Opossum Screed: January 2018

What in God's Name?

Apologies for my voice (or lack thereof)....

Anyone who does not heed the words that the prophet shall speak in my Name, I myself will hold accountable. But any prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, or who presumes to speak in my Name a word that I have not commanded the prophet to speak—that prophet shall die.

—Deuteronomy 18:19-20

Every once in a while, I’ll mess up and call Matt Youngkin Matthew. That’s always a mistake, because his name’s not Matthew, it’s just Matt. And I, of all people, should know that.

I shouldn’t know that because I’m the minister. I should know that because that’s exactly what people are always doing to me. You see, I am Sam. Now, I know this, because I have a print hanging in my office of a creature doffing a hat, standing on the back of some strange beast, carrying a sign which tells me that I am Sam.

I bought this print of the front page of a book by Dr. Seuss called Green Eggs and Ham for a reason; and that reason is that I am, in fact, Sam.

I know I shouldn’t have to remind myself of that. But I do. The world seems to conspire against me to tell me that I am not who I say I am. Everybody wants to call me Samuel. And when I was younger and less sure of who I was, I would sometimes let them. My diplomas all said that I was Samuel, and to this day the United Methodist Church’s pension board still thinks that I’m Samuel. But I am Sam. Just Sam.

Years ago, I might have given in.

Worship at His Footstool

PSALM OF THE DAY 1255.5.3.2

Let us go to his dwelling place; let us worship at his footstool.

—Psalm 132

Calmed & Quieted

PSALM 1255.5.3.1

O Lord, my heart is not lifted up, my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.

But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; my soul is like the weaned child that is with me.

O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time on and forevermore.

—Psalm 131

My Soul Waits

PSALM OF THE DAY 1255.5.2.37

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning, more than those who watch for the morning.

—Psalm 130:5-6

Out of the Depths

PSALM OF THE DAY 1255.5.2.36

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications

—Psalm 130:1-2

A Collect for This Sunday

Almighty and everlasting God, you govern all things both in heaven and on earth: Mercifully hear the prayers of your people, and in our time grant us your peace; through Jesus Christ our Sovereign. Amen.

—adapted from the Book of Common Prayer

The Cords of the Wicked

PSALM OF THE DAY 1255.5.2.35

The Lord is righteous; he has cut the cords of the wicked.

—Psalm 129:4

Happy Is Everyone Who Fears the Lord

PSALM OF THE DAY 1255.5.2.34

Happy is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways.

—Psalm 128:1

Pastoral Prayer for the Third Sunday after Epiphany

We thank you, O God, for your creation and our place in it.
We thank you that the cycles of the earth
provide not only for our sustenance, but also for our enjoyment.
And as we think about the cycles of life,
guide us to think about our own lives—
both the stability and the changes,
our victories and defeats, our hopes and our fears.

You bring our paths together on Sundays

Unless the Lord Builds the House

PSALM OF THE DAY 1255.5.2.33

Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord guards the city, the guard keeps watch in vain.

—Psalm 127:1

All in a Day's Work

Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.

—Mark 1:17

What did you want to be when you grew up? That answer changed as we got older, and for a lot of people, even the answer we gave at age 18 wasn’t what we became. Indeed, a lot of people change careers several times even as adults.

But what are you called to do?

Being called by God to do something is really a far cry from simply wanting to be something when you grow up. Look at today’s two scripture readings. In the first, we have the prophet Jonah. We don’t know whether Jonah wanted to be a prophet or not, but we do know that when God called on him to go to Nineveh, he tried his best to say No. God’s call had to be reïnforced by the belly of a whale before Jonah would accept his new vocation. And in the other reading, we see four fishermen who encounter Jesus. Jesus calls on them to leave their jobs and follow him. And they do. A biblical call is often quite spectacular, as we see in both of today’s scripture readings. Five individuals all know they have been called.

With Shouts of Joy

PSALM OF THE DAY 1255.5.2.32

Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves.

—Psalm 126:6

Like Those Who Dream

PSALM OF THE DAY 1255.5.2.31

When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream.

—Psalm 125:1

As the Mountains Surround Jerusalem

PSALM OF THE DAY 1255.5.2.30

As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people, from this time on and forevermore.

—Psalm 125:2

Our Help Is in the Name

PSALM OF THE DAY 1255.5.2.29

Our help is in the Name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

—Psalm 124:8

Our Eyes Look to the Lord

PSALM OF THE DAY 1255.5.2.28

As the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, until he has mercy upon us.

—Psalm 123:2

The Peace of Jerusalem

PSALM OF THE DAY 1255.5.2.27

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: May they prosper who love you.

—Psalm 122:6

Forevermore

PSALM OF THE DAY 1255.5.2.26

The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time on and forevermore.

—Psalm 121:8

Nazareth Is Big Enough

Can anything good come out of Nazareth? —John 1:46

I. O Lord, It’s Hard to Be Humble

The Gospel According to John isn’t exactly light reading. Of the four gospels, it is probably the heaviest, the most theological, the deepest. I don’t know anybody who’d characterize it as in any way funny. Take the prologue, for instance. In the beginning was the word. And the word was with God. And the word was God. Wow, now that’s some deep stuff. Or later, in chapter 6, when we get to John’s account of the Feeding of the Five Thousand. It’s a story found in all four gospels. But only John records Jesus as saying, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

And so when I get to lighthearted moments in John, I feel a bit like Robert Frost’s little horse when the poet stops by woods on a snowy evening. You know the one—He gives his harness bells a shake to ask if there is some mistake. I can’t imagine that when John wrote the story of Jesus meeting Nathanael, he wasn’t chuckling at how we’d read it in the 21st century. But maybe he really wasn’t trying to be funny.

Here’s what I’m talking about.

He Who Keeps Israel

PSALM OF THE DAY 1255.5.2.25

He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

—Psalm 121:4

I Lift Up My Eyes to the Hills

PSALM OF THE DAY 1255.5.2.24

I lift up my eyes to the hills—from where will my help come?My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

—Psalm 121:1-2

In My Distress

PSALM OF THE DAY 1255.5.2.23

In my distress I cry to the Lord, that he may answer me.

—Psalm 120:1

Like a Lost Sheep

PSALM OF THE DAY 1255.5.2.22

I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek out your servant, for I do not forget your commandments.

—Psalm 119:176

Great Peace

PSALM OF THE DAY 1255.5.2.21

Great peace have those who love your law; nothing can make them stumble.

—Psalm 119:165

Life According to Your Justice

PSALM OF THE DAY 1255.5.2.20

Great is your mercy, O Lord; give me life according to your justice.

—Psalm 119:156

Rise Before Dawn

PSALM OF THE DAY 1255.5.2.19

I rise before dawn and cry for help; I put my hope in your words.

—Psalm 119:147

Another Road (Communion Variation)

We’ve all played telephone at some point in our lives—you know, that game where there’s a line of people (usually kids) and the person at one end whispers a message in the ear of the person beside them, and they whisper it to the next person and so on. The person at the opposite end of the line gets to announce out loud the message they have received. It’s seldom the same as it started out.

And so it is with many stories from the Bible. They start out one way—which is usually their written form—but end up as something very different. And I think the best example of this odd game of scripture telephone is the story at the beginning of the second chapter of Matthew’s gospel. It’s a story that really catches our fancy, but the story we tell ourselves isn’t necessarily the story that’s in the Bible.

For example, there’s nothing in the story that refers to the men who visited Jesus as kings.

Small & Despised

PSALM OF THE DAY 1255.5.2.18

I am small and despised, yet I do not forget your precepts.

—Psalm 119:141

Another Road (Word Variation)

We’ve all played telephone at some point in our lives—you know, that game where there’s a line of people (usually kids) and the person at one end whispers a message in the ear of the person beside them, and then they whisper it to the next person and so on and so forth. The person at the opposite end of the line gets to announce out loud the message they have received. It’s seldom the same as it started out.