Musings about Faith

Read the text here: Genesis 15:1-18 Waiting Don’t you hate to wait? Someone promises they will do something, or take you somewhere and you have to wait for it to happen. For most of us waiting is synonymous with impatience.   We don’t want to wait – we want whatever it is right now! Thank you very much! Bear this in mind as you read through chapter 15 of our Old Testament lesson for this morning, for Abraham is a model of impatient waiting.   Back in Chapter 12 God called Abraham and his wife Sarah to uproot themselves and begin a journey to a far off land that God promises to give to him.   So far, so good!   Abraham and Sarah do come into the land and settle.   But it is the other part of the promise that is the problem.   God promises that Abraham and Sarah will be a great nation and that the children of Israel will be their heirs for both the promise and the land.   But there is a problem – Abraham and Sarah are barre...

The Book of Job The Book and the Man The adult bible study at Peace has begun a Lenten study of the book of Job.   I have led this study before at St. Matthew’s in Bloomington and during that time I had written a series of blog entries to reflect on this important and beautiful book.   This is the first of those articles edited and republished.   For this study, as for the study in 2009, we are using Carol M. Bechtel’s Kerygma materials entitled “Job and the Life of Faith.” Why do bad things happen to good people?   This is at the heart of the entire book of Job.   This is a question that is asked in culture after culture, from the dawn of time.   We noted that there are pre-Job stories which come from the ancient Sumarians, Babylonians, Egyptians and on and on.   Samuel Balentine notes in his comprehensive commentary: “For as long as men and women have walked this earth, they have shared the journey with someone, somewher...

As a child I think my favorite fairy tale was the story of “Jack and the Beanstalk.”   You all remember the story don’t you? Jack lives alone with his mother – this boy is a child and not terribly responsible and trades his families only possession – an old and sad cow for a handful of magic beans.    Jack’s mother is furious and takes the beans and throws them outside in anger, but over night the beans grow over night into a huge stalk that stretches to the heavens.   Jack climbs and there he comes face to face with a giant – actually two giants – a giant couple.   Ultimately Jack overcomes the giants and is able to ultimately provide for his mother.               I don’t want to ruin the story for you, and there are a variety of themes we can pull out of this story – but the one I want to focus on tonight is this:   What happens to Jack when he comes face to face with this giant co...

Read the text here: Luke 2:22-40 One of the most wonderful things about Christmas is the opportunity to sing carols and each year we look forward to hearing and singing our favorite Christmas carols.   It is not too surprising, after all, that the prologue in the Gospel of Luke (chapters 1 & 2 - from where comes the Christmas story) is just one song after another.   Here is a quick review of the songs from the opening two chapters of the Gospel of Luke . 1.      Mary’s song – The Magnificat (My soul magnifies the Lord) – Luke 1:46-55 (pew bibles NT pg. 44) – Sung by Mary after being greeted with celebration by her cousin Elizabeth and Elizabeth’s unborn baby John (the Baptist). 2.      Song of Zechariah – The Benedictus (Blessed be the Lord God of Israel…) – Luke 1:68-79 (pew bibles NT pg. 44) – Sung by the priest Zechariah, John’s father after the miraculous birth of his son, John and after he had been struck mute...

Read the text here: Luke 4:14-21 Can You Handle the Truth? Since the days of the ancient Greeks and Romans and on to our own day, one of the great temptations that human beings have struggled with it is the place of religion in human society.   And in the majority of cases the purpose that religion has fulfilled has been to support the way the things are – to support the status quo.   The loudest proclamation that comes down through the ages is this: “God is on our side, no matter what.” Ancient paganism was designed to support the temporal powers and the Old Testament is filled with the angry words of the prophets condemning a people and government who would convert the worship of Yahweh into department of state propaganda.   Even in our own time we see this from way too often. We like to think that God is on our side and we hear this all the time – this candidate, this issue, is ordained as what God wants. It makes it hard to oppose or vote against someone...

Read the Gospel text here: Luke 3:15-22 Fire, Water & Wind When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.   Isaiah 43:2 Fire, water and wind: natural elements necessary for life; natural elements capable of sustaining life and also capable of destroying life.   But these elements are featured prominently in our lessons for today both for their life-giving and life-destroying aspects.   The prophet Isaiah in the passage from chapter 43 is writing to a dispirited and lost people who are in exile in Babylon.   These are people who had literally been through the fire as they fled their beloved city Jerusalem as it burned to the ground in a huge conflagration.   These are people who had experienced waves upon waves of Babylonian soldiers overrunning their city and their homes; waves u...

Listen to the Isaiah 60 text sung - from Handel's Messiah - Click here Read the Isaiah 60 text here: Isaiah 60:1-9 Epiphany 2013 How do we discern the light from the darkness? There is an old story about a rabbi who enters into a discussion with his students.   When, he asks them, can one know that the night has ended and the day begun?   Is it that moment, suggests one student, when you can tell the difference between a sheep and a dog?   No, said the rabbi, that isn't it.   Is it, asks another, when you can tell the difference between an olive tree and a fig tree?   Not that either, said the rabbi.   Is it, asks a third student, when you can clearly see the sun in the sky.   No, replied the rabbi.   Rather, he told his puzzled students, it is that moment when you can look at a face never seen before and recognize the stranger as a brother or a sister.   Until that moment, he added, no matter how bright the day, it is still night...