• II Samuel 5:1-5,9-10

Following the formative, dramatic events of David’s youth and the tragic death of King Saul and his eldest son, Jonathan, David is made King of both North and South in a united Israel.  Rather than reign from the existing capital city of the North or the  South, David moves  the capital to neutral area between the two–  Jerusalem.

• Psalm 48

Images and metaphors tumble over one another as the psalmist describes “the King’s city,” “Mt. Zion,” as God’s “home,” the “holy mountain,” which survives the assaults of enemies and from where God’s justice extends to all.

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• Ezekiel 2:1-5

The Lord instructs Ezekiel to stand-up and listen.  The Lord is sending Ezekiel as a prophet to Israel, whose checkered history of rebellion and stubbornness are well known.   Declare to them,–“Thus says the Lord”– in such a way that whatever else their response, they will know beyond any doubt that “there has been a prophet among us.”

• Psalm 123

The psalmist petitions the Lord with a longing that could be compared to someone waiting on directions from one in authority; i.e. a slave to a master or mistress, ignoring the “scorn of some.”

• II Corinthians 12:2-10

Continuing his attempt to develop a relationship with the community of believers in Corinth, Paul alludes to his ecstatic encounter with the Risen Christ when he was “caught up in Paradise.”  Despite, “the exceptional character of revelations,” Paul is kept humble by an unidentified “thorn in the flesh.”   Even his “weakness,” however, becomes an opportunity to testify.

• Mark 6:1-13

Mark’s narrative, from beginning to end,  explores the full range of reactions to Jesus.  In contrast to the eager acceptance by two complete strangers (in last Sunday’s gospel), when Jesus returns to his hometown, Nazareth, he is met with derision.  Some acknowledge that he speaks with “wisdom” and acts with “power,” but cannot get past the fact he is just a neighbor whom they watched grow up.  “And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them.”  After this disappointment, Jesus moves on to other towns and villages.  He deputizes his disciples and sends them out in pairs.  Go, Jesus instructs them, and be effective wherever you are welcomed, and where you are not welcomed, just move on.

Common sense and general consensus define conventional religion.  It is about believing certain claims, abiding by corresponding behaviors and bonding with like-minded people who are vigilant against deviations within the community and threats from outside.  It produces a certain kind of assurance, conformity and complacency. But biblical narratives have one common impact– they disrupt conventional assumptions.  They use an entirely different vocabulary with repeated emphasis on particular words and their many synonyms– justice, trust, risk, invitation, journey.  They are bold and anything but conventional.  They have the unmistakable feel wherever they are faithfully read and interpreted that “a prophet has been among us.” 

Mark’s description of Jesus’s  return to his hometown reminds us that whenever we think we have figured out how God acts, we are proven wrong once again.  This former neighbor returns home after some new found fame elsewhere, but despite his “authority” and “power,” those who thought they knew him because they had seen him grow up just cannot imagine or accept all that he is doing now.  This episode also contains a warning.  God’s ways do not overwhelm.  God offers the gift  of living life more fully than conventional wisdom assumes and each person accepts or declines the gift.  It is that simple.  It is shocking to discover how vulnerable that offer is to human whim or misunderstanding.  Mark’s narrative simply states that among those who do not accept God’s gift, God “can do no deed of power.”  God’s “power” works among the willing.

In the vast writing output over Paul Ricoeur’s  long and illustrious career, perhaps Oneself As Another is one of his most important books.  In it, he discusses a concept to which he returned over and over in many other writings– “attestation.”  For Ricoeur, attestation is bound up in one’s total outlook on life; it includes a wager we are willing to make and act on; it is uniquely personal; and, instead of being the subject of interrogation, it is the interrogator.  Ricoeur writes that “attestation” confronts our “humiliated cogito” and instead calls us into a”a kind of trust.”  Over time, he continues,”trust will, in turn, be a trust in the power to say, in the power to do, in the power to respond….”  Ultimately, trust and the new-found power to say and to do lead to respond in the most personal way we can: “‘It’s me here.'” (p.22)

Reading the biblical narratives week after week, it finally begins to sink in what is actually going on.  God’s messengers, in all their guises, including the local boy from Nazareth, are disrupting our assumptions and certitudes and offering an adventure, the adventure of a lifetime.  They require a very particular kind of “trust” but offer proximity to power that transforms us and empowers us to impact others in God’s name and for God’s priorities  It is scary to realize just how easy it is to miss this invitation.  It comes in such unexpected ways and never bullies. It is also humbling to realize how clumsy and clueless we can be in response to such a generous invitation.  Perhaps sometimes only after we have explored the usual “religious” dead-ends can we get it: we are invited by God to do God’s work in the world each within the authentic outline of our own personality and history and capacities and opportunities.  It is an invitation “to say” and “to do” as only you can– “It’s me here.”  Paul, with his mysterious “thorn in the side,” responded to the Risen Chirst in his onw unique ways. (and so can we!). Although such an opportunity to encounter an invitation to discover our unique relationship with God and God’s ways is so easy to miss, (keep in mind the hometown friends and neighbors who dismissed someone they thought they already knew),  yet when it is taken up there is no mistaking what has happened– “a prophet has been here!”