…there was a tree at the center of the earth, and its height was great. The tree grew great and strong, its top reached to heaven, and it was visible to the ends of the whole earth.
                                                - Daniel 4.10b-11 (NRSV)

READING:
Luke 13.18-20 (The Voice)
Do you want to understand the kingdom of God? Do you want Me to tell you what it’s like? It’s like a single mustard seed that someone took and planted in his garden. That tiny seed grew and became a tree so large that the birds could fly in and make their nests in its branches.

The Last Words of David are as powerful as they are beautiful. They reflect the promise God made to David that his house would never fail. Should you wish to know how the ideal king in this house is to rule just read these words. The bar is high; the demands are great; one might even say unattainable.
                                       - From The Star of David

READINGS:
2 Samuel 23.1a, 23-24 (NRSV)
Now these are the last words of David: The God of Israel has spoken, the Rock of Israel has said to me: One who rules over people justly, ruling in the fear of God, is like the light of morning, like the sun rising on a cloudless morning, gleaming from the rain on the grassy land.

2 Samuel 7.11b-16, 22-26 (The Voice)
I, the Eternal swear to you that I will raise up a dynasty from your family. When you come to the end of your days, and you leave this life to lie down with your fathers, I will raise up from you a descendant, your own flesh and blood, and I will make his kingdom and family sure. He will be the one to build a temple honoring My name, and I will establish the leadership of his kingdom for all time. I will be to him a father, and he will be to Me a son. When he crosses the line and acts badly, I will teach him with a rod used by people for correction and a lash for discipline. But I will not withdraw My love from him as I did from Saul, whom I set aside in favor of you. Your dynasty, your kingdom, will stand perpetually in My sight; your descendants will rule continually.”
 
So You are great, O Eternal Lord. No one else like You exists, and there is no god greater than You, as we should know from everything we have heard. And who is like Your people, Israel? Is there another nation on the earth where God went to redeem them from Egypt and to distinguish Himself with awe-inspiring deeds of power by driving other nations and their false gods out of their path? You chose to take Israel as Your people perpetually; and You, Eternal One, chose to be their God. So yes, Eternal God, take the words You have spoken about me, Your servant, and my family and kingdom, and make them true perpetually. Do what You have promised. Then Your name will be revered forever in the words, “The Eternal One, the Commander of heavenly armies, is the God over Israel,” and the dynasty of Your servant David will be established before You.

1 Samuel 1:1a-2, 9-11, 19-20 (CEB Version)
Now there was a certain man from Ramathaim, a Zuphite from the highlands of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah.  Elkanah had two wives, one named Hannah and the other named Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah didn’t.  One time, after eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah got up and presented herself before the Lord. (Now Eli the priest was sitting in the chair by the doorpost of the Lord’s temple.) Hannah was very upset and couldn’t stop crying as she prayed to the Lord. Then she made this promise: “Lord of heavenly forces, just look at your servant’s pain and remember me! Don’t forget your servant! Give her a boy! Then I’ll give him to the Lord for his entire life. No razor will ever touch his head.”
They got up early the next morning and worshipped the Lord. Then they went back home to Ramah. Elkanah slept with his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered her. So in the course of time, Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, which means “I asked the Lord for him.”

We must not portray you in king's robes,
you drifting mist that brought forth the morning. Once again from the old paint boxes we take the same gold for scepter and crown
that has disguised you through the ages.
                                               - Rainer Maria Rilke

THE READING:
Exodus 32.1-14 (The Voice)
When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered around Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make gods for us, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” Aaron said to them, “Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” So all the people took off the gold rings from their ears, and brought them to Aaron. He took the gold from them, formed it in a mold, and cast an image of a calf; and they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a festival to the Lord.” They rose early the next day, and offered burnt offerings and brought sacrifices of well-being; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to revel. The Lord said to Moses, “Go down at once! Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have acted perversely;   they have been quick to turn aside from the way that I commanded them; they have cast for themselves an image of a calf, and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’” The Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, how stiff-necked they are. Now let me alone, so that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them; and of you I will make a great nation.” But Moses implored the Lord his God, and said, “O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce wrath; change your mind and do not bring disaster on your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, how you swore to them by your own self, saying to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’” And the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people.

The Talmud speaks of God’s reaction when the Hebrews began to celebrate the drowning of Pharaoh’s army in the Red Sea: “How can you sing as the works of my hand are drowning in the sea?”
                                           - Talmud (Megillah 10b)

 
 THE READING:
Mark this month as the first month of all months for you—the first month of your year. Declare this message to the entire community of Israel: “When the tenth day of this month arrives, every family is to select a lamb, one for each household. If there aren’t enough people in the family to eat an entire lamb, then they should share a lamb with their nearest neighbor according to how many people are in the neighbor’s family. Divide the portions of the lamb so that each person has enough to eat. Choose a one-year-old male that is intact and free of blemishes; you can take it from the sheep or the goats. Keep this chosen lamb safe until the fourteenth day of the month, then the entire community of Israel will slaughter their lambs together at twilight. They are to take some of its blood and smear it across the top and down the two sides of the doorframe of the houses where they plan to eat. That night, have them roast the lamb over a fire and feast on it along with bitter herbs and bread made without yeast. Do not eat any meat raw or boil it in water; only eat the meat after the entire animal has been roasted over a fire with its head, legs, and intestines attached. Eat whatever you can, but don’t leave any of it until morning; whatever is left over in the morning burn in the fire. Here is how I want you to eat this meal: Be sure you are dressed and ready to go at a moment’s notice—with sandals on your feet and a walking stick in your hand. Eat quickly because this is My Passover. I am going to pass through the land of Egypt during the night and put to death all their firstborn children and animals. I will also execute My judgments against all the gods of the Egyptians, for I am the Eternal One! The blood on the doorframes of your houses will be a sign of where you are. When I pass by and see the blood, I will pass over you. This plague will not afflict you when I strike the land of Egypt with death.
                                      - Exodus 12.1-13 (The Voice)

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THE REFLECTION:
For some time in our worship, we have reflected on the story of salvation; that grand story that finds its origin deep in Jewish history, and its conclusion in the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. We have reflected on the creation of all things, the covenant with Abraham, and the story of Moses. Tomorrow we will reflect on a seminal ‘scene’ in the story of salvation; Passover. Passover provides us a glimpse of symbols that are so very important for our Christian understanding of salvation. Think about it; Passover focuses on the relationship between a sacrificial lamb, and liberation; it also focuses on the way of salvation through the story; a way that leads from slavery to the promised land.
 
Tomorrow we will of course reflect on the familiar aspects of the story, but we will reflect on an often overlooked aspect that you may find surprising. I hope you will join us for worship Sunday morning at 8:30 or 10:30.
 
Bo