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.

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.

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Nov. 3, 2019
(All Saints’ Day may also be celebrated on the Sunday following Nov. 1. Those Illuminations are posted separately.)

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

If the name Habakkuk doesn’t seem familiar, there’s a reason for that: A reading from the book of this minor prophet happens only twice in the three-year Lectionary cycle of Sunday readings.

We hear it as the Track One first reading this Sunday, and these same verses were the Track Two first reading four weeks ago. But this short three-chapter book is unusual and fascinating. Unlike most of the prophets who heard God’s word and passed it on to humanity, Habakkuk shouts out his own warnings, then turns to God with frustration because, in his opinion, God isn’t listening. Habakkuk feels left alone without divine assistance. But now God responds, directing Habakkuk to write his vision down so clearly that a runner can read it while racing past.

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

Isaiah’s great book of prophecy gets off to a fiery start. It begins with five full chapters filled with God’s angry wrath before we even get to God’s call to the prophet. First we must clearly hear God’s anger at the people’s failure to keep the covenant that their ancestors made through Moses at Mount Sinai. We hear that wrath in today’s reading, as God likens Israel to Sodom and Gomorrah. They are a people so vile that God hates them and their works. But, as always, this angry judgment is not absolute. This is the way to restore God’s love: “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

We hear verses from Psalm 119 fairly often. The longest of all the Psalms, fully 176 verses long, portions of it appear a dozen times during the three-year lectionary cycle. While it offers different poetry in every section, it remains true throughout its course as a long, loving celebration of God’s teaching and law. Today’s verses may have come as good advice to those who were targeted by Habakkuk’s prophecy: When trouble and distress come on us, God’s law and teaching are our delight.

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

Rebounding from the horrific notion of a God too angry to hear the people’s prayers or sacrifices, too outdone to give them even the least attention, our Psalm sings the joy that comes when the separation from God that results from sin is ended, replaced with the utter joy 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

This reading begin a three-week visit with the second letter to the church of Thessalonika in Northern Greece. This letter probably came a generation after the first letter to the Thessalonians, perhaps around 100 CE, and it was probably written in Paul’s name by a follower long after his death. These early Christians were facing severe Roman persecution, and the letter opens with hearty thanks and gratitude for their steadfast faith despite all that they have had to endure.

Gospel: Luke 19:1-10

What’s this? Another tax collector? Last week we saw Jesus praising a tax collector for his humble prayer. Jesus even called a tax collector, Matthew, as one of his apostles. The Pharisees often criticized Jesus for hanging around with prostitutes and tax-collectors – the most insulting occupations they could think of. Tax collectors were despised because they traitorously sold their services to the hated Roman occupiers, extracting heavy taxes from the people, and often taking a little extra to enrich themselves. Nevertheless, here is Jesus shouting out to another tax collector – the diminutive Zacchaeus – who had climbed a tree the better to see him. Then Jesus invites himself to dinner at Zacchaeus’ house! Like the praying tax collector in last week’s Gospel, Zacchaeus earns salvation by following Jesus.

Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for Oct. 9, 2016

First Reading: Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7

Whether our lives are going well or whether things are going badly, trust in God. Trust, and be thankful for God’s blessings. This is the theme that runs through all our readings today. We hear it in Jeremiah, as the prophet turns from anguish over Jerusalem’s destruction to quiet acceptance now that the worst has come. Don’t give up hope, he tells Judah in exile. Confront your new reality and try to flourish; bear children and multiply, and pray for your new home, because its welfare is now your welfare.

First Reading (Track Two): 2 Kings 5:1-14

Whether our lives are going well or whether things are going badly, trust in God. Trust, and be thankful for God’s blessings. This is the theme that runs through all our readings today. Naaman, a proud commander of the Aramean army, risks going to Israel, now an enemy nation, to visit a prophet who might cure his disfiguring disease. The Prophet Elisha wouldn’t even see Naaman. He sent a servant with advice that sounded too simple to be true. But when Naaman’s servants urged him give it a try, Naaman was cured; and through his cure he finds faith in Israel’s God.

Psalm 66:1-12

This resounding hymn of praise for God’s power and glory recalls God’s mighty deeds: God led the people out of Egypt, through the Red Sea and onward to the Promised Land. But then it takes a turn: God tests us, too, just as a jeweler tests silver with fire to prove its purity. As Judah learned through exile, God’s people may be conquered, but God will eventually restore and refresh us.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 111

The 150 Psalms, the hymnal of the ancient Temple, consist of many genres, from lament to complaint to petition to thanksgiving and praise. Today we hear a powerful song of praise and thanksgiving, applauding God’s many acts of power and majesty, God’s righteousness and justice, and, at the end, our praise and gratitude for God’s gifts to us.

Second Reading: 2 Timothy 2:8-15

The young, growing Christian movement faced frightening persecution by the Romans at the time of this letter. It was written in the names of Paul and Timothy as a call to faith. Recalling Paul’s suffering in chains in prison and facing death, the writer reminds us that God’s word cannot be held in chains. Remembering the death and resurrection of Jesus, we know that through dying with Jesus, we live in Christ.

Gospel: Luke 17:5-10

The Gospels give us a sense that Samaritans are bad, yet Jesus keeps showing us good Samaritans: In addition to the memorable parable of the Samaritan who stops to help the injured stranger, we have Jesus talking with the Samaritan woman at the well; and today we read about the single leper out of ten – a Samaritan, again – who returns to thank Jesus for his healing, and whose faith saved him not only from his affliction but opened for him the doors to the kingdom. There are fascinating parallels with the story of Namaan here: Jesus cures the lepers at a distance, without touching them, and his actions bring a despised foreigner to faith in God.

Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for Sunday, Sept. 29, 2013.

First Reading: Amos 6:1a, 4-7

The bible is tough on the rich! Most of the prophets come down very hard on rich people, and of course, so does Jesus … as we see in today’s Gospel. The prophet Amos warns Israel and Judah that the idle rich – with emphasis on the “idle” – will be the first to go into exile when grief and destruction bring an end to their revelry. Amos isn’t just angry because the rich lead lavish lives of luxury, but because they don’t care about “the ruin of Joseph,” the ordinary people of Israel. Their failure is in community: They do not love their neighbor.

Psalm: Psalm 146
Today’s Psalm bursts out with loud shouts of praise. “Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul!” Now hear why God earns our high hosannas: God brings justice to the oppressed and lifts up the depressed. God feeds the hungry. God sets prisoners free, heals the blind and loves the righteous, those who offer justice to their neighbors. Does all this remind us of anything that Jesus said?

Second Reading: 1 Timothy 6:6-19
This letter to Timothy reiterates the duty of those with riches to care for their neighbors. Indeed, the first verse could be restated as the familiar, “You can’t take it with you!” and the second sets down familiar wisdom: “The love of money is the root of all evil.” It’s fine to want food and clothing, the author assures us. But we get in trouble when we’re tempted by more luxurious delights. Don’t count on your riches but on God, the author urges. Do good, be rich in good works, and share, and you’ll be ready for God’s Kingdom.

Gospel: Luke 16:19-31
First, a bible trivia point: This Lazarus is not Jesus’s friend Lazarus, brother of Mary and Martha, who he brought back from the dead. “Lazaros” is Greek for the Hebrew “Eliezer” which means “God helps,” and the choice of names is important in this parable because Genesis names Eliezer as the servant of Abraham! At first glance, this appears to be a simple story with a moral: The selfish rich man wouldn’t help Lazarus. Now he’s scorching in Hades, Lazarus is comfortable in Abraham’s arms, and justice seems served. But like so many of Jesus’s parables, there is deeper, richer texture here. Why does the rich man even think Lazarus should help him? Why won’t Abraham let Lazarus warn the rich man’s brothers of his fate? In light of today’s readings, what do you think?