BibleWorm

Episode 507 Praising the Lord (2 Samuel 5:1-5, 6:1-15, and Psalm 150)

This week BibleWorm reads a selection of texts about David’s praise of God in 2 Samuel 5:1-5 and 6:1-15 as well as Psalm 150. We talk about what it means for everything that has breath to praise the Lord and ponder the unification of all creatures that is possible when we recognize the breath within us that wishes to return to God in praise. We also pay attention to the ways David approaches praise, sometimes as a genuine reverence for God but sometimes as an apparent manipulation that seeks to coopt God into his own political and military agenda. And we discuss the story of poor Uzza, who is struck dead for trying to steady the ark of the covenant, concluding that God does not need to be protected and will not tolerate being treated carelessly. When we come into God’s presence with praise, we do something that is dangerous and powerful, and that can bring us extraordinary blessing.

Episode 506 Where You Go I Will Go (Ruth 1:1-17 and 4:13-16)

This week BibleWorm reads Ruth 1:1-17 and 4:13-17 – just the opening and closing of a book that turns all kinds of social norms on their head. That famous line “your people shall be my people, and your God shall be my God” – the one that so many people use today in weddings, is not from a wedding at all – but from the mouth of Ruth, who is refusing Naomi’s plea to go find herself a husband, and committing herself instead to her deceased husband’s mother. This text asks us – what, really, is family? And what is peoplehood? Following a theme we are seeing a lot this season, Ruth decides to just care for the life in front of her, whatever that may mean for her future. And this act, as it trickles through the generations, means very good things.

Episode 505 Listen, O Israel! (Deuteronomy 5:1-21& 6:4-9)

This week BibleWorm reads two of the foundational texts of the Hebrew Bible—the Ten Commandments in Deuteronomy 5:1-21 and the text known as the Shema in the Jewish tradition in Deuteronomy 6:4-9. We discuss the way that the Shema cuts across the cacophony of voices vying for our attention with a resounding “Listen, O Israel!,” calling us away from the voice of Pharaoh and focusing us on the one God who set us free from bondage in Egypt. We discuss the urgency of the Ten Commandments as the framework for an alternative way of life as God’s people, who love God with heart, mind, and soul and protect the integrity of the community. And we notice the repeated emphasis in this text on sharing the story across multiple generations, paying attention both to those who came before and those who will come after as we remind ourselves of what it means to truly be the people of God in the world.

Episode 504 Responding to the Call (Exodus 1:8-2:10 and 3:1-15)

This week BibleWorm reads Exodus 1:8-2:10 and 3:1-15, a text that seemed to ask us again and again – what is capturing your attention? We see just how little it takes for the situation to turn bad for the Israelites in Egypt. And in this newly roaring sea of people and power that are bent against them, we read stories of individual people who manage to incline their attention somewhere else – who manage to look at the one human being right in front of them and respond in that moment with care. Is it enough, to save that one life when it seems the world is on fire?  We can’t be the judge of that. But we sure do get the sense that what they did was urgently important. 

Episode 503 Jacob Wrestles with God (Genesis 32:9-13 & 22-30)

This week BibleWorm reads the story of Jacob’s midnight wrestle as told in Genesis 32:9-13 and 22-30. We talk about the way Jacob pauses to pray for God’s protection as he prepares to face his brother Esau, first reminding God of God’s past promises, and then asking for God to save him. We discuss the mysterious figure who appears to wrestle Jacob in the night, whom Jacob ultimately understands to have been God. We ponder what it means that Jacob wrestles this figure to a draw and wonder whether God, like the man, is challenged and even changed by wrestling with Jacob and with us. And we notice that Jacob emerges from his dark night of the soul not only with a new name and a new blessing, but also with a limp. We think about how often blessings seem to come with limps and the ways in which we, like Jacob, so often carry the marks of our struggles with us as we emerge into a new day.

Episode 502 Laughing at the Promise (Genesis 18:1-15 and 21:1-7)

This week BibleWorm reads Genesis 18:1-15 and Genesis 21:1-7 – texts that tell us of baby Isaac’s imminent, and then actual, arrival. When the three men come to Abraham and tell him that this baby will indeed be born to these two nonagenarians, Sarah famously laughs. 

We wonder what is going through Sarah’s mind and heart at this moment, and what’s in there when she denies it, and again, when that moment of laughter becomes memorialized in the name of her beloved son. Sometimes the gravitas of trying to have a relationship with the Divine makes things a little serious. But this story made us wonder - what is the role of laughter and joyful surprise in our lives of faith? 

Episode 501 Created for Relationship (Genesis 2:4b-25)

This week we begin the new season of the Narrative Lectionary with a look at the story of creation as told in Genesis 2:4b–25. We marvel at the description of an artisan God forming creation from the clay of the earth in an act of artistic improvisation. We reflect on the fundamentally relational nature of the created world in which humans are meant to be in deep relationship not only with God and each other but also with plants, animals, and the earth. And we wrestle with the concept of human partnership as a helper corresponding to us, one who stands in front of us as an equal and challenges us in healthy and productive ways.

Episode 457 ECONOMIC JUSTICE The Poor Will Always Be with You (John 12:1-8) REPLAY

This week we conclude our summer series on The Bible and Economic Justice with a text from John 12:1-8 – not such an obvious text for economic justice, but a really important and challenging one.  How do we hold together Mary’s extravagance toward Jesus with  our moral and practical obligation to use our resources to care for the poor? This text invites us to explore the human need to express a sense of awe and transcendence, and to ask – if we humans could stop amassing resources to ourselves, could we create this beautiful reality of abundance instead of scarcity, where we could give to God and give to each other?

Episode 456 ECONOMIC JUSTICE The Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:7-15) REPLAY

This week BibleWorm continues our series on the Bible and Economic Justice with Matthew 6:7-15, a text known in the Christian tradition as the Lord’s prayer. As we read the prayer through the lens of economic justice, we begin to realize that that Jesus is calling his followers toward a life of simple trust in God. We ask enough food for today, we promise to forgive the debts of our neighbors, we ask to kept away from the temptation of plenty. In this way, Jesus says, God’s name is made holy. In this way God’s kingdom will come to earth—here and now, among us. We don’t need to ask for more, Jesus says, because God already knows this is all we need.

Episode 455 ECONOMIC JUSTICE The Eye of the Needle (Luke 4:16-21 and 18:18-30) REPLAY

This week BibleWorm continues our series on Economic Justice in the Bible with Luke 4:16-21 and 18:18-30. Why does Jesus tell this man that he needs to sell everything he owns? That’s an awfully high bar. And why is that even harder to do when you are wealthy? We consider the sense of safety and independence that money and material resources offer us, and the ways in which that can block us from ever really, truly needing to trust God or each other. We see the Kingdom of God envisioned here as a life of complete interdependence and mutual responsibility. But boy, do we live in the tension of what this text calls us to do and what we are ready and able to do today.