Difference between revisions of "Sermon for March 7th, 2021"

Revision as of 18:33, 5 March 2021

Job 39:1-12 (OT p.485)

1 “Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?
    Do you observe the calving of the deer?
2 Can you number the months that they fulfill,
    and do you know the time when they give birth,
3 when they crouch to give birth to their offspring,
    and are delivered of their young?
4 Their young ones become strong, they grow up in the open;
    they go forth, and do not return to them.

5 “Who has let the wild ass go free?
    Who has loosed the bonds of the swift ass,
6 to which I have given the steppe for its home,
    the salt land for its dwelling place?
7 It scorns the tumult of the city;
    it does not hear the shouts of the driver.
8 It ranges the mountains as its pasture,
    and it searches after every green thing.

9 “Is the wild ox willing to serve you?
    Will it spend the night at your crib?
10 Can you tie it in the furrow with ropes,
    or will it harrow the valleys after you?
11 Will you depend on it because its strength is great,
    and will you hand over your labor to it?
12 Do you have faith in it that it will return,
    and bring your grain to your threshing floor?

Mountain Goat, Deer, Wild Ass, Wild Ox

It's been awhile since I shared with you the story of how I found out the meaning of my name. Apologies if you've heard this story before, but it pertains to our scripture passage today, and in any case, telling the story keeps me humble.

Most of you know me as Neal, or "Pastor Neal" but Neal is actually my middle name. My first name is Ira. I was named after my great-grandfather, Ira Ashley. I actually like my first name quite a bit, but for as long as I can remember, my parents and pretty much everyone I know has called me by my middle name, Neal. The only time I really get to hear my first name is on the first day of a class (in high school, college, seminary) when the professor would take attendance, call out "Ira Locke?" and I would politely respond, "Actually, I go by Neal." And that would be the end of it.

Until about 11 years ago, on my first day of Hebrew class in Seminary. You see, Ira is a Hebrew name. And the professor of this class just happened to write the Hebrew textbook that most seminaries in the country use today. And he also happened to be enthusiastic about the study of biblical names, their meanings and origins. I'm sure there were plenty of Hebrew names on his roster that day--names like Michael, Daniel, Rebecca, Sarah, David, etc. But when he got to mine, he stopped, looked up, and when I started to respond, he said "Do you know what your name means?"

Of course I did. I had a fancy little card hanging in my bedroom with my name meaning on it, and I had seen my name in countless "baby name books" through the years. Proudly, I told him, Ira means "watchful." He just shook his head and firmly said, "No." I was perplexed, but I remembered another meaning I'd come across somewhere in another baby name book, and said (more cautiously this time) "does it mean descendant?" Again, "No." At this point I realized I wasn't going to win this argument, so (with a slight touch of annoyance) I said, "Ok, what does Ira mean?"

My professor walked out from behind his lectern, down the classroom aisle right next to my seat, and then he leaned over as if to whisper to me (but he spoke loud enough for the entire class to hear), "Ira means...Ass."

And there it was. That was my first day of Hebrew class, etched forever in my mind (and probably the mind of all my classmates, too). It was a humbling experience. Later that night, a quick search in the Hebrew dictionary (which is a bit more reliable than those baby name books) revealed that my professor was, in fact, quite correct. Ira means Ass. As in "donkey" but also with some of the same additional connotations it has today--stubborn, a little bit pompous, arrogant (no wonder the baby name books felt a need to just fabricate meanings from thin air on this one!).