February 10thFive Minutes on Friday #59
SUPER BOWL LITANY
Preachers are on the look out for material—everywhere and all the time. I imagine some of you will find watching the Super Bowl later today, irresistible. In that spirit I came across this “Order of Service for Super Bowl Sunday for the Episcopal Church.” It includes the following instructions:
Prior to the entrance hymn, the pastors will toss a coin. The winner may elect to be the preacher or worship leader; the loser may elect to defend the pulpit or the lectern.
Any usher found to be in illegal motion will be assessed a five-yard penalty or the loss of one candle.
The worship leader may fake a hand-off to the lay reader and read the lessons him/herself, provided changes in audible signals are given.
A sermon in excess of fifteen minutes will be regarded as “Delay of Service.”
The two-minute warning will be played on the marimba [okay, I added this last line].
ART AND FIRST PEOPLES
Rainbow Mennonite Church in Kansas City, Kan., wanted to create something to acknowledge that the land it occupies originally belonged to Indigenous groups. It ended up with “An Acknowledgement of Life.”
The congregation dedicated a large painting of a turtle surrounding Indigenous dancers on Jan. 8 in its fellowship hall. It was an opportunity for Tokeya Waci U (Comes Dancing First) to talk about the art and the deep significance it carries. Phil Dunn, chair of Rainbow’s Peace and Social Justice Committee, said the process got started about three years ago when the congregation considered ways to become more thoughtful and inclusive. The church had been impacted by interactions with the Coalition to Dismantle the Doctrine of Discovery, a Mennonite group that works to address extinction, enslavement and extraction done in the name of Christ on Indigenous lands. [read full story here…]
WOMEN TALKING
A new film, based on Miriam Toews’ novel of the same name, has been nominated for a best picture Oscar.
BEATITUDES – Matthew 5.5
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Wonderful news for the meek! You’re going to inherit the earth.
The spirit of the age blesses the power-hungry who want to run the world—
But Jesus blesses the meek who are willing to trust God. [Brian Zahnd]
These words for the disciples reminds us that the Beatitudes are not entrance requirements for kingdom membership but instead are a description of what kingdom living is like after you have been saved by grace. In other words, the Beatitudes show how you live after grace not how you earn grace (which you can't do anyway, of course).
‘Meekness is not timidity or passivity but rather a patient trusting that God will act in due time.’ [Tom Long]
‘The pride of the rabbis was mastery of the Law; of the Greeks pursuit of learning; of the Romans power. But it is only the humble who can receive, who can be taught, who can accept forgiveness, who can walk in grace, who can live in love.’ [Myron Augsburger]
Jesus’ parable of the Pharisee and the tax-collector (Matthew 18) highlights the contrast between not being surrendered to God and offering one’s will to God. ‘The Pharisee considers himself as completely virtuous; he is not dependent upon God for anything. And if he is not dependent upon God, he has no reason to give thanks to God. His superior attitude alienates him sfrom others, especially those he considers to be socially inferior.’ [Arland Hultgren]
This beatitude is a direct allusion to Psalm 37. Understanding this psalm aids us in understanding the beatitude. The meek person is nonviolent, trusting in God, placing hope in him. In Psalm 37 this is the person who is contrasted with the wicked, the wrongdoers, the ones who carry out evil plans, who plot against the righteous.
Moses was the classical example of meekness, a virtue it took him forty years in the wilderness to learn. In his youth, Moses had been a typical revolutionary, taking justice into his own hands through violence. But finally, after long years in the wilderness, he heard a word from God and submitted himself to the Lordship of YHWH.
Matthew uses ‘meek’ two other times, both in connection to Jesus (11.29; 21.5).