We Are the Light of the World – This is How We Will Shine

Matthew 5: 13 – 20

Isaiah 58: 1 – 12
Psalm 112

Even though Jesus delivered his “Sermon on the Mount” to his disciples, living in first century Galilee, to his disciples who were peasants and poor laborers of Israel, this passage has been frequently cited throughout the history of American political speech craft. It wasn’t about us, had nothing at all to do with the United States of America, but we have, for better or worse, appropriated it as our own.

In 1630 Governor John Winthrop, while still aboard the ship Arbella, spoke to his fellow Puritans as they made their way to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the  “the new world.” He said that they would make a “city on the hill” of their new home, and that both the eyes of the world and the ever present help of Almighty God would be upon them there. (Winthrop “A Model”)

John F. Kennedy used the City on a Hill theme in his last formal address before becoming president in January of 1961:

“Today the eyes of all people are truly upon us—and our governments, in every branch, at every level, national, state and local, must be as a city upon a hill—constructed and inhabited by men aware of their great trust and their great responsibilities.

For we are setting out upon a voyage in 1961 no less hazardous than that undertaken by the Arabella in 1630. We are committing ourselves to tasks of statecraft no less awesome than that of governing the Massachusetts Bay Colony, beset as it was then by terror without and disorder within” (Kennedy  “City upon a Hill”).

President Ronald Regan, in his farewell address after two terms said:

“…in my mind [that city on the hill] was a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, windswept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace; a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity. And if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That's how I saw it, and see it still” (Regan “Farewell”).

President Barak Obama, and numerous other American politicians through the years – Republicans and Democrats alike - have referred again and again to these words from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (though Reagan attributed the phrase to John Winthrop, not Jesus). But, no matter how much we might want to describe the Unite States of America as this “city on the hill,” we are not.

No nation is. The city on the hill is made up, not of nation states, but of the many followers of Jesus no matter where or when they live, or have lived, or will live. The city on the hill is you. The city on the hill is me. The city on the hill is us – if we are following the precepts that Christ taught, living by this code. It’s not just a matter of intellectual assent to a prescribed doctrine, but an adherence to a standard of living that exemplifies, and demonstrates, and puts into vigorous action the good news of the gospel, a life that brings peace and freedom to everyone around. That city on a hill is a city of light, and peace, and freedom.

In addition to comparing his disciples to a city on a hill, he also said that they were the salt of the earth and the light of the world. “You are the light of the world,” he said to them. When Jesus said this to his disciples, and when Matthew recorded it in his gospel, for his Jewish audience, they would have remembered the words of the prophet Isaiah:

I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness,
I have taken you by the hand and kept you;
I have given you as a covenant to the people,
a light to the nations,
(Isaiah 42:6)

and from the second of the Servant Songs (that we read just a couple of weeks ago) 

“It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and to restore the survivors of Israel;
I will give you as a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
(Isaiah 49:6)

The people of Israel, God’s chosen people, were to be a guiding light to the nations of the world. And on that mountain side, Jesus repeated the pledge to his disciples. They would be the light of the world. And now, we here this morning take the words as well: we are, or can and should be the light of the world.

We live in the midst of darkness. The darkness surrounds us, envelops us, threatens to overtake us. These are dark and desperate times, filled with the tremors and rumors of war and many, countless troubles – political, economic, racial – both foreign and domestic, far abroad and close at home. There are many who feel that the light has gone out, the candle has been extinguished and they are ready to curse the darkness (to invert the quote attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt). But we are the light of the world and our light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overtaken us. (John 1: 5)

Yes. The world seems dark. Yes the world seems broken. Yes, we might even affirm with singer Leonard Cohen, that “there is a crack in everything – that’s how the light gets in.” (Cohen “Anthem”) We are, like the Canadian singer-songwriter Bruce Cockburn, going to “kick at the darkness ‘till it bleeds daylight” (Cockburn “Lovers”). We’re going to “Storm the Forts of Darkness and bring them down” (Johnson “Storm the Forts") because we are the light of the world.

There is a Jewish tradition originating in the Kabbalah of the 16^th century that said when God created the universe he put part of himself into vessels of light – something happened and these vessels of light were shattered, trapping the light of God within the material of creation. The tradition also says that it’s up to us to restore that light. This is called tikkun olam, “repair of the world.” (Karesh 520) It’s a late tradition, yes, that has gnostic affinities, but I rather like the idea that we, each one of us, created in the image and likeness of God, have a splinter – a shard of God’s eternal light hidden within us, and that we can do something to fan the flame of that light in others.

To be the light of the world is to repair the world, it is to restore justice, and to protect those who are powerless. With our prayers and our good works, our acts of righteous justice we can release those sparks of the divine light into this world of darkness. We bring light to the dark world by standing with and alongside the poor and marginalized. We pierce the darkness of the world by rescuing the perishing and by caring for the dying (Crosby “Rescue the Perishing”). We shatter the darkness by sharing of ourselves with those in need, by feeding the hungry, by sheltering the homeless, and caring for the sick. We repair the world and restore light to the darkness by letting the oppressed go free, sharing our bread with the hungry, bringing the homeless into our house, and covering the naked. Then our light will shine – will break forth like the dawn of a glorious new day. (Isaiah 58: 6 – 8) We are the light of the world; this is how we will shine.

The Roman naturalist and philosopher, Pliny the Elder said, “Nothing is more useful than salt and sunshine” (Pliny). If we are that city on the hill – the example to the world – then we are to be salt and sunshine to a dark world, the light of the world.

"Jesus bids us shine," (Warner) so let your light shine. Let your light shine so that the people around you might know some kindness again (Schwartz) . Share. Give. Help. Care. This is how our light shines, and how we enliven the spark of that divine light in others.We are the light of the world; this is how we will shine.

Cockburn, Bruce. “Lovers in a Dangerous Time” Stealing Fire. True North Records. 1984.

Cohen, Leonard. “Anthem” The Future. Columbia Records. 1992.

Crosby, Fanny. “Rescue the Perishing.” The Song Book of The Salvation Army. London, England. The Salvation Army. 2015. Print.

Johnson, Robert. “Storm the Forts of Darkness” The Song Book of The Salvation Army. London, England. The Salvation Army. 2015. Print.

Karesh, Sarah E. & Mitchell M. Hurvitz. Encyclopedia of Judaism. New York, NY: Facts on File, Inc. 2006. Print.

Kennedy, John F. “City upon a Hill” Boston, MA. January 9, 1961.

Pliny the Elder. Natural History. Xxxi, 102.

Reagan, Ronald. “Farewell Address” Washington D.C.: The White House. 1989.

Schwartz, Stephen, "Light of the World," Godspell. 1971.

Warner, Susan Bogert, "Jesus Bids Us Shine." The Song Book of The Salvation Army, London, England. The Salvation Army. 2015 Print. 

Winthrop, John. “A Model of Christian Charity” 1630. 

Oh, God! But Love Is Hard

Election season may be either an unfortunate or perfect time to preach from Paul’s “hymn to Love” (1 Corinthians 13). Perfect because it is timely and appropriate and vital for us to let its message transform us, unfortunate in that I doubt that we (as the larger body of Christians in America) will be willing or able to hear it in these divisive and polarized times. Where Paul would describe for us unfailing, unselfish love, love that trusts, love without rancor, we are daily bombarded on the radio, the television, in the mail and on the internet by messages of sour spite and acrimony. We are told to be fearful. We are urged on in our agitation. We are riled up on all sides and love seems lost.

There is no allowance for dialogue or civil debate; the volume and the hyperbole have been ratcheted up to eleven, the temperature of the rhetoric rheostat is cranked all the way up. Our political opponents are not concerned citizens who care about the country, but are consistently characterized as malicious and intent upon perfidy and evil. Demonization and damnation are the modus operandi of the day. We do not love. Love–real love, the kind described by Paul in today’s reading- in this highly charged and radically polarized election season, is a liability, a hindrance.

We may speak of love for God, and love for country but if we are not patiently, unselfishly loving each other, we do not know anything of real love. We may make a lot of noise about our holy faith, and wave the banner of our rigorously perfected doctrine, but if there is no love, it’s pointless; it’s a victory march around an empty square.[i] Catholic social activist, Dorothy Day is quoted as saying, “I really only love God as much as I love the person I love least.”[ii] If we took that as our measure, how much could we say we love God?

This chapter (not really a singable hymn with metered lines and stanzas, but capturing something like a hymn in its beauty) is part of the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Christian community in the city of Corinth. Paul had spent about a year and a half in that city (Acts 18:11), preaching and ministering to the people there. And though we have it described as the “First Epistle to the Corinthians,” it is actually Paul’s second letter to that church; the first has not been preserved for us.[iii]

From this epistle we can gather that the Christian church in Corinth was a fractured church; recoiling from sexual sins, squabbling in court as they sued one another for grievances and divided along party lines. Some of them rallied behind the teaching of Paul, others to the words of Apollos or Peter (1 Corinthians 1:11–12). The body of Christ (to return to Paul’s extended analogy from last week’s reading (1 Corinthians 12:12–31)) was cutting itself into pieces, bleeding and dying.

This chapter, this “hymn to Love” was written, not as an evangelistic tract to draw outsiders into the church or to convince unbelievers of the goodness of God’s love for and in us. Neither was it written to be read, as it often is today, as an all but obligatory part of wedding services (though the apostle did address the sanctity of marriage in his letter to the Corinthians…). This beautiful passage, this powerful text was written to challenge and to correct the dysfunctional behavior of the Christians in Corinth who were failing in nearly every way to live as “God’s holy people” (1 Corinthians 1:2). 

And though the letter was not written specifically or directly to us, we need to read it in the same way today – as a challenge, as a provocation. We should take it as a dare.

What good is it to anyone if I have a mellifluous tongue and can fluently speak in German, and French, and Spanish, Latin and Greek and Hebrew? What good is to you or to me if I can speak in the ethereal tongue of angels if I do not love? What good are political speeches or Sunday sermons or classroom lectures if the people giving them are not filled with love? All our beautiful words, all our polished deliveries, all our media perfected sound bites are nothing more than booming gongs or crashing, clashing cymbals. Mere noise, cacophony – which is, literally, a shitty sound[iv].

What good are the spiritual gifts-prophecy, knowledge, faith, leadership, healing, evangelism, and the like- if I don’t use them in love? They are worse than useless; they become dangerous weapons aimed against my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.

Who cares if “I dole out all my property and hand over my body in order that I may boast (Orr 289)”? If I don’t have love, this doesn’t benefit me in anyway. It’s a fruitless, useless exercise. It’s hollow piety. It’s glitter and no gold.

We’ve probably heard the cliché: “Love is a verb,” so often that we nod our assent without thinking too much about it. But in the next several statements, Paul describes the dynamic quality of Love with a series of active verbs (Craig 172). Paul describes not what love is but what love does. Many translations may read “Love is patient” but translations like the King James Version provide a better rendering, even with the slightly archaic wording: “Charity suffereth long” (1 Corinthians 13:4 KJV).  The word of God is active and alive (Hebrews 4:12) and so is love. Love is action. Love endures. Love suffers. Love envies not. Love makes no self-aggrandizing boasts.

Love does not keep a storehouse of offense, storing up grievances, hoarding them like some sort of misanthropic miser. Love does not cherish resentment, burning it like fuel to warm a frozen heart. Love does not rejoice at wrongdoing, squealing with glee when its opponent is caught in some misdeed. There is no room for schadenfreude in love.[v]

Love is extravagant. Love is magnanimous. Love is gratuitous.[vi] “Love is always ready to make allowances, to trust, to hope, and to endure whatever comes” (1 Corinthians 13: 7 NJB).  Oh, that word “always.” It’s a killer. Always! Always ready to make allowances! Always ready to trust! Always ready to hope and to endure whatever comes. Love bears all things, covers over a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8). Love is always ready to believe the best. Love hopes and keeps right on hoping for the best. We may, on our good days, be willing to make allowance for a friend who annoys, who bothers, who offends. But always? Always ready to believe the best of someone? Oh, God! but love is hard.

And love never comes to an end. Love never fails (1 Corinthians 13:8 KJV). There is no expiration date, no shelf life, no half-life. Love never ends. Love never ends. Love never, never ends. Buildings will crumble, mountains will tumble into the sea. All of the bright shining stars of the universe will eventually burn out but love never fails. All the things that we value, and in which we put our trust will fail, run out, or be brought to an end – everything that is, except love. Perfect love.

This is our challenge. This is the dare. Do we love? It’s easy enough (sometimes) to love kin and kith, to love our family and our friends – though even there is often a challenge as well. The bonds of blood can bind us tight to our family so that we love them with a love that approaches this perfect agape love. Shared experiences and values can foster a sense of love for those of our party, our denomination, our tribe. But do we dare push our love even further?

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matthew 5:43–48 NRSV)

The standard of our identification as Christians, the one true test of our religious devotion and the scrupulousness of our faith is not in the use of our spiritual gifts, or the perfection of our doctrine. The flawlessness of our faith is not proven in our strict adherence to a meticulously refined dogma. Our faith is demonstrated by our perfect love for one another.

After washing the feet of his disciples and speaking of his imminent death, Jesus gave his followers a new commandment: “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13: 34–35 NRSV)

How will the world recognize us as faithful followers of our Lord and Master? By our demonization of the members of the opposing political party? By our denigration of those who don’t hold to the same interpretation of the scripture? By our hostility? By our combative attitudes?  Is that what he said?

No.  We are to be known-as we are known-by our perfect and perfecting love, by our unselfish, sacrificial love for one another, even for those we may not like very much. This letter may not have been written specifically or directly to us, but we need to read it in the same way today – as a challenge, as a provocation. We need to take it as a dare. We need to let it propel us forward into dangerous new territory.

We need to ask the question: If “I really only love God as much as I love the person I love least,” how much do I love God? Do I love?

Graig, Clarence Tucker. “Exegesis: The First Epistle to the Corinthians” The Interpreter’s Bible Vol. X. Nashville, TN. Abingdon, 1953.

Orr, William F. and James Arthur Walther. I Corinthians: Anchor Bible Vol. 32. Garden City, NY. Doubleday & Company, Inc. 1976.

---

[i] And, as Leonard Cohen said, “Love is not a victory march.”

[ii] Whether she actually said it / wrote it, I don’t know. I can’t find the quote sourced, but it certainly sounds like something she would have said. 

[iii] In 5:9 Paul refers to his previous letter.

[iv] Cacophony 

[v] No Schadenfreude in our Salvation 

[vi] See the writings of Peruvian liberation theologian, Gustavo Gutiérrez.

Summer Sermon Reruns

It was another summer sermon rerun this week.  I was at camp all week, teaching orienteering and trying to prevent teenage boys from hurting themselves or others and had no time for sermon preparation.

Fortunately, I have a few saved back from the years that I've been preaching and I can, when the need arises, pull up one that I have used before.  This week I called up one of my favorites: With Wild Abandon based on the parable of the Sower

Mark's version of this parable isn't used in the lectionary;' Matthew's version is.  And in the lectionary it is coupled with Psalm 65 which, fittingly, includes a description of God's agricultural care for the earth.

And vs 12,

"The grasslands of the wilderness overflow;

the hills are clothed with gladness."

led me to sing Leonard Cohen's song, "If It Be Your Will" as preliminary music.

From this broken hill

All your praises they shall ring

If it be your will

To let me sing

Questing For Faith

Hebrews 11 is often called the "faith" chapter… and you can readily see why; the phrase "by faith" is repeated some twenty times, and the role and necessity of faith is described repeatedly throughout the chapter.  Hebrews 11 is also sometimes described as a 'hall of heroes.'  It enumerates those from the past who lived exemplary lives of faith.

We read about Abel – who offered a better sacrifice than his brother, not because of the contents of the offering, but because of the faith that accompanied it.  We read about Enoch – who, because of his faith, was taken up by God; bypassing the normal death experience that is common to man.  We read about Noah and Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Moses and Rahab.  The author says that he (or she) doesn't have time to talk about a number of others such as Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets "who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned into strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.  Women received back their dead, raised to life again.  Others were tortured and refused to be released so that they might gain a better resurrection.  Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison.  They were stoned; they were put to death by the sword.  They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated – the world was not worthy of them.  They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground…."

I'd like to give a couple of quotes from two of my favorite theologians:

"Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of faith is to see what you believe." – St. Augustine. 

And

"Most people will never know anything beyond what they see with their own two eyes."  Nightcrawler – from X-men 2

Faith is an awkward thing.  Christians sometimes talk about it as if it were a quantifiable commodity – a consumable, measurable product.   Some segments of Christianity are especially focused on this kind of idea – you can find a lot of them on television, talking about how with faith and with the right amount of faith you can have that new car, you can have that new house, you can be rid of that cancer, or your son will be freed of that drug addiction etc…   This isn't faith… this is a magic wand; and it's not at all what is meant by "By faith" in Hebrews 11.

In the same kind of way, the lives of faith described in Hebrews 11 are difficult and awkward. In this chapter the lives of these various heroes are described – but only the positives, only the good and godly.  And in our imaginations, and in our minds, and in our stories and remembering and in thinking about these men and women we can sometimes forget that in their lives they were not consistent paragons of godliness and virtue; that they stumbled and fell, and crashed and burned, and doubted –that they tried and sometimes failed…. Just like the rest of us.

A few years ago I participated in an on-line discussion about the life of Samson- one of the heroes listed in chapter 11.  Some of the other participants were raving about the need for such a godly sort of man today, someone to lead the people, to take a righteous stand against such things as terrorism, liberalism, abortion, homosexuality, etc… and etc…  And into this I inserted a voice of doubt.  I wondered whether Samson really was such a great guy.  If you go back to the book of Judges and you read his stories, really read them – not just skimming them and remembering the Sunday School lessons we absorbed as children – Samson doesn't come off well… in fact he comes off as a jerk, a womanizer, a selfish, spoiled juvenile delinquent who died in a manner suspiciously similar to today's suicide bombers. 

The other participants in this discussion were horrified (and even angered) that I would suggest that Samson wasn't all that they thought he was.  I was expelled from said discussion and from the group.

My complaints about Samson could be repeated for many of the other heroes described in this chapter: King David lived a murderous life – anyone who opposed or contradicted him ended up dead; Jephthah sacrificed his daughter because of a foolishly made vow; Abraham pimped out his wife on two occasions and abandoned his son Ishmael…. Etc... Etc… etc…

My point isn't so much to drag our heroes of the faith through the mud and slime and shit, but rather to perhaps lower the pedestals they've been placed on.  By focusing narrowly on their glorious exploits and their holy achievements – we've come dangerously close to forgetting that these were ordinary men and women and not gods or angels.  They lived lives of risk – lives of faith – and while they often achieved wonderful things for God, they also sometimes failed….

I think that it's very important to remember that they sometimes failed.  By Faith they lived lives of risk and danger and turmoil… and sometimes they didn't do so well.

We sometimes treat faith like something to be found and captured and contained.  I saw a bumper sticker recently asking "Got Faith?"  Do you have it or not?  I'm sure the driver of that particular car would say that they have faith.  Me – most of the time I feel like the man who came to Jesus with his demon possessed son and said, "I believe. Help my unbelief." 

I have questions.  Always questions.  And like the Hydra of Greek mythology, whenever one question is answered, two more rise up to take its place.  I have questions.  Always questions.  I believe. Help my unbelief.

Questions – for me – are quests… a question is a journey; something to be explored, new terrain to be mapped out, and dark forests in which to occasionally get lost.  Questions are quests –ions… rather than con-quests.   And I think that this fits well with the life of faith described in Hebrews 11 which says, "All these people were still living by faith when they died.  They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance."  The heroes of chapter 11 struggled, wrestled, and suffered towards the goal of their faith.  They were on a quest – "looking for a country of their own," rather than having made a conquest of their faith. 

As St. Augustine said, "Faith is to believe what you cannot see; the reward of faith is to see what you believe."  These heroes of the faith were rewarded – but not during their lifetimes on this earth.  They were on a quest; a journey.

And here I'd like to quote another of my favorite theologians, Gonzo, who in the Muppet Movie sang an amazing song of faith, "I've never been there, but I know the way.  I'm going to go back there some day."  By faith, we travel towards something we know, something we can't see, something we can't always express with certainty – but always with confidence.

Faith is a challenge.  Faith is a risk.  Faith is never unaccompanied by its constant doppelganger-Doubt.  The life of faith is not the Sunday school lesson of heroes untainted.  The life of faith is an adventure, infinite possibility coupled with hazard and challenge.  "Most people will never know anything beyond what they see with their own two eyes." But there is more.  Much much more. Infinitely more. 

Our heroes of faith quested for it; went searching for it.  Christians frequently call unbelievers "seekers" with the implication that believers have of course "found it."  Hebrews 11 assures us that all our heroes were seekers constantly moving toward the promise of their faith, never – in this life – realizing it completely.  Mike Yaconelli (founder of The Door Magazine) wrote in his book Dangerous Wonder, "The church should be full of Christians who seek questions rather than answers, mystery instead of solutions, wonder instead of explanations."  We are all seekers, explorers venturing into uncharted territories.

Like our heroes, we will occasionally stumble. We will miss the mark.  We will fail and fall. But all is not lost. By Faith we can stand up and start again. Singer and Songwriter Leonard Cohen's song Hallelujah expresses this "by faith" lesson well:

I did my best.  It wasn't much

I couldn't feel so I tried to touch

I've told the truth, I didn't come to fool you.

And even though it all went wrong

I'll stand before the Lord of Song

With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah.

 Another line from that song is equally encouraging, "It doesn't matter which you heard / the holy or the broken hallelujah."  

Even though it all may go wrong, even if we fail and falter and stumble along the way we can "stand before the Lord of Song" and say "Hallelujah"  It doesn't matter if it's a holy or a broken Hallelujah.  The lives of our heroes of the faith illustrate that we'll all be there with our holy and our broken hallelujahs. 

Faith is a journey.  Faith is an adventure.  It's sometimes dangerous.  Sometimes it will be rough.  We may step out and see wonderful extraordinary things in our life.  We may fall short.  We may fail.  But by faith we can say with confidence that our reward is sure. 

The Scripture in Song

Torah

 

 and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. - Genesis 1: 2

 

Adam made love to his wife, Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. - Genesis 4:1

  

Caught up in the fable I watched the tower grow …
 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens – Genesis 11: 4

 The Prophets 



Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. - Judges 16: 21

  

Uriah hit the crapper, the crapper, dead… 
Moreover, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead. -2 Samuel 11: 24


 

Go, post a lookout and have him report what he sees. -Isaiah 21: 6

 

My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge… -Hosea 4: 6

 Writings 



 I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry. -Psalm 40: 1




 A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba. -Psalm 51:1



 
…and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was as white as snow – Daniel 7: 9

The Gospels 



 I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. -Luke 22:14

  

 While he was still speaking a crowd came up, and the man who was called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him. – Luke 22:47

The Epistles

 

 Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit – Ephesians 5: 19





For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. - Romans 7: 19

 The Apocalypse

 

 She has become a dwelling for demons and a haunt for every impure spirit.-Revelation 18:2





Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. – Revelation 22: 12



Obviously, this list could be greatly expanded.  Do you have any suggestions?
(The Spotify player may not show up in Feed Readers... )

Leonard Sings Amen

Tell me again when the day has been ransomed
And the night has no right to begin

Try me again when the angels are panting

And scratching at the door to come in.

Tell me again when I'm clean and I'm sober

Tell me again when I've seen through the horror

Tell me again, tell me over and over

Tell me again that you need me then

Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen Amen.

-Amen - by Leonard Cohen

Hallelujah

Sometimes I can't tell the difference between the two.

You Don't Care for Music, Do You?

If it's not that secret chord
    the one that David sang
    the chord that Leonard found  to please the Lord,
if it's not that lonely chord
then it's one very like it
   that I'm hearing within me,
and i think it must be true;

you don't care for music, do you?


(with thanks to L. Cohen)