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In this morning’s reading from the Hebrew Scriptures we heard the story of the Ark of the Covenant being brought to the newly constructed Temple in Jerusalem. This is Solomon’s Temple that was built after his father David’s death. This story is found in the First Book of Kings and follows the many stories we have been listening to this summer from the books of First and Second Samuel.
13 Pentecost
August 23, 2015
In the name of the God of all Creation,
The God alive in each of us as God was alive in Jesus,
And the power of God known in the Spirit.
Amen.
August 23, 2015
In the name of the God of all Creation,
The God alive in each of us as God was alive in Jesus,
And the power of God known in the Spirit.
Amen.
In this morning’s reading from the Hebrew Scriptures we heard the story of the Ark of the Covenant being brought to the newly constructed Temple in Jerusalem. This is Solomon’s Temple that was built after his father David’s death. This story is found in the First Book of Kings and follows the many stories we have been listening to this summer from the books of First and Second Samuel.
Anyhow, this epic saga about King David began with the anointing the shepherd boy to be the king to succeed Saul … Saul had lost favor with Yahweh. The tale of the struggle between David and Saul is a story in itself, but in the end David was the victor. David then took the loose federation of tribes of Israel that had been ruled by Saul and established a city/state and established its capitol at Jerusalem. Then, after King David died, his son Solomon inherited his throne and built a Temple to house the Ark of the Covenant. This reading this morning is basically the end of the saga. In today’s reading the Ark of the Covenant is brought to the Temple … to the Holy of Holies … the most inner sanctum underneath the wings of the cherubim. And when the Ark of the Covenant arrived Solomon offers prayers and praise to God. Remember, the Ark of the Covenant is the vessel … the box if you will … in which the original stone tablets of the Ten Commandments were housed.
Bringing the Ark of the Covenant to the Temple was a significant moment in the life of Israel. The Temple in Jerusalem was built on a design similar to those used in other nearby cultures: Canaanite, Egyptian, Babylonian temples. However, instead of containing a statue of a god like those of other religions, the Temple in Jerusalem was built to house the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark of the Covenant was a symbol of the relationship that God had with his chosen people. Rather than worshipping an idol, the people of Israel were expressing their reverence for the relationship they had with their God, and their God had with them. Like a contract, this covenant benefited both parties, and it imposed requirements upon both parties.
From the time of Moses the Ark of the Covenant had traveled with the Israelites wherever their journey took them. Whenever they camped they set up a Tent of Meeting in which the Ark of the Covenant was housed. When they moved, the Tent of Meeting, and the Ark of the Covenant went with them. Unlike other religions in the area, instead of the Israelites making a pilgrimage to where their God resided, the symbol of their relationship with the God of Israel moved with them.
But that was only until the time of David and Solomon. When David established his home in Jerusalem, the Ark of the Covenant came to reside there also. From then on the people made a pilgrimage to the Temple … the abode of their God … rather than have God travel with them.
However, 400 years after the Ark of the Covenant came to reside in the Temple Jerusalem fell to the assault of the Assyrians and the Israelites were forced into exile in Babylon. The Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, and the Ark of the Covenant went missing … never to be found. Either the Ark of the Covenant was hidden by Temple authorities before the exile, or it was captured and possibly destroyed during the destruction of the Temple. In either case, the Ark of the Covenant was forever lost to history and the people of Israel.
This Babylonian Exile was another turning point for the tribe of Israelites. They were living in a foreign country and culture in Babylon. Without the Temple, and without the Ark of the Covenant … their symbol of the holy relationship they had with God … without the Temple the Israelites in exile had no bearing. So they became their own symbol of the relationship with their God. They made the way they lived their lives to be that symbol by following the path that God had laid out for them in the Covenant. They embodied the Law … the Torah … as a way of life. The outward symbol may have been lost, but the relationship still existed, and that relationship required living the law of God, not just talking about it or giving it a nod. This was an embodiment of the Law as a way of life.
Most of us are at least somewhat familiar with Kosher laws … Shabbat begins at sundown on Friday and ends at sundown on Saturday. Someone observing kosher laws does not eat pork or shellfish. For many of us “Goys” who don’t fully understand what lies behind this it is just what Jews do. Muslims have similar laws … it is just what they do.
I’ve told this story before and it is in one of Caren’s books, but I think it is worth telling here again. Caren’s mother, Muriel … God bless her soul … was a secular Jew most of her life. But as she advanced in age she embraced her Jewish background with deep faithfulness … up to a point.
Not long after Caren and I married we went to visit Muriel in Delray Beach. She lived in a gated (and walled) community … almost all of them Jewish. She lived within walking distance to her synagogue and every Friday evening she would be at Shabbat services. But come Saturday afternoon, as far as Muriel was concerned, Shabbat was over not at sundown, but when ice dancing came on the TV.
Muriel had a small porch filled with plants. And as I was relaxing on her porch I noticed a table knife sticking out of a pot. Then I noticed a fork in another pot and two spoons in another. I wondered, and hope that it wasn’t the first signs of dementia. It turns out that they were utensils that were intended for use with meat, but had accidently been used with dairy products, and therefore were ritually unclean. Burying them for a prescribed amount of time would restore them to being ritually clean. The explanation went to show Muriel just how naïve this Goy that her daughter had fallen in love with could be.
Anyhow, living the way of God is not easy. Intellectually acknowledging that the law of God is the right way to live is not all that hard … whether it be the Jewish Torah, or the teachings of Jesus. We know what is right. However, you and I know, just like generations upon generations of our spiritual ancestors knew, that although we may have been well intended, our actions often come up short. As much as we want to live the way of God, and as much as we try to live the way of God, sometimes we fall short of the mark.
In our Gospel Reading this morning we heard the last of five week series from John’s Gospel about the bread and wine … and the interpretation that this is the flesh and blood of Jesus. As I have said before, in spite of those who want to try to read this literally I believe this is a powerful metaphor. And this week we heard about the challenges to Jesus’ teaching by some of those who were following him. “This teaching is difficult. Who can accept it?” they asked. Jesus said in response “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.”
When I was growing up my parents took me to Sunday school in a number of different churches. What I remember is the many pictures of Jesus in the Sunday school classrooms … Jesus the Good Shepherd … Jesus with his arms open to little children … Jesus with his hands sublimely folded as he prayed in Gethsemane. It was easy to believe that Jesus was, in the words of the children's song, "gentle Jesus, meek and mild." I think we easily sentimentalize such a Jesus, and the thought of following Jesus on a path through our life comes with little difficulty. Who wouldn't want to follow such a gentle, sweet soul?
However, if we look at the pictures of Jesus that come out of Central and South America and in other parts of the world that have known great suffering, we see a very different kind of Jesus … a Jesus that is broken and bleeding, outstretched on the cross. These pictures, icons, and crucifixes can be difficult to look at for any length of time because they speak of pain, vulnerability, suffering, and death.
Following this Jesus is a much riskier proposition than following the Jesus of our childhood. It means walking a path where the vulnerable, the weak, and those in pain walk. Such a path may lead to death. Like the disciples we find this way of living the way of God to be difficult, and some of us hurry back to the Jesus of our Sunday school classrooms, where gentleness abides. And yet the invitation, the question that Jesus poses is, “Will you choose to embody the way of God, and not merely talk about it? Are you willing to give of your own body and blood for the life of others?”
It's a radical posture that Jesus takes … giving himself for others, many of whom will turn away from him before he is finished speaking. Yet this is the heart of who we have been told Jesus is over the last several weeks: one who gives himself as food and drink for all who are hungry and thirsty. We want to be careful that we do not simply spiritualize Jesus' claim. While it is true that Jesus feeds spiritual hunger and quenches spiritual thirst, here Jesus goes further. He will feed with his own body and blood the hungers and thirsts of poverty, oppression, and injustice. It is this claim, of giving himself for those who hunger and thirst, the poor of our cities and states and nation … and countries around the world … that makes the path such a dangerous one and leads finally to the cross.
Yes, this teaching may be difficult, but it is at this table … this altar … that we are fed. We can accept it to feed us spiritually. But with this powerful metaphor I think Jesus is saying much more than that. If we are to embodied Jesus so that he may live in us, and we may live in him, we have to be ready to accept that which is difficult … including giving our lives for those who are oppressed and live in poverty and who suffer from injustice … the same way that Jesus gave his life so that we might have life.
Solomon rejoiced when the Ark of the Covenant was placed in the Holy of Holies of the newly constructed Temple in Jerusalem. Solomon prayed with praises, and he petitioned God to keep the covenant that had been made with his father David. This is a God of relationship, who has given us this creation, who calls us to live in the ways of God, and who gave us Jesus to show us what a life of God might look like.
Amen.
Anyhow, this epic saga about King David began with the anointing the shepherd boy to be the king to succeed Saul … Saul had lost favor with Yahweh. The tale of the struggle between David and Saul is a story in itself, but in the end David was the victor. David then took the loose federation of tribes of Israel that had been ruled by Saul and established a city/state and established its capitol at Jerusalem. Then, after King David died, his son Solomon inherited his throne and built a Temple to house the Ark of the Covenant. This reading this morning is basically the end of the saga. In today’s reading the Ark of the Covenant is brought to the Temple … to the Holy of Holies … the most inner sanctum underneath the wings of the cherubim. And when the Ark of the Covenant arrived Solomon offers prayers and praise to God. Remember, the Ark of the Covenant is the vessel … the box if you will … in which the original stone tablets of the Ten Commandments were housed.
Bringing the Ark of the Covenant to the Temple was a significant moment in the life of Israel. The Temple in Jerusalem was built on a design similar to those used in other nearby cultures: Canaanite, Egyptian, Babylonian temples. However, instead of containing a statue of a god like those of other religions, the Temple in Jerusalem was built to house the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark of the Covenant was a symbol of the relationship that God had with his chosen people. Rather than worshipping an idol, the people of Israel were expressing their reverence for the relationship they had with their God, and their God had with them. Like a contract, this covenant benefited both parties, and it imposed requirements upon both parties.
From the time of Moses the Ark of the Covenant had traveled with the Israelites wherever their journey took them. Whenever they camped they set up a Tent of Meeting in which the Ark of the Covenant was housed. When they moved, the Tent of Meeting, and the Ark of the Covenant went with them. Unlike other religions in the area, instead of the Israelites making a pilgrimage to where their God resided, the symbol of their relationship with the God of Israel moved with them.
But that was only until the time of David and Solomon. When David established his home in Jerusalem, the Ark of the Covenant came to reside there also. From then on the people made a pilgrimage to the Temple … the abode of their God … rather than have God travel with them.
However, 400 years after the Ark of the Covenant came to reside in the Temple Jerusalem fell to the assault of the Assyrians and the Israelites were forced into exile in Babylon. The Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, and the Ark of the Covenant went missing … never to be found. Either the Ark of the Covenant was hidden by Temple authorities before the exile, or it was captured and possibly destroyed during the destruction of the Temple. In either case, the Ark of the Covenant was forever lost to history and the people of Israel.
This Babylonian Exile was another turning point for the tribe of Israelites. They were living in a foreign country and culture in Babylon. Without the Temple, and without the Ark of the Covenant … their symbol of the holy relationship they had with God … without the Temple the Israelites in exile had no bearing. So they became their own symbol of the relationship with their God. They made the way they lived their lives to be that symbol by following the path that God had laid out for them in the Covenant. They embodied the Law … the Torah … as a way of life. The outward symbol may have been lost, but the relationship still existed, and that relationship required living the law of God, not just talking about it or giving it a nod. This was an embodiment of the Law as a way of life.
Most of us are at least somewhat familiar with Kosher laws … Shabbat begins at sundown on Friday and ends at sundown on Saturday. Someone observing kosher laws does not eat pork or shellfish. For many of us “Goys” who don’t fully understand what lies behind this it is just what Jews do. Muslims have similar laws … it is just what they do.
I’ve told this story before and it is in one of Caren’s books, but I think it is worth telling here again. Caren’s mother, Muriel … God bless her soul … was a secular Jew most of her life. But as she advanced in age she embraced her Jewish background with deep faithfulness … up to a point.
Not long after Caren and I married we went to visit Muriel in Delray Beach. She lived in a gated (and walled) community … almost all of them Jewish. She lived within walking distance to her synagogue and every Friday evening she would be at Shabbat services. But come Saturday afternoon, as far as Muriel was concerned, Shabbat was over not at sundown, but when ice dancing came on the TV.
Muriel had a small porch filled with plants. And as I was relaxing on her porch I noticed a table knife sticking out of a pot. Then I noticed a fork in another pot and two spoons in another. I wondered, and hope that it wasn’t the first signs of dementia. It turns out that they were utensils that were intended for use with meat, but had accidently been used with dairy products, and therefore were ritually unclean. Burying them for a prescribed amount of time would restore them to being ritually clean. The explanation went to show Muriel just how naïve this Goy that her daughter had fallen in love with could be.
Anyhow, living the way of God is not easy. Intellectually acknowledging that the law of God is the right way to live is not all that hard … whether it be the Jewish Torah, or the teachings of Jesus. We know what is right. However, you and I know, just like generations upon generations of our spiritual ancestors knew, that although we may have been well intended, our actions often come up short. As much as we want to live the way of God, and as much as we try to live the way of God, sometimes we fall short of the mark.
In our Gospel Reading this morning we heard the last of five week series from John’s Gospel about the bread and wine … and the interpretation that this is the flesh and blood of Jesus. As I have said before, in spite of those who want to try to read this literally I believe this is a powerful metaphor. And this week we heard about the challenges to Jesus’ teaching by some of those who were following him. “This teaching is difficult. Who can accept it?” they asked. Jesus said in response “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.”
When I was growing up my parents took me to Sunday school in a number of different churches. What I remember is the many pictures of Jesus in the Sunday school classrooms … Jesus the Good Shepherd … Jesus with his arms open to little children … Jesus with his hands sublimely folded as he prayed in Gethsemane. It was easy to believe that Jesus was, in the words of the children's song, "gentle Jesus, meek and mild." I think we easily sentimentalize such a Jesus, and the thought of following Jesus on a path through our life comes with little difficulty. Who wouldn't want to follow such a gentle, sweet soul?
However, if we look at the pictures of Jesus that come out of Central and South America and in other parts of the world that have known great suffering, we see a very different kind of Jesus … a Jesus that is broken and bleeding, outstretched on the cross. These pictures, icons, and crucifixes can be difficult to look at for any length of time because they speak of pain, vulnerability, suffering, and death.
Following this Jesus is a much riskier proposition than following the Jesus of our childhood. It means walking a path where the vulnerable, the weak, and those in pain walk. Such a path may lead to death. Like the disciples we find this way of living the way of God to be difficult, and some of us hurry back to the Jesus of our Sunday school classrooms, where gentleness abides. And yet the invitation, the question that Jesus poses is, “Will you choose to embody the way of God, and not merely talk about it? Are you willing to give of your own body and blood for the life of others?”
It's a radical posture that Jesus takes … giving himself for others, many of whom will turn away from him before he is finished speaking. Yet this is the heart of who we have been told Jesus is over the last several weeks: one who gives himself as food and drink for all who are hungry and thirsty. We want to be careful that we do not simply spiritualize Jesus' claim. While it is true that Jesus feeds spiritual hunger and quenches spiritual thirst, here Jesus goes further. He will feed with his own body and blood the hungers and thirsts of poverty, oppression, and injustice. It is this claim, of giving himself for those who hunger and thirst, the poor of our cities and states and nation … and countries around the world … that makes the path such a dangerous one and leads finally to the cross.
Yes, this teaching may be difficult, but it is at this table … this altar … that we are fed. We can accept it to feed us spiritually. But with this powerful metaphor I think Jesus is saying much more than that. If we are to embodied Jesus so that he may live in us, and we may live in him, we have to be ready to accept that which is difficult … including giving our lives for those who are oppressed and live in poverty and who suffer from injustice … the same way that Jesus gave his life so that we might have life.
Solomon rejoiced when the Ark of the Covenant was placed in the Holy of Holies of the newly constructed Temple in Jerusalem. Solomon prayed with praises, and he petitioned God to keep the covenant that had been made with his father David. This is a God of relationship, who has given us this creation, who calls us to live in the ways of God, and who gave us Jesus to show us what a life of God might look like.
Amen.
