Words That Listen: A Literary Companion to the Lectionary, Volumes 1 and 2
656
Words That Listen: A Literary Companion to the Lectionary, Volumes 1 and 2
656eBook
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Overview
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780898699012 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Church Publishing |
| Publication date: | 03/17/2018 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 656 |
| File size: | 2 MB |
About the Author
Ian S. Makham is the Dean and President of Virginia Theological Seminary and a Professor of Theology and Ethics. He is the author of numerous books, including Against Atheism and An Introduction to Ministry (co-written with Oran Warder). His awards include the Robertson Fellow; Claggett Fellow attached to Washington National Cathedral; Frank Woods Fellow at Trinity College, Melbourne; and F. D. Maurice Lectures at King’s College, London. He lives in Alexandria, Virginia.
Barney Hawkins is Vice President, Associate Dean, and Professor at Virginia Theological Seminary and has more than 30 years of parish experience.
Read an Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
ADVENT 1
Year A
Matthew 24:36-44
Jesus said to the disciples, "But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left. Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour."
Year B
Mark 13:24-37
Jesus said to his disciples, "In those days, after that suffering, 'the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.' Then they will see 'the Son of Man coming in clouds' with great power and glory. Then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven. From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. Therefore, keep awake — for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake."
Year C
Luke 21:25-36
Jesus said, "There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see 'the Son of Man coming in a cloud' with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near." Then he told them a parable: "Look at the fig tree and all the trees; as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day catch you unexpectedly, like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man."
The famous Left Behind series of Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins draws heavily on Matthew 24 as the text that describes the "rapture." Most mainline Christians are less worried about the world ending in a rapture and more worried about increasing secularization and the disappearance of religion. The Canadian novelist and artist, Douglas Campbell Coupland (b. 1961) is best known for his book Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture. this essay comes from his collection of short stories called Life After God. the last story is called "1,000 Years (Life After God)." It is a reflection on the God gap in human lives. Starting with a group of teenagers in a swimming pool, we are taken through the stories of each human life — Mark tested positive for HIV, stacey was now a "divorced aerobics instructor" — and culminates with our narrator admitting the purposelessness of their lives needs God. This extract is the start of the story and the end of the story.
As suburban children we floated at night in swimming pools the temperature of blood; pools the color of Earth as seen from outer space. We would skinny-dip, my friends and me — hip-chick Stacey with her long yellow hair and Malibu Barbie body; Mark, our silent strongman; Kristy, our omni-freckled redheaded joke machine; voice-of-reason Julie, with the "statistically average" body; honey-bronze ski bum, Dana, with his nonexistent tan line and suspiciously large amounts of cash, and Todd, the prude, always last to strip, even then peeling off his underwear underneath the water. We would float and be naked — pretending to be embryos, pretending to be fetuses — all of us silent save for the hum of the pool filter. Our minds would be blank and our eyes closed as we floated in warm waters, the distinction between our bodies and our brains reduced to nothing — bathed in chlorine and lit by pure blue lights installed underneath diving boards. Sometimes we would join hands and form a ring like astronauts in space; sometimes when we felt more isolated in our fetal stupor we would bump into each other in the deep end, like twins with whom we didn't even know we shared a womb.
Afterward we toweled off and drove in cars on roads that carved the mountain on which we lived — through the trees, through the subdivisions, from pool to pool, from basement to basement, up Cypress Bowl, down to Park Royal and over the Lions Gate Bridge — the act of endless motion itself a substitute for any larger form of thought. The radio would be turned on, full of love songs and rock music; we believed the rock music but I don't think we believed in the love songs, either then, or now. Ours was a life lived in paradise and thus it rendered any discussion of transcendental ideas pointless. Politics, we supposed, existed elsewhere in a televised non-paradise; death was something similar to recycling. Life was charmed but without politics or religion. It was the life of children of the children of the pioneers — life after God — a life of earthly salvation on the edge of heaven. Perhaps this is the finest thing to which we may aspire, the life of peace, the blurring between dream life and real life — and yet I find myself speaking these words with a sense of doubt.
I think there was a trade-off somewhere along the line. I think the price we paid for our golden life was an inability to fully believe in love; instead we gained an irony that scorched everything it touched. And I wonder if this irony is the price we paid for the loss of God. But then I must remind myself we are living creatures — we have religious impulses — we must — and yet into what cracks do these impulses flow in a world without religion? It is something I think about every day. Sometimes I think it is the only thing I should be thinking about....
[The end of the short story].
I peel my clothes and step into the pool beside the burbling stream, onto polished rocks, and water so clear that it seems it might not even be really there. My skin is grey, from lack of sun, from lack of bathing. And yes, the water is so cold, this water that only yesterday was locked as ice up on the mountaintops. But the pain from the cold is a pain that does not matter to me. I strip my pants, my shirt, my tie, my underwear and they lie strewn on the gravel bar next to my blanket. And the water from the stream above me roars.
Oh, does it roar! Like a voice that knows only one message, one truth — never-ending, like the clapping of hands and the cheers of the citizens upon the coronation of the king, the crowds of the inauguration, cheering for hope and for that one voice that will speak to them. Now — here is my secret: I tell it to you with an openness of heart that I doubt I shall ever achieve again, so I pray that you are in a quiet room as you hear these words. My secret is that I need God — that I am sick and can no longer make it alone. I need God to help me give, because I no longer seem to be capable of giving; to help me be kind, as I no longer seem capable of kindness; to help me love, as I seem beyond being able to love.
* * *
The Gospels of Mark and Matthew exhort us to "keep awake." The theme of being awake is a key theme of Buddhism. The Buddha probably lived sometime between the sixth to the fourth centuries BCE. Here in this exchange, the Buddha explains that he is simply a person who knows the way things really are: he sees the ephemeral nature of all things.
My friend, what are you? Are you a celestial being or a god?
* * *
We start the Church year with three gospel readings all anticipating the incoming action of God in history. Langston Hughes (1902-1967) was an African American poet who asked the challenging question: why is the African American dream of equality and justice constantly deferred? In this 1951 poem, we have the agony of continuing oppression powerfully captured.
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?
* * *
All three gospel lessons in the Revised Common Lectionary begin the season of Advent with some sort of examination of eschatology; it sets the stage for why the Incarnation is necessary.
The film Defending Your Life (1991), written by its star, Albert Brooks (b. 1947), deals with judgment at the end of our earthly lives in a comedic way. Humans are judged by court-like panels on their lives in a heavenly rest-stop called "Judgment City." Daniel Miller (Brooks) has had to repeat life on Earth several times due to a sub-par existence. And the comic stakes are made even higher when the prosecutors who decide his judgment threaten to return him to Earth once again.
CHAPTER 2ADVENT 2
Year A
Matthew 3:1-12
In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said, "The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.'" Now John wore clothing of camel's hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance. Do not presume to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our ancestor'; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."
Year B
Mark 1:1-8
The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, "See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way; the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.'" John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. He proclaimed, "The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."
Year C
Luke 3:1-6
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, during the high priest-hood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, "The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'"
* * *
The second week of Advent is essentially devoted to the work of John the Baptist. Matthew starts with the phrase "Prepare the way of the Lord." Godspell, particularly David Haskell's (1948-2000) song "Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord," has popularized this biblical theme from Isaiah and from the pulpit of John. John the Baptist was Jesus's "warm-up," the part that is not on the program, not the first act. People came from all over the Judean countryside to be baptized, to repent, to be forgiven. The "way" by which John summoned was a way to the heart, a path straight to the heart, the interior preparation for the coming Messiah was by water. The Messiah will prepare by the Holy spirit. John is Jesus's Holy spirit, the one who made the way right for those who would follow the Man from Galilee.
* * *
It is worth dwelling on the start of Mark and on what is not covered. In Mark, there is no birth narrative. The Incarnation starts with the teacher not with the baby. Origen (185-254 CE) is one of the most creative early church theologians. Many of his teachings were considered highly innovative. In this excerpt from On First Principles II.VI.2 , origen muses on how "the man who appeared in Judaea" emerged from the miracle of the wisdom of God entering a woman's womb and producing a crying child.
Of all the marvelous and splendid things about the Son of God there is one that utterly transcends the limits of human wonder and is beyond the capacity of our weak mortal intelligence to think of or understand, namely, how this mighty power of the divine majesty, the very Word of the Father, and the very Wisdom of God, in which were created "all things visible and invisible," can be believed to have existed within the compass of that man who appeared in Judaea; yes, and how the wisdom of God can have entered into a woman's womb and been born as a child and uttered noises like those of crying children; and further, how it was that he was troubled, as we are told, in the hour of death, as he himself confesses when he says, "My soul is sorrowful even unto death"; and how at the last he was led to that death which is considered by men to be the most shameful of all — even though on the third day he rose again.
* * *
Luke, along with Matthew and Mark, agree that John the Baptist comes from the wilderness. Louise Bogan (1897-1970) is an acute observer of the human condition, with a particular focus on issues facing women. In this poem, "Women," the image of wilderness seems to imply adventure, daring to step out, and daring to be different. Perhaps because society is oppressive, Bogan issues this challenge to women to live on the wild side.
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "Words That Listen"
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Copyright © 2018 J. Barney Hawkins IV and Ian S. Markham.
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Table of Contents
Volume 1,
Introduction,
ADVENT 1,
ADVENT 2,
ADVENT 3,
ADVENT 4,
CHRISTMAS,
THE FIRST SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS,
THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS,
THE FEAST OF THE EPIPHANY,
THE FIRST SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY: THE FEAST OF THE BAPTISM OF OUR LORD,
THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY,
THE THIRD SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY,
THE FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY,
THE FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY,
THE SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY,
THE SEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY,
THE EIGHTH SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY,
THE LAST SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY,
ASH WEDNESDAY,
THE FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT,
THE SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT,
THE THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT,
THE FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT,
THE FIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT,
PALM SUNDAY,
MAUNDY THURSDAY,
GOOD FRIDAY,
THE GREAT VIGIL OF EASTER,
EASTER DAY,
THE SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER,
THE THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER,
THE FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER,
THE FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER,
THE SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER,
ASCENSION DAY,
THE SEVENTH SUNDAY OF EASTER,
Volume 2,
PENTECOST,
THE FIRST SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST / TRINITY SUNDAY,
PROPER 1,
PROPER 2,
PROPER 3,
PROPER 4,
PROPER 5,
PROPER 7,
PROPER 8,
PROPER 9,
PROPER 10,
PROPER 11,
PROPER 12,
PROPER 13,
PROPER 14,
PROPER 15,
PROPER 16,
PROPER 17,
PROPER 18,
PROPER 19,
PROPER 20,
PROPER 21,
PROPER 22,
PROPER 23,
PROPER 24,
PROPER 25,
THE FEAST OF ALL SAINTS,
PROPER 26,
PROPER 27,
PROPER 28,
PROPER 29,
CREDITS,