Matthew 22:34-46
Proper 25 (30) - Year A
The Message ends this section with the line, "That stumped them, literalists that they were."
They asked about "one" and Jesus responded "two."
Literalists are always looking for the "one" denotation. Progressives search out the "two" or more connotations that can be rubbed against one another to spark new life.
They claim David (read "we") brought forth the Messiah. Jesus claims Messiah directs David (again, read "us").
Literalists find ways to be the noun of every sentence. Progressives are interested in being the verb that brings the noun to life. How are you bringing Messiah to life? How are you manifesting Christ healer and teacher of a new heaven and a new earth? How are you stumping literalists?
Join the expansive party - beyond the Republi Cats and Dem Publicans and Grr Reens and Lie Arians - the More Action party.
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2002/october2002.html
Trying to reduce things to one right answer is always a trap. Far better to have a variety of responses to be chosen between as to which one best fits or stretches the current situation.
What is the most important political concept? What is the most important cog in a machine? What is the most important person in a family? What form of sexuality is most important? What subject is most important? Which of the four pericopes for this week is most important? Which year of your life was most important?
As we attempt to listen in to the mind of Christ it is important to hear the balancing act of life at work. We also need to hear the need to go beyond any question asked. There is a corollary between GOD's expansive and expanding love and an expansive and expanding response to every attempt to narrow life.
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2005/october2005.html
One of the best parts of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart is the way in which they remember the past to contrast it with what is being spun today. A healthy memory is a key element in trying to stay sane in a world trying to forget what was said yesterday. We are all too easily captive to the moment in a most unhealthy way -- unconnected moment following unconnected moment.
Prophets connect the dots. Prophets remember what was said to be intended and measure the results against that. Politicians only remember what is convenient to their current desires. Lou and Peter Berryman have a wonderful song about the Acme Forgetting Service. Their politician package forgets their previous indiscretions and their promises, too.
What, in your life, doesn't blow every which way? What has a grounding of past, of evaluation of that past, and of creative recasting based on that evaluation? Hold on to that which so grounds you and you will perplex those blind to the breadth of heritage that has come down to us.
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2005/october2005.html
Moses, the great liberator, is shut up in foreign Moab. Ruth, the great grandmother, comes forth from Moab.
All of this disparagement and honoring of Moab, depending on time and perspective, is background to the famous "love your neighbor" dicta.
This is basic inclusionary, progressive vision. It allows Jesus to continue engaging those who would be his enemy, in this particular the Pharisees.
It is encouragement to us to keep the line open with our supposed enemies, for we may well find ourselves dying in their space and rejoicing when they bring forth a heroine of our own.
- - -
what is a millennia
what is a momenta tension between
enlivens this presentrelatives become enemies
enemies become friendswe chase one another
and flee the samein a moment
all is lostin a millennia
we can see todaymay we prosper
in our in-between time
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2007_10_01_archive.html
It was quite the tag team match. Scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, Governors, and Kings all lined up against a refugee-raised, mystic prophet.
A question before us is who wins each round and who wins the match.
Yes, it will be important to define what a win means. To use a Dancing with the Stars image, the judges last word is not the last word – there is a spirit in the air, a zeitgeist that will not be denied. As a result, the results sometimes seem dumbfounding (hopefully the voting machines will not leave us equally perplexed).
To pick up on Eugene Peterson's translation in verse 46, literalists and legalists are stymied by metaphor and creativity. This shows up in whether you are trying to split hairs or find an organizing principle.
In the first scene, regarding Commandments, the detail folks were trumped by a context setting and then, in the second scene about Messiahs, the literalists were out-literalized. We may need to not so much take away a correct answer from this interaction as to un-focus our eyes to see the love shining through – to see every loving line of "you" (line from a Judy Fjell song).
You are hereby given permission to follow where the spirit of love leads you – sometimes seeing the big picture and sometimes attending to a detail. Enjoy the choices as they come your way.
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2008_10_01_archive.html
Which child is your favorite? There are any number of attempts at forced choices that don’t lead anywhere.
To respond to this sort of reductionist approach it is important to stretch things just one notch. Later more stretching can be attempted.
So it is Jesus responds with two favorites, not one.
In today’s world there are still dualistic/reductionist questions being asked. We are called to ease out of them in a similar manner, add one little stretch. This subtle response probably won’t be caught, but will aid folks hear a new story in just a little bit (like in Luke 10:25-37 where a similar encounter is reported).
The great sadness here is in the last line, “they quit asking questions for good.” (MSG)
Asking questions is directly related to good. It is in the interplay of question and response and question of a response, etc. that we test for the common good. When economic theories trump questions about same, we are in deep difficulty. This is the real world equivalent of not asking religious questions - when they stop we are in deep difficulty.
Testing questions, helpful questions, require that everything be up for grabs. They also respect provisional responses knowing that they will be tested in time to come.
Blessings on your affirmations - Loving beyond yourself reveals a deeper and more vigorous, rigorous life.
Blessings on your questions - hoary answers don’t satisfy, nor do our present glib attempts at universalizing particulars.
http://bible.oremus.org/?passage=Matthew+22:34-46&vnum=yes&version=nrsv
silence sought
looking for healthy silencesilence from
being put down
embarrassment
not yet knowing enough
lack of authority to ask
not having a reasonable response
is not healthy silence
silence to
dream
see patterns
study reality around
find a deeper question
push authority to awkwardness
begins healthy silence
silence by
poets
religionistsists
incumbant politicians
letter writers to editors
you
hides healthy silence
still looking
for healthy silence
in a daily schedule
in common with neighbors
based on tomorrow
lived today
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2011/10/silence-sought.html