Bible, Improvisation, and New Community

Proverbs 1:20-35 James 3:1-12 I admit it. I am a bit of a social media addict. My wife knows it. My students know it. My colleagues and friends all know it. I am constantly checking Facebook and Instagram on my smartphone to learn the latest juicy gossip, the latest news, and yes, sometimes, the latest juicy scandal and fight. In these Lectionary texts (Proper B19), I see myself and so many of us implicated today. These texts seem to speaking to us today. Of course we know we should hold our tongue. How many of us have seen the kinds of destruction that has resulted from a comment someone made on Social Media? As the author of James says, the tongue spews forth sparks that set an entire forest ablaze. The trick with social media, I think, is that many of us type in that comment before we realize what we are doing. Over a lifetime we may have learned to better control our tongues. But writing privately on our phones, with the assumption of anonymity, we often say things we wou...

Police presence at Prenzlauer Berg synagogue in Berlin After this past week, I'm sure many of you, like me, are reeling, first from the news of pipe bombs that were sent to some of our nation's most prominent political leaders, secondly by the cowardly, despicable and apparently  racially motivated shooting of two elderly citizens at a Kroger grocery store in my home town, Louisville, KY, and finally by the horrific mass shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. My heart has been sighing in my prayers and meditations for the victims of these attacks and attempted attacks. I also have been reflecting on these trends and thought I'd share briefly from my experience. When I lived in Berlin (1992-1997), I lived for two years in the far eastern suburb of  Berlin Marzahn , and then three years in the East Berlin squatting and arts district, Prenzlauer Berg.  Throughout my time in Berlin, there were tensions between right wing nationalists and outsiders, leftis...

Hi Everybody, Pfeiffer MAPT grads and profs, August 2018 It is always such a great joy to share in my students' graduations, as I did with these great MAPT folks last August. Did you know that teaching can be considered a very special type of friendship? Theology professors are especially blessed. We get to see our students grow and mature spiritually, develop friendships with one another and with us, and increase their intellectual ability and pastoral skills. I am especially lucky because my scholarship is on the topic of friendship. I am so excited to share that I have completed and submitted drafts for my forthcoming book with Cascade Press (Wipf and Stock). The title of the book is Virtuous Friendship: The New Testament, Greco-Roman Friendship Language, and Contemporary Community. I am expecting the book to come out at some point this winter. Here is a brief description from the back cover of the book. Why do so many feel so lonely today? Are our friendships in bre...

A Presidential S**thole Matthew 15:10-28 Then he called the crowd to him and said to them, “Listen and understand: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.” Then the disciples approached and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?” He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if one blind person guides another, both will fall into a pit.” But Peter said to him, “Explain this parable to us.” Then he said, “Are you also still without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach, and goes out into the sewer? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person, but to e...

The End of  Time and the Kingdom of Heaven   Matthew 25:1-13   Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.  2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.  3 When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them;  4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps.  5 As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept.  6 But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’  7 Then all those bridesmaids got up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’  9 But the wise replied, ‘No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’  10 And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet; and...

A Still Small Voice 1 Kings 19:9-18 (NRSV) At that place he came to a cave, and spent the night there. Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He answered, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.” He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a...