The pub quiz question: Which Biblical character plays in the Scottish First Division? Queen of the South. vs Airdrie yesterday: a disappointing 0-0. (But in the UEFA cup this season.)
Queen of the South: what Matthew and Luke call the Queen of Sheba.
The queen of the South will rise up at the judgement with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and see, something greater than Solomon is here! Jesus, rather energetically replying to the scribes and Pharisees who want to be shown a sign.
Two stories about signs; about signals, about something that tells us what to do. What direction to go in. What to do next. Arrows, lists, maps, unexamined assumptions. What everyone knows. Those deep tectonic shifts of general opinion: smoking, politics, climate change, tectonic theory.
I like the Queen of Sheba. She has style, she has camels, and she takes ‘what everyone knows’ and asks questions about it. Everyone says Solomon is wise, but she goes to see for herself. She asks questions. Hard questions. Solomon is a byword for wisdom; maybe he is a sign of what wisdom is. She goes to have a look.
1 Kings > Deuteronomic > God is universal and ethical and obvious. Solomon is a good king, wise, just, Temple-building, therefore he is rewarded with gold and spices. The Queen of Sheba, who is a foreigner, tests his wisdom and brings some of his reward.
But the other story is in Acts. God is out there and live and never obvious. God in Deuteronomy is something like a mountain. God in Acts is more like electricity. The Spirit says: Go here. Don’t go there. Send these two people. The second half of Acts is essentially the story of Paul and whoever else could stand the pace (they seem to take it in turns) trying to keep up with the Spirit. Learning to see, learning not to make assumptions about God, finding God ahead of them.
This story, the magician, is another case of testing. Again, we don’t have the questions or the criteria or the answers. Again, we have the foreigner, but this time he’s listening. He is astonished.
We can learn to ask questions. Hard questions, obvious ones, questions to other people, to ourselves, questions for God.
Maybe, as well, we could remember to be astonished.
1 comment:
This is the first week when I have been able to follow from the readings through the week to the firat hand hearing of the sermon.
It is interesting how the week has developed, the final sermon being almost but not quite the written one found on the blog. I suppose the most interesting part to me has been the actual sermon, the way EJT took her time saying it - as it seems new ideas are coming as the words are being said. I think that is a very natural way to do it, as if being guided by the Spirit for those people who were in the congregation there and then.
It would be good to have other, perhaps separate blogs (or a guest blog!) for other clergy / LLM input.
It is well worth doing - I hope it can continue.
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