Superstar Thoughts

Ok, as promised on facebook, here are some of my more detailed thoughts on Jesus Christ Superstar, performed Easter weekend at the Civic Center in Syracuse by the Salt City Center for the Performing Arts. (You can read all my past Superstar posts here. 


It doesn't make much sense, I dont think, to review a production that is already over, so these are just some thoughts. I have seen Superstar so many times that I dont watch it in the same way anymore. Sometimes I wish I could have the experience of seeing it on stage for the first time again - for that open, fresh experience. But I enjoy it now for the little things I see each time that are new. This year, I treated myself by vigilantly waiting for tickets to o on sale, actually setting aside money in advance this year, and getting box seats! It was so much fun to be so close to the stage, actually able to look down into the pit and watch the musicians, and see all the action on stage, the facial expressions, even watch the children lining up in the wings with their palm branches, ready to sing Hosanna. 


Random Reflections: 


* Nowadays, watching Salt City's production of Superstar is like watching people I know grow up, even though I have personally met very few of the cast members. I like watching some people move from random villager, to leper with one line, to priest with several little solos over the years. Or seeing multi-generations of family participating. 


* I feel like the Civic Center is just too big a space for this production. Obviously, Superstar can fill the house for two nights, but I would rather see the production move back to a smaller space and do a longer run. What about the New Times Theatre, where other Salt City productions have been taking place? Possibly this has already been considered and rejected. But I think this would be a good move: 

• Since moving to the Civic Center, the choir gets totally lost. The sound system doesn't work for them, and there are times, with 40 cast members or so on stage, even sitting in my box seat practically on top of the stage, that I cant hear the choir. I know they're singing - I can see their mouths moving! But I can really barely hear them. Even more problematic are times when the choir is off stage singing. 
• The smaller theatre, with multiple entrance points to the stage, allowed for a level of interactivity with the audience. I remember effective stage exits by an angry Judas, running down the center aisle, or the chorus entering from multiple points for Whats the Buzz. Brings the audience right into the action. Makes the crucifixion scene more powerful. 
• A longer run would make the show more available to the audience. After all, right now, the show only goes up Friday and Saturday of Holy Week, kind of a busy time for church folk! We used to take our youth group every year when I was in junior high - I bet many church groups would come if they had different time opportunities to do so.   

* Costumes: Really liked Mary Magdalene's  costume this year. Very pretty. Also Jesus, Pilate, excellent costumes. Actually, even a lot of choir costumes seemed updated. Maybe I could just see them better up close. But they looked new, and I liked all the browns better than pastels. Footwear is my pet peeve. Sandals with Velcro? I know it is picky, but I find it distracting. Also: Judas in white loafers for Superstar? huh? 


* This year saw long-time Jesus Bob Brown transition into the role of Pontius Pilate. This was an excellent move. Bob was perfect as Pilate. Probably the best I have seen Pilate at Salt City, with no insult meant to past performers. This was a Pilate with authority and power. Bobs voice was perfect for the part, and I really felt he was channeling Barry Dennen, which I definitely mean as a compliment. 


* Improving every year in his role: Bill Ali. 


* I miss the disco ball. 


* Choreography (Tara Huss Davis) and dancing this year looked really good. Strong in the Overture, Simon Zealotes, Herods Song, Superstar. Very good. 


* I was most worried, naturally, about Henry Wilson as Jesus rather than Judas. He was the first person I ever saw perform the role live, and it was hard for me to imagine him in any other role, especially Jesus. Wilson played Judas as kind of a bad-ass, and never having seen him act in anything else, I wasn't sure how we would pull off Jesus. I thought he did a really, really excellent job. Jesus - well, I have seen some bad acting in various productions I've seen. A least favorite wimpy Jesus, for example, who stood with shoulders hunched, and made you not really want to root for him. And then, there are different interpretations of Jesus too - Ted Neeley on stage these days plays Jesus differently than he did in film. His experience brings a kind of gravitas to the role - a spirituality that emphasizes Jesus' divine nature. Wilson communicated a clear authority as Jesus, a warmth I wasn't anticipating, and still, one of the most beautiful voices, while managing to put the rock into it that makes Superstar the rock opera it is. Very pleased. The only problem of course, is that if Wilson is Jesus, he cant be Judas too, and I did miss him in that role. Jason Klug could grow into the role if he plays a little more bad-ass and a little less scared-guy. 


All in all, a really wonderful evening. Some day, some day, I will figure out how to audition myself. Maybe tell my congregation all Holy Week services are via attending the show? 

Lectionary Notes for Second Sunday of Easter, Year A

Readings for 2nd Easter, 5/1/11
Acts 2:14a, 22-32, Psalm 16, 1 Peter 1:3-9, John 20:19-31

Acts 2:14a, 22-32:

• This text gives Peter's speech to the crowds on the Day of Pentecost.
• "the definite plan and foreknowledge of God." I like Peter's word, here, "foreknowledge." To me, it says that God can know what's going on, and still not make our choices for us. I'm not sure that's what Peter meant. But that's how I think of things, sometimes. I believe that God has a purpose for me, but I can't believe God won't let me make choices, otherwise my life has very little meaning.
• Peter is interested in showing Jesus as in the line of David, carrying on the Davidic throne. Perhaps he felt this would be a good way to appeal to his audience, something that would make them believe in the power of this 'Jesus.'

Psalm 16:

• "I have no good apart from you." No good apart from God. We might think we can have what is good outside God, but without God, what we have will lack in meaning, be found wanting, empty.
• body and soul - this psalmist knows that both belong to God and are in God's hands.
• "fullness of joy." Again, God can satisfy us, fill us, in a way other things can't.

1 Peter 1:3-9:

• "inheritance." This is a funny word - when we think of inheriting, we can think of money left to us by relatives, or perhaps genes or traits that we get from our parents, grandparents. 1 Peter says that we inherit from Christ hope of resurrection, eternal life. I'm not sure that's how I would describe how we receive our hope.
• "the genuineness of your faith" 1 Peter says our faith, tested by fire, is more precious than gold. Note, importantly, that 1 Peter does not claim God tests our faith, but simply that "various trials" can test our faith. When and how has your faith been tested?
• "although you have not seen him, you love him." Ah, that's faith.
• "the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls." Hm. An interesting statement - in line with sola fide theology I guess. But I think it is important to know if by "salvation" 1 Peter means eternity - later, or something that we can take part in right now, right here.

John 20:19-31:

• Ah, doubting Thomas. Most of us are less excited than I am to think of ourselves as being like Judas, but doubting Thomas we can relate to all too well. Who wouldn't want to see for himself, when everyone else had the benefit of seeing the risen Christ up close and personal?
• "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe." Maybe today it is harder for us to take things on faith because we are so good at finding tangible - or at least scientific - proof for so many things. We can prove so much with our God-given minds - why not prove God? Prove Jesus? What do you believe without proof? Can you prove someone's love for you or yours for them? We try, but in the end, we just must trust.
• John is obviously concerned with verifying the physical nature of Jesus' resurrection by having Thomas touch and feel Jesus, see the wounds. To me, as I mention in the Acts passage, I think the life of Jesus gets ignored in our obsession with his death and resurrection. Obviously, his death and resurrection are important to us - but would they be important if he had taught nothing in his life? If he had not been in such radical ministry for three years? So, John wants us to know Jesus' resurrection is the real deal. That's fine by me - but the statements about belief are more powerful in this passage, I think. More challenging. 

Lectionary Notes for Easter Sunday

Readings for Easter Sunday, 4/24/11:
Acts 10:34-43, Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24, 1 Corinthians 15:19-26, John 20:1-18, or Matthew 28:1-10


Acts 10:34-43:

• Peter is speaking to Cornelius and his friends and relatives in Caesarea. Cornelius had been visited by a messenger from God telling him to invite Peter to his home and here him speak.
• "God shows no partiality". Do we get that? Believe it? Preach it? Live and practice it?
• "preaching peace by Jesus Christ" Ah, the gospel message is a message of peace. Too much of our Christian history works to counter that claim. We struggle on!
• A mini-sermon, all the facts needed to share the good news packed into one little blurb - this is Peter's quick pitch, at the opportunity he's been given.

Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24:

• Note that this is virtually the same selection from Psalms as on Palm Sunday, with slightly different verses. Included in Easter's reading, but not in Palm Sunday's: "the Lord has punished me severely, but he did not give me over to death." Hm. I don't like to think about God punishing us. But the verse's significance on Easter is powerful. The cup was not taken from Jesus - he drank it. And yet, he lives.
• Even still, it's hard to focus on any scripture passage on Easter Sunday other than the gospel lesson of the Resurrection, isn't it?

1 Corinthians 15:19-26:

• "If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied." A striking statement. I'm not sure how to react - I guess I don't exactly share Paul's perspective. I think we're so wrapped up in thinking about what awaits us after this earthly life, that we forget what Christ means for us right now, on earth. My hope for Christ in this life is powerful stuff!
• "The last enemy to be destroyed is death." I'm a big fan of John Cobb and process theology. I remember reading that for process theologians, some could not get over the "ultimate evil of personal death." Conceptions of afterlife are tricky things. How can death be destroyed for you? When I was younger, I used to ask my pastor/mentor, Rev. Bruce Webster, if heaven wouldn't be a boring place. He, a math major in college, could draw some sort of graph to show it would be ok!

John 20:1-18:

• I have to admit, as a woman, I get a kick out of the way the men behave here, versus the way Mary Magdalene acts. The men run there, almost competitively, after hearing Mary's report, and then they return home, apparently not too impressed or curious to figure out what's going on. It's Mary who is there to begin with to care for the tomb, Mary who sheds tears for Jesus, Mary who remains at the tomb long enough to encounter the risen Christ, Mary who is the first to spread the good news. You go girl!
• "Rabbouni!" What would you say if you had a change to come face to face with a lost loved one again?
• I just can't let loose of the sense of the importance of Mary staying at the tomb. She is honest with her emotions, and holds still, stays in place, soaks it in. She gets to see Jesus, the fruits of her devotion. Don't hurry through Easter, but rest at the empty tomb!

Matthew 28:1-10

• I do like John's account of the resurrection better: we have Mary's solo journey to the tomb, which seems so precious and personal, and we have her encountering Jesus himself, not God's messengers
• Still, note in Matthew that it is the women who are first on the scene of the resurrection.
• Matthew describes an earthquake and an angel of the Lord descending in the women's presence, very dramatic. But less intimate, again, in my mind. Less special for all its drama.
• No Peter and the beloved in a foot-race to the tomb in this account either! The men don't make it to the resurrection site at all.

Lectionary Notes for Good Friday

Readings for Good Friday, 4/22/11:
Isaiah 52:13-53:12, Psalm 22, Hebrews 10:16-25, John 18:1-19:42


Isaiah 52:13-53:12:

• Here Isaiah describes the suffering servant, and no surprise, we easily see Jesus reflected in this image. Isaiah seems to focus on the theme of how this servant will be what no one is looking for, but what everyone will give attention to when revealed.
• "by a perversion of justice he was taken away." This sentence particularly strikes - if we apply this to Jesus, we read that it is an act of injustice that takes Jesus away to death. Do we remember to think of it that way? We get so caught up in his sacrifice, in God's plan laid out, that I think we forget that what happened to Jesus, even if it worked for our good, was wrong!
• "It was the will of the Lord to crush him with pain." Eek! I hope not. I'm not sure that this is ever God's will, exactly, or that way that God would hope and desire for things to turn out. I think God works through human deeds of pain and hurt, but I hope God doesn't will them on us. 

Psalm 22:

• "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" These words, which open the Psalm, are found on Jesus' lips on the cross. Some say he was reciting the Psalm, to comfort others. People don't like to think about Jesus feeling forsaken by God. But I think it is ok to believe Jesus felt alone in that moment - because despite his feelings, he had faith enough to follow through with what he believed was God's call for him.
• Surely, we've all felt forsaken by God sometimes. Alone. Finding "no rest" as the Psalmist describes. The scene the Psalmist describes is one of fear and desperation to feel God's presence. Have you experienced this? When? How? Did you find God present there?

Hebrews 10:16-25:

• These first two verses are more or less quoted from Jeremiah 31:33-34. Notice, though, that the author of Hebrews has the laws in our hearts but also written on our minds. I like the imagery.
• "let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds" - Another good verse. We often provoke people around us, but usually when we do so, it is not in a good way! Here, we're encouraged to provoke each other in a positive way, a way that inspires serving God. Good advice!

John 18:1-19:42:

• from John we get part of the Passion from Palm/Passion Sunday, only from John's perspective instead of Matthew. Double check for what is different in each text. As with that text from Matthew, I find this one hard to comment on - it's such a story, it is so big, literally and theologically.
• This text has several pieces, or vignettes. Judas betraying Jesus to the authorities. Peter denying Jesus. Jesus on trial before Pilate. Jesus beaten. Jesus crucified. And an "epilogue" of sorts. Any part could be an area of specific focus, though 'time' wise, Good Friday's focus is the crucifixion.
• To me, what jumps out as full of possibilities is Pilate's question: "what is truth?" John does not record Jesus giving an answer. How do you think he would have answered? What is your answer?

Lectionary Notes for Maundy Thursday

Readings for Maundy Thursday, 4/21/11:
Exodus 12:1-4 (5-10), 11-14, Psalm 116:1-12, 12-19, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, John 13:1-17, 31b-35


Exodus 12:1-4 (5-10), 11-14

• God describes to Moses and Aaron the Passover, which is the festival that centers Jesus' meal with his disciples as we celebrate Maundy Thursday.
• "this is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it hurriedly" Ready to go. Ready to move. Prepared. Imagine if this was always the way we were, in terms of readiness to respond to God's call.
• The Passover is a hard one to stomach (no pun intended.) It is hard to imagine a plague of killing firstborns all through the land, isn't it? But it is a festival, a "remembrance" that becomes so crucial in the identity of Judaism, and even in the events that shape Christ's last days. Death, blood, lamb, sacrifice. The ways the symbolism of the Old Testament events and New Testament events overlap and tie in here is important.

Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19:

• "I love the Lord, because he had heard my voice." I wish I knew Hebrew - I'm curious about the "because" word here. Do we love people "because" of something? Or does our love, even for God, go deeper and beyond a "because."
• "I will pay my vows to the Lord" This phrase is repeated in this Psalm. It seems the Psalmist feels he must pay God back for hearing his voice, his supplications. Does God need to be paid back? Want to be paid back? I don't think God wants to feel "owed" as much as loved.
• "loosed my bonds" - what has you bound up?

1 Corinthians 11:23-26:

• Remember that Corinthians is written before the gospels are written, so Paul's account here is actually an earlier account of the "Last Supper" than we find in the gospels.
• "as often as you drink it" - I think Jesus had in mind even more than our communion ritual, though I find that meaningful. "As often as you drink it" says to me that we are to remember and be guided by Christ as frequently as our daily task of eating: all the time.

John 13:1-17, 31b-35:

• "having loved his own who were in the world, he love them to the end." I like this editorial sentence of John's. He seems to emphasize the close bond shared by Jesus and his disciples. How painful these last days must have been for him, knowing that even his closest friends would not seem him through his ordeal.
• "the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas" Poor Judas. I've mentioned before my Jesus Christ Superstar inspired love of Judas. I always wish I could get inside his head. What would make you betray Jesus?
• "you also ought to wash one another's feet." Serving one another. I've tried, in a small group, to do a foot-washing before. I find people pretty resistant: either embarrassed to have someone touching their feet, or worried about hygiene, clean towels, clean water, etc. Guess we're not willing to get Jesus' point anymore.
• "by this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." If this is true, how many of us can be identified as disciples by our actions? Not as many as should be...

Lectionary Notes for Palm/Passion Sunday, Year A

Readings for Palm/Passion Sunday, 4/17/11:
Matthew 21:1-11 (Palms), Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29 (Palms), Isaiah 50:4-9a (Passion), Psalm 31:9-16 (Passion), Philippians 2:5-11 (Passion), Matthew 26:14-27:66 (Passion)


** A Special Note: Some churches choose to focus on one or other set of texts on this Sunday that begins Holy Week: either Palm Sunday or Passion Sunday texts. Personally, I combine both passages into one service: Palm/Passion Sunday. My homiletics professor at Drew, Charles Rice, suggested reading the Palm Sunday gospel text very early in the service, and placing the (brief) sermon very early as well. Then, toward the very end of the service, the Passion gospel is read, without comment/preaching, dramatically or otherwise. I have found this very moving and effective. **


Matthew 21:1-11:

• Matthew, ever trying to show Jesus as the fulfillment of prophecy, has Jesus riding in both on a donkey and on a colt, since that's what the text says. Never mind Matthew understanding that the poetry was written in that repetitive way in the Hebrew Scriptures - can you just picture Jesus riding both a colt and a donkey? That visual right there should have let Matthew know he was on the wrong track here!
• again - notice that these words "blessed is the one who comes in the name of the lord" - go straight from scripture to our communion liturgy.
• notice that here the crowds identify Jesus as a prophet. That label has some pretty specific connotations for that society.
• Can you think of current figures who have received such overwhelming support, only to quickly fall from grace shortly after?

Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29:

• Gate/entry imagery - This is good Palm Sunday imagery - entering in to give thanks to God.
• "The stone that the builders reject has become the chief cornerstone." Such a powerful verse, used to describe Christ by the prophets. But good for us too: when others reject us, God accepts us. In God, we can become the cornerstone, not a rejected scrap. Hope!
• "This is the Lord's doing." Giving credit where credit is due. We're not so good at that many times.
• "This is the day that the Lord has made." This is such a popular opening to worship. Why do we like this verse so much? I think it does a good job of truly reminding us of the fact that each day is God's precious gift to us.

Isaiah 50:4-9a:

• "The tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word." Sustaining the weary with a word. That's a gift; that's power. Who can accomplish this feat? Isaiah, apparently! :) But seriously - perhaps this is the gift we're called to live into as preachers. With God's Word, we can sustain the weary.
• "I gave my back . . . and my cheeks . . . I did not hide the face." Let us not think that there is nothing of Jesus' 'turn the other cheek' teaching in the Old Testament, that the OT only speaks of 'an eye for an eye' - this passage show us its just not so!
• "I have set my face like flint." Nice image.

Psalm 31:9-16:

• "My eye wastes away from grief, my soul and body also. For my life is spent with sorrow, and my years with sighing." This verse has jumped out to me personally in the past, at times when my congregations have been particularly grieving over the loss of multiple parishioners. The congregation as a whole seemed to be 'wasting away from grief' in body and soul. I think grief often comes in groups like that, so much all it once that it seems difficult to bear. I have to notice, though, that this psalmist is speaking about very individual grief that comes not from loss of others, but from a seeming rejection by others. This reads almost like a school kid who is being picked on by everyone. I don't mean to make it less important because it is such a personal pleading. God knows we all have personal pleading. But an observation...
• This psalm comes in all three years of the Passion Sunday readings. How come?
• "I have become like a broken vessel." Nice imagery, given all the biblical language about potter/clay/jars/vessels. Empty vessels and full vessels. Refilled vessels and pouring out our vessels. And cracked vessels. What shape is your vessel in right now?
• "My times are in your hand." Giving God our times. That simply, that completely.

Philippians 2:5-11:

• "Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus."
• "did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited" I find this such a unique statement. Imagine if Christ had used his equality to exploit? What would that look like? Perhaps this is what the devil was tempting Christ to do - to exploit his equality.
• "emptied himself" Emptying ourselves.
• "every knee should bend . . . every tongue should confess." Hm. This is one of those passages often used by people who are seeking to convert non-Christians and those of other faith traditions as proof or encouragement about the task at hand. Frankly, it makes me a bit uncomfortable. If the idea is that people will ultimately be moved to worship Jesus even against their will, I'm not sure I'd want to see that display...

Matthew 26:14-27:66:

• I guess you have to ask: why this huge, all encompassing text, when much of this material will be included later in Holy Week? The answer, on the practical side, is that the sad fact is many in our congregations won't be back again until Easter Sunday - won't be at Maundy Thursday or Good Friday. They need to know how we get from Palm Sunday to Easter Morning. But on a deeper level, for me at least, nothing beats the contrast of starting a sermon with the joy of the Palms and ending with the reality of the cross.
• This text as a whole is almost too huge to comment on, hence my note at the top of this page on my practice of just reading/hearing the text. It is the story. How can we elaborate? I guess I'm not going to try!

Lectionary Notes for Fifth Sunday in Lent, Year A

Readings for 5th Sunday in Lent, 4/10/11:
Psalm 130, Ezekiel 37:1-14, Romans 8:6-11, John 11:1-45

Ezekiel 37:1-14:

• The Valley of the Bones. This passage is so rich with possible meanings for us. "Mortal, can these bones live?" Even what seems beyond life can be made alive by God's holy breath. We are reminded again that, as Ezekiel says, it is God, not us, who knows the extent of the grace that God can extend to us.
• "our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost." Do you ever feel like this? Dried up? Without hope? How has God acted to breath new life into you?

Psalm 130:

• A favorite Psalm. My favorite musical setting of this Psalm is the John Rutter Requiem, which I think gives a real sense of the Psalm - performed occasionally by my childhood-church.
• Out of the depths - what are the depths from which you call to God? Do you remember to call to God from your lowest low?
• This psalm shows a great faith and hope in God's grace and forgiving mercy, unlike some psalms that are more bent on vengeance: "If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, Lord , who could stand?" It is a nice change.
• wait, wait, wait the psalmist says. I've read statistics before about how many years of our life we spending waiting in line for things. How much of your life do you spend waiting on God? Are you more patient about waiting in line for concert tickets than you are about waiting for God? 

Romans 8:6-11:

• typical Paul - flesh/body spirit/soul dualism. I wish Paul had explained what he meant in a different way, or that he meant a different thing, even. It is too easy to say that everything earthly should be rejected in favor of the spirit world. The thing is, we've got a lot to do still in this earthly world - a lot of good stuff to enjoy and a lot of not-so-good stuff to which to turn our attention.
• Compare this passage to the Ezekiel passage - God giving life through spirit to mortal bodies.

John 11:1-45:

• "Lazarus, come out." Out of what caves do you need to be called?
• Notice that Jesus speaks of himself as the resurrection, before he is crucified and raised in the scriptural accounts. Rather than predicting a future event in his life, I believe that he is speaking to the fact that he is currently at that time the resurrection. He is already raising people out of death, to new life. He is already transforming people, so that their lives become like nothing they could recognize before. That is resurrection, isn't it?
• "Jesus wept." The shortest verse in the Bible, and one of the most powerful - "see how he loved him," responded the crowds.
• "I believe . . . that you are the one coming into the world." This is one of my favorite verses in this passage - it is an active word, a continuing, not a one time event. Jesus doesn't just come into the world - he is coming into it, continually. Always entering into our lives.
• God, if you'd intervened, this bad thing wouldn't have happened to me! How many times to we offer this type of complaint up to God, blaming God for what goes wrong in our lives?