Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Oct. 16, 2022

First Reading (Track One): Jeremiah 31:27-34

Pay attention to Sunday’s readings, and watch for a consistent theme: Place your hope in God, be patient and then even when challenges loom, be persistent.

Portrait of a Judge (c.1620), oil painting on canvas by Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641). Musée Jacquemart-André, Paris. (Click image to enlarge.)

In our Track One first reading, we hear Jeremiah pause in his relentless lamentation over the sins of Israel and Judah. The prophet now offers words of hope and the certainty of God’s ultimate love. In a striking metaphor about children’s teeth perceiving the sharp flavor when their parents eat sour grapes, Jeremiah assures us that children will no longer be punished for their parents’ sins. Finally, in words that Jeremiah and his readers surely understood to foretell the restoration of the temple and Israel’s kingdom (but that some Christians also interpret as foreshadowing Jesus) the prophet tells of a new covenant in which everyone will know God and all our sins will be forgiven.

First Reading (Track Two): Genesis 32:22-31

Hear this call through Sunday’s readings: Place your hope in God, and even in the face of challenges, be persistent. In this rather puzzling narrative from Genesis, Jacob fights to a draw in a night-long battle with an angel who doesn’t fight quite fairly, yet turns out to be God. This would have been a shocking development in the culture of its time, because the mere sight of God’s face was believed to be fatal to humans. Not even Moses was allowed to see God face-to-face, but Jacob – now renamed Israel – was able to do so, even while he struggled with God as with any other person.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 119:97-104

Throughout Psalm 119, the longest of all the Psalms, The psalmist exults in the study and understanding of God’s law, declaring the joy of unity with God through studious meditation and prayer. Now consider this portion the context of Sunday’s Track One first reading, in which Jeremiah declares God’s law central to God’s new covenant, saying: “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” Surely these words were sweeter than honey, as the author of Psalm 119 puts it, to Jeremiah’s people in exile, longing for their home.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 121

This is one of the Psalms that we love to hear when we or a loved one or friend is in trouble, fearful, looking for help, uncertain where to turn, seeking protection. Titled “Assurance of God’s Protection” in the New Revised Standard Version, it is one of the Psalms’ most comforting hymns of hope and trust. The Psalmist, not shy about calling out to God, cries out, “From where is my help to come?” We look upward, up to the hills, and find comfort in the sure protection of the Creator, who stands on constant watch, never sleeping, protecting us by night and day.

Second Reading: 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5

This late New Testament letter was written in Paul’s name at a time when the young, increasingly institutional church was facing Roman persecution. Know your scriptures, the writer advises the troubled flock. Even if it’s hard, even if you have to suffer, continue to spread the Gospel’s good news. This message, written for a particular time and place, may come across differently in modern America, when Christians hold a shrinking majority and ideas of Christian nationalism (often interpreted as white Christian nationalism) lure some to use the church to wield power. Of course we are still called to spread the good news. But it should be the Gospel that Jesus taught us: Love God. Love our neighbors. Even love our enemies as we relieve the oppressed and bring good news to the poor.

Gospel: Luke 18:1-8

Luke’s Gospel often shows us Jesus slamming the rich and powerful with parables that burn: The dishonest steward! The rich man who died too soon to enjoy his barns full of treasure! The rich young man who couldn’t give away his property, even to save his soul! The rich man who burned in hell while the poor man he wouldn’t help in life now reposes in heavenly comfort! And now we meet a corrupt and scheming judge confronted by a persistent widow who will not stop demanding until he finally caves in. How are we to read this? At first glance, we might wonder: Is Jesus comparing God to a corrupt judge who won’t do his job? But Jesus is making a different point: Pray day and night, be persistent, and God will listen and quickly respond.

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Sept. 11, 2022

First Reading (Track One): Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28

Pick through scripture and you’ll sometimes find a portrait of God as righteously, stormily angry, Turn to another page and you’ll find an image of overwhelming, steadfast love. Here’s reassurance: Divine love ultimately prevails.

Parable of the Lost Drachma (1618-1622), oil painting on panel by Domenico Fetti (c.1589-1623). Gemäldegalerie Alte Keister, Dresden, Germany. (Click image to enlarge.)

In our Track One first reading, for example, Jeremiah shows us a vision of God erupting in emotional anger that any parent exhausted by misbehaving children can understand: “My people are foolish … they are stupid children … they have no understanding.” Look out, Jeremiah warns the people at the end of Sunday’s passage: God is angry now, and that has consequences. And yet, Jeremiah says, in all this wrath, God yet I will not make a full end.

First Reading (Track Two): Exodus 32:7-14

Can it be a coincidence that this reading falls during the same general season as our Jewish sisters and brothers celebrate the High Holidays? Rabbinical tradition teaches that Yom Kippur, the Feast of Atonement, falls on the date when Moses brought the second set of commandments down from the mountain. With atonement, God will forgive even such an idolatrous act as the Israelites’ worship of the golden calf, portrayed in Sunday’s Track Two first reading, the act that made Moses so angry that he shattered the first set of stone tablets. The lesson is one for the ages: No matter how grave our offenses, when we are truly sorry and we humbly repent, God has mercy on us and forgives us. Every single time.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 14

Sunday’s Track One Psalm offers us clear echoes of Jeremiah’s vision of God as having less than infinite patience when the people go wrong. Jeremiah’s declaration that the people were stupid and foolish recurs here in the Psalmist’s scorn for fools, corrupt people and doers of abominable deeds. Mirroring the brief pause in God’s unrelenting anger in the Jeremiah passage, the Psalm too ends on a note of hope for those who seek refuge in God.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 51:1-11

Speaking of sins like worshiping a golden calf that seem too terrible to pardon, our Track Two Psalm recalls the time when King David sent his loyal soldier Uriah into harm’s way and certain death in order to cover up David’s adulterous affair with Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba. Then the prophet Nathan accused David, shocking him into recognizing his great sin. The Psalmist, assumed by legend to be David himself, imagines the king’s anguished repentance and hope for God’s forgiveness.

Second Reading: 1 Timothy 1:12-17

From now through the end of October we’ll be reading from the short first and second letters of Timothy. These are framed as letters of pastoral advice written by Paul to his associate Timothy. Bible scholars, though, believe they were actually written by a later Christian leader in Paul’s name. Composed in a time when the early church was becoming institutionalized and cautious, they tend to be more strict and dogmatic than Paul’s early letters. We’ll find none of that in Sunday’s reading, though. Here the writer speaking as Paul gives thanks that God forgave Paul’s blasphemy, persecution and violence and showered him with Christ’s faith and love.

Gospel: Luke 15:1-10

Take a moment to consider the first of these two familiar parables in a new way: Would a solitary shepherd, alone in the wilderness with predators all around and responsible for the care of a large flock, really leave 99 sheep unprotected to go out alone into the scary darkness to find just one? Well, maybe. Perhaps Jesus would. But perhaps Jesus is spinning a memorable story to make sure that everyone gets the point: God does not just forgive us when we go astray. God actively comes after us, looking for us, bringing us back, every single time.

What are “Track 1” and “Track 2”?
During the long green season after Pentecost, there are two tracks (or strands) each week for Old Testament readings. Within each track, there is a Psalm chosen to accompany the particular lesson.
The Revised Common Lectionary allows us to make use of either of these tracks, but once a track has been selected, it should be followed through to the end of the Pentecost season, rather than jumping back and forth between the two strands.
For more information from LectionaryPage.net, click here.

Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for Sept. 4, 2022

First Reading (Track One): Jeremiah 18:1-11

Our first reading and Gospel this Sunday might seem to turn our ideas of a protective God and a peaceful Jesus upside down.

Orthodox icon of St. Onesimus, the subject of Paul’s letter to Philemon. Onesimus is recognized as a saint in the Roman Catholic and many Orthodox traditions.

In our Hebrew Bible passage, God shows Jeremiah an artisan, a creator, who fashions pots from clay and who is not reluctant to smash and re-make an unsatisfactory creation. If the people of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem do not turn back from their evil ways, God, like a cosmic potter, will shape evil against the people and bring disaster upon them.

First Reading (Track Two): Deuteronomy 30:15-20

The chosen people, looking back on 40 years wandering in the wilderness, have finally reached the banks of the Jordan. Before they make their fateful crossing into the promised land, Moses gathers them all and reminds them of the covenant they made with God when they received the Ten Commandments at Sinai: If you love God, walk in God’s ways, and follow God’s laws, you will prosper. But turn away from God and you will lose the land and God’s blessings.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 139:1-5, 12-17

God knows us as intimately as the potter knows his clay. God knows our every thought, whatever we are doing, wherever we are, the Psalmist sings; God knows every word that we speak and every idea that we imagine. Even before we were born, God knew us. This Psalm neither gives explicit thanks for God’s deep knowledge of our every moment nor imagines how this knowledge affects our daily lives. No, the mere fact of God’s knowing us is sufficient in itself.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 1

The first of the 150 ancient hymns that make up the glorious book of Psalms sets forth a premise that will continue throughout: Those who choose to follow God’s laws, God’s teaching, will be as strong and prosperous as trees growing by rivers, fruitful and long-lived. Those who follow wicked ways will perish, blown away like dead leaves and the chaff of wheat. This is a simple restatement of the covenant of Sinai that the people heard on the banks of Jordan in our first reading.

Second Reading: Philemon 1-21

In this reading we hear almost all of Paul’s brief letter to Philemon. This may be the shortest epistle in the New Testament, but it has borne heavy historic weight, as it was sadly misunderstood for centuries as giving biblical approval to slavery. We might wish that Paul had given a more powerful argument against slavery; but he does what he can in the cultural context of his times, gently guiding the slave holder Philemon to a deeper truth as his runaway slave Onesimus, Paul’s friend, returns to his master: Among Christians, even slaves are more than slaves; they are beloved brothers and sisters in the flesh and in the Lord, and should be greeted with love.

Gospel: Luke 14:25-33

Tension is rising as Jesus continues his journey toward Jerusalem and the cross. The crowds that have been following him since he set his face toward Jerusalem are growing larger and more excited, and we’ll soon learn that the Romans and Temple leaders are nervous about this uproar headed toward the capital at Passover. Jesus wants the crowd to know that it will not be easy to follow him on this journey. Do we really have to “hate” our families and give up everything we have to follow Jesus? Don’t start a job that we can’t finish, Jesus warns. We have to follow him with our whole hearts, not just halfway.

Illuminations on the Lectionary readings for Aug. 28, 2022 (Pentecost 12C)

First Reading (Track One): Jeremiah 2:4-13

Last week we heard the youthful Jeremiah resisting God’s call to prophesy, fearing that he was too young for such a responsibility.

Christ Teacheth Humility (1847), oil painting on canvas by Robert Scott Lauder (1803-1869). National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh. (Click image to enlarge.)

Reassured by God’s kind words and gentle touch, Jeremiah now assumes the prophet’s mantle and imagines God in an anguished reverie, a deep lament. What could have gone wrong with the chosen people? Did they find some wrong in God that led them to waste their lives on worthless things? More in sorrow than in anger, it seems, God reflects that the Chosen People have forsaken God’s living water, instead building cracked cisterns that won’t slake their spiritual thirst.

First Reading (Track Two): Sirach 10:12-18

Sirach is one of the deuterocanonical books, also known as the Apocrypha, that we find at the end of the Hebrew Bible. It was written late in the years before Jesus, after Israel had come under Greek rule, Sirach is also known as Ecclesiasticus (not to be confused with Ecclesiastes), a Latin name it was given after the reign of Constantine. By either name, it concisely sums up Torah – God’s teaching – in the genre of wisdom literature: brisk, memorable suggestions of spiritual advice. Sunday’s Track Two first reading follows the theme of the day’s readings: Pride leads to sin, and sin leads to no good end. In language that may remind us of the Song of Mary, the Magnificat, it warns that proud rulers will be overthrown and replaced by the lowly.

Alternate First Reading (Track Two): Proverbs 25:6-7

Open your Bible to the book of Proverbs some time. You’ll be intrigued by the nuggets of wisdom that you’ll see there, many of them still seeming fresh and modern. Tradition attributes Proverbs to King Solomon, but modern theologians understand it as a broad collection of some 500 small gems of ancient wisdom about life, love and morals. This very brief reading, an alternate option for Track Two, foreshadows Jesus’ parable in Sunday’s Gospel: “… all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 81:1,10-16

This resounding hymn of praise seems to reflect Jeremiah’s words: We sing with joy to God who is our strength, and we remember God bringing the people out of slavery and feeding them abundantly. But the people were stubborn, did not listen, and God allowed them to go their own way. Now we hear a grieving God, who would feed and nurture the people again, if only they would return.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 112

Sunday’a Track Two Psalm harmonizes with the First Reading and Gospel in its reflection on God’s covenants with Abraham and Moses. We are called to follow God’s commandments to be just, to serve our neighbors, share our wealth and provide for the poor. By living generously in this way, with right hearts and trust in God, we can be secure and live without fear.

Second Reading: Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16

Love one another as God loves us, and remember to do good, to share with one another, and to show hospitality (as we are told that the patriarch Abraham did when he hospitably received visiting angels). Sunday’s reading from Hebrews, concluding our four weeks with this letter, offers simple pastoral advice on living as God would have us live: : Love one another as God loves us, and remember to do good, to share with one another, to live simply and shun riches, and to hold hospitality as a virtue.

Gospel: Luke 14:1, 7-14

At first Sunday’s Gospel seems like useful advice from Jesus about simple humility in social settings: Don’t assume that the seat of honor is saved for you, or you’ll be embarrassed when the host tells you to move down. Better to take a humble place and then bask in a happy glow as the host comes and escorts you upward. But the words, as Jesus’s teachings so often do, prove to have a deeper meaning. Jesus isn’t just concerned about mealtime manners. He teaches us the way we should treat others, especially those who are unable to reciprocate in kind.

Illuminations on the Lectionary readings for Aug. 21, 2022 (Pentecost 11C)

First Reading (Track One): Jeremiah 1:4-10

When God called Jeremiah, the young man doubted his ability to do this important job. “Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy!” Every time God called a biblical prophet, it seems, the chosen one instinctively resisted.

The Woman with an Infirmity of Eighteen Years (1886-1896), opaque watercolor over graphite on gray paper by James Tissot (1836-1902). Brooklyn Museum. (Click image to enlarge.)

Moses tried to decline, saying that he couldn’t speak clearly enough to announce God’s words. Jonah flatly refused to take God’s word to the people of Nineveh. Isaiah was terrified about God’s prophecies passing through his unclean lips. But just as God reassured them all, God spoke kindly to Jeremiah: Even before Jeremiah was born, God knew him, and knew that he would be a prophet to nations and kingdoms, with power “to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.”

First Reading (Track Two): Isaiah 58:9b-14

The book of Isaiah actually contains the work of three ancient writers, according to modern bible scholars. The first Isaiah warned of the coming destruction of Jerusalem and the temple because of the people’s failure to be righteous and just. The second Isaiah prophesied from exile in Babylon. And the third Isaiah, the speaker of this passage, prophesied after the return from exile, a challenging time when the temple was wreckage and the people were having a hard time settling back in. The temple and the city must be rebuilt, the prophet declares, and that will be hard work. But Isaiah promises that all will be well if they follow God’s covenant: Be just, share with the needy, and care for the afflicted. Do all this, and honor the Sabbath, and Judah’s ancient glory will be restored.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 71:1-6

Sunday’s short Psalm fits well with the Track One first reading from Jeremiah. In these verses the Psalmist speaks from a place of weakness and fear. Caught in the hand of the wicked, in the clutches of the evildoer and the oppressor, he calls out to God for refuge, seeking God’s protection and help. God knows us from before our birth, the psalmist sings in words echoing Jeremiah. God is our strength and our hope, sustaining us through all our life.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 103:1-8

This familiar hymn of thanksgiving is beloved for its assurances that God loves us, has mercy on us and takes care of us. It is easy to imagine the people of Isaiah’s time singing verses like these as they traveled home from exile. In its hopeful verses we are reminded that God forgives us, heals us and redeems us. We count on God’s mercy and grace, gentle spirit and abundant love.

Second Reading: Hebrews 12:18-29

Last week’s reading from Hebrews celebrated the heroes of the Hebrew Bible who made up the “cloud of witnesses” that now stands with us as we follow in Jesus’ way. In this Sunday’s passage we remember Moses receiving the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai. The people were terrified as the the sky went dark, lightning flashed, thunder roared, and the earth shook with God’s power. But now we have a new covenant under Jesus, the author of Hebrews says: God gives us through Christ a kingdom that cannot be shaken.

Gospel: Luke 13:10-17

As a rabbi and teacher in the ancient tradition of Judaism, Jesus knew and followed Torah, God’s law and teaching. He faithfully kept the Sabbath. But when he was teaching in the synagogue on Sabbath, he paused his teaching, stopping what he was doing in order to heal a woman’s painful disability. The woman was overjoyed, of course, but a leader of the synagogue were outraged. How dare Jesus work on the Sabbath? But Jesus called out this hypocrisy, pointing out that no one would hesitate to work to protect their own property on a Sabbath. Why should a woman in pain for 18 years have to wait another day for relief?

Illuminations on the Lectionary readings for Aug. 14, 2022 (Pentecost 10C)

First Reading (Track One): Isaiah 5:1-7

Sunday’s gospel shows us a disturbing view of Jesus. In stern, angry-sounding phrases, he envisions the coming of the Kingdom as a destructive fire; a movement that does not bring peace but a division that will even separate family members from one another.

Workers in a vineyard (1580-1590), oil painting on canvas by Marten van Valckenborch (1535-1612). Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. (Click image to enlarge.)

Sunday’s other lectionary readings help us frame this confusing passage. In the Track One first reading, Isaiah sings a love song to God’s beautiful vineyard; but this lovely image literally turns sour. Although it was thoughtfully planted and carefully tended, the vineyard produced bitter, unusable grapes. God is outdone with it and will tend it no more. Then Isaiah names names: The vineyard is the house of Israel, the people of Judah. God planted them to reap righteousness and justice, but they’ve failed in this mission, and their harvest will be destruction and exile.

First Reading (Track Two): Jeremiah 23:23-29

Do you think of God as being “transcendent,” or “wholly other,” distinct from the world? Or is God “immanent,” right here around us and present in our lives? The Prophet Jeremiah, who spoke words of doom and warning before the destruction of the first Jerusalem temple, finds God in both places. Don’t think that God is only far off, Jeremiah warns: God is nearby, too. In words that Christians might see as foreshadowing Jesus’s words in today’s gospel, God has fire and destructive power ready for those who forget God’s word.

Psalm: (Track One): Psalm 80:1-2, 8-18

Isaiah’s vineyard metaphor finds an echo in the Psalmist’s song: Israel, the beloved vine that God brought out of Egypt, tended and nurtured, once grew so mighty that it filled all the land. But now everything has changed. The vine is ravaged, eaten by animals, burned like rubbish. Calling for God’s protection, the Psalmist asks God to tend the vine again, restoring the people and showing us the light of God’s countenance.

Psalm: (Track Two): Psalm 82

The idea of God sitting in a divine council of other gods sounds strange to modern ears accustomed to the idea of monotheism that’s fundamental in Scripture. Bible historians say this council may be an echo of ancient Near Eastern tradition, when early Israelites understood our God as supreme over the lesser gods of enemy nations. But the core of the Psalm is as relevant now as it was in the Psalmist’s time: God insists on justice, and calls us to stand up for the humble and the needy, the weak, the orphan, and the poor.

Second Reading: Hebrews 11:29-12:2

Building on last Sunday’s reading from the Letter to the Hebrews, in which the author praised Abraham and his descendants our ancestors in faith, this week’s passage adds a quick series of Hebrew Bible images. We hear praise for the biblical heroes who achieved greatness through their faith, and who now form a cloud of witnesses that surrounds us. These witnesses, we hear, show us the way to “run with perseverance the race that is set before us” as we follow Jesus, who endured the shame of crucifixion and now sits at the right hand of God.

Gospel: Luke 12:49-56

During this season after Pentecost we have been following the Evangelist Luke’s account of Jesus having set his face toward Jerusalem, where he will confront the temple and civil authorities in conflicts that will take him to the cross. Repeatedly in lectures and parables he have heard him warn the apostles that it will not be easy to follow in his way. Perhaps we shouldn’t be so surprised, after all, to hear the “Prince of Peace” warn that he came not to bring peace but fire and division (or, in Matthew’s version of this passage, a sword). Bursting with passion for his journey, perhaps Jesus wants his followers to understand that walking this hard journey with him may divide us even from friends and family.

Illuminations on the Lectionary readings for Aug. 7, 2022 (Pentecost 9C)

First Reading (Track One): Isaiah 1:1, 10-20

In recent weeks we have heard from the Prophets Amos and Hosea, who prophesied to the Northern Kingdom of Israel as it fell to the Assyrians.

Parable of the Wise Virgins who had their lamps ready and the Foolish Virgins Who Did Not (c.1616), oil painting on canvas by Hieronymous Francken II (1578-1623). Hermitage Museum , St. Petersburg, Russia. (Click image to enlarge.)

Now our Track One first readings come to perhaps the greatest of all the prophets – Isaiah – who prophesied to the Southern Kingdom, Judah, a generation later as it fell under threat from the Babylonians. Isaiah’s message is consistent with the earlier prophets in its anger – for example, it likens the people to the residents of Sodom and Gomorrah – and in its lament: The chosen people are going to lose the promised land and the temple. They will be forced into exile because they have failed to keep the covenant that Moses made with God: to “do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, and plead for the widow.”

First Reading (Track Two): Genesis 15:1-6

In recent weeks in our Track Two first readings we’ve heard about Abraham, the patriarch of the chosen people: God promised that Abraham and Sarah would have a son. Abraham bargained with God to spare Sodom and Gomorrah if only he could find a few honest people there. Now we turn back to an earlier time. We pick up Abram’s story at an earlier point, when God has not yet named Abraham. Abram makes no secret of his frustration that he and his wife, Sarai, are still waiting for the heir that God has repeatedly promised them. Abram asks God for reassurance, and God responds, repeating the promise that their descendants will be as numerous as the stars.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 50:1-8, 22-23

In a way, this Psalm expands on the prophecy that we heard in the Isaiah reading. God is not tired and angry about the people’s offerings of thanksgiving and sacrifice, but God expects us to keep our covenant of faith. God calls us to be thankful, to practice righteousness and justice in our lives. God’s expectations of the people are clear and firm: Those who forget God literally risk being torn apart, but those who keep God’s way and remember Israel’s covenant will know salvation.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 33:12-22

Think of how grateful Abram must have been after he heard God’s reassurance that his descendants would be more numerous than the stars. In similar feelings of gratitude the Psalmist sings of relief, joy and thankfulness for God’s love and care. As the prophets consistently shout, the nations and people whom God chooses will be happy; God’s eye remains on those who wait for the Lord. Those who trust in the Lord’s name will know God’s loving-kindness.

Second Reading: Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16

The Letter to the Hebrews holds an unusual place in the New Testament: Probably written late in the first century, perhaps around the same time as Matthew’s Gospel, its intended audience is thought to have been Jewish Christians who were considering a return to Judaism to escape vicious anti-Christian persecution by the Roman authorities. Throughout its text, sometimes using terms that can sound anti-Jewish to modern ears, the author of Hebrews argues that Christianity is the better way. In these verses, though, the author takes care to speak well of the Abrahamic tradition expressed by the prophets, declaring that Jews and Christians will inherit the city of God through faith, beautifully described as “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

Gospel: Luke 12:32-40

Do not be afraid, Jesus assures his little flock of followers. God’s kingdom is coming. Still, those who heard Jesus speak the next few lines could be excused for being more than a little fearful: Sell your possessions, Jesus tells them. Make durable purses, and be ready to go when Jesus calls. We don’t know when a thief might come into our house at night, Jesus warns; and who wouldn’t be afraid about that? This is Jesus’s way of telling the apostles to remain ready. The Kingdom may come when we least expect it, bringing us “unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.”

Illuminations on the Lectionary readings for July 31, 2022 (Pentecost 8C)

First Reading (Track One): Hosea 11:1-11

“Do not store up treasures for yourselves without being rich toward God.” Hold Jesus’ warning to the rich fool in Sunday’s Gospel in your thoughts as we hear the day’s other Lectionary readings.

The Parable of the Rich Fool (1627), oil painting on oak wood by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606-1669). The Gemäldegalerie, Berlin. (Click image to enlarge.)

In our Track One first reading, we return to Hosea, an early prophet who wrote around 750 BCE, probably following soon after Amos, whose dire warnings we heard earlier this month. Hosea, too, warns of the coming destruction of Israel, the Northern Kingdom, if its people don’t return to their covenant with God. In beautiful imagery that contrasts sharply with last week’s reading, Hosea envisions Israel as a child, with God as a loving but perhaps exasperated parent. The parent knows that the misbehaving offspring deserves punishment, but won’t give up on them entirely. Eventually they will come home to a happy reunion.

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 book of Ecclesiastes,​ ​think of “vanity” in the sense of the original Hebrew 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.” The first-person narrator, “I, the Teacher” (“Qohelet” in Hebrew), is traditionally understood as King Solomon. But the book was almost certainly written centuries after Solomon’s time, long after the people’s return from exile, and some modern scholars see a feminine aspect in Qoholet.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 107:1-9, 43

The Israelites returning from exile might have sung a hymn like Psalm 107, which our New Revised Standard Edition titles, “God’s Compassion Despite Israel’s Ingratitude.” Three times in these few verses the people praise God’s “steadfast love,” a poignant Hebrew word – “chesed” – that may also be translated as “compassion,” “faithfulness,” “kindness,” “mercy” or “grace.” Also, take note of the phrase in Verse 9, “the hungry [God] fills with good things”? The Magnificat, the song of Mary, uses those same words as Mary thanks God for choosing her as the mother of Jesus.

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

The selected portion of Psalm 49 touches on similar ideas as the parable of the foolish rich man in the Gospel for the day. The Psalmist scorns the wickedness and stupidity of those who trust in their riches. Biblical ideas like this surely formed Jesus and his mother, Mary, who often expressed 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, calling out 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, the author reminds us 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, which we hear only in Luke’s Gospel, 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, whose constant theme centers on bringing good news for the poor, shows little patience with those who think only about their own wealth and comfort.

Illuminations on the Lectionary readings for July 24, 2022 (Pentecost 7C)

First Reading (Track One): Hosea 1:2-10

“Your Kingdom come.” In Sunday’s Gospel we will hear Luke’s version of Jesus teaching his apostles to pray.

Jesus teaching his disciples (1684), from an Arabic manuscript of the Gospels, copied in Egypt by Ilyas Basim Khuri Bazzi Rahib (likely a Coptic monk). The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. (Click image to enlarge.)

Sunday’s Track One readings begin, though, with a prophecy of the loss and restoration of another kingdom, Israel. Using language as grim as we heard from the prophet Amos in the past two weeks, the prophet Hosea uses the disturbing metaphor of marriage to a prostitute to warn Israel and Judah that they face destruction. Even the names of the children of this marriage, translated from the original Hebrew, hold up startling images: “God Sows,” “Not Pitied,” and “Not My People.” The concluding verses of this passage offer hope for the future, though, as “not my people” becomes “children of the living God.”

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

The Track Two first reading last week told of Abraham meeting three strangers in the desert and hearing from them that he and his wife, Sarah, will have offspring as plentiful as the stars. By this point Abraham has apparently become comfortable in his relationship with God. He bargains and argues with the Creator in hope of saving Sodom from violent destruction. Why did Sodom deserve this? God’s wrath with the Sodomites did not have to do with sexual sin, but with their selfish failure to be righteous. As the Prophet Ezekiel will later declare, “Sodom and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy.” This covenantal call to righteous action runs through the Bible from Moses through the prophets to Jesus.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 85

Harmonizing with Hosea’s vision of an angry God, today’s Psalm speaks of a thankful people’s grateful relief. They had feared that their sins would earn God’s fury and wrathful indignation. But now they look forward to the mercy and salvation that they hope to receive from a God who remains faithful regardless of their wrongs. When we listen to God, the Psalmist sings, we hear mercy meeting truth while 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. Listen closely, though, and you 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 of this letter, thought to be a later follower writing in Paul’s name, warns against false teachings, “philosophy and empty deceit … festivals, new moons or sabbaths.” God sets that aside with earthly rules and law. In words reflecting those of Jesus teaching his followers how to pray, the writer of Colossians assures them that God has forgiven our trespasses.

Gospel: Luke 11:1-13

Using tropes that would have been familiar to the apostles from Jewish prayers, the prayer that Jesus teaches them speaks of righteousness in terms that the prophets might have used: Honor God’s name, share our food, forgive our debts, do to others as we would have them do to us. Do these things and we help build God’s kingdom, not only in Heaven but right here on Earth. After teaching the apostles this prayer, Jesus went on in the following verses to talk about prayer in language rich in metaphor. Perhaps the demanding friend who won’t give up asking his neighbor for bread at midnight underscores the importance of sharing our bread and loving our neighbors no matter what the circumstances. Just as God opens the door when we knock, so should we do the same for our neighbor.