#sermon notes

[acreaturevoid]

I keep trying. Basch is my patron saint of not giving up.

[bluemonkwrites]

“a cold coming we had of it”

[ad-lucem-et-amor]

He might show you something that is within you that nobody else noticed... Sit with Him.

- Pastor Steven Furtick (Elevation Church, "Tired on the Inside", 2020)

[a-queer-seminarian]

we are taught to interpret Esau’s trading of his birthright for a bowl of stew as impulsiveness, even (in Christian language) as a ‘weakness of the flesh.’ He chooses instant gratification over the farther off but far more valuable thing, and thus proves himself unworthy of his firstborn status and all it entails -- Abraham’s wealth and social power, but also Abraham’s relationship with God.

i don’t believe that.

Esau gave in to Jacob’s demand because he knew that Jacob would never have the means to compel Esau to make good on his word.

Jacob was physically weaker. Jacob was set to inherit the tiniest fragment of the wealth and resources that Esau would inherit. how on earth would Jacob ever wrest the birthright and the blessing he was owed from Esau?

Esau’s ‘crime’ here is less impulsiveness, and more a trust in the status quo. his world of patriarchy and primogeniture promised him his inheritance, whether he was a good man or bad, an honest man or a liar. he could tell his younger brother whatever Jacob wanted to hear, but down the road he could trust that their father would bestow the blessing on Esau anyway.

his reliance on the status quo is what allows Esau to hand over his birthright so easily -- because he knows that merely saying it’s Jacob’s now does not make it so.

Esau’s great failing is that he assumes that his culture’s will is God’s will.

the problem for Esau is that God does not play by human rules.

____________

in the Book of Genesis and throughout the rest of scripture, we see God working within the bounds of cultural assumptions and norms, rolling with the binary systems that human societies construct -- right up to the point where Xe doesn’t.

In The Soul of the Stranger: Reading God and Torah from a Transgender Perspective, Jewish scholar Joy Ladin focuses on the elements of gender inherent to the system of primogeniture that places the firstborn Esau over the secondborn Jacob in every way. To her, biblical maleness comes in different “flavors” -- the roles expected of a firstborn son are different from those assigned to non-firstborn sons. She says,

“Jacob and Esau are both male and are born almost simultaneously, but they are assigned at birth to very different gender roles. Because Esau emerges from the womb first, he is considered the firstborn, heir not only to Isaac’s worldly possessions but also to the relationship with God that Isaac inherited from his father, Abraham. Though Jacob is born holding onto his brother’s heel, he is considered the second-born, expected to accept the authority of his older brother, who, after their father’s death, will be the head of the family. Like the gender binary, this law of inheritance, called ‘primogeniture,’ creates a lifelong, life-determining binary division between males who are and those who aren’t firstborn sons. And like the gender binary, primogeniture turns biology, in this case birth order, into destiny. The way male children are raised, the roles they are assigned, and the futures toward which they are steered are determined by whether they are or aren’t firstborn sons.” (p. 36)

Esau has grown up understanding that his inheritance is his destiny. It’s what he’s been born for, what he’s been raised for, what he is entitled to. Why would he believe that he would ever have to make good on his silly promise to Jacob to hand over that destiny? It’s set in stone, inviolable.

at least it is in the eyes of men. but not to God.

“If God were committed to the gender binary idea that people are unchangeably defined by the gender roles we are assigned at birth, then either Esau would have been destined to inherit Isaac’s relationship with God, or Jacob would have been born first. But as God reveals to Rebekah before the twins are born, God intends for the younger brother to usurp the elder, prenatally linking God’s blessing to trans experience. (Ladin, pp. 37-38)

in the ancient past and in the present day, countless roles get assigned to us as soon as -- or even before -- we exist the womb. biology is presumed destiny in so many ways: our gender, our race, the class and geopolitical location and family into which we are born, supposedly map out what our personalities will be, how our lives will go. and certainly these things do shape us, both by nature and nurture -- generational traumas come packed into our very cells, while our environment and how others treat us based on our assigned roles impact how we perceive ourselves and the world around us.

but even so, even so, biology is not destiny. especially not if God has any say in the matter.

for God is the great binary breaker, no respecter of persons or prejudices, unbeholden to the status quo. indeed, God almost seems to delight in upending our assumptions about who is blessed. secondborn sons and eunuchs, women and disabled persons, impoverished persons and disenfranchised peoples -- these are the ones whom God selects, again and again, to be recipients and agents of divine blessing. “blessed are the poor;” “the last shall be first.”

Esau assumes that biology, his status assigned based on birth order, is destiny. he does not fear his younger brother, who is rendered powerless by their culture to claim what he is promised in a moment of hunger. and probably this is safer for Jacob -- because when Esau does finally realize, too late, that Jacob is a real threat, Esau becomes murderously angry.

when Isaac is duped into giving Jacob his blessing after all, Jacob cannot stick around to claim the wealth and status that comes with it -- he must flee, or die under Esau’s hand.

i wonder if some of the violence we see in our time, and across every time and place, stems from the same kind of rage and fear that Esau experiences:

the rage of the ones who are raised to believe the world belongs to them, that they are entitled to certain blessings and privileges, only for the truth to pounce on them unexpectedly -- the shocking truth that biology is not destiny, that they are not inherently superior, that what they thought would be theirs without question might could be snatched from them after all.

the divine right to rule. manifest destiny. the ‘white man’s burden.’

white men who assume they are entitled to white women, so that the mere thought of a Black man winning a woman’s heart is enough to incite them to brutality.

white women who understand that the police are their personal body guards, to call down upon the bodies of Black adults and even Black children on a whim -- and are indignant in the rare circumstance that they are told otherwise.

men and white people who expect the best jobs and properties to go to them, so that anyone else advancing over them seems an appalling injustice.

cis women who perceive trans women as “invading their spaces;” cishet couples who think LGBTQ/queer couples ruin “the sanctity of marriage;” persons who are accustomed to being accommodated without even realizing it sneering at “safe spaces” and trigger warnings....

and on and on.

Esau had every reason to assume that his biology determined his destiny -- that he could make an impulsive promise, make a big mistake, and everything would still turn out in his favor. he was born into a world that told him so every day -- even that God sanctioned these human assumptions and systems. But God does not.

“God’s disruptions of gender in these stories make it clear that even the gender roles that matter most to human beings are not sacred to God. ...God in the Torah uses gender, but is not bound by it. On the one hand, God depends on gender to transmit the covenant across time and space, so that even after hundreds of generations, Jews will still see themselves as children of Abraham. On the other hand, God disrupts gender as a way of making God’s power and presence known. ...In these stories, faithfulness to gender has little to do with faithfulness to God. In fact, God counts on the fact that people are not bound by gender roles. The covenant with Abraham is founded on Abraham, Sarah, and Jacob’s embrace of trans experience: their willingness to live outside the gender roles they were born to and become the kinds of people they are not supposed to be.” (Ladin, pp. 57-58)

Faithfulness to human constructs has little to do with faithfulness to God. God blesses us when we can imagine beyond the narrative we are assigned -- as Jacob does in this story where he demands a birthright the world does not intend for him....and as Esau eventually does.

In Genesis 33, Esau catches up to Jacob after decades apart -- and Jacob expects violence. He sends gifts of livestock to Esau and conceals his most cherished family at the back of his huge household. But to his bewilderment, Esau is no longer murderously angry at having “lost” what he grew up assuming he was entitled to -- he rushes to his brother, throws his arms around Jacob’s neck, and weeps.

Esau was raised believing that he would own everything, and his brother nothing -- that Jacob would be one of many members of Esau’s household, subservient to him. But now, he does not even feel entitled to the livestock that Jacob offers him: “I already have plenty, my brother. Keep what’s yours.”

Jacob is relieved by this unexpected reconciliation, exclaiming to Esau that “Seeing your face is like seeing God’s face, since you’ve accepted me so warmly!” He never expected Esau to accept what Jacob has known all along -- that biology is not destiny; that neither of them are bound to human constructs like birthright; that they can live a different way than the way prescribed to them, one in which both of them thrive.

___________

now, this story is by no means perfect. Jacob was able to imagine bigger for himself, to escape the destiny assigned to him -- but he does not imagine big enough. he does not use his new station to liberate others.

he becomes a patriarch -- assimilates into patriarchy and the power to own other human beings, to rule over every member of his household, rather than challenging the whole system that once oppressed him. i am reminded of trans persons, persons of color, women, who once they manage to acquire power for themselves never use it to help their fellow marginalized persons up. they land positions of power and use that power to oppress others as they were once oppressed, rather than using it to try to forge a new, better system for all.

Jacob the second-born becomes Jacob the patriarch. his household will be fraught with all the woes that come with this system that stifles all within it. his wives will hate each other and battle each other for what little power they can grasp. his sons will do the same, subjecting the younger Joseph to violence when, like Jacob, this little sibling dares to dream of being something greater than what his society assigns him.

what if Jacob could have imagined bigger? what if he had used his one fragment of shining clarity about how patriarchy and primogeniture stifled his true self to empower others, not only himself?

what if we could imagine bigger? what new and beautiful world could we build?

[fromdepressedtoblessed]

Sermon Notes 3-8-20

[itsjustcommon]

Jesus’ Last Passover

The Passover Celebration tells the story of how Yahweh rescued and redeemed the ancient Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. Fast forward 3000 years, the leaders in Jerusalem have been out to get Jesus, so, brilliantly he times his last days to coincide precisely with the Passover meal. Jesus has one final night with his disciples to explain why he has to die, and he does so by using the Passover meal.  

If you don’t understand Passover, you don't understand Jesus, and you don't understand why we take the bread and the cup every Sunday.  

“Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it.” They said to him, “Where will you have us prepare it?” He said to them, “Behold, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house that he enters and tell the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ And he will show you a large upper room furnished; prepare it there.” And they went and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.”

At this point there is a price on Jesus’ head, he doesn't have much time. Jesus is going to transform the meaning of this meal. In 24 hours he will hanging on a Roman execution rack. Jesus and his disciples celebrate the Passover meal 12-24 hours before the rest of the city, time is of the essence.

This is almost like a spy movie. Jerusalem is packed, crowded with pilgrims from all over the eastern world on the most important Jewish holiday of the year. Jesus is a public figure; he is a wanted man. He can't just go waltzing into the city, so instead he has secretly prepared this whole deal with anonymous people, complete with code names and everything. All of this is a protective measure because he needs one last night with his friends, to pause and pass on the meaning of why he has to die. Or as Gandalf would put it.

“It's the deep breath before the plunge”                                                                

“And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”

The Passover meal has changed and evolved in the centuries since Jesus and his followers gathered in that upper room 2000 years ago. Nowadays there are a whole bunch of added elements that Jesus wouldn’t have performed, this is the stripped down version. It consists of few parts separated by a drink of wine and a blessing.

1. “Blessed are You, LORD our God, King of the universe, Who creates the fruit of the vine." followed by a drink.

2. The dipping of the Karpas(green vegetable) into saltwater

The oldest known interpretation of this practice is connected to the story of Joseph. The dipping of the karpas is linked to the dipping of his multicolored coat into blood by his brothers. The bitter story of how the Israelites ended up in Egypt.

3. Then the youngest child at the table would ask a few questions to kick the meal off.

What makes this night different from all other nights?

Why do we eat only unleavened bread tonight?

Why do we eat bitter herbs tonight?

Why do we dip the vegetable tonight?

Why do we all recline at this table tonight?

4. The story of the Exodus would be retold and Psalm 113 would be recited.

Praise the Lord! Praise, O servants of the Lord,    praise the name of the Lord! Blessed be the name of the Lord    from this time forth and forevermore! From the rising of the sun to its setting,    the name of the Lord is to be praised! The Lord is high above all nations,    and his glory above the heavens!

Who is like the Lord our God,    who is seated on high, who looks far down    on the heavens and the earth? He raises the poor from the dust    and lifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with princes,    with the princes of his people.

5. “Blessed are You, LORD our God, King of the universe, Who creates the fruit of the vine." followed by a drink of wine.

To have an authentic Passover meal you need:

Unleavened Bread

The Egyptians were urgent with the people to send them out of the land in haste. For they said, “We shall all be dead.” So the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading bowls being bound up in their cloaks on their shoulders. (Exodus 12)

“Blessed are You, LORD our God, King of the universe, Who brings forth bread from the earth.”

The Bitter Herb

The point of eating this was to make you cry. It was a way to participate in the slavery and suffering of their ancestors

So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves and made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field. In all their work they ruthlessly made them work as slaves. (Exodus 1)

Unblemished Lamb

The night before the Exodus, God brought justice against Egypt's injustice. That night God sent a plague to go through Egypt, although God provided a means of escape. The Israelites were to have picked an unblemished lamb to slaughter. Its blood upon their doorpost was a means of being spared from God's wrath.

And Jesus  took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”

At this point the disciples would have been confused. After all Passover is about the past, but Jesus gives this meal a new meaning connected to his suffering and death. It's not just about the past, it's about the future, about the coming of God's kingdom.    

And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

Jesus does not say “this is the bread that our ancestors ate”, instead he says, “This is my body.” No one had ever said things like this before, he takes an ancient symbol and transforms it in a surprising way. Bread was their staple food, it was sustenance and life. Bread is life, and Jesus is taking this symbol and claims that his death will somehow bring sustenance. Somehow his death is life.

And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

After they had eaten the Lamb, Jesus connects his blood to the blood of the lamb. In the same way that the spotless lamb protected the Israelites from God’s wrath.

Jesus was taking the most ancient and traditional  elements of Judaism and tied them to himself, to his story. Through his death and suffering he is Passover lamb. He kicked off a new Exodus, freeing his people from sin and death. Jesus takes this ancient story of his people, where

through the lamb,

Yahweh saves the Israelites

From slavery to Pharaoh.

He takes that basic plot line, but swaps out all the players. So now

through Jesus,

Yahweh saves the world

From slavery to the powers of sin and death.

[christiandomme]

My minister is using GoT as a sermon illustration this morning and his GoT exegesis is NOT on point :-/

[jessasue]

it is well

with my soul