Once upon a time about 2500 years ago, in the far way land of Persia, there lived a powerful king name Ahasuerus. King Ahasuerus ruled from India to Ethiopia. The king was not a bad king, but he wasn’t a terribly good king either. He relied on the advice of his officials, instead of his own wisdom. And his favorite part of being king was getting to live like a rock star with lots of wine and lots of women. One day he decided to give a huge banquet for all of his kingdom. He wanted to display his wealth and the splendor and pomp of his majesty. In the court of the garden of the King’s palace he threw a banquet that lasted for seven days. The palace garden was decorated with white cotton curtains, fine linen and purple and silver rings and marble pillars, couches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of marble and colored stones, tables heavy-laden with food, jars of royal wine, the fine china and golden stem wear. And the king ordered everyone to drink without restraint and do as each person desired—to experience the life of the king: to drink as much as he liked and to do as he pleased, and to leave the decision making and ruling of his empire to those who were more clear-headed. Wise to her king’s recklessness, the Queen Vashti threw her own banquet for the women of the palace.
On the seventh day of the feast, the King, full of wine, asked his servants to bring Queen Vashti in her royal crown out for all of his guests to see for he wanted to show off her great beauty. But the queen, impetuous as she was, refused to parade around for a room full of drunken men.
The king was enraged, but he didn’t know what to do. He asked his lawyers to find out what should be done to Vashti according to the law. One of the officials spoke: “Vashti has not only caused dishonor to the king, but to all of the officials and all of the people of the kingdom. We cannot have the queen disobeying the king for soon all wives will disobey their husbands. We must issue a degree that all women must honor and obey their husbands or we will have total chaos.” The king liked this idea very much and wondered why he couldn’t think of ideas like this for himself. Vashti was banned from the kingdom and it was ordered that every man should be master of his own house.
With Vashti gone, there was no queen to keep King Ahasuerus happy. He was sad, but he didn’t know what to do. He didn’t feel like throwing a banquet and he didn’t feel like drinking as much as he wanted. Concerned about his well being and zest for life, his officials suggested a competition: they would gather up all of the beautiful young girls throughout the land and bring them to the palace, and after extensive makeovers, the king could choose the one he wanted. The king liked this idea very much and wondered why he couldn’t think of ideas like this for himself.
Esther was a young beautiful woman living in the kingdom. Esther’s parents had died when she was young and so her cousin Mordecai had adopted her and raised her as his own daughter. They were Jews, living in a Persian empire, and Mordecai had been captured from Jerusalem and brought to Susa. Esther’s real name was Hadassah, but Mordecai had changed her name to Esther so that they could blend in with the local culture better. It wasn’t dangerous to be Jewish in Persia, but they were a definite minority and had learned to be careful and private about their identity. While most of the Jews longed for their own land again, they had learned that life in Persia wasn’t so bad.
When Mordecai heard of the king’s request for all the young women, he brought Esther forward as a candidate. She was collected with all of the other women and brought to Hegai, a eunuch, who was in charge of the king’s harem.
There were women from all 127 provinces and Esther was intimated. Esther of course, was quite beautiful, but with women from India and Ethiopia, she wasn’t sure just how much the king would like her. She wasn’t sure she could learn all of the appropriate courtly rituals, wasn’t sure she could entertain the king with her singing and dancing, wasn’t sure she could endure the months and months of beauty treatment, teeth whitening, and plastic surgery. What if she had to diet and give up cake for a year?
She also wasn’t sure about the king: a man who spent most of his time drinking and doing as he pleased was not the sort of man she was used to. Her father had been such a hard worker and kind man—and death had claimed he and her mother much too soon. Mordecai—who she now thought of as her father—was also so kind and protective. They lived alone, just the two of them, and they worked in the garden together and they shared a love of their family, their Jewish religion and culture—they had a peaceful, comfortable existence, and Esther wasn’t sure she wanted to trade their small cottage for all of the riches in Persia. But Mordecai, always planning for the future, thought this would be a good chance for them and indeed, for all of the Jews living in Persia--the thought of a Jewish queen was so scandalous and wonderful that Mordecai couldn’t help encouraging Esther to join the other young women at the palace.
Hegai was in charge of this new assortment of girls. When she arrived, he noticed Esther at once, she was different from the other girls, there was something he couldn’t quite name, but she reminded him very much of his sister when they were young—beautiful, but also full of spirit, as if the deity somehow shined out of her . . . he liked her more and more as the days went on, and like a fairy godmother, gave her special treats, found her the best maids, carefully monitored her progress, and advanced her quickly.
After an entire year of beauty treatment and training, it was finally Esther’s moment to go before the king. Her maids helped her dress in her finest blue robes, they braided her hair with flowers. As she entered his room, the king wondered if he had ever seen someone so beautiful before and he felt himself fall quickly in love. He put a royal crown upon her head and made Esther his queen. Then he threw an elaborate banquet in her honor. And the lived happily ever after, the Jewish Queen and her Persian King.
But wait. It turns out that there was trouble brewing in another part of the palace. During the time that Esther had been at the palace, Mordecai visited every day to find out how she was doing. Since he spent so much time by the palace gate, he heard lots of courtly gossip including a plot to assassinate the king which he had shared with Esther who told the king, and ultimately saved King Ahasuerus’ life.
The king’s highest official was a man named Haman. For his own reasons, Haman had decided that he would like everyone to bow to him and everyone did except for Mordecai. This made Haman furious and he decided that he would kill not only Mordecai but also all of the Jews. As the king’s advisor, he told the king that a lawless people were living in the kingdom and that they needed to be destroyed. The king, full of wine and happiness, liked this idea very much and wondered why he couldn’t think of ideas like this for himself and sent forth a royal decree for the destruction of all of the Jews to happen in a few days.
Mordecai heard of this news and showed Esther the written decree and charged her to go to the king to make supplication for her people. Knowing that the king could kill her for approaching him when she has not been called, but that if she would be killed with her people anyway, Esther decided that she would do what she could. Summoning the strength of Mordecai’s words “perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this,” she began her planning.
Esther had dreamed of doing something important, and even though she was now queen, something she still didn’t believe sometimes, she still wondered if there weren’t something more, she had heard all of the stories of her people, of David and his bravery before Goliath, . . . there weren’t many opportunities for her people to be brave anymore, living as they were in another land—they were scattered from each other, and even felt separate from God, as though Yahweh were no longer guiding them as once before, but had left them up to their own . . . but with destruction so close at hand, it seemed miraculous that Mordecai had even heard of the plot against their people, and perhaps even miraculous that Esther should just happen to be queen right now, perhaps it really was God, working mysteriously to ensure their survival, and if it was truly meant to be, then Esther would succeed her in attempt to change the king’s decree. Surely God would give her the wisdom and the strength to face this horrible task.
There was no magic wand, no fairy god-mother, she could not blink and make it all disappear. Esther would have to do this herself, she would have to use all of the tricks she knew to work for the king’s favor.
She dressed in her finest robes of royal blue and carefully adorned herself in her full regalia including her crown and approached the king’s room—where he was drinking. Even though he had not seen her in a month, the sight of her so dressed up caught the king’s breath and he wondered why he had no summoned her himself. The king liked this idea very much and wondered why he couldn’t think of ideas like this for himself. His heart was soft as he asked her “What is it Queen Esther? What is your request, it shall be give you, even to the half of my kingdom.”
With relief, Esther smiled, and made her very simple request, for the King and Haman to kindly join her for a private banquet the following evening. The king happily acquiesced, for he loved banquets.
With the two men now in her own territory, Esther offered a fine meal and good wine. Sensing she really wanted something else, the king asked again: “what is it Queen Esther? What is your request, it shall be give you, even to the half of my kingdom.” It wasn’t quite the right time. Esther needed to find a way to save all of her people, including Mordecai and herself, but she needed to make sure that Haman’s role in all of this was clear.
And so she invited them to return for a second banquet the following night. Haman was so thoroughly pleased. He thought to himself, “I dined with the king and queen alone! I am nearly the most powerful man in all of Persia.”
On the second night of feasting and drinking in Queen Esther’s quarters, King Ahasuerus asked: “what is it Queen Esther? What is your request, it shall be give you, even to the half of my kingdom.” Gathering her strength, Esther plunged in: “please spare me and my people for our lives have been sold—if it was merely into slavery I would not ask, but we have been sold unto death.”
Enraged, the king asked, who is it that has done this?
Esther replied, “a foe and an enemy, the wicked Haman!”
The king, in great anger, didn’t know what to do. An official suggested he order the destruction of Haman and the salvation of all the Jews. The king liked this idea very much and wondered why he couldn’t think of ideas like this for himself. He promoted Mordecai to be his new vizier and ended his decree to destroy the Jews.
To celebrate their deliverance from death, the divine providence in their lives, Esther and Mordecai decided to inaugurate a great feast for all the Jews living in the province, they called it Purim. The king liked this idea very much and wondered why he couldn’t think of ideas like this for himself. There was great gladness and joy and they all lived happily ever after.
Centuries later, a group of Jews living in a different empire, gathered secretly in a room. Stories of their ancestors weighed heavily upon them, the story of Esther included. And while they shared a meal, their Rabbi told another story of love and bravery, one of triumph in the face of death, one of great sadness and fear, with a happy ending after all.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Wisdom of God
James 3:1-12; Proverbs 1: 20-33
Though fashion experts will tell you that it’s okay to wear white. Practically of course, it’ll soon be too cold for white sundresses or linen pants. One theory behind this custom, is that once upon a time, the wealthy would take off most of the summer and head for resort locations where they would trade their dark, drab city clothes in favor of cool, white summery ones. The white clothes were a sign of their wealth and time for leisure. Putting them away after Labor Day, marked a reentry into normal, city life. The change of clothes helped mark the change of season.
We are also feeling the change, the weather change, the season change, the back-to-school change. We mark the passing of time with pencils and backpacks, and soon pumpkins and candy. At church, we return to Sunday School and choir, to TOW and to lectionary sermons.
Even if we’re not going back to school, even if it’s been years since we’ve had a “first day” of school, even if we’ve been at work and church all summer and this is not a time for reentry, this is still a great time for renewal, to dust off our brains, to learn something new, to engage God in a new way.
James writes about teachers, and the scrutiny for those who teach, based mostly on the words they choose. He explains that our speech guides our bodies, the way a bridle guides a horse, or a rudder a ship.
He speaks of the tongue as a small body part that guides the whole and can have the impact of a small fire or a small stain. With our tongues we proclaim both praise and insult. And as springs only produce one type of water and trees only produce one type of fruit, we ought not produce both blessings and curses.
For our own reentry, as we gather together more, in our worship, in our fellowship, in our meetings, in our Bible studies, in our choir rehearsals, in community to choose our words with care—speaking to each other with love, or at least respect, speaking up when we need to and being quiet when we need to . . . remembering the fragile human beings all around us.
It is Wisdom that helps us . . . discern when to raise our voices and when to lower them. In the book of Proverbs, wisdom is personified as a woman. She stands on street corners and public squares crying out to the men. Woman Wisdom stands in direct contrast to another type of woman found in Proverbs: Woman Stranger. This woman also stands on street corners and public squares crying out to the men, but her offer is somewhat different . . .
Woman Wisdom offers knowledge and counsel, offers the fear of God—but if ignored, she offers laughter, mocking, destruction. Wisdom is a path for salvation, for security and ease. Not following her is a path to disaster and dread.
She has a striking amount of power, addressing men in the busiest parts of the city, speaking where judges and prophets speak their condemnations and Prostitutes call out to customers and to ignore her teachings equals death.
Proverbs 3 speaks of Wisdom’s relationship to God and to creation. In the very beginning God acquired her and through her all things came into being. Through and with her, God created the world and placed Wisdom within creation so that people could live in harmony and right relation. She is connected or perhaps the same as that Word that was spoken to create the world. In Greek: the male form of Word is called Logos, the female counterpart is Sophia: Wisdom. It is the spoken Logos that is with God from the beginning who is then born in a manger in Bethlehem. Even in the NT, we find Jesus closely associated with Woman Wisdom.
The figure of Wisdom has close connections to goddesses in Mesopotamia and Egypt. She could be a survival of this tradition. Or she could be a combination of all the positive roles of wives and mothers in Israel, just as Woman Stranger is a synopsis of male fears of female temptation.
Proverbs begins and ends with female imagery, both positive and negative, but it is not a book about or for women. The primary audience is male as the book offers advice about the proper type of wife to acquire in order to have the good life. The original was addressed to “my sons” and even though the NRSV changes this to “my children” it is still far from gender neutral.
Nevertheless, the female imagery provides resources for women readers despite the male-centered perspective . .. .
The wisdom tradition starts with experience, as a way of doing theology. The focus on daily life can offer a way of knowing and being for those who have been largely excluded from participation in the older traditions—in the forming of covenant, prophecy, the canonization of scripture . . .
Wisdom is not just about following set rules and ethics,
Wisdom is a path to God, a mediator, a way, a union.
It is learned through life and experience.
The more we see, the more we do, the more we try, the more we survive, the wiser we become.
It is wisdom that helps us know when to speak and when to keep silence
Helps us form right relationships with God, to live well and simply, to live peacefully and harmoniously, to pay attention to creation, to our experiences, to our practices.
During their last supper, Jesus didn’t tell his disciples what to believe, he told them what to do: for the bread and for the wine, do this and remember me.
Though fashion experts will tell you that it’s okay to wear white. Practically of course, it’ll soon be too cold for white sundresses or linen pants. One theory behind this custom, is that once upon a time, the wealthy would take off most of the summer and head for resort locations where they would trade their dark, drab city clothes in favor of cool, white summery ones. The white clothes were a sign of their wealth and time for leisure. Putting them away after Labor Day, marked a reentry into normal, city life. The change of clothes helped mark the change of season.
We are also feeling the change, the weather change, the season change, the back-to-school change. We mark the passing of time with pencils and backpacks, and soon pumpkins and candy. At church, we return to Sunday School and choir, to TOW and to lectionary sermons.
Even if we’re not going back to school, even if it’s been years since we’ve had a “first day” of school, even if we’ve been at work and church all summer and this is not a time for reentry, this is still a great time for renewal, to dust off our brains, to learn something new, to engage God in a new way.
James writes about teachers, and the scrutiny for those who teach, based mostly on the words they choose. He explains that our speech guides our bodies, the way a bridle guides a horse, or a rudder a ship.
He speaks of the tongue as a small body part that guides the whole and can have the impact of a small fire or a small stain. With our tongues we proclaim both praise and insult. And as springs only produce one type of water and trees only produce one type of fruit, we ought not produce both blessings and curses.
For our own reentry, as we gather together more, in our worship, in our fellowship, in our meetings, in our Bible studies, in our choir rehearsals, in community to choose our words with care—speaking to each other with love, or at least respect, speaking up when we need to and being quiet when we need to . . . remembering the fragile human beings all around us.
It is Wisdom that helps us . . . discern when to raise our voices and when to lower them. In the book of Proverbs, wisdom is personified as a woman. She stands on street corners and public squares crying out to the men. Woman Wisdom stands in direct contrast to another type of woman found in Proverbs: Woman Stranger. This woman also stands on street corners and public squares crying out to the men, but her offer is somewhat different . . .
Woman Wisdom offers knowledge and counsel, offers the fear of God—but if ignored, she offers laughter, mocking, destruction. Wisdom is a path for salvation, for security and ease. Not following her is a path to disaster and dread.
She has a striking amount of power, addressing men in the busiest parts of the city, speaking where judges and prophets speak their condemnations and Prostitutes call out to customers and to ignore her teachings equals death.
Proverbs 3 speaks of Wisdom’s relationship to God and to creation. In the very beginning God acquired her and through her all things came into being. Through and with her, God created the world and placed Wisdom within creation so that people could live in harmony and right relation. She is connected or perhaps the same as that Word that was spoken to create the world. In Greek: the male form of Word is called Logos, the female counterpart is Sophia: Wisdom. It is the spoken Logos that is with God from the beginning who is then born in a manger in Bethlehem. Even in the NT, we find Jesus closely associated with Woman Wisdom.
The figure of Wisdom has close connections to goddesses in Mesopotamia and Egypt. She could be a survival of this tradition. Or she could be a combination of all the positive roles of wives and mothers in Israel, just as Woman Stranger is a synopsis of male fears of female temptation.
Proverbs begins and ends with female imagery, both positive and negative, but it is not a book about or for women. The primary audience is male as the book offers advice about the proper type of wife to acquire in order to have the good life. The original was addressed to “my sons” and even though the NRSV changes this to “my children” it is still far from gender neutral.
Nevertheless, the female imagery provides resources for women readers despite the male-centered perspective . .. .
The wisdom tradition starts with experience, as a way of doing theology. The focus on daily life can offer a way of knowing and being for those who have been largely excluded from participation in the older traditions—in the forming of covenant, prophecy, the canonization of scripture . . .
Wisdom is not just about following set rules and ethics,
Wisdom is a path to God, a mediator, a way, a union.
It is learned through life and experience.
The more we see, the more we do, the more we try, the more we survive, the wiser we become.
It is wisdom that helps us know when to speak and when to keep silence
Helps us form right relationships with God, to live well and simply, to live peacefully and harmoniously, to pay attention to creation, to our experiences, to our practices.
During their last supper, Jesus didn’t tell his disciples what to believe, he told them what to do: for the bread and for the wine, do this and remember me.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Star Wars
Genesis 1:1-5 and John 1: 1-5
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away . . .
There was a complex, multifaceted saga that spanned science fiction, space exploration, technology and most all types of mythology and religion. It was called Star Wars.
These movies essentially chronicle the story of the Skywalker family—the earlier movies detail the lives of the children Luke and Leia, as they meet, and later realize they are twins, and as they battle the evil Dark Lord Darth Vader, who in one of the greatest movie twists of all times, turns out to be their father. The prequels detail the story of Darth Vader before he became evil, when he was called Anakin Skywalker, fell in love with Queen Amidala, and fathered Luke and Leia.
George Lucas, the man behind the movies, interweaves mythological elements from many different cultures and religions: we find echoes of Greek myths, Arthurian legends, and various bits of theology. He covers near universal, archetypal themes of journey, faith, and redemption. We also find more themes of family and friendship, machines and technology, faith, hope—the exploration of humanity—what makes us choose evil or good, and our capacity to have faith in that which we can sense but not see.
In the Bible, both Genesis and John both speak of beginnings, and of the light that has existed since that beginning. In Genesis, the light is a literal light, one that God separates from the darkness to create day and night, sun and moon. In John, the light, is the light of Christ, of the logos who has been with God and is God from the very beginning. In Genesis, the light and the dark are rather equal, things to be separated and balanced so that we can have two good things: day and night. In John, it’s important for the light to have a more powerful and positive quality, so that it is the light of Christ. As John writes: “the light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it.”
In Star Wars there is a constant battle between good and evil, between The Force and the Dark Side of the Force. As Yoda explains: “Fear is the path to the Dark Side: fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.” (Episode 1). But both sides are encompassed in the Force. It is the Dark Side of the Force that seduces and destroys Anakin, it is not more powerful, but “quicker, easier, more seductive.” The Dark Side depends on greed, fear, anger, control, but patience, discipline, humility are traits of the Force.
Throughout these films. Lucas explores evil and the capacity that each of us has to be evil. In Christian theology, we refer to this as Free Will and Original Sin. We all make choices, just as Anakin and Luke Skywalker make different choices as to how they will handle the temptations to come over to The Dark Side. As Lucas says, “The film is ultimately about the dark side and the light side, and those sides are designed around compassion and greed. The issue of greed, of getting things and owning things and having things and not being able to let go of things, is the opposite of compassion--of not thinking of yourself all the time.”[1]
Not to spoil the ending, but the light wins. Ultimately, even the most evil, dark character is redeemed: In the end, Darth Vader and Luke battle and Luke says to his father: “I’ve accepted that you were once Anakin Skywalker . . . It is the name of your true self you’ve only forgotten. I know there is still good in you.” Luke finds the good in Vader he knew was always in there somewhere, to his dying father he says: “I can’t leave you I’ve got to save you” His father’s response is: “You already have.” This father is saved through the love and trust of his son, because as far as he had gone into the darkness, there was still good in him, there was still something holy and sacred that could be redeemed.
It’s not always easy to determine a director/producer’s goals when it comes to spiritual themes in a movie. Many times they are not wholly conscious of it either, but in a Time magazine interview with Bill Moyer, George Lucas spoke about his intentional decisions to make the Star Wars movie highly spiritual and theological, if not specifically religious.
Lucas has faced some criticism for supporting a New Age religious view, based on a nebulous divine substance and a faith system based on feelings. Lucas, however, did not set out to create a religion in his galaxy, but to address a basic level of truth found in all religions. He said that in the late 1970s, he was worried that young people were no longer curious about faith, that they were no longer asking if God existed or what God would look like or how God would feel or what God would do and he found that to be truly terrifying. It was his hope that his movies, with their emphasis on good and evil would reawaken that hunger for spirituality. That the Force would inspire kids and adults to wonder about God. He doesn’t pretend to be offering answers in the Star Wars movies, but providing a starting point—a place to ask questions.
Lucas created a cosmology to go along with his galaxy, an ancient belief system that permeated the lives of everyone. Lucas also wasn’t attempting to portray any particular religion, though he does find organized religion to be important: He believes that “Religion is basically a container for faith.” And that he hoped to “awaken a certain kind of spirituality in young people--more a belief in God than a belief in any particular religious system. I wanted to make it so that young people would begin to ask questions about the mystery.”
Even with Light sabers and wookies, ewoks, and death stars—These movies are about The Mystery. The mystery of the evil inside all of us, the mystery of the good inside all of us, the mystery of how we are able to (or not) hold the dichotomies together, and the mystery of the Force, the energy, the divine, the supernatural, the God, that holds it all together.
We may not have the opportunity to battle Sith lords, to fight to save an empire from total corruption, to be the one person who restores balance to the force. Our lives, though full of adventure and important moments, will probably not be such epic stories—and while we may not be able to save the world in a grand gesture, we can each work in small ways.
The choice is the same as Anakin’s, the same as Yoda’s, the same as Luke’s, the same as Obi Wan Kenobi’s, the same as Leia’s, the same as Padmes—we can work with the Force, we can use patience, peace, compassion or we can slide into the Dark Side and use fear, greed, coercion. As Christians, we can use our faith in God, our worship, our praise, our prayers, our good works, our fellowship for justice, compassion, righteousness, mercy, peace, and love. Or we can use it for control, oppression, injustice, fear and anger.
As citizens of the world and the
Will we fight against hatred, greed, oppression?
Our
For those of us who are not as familiar with our history,
We are certainly not the same church today, but our history serves as a powerful reminder of the Dark Side of faith.
As in our membership vows, may we continue . . . to accept the freedom and power God gives us to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves.
Amen.
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