Exodus 20:1-20: The Ten Commandments

This Sunday's scripture is Exodus 20:1-20, where the Israelites receive the Ten Commandments.



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Prayer

"To pray is to dream in league with God."

Abraham Joshua Heschel

Responding to the Word

I just found this article on the PC(USA) website about responding to the lectionary passages in creative ways. The author, David Gambrell, has been doing this for years. I'll continue posting the scripture passage I'm preaching on Sunday. You might want to try, as I will, reading the passage contemplatively, and then seeing what creative response arrises out of your spirit

How to live for the glory of God?

I've been reading Henri Nouwen's book, The Genesee Diary, about the seven months he spent in a trappist monastery. He said,

The question, "How to live for the glory of God and not for your own glory?" has become very important to me...The question is not so much, "How to live for the glory of God?" but, "How to live who we are, how to make true our deepest self?"

So I've been thinking about that question. How do I make true the deepest self that God created me to be? And how does that glorify God?

Lord of the Rings

Let's give it another shot on Sunday morning. This Sunday at 9am we'll watch clips and discuss the movie. We'll also plan for an evening when we can watch the movie together.

Anniversary B-B-Q

Frank and I would like to invite the church to help celebrate our 1st Anniversary. We'd like to host a bar-b-que on Sunday, October 5th at 1pm at the manse. We'll provide the meat, if you'd like to bring a salad or dessert to share. (I'm making lemon cake with lemon frosting. There's a story behind that. Ask Frank.) Hopefully, I'll have all my new furniture by then, so the manse will be open for you to look around. If the weather is good, bring a lawn chair. If it's not, we'll eat inside.

Lord of the Rings Discussion

I've been pondering changing the format of the discussion. I've heard from several people that a movie night, where we watch the movie and then discuss it, would be better than a Sunday morning class. An evening would probably be easier for most people than early Sunday morning, especially those who are already doing someone on Sunday morning. Some people might not have seen the movie and would appreciate seeing the whole before we discuss it. And it would be a fun event to invite other people to.

Was anyone planning on coming this next Sunday? I wouldn't want someone to show up and be disappointed.

September 21, 2008: Exodus 16:2-15: Manna

The scripture for this week is Exodus 16:2-15, the story of God providing manna in the wilderness for the Israelites. One big part of the story is that the Israelites complain to Moses and Aaron, and to God, about the lack of food, so I started looking up references to complaining. I came across a story about the Rev. Will Bowen, who preached a sermon a while back on stopping complaining for 21 days. He got some purple wrist that his gave to his parishoners. Each time they complained, they were to switch the wristband to the other wrist. They were supposed to go 21 days without complaining. It took Rev. Bowen three months to make, some people it took seven or eight months. How would you do?

I've order a couple of wristbands, so if you see me wearing one, you'll know that I'm working on not complaining.

Here's a video clip of Rev. Bowen on NBC's Today Show.

Harriet Tubman -- The Moses of her People

Did you know that Harriet Tubman was known as the "Moses of her People"? There was even an incident where she tried to protect one of her fellow slaves.

Jim, the slave of a farmer named Barnett, went to the Bucktown store without his permission. Harriet followed him to the store. A man named McCraken, an overseer, cornered Jim and ordered Tubman to help capture and tie up the runaway. She refused. As Jim went out the door, she blocked McCraken's pursuit. The enraged overseer picked up a 2-pound weight from the counter and hurled it at Jim hitting Harriet Tubman instead on the forehead. The blow nearly killed her and disabled her for months. She was left with an ugly scar and for the rest of her life she suffered from sudden, unexpected sleeping spells.

Read here for more information on Harriet Tubman.

Speaking of Faith episodes

In my research for this week's sermon on the crossing of the Red Sea, I've listened to two episodes of NPR's Speaking of Faith. One was an interview with Avivah Zornberg, a scholar of Torah and rabbinic literature, called Exodus, Cargo of Hidden Stories. The second was an interview with Robi Damelin, an Israeli whose son was killed by a Palestinian sniper, and Ali Abu Awwad, a Palestinian whose brother was killed by the Israeli army, called
No More Taking Sides. Check them out, listen to the programs, or look at all the fascinating information on the Speaking of Faith websites for these programs.

Presbytery Committees

I just received a letter from the Presbytery of Des Moines asking if there is anyone interested in serving on one of the committees.

The committees are:

• Budget and Finance
• Congregational Care and Development
• Nominating
• Permanent Judicial Commission
• Personnel
• Preparation for Ministry
• Professional Care and Development
• Representation
• Sexual Misconduct Response Team
• Stewardship and Mission Interpretation
• Camping/Youth Ministries
• CROSS Ministries
• Older Adult Ministries
• Peace, Unity and Purity
• Social Ministries for Peace and Justice
• Sudanese Ministries
• Transformation Team
• Women's Advocacy

Worship Task Group

I have a description of all the committees in case one jumps out at you and you'd like to know more. I'm thinking about the Transformation Team.

Let me know if you're interested.

Midrash

Here is a Jewish midrash about the Israelites taking silver and gold from the Egyptians. "Midrash" means commentary or interpretation of the Hebrew bible, sometimes in story form.

BELATED WAGES
Nine plagues had come and gone, but Pharaoh learnt no lesson.

"One more plague will I bring upon Pharaoh and his people," said G-d unto Moses, "and then he shall send you out of here, and shall no longer mock you. Now, go and speak to the children of Israel that they borrow from the Egyptians silver and golden ware, so that they leave Egypt loaded with wealth. I shall make them find favor in the eyes of the Egyptians and their requests shall not be refused."

Thereupon Moses went to his brethren and told them what G-d had said.

The children of Israel went out to borrow silver and golden vessels from their masters.

"But I have no such vessels," the Egyptian would say.

"Oh yes, you have," back came the reply. "I'll even tell you where you keep it."

"But how on earth do you know?" the Egyptian would ask in amazement.

"Well, you see," the Israelite would explain, "when G-d brought darkness over Egypt for a few days, I visited you to see how you were faring. I could not help seeing all those precious things."

The Egyptian was very impressed by the honesty of the Jew who would not steal or kill even when it was so easy. So he gladly gave him whatever he asked for.

The Israelites thus received quite a good deal of precious valuables, but even so it was only a very small compensation for the hard labor that they had rendered to the Egyptians for many generations without getting paid for it.

The hard stuff

Okay, okay. Several people were disappointed that I didn't tackle the hard questions of the passover text in my sermon. I figured I talked about it some on the blog, so I could go a different direction in the sermon. I guess I was wrong :-) So in three years, when this text comes up in the lectionary again, I'll tackle the hard stuff. And maybe even before then...

September 14, 2008: Exodus 14:19-31: The Red Sea

Next week's scripture passage is Exodus 14:19-31, the story of the Israelites crossing the Red Sea. Read it and share your thoughts.

Movie Night

How about a movie night about once a month at my house? During The Lord of the Rings discussion on Sunday morning we'll see clips of the movies and discuss them. Would anyone enjoying seeing the entire movie and discussing it afterwards?

There are lots of movies I'd like to discuss, such as Crash, Hotel Rwanda, Encounter Point, a documentary about Israelis and Palestinians who want an end to the violence, Sophie Scholl, the story about a young woman who distributed leaflets against the Nazis and was executed for it. Or how about Star Wars, one of my all-time favorite movies?

Anyone interested?

Stories that form us

Today's sermon is about Passover, the festival of remembrance of God bringing the Israelites out of Egypt. The Last Supper that Jesus shared with his disciples was a Passover meal, and when we celebrate communion we are remembering that night.

All of us have stories that have formed us. By listening to one another's stories, and the stories of this congregation, we learn what significant events have formed us, and we get a glimpse into why we are who we are.

I've been thinking about stories as I've listened to the presidential campaign. One of John McCain's most formative stories is being a prisoner of war in VietNam. One of Barack Obama's formative stories is being the child of a white woman from Kansas and a black man from Kenya. I wonder how their political opinions have been shaped by their experiences, and whether they would hold different opinions if their experiences would have been different?

Perhaps one of the best things we can do for one another is to listen to our stories.

Death of the Firstborns

An even bigger problem that I have is with the tenth plague -- the death of all the firstborns in Egypt, even to the firstborn of the prisoner in the dungeon and the enslaved woman grinding grain. These are some of the thoughts that I've had, read or heard this past week.

Again, I don't think I realize the extent of the abuse that the Israelites suffered. They were in Egypt for 430 years. I don't think they were in slavery all that time, since Joseph was in good standing for a while, but probably a significant portion of the time. Even if it was just the last 80 years that Moses has been alive, it was 80 years of slavery, oppression, and ruthless labor. What if it were the death of the firstborns of the Nazis? Would I understand it better then?

Pharaoh had been warned. This was the tenth plague. Nine times God said, Let my people go, and either Pharaoh ignored it, or said he would let them go and then changed his mind. One commentator suggested that none of the other nine plagues affected Pharaoh personally, until the last one.

James Newsome says, "The Old Testament takes evil very seriously. God repudiates evil and seeks to destroy it root and branch." p. 44-45 We often ask why God doesn't do anything when people suffer. Do we also question God when God does something about it? And what about the Israelites' years of slavery. Should God be held responsible for letting them suffer for so long and not acting sooner?

Should the Egyptian people, who weren't making the decisions, suffer for what their leader did? Edmund Burke said, "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." Were they responsible for what their leader did? How much are we responsible for what our president and congress do?

James Newsome again writes, "...the Hebrews of old made little if any distinction between evil as an abstraction and persons who do evil deeds...Seen in this light, the narratives in Exodus consider the Israelites' enslavement to be the evil activity of the Egyptians, not just of Pharaoh. They further consider that an appropriate means for God to deal with this evil is to attack those persons who represent it. So the death of the Egyptian children is not as problematic an issue for those who first wrote and read Exodus 12 as it may be for you and me." p. 45 One thing we need to do when reading the Bible is to understand it from the perspective of those who wrote it, and not impose our own worldviews on it. On the other hand, questioning it from our own worldview is also part of the process.

None of these arguments solve the problem for me completely, but it does help.

Plundering the Egyptians

One of the problems with the Exodus story that we've been studying is that the Israelites were supposed to take silver, gold, and clothing from their Egyptian neighbors. It first arrises in Exodus 3:21-22, and comes true in Exodus 12:35-36.

It seems that the Egyptians gave of their treasurses willingly. The Israelites had favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Perhaps as Pharaoh's daughter had pity on Moses when she saw him in the basket, the Egyptians had pity on the Israelites.

A commentator also notes that the word for "asked" could also be translated "borrow." I find that a weak argument because I don't think anyone had any intention of giving the stuff back.

Is it a matter of reparation for all the years of slavery? I can understand that. I think I have lost the understanding of how long and how abusive this period of slavery was for the Israelites.

“The Lord of the Rings” Discussion

On Sunday, September 14 from 9am to 9:45am we're going to start a new class for young adults. We're going to watch clips from "The Lord of the Rings" and discuss them. The class is for Junior/Senior High, College, and people in their 20s and 30s, or anybody who would like to discuss the Lord of the Rings movies. If you know of someone who might be interested, let them know. We're going to meet in the "Upper Room" (the cool room above the offices).

Resources on Exodus

If you want to do further reading on Exodus, I’ve found a couple of very good resources.

The first is from the Interpretation Bible Studies series on Exodus by James D. Newsome. It includes chapters on the ten most important passages from Exodus. It has questions at the end and so can be used as a bible study, but I’ve also found it very helpful as background information. Very easy to read.

The second resource is the Westminster Bible Companion on Exodus by J. Gerald Janzen. It’s a commentary on the entire book of Exodus. It’s more indepth, but still quite readable.

Both books are available through Amazon.com. Let me know if you need help purchasing one of them.

September 7, 2008: Exodus 12:1-14: Passover

The scripture passage for last week was Exodus 3:1-15, the story of Moses and the burning bush. I had a blast. I love that story. I could have gone any number of ways with the sermon, but I focused on turning aside and paying attention to our "burning bush" experiences.

But this week -- I'm stuggling with this passage. The passage itself talks about the first passover, how each family is to take a lamb, slaughter it, eat it, and put some of the blood over their doorposts so that the Lord will pass over their house and not kill the firstborn in their house.

My struggle is with God killing all the firstborns. When Pharaoh wanted to kill the boy babies when Moses was born, and when Herod killed all the babies when Jesus was born, that was wrong. How can it be right for God to do that?

I've read some ideas that don't necessarily solve the problem, but help me to understand it a little better. I'll post those soon. But in the meantime, what do you think about this tenth plague?

The Maasai Creed

One of my recent discoveries is NPR's Speaking of Faith with Krista Tippett. As I was driving to church one Sunday, I turned on the radio and heard Krista interviewing Kate Braestrup, a widow who went to seminary, became a Unitarian Universalist minister, and is now chaplain for the Maine Warden Service.

I love stories. I love stories about people. And I especially love stories about people and God.

I'm usually busy on Sunday mornings, but I found that I can download the episodes to my iPod, and listen to them when I'm out walking or driving. I make sure I have four or five episodes ready to go. The Archives section has shows going back all the way to 2001. It will be quite a while before I listen to them all.

One show was on The Need for Creeds. On the website I found the Maasai Creed. It was composed in about 1960 by Western Christian missionaries for the Maasai people, an indigenous African tribe of semi-nomadic people located primarily in Kenya and northern Tanzania. It's a beautiful creed. I would like to use it in worship the Sunday I share my experiences in Malawi, Africa. It will remind us that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ.

I've got too much to say...

One of the joys I've discovered of preaching every week is living in the text. I get to breathe it in all week, think about it, meditate on it, read about it, listen to God about it, pray about it, and keep it in the back of my mind as I'm washing dishes and taking a walk.

One of the difficulties of preparing a sermon is that I gather so much great material, and I can't use it all. I have questions about various parts of the text that I don't mention in the sermon because it doesn't fit with the theme I've chosen.

So I'd like a place to share all that wonderful material, and also a place to dialogue back and forth with others about the text. What questions do you have? What is God saying to you through this passage? I want to hear various points of view, not just my own.

So I'm starting a discussion with anyone who chooses to join in. And if you'd just like to read without speaking up, that's fine, too.