BibleWorm

Episode 618 Christmas Eve SPECIAL EPISODE (Luke 2:1-20)

On this special Christmas Eve episode we’re discussing the birth of Jesus as told in Luke 2:1-20. We talk about the imperial setting of this story, which takes place during the reigns of Augustus, Herod, and Quirinius but announces the good news of a different lord and savior who brings peace to all rather than to the few. We ponder the way that the message makes its way into the world—through an unwed mother, a band of shepherds, and an assortment of people who happen to be awake in the middle of the night—leaving the official power structures unaware of the fact that the world has been fundamentally changed. And we talk about how this story challenges us to pay attention to who we listen to, where we look for good news, and what divine announcements we might sleep through because we’ve gotten too comfortable. Merry Christmas, y’all.

Episode 617 The Annunciation of Mary (Luke 1:26-56)

This week we’re reading Luke 1:26-46, the annunciation of Mary and the Magnificat. In this biblical version of the Bechtel test, we find two women, Mary and her older relative Elizabeth, as the only two people on earth who know that God is in the process of upending the world. We marvel at the strength of young Mary, who doesn’t flinch when the angel Gabriel tells her she will give birth to the messiah. And we ponder the wisdom of Elizabeth who, filled with the Holy Spirit, is able to see beyond the social taboos of a pregnant teenager to recognize that the woman standing before her is the mother of God. We read Mary’s words, “My soul magnifies the Lord,” and we wonder…what do our souls magnify? And how can we recognize the subtle work of God happening right before our eyes?

Episode 616 God's Spirit Is Upon Me (Isaiah 61:1-11)

This week, we read the beautiful and inspiring language of Isaiah 61 – a chapter that made us think about the work and the power of restoring human dignity. We saw in this chapter a call to care for both emotional and physical needs – to attend to people in their wholeness. We were reminded that once people remember their own beauty and dignity, they just might not need someone else to rebuild their community for them; they may be ready and able to do it for themselves. And in this moment where many of us may be feeling powerless in the face of systems gone awry, we couldn’t miss the message about the power of the word, the prophet, the preacher, in setting things right. 

Episode 615 Rend Your Hearts (Joel 2:12-29)

This week we’re reading Joel 2:12-29, a text most familiar from the Christian celebration of Pentecost as remembered in Acts 2. Read in context, though, Joel is about God promising to restore the land after it has been devastated by a plague of locusts, not only bringing an abundance of grain but also pouring out the Spirit on young and old alike. But now, before the restoration, in the midst of the devastation, God says, “Even now, return to me, with fasting, with weeping, and with sorrow.” Before the spirit can be poured out, our hearts must be torn open. Before the blessing comes the weeping. Even now, says the Lord. Even now. 

Episode 614 Daniel in the Lions' Den

This week we read Daniel 6:1-27. It's the very well-known story of Daniel in the lion’s den, but it seems much more complicated now than it did in that picture book from childhood. How exactly do we hold the power of a king – that's real power! -- alongside the power of God – which is also real? Daniel’s special touch seems to lie in his willingness to engage with both, and precisely not to force them into opposition with each other. When push comes to shove, which it does, his feet are firm in his orientation toward God ... NOT his orientation against the king. We see so many connections to Solomon’s speech at the inauguration of the Temple, and to the theme of writing – that new technology of its time that we’ve been turning over for weeks. Oh, and we manage to make not one, not two, but three references to TV shows from our childhood.

Episode 613 Written on Your Hearts (Jeremiah 36:1-16, 21-28 & 31:31-34)

This week we’re reading a set of texts from the book of Jeremiah, beginning in 36:1-16 and 21-28 and then continuing in 31:31-34. Together these texts tell of Jeremiah’s written prophecy, read by his scribe Baruch in the Temple, calling the people to repentance. But when King Jehoiachim hears of the prophecy, he cuts it to shreds and tosses it into the fire. In Jeremiah 31, God responds by promising to inscribe the Torah on the hearts of the people, where it will not be forgotten…and where it can’t be destroyed by the king. We reflect on the nature of the written Torah, which is vulnerable to the whimsy of the king, whether by being burned in fire or being so twisted by interpretation that it becomes a text of violence rather than a text of justice. In this day and age, we think, it is imperative to keep the Torah written on our hearts, to remember the true Torah that calls us to care for the most vulnerable, no matter what the king may try to tell us. 

Episode 612 Here I Am Send Me! (Isaiah 6:1-13)

This week, we read Isaiah 6:1-13 – definitely an MVP candidate in both the Jewish and Christian communities. We wonder – what can we learn from the way that the seraphim offer praise, and what would it feel like to be a human in the middle of this scene? It’s tempting to stop reading after Isaiah tells God “Send me” – we just want to dwell in the beauty of that moment. but what happens next is important. Are we willing to hear that not every True Word is a word of hope, at least in the short term? If so, how can we help each other persevere through dark times when they are inevitable? 

Episode 611 Jonah and the Compassion of God (Jonah 1:1-17; 3:1-10; and 4:1-11)

This week we’re reading the story Jonah as told in the book of Jonah chapters 1, 3, & 4. The story opens with God sending Jonah to prophesy against Israel’s greatest enemy, the Assyrians, in their capital city of Nineveh. Jonah at first runs away from God, preferring to take his chances in the sea, where he is famously saved by spending three days in the belly of a fish. But when Jonah finally does make it to Nineveh, speaking only the minimum words of prophecy, the city undergoes a massive repentance, from the king to the cows, evoking the mercy of God, who decides not to destroy them. What might this story tell us about God’s compassion toward our own enemies, we wonder. Are there people that we, like Jonah, wish God would not be merciful to? And what small word might God be asking us to say to our enemies so that they, too, might experience God’s compassion? 

Episode 610 Elijah and the Widow of Zarephath (1 Kings 17:1-24)

This week, we read 1Kings 17:1-24, and meet the larger-than-life figure of Elijah. How should we understand his boldness – is he a man of God who has taken things into his own hands, kind of gone rogue ... or is he so tied into God’s ideals that he is willing to inhabit them even when they are an awkward fit for the world of humans? And what does it mean this Bold Figure to leave from the presence of the King only to immediately become more vulnerable than the most vulnerable person in society. What does it mean for this widow who is nearly starved to death to be in a position to care for him? 

Episode 609 Dedicating the Temple (1 Kings 5:1-6; 8:22-30, 41-43, 52-60a)

This week we’re reading the story of Solomon dedicating the Temple as told in 1 Kings 5:1-6; 8:22-30, 41-43, and 52-60a. We talk about the task of temple building and the tension that comes with trying to create containers for the uncontainable God, whether that be the sanctuaries we build or the services we design to control our interactions with God. But ultimately we realize, along with Solomon, that it’s not the container that matters but the prayer itself, the mutual listening between God and humankind that makes all things possible. Solomon appeals to the witness of the ancestors but also asks that his own prayers remain near to God so that God will deal rightly with the people in the future. What if our prayers linger before God, too, we wonder. Whose ancestors are we, and how will shape their relationship with God in the days and years to come?