November 15, 2015
Pentecost 25
1st Samuel
1:10-11,20
Mark 13:1-8
(prayer)
I want to begin talking
about Context.
//
Understanding "the
context" of our biblical texts is always essential when we are looking
back on the legacy of our tradition and faith.
'Context' includes social,
religious, cultural and political influences that affect any given situation.
//
I think that context will be very helpful as we take
some time with the readings from First Samuel and from Mark we heard today.
//
We begin by accepting that
Hannah (living in the 11th century BCE) and Jesus' disciples (1000+ years
later, in the 1st century CE) made very different assumptions about the world
they lived in compared to us today.
//
I know that some of us have
experience with fairly complicated family trees. Hannah certainly had some relationships that
are less common in our modern contexts.
In fact, you might find it
easier to empathize with Hannah, if you are a fan of The Learning Channel's
reality series "Sister Wives" that follows the family of Kody Brown -
who are members of an offshoot of the Latter Day Saints church that still
practices polygamy or plural marriage. Kody Brown and his four wives (who live in
four separate houses in a Las Vegas suburb cul-de-sac) most recent storyline
involves the fact that his fourth wife (whose children from a previous marriage
have recently been legally adopted by Kody) is now pregnant again. The new episodes promise to explore the
impact of wife number one's pseudo-online 'affair' with another man.
Ooooooooo.
This TLC reality show certainly shows the
complexities of complex family
relationships.
//
Hannah lived in a plural
marriage - which does not appear to be unique or controversial in her
context. It wouldn't have warranted a reality TV show. Hannah shares her husband, Elkanah
with Peninnah.
//
The precise context of the
start of Hannah' story is her family's annual participation in the harvest
offerings at their regional place of worship (in Shiloh).
The practice was that
Elkanah would bring the fruits of his labour to the local priests as an
offering to God. After the ceremony, some of the food would stay with the preists for their sustenance and for distribution to those in need. But a portion of the food would go back to Elkanah and was split up amongst his family for a feast.
In Elkanah's case, he had
two wife's and an untold number of children among whom to divide the feast. Naturally, the wife with the most children
was given more. The truth is that Hannah
had no children. The bible implies that
this was not for lack of trying on Elkanah and Hannah's part. Hannah's barrenness was a source of scorn heaped
on her by her sister wife.
Sadly, part of the context
in the ancient world is that a significant part of a woman's value in her
family and in society was in her ability to rear children for her husband. The societal need to propagate future
generations was likely the context to the acceptance of the practice of
polygamy.
//
But practicality aside,
Elkanah chose to give Hannah extra because (as the text says) "he loved
her [even] though the LORD has closed her womb."
Sadly, this husbandly love was not enough
to accept that she was worthy of Elkanah's affections.
Peninnah's taunts affected
her more than Elkanah's double portion.
//
My modern sensibility weeps
for Hannah in her despair. She should
not be defined by the productivity of her uterus.
And my modern theology is
not quick to put the blame of her fertility issues on God - as if God is typing
the unique code for her life into creation' master plan; that Hannah's
barrenness is different from other women of her day who (for whatever reason)
were not able to have children. I see her barrenness as sad, but not necessarily divine.
But that is my context, not
hers.
//
Hannah desires a greater
value for her life. She wants to
influence a greater good in the world.
And, she needs the bullying taunts of Peninnah to stop.
She sees giving life to a
child as the means to that end.
So, she offers a deal to
God in prayer. Allow me to have a son and I promise that I will see that he is raised
to be the finest example of a selfless, faith-focused man.
When - as it turns out -
Hannah did have a son, she named him "God-Has-Heard"
(Sh'mu-el... Samuel). And she was
faithful to her promise: when he no longer needed the sustenance of her breast milk, she sent him to live with the high
priest, Eli, to serve God in the
Tabernacle.
As you read on in the
history of Israel, Hannah' son, Samuel, ended up having a very large influence on the future
direction of the people.
In a way, we can say that
Hannah set the context for how the story of faith unfolded after her time -
including the progression of Israel from a judicial form of governance to a
kingdom (Samuel would eventually anoint the first kings of Israel).
//
//
Another context
conversation.
//
Last week, as I was
preaching on the new testament letter to the Hebrews, I spoke about the diverse
make up of the early Christian Church.
Last week, I invited us to
think about how the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in the year 70CE
affected the language people used and how rituals were practised in segments of
the Jesus movement.
//
Even though, our reading
from the Gospel of Mark, chapter thirteen, describes an event from the life of
Jesus and his disciples (around the year 30CE), it was written for readers who
lived in the early 70s.
Do you see the double
context we must pay attention to?
1.
Jesus and his followers are gawking at the
big stone buildings of Jerusalem.
Remember that most of them were rural folk from Galilee. They were tourist-pilgrims who couldn't help
but marvel at the sights and imagine the engineering and time it must have
taken to build the Temple.
2.
It is also wise for us to realize that Mark's
audience knows that the Temple no longer stands. For them, the rubble at the temple mount is a
fresh reminder of the power and might of the Roman occupiers.
It is hard to know how much
of what Jesus is quoted as saying in Mark 13 actually dates back to the 30s and
how much is Mark's editorial influence of a post-Temple context. So, I don't like to view this passage as Jesus as a fortune teller, predicting the destruction of the Temple, but rather I focus on the larger object
lesson: that the disciples would be wise to look beyond the surface of what they
see.
To me, the heart of the
teaching in Mark 13 today is a challenge to not
limit one's thoughts to the details of the moment, but to be open to a wider
context - a deeper meaning that might become clearer as time and knowledge
progresses.
Jesus seems to be preaching
patience in times of turbulence.
//
And I think that the words
of Jesus in this passage were particularly powerful for that mid-70s audience
reading the gospel for the first time.
In their context, the turbulence Jesus was speaking about (wars and
rumours of wars; conflicting messages coming from different people offering
sure paths to salvation) was their reality.
No doubt, there would have
still been calls for revolution in Judea - even after the Temple's
destruction.
By including this teaching
in the Gospel, the author of Mark is
inviting his church to think and pray and reflect before jumping impatiently
into action.
There is a call (here in
Mark, as there was in Hebrews last week) to consider that the destruction of
the Jerusalem Temple did not severe the connection between the people and their
God.
Hear the hope that this
passage must have engendered in the context of Mark's readers: even after the
bricks and stones have fallen, even in times of conflict and fear, God's
dwelling-place is still with us. We do
not need to leave and find God in a specific place, The Holy exist now... among
us. We don't need to rebuild what already exists.
Like those early disciples
- like Mark's readers - we are called to look beyond appearances, to look
beyond fear, so that we might see the glimpses of the Realm of God already
alive in our context right now.
//
//
It is natural, and easy, to
let hope be consumed by the overwhelming worry of the world today.
It is not hard for us to
see our own contexts in the words of Mark 13: wars, rumours of wars,
earthquakes, famines. Actually, sadly, I
suspect that every era of human history can claim that as part of its context.
//
//
We all have seen the images
and heard the the miserable news out of Beirut and Paris is recent days; and the continued fighting in Syria and Iraq. The violence and threat of further violence -
centered on an incomprehensible belief (to me) that it is God-Sanctioned - is
part of our world context and forefront
in the minds of many since that clear Tuesday morning in September 2001.
Wars and Rumours of war.
Nation against nation.
Kingdom against kingdom.
People against people.
Children of God against
children of God.
Yes, I refuse to demonize
the violent ideologues - whether they be the terrorists or the Hawks who insist
that the only right response is to react in-kind.
We are all daughters and
sons of our creator.
Terrorists create
terror. It is their stated goal. They want people to be so
afraid that we see human life as expendable.
If our focus is solely on
the fear, we will naturally be drawn to shorter and shorter-term thinking.
We will be attracted to the
promises of the quick fixes.
I think quick-fix promises
that can explain the astounding continued popularity of Donald Trump's
presidential bid:
·
I'll
bomb the [crap] out of ISIS.
·
I'll
keep the oil.
·
I'll
build a cost-free border wall.
·
I
will deport 11 million people... very
humanely.
·
Don't
worry about how; just sit back and enjoy the winning.
//
How often do quick fixes
actually work in the long run?
//
When worry and fear are our
motivators, we might be tempted to jump on the bandwagon of otherwise hard to believe promises of
pain-free, easy fixes.
//
//
Jesus invites us to
consider hope and patience as our motivation.
This is a deeply difficult
challenge to accept - to commit to.
Hope... that our lack of understanding is not shared
by God; that our God is relentlessly
compassionate and hopeful for all people, for the world we share; that God is
our guide as we navigate mystery - even the in comprehensive events of human on human violence
Patience... that as we move
forward in time and knowledge and discovery, our context changes - the edge of
our reality changes. We will find solace
for our old worry even as we will face new challenges.
To embrace faith in each
new context is to accept that mystery exists beyond our full understanding, but
that God is our guide.
To embrace faith is to
trust that we will not be alone in the unknown.
//
Like Hannah, we are invited
to accept the graciously offered love - even when our context tells us we
should need something more.
Like the disciples, we are
invited to focus our hope on the marvel of God's ever-present rather than the
symbols of that which might not survive the changes of context.
//
I believe that it is the
nature of God to be gracious and generous in whatever situation we are in.
Even in the context of the
worst of human behaviour.
Placing our trust in
seemingly easy, quick fixes can be disheartening and (ironically) can blind us
from the subtle but real activities of the Spirit in our midst.
//
In two short weeks, we will
enter the season of Advent - four weeks when will ready ourselves for the
mysterious intertwining of the human and the divine in the birth of Jesus.
We will practice 'waiting'
as the season of Advent emerges.
//
Faithful waiting can bear
fruit, the scripture writers believed.
Despair can be transformed
into hope.
New life can emerge.
We are not alone.
Thanks be to God.
Let us pray:
All-seeing God, you gift us with hope
when we are desperate. You gift us with
faith when we are uncertain. You are
with us always. Amen.
#899VU "My Soul Gives Glory to God"
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