About the only way I have been able to break open the Bible is to somehow relate it to the urgencies of my own time, to read the Bible and the front page of the newspapers at the same time, as I think Karl Barth once said. Tom Buechele, the Rector at St. John's here in Bisbee, a friend and an Espicopal priest, asked me to serve as leader and speaker at the church this Sunday. I intend to briefly discuss a "political reading" of some of the Lectionary readings of the day. This blog contains the gist of what I intend to say.
Our reading today in Acts 16: 16-34 about Paul exorcising a demon from a money-making fortune-telling slave girl and for his trouble getting dragged before the authorities, stripped, beaten and thrown in jail prompts me talk about similar stories where Jesus’ healing and teaching stirred up political conflict. I’m sure we have all noticed how frequently the Bible is about politics and the authorities. I want to explore this a little more this morning, in the context of the healing stories of Jesus and also his ideas about what he called the Kingdom of God.