Prayer for the Week – Proper 27

Proper 27

O God, whose blessed Son came into the world that he might destroy the works of the devil and make us children of God and heirs of eternal life: Grant that, having this hope, we may purify ourselves as he is pure; that, when he comes again with power and great glory, we may be made like him in his eternal and glorious kingdom; where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

- Book of Common Prayer

A Theology of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”

Over this past summer and fall, our family has nearly worn out our CD of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat from listening to it so much in our van on road trips.  In addition, our two preschool-age daughters have nearly worn out our VHS copy of the Donny Osmond version of Joseph from watching it nearly constantly (Sorry, Donny, Jason Donovan is much better in the role of Joseph).  For months, everyone in our house, kids and adults alike, has been singing snippets of Joseph over and over again.  In fact, it was a little embarrassing when our then-four-year-old daughter was going around quoting Mrs. Potiphar, saying, “Every morning she would beckon, ‘Come and lie with me, Love.’”  But, as they say in the musical, “It’s all there in chapter thirty-nine of Genesis.”  And at least our kids are learning one Bible story really well.

In some places, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice did an extremely clever job of telling Joseph’s story.  “Benjamin Calypso” is a great way of demonstrating Judah’s willingness to trade his life for his little brother.  And who could resist “The Song of the King,” when Pharaoh is wearing blue suede shoes?

But it’s amazing how Messrs. Webber and Rice totally missed the point of the biblical narrative of Joseph that stretches from Genesis 37, 39-50.  For them, it’s the inspiring story of a young man who caught a good tailwind in life and made it big by harnessing his talents.  The narrator says, “But all that I say can be told another way, in the story of a boy whose dream came true, and he could be you”–as though the story was really about our ability to make our dreams come true, just like ol’ Joe.  Later on, Joseph himself reveals the purported theme of the musical: “Anyone from anywhere can make it if they get a lucky break!”

In fact, Webber and Rice did a pretty thorough job of sanitizing the Joseph story of all God references and making it an inspiring story of one man’s achievement.  The only God stuff I can detect in Joseph (and I’ve had plenty of repetitions to check this over) are some passing words in Joseph’s song, “Close Every Door.”  When he sings that the “Children of Israel are never alone,” I presume the reference is to their covenant God, who promised to never leave them or forsake them (Deuteronomy 31:6, 8).  Likewise, when he says that “We have been promised a land of our own,” I assume the Promiser is the LORD their God.  Otherwise, the musical is pretty much God-free, except maybe for Joseph’s comment that he doesn’t believe in “free love” when he’s resisting Potiphar’s wife (an obscure reference to Exodus 20:14 and Leviticus 18:20?).

On the other hand, the Bible’s narrative of Joseph is all about the God who calls, empowers, preserves, protects, and works all things to his grand purpose and the well being of his chosen children.

In the Bible, when Pharaoh’s servants ask Joseph to interpret their dreams, he gives credit where credit is due: “Do not interpretations belong to God?” (Genesis 40:8)  Again when he is charged by Pharaoh to interpret his dream, Joseph, once again, demurs and says, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.” (Genesis 41:16 ESV)

Finally, when Joseph’s brothers attempt to indenture themselves to him, Joseph sets the whole, sordid affair in its proper context.  Joseph says to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God?  As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” (Genesis 50:19-20 ESV, emphasis added)

As the biblical narrative shows, God worked it out so that the brothers’ evil intent actually became their salvation, since Joseph was able to keep them fed during the famine that ravaged the region.  And hundreds of years later, even through the bitterness of slavery in Egypt, God was still able to bring about his good promise to lead his people to the Promised Land.  And even later still, God was able to rescue a remnant of humanity through the death and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah–despite the people who opposed him and tried to do evil to him.

That is the true meaning of Joseph’s story–good news that is much better than, “anyone from anywhere can make it if they get a lucky break.”

Prayer for the Week – Proper 26

Proper 26

Almighty and merciful God, it is only by your gift that your faithful people offer you true and laudable service: Grant that we may run without stumbling to obtain your heavenly promises; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

- Book of Common Prayer

Prayer for the Week – Proper 25

Proper 25

Almighty and everlasting God, increase in us the gifts of faith, hope, and charity; and, that we may obtain what you promise, make us love what you command; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

- Book of Common Prayer

Young Earth Creationism and Literary Form

The more I read Michael Spencer (aka Internet Monk), the more I respect him.  His post about why he disagrees with young earth creationists (YEC) is right on target.  Here is the crux:

The young earth creationists believe that Genesis 1 is “literally” a description of creation. I do not. It is this simple disagreement that is the cornerstone of my objection. I believe that Genesis 1 is a prescientific description of Creation intended to accent how Yahweh’s relationship with the world stands in stark contrast to the Gods of other cultures, most likely those of Babylon. Textual and linguistic evidence convinces me that this chapter was written to be used in a liturgical (worship) setting, with poetic rhythms and responses understood as part of the text. It tells who made the universe in a poetic and prescientific way. It is beautiful, inspired and true as God’s Word.

Right on, iMonk! Also this:

Does the Bible need to be authorized by scientists or current events to be true? What view of inspiration is it that puts the Bible on trial before the current scientific and historical models? Has anyone noticed what this obsession with literality does to the Bible itself?

Read the whole post here.  In case you’ve never pondered the intersection of science and the Bible, this is a helpful essay, and it’s definitely worth your time.

Prayer for the Week – Proper 24

Proper 24

Almighty and everlasting God, in Christ you have revealed your glory among the nations: Preserve the works of your mercy, that your Church throughout the world may persevere with steadfast faith in the confession of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

- Book of Common Prayer

The Danger of Following a Living God

A great quotation from Annie Dillard:

Why do we people in churches seem like cheerful, brainless tourists on a packaged tour of the Absolute? …

On the whole, I do not find Christians, outside of the catacombs, sufficiently sensible of conditions. Does anyone have the foggiest idea what sort of power we so blithely invoke? Or, as I suspect, does no one believe a word of it? The churches are children playing on the floor with their chemistry sets, mixing up a batch of TNT to kill a Sunday morning.

It is madness to wear ladies’ straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews. For the sleeping god may wake someday and take offense, or the waking god may draw us out to where we can never return.

Annie Dillard, Teaching a Stone to Talk (Harper Perennial, 1988), p. 52.

Prayer for the Week – Proper 23

Proper 23

Lord, we pray that your grace may always precede and follow us, that we may continually be given to good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

- Book of Common Prayer

Bits and Pieces

For those of you who worshiped with us at First Presbyterian Church of Wayne, Nebraska, on Sunday, October 11, here is the devotional that goes along with my sermon.  For everybody else: enjoy; and stop by our church sometime!

Bits and Pieces

by Lois A. Cheney

People—people important to you, people unimportant to you—cross your life, touch it with love and carelessness and move on.  There are people who leave you and you breathe a sigh of relief and wonder why you ever came into contact with them.  There are people who leave you and you breathe a sigh of remorse and wonder why they had to go away and leave such a gaping hole.

Children leave parents; friends leave friends; acquaintances move on.  People change homes; people grow apart; enemies hate and move on.  Friends love and move on.

You think on the many who have moved into your hazy memory.  You look on those present and wonder.

I believe in God’s master plan in life.  He moves people in and out of each other’s lives, and each leaves his mark on the other.  You find you are made up of bits and pieces of all who have ever touched your life.  You are more because of it and you would be less if they had not touched you.

Pray to God that you accept the bits and pieces in humility and wonder, and never question and never regret.

Triumph of the Small Local Church

Our American culture assures us that bigger is always better.  The big box stores are intrinsically superior to the mom-and-pop shops, so we are told…but no one knows exactly why. This insidious mentality has also crept into the church in a big way, and we have been told for generations that bigger is always better.  Bigger congregations (including their worshipers, their staff, their buildings–the whole package) are intrinsically superior to the small, modest congregations, right?  Or so we have been told.  Likewise, the capitalist model has taken hold of our religious consciousness in America.  The message is clear: “Not only is bigger better, but if we see that another church is offering a better spiritual product, then we need to flee our dead churches and flock to the newest and latest thing.”  But is that conventional wisdom true?

I stumbled upon a great nugget in an article by Dave Goetz (former editor of Christianity Today) titled “Suburban Spirituality” (Christianity Today, July 2003).  Allow this to penetrate your deepest consciousness:

For all of its foibles—lousy preaching, political infighting, self-centered focus, stagnation, a gaggle of special interest groups—the pokey local church…is still the most fertile environment for spiritual development.  In fact, there can be no genuine spiritual progress without a long-term attachment to a pokey local church….  Disillusionment with one’s church, then, is not a reason to leave but a reason to stay and see what God will create in one’s life and in the pokey local church.  What I perceive to be my needs—”I need a church with a more biblical preacher who uses specific examples from real life”—may not correspond to my true spiritual needs.  Often, in fact, I am not attuned to my true spiritual needs.

Thinking that I know my true spiritual needs is arrogant, narcissistic, and so American.  Staying put as a life practice allows God’s grace to work on the unsanded surfaces of my inner life.  Seventeenth-century French Catholic mystic Francois Fenelon wrote, “Slowly you will learn that all the troubles in your life—your job, your health, your inward failings—are really cures to the poison of your old nature.”