Hebrews 10:5-10
Advent 4 - Year C
Does GOD have a backup plan for the backup plan known as Christ?
A first plan is done away with in favor of the second. Once even G*D starts down that slippery slope of a new plan, there is little turning back. The options are quickly narrowed to disavow the second in favor of the first or be ready to move on to third and fourth plans.
If many plans causes a headache, one out is the doctrinal that goes back only as far as is needed to justify a static universe.
What to do if many plans are seen as a matter of course? We can always look for a connection between a multitude of plans. One might follow on previous ones as more information is gathered and acted upon. Does resurrection become a third plan after taking a Christmas body? or isn't the body part the second plan because it is only precursor to the real second plan of resurrection? Does Pentecost become the third or fourth plan, depending on how you count? Where does your life fit into this pattern? Are you some untold millionth plan, individually, or some much smaller number plan that goes by generations?
In this household, plans are generated by the fistful and changed nearly as fast as they are generated. And this is being made in the image of G*D? How is it in your household?
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2003/december2003.html
"Sacrifices and offerings G*D does not desire, but a body has been given to me". "Sacrifice" and "body" are further contrasted with "law" and "will/desire" and a forgone conclusion that the former, in each instance must back off for the latter to come to fruition.
To have a body is to hold a promise of tomorrow, regardless of what the past has been.
At verse 10 things get turned around and it turns out G*D's will/desire is for the legal sacrifice of Jesus' body. Somehow to not have a body that was given cleans up a past which, each moment, is being added to by junk in the present.
If one follows the journey of Sisyphus, happiness with his eternally repetitive task can be achieved, but it begins to move some theorized once-for-all-ness of one sacrifice for being good for every subsequent need into question - G*D doesn't desire sacrifice and yet finally comes to sacrifice of "self".
In the schizophrenia of Advent we rejoice over bodies of babies given for facing toward tomorrow. We also recognize a body perpetually rolling away a rock, facing back at us, to judge what has been.
Generally we end up on one side or the other of the unspoken divide between the end of verse 9 and the beginning of verse 10. Often it is the space between our utterances that is the real crux of the matter. What happened in that mysterious moment between verses?
Advent may be the honoring of this space by waiting for it to turn round again.
- - -
good earth-birthed adam
male and female adam
named good
called blessed
called to name
coming onegood angel-sung jesus
shepherd and magi jesus
named freedom
called sheep and goat
called twelve and more
coming twogood sickle-bearing lamb
judge and jury lamb
named bright morning star
called bride and groom
called new jerusalem
coming threegood body-entrusted friend
saint and sinner friend
named tomorrow
called from past
called from present
coming fourand more
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2006_12_01_archive.html
Yeah, yeah - sacrifices aren't what are desired so a bigger sacrifice is what is needed and gets instituted. Talk about escalation! Sort of like no more flood, but fire next time.
So how do we get past our experiences that keep redefining the present in terms of the past?
About all there is left is a bit of dream, a smidgen of vision, a dollop of hope. For a traditional Sunday of Joy there hasn't been much to shout about other than a commitment to continue blessing, no matter what. So, let's get on with it. Whether our dreams are smashed, our vision disappointed, our hope depleted - send out a blessing rather than a intermediary sacrifice. It may return seven-fold or it may simply be a good to do that was actually done.
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2009_12_01_archive.html
Did Jesus offer his body any more than did Mary? We get weird around military deaths and laud and load them with automatic bravery and sacrifice, even calling it ultimate sacrifice.
How might we rebalance our vision of G*D somewhere between a possibility laden creation and a last day reduced to judging? It might have something to do with understanding how bodies bring forth life. Which is more Mary’s forte and Jesus’ teaching. It is only later that we hit on a deathly cross being of more importance than a feeding trough birth. [Image receiving communion from a manger rather than an altar - This is my body. . . .]
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2012/12/hebrews-105-10.html