FACING OUR FEARS (Or… Naked, But Not Afraid)
By j. Snodgrass
Proverbs 3:5-24 (Wildly Abbreviated)
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil. … 13 Happy are those who find wisdom… 15 She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her. … 21 My child, do not let these escape from your sight: keep sound wisdom and prudence, … 23 Then you will walk on your way securely and your foot will not stumble. 24 If you sit down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.
Proverbs 1:7 tells us that “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.” Ironically, as we find in Genesis 3:10, knowledge was the beginning of fear. Once Adam and Eve have eaten of the tree of knowledge, their first act is to hide from God. Because for the first time they are aware that they are naked.
Fascinating to find that fear of the Lord did not prevent them from breaking the one rule in the Garden…not to eat of the tree of knowledge, not to break the first covenant with God ‚Äì that the Lord would take provide for them. Their fear begins as they come to realize that they have insulted the Lord by seeking the knowledge to provide for themselves.
Adam and Eve, expelled from the Garden, made clothing for themselves, but they were still naked. They learned to provide food for themselves through toil and hardship, but they were still afraid.
Thousands of years later, we work to buy clothing and food for ourselves, but we are still naked and afraid. Henry David Thoreau described modern life with the expression “quiet desperation.” No matter how well we provide for ourselves, one wrong step on the high-wire and we lose everything, with no Garden of Eden to go back to.
From Genesis three onward, fear is a constant theme in Biblical texts. The words “Be not Afraid” appear eighty-five times in the Bible, twelve times on the lips of Jesus. Maybe because he knew that Adam and Eve ran naked from the Lord, and we’ve been running naked ever since, frightened that God and Man alike will see how exposed we really are.
God’s Own Image (or God and the Simpsons)
February 29, 2008
GOD’S OWN IMAGE
(Presentation for “God and the Simpsons” Discussion at Marble Collegiate Church)
j. Snodgrass
24 February, 2008
There’s an episode of the Simpsons called “Homer the Heretic,” where Homer stops going to church. In this episode, he has a vision in which he meets God, and the two of them take a walk together in the clouds.
Now, in Deuteronomy 4, The Lord says…
Deuteronomy 4:15-19 You saw no form of any kind the day the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully, so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman‚Ķany animal‚Ķor any bird‚Ķor any fish…. And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars‚Äîall the heavenly array‚Äîdo not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the LORD your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven. (NIV)
The God of the Israelites refuses to be depicted in any sculpture or image, and yet many of us do have a picture in mind of what God might look like. If you would, please close your eyes a moment, and see if you have a mental image of God.
Would anyone here like to share what they saw?
JESUS and the SATAN (skit by j. Snodgrass)
February 9, 2008
JESUS and the SATAN
-or-
Meeting the Devil’s Advocate in the Desert
By j. Snodgrass
Presented 3 February, 2008
READERS :
Narrator (Bible Student)
“Luke” (Author of the Gospel According to Luke)
Jesus (Live Free or Die)
Devil (Advocate of Alternate Strategies)
Moses (Supposed Giver-of-the-Law in Deuteronomy)
NARRATOR : Today, in honor of the Lenten Lectionary, we’re going to take a look at my all-time favorite Biblical passage – The temptation of Jesus in the desert, in the Gospel of Luke, Chapter four, verses one to thirteen. As a matter of fact, I love this passage so much, we’re going to hear it twice!
‚ÄúLUKE‚Äù : Jesus…was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry. The devil said to him,
DEVIL : “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”
JESUS : “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone.’”
“LUKE” : The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world.
by j. Snodgrass
Given 26 January, 2008
When I finished college at 21, the first piece of advice I got was this : Kiss your twenties good-bye – nobody gets anywhere in their twenties anymore. I resisted, I denied, and then I worked some jobs, ate some pizza, lived in some apartments, smoked some cigarettes, and here I am, just around the corner from thirty. Wow. And then I found out that this is some kind of cultural phenomena – the vanishing twenties, the disappearing decade, the lost years.
How did this happen? When did it begin? Well, I decided to start my search way back, in the opening book of the Bible, see if it might shed some light. And I found the results pretty comforting. Take Abraham, for example, when the Lord told him about fatherhood.
Genesis 17:17 ‚Äì ‚ÄúAbraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” (NIV)
Abraham’s wife Sarah had a similar reaction to motherhood.
Genesis 18:12 – “Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, ‘After I am worn out and my [husband] is old, will I now have this pleasure?’”
And then of course there’s old Noah, who built the ark. But when I say ‘old’ I really mean, as we read in Genesis 7:6, “Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters [swelled] the earth.” (NIV)
Noah, what happened? “Well, I worked some jobs, ate some matzo, lived in some huts, smoked my pipe and here I am, just around the corner from six hundred.”
And then I started wondering‚Ķwhere was Jesus in his twenties? The gospel of Luke has him at age twelve, making mischief in the Temple and then‚Ķhe‚Äôs thirty years old, being baptized for repentance…
That Girl Did Not Fear England
January 12, 2008
That Girl Did Not Fear England
By j. SNODGRASS
Read it online with illustrations by Mike Jackson
Illustrations originally presented as slides
projected during a live reading
at Easter at Avalon
April 8, 2007
There was not long ago or far away
A town where children played and sang all day
And once their folks had tucked them in at night
The kids hid under covers in their fright
Except one little lady, strong and feral
A wild, precocious child by name of Carol
Who’d lie in silence, with her eyes tight closed
And wait till all the town serenely dozed
Then up she’d jump and loudly she’d declare
“It takes more than the dark to get me scared!”
Outside her window, an old Oak-tree grew
Perhaps this tree’s who she was speaking to
Regardless, she continued “Oh well sure
I’m frightened when the morning traffic roars
The hairs on my young neck do stand on ender
When mom throws fresh tomatoes in the blender
And last week on a class trip to the zoo
The tongue of a giraffe, it scared me too
There’s causes for concern both far and near
But one thing that I’ll never, ever fear…”
“Is England! Yeah, they once were some great power
But now are ‘bout as fearful as a flower
Their royal navy bullied the whole world
Now they can’t frighten this six year old girl!
I fear the toxic waste dumped in the sea
I fear the slash and burn of every tree
I fear the monsters underneath my bed
I fear the spirits mumbling in my head
I fear the pit-bull readying to pounce
But I do not fear England – not one ounce”
CCT Quotables
January 9, 2008
My favorite quotes from last night and today…
“To see yourself as you truly are is a greater miracle than raising from the dead.”
- Father Leonid Kishkovsky, Director of External Affairs and Interchurch Relations for the Orthodox Church in America, quoting a Desert Father
“If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together.”
- African Proverb, made popular in Ecumenical circles by the Rev. Dr. Samuel Kobia, General Secretary of the World Council of Churches
“… in the presence of plenty and all he asks for is crumbs.”
- Dr. William Shaw, President of the National Baptist Convention, USA, preaching on Lazarus and the rich man
“Movements are what turn the impossible into the inevitable.”
- Jim Wallis, Editor-in-Chief/Chief Executive Officer of Sojourners
“We’re not doing it because we want them to be Catholic, but because we are Catholic.”
- Fr. John Adams, President of SOME (So Others Might Eat), in response to a question about proselytizing and serving the poor
“An expression of the church on special assignment with the poor.”
- World Vision self definition
“I know the LORD will get justice for the poor and will defend the needy in court.”
- Psalm 140:12
HOLIDAY BLUES (Apocryphal longing for a savior)
December 22, 2007
by j. Snodgrass
Every year, we spend the three weeks of the advent season preparing for the birth of Jesus. For many of us, it’s three weeks in which all our demons ‚Äì loneliness, alienation, depression, financial hardship ‚Äì are amplified, felt all the more keenly, because many of them will follow us into the next year. The days get shorter, colder, and then‚Ķ December 25th, Jesus is born, just in time. We know the baby’s coming, bringing hope and joy, which makes the season more bearable. We also know that where all the hustle and bustle, terrible holiday music and pressure to buy gifts is concerned‚Ķ Well, as Jesus said, “This too shall pass.”
Today, I’d like to talk about some pre-Jesus depression, from when they didn’t know he was coming at all. Looking back, it’s easy to say that the signs were all there in what’s become the Old Testament, the stump and Jesse and whatnot, but it’s important to remember that the ‘shoot from the stump of Jesse’ in Isaiah 11 who would rule with righteousness had already been fulfilled in the kings Josiah and Hezekiah. Simply put, twas the time before Christians – no savior in sight.
Then came Jesus, more specifically Jesus Ben Sirach, who lived about two hundred years before Jesus of Nazareth (Jesus was a popular name, since the name ‘Yehoshua’ meant Joshua, the famous warlord who conquered twenty-one kingdoms ‚Äì this name would have risen in popularity as the Israelites themselves were conquered several times, and kept hoping that one of their offspring would rise up and start kicking some butt). Jesus Ben Sirach wrote the following passage about his blues:
Advent Presentation: Giving
December 15, 2007
By j. Snodgrass, December 2007, for Marble Collegiate Church in NYC
In the spirit of Advent I thought do a little research on the topic of giving, beginning with a familiar scene ‚Äì three wise men, guided by a star, coming to give gifts to the newborn Jesus in a manger. Except that the three wise-men are in the Gospel of Matthew and the manger is in Luke. Matthew’s Jesus was born in a house.
And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh. Matthew 2:11
So in the spirit of giving, I decided this year I would “give-a-damn” about these treasures of the magi. I mean, Gold‚Ķ Gold‚Ķ The word “gold” appears in the Bible four hundred and thirty times. But I don’t think we need Biblical passages to tell us what makes gold so special. Suffice to say, Religion and Gold have had a long love-hate relationship, going back as far as anyone can remember.
But what about Frankincense and Myrrh? Nowhere does the Gospel say “they gave him gold‚Ķetcetera‚Ķ” or “gold‚Ķand various other substances.” No, we’ve got to assume that first century Christians knew exactly what was meant by Frankincense and Myrrh, probably from the Torah. And there they are in the book of Exodus.
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Take the following fine spices: 500 shekels of liquid myrrh, half as much of fragrant cinnamon, 250 shekels of fragrant cane, 500 shekels of cassia‚Äîall according to the sanctuary shekel‚Äîand a hin of olive oil. Make these into a sacred anointing oil‚Ķ Anoint Aaron and his sons and consecrate them so they may serve me as priests. Say to the Israelites, ‘This is to be my sacred anointing oil for the generations to come.’ Exodus 30:22-25;30-31
So Myrrh, it turns out, was the active ingredient in YHWH’s own secret sauce. And amazingly, the recipe can be found right there in Exodus, although most modern conversion charts do not list shekels and a hin.
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Take fragrant spices‚Ķand pure frankincense‚Ķ and make a fragrant blend of incense‚ĶIt shall be most holy to you. Do not make any incense with this formula for yourselves; consider it holy to the LORD. Exodus 30:34,35,37
So Frankincense and Myrrh were both ingredients of sacred incense. Myrrh was used to consecrate priests, and Frankincense to bless sacred spaces, which makes a lot of sense to have around when a righteous child is born (especially when that child is born in a barn).
Nativity Mystery (5 minute skit for 5 actors) by jSnodgrass
December 12, 2007
NATIVITY MYSTERY: THE ELEPHANT IN QUESTION
by j. Snodgrass, December 2007
NARRATOR : Five blind-folded people are put in a room with an animal and asked to identify it, based on their sense of touch. One says it’s a donkey, for it has a donkey’s tail. One says it’s a snake, for what he holds is a long, writhing tube. Another says it’s a bat, not knowing what she holds is actually an ear. Others offer different answers, each is certain they’re right. But when the blindfolds come off, they realize that none were fully correct – they’ve been describing different parts of an elephant.
The elephant in question today is Jesus. More specifically, the birth of Jesus as described, or not described, in the four Canonical Gospels. And we’re very fortunate today to have the Gospel-writers with us. Admittedly, none were actually present at the birth of Jesus, nor did any of them know him personally. But perhaps they can shed some light on the great Nativity Mystery. They’ve asked to be called by their pen-names, since they’ve forgotten who they really were. So please allow me to introduce Mark…
MARK : Shalom.
NARRATOR : Matthew…
MATTHEW : Greetings in the name of Christ the king.
NARRATOR : Luke…
LUKE : Down with the system.
NARRATOR : And John…
JOHN : The Father is known to the Son who is known to the Father.
“Some Dude” (Expect the Unexpected)
November 25, 2007
by j. Snodgrass
Matthew 24:42-44 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”
The Lord, breaking into your house at night. Expect the unexpected.
My wife is in medical-school, and has learned that in Emergency rooms across the country, legends abound to tell the exploits of that mythological character known only as “Some Dude.” “Yeah, I was just minding my own business, and some Dude shows up with a baseball bat and starts whaling on me.” “Yeah, this lady asked me to hold her purse for her, and I was, and then some Dude came up out of nowhere and beat me down, and gave the purse back to the lady…who had asked me to hold it.” “Yeah, I was just having a smoke outside my building and some Dude shot me five times.”
Oddly enough, if Emergency Rooms had existed in the times of the book of Genesis, Jacob would probably have showed up with the following story: “Yeah, I was just crossing the river with my two wives, two girlfriends, eleven sons and all my stuff, when some Dude jumped me! And he beat on me all night, and pulled my hip out of its socket. I never saw his face, ’cause it was dark. As the sun came up he said ‘alright, I’ve gotta go,’ but I said ‘Dude, you’re going nowhere till you’ve blessed me.’ And the dude said, ‘Alright, from now on your name is Israel.’ And then he was gone.”
True story, paraphrased from Genesis 32. The name he was given by this mysterious Dude was “Israel,” meaning “Struggled with God.”
God jumped Jacob. Expect the unexpected.
Earlier in the book, Genesis 19, a man named Lot was living with his wife and two daughters in the city of Sodom… And looking out his doorway one day he sees these two guys walking around and invites them into his house. But the Sodomites see the guys go in, and a great mob gathers – they start banging on Lot’s door, demanding the opportunity to give these visitors a proper Sodomite welcome. Lot says everything he can think of to make the mob go away, but it’s no use.
Genesis 19:9-11 They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door. But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door.
It turns out these two Dudes happened to be angels of the Lord. I can just see the scene in the Sodom Hospital Emergency Room – “Yeah, we just wanted to give these dudes some presents and they blinded us!” Of course, the Sodom Emergency Room would have had bigger concerns, what with the entire city being destroyed later that evening.
Expect the unexpected. Is this going to unexpectedly tie in with the theme of Advent?
I don’t know what kind of prenatal care they had in Bethlehem around the time of Jesus’ birth…I know he was eventually born in a barn. But it must have been a fascinating scene when Mary told her fianc?© Joseph she was pregnant with the son of the Most High God. “Yeah, I was just minding my own business when some Dude showed up, told me I’d be getting pregnant by the Holy Spirit.” Somehow I doubt that Joseph was so impressed with this – in fact, according to the Gospel of Matthew, old Joe started hatching plans to let her go. Couldn’t call that unexpected. But a few days later, Joseph came to Mary and said “Hey, everything’s cool. We can still get hitched and then we need to leave and hide out in Egypt for a while, because the powers that be are gonna be looking for this kid.”
That was unexpected. Joseph? The Biblical character best known for what he didn’t do? And just how did Joseph come across this information?
Yup. Some Dude told him so.
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Written for the Marble Collegiate Church, Marble Connection (Young Adults in Their 20s & 30), Sunday Conversation, November 25, 2007