Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for Dec. 18, 2016

The Nativity with the Prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel (1308-1311) tempera on single poplar panel by Duccio di Buoninsegna. Andrew W. Mellon Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

In living through the four weeks of Advent, we deepen our appreciation for the coming of the Messiah, the Incarnation of God becoming fully human and fully divine in Jesus. Today’s readings conclude Advent with eager anticipation for the coming of God’s kingdom through the line of King David. The Prophet Isaiah tells of God warning David’s descendant, King Ahaz, that his land will soon be conquered, but that a child named Immanuel – “God With Us” – will be born to a young woman and will eventually bring good in place of evil.

Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18

Today’s Psalm, too, remembers the shame and disappointment of being conquered. It calls on God in a voice of lament, asking to be spared the divine anger that has left the people with “bowls of tears to drink” as their enemies laugh them to scorn. Send a man of God’s right hand, the strong son of man, they beg, promising never again to turn from God’s way if only God will save them.

Second Reading: Romans 1:1-7

Paul gets directly to the point as he begins his letter to this congregation that he has not yet met: He is an apostle of Jesus, called to that ministry; Jesus is the son of God, the descendant of David whom the prophets had foretold; and through his death and resurrection, Jesus Christ is Lord, the Son of God. Then he assures his mostly Gentile audience that he comes to them in Jesus’ name. They, too, are God’s beloved. Then, only after these important assurances, does he come back to a proper formal greeting: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Gospel: Matthew 1:18-25

Christmas is drawing near! Today we hear Matthew’s version of the events leading up to Jesus’ birth. While Luke’s Nativity, the other familiar Christmas Gospel, tells the story from the viewpoint of Mary and her relatives, Matthew gives us Joseph’s point of view. How do you suppose a man of this patriarchal Near Eastern culture might react, learning that his young fiancee is pregnant but not with his child? Joseph prefers to end the engagement quietly, without scandal or gossip. But then an angel comes to assure Joseph that Mary is bearing God’s son, in words almost mirroring the Isaiah prophecy: “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel.” (The Hebrew word translated as “young woman” in Isaiah now reappears in the New Testament as “virgin” in Greek.)

Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for Dec. 11, 2016

ca. 1850 — An illustration from a mid-19th century copy of Grand Catechisme des Familles (Christian Doctrine for Families). — Image by © Stefano Bianchetti/Corbis

When the Messiah comes, when the Kingdom draws near, those days of glory will be filled with righteousness and justice, joy and abundance, and healing and good news for the poor. This is the message that we hear today, the third Sunday of Advent. This Sunday, historically called Gaudete (“Rejoice”) Sunday, shifts focus from quiet expectation toward anticipatory joy, a change in tone that many like to mark by wearing something pink to church on this day. Our first reading offers Isaiah’s vision of the return from exile, a homeward journey when the desert itself shall rejoice and blossom with joy and singing as the weak become strong.

Psalm 146:4-9

This is the third time this year that we hear part of Psalm 146, “Praise the Lord, O My Soul.” This resounding hymn of praise fits well on the Third Sunday of Advent with its beautiful poetry of praise for our Creator, the God eternal who made heaven, earth, the seas and all that is in them. Its words of promise seem to foreshadow the Song of Mary, the mother of Jesus, as well as Jesus’ own promise to feed the hungry, give sight to the blind, set prisoners free and bring good news to the poor.

Canticle 15 (Luke 1:46-55, The Song of Mary – Magnificat)

Tradition has come to show us Mary, the mother of Jesus, as a sweet, submissive figure. But this image is a far cry from the brave Palestinian teen-ager that we see in Luke’s Gospel when she first feels the baby Jesus moving within her. Thanking God for this gift, she shouts a song of God’s righteousness and justice, a theme that unites the message of Torah and the message of Jesus: God has “scattered the proud … brought down the powerful … lifted up the lowly … filled the hungry with good things … and sent the rich away empty.”

Second Reading: James 5:7-10

Doesn’t “Be patient, therefore,” seem a strange way to begin a reading? It almost compels us to page back and see what led up to it. Indeed, the preceding verses show us James (who traditionally is understood as the brother of Jesus) sounding very much like Jesus’ mother, Mary, and like Jesus himself. In those verses James, in words much like Mary’s Magnificat and Jesus’ first sermon, warns that the selfish rich will weep and wail in misery because they laid up treasure by defrauding the workers who tilled their fields. Then, in the short verses that we hear today, James urges a different way: Love and be generous with each other, while we wait for the Lord’s coming.

Gospel: Matthew 3:1-12

As we move through Matthew’s Gospel in this new Lectionary year, we will hear frequent reminders that Jesus is Messiah, the lord and savior that the prophets foretold. Today we hear a conversation between Jesus and messengers from John the Baptist in prison, asking outright whether Jesus is the Messiah or if they must wait for another. Then Jesus sets out his priorities, which echo Isaiah’s prophecies and his mother’s song: “… the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.”

Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for Dec. 4, 2016

John the Baptist Preaching in the Wilderness, oil painting on canvas by Anton Raphael Mengs, 1760s. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

Repent! We hear an Advent call to repent and await the Messiah in our readings this week. Don’t think of “repent” in its modern definition of deep regret and remorse, though. Hear it rather in its ancient sense as “change one’s mind” in New Testament Greek, or “turn back” in Old Testament Hebrew. If we are on the wrong path in our relationships with God and our neighbors, now is the time to turn back and watch for the light of God’s Kingdom. Isaiah envisions a time when the Messiah, the descendant of King David (whose father was named Jesse), will reign from Zion’s Holy Mountain, where justice will prevail for the poor and the meek.

Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19

The Psalmist seems to draw from the same wellsprings as Isaiah in this hymn that may have been composed in memory of the crowning of King Solomon. We call for a just and righteous king who will rule fairly. We call for a king who will bring prosperity to all the people; a king who will take special care to provide for the poor and the oppressed; a king who will reign as long as showers water the earth; a king who will bring peace on earth as long as the moon shines. This is a Messiah devoutly to be wished.

Second Reading: Romans 15:4-13

Paul wrote his letter at a time when all of Rome’s Jews, who had been banished to exile for a decade by the Emperor Claudius, were finally able to come back home after the emperor died. There was tension in the young church as returning Jewish Christians rejoined Christian communities that had become entirely Gentile. Paul devots much of the letter assuring both communities that they are all one in Christ. In today’s reading he cites the prophets, including Isaiah’s Root of Jesse, as foretelling Christ as the king of all humanity, the hope of Jew and Gentile alike.

Gospel: Matthew 3:1-12

Today we meet John, the cousin of Jesus, now an adult and – as his father, the temple priest Zechariah, had foreseen – a great prophet in the spirit of Isaiah and Jeremiah. John is a loud, angry prophet indeed, dressed in camel’s hair and eating locusts and honey, calling on the people to be baptized in the Jordan river as a sign of their repentance from sin. In these verses, indeed, John invokes Isaiah to declare himself the prophet who would cry out in the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord, a Messiah who will throw away the old traditions, baptizing not with mere water but the fire of the Holy Spirit.

Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for Nov. 27, 2016

“For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.” Persian tapestry, 14th century.

Advent begins! It is a time of preparation and expectation for the coming celebration of the birth of Jesus. As we look forward to Christmas Day, our readings look forward to a bright Messianic future. In verses of poetic beauty, the prophet Isaiah foresees Jerusalem and its Temple restored. It will be the highest of the mountains, the center of a world that recognizes it as the house of God. It will be a world of peace, a time when swords have been beaten into plowshares and there is no more war.

Psalm 122

This Psalm closely mirrors the Isaiah reading’s hope for a future of triumph and peace for Jerusalem, the city of God, the throne of the new King David, the Messiah. The house of David is a city at peace, a city on a mountain where all the tribes of Israel go up with gladness to praise God’s name. At David’s throne, all the people can expect fair judgment; there the love of God is rewarded with security, prosperity and peace.

Second Reading: Romans 13:11-14

Advent is the time to wake up, to watch and wait, enduring the darkness as we look for the coming of a new dawn. Paul urges the people of the young church in Rome to prepare for the return of Jesus, an eagerly anticipated event that first century Christians believed and prayed would come very soon. “The night is far gone, the day is near,” he assures his flock. In the verses just preceding, Paul had advised the Romans to obey the commandments and love their neighbors as themselves. Then, to prepare for the day of the Lord, Paul invites them to “put on the armor of light” by living honorably, behaving well, living abstemiously, and avoiding quarrels and jealousy.

Gospel: Matthew 24:36-44

The First Sunday of Advent marks the beginning of the new liturgical year and a new year of Sunday readings. We have spent the last 12 months focusing our attention on Luke’s gospel; now we turn to a year with Matthew. Today’s verses complete today’s cycle of readings that foretell the last days and a Messianic future. Looking at the Temple from a nearby hillside in they days just before his passion and death, Jesus reminds his followers that only God knows when the last days will come, just as careless humans in Noah’s time had no warning of the Flood. The Advent message here is clear and simple: Be ready. Be prepared. Live as if Christ might come back at any hour.