Lectionary based "Weekly Word"
(updated each Tuesday)
= check out Bill's Books at www.notperfectyet.com =
NonFiction: "Help! My Church is Leaving Me" - a UMC study guide for LBGTQ concerns .
Bill Kemp's Historical Fiction Series set in First Century Palestine: Bethany's People
Book 1 "Mary Sees All" is available in print or e-book format.
Book 2 "Martha Finds Rest" is now available on Amazon
Coming Soon:
NonFiction: "Anxiety, Covid, and Whatever Comes Next" - coming winter 2021
Historical Fiction set in Ireland: "Isolde and the Dragon" - coming Summer 2021
Bethany's People Book 3 "Lazarus Dies First" - coming 2022
The God that we seek, is hard to find amidst the noise of public worship. The almighty doesn’t suddenly appear when we get alone, either. Spiritual seeking takes time. We must first accept the silence.
Who is the best? James and John wanted to know. They asked their question at a most inconvenient time. So, Jesus gave them back an inconvenient question.
Jesus says that it is easier for a camel to go through a needle than for rich people to sufficiently change their lifestyle so that they might understand the poor and join into the kingdom of heaven. He knew that people couldn’t change their political attitudes without first changing their spiritual attitudes. The way to change your spiritual attitude is to adopt a more compassionate lifestyle.
I believe that the law of God is dynamic and constantly developing. God is speaking through modern figures such as Martin Luther King and those who are working to address climate change (our failure to excercise proper soveriegnty over creation).
The thing I find most difficult about Proverbs 31:10-31 is its emphasis upon what the woman in question does. We are not human doings. We are human beings. It’s not our accomplishments that need praised, it’s our growth as compassionate people.
We ask our preachers to think for us, when we should be asking them to struggle with us in prayer and holy listening, so that together we might discover the truths we need to live wisely in our complicated world.
Every human life is equally beloved and made by our creator. Rich and poor have the same Lord watching over them. Further, the Lord pleads the case of the poor and will not leave unpunished if we neglect them.
Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.
It’s holy incorporation. Jesus doesn’t just ask us to consider his teachings. He doesn’t want us to snack on a little dab of his philosophy. He wants us to be fully incorporated into him and he into us. “Incorporation” comes from the Latin word “corpus” which means body. In the business world, incorporation involves being so serious about the company that you no longer speak of individual workers, but of the body they form as they work together.
This is the second of three long blogs about the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. You may read them in any order. The first can be found at https://billkemp.info/content/what-i-know-about-communion-part-1
Jesus is meant, like bread, to be a daily and essential component of our lives. Breaking bread with us, Jesus leads us to participate in the Kingdom of God. It is easy to dismiss Jesus. It is easy to leave him burried in the past. When he is part of our daily lives, he becomes relevant, like bread.
Good guilt is a funny thing. Like humor, it depends upon ambiguity. We all misbehave. We all hurt others and fail to live compassionately. But, we only hear the bad news that we have sinned, when our actions look differently from different viewpoints.
Every person, no matter what their role in life, needs to be aware of the temptation that power offers us. David was led astray, not by Bathsheba bathing on the roof-top, but by his desire to be a "real" king. Many Kings act like dictators. They expect to have any woman they want. Men in lesser possitions often do the same thing. Power corrupts.
Coming away isn’t easy. Jesus discovered that was true, even in the much simpler first century. In Mark chapter 6, Jesus spends about a page and a half trying to find a quiet space where he can just simply rest with his disciples. Both flexibility and routine are important when we are planning our rest times.
The lectionary places the story of Salome’s dance right next to the Old Testament lesson regarding King David’s dance before the Ark of the Covenant (II Samuel 6:12-19). David may have been as scantily dressed as Salome, but his motivations are pure.
I believe that our lord is more of a shepherd than a showman. He leads us forward at our own pace. As we are willing to accept them, miracles come into our lives.
When we face difficulties, we need to double down on our commitment to do our duty. The giants we face may be insurmountable. David tells Saul that when he goes out to keep the sheep by night, he prepares himself to do his duty, for he doesn’t know if he will face a lion or a bear. He has decided beforehand to be courageous.
The problem that the Biblical story of creation poses to our modern mind is not its impossibly short time frame for life on earth. No. Stop falling into the evolution versus creationism trap. Instead note what the Bible says about our current way of life.
Faith isn’t a magical power that some people have, and others don’t. We all can have faith. No matter what situation we find ourselves in, simply do your duty.
Jesus’ point is that a seed can start out small, but like a weed, grow to takes over the garden. Why should our faith become so obvious? Because the kingdom of God is a matter of goodness, ministering to the needs of others, and social action.
