I'll Have The Statue of the Ox Eating Grass - November 21, 2010

Daily Lectionary Readings for November 21, 2010
Psalm 106:1-27
Zechariah 9:9-16
1 Peter 3:13-22
Matthew 21:1-13

Psalm 106:1-27
"The made a calf at Horeb
and worshiped a cast image.
They exchanged the glory of God
for the image of an ox that eats grass."(vs.19-20)
Hmmmm.  When you say it like that it doesn't seem like such a good choice. 
It's funny how when we say out loud the things that we give priority over God it comes out sounding pretty much like these verses.  God grant us wisdom.

Zechariah 9:9-16
Prophecy that foreshadows the events of Palm Sunday.

1 Peter 3:13-22
"For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God's will, than to suffer for doing evil."(v.17)
If we our suffering, why are we suffering.  Is our suffering the result of disobedience and being out of step with God's will or is our suffering the result of fidelity to God and striving to follow Jesus.  It sounds odd to rate the relative merits of various types of suffering, but I think it makes good sense.  Suffering, in and of itself, is not a bad thing.  Suffering that we are experiencing because we are making the choices that God would have us make and trying to live the way that God would have us live will surely have a whole different feel to it than suffering which comes from separation from God's will and plan.  The one is a suffering that is superficial and while it may be deeply painful there is a deeper resevoir of hope beneath it.  The other is a suffering that makes each day another journey through misery.

Matthew 21:1-13
Matthew's Palm Sunday account wherein we see Matthew utilizing the Zechariah passage and pointing to prophecy fulfilled in the actions and person of Jesus.

Preached today on...
Used the Luke 23:33-43 and Colossians 1:11-20  passages to preach this morning.  Basic thrust that faith is very often about relearning definitions of what we imagine to be familiar terms.  King for instance here, on Christ the King Sunday, is reshaped for the people of Jesus day and for us.  The people are looking for David - powerful poltiical and military leader - and instead we have the story of the crucifixion with the mocking of Jesus as King, the sign placed on the cross and two criminals, one to either side of Jesus.  One who understands his kingship and one who does not.  And the Colossians passage which describes Christ's ministry in beautifully poetic language, demonstrating how death on a cross is truly the act of a King.