84: P23A (Oct. 12) Is it a Bear or Golden Calf Market?

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For Sunday October 12, Proper 23A/Ordinary 28A/18 Sundays after Pentecost. 
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SHOW NOTES -  10/12/2014
Episode 84: P23A (Oct. 12) Is it a Bear or Golden Calf Market?
For Sunday, October 12, 2014
Welcome the Pulpit Fiction Podcast, where two local pastors discuss the  lectionary reading for the week. This is episode 84 for Sunday October 12, Proper 23A/Ordinary 28A/18 Sundays after Pentecost.


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Introduction and Check-in

  • Last passage in Exodus.  Moving next week to a read through 1 Thessalonians, which lasts until Christ the King Sunday.  Spoiler alert: Moses dies, and lives to write it all down.
  • Last year’s Happy Helloween Thursday Night Special

Featured Musician - Jennifer Knapp “Want For Nothing” from her 2010 album Letting Go. Her new book, Facing the Music : My Story will hit the shelves this Tuesday and her new album Set Me Free is being released on October 14. You can listen to our interview with Jennifer Knapp at pulpitfiction.us. You can get both and support pulpitfiction by going to the Pulpit Fiction Store at and is available for pre-order at pulpitfiction.com/store.
You can follow news about her shows and blog at jenniferknapp.com.  You can follow her on twitter @Jennifer_Knapp, and on Facebook at Facebook.com/JenniferKnappMusic.  

Primary Scripture - Matthew 22:1-14 The Parable of the King's Wedding Banquet
Initial Thoughts

  • Not an Anti-Jewish Text! Though this text has been misused to promote anti-Jewish sentiments. Counter them vocally! This text is as much about the condemnation or salvation of Christians as it is about Jews/Israel

Bible Study

  • Literary Context- three parables - there is a natural progression (use of “again” in v.1 bind this parable to the preceding ones)
    • 21:28-32 - Two Sons- focus on John the Baptist
    • 21:33-46 - The Landowner’s Vineyard - Focus on Jesus (the son who was killed)
    • 22:1-14 - King’s Banquet- Focus on the parousia- the culmination and judgment/salvation
  • Allegory:
    • King- God
    • Son - Jesus
    • Initial Guests - Israel
    • First group of slaves - Hebrew Prophets
    • Second Group - Christian Missionaries
  • This parable is not to be understood historically or literally in any sense
    • The “killing” of the servants and the Kings “destruction” of the initial guests is both hyperbolic and symbolic of the abuse of the prophets at the hands of the “faithful” and the destruction of Jerusalem
    • Matthew is writing out of a particular context which includes the destruction of the Temple and the persecution of followers of the Way.
  • Themes:
    • Those that are initially called/blessed/elected are still judged on their actions - there is no “grandfather” policy of salvation
    • God is interested in who shows up prepared to do the work of God (love God and neighbor)
    • Is there a conditional nature to salvation? Is grace freely given or does it demand obedience and response?
    • The Good and the Bad are invited to attend!
  • Inappropriate clothing (Eugene Boring, NIB Commentary)
    • Being invited to the party does not mean one automatically is “saved”
    • The “elect” or the Christian are not a replacement for Israel
    • This passage is not a word of triumph to believers but a word of warning - do not presume salvation - it is a gift
    • Salvation is not a destination is a dedication to God’s ministry of love and grace. Showing up is a good start, but not enough
  • Judgment
    • Notice that the guests choose not to come to the banquet despite being invited and the unrobed guest refused to respond to the king about why he is dressed inappropriately
    • The old story about Heaven and Hell being a banquet table with 3 foot spoons
      • Hell- they starve and are hungry unable to feed themselves
      • Heaven- they are stuffed feeding each other

Preaching Thoughts

  • All three of these parables are warning to listen to God and to do the work of God - loving God and loving neighbor. To not do that work is to refuse the Kingdom of God. To give false lip service to this ministry is to show up in the wrong clothes. How do we show up, ready to serve?
  • What about showing up to church? Granted it is not enough in and of itself - but is it a if not the first step?
  • We don’t want to guilt people into church - so have we made church seem unimportant?
  • Does your church go out of its way to invite the good and the bad?

Featured Musician - Jennifer Knapp “Want For Nothing” from her 2010 album Letting Go.

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Secondary scripture - Exodus 32:1-14 The People Worship Idols
Initial Thoughts

  • This is the basis of many a sit-com.  Parents go out of town, leave oldest in charge.  A few people come over, and all of the sudden things are out of control.  Parents come home, and they are PISSED.  So they decide to kill everyone at the party, and start over with new kids.
  • Last week we were given the Law, the cornerstone of the relationship between God and Israel.  “I am the LORD your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You must have no other gods before me. Do not make an idol for yourself… Do not bow down to them or worship them.” (Exodus 20:4)
  • Here the people say, “Come on! Make us gods who can lead us… Then he made a metal image of a bull calf, and the people declared, ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 32:1-4)
  • If Exodus is the creation story of Israel, passing through the Sea is the birth.  This is the fall.
    • “It is Genesis 3 all over again.  The garden scene becomes a tangled mess.  Harmony turns to dissonance, rest to disturbance, preparedness to confusion, and the future with God becomes a highly uncertain matter” (Terrence Fretheim, Interpretation: Exodus, p. 279).

Bible Study

  • Literary Context
    • Ten Commandments given to Moses in chapter 20 (last week)
    • Chapters 21-23 are other laws about social order
    • Chapter 24 Covenant of Sinai is sealed in blood and a meal with Moses, Aaron, and 70 leaders.  The leaders “looked at God, and they ate and drank.”  God tells Moses “Come up to me on the mountain and wait there.  I’ll give you the stone tablets with the instructions and commandments I’ve written in order to teach them.”
    • Chapter 24:18 “Moses stayed on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.”
    • Chapters 25-31 are extensive, detailed descriptions of the tabernacle, rituals, offerings, and other priestly concerns.
    • Chapter 32:1 is a continuation of this thought “The people saw that Moses was taking a long time to come down…”
    • This passage takes place with only Moses and God, with the people at the bottom of the mountain.
    • After Moses goes down and sees what God was telling him, he gets mad and breaks the tablets.  Argues with Aaron.  Gathers Levites to dole out punishment.  Purges the unfaithful.  Eventually a new set of tablets are made.
  • Perspectives on the story (Amy Erickson on the Working Preacher blog):
    • Aaron - The practical leader, willing to compromise
      • Left in charge, the people are longing for answers.  
      • Aaron builds an altar in front of the golden calf, and declares that the festival is in honor of Yahweh.
      • Fudges a little on the law, but tries to make it okay.
    • God - The upset parent
      • v. 7 in NRSV “The Lord said to Moses, "Go down at once! Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have acted perversely”
        • Acting perversely - same assessment of people as just before the flood (Genesis 6:12)
      • v. 7 in CEB “The Lord spoke to Moses: “Hurry up and go down! Your people, whom you brought up out of the Land of Egypt are ruining everything.”
        • Ruining everything - God had created order, and the people were undoing that order.  They were ruining the created order that God had established
      • In both versions though, God says “the people you [Moses] brought out of Egypt.”  He has no disowned them.  They are now Moses’ people.  They are Moses’ problem. It seems as if even God has forgotten the first commandment.
    • Moses - The intervener
      • Moses does three things:
        • Reminds God that it was God that brought them out of Egypt.  
        • Appeals to God’s reputation in the eyes of the Egyptians
        • Reminds God of the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Israel.
      • Moses ignores God’s command to “leave me alone,” but instead stands up forcefully to God.  (Parents, remember that time when your child convicted you of the thing you told them not to do?_
      • “The God of Israel is revealed as one who is open to change.  God will move from decisions made, from courses charted, in view of the ongoing interaction with those affected.  God treats the relationship with the people with an integrity that is responsive to what they do and say…  This means that there is genuine openness to the future on God’s part… It is this openness to change the reveals what it is about God that is unchangeable: God’s steadfastness has to do with God’s love… God will always act, even make changes, in order to be true to [love].” (Fretheim, p. 287)

Preaching Thoughts

  • Exodus 32:14 “Then the LORD changed his mind about the terrible things he said he would do to his people.”
    • This is a remarkable sentence, one that could possibly make people uncomfortable if given a chance to really ponder it.
    • What does it mean for God to “change his mind.”  This seems to run contrary to a classical understanding of the God that is all-knowing, all-powerful.  How can an all-knowing God change?  Is it possible that even God doesn’t know the future?  What kind of vast implications does that have for faith?
  • We are a “What have you done for me lately” people.  God and Moses are out of sight, then they must be out of mind as well.  People cannot hold faith through perceived abandonment.  How quick are we to forget what God has done?  How quick are we to search for gods in times of trouble?  
  • How do we lead?  Are there times when appeasing the crowd is appropriate?  Are there compromises that need to be made?  Or are we too often like Aaron, not standing firm when we need to, or like the preachers that Martin Luther King wrote to from his Birmingham jail

Tasty Wafers of the Week!

  • The Rapture Exposed: The Message of Hope in the Book of Revelation, by Barbara Rossing;
  • Left Behind? What the Bible Really Says About the End Times by James Efird.
  • Breaking the Code: Understanding the Book of Revelation, by Bruce Metzger

CLOSING
TY listeners

Shout outs:

  • Diann Bailey - being ordained Sunday October 5th! Congratulations Diann!
  • Nate Bailey- left this week to begin serving as a Global Mission Intern in Amman Jordan


Our Featured Musician-
Jennifer Knapp “Want For Nothing” from her 2010 album Letting Go. Her new book, Facing the Music : My Story will hit the shelves this Tuesday and her new album Set Me Free is being released on October 14. You can listen to our interview with Jennifer Knapp at pulpitfiction.us. You can get both her new book and album and support pulpitfiction by going to the Pulpit Fiction Store at and is available for pre-order at pulpitfiction.com/store.
You can follow news about her shows and blog at jenniferknapp.com.  You can follow her on twitter @Jennifer_Knapp, and on Facebook at Facebook.com/JenniferKnappMusic.

Thanks to Scott Fletcher for our voice bumpers, Dick Dale and the Del Tones for our Theme music (“Misirlou”), Nicolai Heidlas (“Summertime”) and The Steel Wheels for our transition music(“Second of May” from their album Live at Goose Creek) and Paul and Storm for our closing music( “Oh No”).

Feedback:

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