Kontakion

Scripture: Exodus 12:1-14 Central Verse: “This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance.” Exodus 12:14 NRSV Central Truth: This is a text that is primarily focused on the liturgical notion of faith. The story of Moses has been action packed up to this point and here at the culmination of the plagues we stop not just to be told about something the people of Israel are supposed to do, but how they are to do it. Typically the image we carry of this text is the Charleston Heston movie. This image is of people seriously eating together attempting to avoid accidental death by God. Viewing this text through the lens of a popular movie has, instead of breathing life into the text, solidified it as a significant historical event with very little meaning outside of its time. When we take the events out of their context like the movie but place it back into the contex...

Reading Amount: Revelation 14:1-20 Central Verse: Then I saw another angel flying in mid-heaven, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth - to every nation and tribe and language and people. He said in a loud voice. "Fear God and give him glory, for the hour of his judgment has come; and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water." Then another angel, a second, followed, saying, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication." Then another angel, a third, followed them, crying with a loud voice, "Those who worship the beast and its image, and receive a mark on their foreheads or on their hands, they will also drink the wine of God's wrath, poured unmixed into the cup of his anger, and they will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up foreve...

Title: The Example of the Lamb Reading Amount: Revelation 12:1-13:18 Central Verse: Let anyone who has an ear listen: If you are to be taken captive, Into captivity you go; If you kill with the sword, With the sword you must be killed. Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints. But they have conquered him by the Blood of the Lamb, And by the word of their testimony, For they did not cling to life even in the Face of death. Revelation 12:9-11 Central Truth: Victory for a believer comes not from violence but from the victory that the Lamb attained and how well we follow that example. Food For Thought: Note the only mark of a true believer is not accepting the mark of the beast. Salvation doesn’t have anything to do with a confession of faith contrary to what many modern theologians say. This section continues with the fact that evil is just a parody of God. We see an evil "trinity" the dragon represents Satan. The beast from the sea represents the Roman governme...

Reading Amount: Revelation 10:1-11:19 Central Verse: We give you thanks, LORD GOD Almighty Who are and who were, For you have taken your great power And begun to reign. The nations raged, But your wrath has come, And the time for judging the dead, For regarding your servants, the Prophets And saints and all who fear your, Name, Both small and great, And for destroying those who destroy The earth." Revelation 11:17b-18 NRSV Central Truth: The role of the church in the book of Revelation is one of praise of God and reflection on what God has done. We often forget this role in the church today in favor of other modes of expression. Food for Thought: Seven Thunders - a curious thing happens and John is interrupted and told not to write down what the thunders say. Traditional Apocalyptic tradition would dictate that there must be seven different sections of seven woes. Here we see that God is not trapped by our own traditions but is powerful enough to say stop, we will move forward. C...

Reading Amount: Revelation 10:1-11:19 Central Verse: We give you thanks, LORD GOD Almighty Who are and who were, For you have taken your great power And begun to reign. The nations raged, But your wrath has come, And the time for judging the dead, For regarding your servants, the Prophets And saints and all who fear your, Name, Both small and great, And for destroying those who destroy The earth." Revelation 11:17b-18 NRSV Central Truth: The role of the church in the book of Revelation is one of praise of God and reflection on what God has done. We often forget this role in the church today in favor of other modes of expression. Food for Thought: Seven Thunders - a curious thing happens and John is interrupted and told not to write down what the thunders say. Traditional Apocalyptic tradition would dictate that there must be seven different sections of seven woes. Here we see that God is not trapped by our own traditions but is powerful enough to say stop, we will move forward. C...

Theme Verse: Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God…He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead the mother sheep. - Isaiah 40:1; 11 Central Truth: Comfort is at the center of the universe. This is proven by Christ coming and living among us. God gave us comfort than and when Christ returns God will give us comfort. This is not about divine retribution. Connections with our society: Sometimes we forget how removed the history of the bible is from us. Its easy to read passages like this one from Isaiah and reduce the central theme of this scripture, "Comfort, O comfort," to a simple platitude that we mutter to each other when something bad happens. The common way we here this scripture passage today is "God works out all things for those who love the Lord," and the sad thing is that expression is scriptural as well.  Yet we reduce it to a pat on the back that mean little to nothin...

Reading Amount: 1 Peter 1:1-12 Central Verse: By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. - 1 Peter 1:3b-5 Central Truth: The hope that we have in Christ comes not from forgiveness of sins or from his death on the cross, but from the resurrection. The Resurrection has brought us into a relationship with God with eternal rewards. Food for Thought (Questions about the text): As in the case of most letters in the New Testament Peter sets up the general themes that we will see reoccurring throughout the letter. In verse two Peter writes "May Grace and peace be yours in abundance." (1 Peter 1:2 NRSV). The greeting of grace is a traditional greeting in the Roman world, the addition of the word peace i...

Who: Like all biblical books the question of who wrote the book of 1 Peter is a complicated one. Tradition has taught that the author of 1 Peter is in fact the disciple Peter. This doesn't stand without some issues that have to be faced by faithful stewards of scripture. One of the difficulties with Peter being the author is that from the Gospels we know Peter as a fisherman. It is doubtful that Peter would have been able to write this letter in the form that it is written. For instance the Greek used in 1 Peter is very 'proper' and well articulated, hardly what we would expect from a fisherman. Another difficulty is that in this letter when the Old Testament is quoted it is the Greek version of the Old Testament (the Septuagint, abbreviated LXX) that is quoted. It seems reasonably safe to assume that Peter would have quoted the scriptures in Hebrew or Aramaic because that is what he would have grown up understanding. Peter would have quoted what was comfortable and he was ...

Philippians - Who: The letter to the Philippians was written by Paul to the church in the city of Philippi. The idea of Paul being the author is not disputed much by scholars. Historically speaking the letter to the Philippians has always been considered Paul's. One of the only major problems with the text of Philippians is that some scholars feel it may have been two or three letters compiled into one. For the sake of this study I will reference the author as Paul and treat the letter as one entity as we have inherited it. What: As you may have noticed in the previous paragraph I referred to the text of Philippians as a letter. This is something of the upmost importance for us to remember. Philippians is not a book but a letter to friends and should be read as such. One of the defining themes in this letter is joy and that is to be expected in a letter between friends. My opinion is that is also why this letter is varied as much as it is. With thoughts seemingly interrupted and s...

Reading Amount: John 6:1-10:42 Central Verse: And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day…I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh. - John 6:39; 51 Central Truth: Christ has come to save all, and all means all! The intent of Jesus' mission while fraught with misunderstanding is to bring life. Food for Thought: (Questions about the text) We are to understand what Jesus says about bread and wine, flesh and blood on two levels; literally with the bread and wine and figuratively as the symbol of communion. We must allow John to challenge our understandings of communion today. John's view of communion is not the same as the other gospels and offers challenges to our preconceived notions of communion. Connections: (Time with our society) It has been easy over the last few hundre...

Reading Amount: John 2:1-5:47 Central Verse: "Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God." John 3:17-18 NRSV Food For Thought: (Questions about the text) Most of us have heard the story of Nicodemus as someone who didn't understand what Jesus was talking about. Clearly Jesus is talking about spiritual rebirth, being "born again," and Nicodemus never understands that. When a word study is done on the words Jesus uses it is clear that Jesus' intent is both physical and spiritual. We end up putting out own one sided view on it just as Nicodemus does. In John the physical, starting with Jesus' first miracle, is just as important as the spiritual. Connections: (time with our society) Most of us are intimately familiar ...

Reading Amount: John 1:1-51 Central Verse: "All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it." John 1:3-5 NRSV Central Truth: Jesus has conquered evil in the world. This is a past event that has occurred and the good news that Christ brings is still with us today. Food For Thought (Questions about the text): Gnosticism - a religious group in early Christianity who, among other things, placed the work of salvation in heaven not on earth. Based on your reading of the first chapter of John where do you think John is placing the work of salvation? What is the role of John the Baptist in the beginning of this book? Connections (Time with our society): I'm a person who loves to camp and hike when I get the opportunity. When you camp you cannot underestimate the importance of light at nigh...

Why: The book of John has always been the first book of the bible that I recommend for new Christians to read. In fact it is probably the first book of the bible that I memorized any scripture from at a young age. Of course it was the scripture "For God so Loved the World." John is the gospel that we see plastered on poster board at sporting events. However even with is primacy in those areas it is a book easily ignored in church since in our culture we seem to favor the more 'straightforward' approach of the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke). So why do I (we) suggest that Gospel of John is the first place to start? The reason is that the gospel of John is a book that doesn't let us get away from who Christ is. We are constantly brought to face the fact that Jesus is God's son and what is accomplished by his life, death and resurrection are the most important things in the world. The gospel of John keeps us grounded in our faith at the same time it al...

Reading Amount: Micah 5:1-15 Central Verse: But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, Who are one of the little clans of Judah, From you shall come forth for me One who is to rule in Israel, Whose origin is from of old, From ancient days. · Micah 5:2 Central Truth: God has, does, and will provide salvation to all people. He gave Micah a specific for his people, yet the word of God goes forth through history and shows Christ and his return. Food for Thought: (Questions about the text) This text is quoted by the wise men in Matthew as foretelling where the Messiah would be born. We must remember that when a prophecy is given in scripture it is given for the author's audience. It is over time that the prophecy continues to speak. To get the most out of prophetic scriptures it is best to try and ascertain what the meaning was for the audience and then see how it has also been interpreted through time. In this chapter the image of a shepherd is used repeatedly. This was a very common literary...

The first thing that assaulted my senses as I walked through the door was the unmistakable scent of cat urine.  The house was in almost total disarray with stacks of papers, photo albums and knick-knacks stacked everywhere.  She invited me in and asked me to sit, pointing to a chair on the other side of a table.  The table was a round picnic table that had been set on the one end of the living room.  Which was crowded with broken furniture and pictures on every available wall and end table space.  The smell in the house was almost unbearable.  I sat down looking patiently at her across this table, ducking my head from side to side to see around the various piles.  The old woman looked at me expectantly seeming to wait for me speak something profound.  As is the case most of the time when I meet someone new I wondered what was I going say?  How was I going to speak to her?  The conversation started slowly, “So how long have you lived i...

“Gonna leave the city put my troubles behind People in the city goin' out of their minds Goin' to the country just to feel like gold People in the country really let themselves go” - Steve Miller Band Training: Training for the Philadelphia half marathon was far less stressful than when I was training for my first marathon. This was largely because I knew I could complete the distance. Let’s face it I ran a full marathon the spring before. Even with that there were some marked differences in the way I trained and of course my expectations were different. For this race I used the Nike Intermediate level one training program for the half-marathon. Over all I’d say I was quite pleased with the program. The addition of speed work for me greatly helped and I have already decided that I’ll use the same program for my next half. All though from a training stand point I didn’t complete the highest mileage that it had me shoot for. I changed things as I felt my body needed and...

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” 2 Timothy 4:7 NRSV This is the first opportunity I’ve taken to write a reflection on my first Marathon experience. The process for reflections has begun at various times and it has peaked through several sermons and bible study lessons but I wanted to take the time to write of my experience and my thoughts on the race as I’m beginning to prepare for my second big race the Philadelphia half-marathon. The Beginning: The Gardenspot Marathon was quite literally the culmination of a long journey which began in the winter and spring of 2010. In the winter of 2010 Katie and I realized that we needed to lose weight and we set out to do just that. The previous year we had joined Retro Fitness gym which was a good gym but after two months our schedules exploded to a point where we couldn’t make time for the gym as easily so we stopped going. For Christmas in 2009 we bought a Wii and I purchased the Wii fit gam...

Vincent Van Gogh was born in 1853 in the Netherlands. He was born into a middle class family, with parents and relatives in the ministry. Vincent himself was leaning toward going into the ministry. Between 1860-1880 Van Gogh decided to become an artist. His artistic career is defined by two broad categories which I will simplify by calling pre-Paris, and post-Paris. His pre-Paris stage artistically was defined by a decidedly Dutch style of painting, much in the same vein as Rembrandt. Post-Paris, Van Gogh was influenced and defined by impressionists painters. Subsequent from Paris, Van Gogh experienced deteriorating mental health which resulted in his suicide at the age of 37. All the works I could find, and had time to read on Van Gogh, reflected on the artistic influence of various artist on Van Gogh’s work, as well as his love life or lack thereof. There was also a minimal reflection on his familial relationship and its influence on his art. In all the works I referenced t...

Max* had been a church member for a long time as a member of the "greatest generation," he had fought in World War II in the air force. Max had shared with me many stories about his experience in B-29 Bombers, Bombers with the name and reputation of being a "Superfortress," though there was nothing fortress like about them. Max had lived a full eighty years, a full and plentiful eighty years. He had a loving wife, dutiful daughters, and wonderful grandchildren. He was a person in the church who, unlike the B-29 Bombers he talked about, was a fortress that enabled young and old to take comfort in the refuge of his faith and strength of his character. He was father, friend, and grandfather to more people than just his genetic family. Four weeks ago, I went to visit Max at home. Max had been experiencing declining health in the last six months. Due to the health issues, he hadn't been able to attend church to receive communion with the community for far too...

It's taken me some time to finally decide to share what went on in my Board of Ordained Ministries (BOM) interview back in February. I want to make something very clear first, there were valid concerns that BOM raised, and I have no doubt that many of the individuals in that committee do care about me and my ministry, yet in my opinion there are some other forces that were at work in the interview as well. There were a number of questions in the interview that, looking back, I deem to be unfair either in the way they were spoken or in the subsequent clarification for the question. One particular question that bothered me was intended to be theological in nature, but was asked as a ministry related question. For instance (this is not the question) if someone comes to you and confesses they are cheating on their wife, what do you do? In my answer would be, while I disagree with what the individual is doing, I would try to affirm that everyone makes mistakes and even when we make...