and that safety is not guaranteed but adventure is promised. This God we worship is free and alarmingly so. This God we worship has a plan and the plans of men are falling in the wake of its eternal progression.
We are as a Christian people invited to cling to Jesus and his love and to counteract the seasons of change. We are invited to counteract the seasons of change, not by clinging to the temple which is crumbling, or by following every fad that promises a return to a golden age - but rather to counteract the world with love. So let us endure the birth pangs for the kingdom that is to come requires disciples and apostles to midwife its labors through a mission and proclamation of love.
Some Thoughts on Hebrews 10:11-14 (15-18), 19-25
"What is new about the New Covenant, therefore, is not the idea that God loves the world enough to bleed for it, but the claim that here he is actually putting his money where his mouth is."
"As the author grounds his goal for church participation in the eschatology of Christ's session, he grounds the guarantee of Christ's session in the character of God. They can hold their confession without wavering, because the one who promised is faithful."
Commentary, Hebrews 10:11-14 [15-18] (Pentecost 25B), Amy L.B. Peeler, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2012.
"An intimate and frank relationship with God, openness with one another, and bold public witness that perseveres in the fact of opposition these are the characteristics of the confident community portrayed in today's lesson."
Commentary, Hebrews 10:11-14 [15-18] (Pentecost 24B), Susan Eastman, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2009.
So it is that we come to the end of our readings in Hebrews. We understand now clearly from the author all that is meant by Jesus as our great high priest. We understand that he has transformed the ritual sacrifice of other religions of the day by making a one time offer.
And, we are given a revelation of Christ as king of heaven. That he is seated at the heavenly throne. He has completed his work. He has completed his faithful work.
Here the author then turns to make it clear that this image he offers is none other than the suffering servant image of the old testament. The author is doing a quite remarkable job of weaving the story together. We get a sense here then not simply of the continuation of ancient ritual and sacrifice but a greater theme of a creative trajectory.
The author then invites us to respond to the eternal movement of God and the high priestly sacrifice. We are invited to respond with a clarity of purpose and livelihood crafted as a gift in response to God's work. We are also invited to hold fast to our faith. We are marked as Christ's own forever in baptism and our reciprocity is to express this faith through love and good deeds. We are no longer to be bound by other sacrifices, but instead a response to God's mercy and love with mercy and love.
And, in case you were wondering if the author of Hebrews was an Episcopalian...you are correct. This work is always to be yoked to a worshiping community!
Some Thoughts on 1 Samuel 1:4-20 or and 1 Samuel 2:1-10
"As political theologians we may be peculiarly vulnerable to the error of neglecting ”or even denying”the significance of the obscure and personal struggles and victories of the faithful that do not assert themselves onto the grand public stage of society."
"The Politics of Hannah's Opened Womb," Alastair Roberts, Political Theology Today, 2015.
"Our heart is looking to increase our abundance, to decrease our suffering, to set free our unique giftedness. When this happens not only do we experience relief, our energy becomes a place of grace for others around us."
"Hannah's Story: When Good Enough is Just Not Enough," Anna Shirey, The Labyrinth Way, 2015.
"Hannah's Story: When Good Enough is Just Not Enough," Anna Shirey, The Labyrinth Way, 2015.
"God does not operate within a closed system. God is the God of hope, not the God of despair! In God's system, the world operates based on promises that point toward a future with hope and life. The Christian faith is at heart the hope that God already doing that through Jesus Christ and the Spirit of Life poured out on all creation."
"Future," Alan Brehm, The Waking Dreamer, 2015.
"Future," Alan Brehm, The Waking Dreamer, 2015.
"This is a song of revolution where the bows of the mighty are broken and the poor are raised from the dust. Hannah's song penetrates the surface, pointing to the pillars of injustice that must be pulled down. Some of those pillars may be the very ones that put her in such a desperate situation in the first place."
Commentary, 1 Samuel 1:4-20, Karla Suomaia, Preaching This Week,WorkingPreacher.org, 2012.
Commentary, 1 Samuel 1:4-20, Karla Suomaia, Preaching This Week,WorkingPreacher.org, 2012.
You probably know the story...Hannah cannot bear a child and Elkanah her husband loves her. She is sad, though they have a good family of size and Elkanah's other wife has provided for them. But Hannah wants her own children. This is seen as an outgrowth of her love for Elkanah and her faithfullness. So, Hannah goes to God and prays:
“O Lord of hosts, if only you will look on the misery of your servant, and remember me, and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a male child, then I will set him before you as a nazirite until the day of his death. He shall drink neither wine nor intoxicants, and no razor shall touch his head.”She does this in the temple where Eli is the priest. Eli, in an almost Jesus like moment, confronts her and they have a bit of a misunderstanding. Eli thinks she is drunk. Then, when he realizes her trouble he says, “Go in peace; the God of Israel grant the petition you have made to him.”
Now, in time, Hannah bears a son and names him Samuel. Of course this is the young Samuel who will grow up into the great prophet.
The story is important because it is the birth story of Samuel who is given over to Eli by Hannah, as promised. It is easy to have Hannah play only a bit supporting role in this story. I think there is more here though for the preacher.
Hannah is herself a prophet. She is the one who, in the very next chapter, gives voice to the poor. She calls out of her own pain, and she gives voice to the pain of the people. She sings, she prays to God:
“My heart exults in the Lord; my strength is exalted in my God. My mouth derides my enemies, because I rejoice in my victory. “There is no Holy One like the Lord, no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God. Talk no more so very proudly, let not arrogance come from your mouth; for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed. The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble gird on strength. Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, but those who were hungry are fat with spoil. The barren has borne seven, but she who has many children is forlorn. The Lord kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up. The Lord makes poor and makes rich; he brings low, he also exalts. He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor. For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and on them he has set the world. “He will guard the feet of his faithful ones, but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness; for not by might does one prevail. The Lord! His adversaries shall be shattered; the Most High will thunder in heaven. The Lord will judge the ends of the earth; he will give strength to his king, and exalt the power of his anointed.”I don't think you can preach on the first option for this weeks Old Testament without preaching on the second. Yes, Hannah gives birth to Samuel. Samuel will prophetically take on the work that Hannah invites God to undertake.
But here is the great connection. Hannah's song is the song that Mary remembers and brings forward when she hears the news of the birth of the messiah. Hannah is not simply giving voice to the people who struggle in her time. She is giving voice for people in every era who seek deliverance and call out to God from their anguish. Samuel is but the first answer by God to this invitation to intercede - to hear the cry of the people. No. It is the Messiah, God in Christ Jesus, who is the revelation and main actor on behalf of the people.
These are the words to be sung out in Psalm 113 at the Passover meal. These are the words echoed in Luke's account and in Paul's letters. These are the words that are unique to the people of Hannah but to every person persecuted by enemies, oppressed by the mighty, overthrown by armies, who prostitute themselves for bread and food for their children, who sit on the ash heap of life, who sit by the bedside of the dying. This is a song that gives voice to God's promise to care for the weak and the destitute. This is a song that calls out through the voices of Hannah, Mary, around the table at passover in the homes of Jews today and during the Holocaust. This is a song that gives voice to the people of Israel in their imprisonment in Egypt and Babylon. And, and, it is the song of those oppressed, suffering, lost, and selling their souls for bread in our day. This is the song of the street corner and the back alley. This is the song for the people living life in Sheol who are in desperate need of God's mighty hand to reach out and free them.
This is indeed a revolutionary song of the poor. Hannah prophesies not only Mary and the birth of the Messiah. Hannah prophesies the truth about the God we worship - this God cares for the poor, the oppressed, and the imprisoned. This God raised Jesus from the dead, after first raising the people out of Egypt. This God raises people out of their tomb and delivers them.
Hannah, herself and in her own right, is a prophet of the Most High God. Make some space, and giver her some room to speak.
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