Sunday school
You do what you will, I've never been into New Years Eve parties, will be asleep when you cheer, watch the ball go up (or is it down?) and weepingly sing "Auld Lang Syne" as fireworks birth 2024 and you think how great 2023 was (which it wasn't necessarily).
Online much earlier I may watch the fireworks over Sydney Harbour Bridge, which I crossed many Times during business trips there in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and the Sydney Opera House, which I looked at from the apartment of a business associate, what? forty some years ago. A charming city, Sydney was easy to fall in love with, and I did, even had thoughts of moving there!
Rambling, Bubba, digressing.
No matter, eh?
Pic: Bubba Likes Red. That's me as 2023 fades into memory. Right now I'm sipping hot & black from my new Xmas coffee mug as it keeps my coffee hot, and reading some of this morning's lectionary. Sunday, 31 Jan 2023, First Sunday after Christmas Day, Year B:
Old Testament
Isaiah 61:10-62:3
I will greatly rejoice in the Lord,
my whole being shall exult in my God;
for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation,
he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
For as the earth brings forth its shoots,
and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up,
so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise
to spring up before all the nations.
For Zion's sake I will not keep silent,
and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest,
until her vindication shines out like the dawn,
and her salvation like a burning torch.
The nations shall see your vindication,
and all the kings your glory;
and you shall be called by a new name
that the mouth of the Lord will give.
You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord,
and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
The Psalm
Psalm 147 or 147:13-21
Laudate Dominum
[1 Hallelujah!
How good it is to sing praises to our God! *
how pleasant it is to honor him with praise!
2 The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem; *
he gathers the exiles of Israel.
3 He heals the brokenhearted *
and binds up their wounds.
4 He counts the number of the stars *
and calls them all by their names.
5 Great is our Lord and mighty in power; *
there is no limit to his wisdom.
6 The Lord lifts up the lowly, *
but casts the wicked to the ground.
7 Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; *
make music to our God upon the harp.
8 He covers the heavens with clouds *
and prepares rain for the earth;
9 He makes grass to grow upon the mountains *
and green plants to serve mankind.
10 He provides food for flocks and herds *
and for the young ravens when they cry.
11 He is not impressed by the might of a horse; *
he has no pleasure in the strength of a man;
12 But the Lord has pleasure in those who fear him, *
in those who await his gracious favor.]
13 Worship the Lord, O Jerusalem; *
praise your God, O Zion;
14 For he has strengthened the bars of your gates; *
he has blessed your children within you.
15 He has established peace on your borders; *
he satisfies you with the finest wheat.
16 He sends out his command to the earth, *
and his word runs very swiftly.
17 He gives snow like wool; *
he scatters hoarfrost like ashes.
18 He scatters his hail like bread crumbs; *
who can stand against his cold?
19 He sends forth his word and melts them; *
he blows with his wind, and the waters flow.
20 He declares his word to Jacob, *
his statutes and his judgments to Israel.
21 He has not done so to any other nation; *
to them he has not revealed his judgments. Hallelujah!
Hallelujah! Because it intrigues me, I've been watching teaching videos and reading about the Tetragrammaton, the four-lettered Name that in Exodus 3 from the Burning Bush, our God told Moses to tell the Israelites when they asked What God? Which God? What's his Name? It was a focus in theological seminary, of course, but that also was more than forty years ago, one must keep studying and learning and refreshing, nomesane?!
According to the story, the Israelites had been in Egyptian captivity for generations: they may have had exposure to other gods, maybe the gods of Egypt, say; they wouldn't have remembered and known yeh-vah, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, so Moses knows they'll be asking "Who? Which god? What's his name?" and Moses needs an answer. God tells Moses, eh-yeh, I Am and Moses is to tell the Israelites, yeh-vah, He Is. He Exists. He is not an abstraction, he's real, he can be experienced, seen, he appeared to me as a Burning Bush, I saw and heard him, he's told me that he will lead you out of bondage into the Promised Land. So, Moses does, and they believe Moses and follow.
What does He Is do? He does tricks for Moses as Moses confronts Pharaoh, turns rivers to blood, kills firstborn. He opens the Red Sea for the Israelites as they escape, and drowns their enemies chasing them. In their wilderness journey he feeds them and provides water: he's real, he can be experienced and trusted.
Again, He Is is not an abstraction, he does stuff, he can be experienced, he's real: something about concrete Hebrew thought in that. One of my online teachers says something about Hebrew thought differing from Greek thought which, unlike concrete Hebrew thought, explores abstractions.
So, to Moses, "eh-yeh I Am, I Exist, I Will Be."
And Moses to the Israelites, "yeh-vah, He Is, He Exists, He Will Be."
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Okay, it feels like I'm wandering; but to get to my point, I'm looking at OT readings for this morning, from Isaiah 61 after Israel's God has restored them to Jerusalem, and Psalm 147, one of the "hallels" because it begins and ends with Hallelujah!
From Isaiah, "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my whole being shall exult in my God" - - Isaiah will exult in HIS God? who is HIS God? Well, he's told us, hasn't he, his God is יהוָ֗ה yeh-vah (the little dot over the vav may give it an oh or oo sound, but this is not about pronouncing it, say it however you will), and the prophet rejoices, exults in him.
My other passage this morning is the beginning of Psalm 147, "How good it is to sing praises to our God! how pleasant it is to honor him with praise! The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem; he gathers the exiles of Israel.
Again praising God for bringing Israel back to Jerusalem after their exile, my question is which God? what God? Well again, the psalmist makes it clear which God, it's certainly not one of those goofy nature gods of the Canaanites, the psalmist's Hebrew makes it clear, he says praise יָ֨הּ YAH, who is distinctively "our God" he is Israel's God and he is looking after Israel, he is not just one of the gods of Israel's enemies.
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Why am I writing this? Sort of a Sunday school lesson kind of thing to perceive that יָ֨הּ is the God who spoke to Moses, and is the God of the prophet Isaiah, and is the God of the psalmist, as distinct from other gods that people make for themselves. Don't be caught up in oblivious ignorance that piously insists "there's only One God," Moses and Isaiah and the psalmist knew better, but Our God is yeh-vah, He Is, He Exists, He Will Be, he did things for Israel, and we can trust him too. He is The Lord. If I were still leading a Sunday school class, this would be my basis for discussion this morning.
BTW, if you don't believe there are/were other gods, go to the OT Apocrypha and read Bel and The Dragon. Bel is a false god, eats and drinks nothing (our God eats a bit of broiled fish). All great for a Sunday school break before 2024 sets in!
RSF&Pyeh-vah
T88&c