Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for July 31, 2016

The Parable of the Rich Fool. Oil on oak panel by Rembrandt van Rijn, 1627, Gemäldegalerie, Berlin.

We started in Hosea last Sunday with the prophet’s fierce and startling charge from God about Israel’s path to destruction; but its last verse offered hope for the future. Today’s following verses envision God poetically as a loving, albeit somewhat exasperated parent, looking on Israel as a beloved but troublesome child. Misbehaving offspring may deserve punishment, but no caring parent will give up entirely on a child. God’s heart recoils when Israel turns away, but God’s compassion grows warm and tender; God’s fierce anger is constrained.

First Reading (Track Two): Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14; 2:18-23

“Vanity of vanities! All is vanity.” ​In reflecting on this familiar passage in the mysterious wisdom book of Ecclesiastes,​ ​think of “vanity” in the original Hebrew sense of this word, “breath” or “vapor,” something barely visible that veils the light. We spend our lives futilely toiling under the scorching sun in pursuit of something that we can’t grasp, the poet sings: “chasing after wind.”

Psalm 107:1-9, 43

The Israelites hearing Hosea’s prophecy were not spared exile; the Northern Kingdom fell to the Assyrians and their leaders went into exile a century before Judah and the Jerusalem Temple met a similar fate at the hands of Babylon. But those coming home from exile surely felt the emotions expressed in this Psalm, celebrating and offering thanksgiving for the steadfast love of God who gathered them out of exile and brought them home, satisfying their hunger and thirst.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 49:1-11

Foreshadowing the parable of the foolish rich man in today’s Gospel, we hear a Psalm that shouts out the foolishness of trust in riches. Biblical ideas like this surely formed Jesus and his mother, Mary, who spoke often about the hope that the hungry would be filled up and the rich sent away empty. “We can never ransom ourselves, or deliver to God the price of our life,” the Psalmist sings to high and low, to rich and poor alike.

Second Reading: Colossians 3:1-11

In the last of our four readings from Colossians this season, the author continues his instruction to the new believers in the ancient church at Colossae, reminding them that once Christ is revealed in our lives, we are called to put away evil ways and clothe ourselves in a new life in Christ. In words resembling Paul’s invitation to the Galatians to put away all differences among humankind, we are reminded that “there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all!”

Gospel: Luke 12:13-21

“You can’t take it with you.” Jesus’ parable of the foolish rich man shares this simple homespun folk wisdom. The rich man’s land produced such a large crop that he wants to build larger barns to store it in. With all this wealth in hand, he plans to “relax, eat, drink, be merry.” But God responds with grim, unexpected news: The man will die that very night, having no use for all the cherished goods. Jesus, who reminded us that what we do for the poor, we do also for him, has little patience with those who think only of themselves.

Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for July 24, 2016

Sermon on the Mount, Jesus Praying. Oil painting by Carl Heinrich Bloch,
Danish Museum of National History at Frederiksborg Castle, 1877.

Using language as grim as we heard from the prophet Amos in recent readings, the prophet Hosea uses the strange metaphor of marriage to a prostitute to warn Israel and Judah that they face destruction. Even the names of the children of this marriage offer disturbing images: “God Sows,” “Not Pitied,” and “Not My People.” The last verse, though, offers hope for the future, when “not my people” turns to “children of the living God.”

First Reading (Track Two): Genesis 18:20-32

The patriarch Abraham and his family pause in their journey as hear the beginning of the familiar story of the destruction of Sodom. God’s wrath with the Sodomites is well known, but we tend to forget that their grave sin was not about sex but lack of righteousness. Hoping to save the city, Abraham bargains with God, who was quite willing to avoid the carnage if as few as 10 righteous people could be found.

Psalm 85

Harmonizing with Hosea’s vision of an angry God, today’s Psalm sings out grateful relief from a thankful people who feared that their sins earned God’s fury and wrathful indignation, but now look forward to the mercy and salvation that they hope to receive from a God who remains faithful regardless. When we listen to God, we hear mercy meeting truth as righteousness and peace join in a kiss.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 138

The relationship of this Psalm to the destruction of Sodom may not seem apparent at first, but if we listen closely we may hear a distant echo of Abraham persuading God not to give up on the people but to look to those who remain righteous and who thank God for their many blessings. God responds when we call, the Psalmist sings. We know that God’s right hand will save us; God’s steadfast love endures.

Second Reading: Colossians 2:6-15 (16-19)

The church at Colossae was a community of new believers, looking forward to being raised with Christ through faith in God’s power. But they were a Gentile community, too, still wrestling with the pagan beliefs of their Greek culture. The author warns against false teachings, “philosophy and empty deceit … festivals, new moons or sabbaths.” God sets that aside with earthly rules and law, he writes; and in words echoing Jesus teaching us how to pray, we remember that God forgives our trespasses.

Gospel: Luke 11:1-13

When Jesus teaches us to pray, he calls us to be righteous, just as the ancient prophets demanded of Israel: Share our food, forgive our debts, do to others as we would have them do to us. Do these things and help open God’s Kingdom, not only in Heaven but right here on Earth. Attend closely to the following verses, which use the metaphor of an awfully demanding friend to underscore the importance of sharing our bread and loving our neighbors whatever the circumstances. Just as God opens the door when we knock, so should we do the same to our neighbor.

Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for July 17, 2016

Christ in the house of Mary and Martha. Oil painting by Johannes (Jan) Vermeer, 1665, National Gallery of Scotland.

Last week we heard the prophet Amos angrily warning Israel’s king and high priest of the terrible fate that would fall on them and their families if they continued to be unjust. Now he recites a horrifying litany of curses that will come to the land whose rulers “trample the needy and bring to ruin the poor.” Let the land tremble and its people mourn as the sun goes dark and crops fail. The people will hunger and thirst for God’s words as they do for food and water, but they will not find them.

First Reading (Track Two): Genesis 18:1-10a

Genesis, the first book of the Bible, begins with our ancestral legend of the Creation, and continues with the familiar stories: Cain and Abel, the Tower of Babel, and Noah and the flood (which has been much in the news in Kentucky this week!) Today we read how the story of the chosen people begins, as God, speaking through three mysterious strangers who receive the patriarch Abraham’s open hospitality, tell him that he and his wife Sarah, despite their age, will have a son, and their offspring will inherit the Promised Land.

Psalm 52

A song perfectly tuned to harmonize with our first reading, this Psalm angrily accuses an unnamed tyrant (perhaps, according to tradition, Doeg the Edomite, who conspired with Saul to kill King David) who “trusted in great wealth,” a liar who loved evil more than good. May God demolish the tyrant, the Psalmist shouts; wicked people who steal from the poor will fail, while those who trust in God’s eternal mercy will live in joy.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 15

Our first reading described the beginning of God’s covenant with the people. Our Psalm lays out the covenant’s fundamental premises. Who may come to the holy hill and reside in God’s tabernacle? We hear a long list of right actions: Do what is right. Don’t slander. Don’t do wrong by our friends or harm the innocent. These are simple commands. Although they may be difficult to live in full, they guide us into a life of righteousness.

Second Reading: Colossians 1:15-28

It is not always easy to decipher the sometimes dense prose of Paul and those who wrote letters in his name. It may help to recognize them as direct advice to a congregation – a sermon in letter form – blending both theological reflection and practical advice. After a theological meditation on Christ as image of the invisible God who made peace through his sacrifice, the author tells us that in becoming a servant of the gospel, he became a servant of the church. As a busy servant, he might remind us of Martha in today’s Gospel. But his call to reconcile ourselves to Christ and proclaim Christ’s supremacy might make us think of Mary.

Gospel: Luke 10:38-42

Jesus has stopped at the home of his friends Martha and Mary, and we hear the familiar story of the two women who show us very different interpretations of neighborly love. Martha gets busy, eager to ensure that everything is just right. Mary does no work, to Martha’s frustration. She chooses instead to sit at Jesus’ feet, listening, learning and loving. Both practice hospitality, and many of us might recognize some of ourselves in both sisters. Note well, though, that Jesus tells Martha that her sister has chosen the better part.

Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for July 3, 2016

Greek Orthodox icon of the 70 apostles.

In the time of the Kings, the Arameans and Israel were enemies. So Naaman, an Aramean military leader, must have been wary when his servant suggested that he go to Israel to heal his leprosy. But leprosy was a terrible disease, disfiguring and contagious; its victims were ritually unclean. So Naaman complied, but then the prophet Elisha wouldn’t even see him, sending a servant with advice that sounded too simple to be true. But Naaman’s servants urged him to try Elisha’s proposed sevenfold bath in the Jordan, and just like that, Naaman was cured.

First Reading (Track Two): Isaiah 66:10-14

In the final chapter of Isaiah, the people have returned from exile to Jerusalem, full of joy at the return but facing the hard work of rebuilding the city and a new Temple. It is a time for rejoicing, the prophet declares, and a time for healing. God will shower prosperity on the city, and, in beautiful language envisioning God as a loving mother, God will nurse and carry the people as a mother comforts her child.

Psalm 30

Can you imagine Naaman praying this beloved Psalm of thanksgiving for recovery from a grave illness? The Psalmist thanks God: ” I cried out to you, and you restored me to health.” Then he urges everyone, all of us who are God’s servants, to give thanks for all God’s gifts; to be thankful for an end to the sadness that often accompanies illness. We thank God for turning the weeping of those long dark hours of night into the celebration that comes at dawn, when our mourning turns to joyful dancing.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 66:1-8

Echoing the trust in God’s protective power that we heard in the Isaiah reading, the Pslamist calls on all the earth to be joyful in God and sing the glory of God’s name. Recalling how God protected the people of Israel escaping slavery in Egypt by turning the sea into dry land, the Psalm reminds us to sing in full voice to praise the God who protects us, making our voices heard.

Second Reading: Galatians 6:1-16

Our journey in Paul’s letter to the Galatians comes to an end today. We have heard Paul declare repeatedly that Christ’s message is for all humankind – Jew and Gentile, man and woman, slave and free. He has stood strong against opponents who argued for a more exclusive way. Now, his letter ends with a strong reminder not only to accept one another but to do as Jesus taught us: Share all good things , carry each other’s burdens, and in so doing, fulfill the law of Christ. In other words, love our neighbors as ourselves.

Gospel: Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

In last week’s Gospel, we heard Jesus “set his face to go to Jerusalem,” demanding that those who would follow him leave everything else behind. Now Jesus enlists a crowd to help him spread the Good News: He calls 70 followers to hurry through the countryside, “like lambs in the midst of wolves,” to tell villagers that the Kingdom of God is drawing near. Those who reject them, like the Samarian villagers in last week’s Gospel, are rejecting Jesus; those who welcome them are welcoming Jesus.

Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for June 26, 2016

Christ Pantocrator mosaic in Byzantine style, from the Cefalù Cathedral, Sicily, c. 1131

The two books of Kings sum up the story of Israel’s kings from David’s time until the then-united kingdoms of Israel and Judah fell and their leaders went into exile. We’ve been following the journey of the prophet Elijah, chosen by God to speak truth to King Ahab and his wife Jezebel, and to warn following kings that disaster lay ahead. Now Elijah is taken up to heaven in a fiery chariot – you can see an interpretation of it in one or our church windows, back beside the organ – and his helper, Elisha, takes up Elijah’s mantle and mission.

First Reading (Track Two): 1 Kings 19:15-16,19-21

The two books of Kings sum up the story of Israel’s kings from David’s time until the then-united kingdoms of Israel and Judah fell and their leaders went into exile. As we join the narrative here, the prophet Elijah, who had been chosen by God to speak truth to Israel’s kings and to warn them that disaster lay ahead, was despairing because he feared death at the hands of his foes. But God gave him strength and sent him on with instructions to choose Elisha as his successor. Elisha hesitates – foreshadowing the reluctant followers in today’s Gospel – but he finds the will to come along.

Psalm 77:1-2, 11-20

Stormy metaphors of dark clouds, thunder, lightning and pouring rain fill this Psalm with images of a God whose mighty deeds shout out God’s great power and might. The Psalmist is troubled in the dark of the night, crying out untiringly, seeking comfort for his soul but refusing to accept it. But then he finds hope by reflecting on God’s power in the storm and remembering how God gently led the people out of slavery and protected them in the desert.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 16

Titled “Song of Trust and Security in God,” this Psalm is held by tradition to be a prayer of King David when he sought God’s protection and guidance. While those who follow false gods will just get themselves in trouble, the poet sings, by accepting God as “my portion and my cup,” his heart will be glad and his spirit will rejoice, knowing that God will not abandon him to the grave.

Second Reading: Galatians 5:1,13-25

Having assured the Galatians that we are all in one with Jesus, no longer Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female, Paul urges all to stand firm in faith and to love our neighbors as ourselves. We are to use the freedom that God gives us not to “bite and devour” one another but to accept the fruit of the Spirit in “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”

Gospel: Luke 9:51-62

From now through the end of the Pentecost season, we will follow Luke’s account of Jesus’ long journey from his home in Galilee toward Jerusalem, his Passion and the Cross. As the journey begins, we see a side of Jesus that may surprise us with his seeming frustration and impatience. Is his command to come and follow him so urgent that disciples must leave the dead un-buried; is there really no time to bid their families farewell? Once Jesus “set his face to go to Jerusalem,” it seems, everything now focuses on bringing in the Kingdom. Nothing else is more important than that.

Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for June 19, 2016

Mary with a jar of ointment. Oil paint on oak panel by Jan van Scorel (1495–1552);
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

The prophet Elijah was bold and strong. He fought the priests of Baal, and he spoke truth to the power of evil King Ahab and his wife Jezebel. Elijah was kind. He called on God to make a poor widow’s food last for months and restore her son to life. And at the end of his story , he is taken up to heaven in a fiery chariot. Today, though, we see Elijah worn down and afraid of Jezebel’s revenge. At the brink of despair, he hides under a broom tree and begs God to take his life. But God sends winds, an earthquake and fire to get Elijah back to God’s work.

First Reading (Track Two): Isaiah 65:1-9

We near the end of Isaiah’s long book of prophecy, and the prophet has called on God to withhold God’s anger, even though the people have broken the covenant and behaved badly. God responds: Those who have been rebellious, who have provoked God’s anger, God will repay. But God will be just and righteous. “I will do for my servants’ sake, and not destroy them all.” A remnant will remain to inherit Zion, God’s holy hill.

Psalm 42 and 43

Today’s connected Psalms speak in poetic language, filled with lamentation but ending at last in hope and faith. The Psalmist’s soul longs for God as a deer longs for water; his soul thirsts for God. But when faith falters, the Psalmist asks over and over why God has forgotten him. Finally, though, faith wins as he begs God to send out God’s light and truth, and lead him to God’s holy hill.

Psalm 22:18-27

In words that seem consistent with God’s response to Isaiah’s plea, today’s Psalm calls on God to stay close, to protect the people from danger, from the sword and from wild animals. All the congregation, praise the lord; let Israel stand in awe of God and know that God works justice and righteousness to all who seek and praise God, not least the hungry poor who seek God for protection and food.

Second Reading: Galatians 3:23-29

Paul continues laying out his argument for accepting Gentiles into the infant church without requiring them to strictly follow Jewish law. Gentiles are in no way second-class Christians, he proclaims: There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of us are one in Jesus. All of us are heirs to God’s covenant with Abraham.

Gospel: Luke 8:26-39

Luke’s account of Jesus sending a man’s demons into a herd of pigs may seem a little strange to us, but it might have made Luke’s original audience laugh, with its allusions to the hated Roman army in the name of the demon, “Legion,” residing in a naked man living among tombs with swine. But consider the context of recent readings, and we suddenly see Jesus offering love and grace to a Roman centurion, a sinful woman, and now a ritually unclean man. Luke wants us to see clearly, as Paul did in Galatians, that God’s love is unlimited and available to all.

Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for June 12, 2016

Mary with a jar of ointment. Oil paint on oak panel by Jan van Scorel (1495–1552);
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

The bible is filled with stories about evil people, perhaps to show us vivid examples of how not to behave. King Ahab and his wife Jezebel (whose very name has become an insulting term) surely rank among the nastiest, as we see in this shocking story of their plot to have Naboth killed so the king can steal Naboth’s vineyard and make it his garden. But rough justice soon is served, as an angry God summons the Prophet Elijah to warn Ahab that he faces a gory fate: dogs will lick up his blood.

First Reading: 2 Samuel 11:26 – 12:10, 13-15

King David was Israel’s greatest leader, but like so many heroes in the bible, he was deeply flawed: he was an adulterer and a murderer, too, who had the beautiful Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah, killed in battle so he could have her for himself. But now God’s messenger Nathan tells David a story that tricks him into cursing and threatening with death a figure that turns out to be David himself. A merciful God spares David’s life, but Nathan foretells that the child of his illicit union shall die.

Psalm 5:1-8

In words that might remind us of wicked people like Ahab and Jezebel, the Psalmist calls for help, describing a God who hates wicked people, braggarts and liars, abhors evil and will destroy evildoers. “Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness,” the Psalmist sings, promising to go into God’s house, bowing down in awe and hoping for God’s great mercy.

Psalm 32

Like many of the Psalms, this is traditionally attributed to David. It certainly would fit the part of a repentant king seeking God’s forgiveness after having been confronted with his terrible acts. As long as the Psalmist labored under guilt, he moaned and his bones withered under God’s heavy hand. Once forgiven, his heart leapt up, embraced by God’s mercy. Just as it was for David, so it can be for us: “Great are the tribulations of the wicked; but mercy embraces those who trust in the Lord.”

Second Reading: Galatians 2:15-21

Paul continues his argument that Gentile converts to Christianity need not be bound by Jewish laws requiring circumcision, kosher dietary restrictions and other Old Testament purity codes, a requirement that surely would have discouraged new Christians! Pointing out that he himself died to the law so he might live to God, Paul insists that it is our new faith in Jesus Christ that saves us, not justification through following the former Jewish law.

Gospel: Luke 7:36 – 8:3

Pharisees were highly educated scholars and preachers, pillars of the synagogues, but – probably thanks to rowing tensions in the early church – the Gospels often portray them as argumentative, rules-bound hypocrites. Simon the Pharisee did invite Jesus to table fellowship. But when the “woman who was a sinner” comes in and anoints Jesus with the respect and love that the Pharisee had failed to show, it is she who earns his praise and forgiveness of her sins. Is this woman Mary Magdalene? The Gospel doesn’t specifically say so; but note that in the verses that conclude this Gospel, Magdalene has appeared as one of Jesus’s followers.

Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for June 5, 2016

Elijah Resuscitating the Son of the Widow of Zarephath; painting by Louis Hersent.

We meet the Prophet Elijah again, this week sent by God to travel outside Israel to a Gentile town called Zarephath. God assures Elijah that an elderly widow and her son will feed him. But this isn’t so easy. Zarephath is gripped by a drought, and the widow and her child are about to die from the famine; she is not at all eager to feed a man of different faith. With God’s help, though, a tiny portion of meal and oil is enough to feed them all and to last until the rains come. (In the following verses, the boy sadly dies anyway, but God answers Elijah’s prayer and revives him.)

Psalm 146

As we’ve noticed before, the six Psalms that conclude the Psalm book – the hymn book of the Temple in Jerusalem – ring out with resounding worship and praise. Pay particular attention to this Psalm’s sharp focus on God’s preferential care for those whom Jesus would call “the least of these”: The oppressed, the hungry, the prisoner; the blind, and “those who are bowed down.” And – echoing God’s care for the widow of Zerephath and her child – the stranger, the widow and the orphan.

Second Reading: Galatians 1:11-24

Picking up where we left off last week with Paul’s “astonished” response to the Galatians, Paul continues pushing back against other evangelizers who came to Galatia after he had left and taught a less inclusive Gospel, demanding that Gentile converts follow strict Jewish law requiring circumcision and dietary practices. Paul presents his credentials, recalling that he had been zealous in his Judaism but now proclaims Jesus to Jews and Gentiles alike, having received revelation directly from God.

Gospel: Luke 7:11-17

Can we hear parallels between Elijah and the widow of Zarepeth and Jesus and the widow of Nain? Immediately after healing the centurion’s servant, Jesus goes to a nearby town and restores life to a widow’s son. Like the widow of Zarephath and the centurion, too, this widow responds to her son’s new life with joy and faith. She declares Jesus a prophet and a man of God, and the crowds that will follow Jesus throughout the Gospel continue to grow.

Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for May 29, 2016

Christ Heals the Centurion’s Servant. Sebastiano Ricci, oil on canvas, 1726-29; The Prague National Gallery.

This Sunday we return to Ordinary Time, six months of liturgically green Sundays that last until Advent. We return to the Gospel of Luke where we left off before Easter, and follow Jesus’ life to the days before his last week in Jerusalem. Our First Testament readings move through Israel’s ancient history in 1 and 2 Kings to a tour of the prophets Amos, Hosea, Isaiah and Jeremiah, followed by a quick sampler from other, minor prophets. Our New Testament readings will offer us the writings of Paul and other leaders of the early church in Galatians, Colossians, Hebrews, Philemon, 1 and 2 Timothy, and 2 Thessalonians. Today’s First Reading from 1 Kings tells the ancient story of the Prophet Elijah calling down God’s power to bring a wandering people back from their fascination with the pagan god Baal.

Psalm 96

The Lectionary usually chooses a Psalm to fit the spirit of the day’s other readings, and this exultant song of praise for God and God’s greatness fits in well with the 1 Kings account of Elijah demonstrating God’s power and might: God’s glory is declared among all the nations, not to Israel alone. God is great, God is greatly to be praised, and God “is more to be feared than all gods.” The gods of the other nations – surely including Baal of the Canaanites – are only idols.

Second Reading: Galatians 1:1-12

There’s trouble in Galatia, and Paul is righteously angry. Paul loved the people of this church, but after he moved on to his next mission, meddlers arrived with false teachings: a new and contrary gospel, confusing and perverting the Gospel of Christ that Paul had taught! Paul’s revelation came to him directly from Christ, he proclaims. Curse the false gospel and those who proclaim it! Watch this theme develop as we spend six weeks with Galatians.

Gospel: Luke 7:1-10

Roman centurions appear several times in Luke’s Gospel and his Acts; and somewhat surprisingly they are regarded favorably, even though they were ranking officers in the hated, occupying Roman army. This event comes immediately after Jesus has taught love of neighbor in the Beatitudes. Perhaps Jesus’ recognition of this Roman’s faith shows the world that Jesus has come for all the nations.