Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for Aug. 31, 2014

Moses and the Burning Bush, Byzantine mosaic at St. Catherine’s Monastery, Sinai.

The ancestral story of the chosen people hits another high point as Moses encounters God in the burning bush on Mount Horeb (another name for Mount Sinai). When God informs Moses that God intends for him to lead the people out of Egypt to the Promised Land, Moses asks a curious question: What is God’s name? “I am who I am,” God replies, uttering a Hebrew phrase that Jewish tradition considers too holy to write or speak: “Say to the Israelites, ‘I am’ has sent me to you.” Perhaps this tradition adds a nuance to Jesus’ question in last week’s Gospel: “Who do you say that I am?”

Psalm: Psalm 105:1-6, 23-26, 45c

Well matched to today’s First Reading, this Psalm of thanksgiving and praise recalls the people’s descent from Abraham and their sojourn as aliens and oppressed slaves in Egypt. When we sing praise for Moses’ service in protecting the people so they might “observe God’s laws,” we celebrate the survival of not just dry legislation but of “Torah,” God’s timeless teaching that guides the way we live.

Second Reading: Romans 12:9-21

We have walked with Paul in his letter to the people of Rome through more than two months of Pentecost, listening and learning as he works out a theology of new life in God’s grace through Christ. Today he concludes the letter with a beautiful, poetic summary of his call to Rome’s Jewish and Gentile Christians to live together in love. “Hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another … Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” What was good advice then remains good advice now. Live in harmony. Live peaceably with all. Amen!

Gospel: Matthew 16:21-28

Immediately following last week’s Gospel, in which Jesus praised Peter and called him the rock upon which he will build the church, Jesus turns in the next verses and declares Peter “Satan,” ordering him out of his sight. The evangelist – likely reflecting evolving church tradition a generation or two after the crucifixion – shows us a powerful image of Jesus as Messiah, predicting his own death and resurrection as necessary steps toward the universal justice that will come with God’s kingdom.