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.

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 Oct. 20, 2019

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

A theme of patient persistence recurs in Sunday’s readings: Place your hope in God; and even in the face of challenges, be persistent.

In our Track One first reading, Jeremiah pauses in his nearly relentless lamentation over the sins that led Israel and Judah into exile, offering words of hope and the certainty of God’s love. Using a colorful metaphor about sour grapes, he makes clear that the people fully deserved hard times. But, the prophet foretells, God will forgive them, offer them a new covenant, and return them home, just their ancestors came out of slavery in Egypt.

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

The theme of hope in God and persistence, even in the face of challenges, continues in Sunday’s Track Two first reading. In this strange narrative from Genesis, Jacob wrestles all night with an angel! Jacob, the grandson of Abraham, son of Isaac, and father to Joseph, is a key figure in the Hebrew Bible’s ancestral genealogy. Perhaps the lesson in this strange story is about persistence, as Jacob won’t surrender to this powerful stranger who injures his hip but can’t take him down: Stay the course, even when it’s hard, and you may earn God’s blessing.

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

The longest of all the Psalms, Psalm 119 devotes all of its 176 verses to a long, loving celebration of the Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible. The ancients understood Torah as God’s “teaching,” but in English bibles it is usually translated as “Law,” a word that we may read with a different connotation. Think of love for God’s word and get a clearer sense of the people’s patient, persistent efforts to study and learn until God’s teachings are written on their hearts in words as sweet as honey.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 121

This ancient hymn is one of the traditional “songs of ascents” thought to have been chanted by worshippers as they processed toward the Temple in Jerusalem. Its assurance of God’s protection as we lift up our eyes to the hills, seeking from where our help is to come. makes it one of the most comforting psalms of hope and trust. Always awake, always watchful, God protects us by day and night, watching us come and go, keeping us safe today and forever.

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

Does this reading call us to be bible-thumpers, lecturing unbelievers and rebuking them if they won’t listen? Of course we don’t read it that way. This late New Testament document was written when the young church was fighting persecution. Rather than giving up, the writer advises the troubled flock, learn scripture and be persistent about proclaiming the kingdom of God. In good times and hard times alike, they are to “convince, rebuke, and encourage” in the name of Jesus, because proclaiming the kingdom was so important.

Gospel: Luke 18:1-8

In the patriarchal world of the ancient Near East, widows were helpless, vulnerable and weak. This widow in Jesus’s parable, though, is tough in spite of it all. She won’t quit pounding the corrupt and shiftless judge with her demands until he finally gives her the justice that she seeks. What does this mean for us? Jesus tells us at the beginning and the end of today’s Gospel: Pray always and do not lose heart. God will grant justice to the chosen ones who pray by day and night.

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. 25, 2016

First Reading: Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15

Imagine yourself in a terrible situation of war and destruction, with enemies rounding you up with your family and friends. They’re destroying your city and your temple and preparing to transport you all to a distant city where you must live in exile among people who do not even worship as you do. Wouldn’t going down to the real estate agent to buy an agricultural field be just about the last thing you would do? Who would plow it, plant it, guard it, harvest it? But Jeremiah uses just this image as the people face exile, a powerful and visible sign that they will return home some day. Look up the rest of this chapter, and you’ll find beautiful Scriptural assurance that God remains faithful even in the worst of times.

First Reading (Track Two): Amos 6:1a, 4-7

Today’s readings hammer home a powerful message: The bible does not go easily on the rich! The Old Testament prophets consistently preached against those who “trample on the needy and bring to ruin the poor of the land.” As we heard from Amos last week, those who broke their covenant with God through failing to be just and righteous would not fare well. Today Amos warns that the idle rich – with emphasis on the “idle” – will be the first to go into exile when their greed comes home to roost. Amos is outraged because the rich don’t care about “the ruin of Joseph,” the ordinary people of Israel. As Jesus will teach in the parable of Lazarus and the rich man, we are commanded to love and take care of our neighbors.

Psalm 91:1-6, 14-16

Today’s Psalm seems perfectly suited to today’s Jeremiah reading. It is also a favorite for reading in chaplaincy, eucharistic visits, and any time we pray with a sick or suffering family member or friend. It assures us of God’s protection and mercy. God is our refuge and our stronghold, our shield and buckler and protective wings, guarding us by day and by night, delivering us because we are bound to God in love.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 146

Today’s Psalm shouts out praise for God’s desire for justice for the oppressed, just as Amos had scorned Israel’s rich for failing to be just. Don’t trust rulers – the wealthy – who cannot help us and thus do not earn eternal life. Rather, we are called to follow the example of a God who feeds the hungry, sets prisoners free, heals the blind, and loves the righteous who offer justice to their neighbors. We hear all this again in the words of Jesus, who shows us the image of God in human form.

Second Reading: 1 Timothy 6:6-19

The rich are commanded to care for their neighbors, as the prophets preached and Jesus calls us to do. “You can’t take it with you,” the author of Timothy reminds us, setting out this ancient wisdom: “The love of money is the root of all evil.” It’s appropriate for all to want food and clothing, but we get in trouble when we’re tempted by more luxurious pleasures. Don’t count on your riches but on God, the author urges. Do good, be rich in good works, and share, and new life in God’s Kingdom awaits.

Gospel: Luke 16:19-31

This Gospel appears at first to be a simple story with a clear point: The selfish rich man would do nothing to help his neighbor Lazarus; not even offer him table scraps or shoo the dogs who licked at his sores. He ignores Torah’s command and the prophets’ warnings to be just. When he dies, he burns in fiery torment in Hades, while Lazarus enjoys an afterlife of comfort in Abraham’s arms. But as so often happens in the parables, Jesus leaves us questions to ponder. Considering how the rich man treated Lazarus in life, why would he expect Lazarus to help him now? More mysteriously, why can’t the rich man’s brothers be warned of his fate so they can avoid similar punishment? Do today’s readings shed any light on this?

Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for Sunday, Sept. 15, 2013.

First Reading: Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28
Two weeks ago, we heard the young prophet Jeremiah imagining an anguished God wondering why God’s chosen people had turned away. Today, a few chapters along, Jeremiah shows us a divine eruption into righteous anger. “My people are foolish … they are stupid children … they have no understanding.” Can you feel the frustrated, angry emotions here, that “I’ve had it” moment that misbehaving children can bring even to the most loving parent? Look out, Jeremiah warns the people at the end: God is angry now, and that has consequences.

First Reading: (Alternative Reading) Exodus 32:7-14
It is surely no coincidence that we have this reading at the time when our Jewish sisters and brothers celebrate Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Rabbinical tradition teaches that Yom Kippur falls on the date when Moses brought the second set of commandments down from the mountain, showing that God granted atonement even for such an idolatrous act as the Israelites’ worship of the golden calf. 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: Psalm 14
This Psalm is well chosen to underscore Jeremiah’s vision of God’s patience as being less than infinite just now. Jeremiah’s language of stupidity and foolishness echoes here in scorn for fools, corrupt people and doers of abominable deeds. In contrast with the unrelenting anger of today’s Jeremiah reading, though, the Psalm, at least, ends on a note of hope for those who seek refuge in God.

Psalm: (Alternative Reading) Psalm 51: 1-10
Speaking of sins that seem so awful as to be unpardonable, today’s Psalm recalls the story of King David, who 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
The short Pastoral Epistles toward the back of the New Testament, 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus, appear to be letters from Paul offering pastoral advice to two of his associates. Modern bible scholars, though, believe that these letters were actually written by a later Christian leader in Paul’s name, in a time when the early church was becoming institutionalized and cautious. But there’s no debate over today’s reading, which continues this week’s lectionary theme of God’s abundant love and neverending forgiveness.

Gospel: Luke 15:1-10
Stop. Take another look at this familiar parable, but this time see it in a new way: Would a solitary shepherd, alone in the wilderness with predators all around and a flock to care for, really leave 99 sheep unprotected to go out alone into a scary place in search of 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.