The Holy Name

Posted on December 26, 2022 by Robin Garr

Illuminations on the Lectionary readings for Jan. 1, 2023 (The Holy Name)

In years when January 1 falls on a Sunday, we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Name, recognizing the significance of the Holy Name of Jesus and the emphasis that Luke’s Gospel places on the naming of Jesus.

Adoration of the Christ Child (1877), wood carving at Trinity Church Boston, H.H. Richardson, architect. (Click image to enlarge)

Our first reading finds the Israelites camped at the foot of Mount Sinai, where they have received the Ten Commandments from God through Moses. They are ready to move on toward the Promised Land, but first, God speaks through Moses, uttering a blessing so gracious that it is often used to this day. “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.”

Psalm: Psalm 8

“How exalted is the Name of God in all the world!” Psalm 8 is a resounding hymn of praise for God. It expresses our awe at the many glories of God’s creation. The heavens, the moon, the stars in their courses are all the work of God’s hands, the Psalmist sings. The majestic arc of creation is so great that mere humanity seems small in comparison. Yet God has given humanity charge of all the animals, wild and domestic, and all the creatures of the sea. Surely we are called to pursue the same level of careful and loving relationship with this creation as we count on God to provide for us.

Second Reading: Galatians 4:4-7

God sent his own son, born of a woman in full humanity, born under the Torah, to redeem those under Jewish law and tradition, Paul writes in his letter to the people of the church in Galatia in Asia Minor. But that is not the end of the story. Continuing an argument that he pursues throughout Galatians, Paul assures the Gentile members of this young church that they have been adopted as children of God. God sends the Spirit into their heart through Jesus so that they are no longer slaves but children and thus heirs. The way of Jesus is open to all who follow him.

Alternate Second Reading: Philippians 2:5-11

We can hear the gentle rhythm of poetry in these beautiful words that Paul to the Philippians. It is likely that Paul is quoting one of the first hymns of the early church. Its theology is deep, and it remains relevant: Although Jesus was truly God as well as truly human, he chose to “empty himself,” taking on the full weight of his suffering without divine foreknowledge; accepting the pain of crucifixion with human fragility and weakness. In accepting that horrific pain, Jesus showed us the true exaltation of God’s love; and we are called to respond only with love for God and our neighbor.

Gospel: Luke 2:15-21

A week after Christmas, we return to Bethlehem and the manger. In Luke’s version of the Christmas story, shepherds have come down to find Mary and Joseph and the child and tell them the amazing things that they had heard from the angels. Mary “treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart,” Luke says. Then, eight days later, they prepare to take Jesus to be circumcised, one of the most important requirements of Jewish law. As part of this ritual, Mary gives the child the name Jesus, as the Angel Gabriel had instructed her.

Christmas Day I, II, and III

Posted on December 19, 2022 by Robin Garr

Illuminations on the Lectionary readings for Christmas Day I, II, and III )Dec. 25, 2022)

(Lectionary Selections I, II, and III are suggested for use for Christmas Eve midnight, Christmas dawn, and the main service on Christmas Day.).

Christmas Day I

First Reading, Selection I: Isaiah 9:2-7

Adoration of the shepherds (1622). Oil painting on canvas by Gerard van Honthorst (1590–1656), Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, Cologne, Germany. (Click image to enlarge)

Christmas has come! We see a great light and sing a new song as we behold with joy in the city of David the birth of a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. In our first reading, we hear words of the prophet Isaiah that would inspire the composer George Frideric Handel in “The Messiah.” The prophet foretells a glorious future when the oppressor’s yoke will be broken and a child will be born for us, a son given to us, a Wonderful Counsellor will take the throne of David: Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Psalm, Selection I: Psalm 96

All the earth sings a new song, blessing God’s name in this joyous psalm of praise. There is fascinating theology here, ideas that we may see reflected in the New Testament: We are called to proclaim the good news of God’s salvation; we are to go out and declare God’s glory, a great commission to show God’s majesty to all the nations. The whole earth, the heavens, the seas, the forests and all that is in them rejoice before our God.

Second Reading, Selection I: Titus 2:11-14

Here’s a Bible trivia fact: Titus is the only book of the New Testament that does not appear in the regular three-year Lectionary of Sunday service readings. We read in it only on Christmas Day. Much of Titus’ short letter is spent warning the people of Crete to rein in their sinful behavior, an instruction that leads to a worthy conclusion: We should live well and renounce bad actions as we wait for the grace of God through Jesus Christ, who gave himself to redeem us and make us God’s people.

Gospel, Selection I: Luke 2:1-14(15-20

Now we come to the familiar Gospel story of Jesus’ birth. On this day we read the nativity according to Luke. We hear the memorable stories of Mary giving birth, wrapping the child in swaddling clothes and laying him in a manger in Bethlehem – the City of David – because there was no room in the inn. Here we have the beautiful scene of baby Jesus and his parents suddenly surrounded by shepherds and their flocks. Angels sing gloriously overhead while the Lord’s angel tells them that the baby is a Savior and the Messiah.

Christmas Day II

First Reading, Selection II: Isaiah 62:6-12

In this reading from Isaiah, the people’s exile is ending. Through the power of God’s strong right hand and mighty arm, they will return to Jerusalem. Prepare the way, build up the highway toward home and clear it of stones, the prophet shouts. No longer shall enemies harvest Zion’s grain and drink its wine. God will bring a glorious future of redemption and salvation that will last until the end of time.

Psalm, Selection II: Psalm 97

God is king, and all creation rejoices. This Psalm praises God in an image of power and might that echoes the fearsome God who led the Israelites through the desert and protected them there, surrounded by clouds, lightning and fire. This psalm shows us a God over all other gods, over all other nations, but it also reveals a God who loves the righteous, provides light for them, and cares for those who live justly.

Second Reading, Selection II: Titus 3:4-7

In this passage, Titus emphasizes that Jesus is God, our savior, the perfect manifestation of goodness and loving-kindness. Jesus saved us not because of any good that we had done, but entirely because he is merciful, giving us God’s grace through baptism by water and the Holy Spirit. Justified by God’s grace, we become heirs to eternal life through Jesus.

Gospel, Selection II: Luke 2:(1-7)8-20

Here again is the familiar Gospel story of Jesus’ birth, the nativity according to Luke. This passage tells us the memorable accounts of Mary giving birth, wrapping the child in swaddling clothes and laying him in a manger in Bethlehem – the City of David – because there was no room in the inn. Here we have the beautiful scene of baby Jesus and his parents suddenly surrounded by shepherds and their flocks. Angels sing gloriously overhead while the Lord’s angel tells them that the baby is a Savior and the Messiah.

Christmas Day III

First Reading, Selection III: Isaiah 52:7-10

Israel’s exile in Babylon is ending in this selection from Isaiah, and God’s messenger brings good news of peace and salvation. When God leads the people back to Zion, the temple on the mountain, Jerusalem, even the ruins of the devastated city will break into song. Such is the joy of God’s return to the holy city: God reigns, the people are comforted, and all the nations shall see the power of God’s holy arm and the salvation that it brings.

Psalm, Selection III: Psalm 98

This Psalm of praise, filled with joyous music, harps, trumpets and horns, calls us to stand up and rejoice. We sing a new song of praise for the victory won by God’s mighty right hand and holy arm. All the nations, not only Israel, shout with joy. Even the sea, the land, the rivers and the hills will rejoice when God comes to judge all the world with righteousness and equity. Lift up your voice! Rejoice and sing!

Second Reading, Selection III: Hebrews 1:1-4,(5-12)

The letter to the Hebrews begins with a beautifully poetic description of Jesus: Chosen as the son of God, he is the perfect reflection of God’s glory, higher even than the angels. Indeed, the author of Hebrews tells us, when Jesus was born into the world, multitudes of angels appeared in the heavens to worship him. Because Jesus loved righteousness and hated wickedness, his throne is for ever and ever, and God speaks to us no longer through the prophets but through Christ.

Gospel, Selection III: John 1:1-14

There is no nativity story in John’s Gospel. Luke and Matthew, each in their own way, tell us a version of the familiar story of the newborn baby born in Bethlehem. But John introduces us to Jesus in a completely different way: This poetic and spiritual passage celebrates the unimaginable glory of God’s own word becoming flesh and living among us, lighting up the world. The Word that was in the beginning with God, when God said, “Let there be light,” is now, will be, and in God’s time always has been, incarnate as human flesh, Jesus, Messiah, God with us.

Advent 4A

Posted on December 12, 2022 by Robin Garr

Illuminations on the Lectionary readings for Dec. 18, 2022 (Advent 4A)

First Reading: Isaiah 7:10-16

As we have gone through the four weeks of Advent, we have had the opportunity to deepen our appreciation for Scripture’s account of the coming of the Messiah, which Christians understand as the Incarnation, God becoming fully human and fully divine in Jesus.

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. (Click image to enlarge.)

Our first reading draws again from the prophet Isaiah, who understood the Messiah as a good king, a successor in the line of King David. Isaiah was speaking of his own time when he warned King Ahaz – an evil leader who had collaborated with the Assyrians – that as soon as the child was weaned (“eating curds and honey”), the king’s land would be conquered. Christians would later look back and interpret the birth story of Jesus in Isaiah’s prophecy that a child named Immanuel (“God with us”) would be born to a “young woman.” That Hebrew word, “almah,” would be translated in the Pentateuch, the Greek Old Testament that was in common use in the time of the Evangelists, as “parthenos,” meaning “virgin.”

Psalm: Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18

In this psalm of lament over the destruction of the temple and the people’s exile, the Psalmist begs to be spared the divine anger that has left the people with “bowls of tears to drink” as their enemies laugh them to scorn. These verses echo the Isaiah reading in the hope that God will free the people and come with power to restore the kingdom and the Covenant. Send a man of God’s right hand, the strong son of man, the Psalmist pleads, promising that the people will never again turn from God’s way if only God will save them.

Second Reading: Romans 1:1-7

The opening verses of Paul’s letters follow formal patterns set in Greco-Roman culture, much like the “To whom it may concern, I hope this letter finds you well” that we might see in modern formal correspondence. Still, even these formulaic verses tell of Paul’s pastoral concerns for the Romans. Paul emphasizes that he is an apostle of Jesus, and that Jesus is the son of God, the descendant of David prophesied in Scripture – such as the Isaiah verses we read today. Paul assures Rome’s Christians that he comes in Jesus’s name to the Gentiles, who are God’s beloved, called to be saints.

Gospel: Matthew 1:18-25

It is the fourth and last Sunday of Advent, and our Gospel takes a decided turn toward Christmas as we hear of an angel visiting Joseph, who is described as Mary’s husband, at a critical moment. Imagine Joseph, a man of an ancient, patriarchal culture, discovering that his sweet young fiancee is pregnant, but not with his child! Who wouldn’t decide to call the whole thing off? But Joseph, a righteous man, prefers to end the engagement quietly, without scandal or gossip. But then, before things go off the rails, an angel arrives to assure Joseph that Mary is bearing a child of the Holy Spirit, a son who will save his people from their sins. Finally the angel repeats Isaiah’s prophecy, quoting the Greek Pentateuch: “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel.”

Advent 3A

Posted on December 5, 2022 by Robin Garr

Illuminations on the Lectionary readings for Dec. 11, 2022 (Advent 3A)

First Reading: Isaiah 35:1-10

The third Sunday of Advent is traditionally called Gaudete (“Rejoice”) Sunday. We light the one pink candle in the Advent wreath. We pause in the quiet anticipation of Advent as we feel joy at the coming celebration of Jesus’s birth. Our Lectionary readings for Advent subtly shift in tone from quiet expectation toward anticipatory joy, too.

Saint John the Baptist in the Wilderness (c.1589), oil painting on panel by Hieronymus Bosch (c.1450-1516). Museo Lázaro Galdiano, Madrid. (Click image to enlarge.)

The readings for the Third Sunday of Advent hold up themes of joy and service, beginning in the first reading with Isaiah’s prophetic voice of hope for the people’s return home to Jerusalem from exile in Babylon. “The desert shall rejoice and blossom … rejoice with joy and singing,” the prophet foretells. And this promise of joy is directed specifically to the oppressed, the weak, those who suffer pain … all those who Jesus would later call us to serve.

Psalm: Psalm 146:4-9

Psalm 146, titled “Praise the Lord, O My Soul,” is a resounding hymn of praise for our Creator, the God eternal who made heaven, earth, the seas and all that is in them. Its poetic words of promise shout that the oppressed will receive justice from God. God will feed the hungry, set prisoners free, care for strangers, orphans and widows, and give sight to the blind. All this foreshadows the words that Mary will sing in the Magnificat (which is also available as an alternate Psalm on this Sunday). We hear them echo again whenever Jesus describes God’s Kingdom on earth.

Alternate Psalm: Canticle 15 (Luke 1:46-55)

As an alternative to a Psalm this Sunday we may sing Luke’s Song of Mary. If you think of the mother of Jesus as a sweet, submissive figure, take a closer look at the words this teen-aged Palestinian woman sings when the angel tells her she would be the mother of God: “ … he has scattered the proud … brought down the powerful … lifted up the lowly … filled the hungry with good things … sent the rich away empty.” This understanding of the divine links Torah and the Gospels. It describes the action that Jesus explicitly asks of those who follow his way.

Second Reading: James 5:7-10

Sunday’s Lectionary selection for the second reading breaks in a bit awkwardly in the middle of a thought: “Be patient, therefore” prompts us to wonder what came before. If we turn back a few verses to find context, we discover James – like Mary in the Canticle – excoriating the rich, or more specifically, the selfish rich. “you rich people, weep and wail for the miseries that are coming to you. … You have laid up treasure for the last days. Listen! The wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.” Then we hear James’s command: Love each other, and be generous with one another, lest we be judged.

Gospel: Matthew 3:1-12

The Gospel according to Matthew consistently emphasizes that Jesus is Messiah, the lord and savior whom the prophets foretold. Here Matthew tells of a long-distance conversation through messengers between Jesus and John the Baptist in prison. Matthew invokes a passage from Isaiah’s gospel as a way to declare that John is God’s messenger who makes straight the way for Jesus, the Messiah. Then, as John’s messengers leave, Jesus tells the crowd of people what to expect, echoing the ideas in 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.”

Advent 2A

Posted on November 28, 2022 by Robin Garr

Illuminations on the Lectionary readings for Dec. 4, 2022 (Advent 2A)

First Reading: Isaiah 11:1-10

When we hear a call to repent and wait for the Messiah’s coming through this week’s Sunday Lectionary readings, don’t think of “repent” in the sense of guilty remorse. Hear it rather in its traditional sense: “Change your mind” or “turn back” in the New Testament’s original Greek and in the Hebrew Bible.

St. John the Baptist Preaching (c.1665), oil painting on canvas by Mattia Preti (1613-1699). Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. (Click image to enlarge.)

If we are on the wrong path in our relationships with God and our neighbors, Sunday’s readings advise us, now is the time to turn back and watch for the light of God’s Kingdom. In our first reading, Isaiah envisions a time when the Messiah – the descendant of King David, whose father was named Jesse – will reign from the Temple on Zion’s holy mountain, where justice will prevail for the poor and the meek.

Psalm: Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19

The Psalmist seems to draw from the same wellsprings as Isaiah in this hymn of blessing for a new king. Tradition holds that Psalm 72 was written in memory of the coronation of King Solomon. In the verses chosen for Sunday’s reading, we hear the people call for a just and righteous king who will rule fairly. They ask God to provide 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.

Second Reading: Romans 15:4-13

At the time of Paul’s beautiful letter to the Romans, the city’s Jews – including Jewish converts to Christianity – had been banished to exile. Paul wrote this letter when Rome’s Jews were coming back home after years in exile. There was tension between the Jewish remnant and the Gentile Christian community that had stayed home all along. Paul turns to the passage we heard from Isaiah to remember the Root of Jesse, presenting the verses as if they were an explicit prophecy of Christ as king over all humanity. In the memory of that time of return, Paul urges the Romans, “Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.”

Gospel: Matthew 3:1-12

We met John, Jesus’s cousin, as an infant when we read the Song of Zechariah as a psalm on Christ the King Sunday. In that passage, John’s father – the temple priest Zechariah – regained his voice to foretell that the boy would grow up to become a great prophet. This Sunday we encounter John again. He has become a prophet indeed, a loud, wild prophet clad in camel’s hair robes and eating locusts and honey, urging people to repent as he baptizes them in the Jordan river. Matthew tells us that John is the fulfillment of another Hebrew Bible verse – Isaiah 40 – promising that a prophet would come to make way for the Messiah. That figure is coming, says John, speaking of Jesus; and he will baptize not with mere water but with the fire of the Holy Spirit.

Advent 1A

Posted on November 21, 2022 by Robin Garr

Illuminations on the Lectionary readings for Nov. 27, 2022 (Advent 1C)

First Reading: Isaiah 2:1-5

Advent begins, and with it a new liturgical year centered on the Gospel according to Matthew. The name “Advent” is based on the Latin word for “coming.”

The World Before the Flood (1828), oil painting on canvas by William Etty (1787-1849). Southampton City Art Gallery, England. (Click image to enlarge.)

During these four weeks we prepare for the coming celebration of the birth of Jesus, the Incarnation, on Christmas Day. We also consider the tradition of the final coming of Christ in power and glory. Sunday’s readings look forward to a bright Messianic future. In verses of poetic beauty in our first reading, 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: Psalm 122

Psalm 122 closely mirrors the prophet’s hope in the first reading 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. It is a city on a mountain where all the tribes of Israel go up with gladness to praise God’s name. At David’s throne, the Psalmist sings, 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

Paul exhorts the people of the young church in Rome to be prepared for the return of Jesus, an event that Christians of that time believed and prayed would come very soon. “The night is far gone, the day is near,” Paul writes to his Roman flock in this letter that we will hear during three of the four Sundays of Advent. In the meantime, Paul advises the people to behave well, live abstemiously, avoid quarrels and jealousy. These verses follow immediately after Paul’s urgent reminder to follow God’s commandments and love our neighbors as ourselves, a way of life that prepares us to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Second Reading: Matthew 24:36-44

In all three years of the Lectionary cycle, the Gospel for the First Sunday of Advent is apocalyptic, anticipating the second coming of Christ. In Sunday’s Gospel according to Matthew we find Jesus talking with the apostles on a hillside on the Mount of Olives, looking across a small valley toward the Temple. In preceding verses Jesus has told them – in words similar to those we heard told by Luke two weeks ago – that the temple will be torn down amid a time of war and great suffering, before Christ comes to usher in a new age. Now Jesus warns them that only God knows when the last days will come, just as sinful humans in Noah’s time had no warning of the coming flood.

Christ the King C

Posted on November 14, 2022 by Robin Garr

Illuminations on the Lectionary readings for Nov. 20, 2022 (Christ the King C)

First Reading (Both Lectionary Tracks): Jeremiah 23:1-6

On this, the last Sunday after Pentecost, we mark the feast of Christ the King, a concept borrowed from modern Roman Catholic practice in the spirit of ecumenism that followed Vatican II in the 1970s.

Christ and the Good Thief (c.1566), oil painting on canvas by Tiziano Vecellio, known as Titian (c.1490-1576). Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna, Italy. (Click image to enlarge.)

It takes note of Christ’s messianic kingship and sovereign rule over all creation. Both Lectionary tracks join in the first reading, in which the prophet Jeremiah speaks fierce truth to the leaders of Babylon who held the people in exile. God will soon round up the remnant of his scattered flock and bring them home like a shepherd, the prophet foretells, warning the oppressors that they will be punished for their evil. Soon God will raise up a a mighty new king in David’s tradition, restoring the glory of the lost kingdoms Israel and Judah.

Psalm (Track One): Luke 1:68-79 (Canticle 16)

This week in place of a psalm we sing Canticle 16, Luke’s Song of Zechariah. Zechariah – whose wife, Elizabeth, was the cousin of Jesus’ mother, Mary – was a priest at the Temple. When he refused to believe that his elderly wife had become pregnant after an angelic visitation, he lost the power of speech. Now his voice returns as he holds the infant and names him John. The child, he declares, will be a prophet in the tradition of Abraham and Sarah – who also were blessed with a child in their old age through God’s action. The child, Zechariah proclaims, will be the prophet who will go before Jesus, the Messiah and king, to declare his way.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 46

This Psalm of praise may not explicitly speak of kings, but it reassures us that whenever terrible things happen, even when Earthly kingdoms and nations are shaken by frightening events, when mountains rock and the oceans roar and foam, God remains with us. God doesn’t promise us a world where horrors can’t happen and no one ever suffers. But even in the worst of times, God abides, inviting us to take refuge in God’s strength. Our Prayer for Quiet Confidence (BCP p.832), draws from Psalm 46 as it reminds us, “Be still, and know that I am God.”

Second Reading: Colossians 1:11-20

The Christian community of Colossae in what is now Western Turkey may have felt something like Jeremiah’s remnant of Israel in exile. They lived under the constant threat of Roman persecution, fearing that they might lose their homes and even their lives for their faith. The author of this letter urges them to endure their difficulties with patience and the strength that comes from God’s glorious power expressed through Jesus. Jesus, through his incarnation as God in human flesh and the first of all creation, rescues us from the power of darkness and transfers us into the kingdom of Christ.

Gospel: Luke 23:33-43

And now at the end of Pentecost season we reach the end of Jesus’s long road to Jerusalem as told by Luke. This Gospel reading mirrors the Good Friday Gospel, reminding us of our hope for Easter and the resurrection. Jesus is crucified in the company of criminals: a horrible death reserved for Rome’s most despised evildoers, . The inscription over Jesus’ head reads “This is the King of the Jews,” not as a literal statement but an act of public shaming by Pontius Pilate. Soldiers mock him and a crowd makes fun of him. This is surely no traditional king. Meanwhile, Jesus gently invites the repentant criminal at his side into a different kind of kingdom, one for all humanity and for all time.

Pentecost 23C

Posted on November 7, 2022 by Robin Garr

Illuminations on the Lectionary readings for Nov. 13, 2022 (Pentecost 23C)

First Reading (Track One): Isaiah 65:17-25

The six-month-long, green-vested season of Sundays after Pentecost is drawing to its close. Jesus and his followers have reached Jerusalem, where we will hear him foretell the destruction of the Temple amid apocalyptic warnings of hard times to come before God brings them into eternal life.

The Destruction of the Temple at Jerusalem (1637), oil painting on canvas by Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665). Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. (Click image to enlarge.)

Listen through the day’s readings for themes of progress through and beyond suffering. In our Track One first reading, from near the end of the Book of Isaiah, the prophet celebrates the people’s return from exile and exults in God’s plan for the new Jerusalem as a joy and a delight. It will be a city where there is no weeping, no distress; no death in childbirth, no pain; rather, its inhabitants will lead joyous lives with 100 years of youthful strength! Then, at the end, it will be a holy place of peace, where the lion and the lamb rest together and none shall hurt or destroy.

First Reading (Track Two): Malachi 4:1-2a

This short Track Two first reading is from the book of Malachi, the last of the twelve so-called minor prophets in the Hebrew Bible. These verses begin its fourth and final chapter. Malachi – whose name in Hebrew means “Messenger,” the word also used for “angel” – speaks of a people newly returned from exile, warning that the great day of the Lord is coming. In language that may remind us of the apocalyptic tone of the gospel, Malachi warns that God will separate evildoers from the righteous and destroy those who do evil. Those who revere God’s name, however, will have healing and joy, “leaping like calves from the stall.”

Psalm (Track One): Isaiah 12:2-6 (Canticle 9 BCP)

These verses from earlier in Isaiah, read as our Track One Psalm for Sunday, are familiar to Episcopalians as Canticle 9, pulled out as a chant to be used in Morning Prayer. The prophet knows that the destruction of the Temple is inevitable, yet nevertheless declares God our stronghold and our sure defense. God can be trusted to save us, the prophet sings, even in threatening times when we feel frightened and vulnerable.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 98

In harmony with the prophet Malachi’s vision of God as a righteous healer, Sunday’s Track Two Psalm envisions God as fair and just judge of the world and all its people. When God comes to judge the earth we will sing a new song, lift up our voices, and express our joy so abundantly that even the sea, the lands, the rivers and the hills will jump up and join the celebration. God’s righteousness will be known to all the nations.

Second Reading: 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17

Think about these harsh words from our second reading: “Anyone unwilling to work should not eat.” We have probably heard people express similar thoughts about poor people in a modern political setting, a point of view that might make Jesus weep. This illustrates the problem with taking points from the letters of Paul (and in this case, a later follower) as firm instruction for us today. Written in Paul’s name to address issues in a specific community a generation after Paul’s death, this instruction surely dealt with a particular problem of church members who were taking advantage of others’ work. In no way should this quarrel among first century Greek Christians suggest that Jesus’s instruction to feed the hungry and care for the poor has been repealed.

Gospel: Luke 21:5-19

It is tempting, but wrong, to interpret scary readings about apocalyptic events and final judgement as prophesies about our present time. As the long season of Pentecost ends and Advent draws near, we will be hearing more of these in our Sunday readings. The evangelist we know as Luke wrote this Gospel around the end of the first century, some 70 years after the Crucifixion and 30 years after the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple. He frames these events as a lesson from Jesus, bearing a truth for all times: God is with us. Even when we’re betrayed, scorned, hated and hurt, “By our endurance we will gain our souls.”

All Saints C

Posted on October 31, 2022 by Robin Garr

Thoughts on the Lessons for All Saints’ Day, Nov. 6, 2022
(All Saints’ Day is celebrated on Nov. 1, but may also be celebrated in the liturgy for the following Sunday.)

First Reading (Track One): Daniel 7:1-3; 15-18

We remember all saints, known and unknown, on All Saints’ Day.

Jesus Proclaims the Beatitudes (1481-1482), fresco by Cosimo Rosselli (1439-1507). Sistine Chapel, Vatican City, Rome. (Click image to enlarge.)

Our Track One first reading might remind us of Revelation. Much of the book of Daniel (one of the latest books of the Hebrew Bible) is apocalyptic literature, an imaginative genre that remained popular during early Christianity. Like our science fiction and fantasy, writing in this genre was understood as symbolic, not literal. Daniel tells of a vivid dream about four scary beasts that represent earthly kings. In later verses, we meet a winged lion, a tusked bear, a four-headed leopard, and an iron-toothed monster with 10 horns! But the nightmare ends with reassurance that resonates as we recall all who have died and gone to their eternal rest: God will win and reign forever.

Psalm: Psalm 149

Psalm 149 is one of the psalms that celebrates warlike violence in language that reflects Bronze Age sensibility in the Ancient Near East. Listen, though, and we can hear its echoes all too well in the imagery of modern warfare, shock and awe. We sing to the Lord a new song, joyously dancing and shaking tambourines to celebrate God’s gift of victory in battle, while the enemy’s kings are bound in iron chains. Before we judge too harshly, recall that the Psalms, the bible’s ancient hymnal, offer a full human range of emotion, from this warrior shout to the protective love of the Good Shepherd.

Second Reading: Ephesians 1:11-23

God has placed Christ at the right hand of the Creator and has given Christ great power to rule over us all, in the present and for all time to come. Thus the author of Ephesians assures his flock, writing in Paul’s name to the persecuted Christians of Ephesus in Asia Minor. From that time onward, all the people of God, baptized in Christ and sealed by the Spirit, are the saints of God. We are Christ’s body on earth, pledged through our inheritance through baptism to redemption as God’s own people.

Gospel: Luke 6:20-31

How well do you know the Beatitudes? Matthew’s narrative of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount comes to mind for most of us: These are memorable directions toward a life of service and neighborly love. Listen for the differences, though, in the evangelist Luke’s distinctly different view of the Beatitudes. Luke’s version in Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain is more directly focused on caring for the poor. By “poor,” Luke explicitly means those who have no money or resources, not only the “poor in spirit” who Matthew invokes. What’s more, Luke’s version expects us to give food to the hungry and water to the thirsty, not simply to stand with those who “hunger and thirst for righteousness” as Matthew suggests. Don’t just turn the other cheek, says Luke: Forgive your enemies … and pray for them too.

Pentecost 21C

Posted on October 24, 2022 by Robin Garr

Illuminations on the Lectionary readings for Oct. 30, 2022 (Pentecost 21C)

First Reading (Track One): Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4

“O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not listen?” The mournful cry of the prophet Habakkuk will turn to hope battling despair, an idea that we will hear reflected in various ways during Sunday’s Lectionary readings.

Zacchaeus in the Sycamore Awaiting the Passage of Jesus (Zachée sur le sycomore attendant le passage de Jésus, 1886-1896). Opaque watercolor over graphite on gray paper by James Tissot (1836-1902). Brooklyn Museum, New York. (Click image to enlarge.)

We only rarely hear from Habakkuk, a minor prophet who lived nearly 700 years before Jesus and, like many of the prophets, warned of the destruction and exile of Jerusalem. But this is a prophet with a difference. Unlike most of the prophets who deliver messages given them by God, Habbakuk shouts his own warnings. Then, in this Track One first reading, the prophet complains that even God doesn’t seem to be paying attention to him. But God does respond, directing Habakkuk to write his vision down so clearly that a runner can read it while racing past: “There is still a vision for the appointed time; it speaks of the end, and does not lie. If it seems to tarry, wait for it; it will surely come, it will not delay.”

First Reading (Track Two): Isaiah 1:10-18

The book of Isaiah, one of the Hebrew Bible’s greatest prophets, gets off to a fiery start. Its first five chapters are filled with God’s angry words of wrath before we even get to God’s call to the prophet. First we must clearly hear God’s anger over the people’s failure to keep the covenant that their ancestors made through Moses at Mount Sinai. In Sunday’s Track Two first reading, God likens Israel to Sodom and Gomorrah, whose people were so vile that God hates them and their works. Nevertheless, as always is the case, there is a way to restore God’s love, and it goes back to the covenant between God and the people at Mount Sinai: “Cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, and plead for the widow.”

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 119:137-144

Psalm 119 turns up fairly often in the weekly Lectionary. We read portions of this, the longest of all the psalms, a dozen times through the three-year lectionary cycle. Fun fact: Each of its sections begins with a different Hebrew letter, in order. Throughout its 176 verses, it offers a loving celebration of God’s Torah: Teaching, with the force of law. Each of the psalm’s sections brings its own message, though, and this segment fits well with Habakkuk’s prophecy: When indignation consumes us, when trouble and distress come on the people, God’s commandments are our delight.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 32:1-8

This psalm brings balm in the aftermath of a first reading that portrayed a God too angry to hear the people’s prayers or sacrifices, too outdone to give them even the least attention. This opening portion of Psalm 32 sings of the joy that comes when the separation from God that results from sin is ended, replaced with the utter delight of knowing God’s forgiveness. No longer groaning with pain that feels like withered bones, the repentant sinner is now guarded against trouble and surrounded with shouts of deliverance.

Second Reading: 2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12

The people of Thessalonika in northern Greece must have been suffering and afraid when this letter was sent to their Christian community around the end of the first century. The Apostle Paul was long dead at that point, but the letter’s kind words, written in the first person as if they had come from Paul and his companions Silvanus and Timothy, must have brought them some comfort: “We ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith during all your persecutions and the afflictions that you are enduring.”

Gospel: Luke 19:1-10

Luke’s Gospel frequently introduces us to tax collectors, members of the Jewish community who, traitorously in the eyes of many, sold their services to the despised Roman occupiers and often used this position to enrich themselves. Last week we heard Jesus praise a tax collector for his humble prayer. Now we meet another tax collector – indeed, the wealthy chief tax collector, Zacchaeus – who was so eager to see Jesus that, being of short stature, he climbed a tree to see this rabbi better as he passed through Jericho. Jesus called out to Zacchaeus, invited himself to dinner at the tax collector’s home. Most of the crowd grumbled angrily about this, but Jesus went ahead, and soon joyfully heard Zacchaeus promise to give half his possessions to the poor and recompense fourfold those whom he had defrauded.