Tari Lennon

As I begin this exegetical work with you the invasion of Iraq has begun.  Regardless of one's position relative to the war itself, surely we can agree that this is a momentous event in the history of our country and for people of faith everywhere.  The weeks ahead demand bold and vigorous preaching that seeks not simply to comfort and assure people that with God all things will be made new but also connects folks to Jesus' passion for life and the terrible loss that his death brought to his friends and family -- and to God.

We are now midway through our Lenten journey. The overall direction the Lectionary seems to be taking is toward acquainting the believer with the necessity of taking risks--and doing something novel--at the very point that our instincts are urging us to play it safe and do nothing to rock the boat.

And so Epiphany, with its images of star spangled nights, wandering astrologers, menacing kings, relieved first-time parents, and shiny new babies, comes to a close.

And Lent begins.

If Epiphany asks us to look up and behold, to see God's activity in the very stars, the heavenly skies, Lent asks us to look down and understand-into the watery depths of life's birthplace, into the baptismal fount of new life.

And so we come to the end of Epiphany. This is my favorite liturgical season of the church year. "Matthew’s" wandering astrologers, captivated by the night sky, and lured to new places by unusual light, set the tone and direction of the season for me long before I knew very much about the New Testament from a critical point of view. Emerging from the hype of Christmas and flowing into the quiet of Lent, Epiphany represented a time for translating new beginnings into new ways of understanding and doing my life and my faith.

Let me begin this week by saying that the tragedies unfolding in Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Indonesia, et al., have completely redirected the focus of my thought for this season of Epiphany. I offer this word to you because today’s reflections will not seem to follow easily from what has been offered for the first two weeks in Epiphany. Certainly it is not uncommon for the events of the week to alter our plans for Sunday morning worship in general and our sermons in particular.

I think it was John Cobb who once observed that we tend to make fun of those scholastic scholars who had nothing better to do than sit around arguing about how many angels could dance on the head of a pin while at the same time we ignore the preoccupations with the trivial that characterize so much of academia today. I would carry that observation one step farther and assert that preoccupations with the trivial have come to characterize our national life.

The Jacob cycle is truly one of the more colorful contributions to the world of sacred texts. It is reminiscent of the great hero narratives of Hinduism and quest stories of Buddhism.

Kinship and Creation are complementary concepts in the lessons for this week. Because God (Yahweh) is the Divine Author of all creation, everyone and everything that acknowledges its debt to God for the mere fact of existence is related to God and all other aspects/elements of creation.

What then shall we say about Easter? If bunnies and baskets are for us who can be against us? What will separate us from the love of chocolate? Diets? Cholesterol? Blood Pressure? No! In all of these things we are more than conquerors through denial that first duped us.

Well, if a little wine is good for the stomach, surely a little levity can’t be bad for the brain.