1 Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14

The dream of Solomon is also in year A, and this year we get a mention of going to the "high places". If that is good or bad is open to interpretation. In 2 Kings 4:14, it sounds like that's where you go to worship the other gods, the ones that don't really have any power. These ideas are constantly being debated in this time and we only get to see whatever scripture survived. We aren't told who said it or if there was some other scroll that spoke against it. Different opinions were put together into these books in an attempt to harmonize them, but I find no clear message from them today.

We do know that there was cosmology that had people on the earth, Sheol below and gods above. So you sent the smoke of a burning ox into the air to show the gods your sacrifice and you got closer to them by going up into the mountains. As we saw a few weeks ago with Saul, you have to do the offerings correctly and with the right attitude or there will be consequences. Since we hear about Solomon's offering with no comment, you might assume his was done correctly. But in the long run, things don't work out that well for him, so, maybe not.

Ephesians 5:15-20

This may seem pretty harmless, don't drink too much, instead get together and sing with your community. I don't disagree with that on the face of it. It depends on what you are singing. If you trace the history of hymns, you'll find they change just like everything else. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, took drinking songs and put spiritual words to them and sung them in bars to gain converts. Most churches you go to today will have two hymnals, an older one and one that came out in the last few decades. I once saw an older woman who would refuse to touch the new one. Good times.

Music is well known as a way to induce a trance like state. This can be very pleasant and help to relax and recharge. It's also why people say rock and roll music is corrupting our youth, or rap or jazz or country (the new kind of course) or whatever group of people you want to say are bad while claiming that you are good. Here it says quite specifically why you should sing the hymns. As long as you are also discussing what the songs mean and mixing up your genres now and then, I'm all for singing. But even the most innocent of practices can have nefarious elements.

John 6:51-58

Jesus, (and when I say Jesus I mean the people who wrote this and preserved it and passed it on) are really setting themselves apart with this passage. They are using quite specific language to enhance the story from Mark. In Mark, it seemed like a symbolic statement about sharing bread and wine. If, a few decades later, you had questions about that you got written into this gospel as one of the Jews who "then disputed among themselves". And you get a detailed answer about what this ritual means, how it replaces the Passover ritual and how this is the "true" meaning of "bread".