Kill Your Darlings: Game of Thrones Revisited (a Lectionary reflection by Steve Orr)

I stopped reading after the first book.

I was told I should read them all: HBO was going to make a TV series out of it, and I would be better able to follow the story. "It" was the immensely popular series, THE GAME OF THRONES. The title refers to the endless (and often terrible) things people will do in pursuit of power; the alliances that are made (and broken); all the acts people will perform to feed their all-consuming need to rule. But I didn't stop reading for the reasons you may think. I stopped because the author kept killing off characters.

Among the foundational things writers are taught, there is a maxim ---usually credited to William Faulkner, but the practice goes back much, much further--- "Kill your darlings." It's an editorial act, eliminating the author's personal favorites; characters, usually, but it could also be elements, words, phrases, etc. The idea is that, quite often, these actually detract from the story being told, rather than supporting it. The best writers do it all the time. And it is very rare for those assassinated darlings to ever return.

I didn't stop reading THE GAME OF THRONES novels because the author was killing off his darlings, though. I stopped because he was killing off mine! He had killed off so many of my favorite characters by the end of the first novel, I couldn't go on. I have since learned from friends who continued to read the books: he kept killing them off.

I am not naive. I know that, in real life, the "game of thrones," whatever form it takes, is serious business. The desire to rule can be very intoxicating to those who "play." It's just that I believe there is someone else in the picture, someone not present in THE GAME OF THRONES novels.

As we see in this week's Lectionary selection from 1st Samuel, God is very serious about who leads His people. He expects obedience and loyalty from the one who occupies the "throne." But God is patient, as well (This is so important for us to understand for our own lives). He gives the leadership chances to get it right. True, He may already have laid His plan for who will replace the leader(s), but that is not the end of it.

In this week's scripture, God says to Samuel, "How long will you grieve over Saul? I have rejected him from being king over Israel." God then removes His spirit from Saul and bestows it on Jesse's youngest; the runt, David. But, David did not immediately ascend to the throne. In fact, God allowed Saul to occupy the throne for quite a long time after He had already decided to replace him.

The TV show, "Kings," portrayed this aspect, so well, in its Saul-like king, Silas. When informed that God had decided to replace him, Silas (portrayed by Ian McShane) did everything possible to retain the throne, including breaking even more of God's commands. Sadly, the show only lasted 13 episodes. But its retelling of the David-Saul clash (set in modern times and located in a place that looks a lot like New York City) was wonderfully done. ( http://m.imdb.com/title/tt1137462/ ). I highly recommend it.

Though not explicitly stated in scripture, it is obvious from reading it that Saul had a long time to choose true repentance (as opposed to "I'll repent so I can keep the throne"). But he did not do so. The throne meant more to Saul than his relationship with God. For Saul, the game of thrones was over. God had already decided to take the throne from him. But, for a good long while, Saul could still have chosen to relinquish the throne, with all the games surrounding it, and sought forgiveness from God for his disobedience.

“God doesn’t look at things like humans do. Humans see only what is visible to the eyes, but the LORD sees into the heart." (‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭16:7‬b ‭CEB)‬‬ God exhibits grace toward even those who have broken covenant with Him, patiently waiting, giving them a chance to repent. And therein lies the true difference between many an author of novels and the author of our salvation:

God Wants His darlings to live.
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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Fourth Sunday in Lent (March 26, 2017)
http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=27

1 Samuel 16:1-13
Psalm 23
Ephesians 5:8-14
John 9:1-41
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I hope you can join us Friday morning at Lectionary Breakfast: food, fellowship, prayer, scripture, and "a robust exchange of ideas." Continuing at the Waco, "Egg and I" restaurant, we usually get going around 8:00-ish and find it hard to leave by 9:00. It's the laughter; I blame the laughter for not sticking to the clock 😂

Oh, sure, someone's in charge, but only God is on the throne.

Blessings,
Steve

[A version of this reflection appeared three years ago about this time. I've made a few changes that I hope has improved the reading of it. The message, however, remains the same.]

Stranger in a Strange Land (a Lectionary reflection by Steve Orr)

In Robert Heinlein's STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND, the main character, Michael, is a human who was raised on Mars by Martians, and then, as an adult, comes to Earth. He grows up on a planet with very little water and then comes to a planet that is mostly water. Actual, physical, wet water is a central theme, but it also takes on a spiritual meaning quite apart from its physical form. When people on Earth give MIchael a drink of water, he considers them to be "water brothers" because they have shared water with him. He feels spiritually bound to them because, having grown up with very little of it, water has a spiritual meaning for him. The humans he meets only think of water as a physical liquid, and therein lies a lot of miscommunication.

On Earth, even though he is also human, he is truly a "stranger in a strange land."

Water. When you need it (or feel that you won't be able to get it when you need it) ... well, it's hard to think of anything else. The Lectionary scriptures, this week, are all about water: the physical kind and the spiritual kind. In Exodus, the people fear they will die for lack of water. Following God's instruction, Moses (the original stranger in a strange land) strikes a rock in front of tribal leaders and water gushes forth. But, in this week's Psalm, the event is mostly remembered as a time of complaining and testing of God; not so much for the gushing miracle.

In the gospel of John, Jesus is tired and thirsty; He breaks some taboos by asking a Samaritan woman for a drink of water. What follows is one of those conversations we often find in John where Jesus means one thing and his listener thinks he means something else. It's all about the water: but she thinks he means the wet kind, and he actually means the spiritual kind. Finally, in Romans, we're told that the reason "hope does not disappoint" is "because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us."

That's the spiritual water of which Jesus spoke.

We can't let wet water, or the lack of it, remain our focus in this life. Sure, we need it; we can't live without it. But there comes a point when, like the folks in the Samaritan village, we move from the physical to the spiritual. We must think of the spiritual water that is as essential to our souls as the physical water is to our bodies. We can't live without that spiritual water, either.

We can both drink and share that living water because it never runs out; a continuously gushing miracle that daily strengthens us for our journey.

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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Third Sunday in Lent (March 19, 2017)
http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/

Exodus 17:1-7
Psalm 95
Romans 5:1-11
John 4:5-42

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Lectionary Breakfast still meets Friday mornings at the Waco "Egg and I" restaurant. Starting at 8:00, we take the time to allow the living water to flow through us as we laugh, pray, read, discuss, and, of course, eat breakfast.

And each person gets a full glass of water.

Blessings,
Steve

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PHOTO CREDIT:
J. Alan Glennon. (2008) About Geysers, http://www.uweb.ucsb.edu/~glennon/geysers/index.htm, University of California, Santa Barbara, originally posted January 1995, updated August 9, 2008.

Under the Cloak of Darkness (a Lectionary reflection by Steve Orr)

The lights in my garage are on motion detectors.

When I step into my garage, a sensor notes my movement, connecting the power to a light. When I open the door and look into the garage, it's just a dark space. But when I actually enter the garage, it is flooded with light. That light can be a little disorienting; going from complete darkness to bright light can do that. Briefly, I'm thrown off by that light. That's eventually replaced by relief that I can see.

I like that light.

It gives me comfort. I feel confident, each time I enter the garage, that darkness will be replaced by light. It took some work to install the first motion detector and light combination, but it was worth it. So worth it, I installed motion detectors on all of the lights in the garage. Now, wherever I go in the garage, a light turns on as I approach.

We have a darkness situation in this week's Lectionary selection from the gospel of John (3:1-17). If you haven't read it, take a minute to do so, now (It includes the famously quoted John 3:16). In this passage, Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews, comes to speak with Jesus.

Under the cloak of darkness.

Nicodemus has taken a lot of criticism for waiting until dark to have this conversation with Jesus. Who knows? Maybe he had a busy day and this was the first time he had a space in his schedule. Still, even if he had a reasonable excuse, bad optics. Nicodemus looks like he has waited until dark because he doesn't want anyone telling the other Jewish leaders that he was conversing with Jesus. And ... maybe that's really the truth of it.

But here's the thing: despite any potential dangers, he came anyway.

There's a lot we could take away from this encounter between Nicodemus and Jesus. There are multiple significant matters discussed. But there is one key lesson, the one from which the others flow: Nicodemus came to Jesus.

Like my garage light, movement is required.

Peering into my garage, all one sees is darkness. It is only after taking that step into the garage that the light shines forth. If Nicodemus had not taken that step, had not come to visit Jesus that night, he might never have had the opportunity to learn about the need to be born of the Spirit.

If you want to know Jesus, you have to take that first step. You have to have faith that the light will shine forth, even under the cloak of darkness.

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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Second Sunday in Lent (March 12, 2017)
http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/

Genesis 12:1-4a
Psalm 121
Romans 4:1-5, 13-17
John 3:1-17 or Matthew 17:1-9

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Can you be with us, Friday morning? Lectionary Breakfast meets at the Waco "Egg and I" restaurant at 8:00. We invest that hour in moving closer to the Lord. We laugh, eat, pray, read scripture, and wrestle with the meaning for our daily living.

And there's plenty of light.

Blessing,
Steve

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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Second Sunday in Lent (March 12, 2017)
http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/

Genesis 12:1-4a
Psalm 121
Romans 4:1-5, 13-17
John 3:1-17 or Matthew 17:1-9

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Can you be with us, Friday morning? Lectionary Breakfast meets at the Waco "Egg and I" restaurant at 8:00. We invest that hour in moving closer to the Lord. We laugh, eat, pray, read scripture, and wrestle with the meaning for our daily living.

And there's plenty of light.

Blessing,
Steve

The Idiot and The Oddity (a Lectionary reflection by Steve Orr)

That's what we Junior High boys called them: The Idiot and The Oddity ... but never within earshot of our teacher. We thought we were hilarious, but we had enough sense to know that she was unlikely to think so.

Of course, in reality, these two stalwarts of literature are named The Iliad and The Odyssey. In Ninth Grade, we read significant portions of these two works as part of Bulfinch's Mythology. Humor aside, I actually enjoyed that portion of the year, and have retained a good bit of the story.

If you haven't read The Odyssey or seen one of the films made about it (or, perhaps, "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?"), then let me sum it up: Odysseus (otherwise known as Ulysses) and some sailors went exploring and had a lot of interesting experiences. The end.

Seriously, though, one of those experiences involved some Sirens singing a song which, legend held, led sailors to their death. Before encountering these bewitching females, Odysseus had everyone's ears sealed with wax, while having himself, open-eared, lashed to the mast. In this way, Odysseus was subjected to the temptation (stimulus) of the Sirens' song, but, despite a great desire to do so, could not respond to it. He was seduced, but his constraints kept him from succumbing to the Sirens' Song. It was a clever work-around.

We, too, can find ourselves being tempted, and perhaps hoping something will hold us back. This week's Lectionary readings are about temptation (and the consequences when one gives in).

In the Genesis and Matthew selections, Eve and Jesus are subjected to temptations, but with decidedly different outcomes. Eve was tempted by appetite (forbidden fruit was "good for food"), attraction (forbidden fruit was "a delight to the eyes") and hidden knowledge (forbidden fruit was "desirable to make one wise"). Jesus was tempted by hunger (after 40 days of fasting), ego (prove you're God's son), and wealth (possession of the world's kingdoms).

The problem with temptation is not the temptation.

Temptations are going to come our way. In that sense, neither Eve nor Jesus differs from us. Different people are tempted by different things. I think the real problem is summed up in the Psalm: "Do not be like a horse or a mule, without understanding, whose temper must be curbed with bit and bridle, else it will not stay near you." (Psalm 32:9 NRSV)

We are expected to control ourselves, regardless of the temptation.

The Roman passage clearly describes the results of both Eve's temptations and Jesus' temptations. Eve's fall led to Adam's fall (not that he put up much of a fight). By resisting the temptations piled on him by Satan, Jesus paved the way for our redemption. Jesus, in effect, "reversed the curse" resulting from Eve's (and Adam's) sin. We can now be reconciled to God because Jesus resisted Satan's temptations.

In Hebrews, it states that Jesus was tempted in every way we are, and yet, He didn't sin. And that's what we should take away from this week's Lectionary readings. Whatever they are, these things that tempt you (people, foods, gossip, ego, revenge, inappropriate sex, wealth, power, etc.), Jesus not only understands, but has withstood them.

Whatever is tempting you, Jesus is the answer.

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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
First Sunday of Lent (March 5, 2017)

Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7
Psalm 32
Romans 5:12-19
Matthew 4:1-11

Table of readings for Lent
http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/lections.php?year=A&season=Lent

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Join us Friday morning at Lectionary Breakfast. Food, fellowship, scripture, prayer, the occasional "Eureka!" and some of the best laughter you could find anywhere. Now, that is a good kind of temptation!

We start at 8:00 and begin the exodus around 9:00. We're in the back at the Waco "Egg and I" restaurant. Ask, if you don't see us.

Blessings,
Steve