The Audience of God Revisited (a Steve Orr Lectionary reflection)

High up in the church’s choir loft stood a large, combined choir composed of folks from several local churches and from churches as far away as Fort Worth and Dallas; well-dressed men and women; dark suits, white shirts and ties, colorful scarves, long black dresses.

We, the audience, had come from all across the United States to hear this choir sing, to see Dr. James Abbington lead, to absorb gospel standards and other pieces of black sacred music, to have our souls refreshed.

To the surprise of most, Dr. Abbington asked us, the audience, to become part of the show. Dr. Abbington changed the dynamic. He wanted us to sing.

Us. The audience.

I marveled at this. He seemed so certain we would just do as he said. What made him think we, the audience, would agree to this? Shouldn’t we be on the receiving end of all this?

But we did what he told us to do. Belting out such well known gospel greats as "Oh Happy Day," "Marching to Zion," and "Every Praise (is to Our God)." Song after song, we sang.

I wondered if this was just a thing he liked to do, the way some rock stars like to tilt the microphone toward the audience so they can chime in on some parts. Maybe this was just his way.

But then he said something that put it all in perspective: "According to Kierkegaard, in church, God is the only audience; we are all participants in the worship."

While I think I have long had a similar understanding of worship, I've never heard it said quite that way: God is the only audience. I guess that might be debated. But one thing is not debatable, God is certainly the only audience that matters.

Moses forgot this.

In this week’s Deuteronomy selection, God shows Moses the Promised Land ... and then reminds Moses that he will not be entering it.

All because Moses forgot just who was the most important audience.

At one pivotal juncture in their journey through the wilderness, angered at the bickering Israelites, Moses struck the rock with his staff to get the water they needed. In doing so, he disobeyed God's instruction to get that water by speaking to the rock. And he paid the price.

Afterwords, GOD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you didn’t trust me, didn’t treat me with holy reverence in front of the People of Israel, you two aren’t going to lead this company into the land that I am giving them.” (‭Numbers‬ ‭20‬:‭12‬ MSG)

We are not, in fact, the audience.

No matter where we sit or stand in the house of meeting, when we act as though we or someone else is the audience, we forget a basic truth about worship.

God is the only audience.
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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Proper 25 (30) (October 29, 2017)
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu//

Deuteronomy 34:1-12
Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17
Leviticus 19:1-2, 15-18
Psalm 1
1 Thessalonians 2:1-8
Matthew 22:34-46

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When I first wrote about this in 2014, I had just attended an extraordinary gathering of academics, at Baylor University, committed to the study of and preservation of Black Gospel Music. The concert we came to hear —and ended up participating in— was the capstone of that conference. It’s pretty much impossible to sing Gospel and not feel close to God. What a blessing that was.
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Photo from First Baptist Chiricahua, Atlanta: http://fbcatlanta.org/get-connected/sample-page/

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I hope you can join us Friday morning for Lectionary Breakfast. We meet in the Function Room of the Waco “Egg and I” Restaurant (8:00-9:00).

No one will ask you to sing 😱

Blessings,
Steve

Coin Trick (a Steve Orr Lectionary reflection)

The magician thumbed the coin up into the air. All eyes carefully followed its journey up ... and as it tumbled down. At the last possible moment, he caught it, flipped his hand, and slammed his palm onto the table.

“Heads or tails?” he called out.

The boast of the magician was that, without knowing in advance which side of the coin the audience volunteer would name, he would be able to produce a match, and keep doing so for multiple times.

The volunteer from the audience, having carefully watched the entire process, replied with, “tails.”

When the magician lifted his hand, there was the coin. But, to the surprise of us all, it was neither heads nor tails: the coin was balanced on its edge.

Seeming surprised and mystified by the outcome, the magician apologized and then, leaving that first coin on its edge, repeated the sequence with a second coin ... only to have the second coin end on edge, as well.

He kept repeating the trick, each time adding a coin to the growing collection, all standing on their edges.

Eventually, we got it: the trick wasn’t whether the magician could force a heads or tail each time to match what the volunteer declared. It was that he could make the coins “land” on their edges and keep them that way as he added to their number.

It was a really nifty coin trick.

Everyone knows, of course, that there are two sides to a coin. We can flip it over and over: obverse or reverse, front or back, heads or tails. But few of us stop to think about that third side of the coin: the edge. In a way, it’s that aspect Jesus explored when he was confronted in this week’s Matthew passage.

Those who wished Jesus harm showed up with what they believed was a sure-fire way to get Him in trouble. Knowing full well how negatively the Jewish people regarded their Roman conquerors, they reasoned they could trip up Jesus with a "can't win" question.

Should the people pay the Roman tax?

They figured that, no matter which answer He gave, there would be trouble for Jesus. If He said, "Yes," then he would fall out of favor with the Jewish people. And, if He said, "No," they could report him to the Romans as one who was preaching sedition. Then the Romans would solve their Jesus problem for them.

Of course, they had no idea who they were up against. Fully aware of their nefarious intent, Jesus asks them to show him a coin. He then poses a simple question: "Whose image and inscription is stamped on this?" I can just see those guys, scratching their heads, wondering just what Jesus is up to, starting to feel a little nervous, but, in the end, remaining confident in their ploy. After all, how bad could it be? The answer was clear, and they gave it: Caesar's!

And that's when he does it, turns things on their edge, makes everyone look at the third side of the coin. He confounds them by instructing them to "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and give to God what is God's."

Brilliant!

Most of us, though, like those who asked the question, miss the point. We, like they, think this confrontation was about taxes and choosing sides in a conflict. We've missed the third side of the coin, so to speak. Look back at the scenario. It's clear what belongs to Caesar in that encounter: it has his imprint on it. But what about the second part of what Jesus says? What is it that should be given to God?

The answer?

Us.

We bear the imprint and inscription of God.

God wants us.

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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Proper 24 (29) (October 22, 2017)
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu//

Exodus 33:12-23
Psalm 99
Isaiah 45:1-7
Psalm 96:1-9, (10-13)
1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
Matthew 22:15-22

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The air is crispy cool this late in the year, even in Texas. So, pull on a jacket or sweater Friday morning and join us at the Waco “Egg and I” Restaurant for Lectionary Breakfast. We start at 8:00-ish and try to wrap things up around 9:00. We’re meeting in their function room: entrance around the side and near the back. Ask for the DaySpring group if you can’t find us.

Blessings,
Steve
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1. An untitled version of this reflection was circulated in October 2011.
2. Photo from: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=a-50MIDkzKc

There is No Plan B (a Steve Orr Lectionary reflection)

There was never a Plan B.

This week's Lectionary reading from Isaiah is all about Plan A. It clearly states that God will provide for the needy and will handle the enemy. In fact, handle the enemy so handily that potential enemies will respect God's power and then leave God's people unscathed.

That was always the plan, you know ... that God would be the one to deal with the Israel's enemies. It was Plan A.

There was never a Plan B.

From the get go, God told the Israelites He would deliver them from Pharaoh, would "go before" them, would provide for their needs, would "drive out" the peoples living in the Promised Land so the Children of Israel could then occupy it. Over and over, God promised Plan A.

Of course, if you are any student of the Bible, you know things didn't turn out quite as planned. But who changed?

For some reason, we humans keep insisting there must be a Plan B ... the plan we come up with that is not God's plan. Why do we do that?

Jacob's descendants kept insisting they knew better than God; their Plan B. They kept returning to the worship of the Egyptian gods. [See this week’s Exodus passage] So, God kept reminding them that it was He who brought them out of Egypt. Then, they constantly complained because God's provision was not always self-evident. God reminded them, through Moses, that He would provide for them ... and then sent a daily sufficiency of quail and "manna." They complained when they became worried about water. They fought battles to take the Promised Land. They wanted a king of their own. It never seemed to end.

God used miraculous means to accomplish these things: divided a sea, dropped food from the sky, spilled a stream of water from a rock, sent a cloudy pillar to lead them by day and a fiery pillar to lead them by night. And yet, year by year, they moved further and further away from God's plan. Oh, God kept trying to move them back to Plan A, but the Israelites were resistant.

God kept trying to keep their hearts pointed at Him. When they went to battle without His approval, they lost. When their King disobeyed, God replaced that king with His own choice. Even God's prophets kept reminding them of Plan A: trust God for your needs and trust Him to handle your enemies.

When Jesus conducted His Earthly ministry, He, too, kept pointing them back to God's Plan A: love you enemies and pray for them, trust God with your concerns. [See this week's Philippians passage] Instead of filling our minds with things like revenge, He points us to the best thoughts; the kinds of thoughts we can think all day every day ... if we're not busy planning the downfall of our enemies!

And, as much as we might think we would be justified in doing so, we cannot point a finger at the Children of Israel. We, too, are trying to live our own "Plan B." And, there is something else we share with the Children of Israel.

Like them, we, too, can always choose to follow Plan A.

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A version of this reflection appeared in prior years as “Plan A.”

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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Proper 23 (28) (October 15, 2017)
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu//

Exodus 32:1-14
Psalm 106:1-6, 19-23
Isaiah 25:1-9
Psalm 23
Philippians 4:1-9
Matthew 22:1-14
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Photo: Stephen Orr