The Final Exam (By Steve Orr)

Does this ring a bell? Or, perhaps you still have bad dreams like this? All through the academic period, the instructor lectures on many, many topics. Then, the day comes for the final exam and . . . Wait. What's all this? You sit in absolute shock as you read question after question on topics you only vaguely recall. If at all. Your beleaguered brain cries out, "How can this be?!"

You took notes. You underlined and highlighted. You studied. You even joined a study group. Other people know stuff, right?!

There was so much material. Books-full. Months worth. Lecture after lecture. But, of course, exams only cover a small portion of the possible material. You spent so much time on stuff that, in the end, didn't help you on the Final Exam.

Oh! If only there had been some way to peek inside that teacher's head and find out what HE thought was most important. This day would be different. You would have invested your time on the stuff that counted. You would have spent absolute loads of time on that stuff. You would have made sure you would pass the final exam.

But here you are, at the end, and you know---you know---you're going to flunk this exam.

The good news? Most of us have finished our formal education and we don't have to worry about final exams. At least not this kind. More good news: the final Final Exam is still in the future for us. And, I managed to get a peek at it. I was surprised at what wasn't on it.

From Matthew‬ ‭25‬:‭31-46‬ (The Message)

“When he finally arrives, blazing in beauty and all his angels with him, the Son of Man will take his place on his glorious throne. Then all the nations will be arranged before him and he will sort the people out, much as a shepherd sorts out sheep and goats, putting sheep to his right and goats to his left.

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what’s coming to you in this kingdom. It’s been ready for you since the world’s foundation. And here’s why: I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me a drink, I was homeless and you gave me a room, I was shivering and you gave me clothes, I was sick and you stopped to visit, I was in prison and you came to me.’

“Then those ‘sheep’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?’ Then the King will say, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.’

“Then he will turn to the ‘goats,’ the ones on his left, and say, ‘Get out, worthless goats! You’re good for nothing but the fires of hell. And why? Because— I was hungry and you gave me no meal, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was homeless and you gave me no bed, I was shivering and you gave me no clothes, Sick and in prison, and you never visited.’

“Then those ‘goats’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or homeless or shivering or sick or in prison and didn’t help?’ “He will answer them, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you failed to do one of these things to someone who was being overlooked or ignored, that was me—you failed to do it to me.’ “Then those ‘goats’ will be herded to their eternal doom, but the ‘sheep’ to their eternal reward.” (‭Matthew‬ ‭25‬:‭31-46‬ MSG)

Let's see now, is that all? Food for the hungry; drinkable water for the thirsty, shelter for the homeless, clothing for those who need it, remembering and visiting those who are ill and those who are in prison. It seems like there should be a LOT of other stuff (choose your news story . . . each one is important to someone).

But, who am I to argue with the Teacher?

The End of the Story (a Lectionary reflection by Steve Orr)

A while back, a young man got very excited about something he believed would revolutionize the work he did. That's not unusual, especially for young people. In this case, the "something" was a new level of computer animation. This young animator was so excited about this new animation idea he pitched it to his manager as something the company should do.

He was fired.

The reason? His boss told him it was because he was “screwing around with crazy ideas instead of doing his job.” End of story. Or so we might assume.

But IS that really the end of the story? People get fired every day, sometimes justly and sometimes otherwise. For the person freshly terminated from the working world, it certainly FEELS like it's the end. Still, as those of us who have been around a while have learned, what seems like the end of a person's story is really the beginning of another chapter.

In the case of our young animator, though disappointed in his company's response to his recommendation for change, he was not done. He went looking for more receptive ears . . . and he found them.

In the person of Steve Jobs.

Soon, he was at the center of that revolution in animation. And before long, he was a producer with such hits under his belt as Toy Story and Finding Nemo. They say that one man's trash is another man's treasure. In this case, it was Disney's trash that became Pixar's treasure.

But even THAT isn't the end of the story. When Disney later acquired Pixar, that former employee returned to Disney and became head of Disney’s animation.

In this week's Lectionary selections, we get to see a couple chapters in the story of King Saul and (future King) David. There were some dark times; scary situations with adversaries, rejection by the King. There were even worse times ahead, but God's story for David had many more chapters to go. Still, despite how bad things got, David maintained his confidence in God. And, as we are privileged to know since we can read David's entire story in scripture, God honored David's faith.

Our lives come in seasons and our stories are told in chapters. Be patient. Allow the time for God's plan to unfold. You never know what is just around the corner.
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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/
Proper 7 (12) (June 21, 2015)

1 Samuel 17:(1a, 4-11, 19-23), 32-49
Psalm 9:9-20
or
1 Samuel 17:57-18:5, 18:10-16
Psalm 133
Job 38:1-11
Psalm 107:1-3, 23-32
2 Corinthians 6:1-13
Mark 4:35-41
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We have such a nice time each Friday morning at our Lectionary Breakfast gathering. If you're in the area, join us for a great start to your weekend. The food is tasty and the fellowship cannot be matched. We still meet at 8:00 at the Waco "Egg and I" restaurant, corner of New Road and Franklin, in the center near Outback.

Enjoy the week!
Steve

Triple Crown (a Lectionary reflection by Steve Orr)

There are thousands of horse races every year, all across the planet. And while several countries have Triple Crown competitions, it is the U.S. Triple Crown that the world follows in the media. Many of us recently thrilled at American Pharaoh's win at the Belmont Stakes. Having already won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, the Belmont win made American Pharaoh the 12th Triple Crown winner in U.S. history, and ended a 37 year drought.

It's a competitive sport; and Thoroughbred Racing, though a smaller subset, is the most competitive part of that sport. Riders and horses train intensely for a period of years. Before the Derby, several horses are considered favorites. But when the Preakness is run, the Derby winner is the most favored horse in the race. The other riders know they must outperform the Derby winner if they are going to take the Preakness. And should the same horse win both the Derby and the Preakness, the competition for the Belmont is intensified by magnitudes.

Like all competitors, the owners, trainers, and jockeys understand that, regardless of the horse's physical abilities, they must win the mental competitions before the physical ones. For sake of discussion, let's call those mental competitions "races."

RACE ONE - Recognizing that there is a greater performance level: I like that Robert Browning quote for this "...a man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?" The competitor must understand there is a gap between where s/he is and the greater performance level.

RACE TWO - Recognizing that there is a challenge to seek that greater performance level: Simply knowing there is a greater performance level isn't enough to bring about a win. The competitor must desire it and work toward it. They must accept the challenge.

RACE THREE - Recognizing there is a means to accept that challenge & bridge the gap through instruction and preparation: In short, it's a process and you have to start somewhere. Why not start with an instructor/trainer who is best qualified to lead you where you need to be in order to win? This is where the real work begins.

But wouldn't it all seem a bit absurd if people raced alongside those horses? Strange as that sounds, God calls us to do just that. This week's Lectionary selection from Mark 4 has within it a reference to a challenge in place between humans and God: how some people can understand enough of God's ways to rise above, to bridge the gap between God and humans, to be able to be imitators of God in their dealings with other humans.

Responding to Jeremiah's complaints that good things keep happening to bad people, God says, "If you have raced with men on foot, and they have wearied you, how will you compete with horses?" (Jeremiah 12:5 English Standard Version) God uses a proverbial expression to help Jeremiah understand that his complaining reflects spiritually immaturity. There is more, much more, that God needs from Jeremiah. He really is calling for the young prophet to step up to a higher level, to "compete with the horses." But if he can't handle the day-to-day, then how will he handle larger truths? It's RACE ONE.

Jesus raised the very same concept when he asked "If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?" (‭John‬ ‭3‬:‭12‬ NKJV). Jesus is tossing down the gauntlet, issuing the challenge to seek the higher things. They need to accept the challenge to be more than they are. RACE TWO.

Finally, in this week's selection (Mark 4:33-34), we see that Jesus spent much of his ministry speaking in parables, and only in parables, to most of his audiences. Why? Because it's what "they were able to hear..." BUT, to those He had challenged, to those whom He expected to strive for that greater spiritual maturity, his disciples, "he explained everything in private."

We are called to be more, to know more, to do more; but we are not expected to just arrive there. Nor are we expected to strive toward that alone. Just as did Jesus' disciples, we have an instructor who will explain to us so that we may, in turn, help others to understand. RACE THREE.

The race is on. Are you in it?
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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/

Proper 6 (11) (June 14, 2015)
1 Samuel 15:34 - 16:13
Psalm 20
Ezekiel 17:22-24
Psalm 92:1-4, 12-15
2 Corinthians 5:6-10, (11-13), 14-17
Mark 4:26-34
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Eric is away this week, so the mice will play! :-) Please join our Lectionary Breakfast group Friday morning at 8:00. We're still at the Waco "Egg and I" restaurant and it's still the best hour of the day.

Enjoy the week!
Steve

Thank You, Todd Rundgren (a Lectionary reflection by Steve Orr)

The behind the scenes tour of Atlanta's CNN was fascinating; seeing how the "news" gets made. The highlight was the few minutes we spent on the Headline News set during the LIVE broadcast of "Morning Express with Robin Meade." We sat quietly at a table just out of camera range. All about us, people were active at work stations doing, I supposed, something in support of that broadcast. I spent most of the time looking back and forth between the live actors and the monitors posted in the work stations.

And that's when I saw it.

Scrawled in someone's large script on a white board section of one of the work stations was the name: Todd Rundgren. Do you know him? Todd has been continuously making music since the early 1970's. Probably best known in recent years for his catchy tune, Bang the Drum All Day ("I don't wanna work! I just wanna bang on the drum all day!"), seeing his name on that board immediately brought to mind one of his lesser known (but actually better) tunes, Mighty Love.

In that latter song---a great, thumping, toe-tapping piece of music---Todd and crew contrast lesser love (in this case, what the Greeks referred to as “Eros”; romantic love) with a lasting, mighty love. The song recounts how the lesser love does not last, even though deeply sworn and strongly intended, because, as the song says, “that’s the way love goes.”

But what kind of love IS "a mighty love"?

With events like the Genesis flood firmly planted in the histories of almost all peoples, and the record of the Red Sea drowning Pharaoh’s army, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that later Biblical writers came to use phrases like “mighty waters,” “many waters,” “great waters,” and “deep waters” as a kind of metaphor for serious trouble.We see them using that phrase in the Psalms and the prophecies on a regular basis; even in the Song of Solomon. It always refers to big trouble, overwhelming trouble, the kind of trouble you really can’t get out of by yourself, the kind of trouble that just might be the end of you. Mighty waters.

But there is a countering force to mighty waters.

Now, as some of you are old enough to recall, Todd Rundgren is not known as a “Christian” singer; you won’t find his music listed on any of the “Christian top 40.” But, as with some other “secular” performers ---like The Pretenders on “I’ll Stand By You,” Anne Murray on “You Needed Me,” Josh Grogan on “You Raise Me Up,” and Carole King on “Way Over Yonder”--- he sometimes strays into deeply spiritual territory … if only we have the “ears to hear.” And I think we can put on our spiritual ears and hear that Todd Rundgren’s “mighty love” is actually what the Greeks called “Agape,” an unconditional love, one that always acts in our best interest, one that lasts; or, as one of my professors put it: “love, in spite of.”

God's love.

As the Psalm 29 selection in this week's Lectionary indicates: God is the master of the mighty waters. Since God is love, His mighty love Is greater than any troubles that come our way, even those "floods" that threaten to, and sometimes do, overwhelm us.

Mighty Waters?

Mighty Love.

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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Trinity Sunday (May 31, 2015)
Isaiah 6:1-8
Psalm 29
Romans 8:12-17
John 3:1-17

Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth (May 31, 2015)
1 Samuel 2:1-10
Psalm 113
Romans 12:9-16b
Luke 1:39-57
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There have been a LOT of "mighty waters" lately. Some of them ACTUAL waters. Don't endanger yourself, but if you can get out, join us Friday morning for Lectionary Breakfast. We'll gather at the Waco "Egg and I" restaurant from 8:00 to 9:00. There will be plenty of food, scripture, laughter, and love. Come.

Enjoy the week!
Steve

photo from imgkid.com

The Snow Queen (a Lectionary reflection by Steve Orr)

From the very beginning, when the writers, animators, and directors first started crafting Disney's Frozen---and for a very long, long time after that---Elsa was the villain of the piece.

When they started, they were telling the story of "The Snow Queen," Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale of the evil woman who captured a boy's heart and kept him prisoner in her icy realm. And they relished the possibility of creating a new, iconic Disney villain; someone to join such evildoers as Ursula, Scar, Captain Hook, and Cruella de Vil.

Everything was in place to do that. The Snow Queen has formed the basis for many a literary villain. Author after author has used her evil for their variations on the theme. Take C. S. Lewis' White Witch in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe: she was so evil she had transformed Narnia into a land where it "was always winter, but never Christmas."

But, as anyone who has seen Frozen knows, that is NOT what happened in the movie. Elsa did NOT become the villain of Frozen. And now that we know the disparity between the original plan and the eventual outcome, we have to ask: what changed?

It was the song.

Animated movies, particularly Disney animated movies, are complex enterprises with many pieces, most of which move along on parallel tracks at the same time. Story writers, song writers, artists, etc., are all working on the same project, but are not in contact with each other every day. So, perhaps it is understandable that those helming the movie did not hear the song "Let It Go" until later in the process. But when they finally heard it, well . . .

It changed everything.

Suddenly, based on the lyrics of that song, Elsa was no longer a two dimensional villain, but rather a complex person who had reasons for freezing everyone out. You've heard the song and you've seen the changes it wrought.

We are like Elsa. As it says in this week's Lectionary selection from Romans 8, we are in suspense until God fulfills our hope for redemption. We find we must await the work of the Spirit in our lives; "to help us in our weakness," to intercede for us while we are still in flux, to lead us through the process of becoming.

When they started, Elsa was the villain. When they finished their work, she was the redeemed.

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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu

Day of Pentecost (May 24, 2015)
Acts 2:1-21 or Ezekiel 37:1-14
Psalm 104:24-34, 35b
Romans 8:22-27 or Acts 2:1-21
John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15

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How great it would be to see you at Lectionary Breakfast this Friday morning! If you can, meet us at 8:00 at the Waco "Egg and I" for a hearty breakfast, enjoyable companions, and life-changing scripture.

No one gets the cold shoulder.

Enjoy the week!
Steve

New Lamps for Old (a Lectionary reflection by Steve Orr)

My earliest recollection of the Aladdin story comes from a cartoon I saw as a child. In it, Aladdin had a magic lamp. Whenever he rubbed it, a Djinn would grant his wish. There were two problems, though: (1) he stole the lamp from 40 thieves (who wanted it back), and (2) another, evil man wanted the magic lamp for his own, evil purposes.

Aware of these dangers, Aladdin, employing cartoon logic, "hid" the magic lamp at home . . . with other lamps. There is a scene where the evil man, having discovered the lamp's "hiding place," comes up with a scheme to possess it. Posing as a merchant, he walks down the street calling out "New lamps for old! New lamps for old!" At Aladdin's house, he makes his offer to the housekeeper who, thinking it a great bargain, swaps the old lamps for shiny new ones. And just like that, the magic lamp is possessed by the evil man who, presumably, is out the expense of all those new lamps. But, hey, magic lamp.

The housekeeper was tricked by an analytical fallacy: like many people, she concluded new was better than old, but without ever considering the key element---the lamps themselves. "New versus old" was enough of a basis, for her and for many of us, on which to make her choice. Like most of us, she believed, all things being equal, new was better.

New is not enough.

But make no mistake, quite a few people believe exactly the opposite. If you doubt that, go to an antiques auction, sometime, and see the passion folks bring to the battle to own something old. The fallacy remains, though, if the item itself should be ignored in the decision-making.

Old is not enough.

When Peter travels to the home of the Roman Centurion Cornelius in Acts 10, his traveling companions are all of the "old is better" school. They are expecting SOMEthing to happen, but are completely unprepared for what God decides to do: "The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles," (NRSV Acts 10:45) According to the old ways, only the descendants of Jacob would be granted a portion of God's spirit. Yet, here God went a NEW direction.

The mistake those early believers made was to view Jesus and His teachings through the lens of their religion, their culture, and their history (i.e., assuming the old way was the only way). Two millennia later, we must also guard against this kind of fallacious thinking. Everything---especially our culture and our religion---must be viewed and evaluated through the lens of Jesus and His teachings, not the other way round. In this case, we must go with the new.

In this case, there's no magic in that old lamp.
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For more on the blended tales of Aladdin and Ali Baba see: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aladdin

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[Note the connections among this week's Lectionary scriptures]

READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/

Sixth Sunday of Easter (May 10, 2015)
First reading
Acts 10:44-48
Psalm
Psalm 98
Second reading
1 John 5:1-6
Gospel
John 15:9-17

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Once again, we gather at the Waco "Egg And I" restaurant Friday morning. Join us at 8:00 for something new and fresh, some news that is truly good.

Enjoy the week!
Steve

The Door and the Vine (a Lectionary reflection by Steve Orr)

Something strange happened one night.

I was in my dorm room, talking to a girl on the telephone. In the dark.

But none of that is the strange part. In fact, I often talked on the phone with girls, and I often conversed past sunset, too engrossed in the conversation to take notice that the room had grown dark. No, that was all normal. The strange part had to do with the door.

It opened.

Which should not have happened.

Our dorm room doors always locked, automatically, when closed. You needed a key to open one of these doors. And my key was in my pocket. Yet, while I sat, motionless now, mouth hanging open, voiceless, in my dorm room, in the dark, I watched as the door swung silently open, painting my floor with a rectangle of light from the hallway.

Next, one of my fellow students stepped into the room just as silently as my opening door and my now voiceless conversation. He . . . the only word for it was . . . crept . . . to the center of the room, glancing about, pausing for a longer time as his eye fell on the bed. Ensuring, I assumed, that the bed was empty. I observed him for a few more seconds. Then, reaching above and behind me, I flipped on the room lights.

He jumped.

Then, finally seeing me sitting in the chair just inside the door, he looked me right in the eye and said, "Sorry. Wrong room." He then walked past me, out the door, and down the hall toward his own room.

I thought about that strange occurrence for quite a while; about two hours. Then, I called campus security and reported what had occurred.

Perhaps you're wondering why I waited so long to make that call. The reason is this: Bob (not his real name) had been sent to our small christian college by his family because he "needed better companions" who would serve as "positive influences" to help steer him away from some "troubling choices" he had made back home. In short: they sent him to a christian college in hopes it would turn him from a life of crime.

I hesitated so long because I knew all this about Bob and suspected that "turning him in" to the Dean of Men for breaking into my room would surely lead to his dismissal. And I would be the cause of that. It might well mean he had exhausted his last chance.

But in the end, I did do just that. Things had gone missing from various dorm rooms for weeks. Others were being violated by someone who had no respect for the rules or for their fellow human beings. I could not afford to not report the strange situation.

Sometimes in life we encounter a person who, due to poor choices, is like the branch in this week's Lectionary passage from John 15; a branch that has to be cut off because it no longer produces acceptable fruit. It is always a moment of profound sadness to realize we may play a role in the events that leads to them being cut off from the very associations that could benefit them. If only they would choose the better path.

It makes God sad when He must remove a branch from the Vine, from the ONLY means to life. But, God expects fruit to be produced when we are connected to His Vine. Those who DO produce fruit will have unproductive areas of their lives trimmed away.

And those who do not produce acceptable fruit will be wholly removed and sent away.
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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Fifth Sunday of Easter (May 3, 2015)
http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/

Acts 8:26-40
Psalm 23:25-31
1John 4:7-22
John 15:1-8
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It's Lectionary Breakfast time! We meet Friday mornings at the Waco "Egg and I" restaurant from 8:00 - 9:00. Join us for scripture, laughter, and tasty food.

You're welcome, always.

Enjoy the week!
Steve

Photo by Martin Pope (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/gardeningadvice/6563482/How-to-prune-vines.html)