BibleWorm

This week we’re reading a set of texts from the book of Jeremiah, beginning in 36:1-16 and 21-28 and then continuing in 31:31-34. Together these texts tell of Jeremiah’s written prophecy, read by his scribe Baruch in the Temple, calling the people to repentance. But when King Jehoiachim hears of the prophecy, he cuts it to shreds and tosses it into the fire. In Jeremiah 31, God responds by promising to inscribe the Torah on the hearts of the people, where it will not be forgotten…and where it can’t be destroyed by the king. We reflect on the nature of the written Torah, which is vulnerable to the whimsy of the king, whether by being burned in fire or being so twisted by interpretation that it becomes a text of violence rather than a text of justice. In this day and age, we think, it is imperative to keep the Torah written on our hearts, to remember the true Torah that calls us to care for the most vulnerable, no matter what the king may try to tell us. 

This week, we read Isaiah 6:1-13 – definitely an MVP candidate in both the Jewish and Christian communities. We wonder – what can we learn from the way that the seraphim offer praise, and what would it feel like to be a human in the middle of this scene? It’s tempting to stop reading after Isaiah tells God “Send me” – we just want to dwell in the beauty of that moment. but what happens next is important. Are we willing to hear that not every True Word is a word of hope, at least in the short term? If so, how can we help each other persevere through dark times when they are inevitable? 

This week we’re reading the story Jonah as told in the book of Jonah chapters 1, 3, & 4. The story opens with God sending Jonah to prophesy against Israel’s greatest enemy, the Assyrians, in their capital city of Nineveh. Jonah at first runs away from God, preferring to take his chances in the sea, where he is famously saved by spending three days in the belly of a fish. But when Jonah finally does make it to Nineveh, speaking only the minimum words of prophecy, the city undergoes a massive repentance, from the king to the cows, evoking the mercy of God, who decides not to destroy them. What might this story tell us about God’s compassion toward our own enemies, we wonder. Are there people that we, like Jonah, wish God would not be merciful to? And what small word might God be asking us to say to our enemies so that they, too, might experience God’s compassion? 

This week, we read 1Kings 17:1-24, and meet the larger-than-life figure of Elijah. How should we understand his boldness – is he a man of God who has taken things into his own hands, kind of gone rogue ... or is he so tied into God’s ideals that he is willing to inhabit them even when they are an awkward fit for the world of humans? And what does it mean this Bold Figure to leave from the presence of the King only to immediately become more vulnerable than the most vulnerable person in society. What does it mean for this widow who is nearly starved to death to be in a position to care for him? 

This week we’re reading the story of Solomon dedicating the Temple as told in 1 Kings 5:1-6; 8:22-30, 41-43, and 52-60a. We talk about the task of temple building and the tension that comes with trying to create containers for the uncontainable God, whether that be the sanctuaries we build or the services we design to control our interactions with God. But ultimately we realize, along with Solomon, that it’s not the container that matters but the prayer itself, the mutual listening between God and humankind that makes all things possible. Solomon appeals to the witness of the ancestors but also asks that his own prayers remain near to God so that God will deal rightly with the people in the future. What if our prayers linger before God, too, we wonder. Whose ancestors are we, and how will shape their relationship with God in the days and years to come?

This week, we read 2 Samuel 7:1-17 – King David's got an idea, y’all. Having just built himself a house – a palace – he wants to build God a house – a Temple. Is he motivated by a love for the Lord, or by political savvy? Or a little of both? And why does God say no, but then offer David yet another kind of house – a dynasty? With all this house language flying around, we’ve got to ask – where does God dwell among us, anyway? 

A special live episode on 1 Samuel 1:1-20 and 2:10, recorded at Heartland Retreat Center in Parkville, MO, with pastors from the Omaha Presbyterian Seminary Foundation's Pastoral Leadership Revitalization Program.

This week we’re reading the story of Hannah as told in 1 Samuel 1:1-20 and 2:1-10. Really we’re supposed to be talking about Hannah’s song in chapter 2, but we find the story of Hannah herself so compelling that we linger over it to see what it can teach us. We ponder the way Hannah prays out of her wretchedness, speaking her truth before God in ways that may at first seem overly bold. But God’s response to her prayer teaches us that God can handle our truths, just as God received hers. We also linger over the responses of Hannah’s husband Elkanah and the priest Eli, who don’t really understand what Hannah is going through but who, each in his own way, tries to support her. And we wrestle with Hannah’s song, which depicts the inversion of society and reminds us that God is the one who is in charge, no matter how much we might try to imagine otherwise.

This week we read Exodus chapter 32: 1-14 – the infamous story of the golden calf. Okay, we all know that this was not the best move the Israelites have ever made. But let’s slow down our reading and see what else we can find in here. What are the Israelites feeling, and what do they mean to do by making this calf? Is Aaron sensitive and subtle in navigating this situation, reducing harm – or is he going along with whatever in order to keep the peace? And who is responsible for these Israelites at this point in the story anyway?

This week we’re reading the story of the first Passover as told in Exodus 12:1-13 and 13:1-8. We talk about God setting the people free from Egypt, and wrestle with the violence that seems necessary for God to enact judgments against Pharaoh and the gods of Egypt. We marvel at the resetting of the calendar and the ritual of the Passover that are both instantiated before the Exodus even takes place. And we think about the role of ritual both in preserving the memory of the past and in creating space for new generations to claim the story as their own.