Rev. Reed Lee Pedersen's
My wife and I welcomed our new bull calves, Boris (left) and Viktor (right) Unfortunately, my article about a cold March was followed by a snowy April, but now spring weather is here! Spring weather brings forth the green grass, leaves in the trees, planting, and for many farmers it is also calving season. In light of all of this I turn to a poem from Joyce Rupp’s my soul feels lean titled, “Resurrection”.
Resurrection An unknown Iowa pasture, two black figures in the dawn, one large, one very small, so small as to almost not be seen, hidden in the fresh folds of unblemished April grass. A mother cow gives birth, leans down, nudges her child, helps his wobbly legs to stand, licks away the womb’s silk and offer the fullness of her udder. Everyday, somewhere, a new creation. Everyday, somewhere, a new life marked with splendor, leaving behind the unwrapped linens of an empty womb. This poem reminds me of how creation is always being made new on earth. That is the beauty of spring (at least in a temperate climate). We get to witness to new life being made. We get to see what God saw that made the most powerful being in the universe look at creation and see that it is most certainly good. Also, baby calves are just adorable! Points to Ponder:
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The first part of the title is very easy to explain. If God is all things and above all things then we cannot assign God a gender. To give God a gender would be to mark God incomplete. In the bible the pronoun ‘He’ or ‘Him’ is used many times to describe God. Hebrew and Greek are gendered languages, so God’s masculinity when using those pronouns is grammatical not biological. It is kind of like how pizza is given a masculine pronoun in French (le pizza), but you would not say that pizza is male. Pizza is an it. To the parentheses part of the title (I do love me some parentheses), a colleague of mine introduced me to, “The Inclusive Bible: The First Egalitarian Translation”. The creators of this English translation of the bible sought to remove the unnecessary male dominated language of the bible so that all people were welcomed into the story of God and God’s people. Upon reading a review of “The Inclusive Bible” and reading through the ELCA’s recent draft on Women and Justice I was reminded of a nice little trinket of knowledge from Hebrew language class: Adam was a genderless earth creature. This is how you have probably seen this passage from Genesis: “then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being.” (Genesis 2:7) Looking back to the Hebrew and recognizing that Adam is not actually a proper noun in this context many current interpretations take a more distinct route which does not disclose a man being created first: “then Yahweh God formed the earth creature [ha ‘a dam] dust from the earth [ha ‘a dam] and breathed into its nostrils the breath of life, and the earth creature [ha ‘a dam] became a living being” (Genesis 2:7)[1] It is not until Genesis 2:22 that God takes from the rib of the earth creature and creates another one and assigns them both gender. Why is this important? Women have been treated as “less than” on individual, political, social, institutional and even religious levels. By realizing that God is genderless and not assigning the male gender to being the first created human being we open up the image of God to include more than just those with a penis. Instead of looking to a single man as the image of God (BTW in Gen 1 God says this in response to both man and woman), let us take a step back and see the whole of humanity in all its diversity (race, sex, gender identity, etc.) as the image of God. When we do this, our knowledge and viewpoint of God moves towards a more all-powerful and all-encompassing God that Christians claim to believe in. Points to Ponder:
Dear God you created us all in Your image. Give us the strength to see Your image in one another and to fight against institutions and individuals that demean and belittle on the basis of gender or sex. Let the body of Christ flourish in its entirety. Amen. [1] Draft Social Statement on Women and Justice. ELCA: Pg. 12-13. This Sunday upcoming Sunday commonly uses text from the "Road to Emmaus" in the gospel of Luke 24:13-35. As I have been thinking of this text I came up with a song using this text and the next verse (36). So last week was a highlight instead of an insight. This week I am gambling on posting a song instead of a rambling. Please note that my piano skills are very limited and I recorded it from my phone. I hope you still enjoy it. Here are the lyrics:
Verse 1 Two men went on their way out of Jerusalem that day. Head hung low for they didn't know, Christ was alive and he came to them as a man, and as they broke bread together they could finally understand. Refrain We walk this road, and God is there. We walk this road. Christ's love and presence to share. We walk this road like the men to Emmaus. We walk this road together with God, Because God is the greatest! Verse 2 Their hearts were on fire, their mood no longer dire. They went back to the place of Christ's death and disgrace Their companions shouted with glee! They had seen the Lord too! Then Jesus appeared among them and said, "Peace be with you." (Refrain) Verse 3 In life when you fell alone or far away from home, If you feel no one is there please be aware, The risen Christ si with you to the end of days. By his death and by his new life he will be here always! (Refrain) Points to Ponder:
This blog is usually about random insights. After a busy, faith filled, and exhausting Holy Week, I wanted to share my personal Holy Week Highlights (other than the memes). Maundy Thursday - Singing Psalm 22 during stripping of the altar This is a great part of the service where we strip the altar to prepare for Good Friday when Jesus was stripped and hung on the cross for our sins. During this time Psalm 22 is read or sung. I improvised singing this psalm and it happened to end at the right time. Please note: I actually start singing around 2 minute mark. Good Friday - Preaching on the tree of life which is the cross of Christ.
Sometimes when I blog a random rambling I realize I just gave away my sermon. Oh well! I tweaked it a little bit and enjoyed preaching on God's love shown to us through the cross. Easter Vigil - Leading my first one. Self explanatory. Easter Sunday - Celebrating Christ's resurrection with a baptism!!!!! This is truly one the most amazing things I have been able to do as a pastor. What better way to celebrate the new life we have in Jesus Christ than getting to preside over the waters of Baptism and announce to a beloved child of God that they have been sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever? SO COOL! That is it for this week's rambling. After some rest and more random thoughts I will come with some more insights next week. God bless you all! He is Risen! Alleluia! Question to Consider:
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AuthorPastor Reed is a first call pastor at Augustana Lutheran Church in Andover, Illinois. Archives
July 2019
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