Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Nov. 15, 2020

First Reading (Track One): Judges 4:1-7

We have two more weeks before Advent begins on December 6, but in times past Advent was a 40-day season with a more penitential tone, akin to Lent.

The Parable of the Talents (1791-1795), etching by Jan Luyken illustrating Matthew 25:14-30 in the Bowyer Bible, Bolton Museum, Lancashire, England. (Click image to enlarge.)

Advent is shorter now, with a more hopeful tone of anticipation, but our readings still echo the longer season, pointing our imagination toward God’s final judgement and the last days. Sunday’s Track One first reading concludes our long journey through the ancestral stories of Israel in the book of Judges. The people live in the promised land but don’t yet have a king. They have settled in to an alternating cycle of behaving badly – “doing what was evil in the sight of the Lord” – then repenting, turning back, and restoring justice under a leader called a judge. In light of the Bible’s patriarchal culture it may surprise us that one of the most noteworthy judges was Deborah, a woman and a prophet, who with God’s help is not slow to order her male generals into battle.

First Reading (Track Two): Judges 4:1-7

In Sunday’s Track Two first reading, we hear the minor prophet Zephaniah foretell the destruction and exile of the Northern Kingdom, Israel, for its peoples’ and their leaders’ failure of righteousness: They pursued wealth and fell away from following God’s ways. His apocalyptic vision of the Great Day of the Lord seems to foreshadow the vision of Revelation: He imagines a horrifying Judgement Day, when their gold and riches won’t save them from reaping what they sowed: A fire of passion that will consume all the earth and all the people in it.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 123

Harmonizing with the leadership of the female judge Deborah in the Track One first reading, this brief but powerful Psalm offers worship and praise to a God clearly seen as both male and female, both master and mistress. In its brief five verses, one of the shortest of all the Psalms, we can see inspiration for a theology of liberation, too: The Psalmist implicitly calls for a preferential option for the poor, in contrast with the contempt shown them by the rich and the proud.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 90:1-12

We are very small. God is very large. And our time is nothing like God’s time: A thousand of our years pass in a moment for God, while our lives “pass away quickly and we are gone,” like grass that dries up in a day in the desert heat. The Psalmist – taken by tradition to be Moses – petitions God on our behalf, praying that God may help us learn to make good use of the time that we are allotted.

Second Reading: 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11


In last week’s second reading, Paul assured his church in Thessalonika that the Christians who had died before Christ’s return would not lose their opportunity to be with him in God’s kingdom. Now, in the last chapter, he urges them to be prepared. Using colorful metaphors – a thief in the night, and a woman’s sudden labor pains – he emphasizes that the day of the Lord may come suddenly and by surprise. Be faithful, he says; be loving; care for one another, and be ready.

Gospel: Matthew 25:14-30


Many of us would probably be just as cautious in safeguarding an angry master’s treasure as was the third slave who buried and made no profit on the valuable silver talent left in his charge. But look at the context of this parable in Matthew’s Gospel, only a day or two before Jesus is to be crucified: Jesus is focused on the last days. Just after this passage is the Gospel we will hear next week: Jesus’ account of the last judgement, when Christ as judging King will sort out those who saw the face of Jesus in the hungry, the thirsty, the oppressed, sick persons and prisoners from those who did not. Like the first two slaves, we are called to take risks, see Jesus present in the poor and the oppressed, and give of ourselves abundantly.

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Nov. 8, 2020

First Reading (Track One): Joshua 24:1-3a,14-25

How do we follow God? When will Jesus come back? How does God save us, and what does that look like? Can we do anything to secure a place among those saved?

The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins (1822), by William Blake (1757-1827). Watercolour and gouache on paper. Tate Gallery, London.
(Click image to enlarge.)

Sunday’s readings grapple with these eternal questions as the Pentecost season draws to a close and Advent approaches. We have to work to discern how these selections from Scripture might guide our lives. In the Track One first reading we hear the people renewing their covenant with God as they enter the promised land. They recall their long journey from slavery in Egypt, and they promise to be faithful to God, placing no other gods before God. But what do you think about the people’s gratitude that God drove out the Amorites who lived in the land to make a home for Israel? Does this troubling verse make you think about our treatment of the American Indians or Israel’s modern relationship with Palestine?

First Reading (Track Two): Wisdom of Solomon 6:12-16

The Wisdom of Solomon, often called simply “Wisdom,” is found in the Apocrypha, after the end of the Hebrew Bible. This passage echoes a memorable section of Proverbs that personifies Wisdom as a female voice, a strong woman who sits at the city gates, advises the people on right living, and was even a female presence who was with God at the moment of creation. This short Track Two first reading tells us how easy it is to find Wisdom: She meets us more than halfway and graciously meets us in our paths and thoughts.

Alternate First Reading (Track Two): Amos 5:18-24

The prophet Amos challenges us with a frightening question in this alternate Track Two first reading: What if we confidently await the day of God’s judgement, assuming that we have lived well, but learn to our shock that God has rejected our prayers and turned away? What if we run from a lion only to be eaten by a bear!? But there is hope. When we frame this passage in the verses that surround it, we find reassurance: When we seek good and not evil – when our justice and righteousness flow like mighty waters – then God will be with us.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 78:1-7

We sing only the first seven verses of a long 72-verse hymn as our Track One Psalm this week; we heard the first four verses of this same Psalm just six weeks ago. In this short passage, the psalmist begins by calling the people to listen, for God is speaking. The psalmist speaks of parables and dark sayings of old, recalling the ancient stories that were passed on to the people. What God did for the people in the past must be told to a new generation. There is power, and almost a magical feel to these words calling the listener to pay attention. God commanded the children of Jacob to teach God’s ways to their children, the Psalmist reminds us, so that the next generations would know God and not forget God’s ways.

Psalm (Track Two): Wisdom of Solomon 6:17-20

This snippet from the Apocryphal book of Wisdom, offered as one of two alternate Track Two Psalm readings, follows directly after the alternate Track Two second reading. It nails down the importance of loving Wisdom and following her laws: It is the assurance of wisdom that draws us near to God and leads us to God’s kingdom.

Alternate Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 70

This alternate for the Track Two Psalm begins on a dark note to match the first reading from Amos. The Psalmist is beset by enemies who would not only kill him but enjoy his misfortune and gloat over his losses. The Psalmist wants a kind of justice that is very far from turning the other cheek: He wants to see those enemies suffer the shame and disgrace that they wish for him! The Psalmist is sure that the poor and needy who seek God can count on God’s protection, for God is great. But please, God, the Psalmist begs: Hurry, God, please. Don’t make us wait!

Second Reading: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

Paul offers the people of Thessalonika an imaginative description of the coming of Christ, complete with an archangel’s shout and trumpet blast, the dead rising from their graves and the people of God rising into the air! These ideas, taken literally, have become the basis for a lot of colorful theories about what the return of Christ might look like. Some Christians do read this passage as a literal prediction of the last days. But most bible scholars offer a simpler explanation: At the time of this letter – the earliest in the New Testament – many Christians still thought that Jesus would return and establish God’s kingdom while they were still alive to see it. But now it was a generation later, and some people were dying! Would they miss Jesus? No, says Paul. Be encouraged: All will be saved.

Gospel: Matthew 25:1-13

Jesus has concluded his long debate with the Scribes and Pharisees now and is seated with his disciples on the slopes of the Mount of Olives, from where they can see Jerusalem and the Temple. He starts telling them a parable with the words, “The kingdom of heaven will be like this,” a sure signal that what’s coming will challenge our expectations. Indeed, this story is just as unsettling as the other “kingdom” parables we’ve heard recently: the outcast who had no wedding garment; the murderous vineyard workers; and the workers who were all paid the same. In this story, the bridesmaids who didn’t plan ahead and had no oil for their lamps were locked out of the banquet. The bridegroom dismissed them, even though he was late, himself! Is Jesus trying to tell us that the kingdom of heaven is unfair? Surely not. Rather, the parable offers simple wisdom: We know that Jesus, the bridegroom, is coming, so be ready always.

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Oct. 25, 2020

First Reading (Track One): Deuteronomy 34:1-12

Moses dies, and Joshua takes command. Jesus tells the Pharisees about the greatest commandment. There is plenty to inspire our imagination in Sunday’s Lectionary readings.

The Pharisees Question Jesus (1886-1894), medium gouache over graphite on gray wove paper by James Tissot (1836-1902). Brooklyn Museum. (Click image to enlarge.)

The Track One first reading concludes the Torah, the first five books of the First Testament, the Law. Moses has led the progeny of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph out of slavery in Egypt, received God’s commandments and made God’s covenant at Mount Sinai. He has wandered 40 years in the desert with a fractious people. Now he comes within sight of the Promised Land where he meets God again, on another mountain top. But this time Moses learns that he may see the land, knowing that God’s promise is fulfilled, but he won’t live to cross over to it.

First Reading (Track Two): Leviticus 19:1-2, 15-18

The overarching law that we are to love our neighbors as ourselves frames Sunday’s readings. We hear its roots in the Track Two first reading about an encounter between God and Moses. It returns fully developed in words of Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel. In a series of instructions that restate the moral code of the commandments, God’s words to Moses in the first reading tell how to be in good relationship with our neighbors. They culminate with the summary conclusion – the first place in the bible where this is explicitly stated as a rule – that we shall love our neighbor as we love ourself.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17

Tradition attributes this ancient hymn to Moses himself. While that is surely legendary, its verses of praise for God’s creation are certainly consistent with Torah, the books of teaching that believers once thought were actually written by Moses. A thousand years pass like a day in God’s continuing creation, we sing, while our short lives are as brief as the grass that turns from green to brown overnight. Then the Psalm moves from praise to petition as we ask God to hear our prayers, to turn toward us with loving-kindness and make us glad.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 1

The short Track Two psalm, the first in the book of Psalms, sings of the two paths that we may choose to take through life. In poetic verses that seem to foreshadow Jesus’ parables about the seeds that fall on variously nourishing ground, the Psalmist likens us to trees. There are the lush, fruitful and well-watered trees of the righteous who follow God’s way; and the weak trees that can’t stand straight, representing the way of the wicked. Which way shall we choose? The Psalm makes our options clear.

Second Reading: 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8

It is fascinating to listen in as Paul tells the people of Thessalonika, one of his churches in Greece, about his problems with the congregation at Philippi, a neighboring community! In this letter we get a glimpse of serious problems: Someone in Philippi apparently was strongly opposed to Paul and disagreed with his teaching. Paul is grateful to the Thessalonians, though, for treating him kindly. They have built a dear friendship that Paul likens to a nurse caring for her children. Fortunately, by the time Paul wrote his later letter to the Philippians around 55 CE, maybe five years after 1 Thessalonians, all apparently had been forgiven, as he then addresses the people of Philippi with loving friendship, too.

Gospel: Matthew 22:34-46

The words of Jesus about the greatest commandment may sound like a central tenet of Christianity, pouring directly from the heart of Jesus. But this teaching is profoundly Jewish, too. The commandment that Jesus declares the “greatest and first” portion, to love God with all our heart, soul and mind, exactly quotes the Shema, the most important of all Jewish prayers. The Pharisees with whom he continues arguing certainly understood this. Then the second portion, to love our neighbors as ourselves, comes directly from the priestly codes in Leviticus. Our spiritual heritage goes back a long way, and as we heard from Jesus earlier in Matthew, he did not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets (that is, the Tanakh, the Hebrew Bible) but to fulfill it.

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Oct. 18, 2020

First Reading (Track One): Exodus 33:12-23

God’s power for good amazes us, and we follow in faith. We’ll find variations on this theme through Sunday’s readings.

The Tribute Money (1630s), oil painting on canvas by Bernardo Strozzi (1581-1644). Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest. (Click image to enlarge.)

In our Track One first reading, we have skipped over a bloody and horrifying narrative since we heard about God’s anger over the golden calf. In those pages, a portion of the Hebrew people were told to kill 3,000 of their brothers and sisters who had worshiped the golden idol. Now Moses worries that his troublesome flock might stray again. He asks God for assurance that God will continue to lead and guide the people. God agrees, but Moses wants more: He wants to see God in God’s glory. God warns that Moses dare not see God’s face. No human can see such glory and live. But a compromise emerges: Moses may stand in a crack in a rock, protected from danger, then open his eyes for a glimpse of God’s glory and kindness from behind after God passes by.

First Reading (Track Two): Isaiah 45:1-7

It may seem unusual to read high praise for a Gentile king in the Hebrew Bible, but Isaiah offers just that in these verses. The prophet declares Cyrus, the king of Persia, as “God’s own anointed,” actually using the Hebrew word “Messiah.” How can this be? As usual with Scripture, historic context is everything. The people had been in exile in Babylon for 40 years, dreaming of the destroyed city of Jerusalem and the temple that they had lost. They had failed to love their neighbor and care for the weak and needy; thus they broke the covenant with God that had earned them the Promised Land. Now, led by the wise king that history knows as Cyrus the Great, the Persians have conquered Babylon, and Cyrus sent them home, showing that even a Persian king responds to God’s command.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 99

In Psalm 99 the Psalmist echoes the ideas in Exodus that we hear this day. As we sing this Psalm we sing loud praise to God’s great and awesome name. We celebrate God’s justice and equity. We remember that God, leading the people in a pillar of cloud, answered their prayers, but also punished them for their evil deeds, and finally forgave them in the end. Proclaim the greatness of the Lord, our God, the Psalmist sings.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 96:1-13

It is likely no coincidence that the Lectionary planners chose to follow Isaiah’s praise for Cyrus the great Persian king with a brisk reminder that God remains king among all kings, before whom the whole Earth trembles. God created all things and will judge all things, fairly and with equity, the Psalmist sings. Heaven and earth, thunder and lightning, all the fields and all the forest will rejoice when God comes to judge in righteousness and truth, this Psalm portion concludes.

Second Reading: 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

This Sunday we begin a five-week visit with 1 Thessalonians, a letter written by Paul around the year 50. Thus it is the earliest document in the New Testament. In its pages, Paul praises this small community in Thessalonika in Northern Greece, who had been persecuted for giving up the dominant Roman religion that Paul and the early Christians considered pagan. The Thessalonian people’s faith, Paul says, had inspired many converts, who were now waiting for Jesus to rescue them “from the wrath that is coming.” At this time, a bare 20 years after the crucifixion, early Christians still expected Jesus to come back soon to judge the world and establish the kingdom of God on Earth.

Gospel: Matthew 22:15-22

A denarius with the image of the Roman Emperor Tiberius. The inscription on the obverse stands for “Caesar Augustus Tiberius, son of the Divine Augustus.” (Click image to enlarge.)

For the fourth consecutive Sunday, we find Jesus in Jerusalem in the last week before his passion and death, fencing with a group of Pharisees and temple leaders who have been plotting to have him killed after his angry encounter with the money changers in the Temple. In this familiar passage they try to trap Jesus with a trick question. Depending on his answer, they hope his answer will either anger the crowds by seemingly supporting Roman taxation, or risk treason against Rome by denying the emperor’s power. But Jesus outwits them as usual, and in addition, tricks the temple leaders to reveal that they are carrying a forbidden graven image – the head of Tiberius Caesar – on the coins in their purses. Finally, when he responds, “give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s,” Jesus leaves open the question of how much that might be … and how much of our lives, on the other hand, we should give to God.