Ulu

B. Williams

Description

Stories, examples, parables, metaphors, and humor support the sixty-three reflections on biblical texts from the Revised Common Lectionary. The author uses a "theme approach," addressing issues and questions sometimes overlooked in preaching, balancing private, personal spirituality with the social and corporate. Open-minded and ecumenical in tone, ULU reflects the theology of one firmly planted in the Wesleyan tradition, where scripture, tradition, experience, and reason insist upon openness to the new things that God is doing, and where believers seek to work actively for the transformation of creation according to the values and the vision of the realm of God. Twenty original monochrome photos by the author are distributed between chapters.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• Dave Williams
• Religion
• Williams

Informations

• Publié par: Xlibris US
• Date de parution: 01 août 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781669839606
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

ULU II
Bread of Life
Sermons Preached since ULU (2003)
ULU
II
UPDATED AND REVISED SERMONS
REFLECTIONS ON TEXTS FROM THE REVISED COMMON LECTIONARY
B. Williams

Copyright © 2022 by B. Williams.
ISBN:
Softcover
978-1-6698-3961-3

eBook
978-1-6698-3960-6
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
 
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
 
Scripture quotations marked NRSV are taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, Copyright © 1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Website
 
KJV
Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the Holy Bible, King James Version (Authorized Version). First published in 1611. Quoted from the KJV Classic Reference Bible, Copyright © 1983 by The Zondervan Corporation.
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
 
 
 
 
Rev. date: 07/29/2022
 
 
 
 
 
Xlibris
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CONTENTS
The History
Author’s Notes
Introduction
Acknowledgements
1.Comfort For The Exiles, Class Of 2022
Isaiah 40:1-11; Mark 1:1-8
2.A Christmas Eve Festival Of Nine Lessons And Carols
3.The Family Of Jesus
Luke 2:22-40
4.Pushed To Go To Faraway Lands
Matthew 2:13-23
5.Touched With Spirit And Hope
Isaiah 61:1-4, Luke 3:15-17, 21-22
6.Congratulations!
Luke 6:17-26, Jeremiah 17:5-10, Psalm 1
7.Discerning The Abiding Presence
John 14:15-27, Acts 17:22-31
8.Going For Things That Last
I Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-50
9.Learning From The Samaritans Pentecost 6, Year C
Luke 10:25-37
10.A Spring That Waits To Be
John 12:20-33
11.Graveyards, Ghosts, And Saints
Ephesians 1:15-23, Luke 24:1-5
12.Critical Choices
Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25; Matthew 25:1-13
13.A Reflection: Do I Have A Connection With Joshua
Joshua 1:1-9
14.Tears And Perfume
Luke 7:36-50
15.Main Course And Side Dishes
Luke 10:38-42
16.Consequated
II Samuel 18:1, 5, 9-15
17.Castoff Items
Jeremiah 18:1-11
18.Liberating Healing For Daughters Of The Promise
Luke 13:1-17
19.Awesome Wonder, Miracles Of Faith
Hebrews 11:29-12:2
20.Tempted By Cleverly Devised Myths Transfiguration Sunday
II Peter 1:16-18; Luke 9:28-36
21.People Of The Rainbow Promise Lent
Genesis 9:8-17, Mark 1:9-15
22.All But Dead
Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26; Romans 4:13-25
23.Learning To Dance An Easter Message
Luke 24:1-12
24.Doing Love
Acts 11:1-18; John 13:31-35
25.How To Behave At The Banquet
Luke 4:1, 7-14
26.“The Earnest Quest”
Job 23:1-9, Hebrews 4:12-16, Mark 10:17-31
27.Tricky Questions (Lent 2)
Psalm 27:1-6, 11-14; Luke 13:13-35; Philippians 3:17-4:1
28.“He’ll Do What He Says”
James 1:19-27
29.Tit For Tat (Pentecost 13, Yr. A)
Genesis 45:3-11, 15
30.The Homesick Restaurant Easter 4, Year C
Acts 9:36-43, Psalm 23:6
31.The Spirit Wind That Energizes
Acts 16:9-15
32.Holy Interruptions (Pentecost 5, Year B)
Mark 5:24-34
33.Need A Downsize? (Pentecost 5, Year C)
Luke 12:13-21
34.Scattering Good Seeds (Pentecost 8, Year A,)
Matthew 13:1-9
35.Endurance Without Appreciation (Pent 18, Yr. C)
II Timothy 1:1-14, Revelation 2:2-7
36.Regarding Our Curious Need To Know (Pent..7, Yr. A)
Matthew 11:25-30
37.What Does It Mean To Be Religious? (Pent. 24, Yr C)
Matthew 23:1-12; I Thessalonians 2:9-13
38.If We Only Knew: Peace With Justice Sunday
Luke 19:37-42
THE HISTORY
The Tahitian legend of the breadfruit tree has been passed through the generations in the form of a joyful and rhythmic song.
Through techniques of food preservation Polynesians have been able to use the fruit to prevent starvation, and have used it for sustenance on their long voyages.
After the voyage of Captain Cook through Tahiti, news of the breadfruit tree spread rapidly to the English colonies, partly because it offered the possibility of feeding slaves at very low cost. The infamous ship “Bounty,” which fell victim to a mutiny, carried breadfruit plants that the harsh Captain Bligh had been commissioned to transport from Tahiti to the West Indies.
Called “uru or ulu” by Tahitians and Hawaiians, “mei” by Tongans, and “rimas” by Filipinos, stories of the breadfruit tree, ancient and modern, abound.


AUTHOR’S NOTES
Please consider, when reading the text in this book, that it was written to be heard, not read!
When I have included an item from ULU I, it’s because updating or correction was desired. I’ve found it quite interesting that there’s a “sameness” in a number of issues and concerns between now and nineteen years ago!
In re-reading most of the reflections in ULU, I feel grateful that my theological and political views were already well-settled, and that I can confirm what I wrote then.
Especially note item in ULU, “If we only knew.” It is significant, and is updated and repeated in ULU II.

Dedicated to
The Makawao Union Church.
All proceeds from the sale of ULU II will be given to that church.

Many years ago, in the “time before,” there was a long, terrible famine in Tahiti.
The old man, Tea, a priest, gathered his people – the lean and emaciated men, the women with dried up bosoms, and the desperately hungry children.
Tae told them, “I will walk up the valley and talk to ‘Te Fatu’, the master of the powerful words.
The people followed him, and behind them came the skinny pigs that they had saved for the hunger of their last days.
When they reached Mount Tamanu, the center of the island, Tea told them to dig a hole in the ground, and they did.
Then Tea stepped into the hole, and implored Te Fatu, the master of powerful words. Tea stood still, his arms up. His naked chest became as tough as a big tree, and his skin changed to bark. His feet divided and took root in the soil. His upheld arms were changed into ten branches, which became twenty, then a hundred, then many more. His hands became lovely palmate leaves, which spread throughout the branches. In the leaf clusters grew an interesting fruit. The Tahitians ate. They were able to satisfy their hunger, and said, “It is good.” This tree is known as the “ulu,” the breadfruit tree.
INTRODUCTION
I’m (still!) convinced that the Gospel enters our experience with the most sharpness and clarity at the points of the pain and passion of our life-encounters. As a comfortable middleclass, straight, white male Christian, I’ve had virtually everything to learn from the people to whom I’ve been “sent.” Experiences in the Philippines and Pacific Islands, those while working with the World Hunger Emphasis of the United Methodist Church, and while assigned to ecumenical organizations, have had profound impact upon my faith and my approach to Bible study and worship preparation. Serving as pastor of congregations that openly welcomed gay and lesbian persons into fully participation have extended this experience.
I’m also convinced that the Gospel most powerfully enters the experience of those to whom we’ve been sent when it speaks practical hope to vulnerabilities and pain. At their best, and as they were intended to be, ministries of service are a vital, integral part of the task of evangelization, which not only involves preaching Good News, but BEING Good News. Preaching and reflecting are empty of meaning without serious engagement with real life!
The simplest of traditional cultures to which I was introduced have helped me in my spiritual journey. As a Filipino anthropologist friend said to me after spending some weeks with the so-called “Lost Tribe,” the Tasaday, in South Cotabato, Philip-
pines, “We’ll not realize how much we have to learn from them until we admit to what we ourselves have lost.”
My friends in traditional/indigenous/first nation cultures have made me more sensitive to deeper meanings in stories and parables. Perhaps they’re more aware than we so-called “educated folk” that this is how we transmit our culture and values. It’s in the stories where we find the greatest richness of the Bible, in both the Old and New Testaments, and the Psalms are abundant with deeper meanings.
Jesus constantly taught through story, parable, and metaphor. Taking a shallow, literal approach to these causes us to miss the many layers of meanings and themes which the writers intended to be addressed. While stories may not prove something, they illustrate something, and they carry their own conviction. It’s up to us to incorporate them into our insight and understanding.
Hearing the stories of others has put me in closer touch with my own. May mine do the same for you!
This is not the kind of book to be read straight through in a few sittings, but one where you might “dip” and browse ac