Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for Oct. 2, 2016
The Mustard Seed. 19th century fabric art from Kazakhstan.
Although Lamentations is often called “Lamentations of Jeremiah,” and its tone of mournful regret may remind us of the “weeping prophet,” it is actually a later book, recalling the loss of Jerusalem, and the people’s exile. In poetry as beautiful as it is sad, these verses imagine the ruins of Jerusalem to a weeping woman remembering happier times. Note that Lamentations, like the prophets, does not blame God but the people themselves for the suffering that they earned by failing to be righteous and just.
First Reading (Track 2): Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4
Does Habbakuk’s name sound familiar? If not, that may be because this is its only appearance in the three-year Lectionary cycle of Sunday readings. Only three chapters long, it is both unusual and fascinating. Unlike most of the prophets who hear God’s word and pass it on to humanity, Habbakuk shouts out his own warnings, then tells God that he is frustrated because God doesn’t seem to be listening. God responds, directing Habbakuk to write it down so simply that a runner passing by can read it.
Matching the mournful poetry of Lamentations, this sad hymn begins in words of poetic beauty with a capella weeping, remembering unforgettable Jerusalem in song but without the harps that were left behind. But then turns to terrible, angry words that we might not expect to see in Scripture. An angry desire to see the enemy’s babies smashed against rocks offers a harsh reminder of how badly we, too, may behave when frustration begets anger.
Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 37:1-9
Today’s Psalm bears some resemblance to God’s words to Habbakkuk. It urges us to live in hope, trusting in God and doing the right thing without worrying too much about others who follow evil ways: They will wither like the green grass that fades in summer’s drought; but those who follow in God’s ways, without lashing out or striking back, will be rewarded.
Second Reading: 2 Timothy 1:1-14
The very personal introduction to the second letter to Timothy conceals a fascinating fact: This epistle was almost surely written many decades after Paul and Timothy had died. It uses their names – and largely mirror’s Paul’s philosophy – to fondly imagine Paul writing from prison as he faces death. Written to a young, persecuted church, it offers advice similar to the writings of the prophets in exile: Hold on to our faith, even in trying times, and rely on God’s grace through Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
Gospel: Luke 17:5-10
As we read Luke’s long narrative of Jesus and his followers on their long journey toward Jerusalem and the cross, time and again we see Jesus throwing the apostles challenging words that were surely as hard for them to understand as they feel to us. It helps to read them in context with the chapters preceding this gospel: It is not easy to follow Jesus. We need to be strong and be prepared if we are to grow in spirit from tiny mustard seeds to towering trees.