You can check out this Sunday’s bulletin here.

But when I looked for good, evil came;
and when I waited for light, darkness came.  Job 30:26 (NRSV)

My first response is that these passages, the Psalm of complaint we have been reading for the past three days and now Job’s complaint from Job 30, sound a little whiny. Then I remind myself of what Job has just been through. He has just lost everything, his kids, his home, his livelihood. I have never experienced loss like that. The loss I have experienced has by in large been the result of my own foolish actions and behaviors. So even though I know people who have endured significant loss, there is this little part of me that cries out that all loss is the consequence of one’s own behaviors, actions, or thoughts – or the thoughts, behaviors, and actions of others.

Maybe I need to come back to scriptures like these more often, along with tending to the “scriptures” of people’s stories and experiences to remind myself that there are times when we must cry out ” when I looked for good, evil came.”

Uzziah was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem. He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, just as his father Amaziah had done. He set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God; and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper…..But when he had become strong he grew proud, to his destruction.  2 Chronicles 26:3-5, 16 (NRSV)

But then the strength and success went to his head. Arrogant and proud, he fell. One day, contemptuous of God, he walked into The Temple of God like he owned it and took over, burning incense on the Incense Altar.   2 Chronicles 26:16-17 (The Message)

But Peter said, ‘I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk.’            Acts 3:6 (NRSV)

So it appears the lectionary is going to go with the leprosy theme for a few days. Interesting choice. Being the good American Protestant boy that I am, I am a bit put off by this story about Uzziah. Here is one who honored God and was blessed for it. When he went into the temple to burn incense, he was turned back by an army of priests and was struck with leprosy. It sounds like a turf war to me, with the priests defending their jobs.

Peterson fills it out a bit in his translation, having Uzziah walk into the temple as if he owned the place. There is a fine line between confidence and pride. I think it has to do with how we view God. Keeping one’s attention on God and not ourselves may keep us from crossing the line from confidence to pride. That is the confidence expressed by Peter and John – “…but what I have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk.”

Take care of your health and the earth by incorporating delicious vegetarian meals into your diet. Join Judi Perna for a class on

preparing vegetarian shepherds pie, salad, and green tea. The class will meet in the kitchen of Studebaker Hall at 5:30 pm on Monday, Jan. 30. Help prepare the meal and then enjoy it with your fellow chefs. The cost is $5 and you can sign up at the Welcome Table or online at meetup.com. Contact Judi Perna or Carol Lewis for more info.

Train me, God, to walk straight; 
      then I’ll follow your true path. 
   Put me together, one heart and mind; 
      then, undivided, I’ll worship in joyful fear.      (Psalm 86:11, The Message)

Straight walking is hard. It has been my experience that I need something other than me to “put me together.”

Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul, and Samuel was told, ‘Saul went to Carmel, where he set up a monument for himself…                                            1 Samuel 15:12 (NRSV)

Peter responded, “What’s going on here that you connived to conspire against the Spirit of the Master? The men who buried your husband are at the door, and you’re next.” No sooner were the words out of his mouth than she also fell down, dead. When the young men returned they found her body. They carried her out and buried her beside her husband. By this time the whole church and, in fact, everyone who heard of these things had a healthy respect for God. They knew God was not to be trifled with.                                                                        Acts 5:9-11 (The Message)

Any story that begins with the protagonist building a monument to himself cannot end well!

In the passage from Samuel, Saul has been told by God to completely destroy another people and keep no spoils. Everything is to be destroyed. Saul, however, keeps some prime livestock to sacrifice to God. God tells Saul, through Samuel, that because he disobeyed God, he will no longer be king of Israel.

In the passage from Acts, Ananias sells a piece of property and gives a part of it to the movement, but “secretly” keeping a portion for themselves. Ananias is struck dead, his wife comes in, sticking to the story they came up with, and she is struck dead as well. My sense of humor may be morbid, but the picture in my head of this scene is comical.

Here’s the thing. The God described in these passages don’t square with the God I have come to experience. If this is what God was like, I would be dead many times over by now. So what are these passages saying to me? What I hear God reminding me about is the importance of integrity and single-mindedness. As much as possible I need to adhere to what God is calling me to do and how God is calling me to do it. I must follow my convictions.

How do these passages speak to you? How do you handle passages such as this which are a bit shocking in nature?

In your book were written
   all the days that were formed for me,
   when none of them as yet existed.               Psalm 139:16b (NRSV)

They lost no time leaving the road walked by their parents, the road of obedience to God’s commands. They refused to have anything to do with it.                                       Judges 2:17 (The Message)

That’s why God let those nations remain. He didn’t drive them out or let Joshua get rid of them.                                               Judges 2:23 (The Message)

All my days? Already written for me? I’m not sure what to hink about that. Actually, yes I do. I don’t agree with it. Call me a heretic. I believe that I have so many choices. I believe that as I avail myself to God’s love and power in my life, that relationship will blossom and my days, present and future, can be transformed. Or maybe that was already written?

The description of the unfolding generations in Judges 2 is instructive for me. A relationship with God is active and dynamic. In successive generations, and even in my own life, we cannot just start well and let it go from there. That is when we lose sight of God working in our life and we walk away or, and I believe this is worse, end up with dogma and tradition but no active relationship with God, the creator of the universe. It has been my experience that relationship has to be tended and nurtured in each of us on a consistent basis.

The end of the passage of Judges is an excellent reminder that we have to rout the enemies in our life. NOT – mind you, the enemies outside, the enemies inside. If we let anything stay that we know is destructive: sin, negative thoughts, judgmentalism, etc., we always run the risk that it will grow at some point and attack.