Mail Archive of the old Santa Clara Valley Lutheran Parish

I adjure you by the Lord that this letter be read to all the brethren. (Thessalonians 5:27)
Subject: Re: [SCVLP] belated devotion for the 13th
Date: Sat, 25 Jun 2011 20:41:21 -0700 (PDT)
From: Joseph Leon <jleon1968@sbcglobal.net>
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Date: Sat, 25 Jun 2011 20:41:21 -0700 (PDT)
From: Joseph Leon <jleon1968@sbcglobal.net>
Subject: Re: [SCVLP] belated devotion for the 13th
To: scvlp@googlegroups.com
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Amen what a fascinating point of view.

 Missed you at text study last week.

joseph


________________________________
From: David Bonde <pastorbonde@gmail.com>
To: SCVLP <scvlp@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Sat, June 25, 2011 5:59:37 PM
Subject: [SCVLP] belated devotion for the 13th

(from my newsletter for July)

If we don=E2=80=99t want to grow, we don=E2=80=99t have to grow.  If we don=
=E2=80=99t want to
be disciples of Jesus, we don=E2=80=99t have to be.  We can be a cozy littl=
e
religious club that sings songs we like, sits in the pews we want,
drinks coffee with the people we like.

We don=E2=80=99t have to feed the hungry, heal the sick or proclaim the
Kingdom of God.  We don=E2=80=99t have to welcome the outcast or love our
enemy.  We don=E2=80=99t have to give the first fruits or share our abundan=
ce
with those in need.  (Well, technically God demands that we do all
these things, but we come from a long line of apple-eaters choosing to
go our own way, to be our own gods.)

We don=E2=80=99t have to read the Bible.  We don=E2=80=99t have to pray for=
 the world
and those in need.  We don=E2=80=99t have to gather for worship.  We can do
whatever we want.  But we cannot imagine that Jesus has any interest
in a religious club.  Pretty much everything he did was to shatter the
club mentality: healing on the Sabbath, picking grain on the Sabbath,
eating with outcasts and sinners, knocking over tables in the temple,
feeding the 5,000, talking with the woman at the well, raising the
dead =E2=80=93 even eating with =E2=80=9Cgood religious people=E2=80=9D lik=
e Simon the
Pharisee =E2=80=93 all of it a stunning and powerful challenge to comfortab=
le
religion.

Faith is comforting.  It doesn=E2=80=99t comfort me in my prejudices.  It
doesn=E2=80=99t comfort me in my self-righteousness. It doesn=E2=80=99t com=
fort me in
my love of money, sex and power.  It doesn=E2=80=99t bless the American way=
 of
life or my preferred political party.  It does comfort me when I stand
beside the grave.  It does comfort me when evil seems to abound.  It
does comfort me when my faults get the better of me and I am convicted
of being an apple-eater.  It does comfort me when I am beaten down.
It lifts up the lowly, as Mary said, but casts down the mighty from
their thrones.

Christians throughout history have been very good about being a
religious club.  But what amazes me is that we keep telling Bible
stories, and those Bible stories keep getting lose and changing
everything.  Christians in this country used religion to support
slavery, but that troublesome story of God setting slaves free in
Egypt got loose.  The Renaissance papacy had a great thing going
selling forgiveness to an anxiety-ridden people, but Luther read
Romans and Galatians and suddenly the Bible got loose and changed
everything.  The period known as Lutheran Orthodoxy was very good at
getting God back in the box, and then along came people like Spener
and Hauge who dared to pray and read the Bible together and upset the
applecart.  (They put Hauge in prison, but that doesn=E2=80=99t stop prayer=
 =E2=80=93
and then there are all those troublesome Bible stories of God opening
prisons.)

So we can be what we want.  But God is who he is.  And God=E2=80=99s Word w=
ill
do what it does.  And with us or without us God=E2=80=99s message will brea=
k
out and change things.  God doesn=E2=80=99t care about religious clubs; he
cares about grace for those in need.

I suggest we follow.

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<html><head><style type=3D"text/css"><!-- DIV {margin:0px;} --></style></he=
ad><body><div style=3D"font-family:times new roman,new york,times,serif;fon=
t-size:12pt"><div>Amen what a fascinating point of view.<br></div><div styl=
e=3D"font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">&=
nbsp;Missed you at text study last week.<br><br>joseph<br><div style=3D"fon=
t-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><font face=3D"Tahom=
a" size=3D"2"><hr size=3D"1"><b><span style=3D"font-weight: bold;">From:</s=
pan></b> David Bonde &lt;pastorbonde@gmail.com&gt;<br><b><span style=3D"fon=
t-weight: bold;">To:</span></b> SCVLP &lt;scvlp@googlegroups.com&gt;<br><b>=
<span style=3D"font-weight: bold;">Sent:</span></b> Sat, June 25, 2011 5:59=
:37 PM<br><b><span style=3D"font-weight: bold;">Subject:</span></b> [SCVLP]=
 belated devotion for the 13th<br></font><br>
(from my newsletter for July)<br><br>If we don=E2=80=99t want to grow, we d=
on=E2=80=99t have to grow.&nbsp; If we don=E2=80=99t want to<br>be disciple=
s of Jesus, we don=E2=80=99t have to be.&nbsp; We can be a cozy little<br>r=
eligious club that sings songs we like, sits in the pews we want,<br>drinks=
 coffee with the people we like.<br><br>We don=E2=80=99t have to feed the h=
ungry, heal the sick or proclaim the<br>Kingdom of God.&nbsp; We don=E2=80=
=99t have to welcome the outcast or love our<br>enemy.&nbsp; We don=E2=80=
=99t have to give the first fruits or share our abundance<br>with those in =
need.&nbsp; (Well, technically God demands that we do all<br>these things, =
but we come from a long line of apple-eaters choosing to<br>go our own way,=
 to be our own gods.)<br><br>We don=E2=80=99t have to read the Bible.&nbsp;=
 We don=E2=80=99t have to pray for the world<br>and those in need.&nbsp; We=
 don=E2=80=99t have to gather for worship.&nbsp; We can do<br>whatever we w=
ant.&nbsp; But we cannot imagine that Jesus has any
 interest<br>in a religious club.&nbsp; Pretty much everything he did was t=
o shatter the<br>club mentality: healing on the Sabbath, picking grain on t=
he Sabbath,<br>eating with outcasts and sinners, knocking over tables in th=
e temple,<br>feeding the 5,000, talking with the woman at the well, raising=
 the<br>dead =E2=80=93 even eating with =E2=80=9Cgood religious people=E2=
=80=9D like Simon the<br>Pharisee =E2=80=93 all of it a stunning and powerf=
ul challenge to comfortable<br>religion.<br><br>Faith is comforting.&nbsp; =
It doesn=E2=80=99t comfort me in my prejudices.&nbsp; It<br>doesn=E2=80=99t=
 comfort me in my self-righteousness. It doesn=E2=80=99t comfort me in<br>m=
y love of money, sex and power.&nbsp; It doesn=E2=80=99t bless the American=
 way of<br>life or my preferred political party.&nbsp; It does comfort me w=
hen I stand<br>beside the grave.&nbsp; It does comfort me when evil seems t=
o abound.&nbsp; It<br>does comfort me when my faults get the better of me a=
nd I am convicted<br>of being an
 apple-eater.&nbsp; It does comfort me when I am beaten down.<br>It lifts u=
p the lowly, as Mary said, but casts down the mighty from<br>their thrones.=
<br><br>Christians throughout history have been very good about being a<br>=
religious club.&nbsp; But what amazes me is that we keep telling Bible<br>s=
tories, and those Bible stories keep getting lose and changing<br>everythin=
g.&nbsp; Christians in this country used religion to support<br>slavery, bu=
t that troublesome story of God setting slaves free in<br>Egypt got loose.&=
nbsp; The Renaissance papacy had a great thing going<br>selling forgiveness=
 to an anxiety-ridden people, but Luther read<br>Romans and Galatians and s=
uddenly the Bible got loose and changed<br>everything.&nbsp; The period kno=
wn as Lutheran Orthodoxy was very good at<br>getting God back in the box, a=
nd then along came people like Spener<br>and Hauge who dared to pray and re=
ad the Bible together and upset the<br>applecart.&nbsp; (They put
 Hauge in prison, but that doesn=E2=80=99t stop prayer =E2=80=93<br>and the=
n there are all those troublesome Bible stories of God opening<br>prisons.)=
<br><br>So we can be what we want.&nbsp; But God is who he is.&nbsp; And Go=
d=E2=80=99s Word will<br>do what it does.&nbsp; And with us or without us G=
od=E2=80=99s message will break<br>out and change things.&nbsp; God doesn=
=E2=80=99t care about religious clubs; he<br>cares about grace for those in=
 need.<br><br>I suggest we follow.<br><br>-- <br>You received this message =
because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "SCVLP" group.<br>To post t=
o this group, send email to <a ymailto=3D"mailto:scvlp@googlegroups.com" hr=
ef=3D"mailto:scvlp@googlegroups.com">scvlp@googlegroups.com</a>.<br>To unsu=
bscribe from this group, send email to scvlp+<a ymailto=3D"mailto:unsubscri=
be@googlegroups.com" href=3D"mailto:unsubscribe@googlegroups.com">unsubscri=
be@googlegroups.com</a>.<br><span>For more options, visit this group at <a =
target=3D"_blank"
 href=3D"http://groups.google.com/group/scvlp?hl=3Den">http://groups.google=
.com/group/scvlp?hl=3Den</a>.</span><br><br></div></div>
</div></body></html>
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