Uniform Lesson for January 12, 2020 Scripture passage and lesson focus: 1 Kings 8:14-21 The ark has been transferred to the Temple, the glory of the Lord has filled the holy space and God has gathered a people for God’s worship. Solomon now turns toward the people to deliver a word as the people stand to hear. Solomon begins by blessing God for keeping covenant, declares the fulfillment of God’s promises in the building of God’s house/Temple and points toward the centrality of God’s gift of Torah symbolized by the ark. 1 Kings 8:14-16 — Blessed be the Lord Following the completion of a successful building campaign, most leaders would acknowledge those who had made this construction possible – the architects and engineers, the builders and the contractors, the planners and municipal officials, the benefactors and the citizens. Solomon leads off with none of these! Rather, this word acknowledges the prime mover in this project: the Lord God. And the prime motivation for this … [Read more...]

Uniform Lesson for January 5, 2020 Scripture passage and lesson focus: 1 Kings 8:1-13 David’s offer to honor God with the building of a house leads to God’s counteroffer of a house/dynasty for David and a house/Temple to be built by his offspring after him (2 Samuel 7:12-13). That offspring, Solomon, now moves to make this offer real and tangible. So begins the building of the Temple at Jerusalem, a building whose foundations still stand as the focal point for Abrahamic worship to this day. For the next several lessons, we walk through chapter 8 of 1 Kings under the headings of the Service for the Lord’s Day: Gathering, Word, Eucharist and Sending. This week, God gathers a congregation for the revelation of God’s glory. 1 Kings 8:1-5 — Solomon begins the gathering At the beginning of this story, the king seems to be in charge. Solomon assembles the elders and all the heads of the tribes. They are all gathered before Solomon in Jerusalem. All the people of Israel are assembled to … [Read more...]

Uniform Lesson for December 29, 2019 Scripture passage and lesson focus: 1 Chronicles 17 Following our Christmas interlude, we return now to the story of David and the ark in 1 Chronicles. We’ve shifted from the hill country to Jerusalem, from a private to a public celebration, from God made present in a baby in utero to God made present in an ark made of wood. David, having had his gift of a house/Temple for God refused, now turns to God in prayer regarding the house/dynasty God has promised to him. David now thanks God for God’s faithfulness to him, praises God for God’s faithfulness to God’s people and petitions God regarding God’s promise of faithfulness to this house/dynasty in the future. So let’s try a two-step throughout this lesson, as we think about David, the king, in 1 Chronicles, and Christ, the King, in our Christmastide stories and sermons. 1 Chronicles 17:1-19 — Thanksgiving for God’s faithfulness to individuals If we claim that Jesus is the son of David (Matthew … [Read more...]

Uniform Lesson for December 22, 2019 Scripture passage and lesson focus: Luke 1:39-56 Reading this Christmas story in the middle of our readings from 1 Chronicles provides us some interesting angles to think about God’s incarnation in Jesus Christ. As with the ark narratives from the Chronicler, here we have a story about honoring God’s presence in our midst; about the preferences the God we worship has regarding housing; and about the kinds of songs we must or should sing to recognize this God’s arrival. Luke 1:39-40 — Honoring God’s presence In the David stories, the ark is brought into Jerusalem with great fanfare, public parades and not a little trepidation. The ark makes tangible the very presence of the Lord God, and it therefore should not be handled carelessly or casually or for the wrong purposes. The ark is carried on poles; the Levites break out into song and music; and even the king dances and leaps in a way that is experienced as scandalous by one of his wives. … [Read more...]

Uniform Lesson for December 15, 2019 Scripture passage and lesson focus: 1 Chronicles 17 and 21 David (with the help of the Levites) has honored God by bringing the ark into Jerusalem. Now the ark sits in a tent while David sits and sleeps in a palace. David (again, maybe with the help of the Levites) decides that this is not right. If David has a house, should not God have a house? A running dialogue ensues between God and David, built on the playful range of meanings in the Hebrew word bayit. Just as the “house of Richard” might refer to either my (and my wife’s!) domicile or my daughters, so the “house that David built” could be either a palace (and temple) or progeny. This pun provides an opportunity to think about how God likes to be housed — in David’s time and in ours. 1 Chronicles 17:1-8 — A tabernacle You would think that God would do what we should do when someone honors us with a gift. “Just say thank you,” I was taught — unless the gift comes with strings attached or … [Read more...]

Uniform Lesson for December 8, 2019 Scripture passage and lesson focus: 1 Chronicles 16 In 2 Samuel 6, David brings the ark into Jerusalem with shouting and the sound of the trumpet. Once inside the tent, David presents burnt offerings and offerings of well-being. Following the offerings, David blesses the people, gives everyone food and then all the people went back to their homes. David is in charge. David acts as a priest. All the people seem pleased — except for one of David’s wives! In 1 Chronicles, we get the full order of service, and some other names appear in the bulletin. 1 Chronicles 16:1-6 — A liturgy with liturgists Too often, history is simply the story of kings or prime ministers or presidents. Too often, worship is simply the story of preachers and sermons and hand-shakes at the door. The writer of Chronicles believes that honoring God in worship requires more than a faithful king. The writer of Chronicles thinks that proper worship requires more than an obedient … [Read more...]