weeping and gnashing of teeth
The Collect
Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Judges 4:1-7
The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, after Ehud died. So the Lord sold them into the hand of King Jabin of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor; the commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-ha-goiim. Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help; for he had nine hundred chariots of iron, and had oppressed the Israelites cruelly twenty years.
At that time Deborah, a prophetess, wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel. She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the Israelites came up to her for judgment. She sent and summoned Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali, and said to him, “The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you, ‘Go, take position at Mount Tabor, bringing ten thousand from the tribe of Naphtali and the tribe of Zebulun. I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army, to meet you by the Wadi Kishon with his chariots and his troops; and I will give him into your hand.’”
++++++++++++++
Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, enjoy, and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
You may be seated.
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1&2 Samuel, 1&2 Kings, 1&2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, I was blest and fortunate to have been my mother’s first child, because when I was little she was still mindful of her Baptist background, which involved teaching and helping me learn books of the Bible, OT and NT, doing sword drills, memorizing psalms and Bible verses. It was good training for me, but by the time my sister and brother came along, Mama’s health was precarious and she was too busy basic mothering, so Gina and Walt did not get that early memory work, a treasure that fills my heart to this day.
In the Episcopal Church, most of us preach on the gospel for the Sunday, count on it. I did too most of my years as parish priest. For better or for worse, though, it is me - - after all my pulpit time through the three year cycles, preaching numerous times on every gospel in the Lectionary - - it is me to rebel somewhat - -
and so this morning, though I may return to this eccentric gospel with Jesus’ delightful practice of astonishing us by kicking upside down the garbage cans of our assumptions and certainties, as he seems to here — I’ll leave the gospel at least for the moment.
I’ll also let go of the Collect, new for Cranmer’s 1549 prayer book because the Reformation Church was bending toward deeper interest in the Bible, this morning’s collect is a prayer that for centuries has been a favorite of many, myself included, to open worship, open Sunday School and open Bible study, except that to “hear, read, mark, learn,” I insert “enjoy” and “inwardly digest.”
Today it’s Judges that gets my notice. Our OT lesson today is the one and only time the Sunday lectionary has us reading from the Book of Judges, which is a shame, and we are poorer for it. As a boy I learned good old time Bible stories when I went to Sunday School with my grandfather and first cousins at East Hill Baptist Church in Pensacola, including stories from Judges, of Gideon, Samson, some of the other Joshua stories are too rough, gross and gruesome for Sunday School kids.
Episcopalians do not know this dynamic old story book that made it into the Hebrew Bible (though not quite the Torah, Pentateuch, Five Books of Moses). Judges is old salvation lore that Bible scholars call Heilsgeschichte, Holy History, and it warrants a few minutes this morning. We have a brutally victorious war story here, what might we learn, how might it apply to us? Maybe we can get Good News, a gospel, out of Judges, I shall try.
Lest you think, O No, this is going to be long, let me tell you a story. In 1984, Linda, our daughter Tass and I moved from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to Apalachicola, where I was the priest at Trinity Church for fourteen years. My best friend early was the pastor of one of the Pentecostal churches in town, and he used to badger me to come preach at his Sunday evening worship service. He begged and begged and begged until I gave in and scheduled a Sunday evening. His church was out Prado, a long residential street, and when I arrived the church was full, adults and children, lots of high school kids including several in my daughter’s class at Apalachicola High School. So I preached the sermon, and it was the exact same sermon I’d preach at Trinity Church that morning. When it was over, I stood at the door with Pastor Bill as people filed out, thanking me for the sermon and my stories. i remember one girls, who was in Tassy’s class at school, saying, “Brother Weller, I love your preaching!” My head swelled up even bigger than usual as I said, “Well, thank you. What did you like about it?”
“It was short.”
What is Judges? Just as the Book of Joshua continues the history of Israel after the death of Moses, the Book of Judges continues that history after the death of Joshua. By this time, the Israelites are scattered, having tribal bonds with each other but not united as they seem to have been under Moses and Joshua, and certainly not as they yet will be under the kings who follow the Judges - - when Samuel - - who is more or less God’s final Judge and God’s “transition authority” - - when Samuel anoints the disastrous king Saul, and then the everlastingly beloved shepherd-king David. Judges records a recurring cycle in which (and I shall count on my fingers), (1) the people live peacefully under a charismatic hero (shofetim, judges) until the judge dies, then (2) the people fall into such sin, that (3) God turns them over to be tormented by their enemies, until (4) in Time the people repent, and God feels sorry for their suffering and (5) God redeems them by raising up a new hero to overthrow their captors and be their judge, and they live peacefully under etc etc etc. So, the Book of Judges is a play of the “classic theological cycle,” Creation, Sin, Judgment, Repentance, Redemption, where it cycles over and over and over again.
The judges of Israel were not simply jurists sitting on the bench in a courtroom, but men and women with larger than life personalities who commanded respect and love, and stepped up to the challenge, commanding armies to victory in battle as well as settling legal matters, property issues, claims and disputes. They were heroes. In American history, compare George Washington, Abraham Lincoln.
So there was Othniel, who judged Israel. Then the victorious but gruesome story of Ehud judge of Israel (do not read Judges chapter 3, it’s too graphic) - - that’s Judges chapter 3, do not read it — then Shamgar, about whom we know nothing; and today Deborah as judge, commanding Israel in defeating Sisera’s mighty army. That’s our OT reading this morning. Sisera himself escapes the battlefield (I guess the lectionary framers thought it not appropriate to read when children are present), so the bloody end of today’s story is omitted, but I’ll print it with my sermon on my blogpost later today, the death of Sisera at the hands of a woman who beguiled him into trusting her; today’s OT story of intrigue and murder.
What can we draw from Judges with its continuing theological cycle of Creation, Sin, Judgment, Repentance and Redemption? As a minimum we find out that God who is with us in our goodness, can make himself our worst enemy in our sinful disobedience, but God is nevertheless and always a softie for forgiveness and restoration when we turn again to God. Poor Yahweh, he’s such a Lamb, he never gives up on us, and that’s the gospel of Judges. A great read in place of the rubbish people watch on TV, try the Bible, try it, you may like it, you may like it, Sam I Am.
To finish I return to Matthew’s gospel, where from the lips of Jesus himself we hear a parable that trashes our assumptions and certainties. God is grace, and God is love, and God is generous, but God is No Fool. Jesus says the kingdom of Heaven is like when you use your God-given talents to make God proud. But when our gracious and ever-loving God is confronted by sorry, lazy stupidity, it sure as hell is not heaven. Ὃς ἔχει ὦτα ἀκούειν, ἀκουέτω”. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
+++++++++++++++
8 Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go.” 9 And she said, “I will surely go with you; nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Then Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh. 10 Barak summoned Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; and ten thousand warriors went up behind him; and Deborah went up with him.
11 Now Heber the Kenite had separated from the other Kenites,[a] that is, the descendants of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had encamped as far away as Elon-bezaanannim, which is near Kedesh.
12 When Sisera was told that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, 13 Sisera called out all his chariots, nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the troops who were with him, from Harosheth-ha-goiim to the Wadi Kishon. 14 Then Deborah said to Barak, “Up! For this is the day on which the Lord has given Sisera into your hand. The Lord is indeed going out before you.” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand warriors following him. 15 And the Lord threw Sisera and all his chariots and all his army into a panic[b] before Barak; Sisera got down from his chariot and fled away on foot, 16 while Barak pursued the chariots and the army to Harosheth-ha-goiim. All the army of Sisera fell by the sword; no one was left.
17 Now Sisera had fled away on foot to the tent of Jael wife of Heber the Kenite; for there was peace between King Jabin of Hazor and the clan of Heber the Kenite. 18 Jael came out to meet Sisera, and said to him, “Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me; have no fear.” So he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. 19 Then he said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink; for I am thirsty.” So she opened a skin of milk and gave him a drink and covered him. 20 He said to her, “Stand at the entrance of the tent, and if anybody comes and asks you, ‘Is anyone here?’ say, ‘No.’” 21 But Jael wife of Heber took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, until it went down into the ground—he was lying fast asleep from weariness—and he died. 22 Then, as Barak came in pursuit of Sisera, Jael went out to meet him, and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.” So he went into her tent; and there was Sisera lying dead, with the tent peg in his temple.
++++++++++++++++
Sermon by the Rev Tom Weller, Holy Nativity Episcopal Church, Panama City, Florida, Sunday, November 19, 2017. Proper 28A. Text, Judges 4:1-7 and Matthew 25:14-30. Never posted pridefully but always to keep a promise. TW+
Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Judges 4:1-7
The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, after Ehud died. So the Lord sold them into the hand of King Jabin of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor; the commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-ha-goiim. Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help; for he had nine hundred chariots of iron, and had oppressed the Israelites cruelly twenty years.
At that time Deborah, a prophetess, wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel. She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the Israelites came up to her for judgment. She sent and summoned Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali, and said to him, “The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you, ‘Go, take position at Mount Tabor, bringing ten thousand from the tribe of Naphtali and the tribe of Zebulun. I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army, to meet you by the Wadi Kishon with his chariots and his troops; and I will give him into your hand.’”
++++++++++++++
Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, enjoy, and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
You may be seated.
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1&2 Samuel, 1&2 Kings, 1&2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, I was blest and fortunate to have been my mother’s first child, because when I was little she was still mindful of her Baptist background, which involved teaching and helping me learn books of the Bible, OT and NT, doing sword drills, memorizing psalms and Bible verses. It was good training for me, but by the time my sister and brother came along, Mama’s health was precarious and she was too busy basic mothering, so Gina and Walt did not get that early memory work, a treasure that fills my heart to this day.
In the Episcopal Church, most of us preach on the gospel for the Sunday, count on it. I did too most of my years as parish priest. For better or for worse, though, it is me - - after all my pulpit time through the three year cycles, preaching numerous times on every gospel in the Lectionary - - it is me to rebel somewhat - -
and so this morning, though I may return to this eccentric gospel with Jesus’ delightful practice of astonishing us by kicking upside down the garbage cans of our assumptions and certainties, as he seems to here — I’ll leave the gospel at least for the moment.
I’ll also let go of the Collect, new for Cranmer’s 1549 prayer book because the Reformation Church was bending toward deeper interest in the Bible, this morning’s collect is a prayer that for centuries has been a favorite of many, myself included, to open worship, open Sunday School and open Bible study, except that to “hear, read, mark, learn,” I insert “enjoy” and “inwardly digest.”
Today it’s Judges that gets my notice. Our OT lesson today is the one and only time the Sunday lectionary has us reading from the Book of Judges, which is a shame, and we are poorer for it. As a boy I learned good old time Bible stories when I went to Sunday School with my grandfather and first cousins at East Hill Baptist Church in Pensacola, including stories from Judges, of Gideon, Samson, some of the other Joshua stories are too rough, gross and gruesome for Sunday School kids.
Episcopalians do not know this dynamic old story book that made it into the Hebrew Bible (though not quite the Torah, Pentateuch, Five Books of Moses). Judges is old salvation lore that Bible scholars call Heilsgeschichte, Holy History, and it warrants a few minutes this morning. We have a brutally victorious war story here, what might we learn, how might it apply to us? Maybe we can get Good News, a gospel, out of Judges, I shall try.
Lest you think, O No, this is going to be long, let me tell you a story. In 1984, Linda, our daughter Tass and I moved from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to Apalachicola, where I was the priest at Trinity Church for fourteen years. My best friend early was the pastor of one of the Pentecostal churches in town, and he used to badger me to come preach at his Sunday evening worship service. He begged and begged and begged until I gave in and scheduled a Sunday evening. His church was out Prado, a long residential street, and when I arrived the church was full, adults and children, lots of high school kids including several in my daughter’s class at Apalachicola High School. So I preached the sermon, and it was the exact same sermon I’d preach at Trinity Church that morning. When it was over, I stood at the door with Pastor Bill as people filed out, thanking me for the sermon and my stories. i remember one girls, who was in Tassy’s class at school, saying, “Brother Weller, I love your preaching!” My head swelled up even bigger than usual as I said, “Well, thank you. What did you like about it?”
“It was short.”
What is Judges? Just as the Book of Joshua continues the history of Israel after the death of Moses, the Book of Judges continues that history after the death of Joshua. By this time, the Israelites are scattered, having tribal bonds with each other but not united as they seem to have been under Moses and Joshua, and certainly not as they yet will be under the kings who follow the Judges - - when Samuel - - who is more or less God’s final Judge and God’s “transition authority” - - when Samuel anoints the disastrous king Saul, and then the everlastingly beloved shepherd-king David. Judges records a recurring cycle in which (and I shall count on my fingers), (1) the people live peacefully under a charismatic hero (shofetim, judges) until the judge dies, then (2) the people fall into such sin, that (3) God turns them over to be tormented by their enemies, until (4) in Time the people repent, and God feels sorry for their suffering and (5) God redeems them by raising up a new hero to overthrow their captors and be their judge, and they live peacefully under etc etc etc. So, the Book of Judges is a play of the “classic theological cycle,” Creation, Sin, Judgment, Repentance, Redemption, where it cycles over and over and over again.
The judges of Israel were not simply jurists sitting on the bench in a courtroom, but men and women with larger than life personalities who commanded respect and love, and stepped up to the challenge, commanding armies to victory in battle as well as settling legal matters, property issues, claims and disputes. They were heroes. In American history, compare George Washington, Abraham Lincoln.
So there was Othniel, who judged Israel. Then the victorious but gruesome story of Ehud judge of Israel (do not read Judges chapter 3, it’s too graphic) - - that’s Judges chapter 3, do not read it — then Shamgar, about whom we know nothing; and today Deborah as judge, commanding Israel in defeating Sisera’s mighty army. That’s our OT reading this morning. Sisera himself escapes the battlefield (I guess the lectionary framers thought it not appropriate to read when children are present), so the bloody end of today’s story is omitted, but I’ll print it with my sermon on my blogpost later today, the death of Sisera at the hands of a woman who beguiled him into trusting her; today’s OT story of intrigue and murder.
What can we draw from Judges with its continuing theological cycle of Creation, Sin, Judgment, Repentance and Redemption? As a minimum we find out that God who is with us in our goodness, can make himself our worst enemy in our sinful disobedience, but God is nevertheless and always a softie for forgiveness and restoration when we turn again to God. Poor Yahweh, he’s such a Lamb, he never gives up on us, and that’s the gospel of Judges. A great read in place of the rubbish people watch on TV, try the Bible, try it, you may like it, you may like it, Sam I Am.
To finish I return to Matthew’s gospel, where from the lips of Jesus himself we hear a parable that trashes our assumptions and certainties. God is grace, and God is love, and God is generous, but God is No Fool. Jesus says the kingdom of Heaven is like when you use your God-given talents to make God proud. But when our gracious and ever-loving God is confronted by sorry, lazy stupidity, it sure as hell is not heaven. Ὃς ἔχει ὦτα ἀκούειν, ἀκουέτω”. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
+++++++++++++++
8 Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go.” 9 And she said, “I will surely go with you; nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Then Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh. 10 Barak summoned Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; and ten thousand warriors went up behind him; and Deborah went up with him.
11 Now Heber the Kenite had separated from the other Kenites,[a] that is, the descendants of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had encamped as far away as Elon-bezaanannim, which is near Kedesh.
12 When Sisera was told that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, 13 Sisera called out all his chariots, nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the troops who were with him, from Harosheth-ha-goiim to the Wadi Kishon. 14 Then Deborah said to Barak, “Up! For this is the day on which the Lord has given Sisera into your hand. The Lord is indeed going out before you.” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand warriors following him. 15 And the Lord threw Sisera and all his chariots and all his army into a panic[b] before Barak; Sisera got down from his chariot and fled away on foot, 16 while Barak pursued the chariots and the army to Harosheth-ha-goiim. All the army of Sisera fell by the sword; no one was left.
17 Now Sisera had fled away on foot to the tent of Jael wife of Heber the Kenite; for there was peace between King Jabin of Hazor and the clan of Heber the Kenite. 18 Jael came out to meet Sisera, and said to him, “Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me; have no fear.” So he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. 19 Then he said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink; for I am thirsty.” So she opened a skin of milk and gave him a drink and covered him. 20 He said to her, “Stand at the entrance of the tent, and if anybody comes and asks you, ‘Is anyone here?’ say, ‘No.’” 21 But Jael wife of Heber took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, until it went down into the ground—he was lying fast asleep from weariness—and he died. 22 Then, as Barak came in pursuit of Sisera, Jael went out to meet him, and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.” So he went into her tent; and there was Sisera lying dead, with the tent peg in his temple.
++++++++++++++++
Sermon by the Rev Tom Weller, Holy Nativity Episcopal Church, Panama City, Florida, Sunday, November 19, 2017. Proper 28A. Text, Judges 4:1-7 and Matthew 25:14-30. Never posted pridefully but always to keep a promise. TW+