For those who pooh-pooh the worth of liturgy, Brueggemann reminds us of how important liturgy becomes when people need to be shaped by what has taken place in prior days. Israel develops and practices liturgical resistance by a stylized, regularly enacted drama whereby Egyptian power is given liturgical articulation and Israel is invited - through the course of the drama - to move outside Egyptian hegemony to its own distinctive practice of life. The substance of Israel's resistance is through the regular reenactment of the Exodus liturgy of Exodus 1-15, which is presented to us as a historical narrative. Each time, over the generations, that Israel participated in this drama of counterreality, Israel imagined and construed a social world outside the hegemonic control of Pharaoh. Indeed, the very doing of the drama itself permitted emancipated imagination that refused the definitions of reality sponsored by Egypt. "The drama itself permitted emancipated imagination" - what a wild image to keep in mind when we find ourselves living as nothing than the world around us. Good story telling has the power to free up our imagination and when that takes place, our lives also begin to reflect the possibilities of overcoming what is and becoming what is not yet. Often, the great stories of the Bible - like the Exodus - can be seen as too far away. For Israel though, it is a story alive in the room as it is being retold. All of our faithful story telling needs to create such a realization among us. I just happened to think of the gospel lesson for the fourth Sunday of Lent. It is the parable of the father with two sons. It is so familiar that we do not let ourselves enter the story because we know how it ends. Well, without the story washing over us once again and we find ourselves made wet by the word and promises and grace, it can be just a story that has no connection to life. And yet, this is a life story - a story of God's grand love and the possibilities that break into the day even when we are not anticipating it. The story has the power to shape and bring life. Connection: Remembering a story is very much like turning today into a story we may not have been willing to enter alone. Lord of Liberation and Rescue, once again we call on you to step into our lives and carry us into the promised land of your faithfulness. There, we can both rest and come alive again. We give you thanks for you power to change life. Amen. |
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