Sunday 23 November 2025 - Ordinary 34

 This Sunday, most popularly celebrated around the globe as "Christ The King" (or, gender-neutrally, "The Reign of Christ") is also Aotearoa Sunday and it is the Sunday Before Advent, also known as Stir Up Sunday, and one of the Collects supplied below for the Sunday before Advent gives it that name. This Sunday (or last Sunday) can be celebrated as Christ in All Creation. Perhaps we should call this Sunday "Smorgasboard Sunday"?!

Theme(s): Christ the King / The Lord Reigns / Stir Up Sunday

Sentence: He shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land (Jeremiah 23:5)

Collect: for Stir Up Sunday

Stir up, O Lord,

the wills of your faithful people

that, richly bearing the fruit of good works,

they may by you be richly rewarded;

through Jesus Christ our King. 

Collect: Bosco Peter's Book of Prayers in Common March 2025

[The Reign Of Christ]

Sovereign God,

it is your will to gather up all things

in your beloved one,

reigning in the universe

in the power that is love;

mercifully grant

that the whole of creation,

freed from slavery,

may serve and praise you;

through Jesus Christ,

who is alive with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever.

Amen.

Readings, related:

Jeremiah 23:1-6
Psalm 46
Colossians 1:11-20
Luke 23:33-43

Commentary:

Sometimes this Sunday is celebrated as 'Stir Up Sunday' - this informal name for the day being drawn from the collect above, the collect for the Sunday before Advent. If we pray the collect truthfully then we are asking the Lord to stir us out of complacency and disobedience to be aligned with the will of God and thus, with an eye on the theme of Advent, ready for the return of Christ the King whenever that takes place.

Jeremiah 23:1-6

An ongoing problem for Israel was its leadership. Whether we think of Israel's religious leaders (priests, prophets) or political leaders (kings), there were too many leaders (shepherds) causing destruction rather than construction in respect of Israel's fortunes.

Jeremiah, speaking for God, rails against these shepherds and forecasts a day when the Lord will bring back the Israelites (sheep) scattered far and wide and raise up for them shepherds who are genuine shepherds (23:1-4).

This general vision of shepherds plural is a prelude to a specific vision of days which are 'surely coming' when one shepherd 'for David' will be raised up as a 'righteous Branch', a king who deals wisely, executes justice and righteousness (v. 5). This king, Christians now see and understand is Jesus Christ (the Anointed of God). 'In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety' (v. 6).

Psalm 46

In the midst of tumult (think, e.g. about being a Christian in the midst of Trump's America or in the midst of civil war in Syria) it is a severe challenge to believe that 'God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble' (v.1).

The specific context of this psalm is tumult overwhelming Jerusalem 'the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High' (v.4). Ever since the church has drawn comfort from this psalm: God is our refuge. The epitome of this comfort is the hymn of Luther, A Mighty Fortress is our God.

For ourselves, our challenge may be that we find, in the midst of life's storms, the still centre within God and the stillness of God within us: 'Be still, and know that I am God' (v.10).

Colossians 1:11-20

On this 'Christ the King' Sunday, we find in this passage from Colossians a lovely yet robust statement of who Jesus Christ is: king of creation and king of church. 

The word 'king' is not actually used, but the talk is of 'the kingdom of his beloved Son' (1:13) and descriptions of the king of this kingdom include: 'firstborn of all creation' (v. 15), 'He himself is before all things' (v. 17), 'He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead' (v. 18).

The beginning of the passage is a prayer for the readers of Colossians (including you and me, reading today!). The prayer is for the continuing transformation of our lives towards the goal of 'inheritance of the saints in the light' = 'kingdom of his beloved Son' (vss. 12-13).

One important point of the adoring affirmation of who Christ is which follows (vss. 15-20) is that this same Christ is the one at work within us. If that is not encouraging ... :)

Luke 23:33-43 "This is the King of the Jews"

This gospel passage has its most apt context as a whole passage in the telling of the story of the crucifixion of Jesus (and thus rightly forms part of cycles of readings on Good Friday).

In the context of 'Christ the King' we read the passage as an affirmation of Jesus' kingship, expressed in his suffering, offering the paradox of being in charge of the world precisely at the point of being most subject to the world and its vicious, abusive power.

Thus the title tacked to the cross, 'King of the Jews' is ironically accurate and apt. 

An attempt at mocking this 'criminal' by the authority which cravenly gave in to crowd pleasing, the title captures the simple truth that this descendant of David was indeed an Israelite king. Its only inaccuracy is that Jesus was more than king of the Jews: he was and is king of all peoples.

Note the way in which Jesus acts in a royal fashion: when the thief who recognises his innocence and his kingship ('when you come into your kingdom', v. 42) asks that Jesus 'remember' him, Jesus bestows upon him the greatest blessing any king could give: 'Today you will be with me in Paradise' (v. 43).

Sunday 16 November 2025 - Ordinary 33

Theme(s): Faithfulness / Persistence / Working for food / Endurance / God's future

Sentence: Brothers and sisters, do not be weary in doing what is right. (2 Thessalonians 3:13)

Collect: Bosco Peter's Book of Prayers in Common March 2025

God of inspiration,

you caused all holy scriptures to be written for our instruction,

grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,

that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of your holy Word,

we may embrace and ever hold fast to the blessed hope of everlasting life,

which you have given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ,

who is alive with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever.

Amen.. Amen.

Readings, related:

Malachi 4:1-2a
Psalm 98
2 Thessalonians 3:6-13
Luke 21:5-19

Commentary:

Malachi 4:1-2a

There will be a day of judgment. This is a persistent, recurring theme in the Old Testament. Here Malachi announces this day with fiery symbolism. Just as an oven in his day needed fuel for burning to heat the oven, so the day of judgment will be a day which burns up 'all the arrogant and all evildoers.' By contrast, those who 'revere' the Lord's name will be healed, not destroyed. A different kind of fire, 'the sun of righteousness' will rise. Not to burn the righteous who revere his name but to heal them.

Psalm 98

This psalm fits perfectly with the gospel reading. The Lord will be victorious. Challengers to the might of the Lord, brought against his people Israel will be beaten off. The psalm celebrates this anticipated victory. The Lord will be judge. On the day of judgment, this awesome event should be celebrated by nature itself giving applause (vss. 7-9). The gospel reading looks ahead to the great day of Christ's return. It forecasts many challenges and trials before that day. The psalm offers encouragement. The Lord will be victorious. Judgment will come. All will be well.

2 Thessalonians 3:6-13

How does or should a Christian live? 

Some answers come through the teaching of Jesus (e.g. the Sermon on the Mount). Other answers are found in the second half of Paul's epistles (which generally follow a pattern of 'Theology then Application'). This passage is a perfect example of Paul offering not just 'guidance' but a 'command' about practical Christian living. Probably this command is sparked by knowledge of an unhappy local situation in Thessalonika.

In this case, idle Christians and worse, idle-and-busybody Christians seem to have been disrupting church life. (Possibly their belief in the second coming of Jesus led them to believe that they no longer had to work for a living). 

Paul makes his case for each Christian working hard so as not to be a burden to other members of the fellowship. His case includes both what he had previously taught the Thessalonians (v. 6) and the example of Paul and his companions when they stayed for a while in Thessalonika (v. 7-9).

We may presume that Paul is NOT dealing with the situation in which someone wishes to work but cannot. Welfare should be shared with such members of our community. But Paul is valuing the dignity of work (a value which goes back to the creation story itself in the first chapters of Genesis) and he offers a simple economic formula for community well-being: the provision of food for all to live requires that those who eat contribute to the community through their work (if they are able).

Verse 13 repays careful reflection. Being a Christian involves doing what is right. Not in order to earn God's favour but in order both to express our new life as recipients of God's grace and to live out the divine life working within us. 

Physically, doing right is wearying. Going the extra mile is more strenuous than stopping after one mile! Baking an extra cake to give to a new family in the district is more effort than catering for our own family. We can be tempted to allow weariness in doing right to lead us to give up doing right.

Do not do so, says Paul. Find new joy in the service of God and others (seems to be implied here).

Luke 21:5-19 

Jesus looks ahead and sees many challenges. The context for his words are the temple in Jerusalem and the time is the last few days of his life. The temple was an extraordinary architectural feat (v. 5) but Jesus could see ahead to a day when it would be destroyed (v. 6), as it was in 70 AD by the Romans (and to this day, it has not been rebuilt).

Naturally the interest of his disciples is piqued, so they ask the same question we would ask, 

'When will this be?'

Jesus then offers (as also recorded in parallels in Matthew and Mark) some remarks about signs to look out for and signs to carefully understand and not misinterpret. These remarks remain challenging to us. 

One challenge is that they clearly indicate a general state of affairs in which, broadly speaking, things will get worse before they get better. 

Another challenge is the possibility of false Christs appearing who beguile us into thinking that the true Christ has returned. 

But the sharpest challenge is Jesus' conviction that 'before all this occurs' (v. 12), his followers will be arrested, persecuted, betrayed, even killed and 'hated by all because of my name' (v. 17).

Many years later we see some hyperbole at work in this passage. Specifically, not all Christians have been persecuted (and, if we want to be picky, it is not clear that even all of the Twelve were persecuted). 

Conversely, looking at v. 18, some Christians have had their hair destroyed through persecution (e.g. being burnt at the stake). Nevertheless Jesus rightly foresaw that faithfulness to him and to his gospel message would lead to trouble with religious and state authorities. This occurred in both the immediate growth of the Jesus' movement (see stories in Acts, and references in epistles), through many subsequent periods and continues to this day.

For ourselves, whether we face intense persecution or a low level of disapproval from fellow citizens, two points from the passage encourage us. 

First, the promise of Jesus that he will give us the words and wisdom we need when we explain ourselves to others (v. 15). 

Secondly, the encouragement to 'endure' (v. 19). 

Unspoken by Jesus at this point is that he himself will provide the outstanding example of endurance in the face of persecution, betrayal and execution in a few days time.  

Sunday 9 November 2025 - Ordinary 32

Theme(s): Resurrection / Resurrection life / Our glorious future if we hold fast / Holding fast to the truth / Hope in God is never misplaced

Sentence: I know that my Redeemer lives (Job 19:25)

Collect: Bosco Peter's Book of Prayers in Common March 2025

Compassionate God,

through your inexhaustible goodness,

keep us from all that may hurt us,

so that, ready in both mind and body,

we may, with free hearts, pursue your purpose;

through Jesus Christ,

who is alive with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever.

Amen.

Readings, related:

Job 19:23-27a
Psalm 17:1-9
2 Thess 2:1-5, 13-17
Luke 20:27-38

Commentary:

Job 19:23-27a

This is a fascinating passage to read. 

On one level it can be read wholly in the terms of Job's present life: his hope is that before he dies, his innocence will be proven by God himself. 

On another level (and one which obviously relates to the gospel reading today, about resurrection life), the passage can be read as Job's intense belief that he will be found innocent, even if it is after death.

Verse 25 in particular can be read (and has been read by Christians, including, famously, as lines in Handel's Messiah) as a prophecy of Christ the Redeemer's resurrection to victorious, eternal life.

Psalm 17:1-9

This prayer of David is both desperate (his deadly enemies surround him) and confident (for God will answer him). 

The prayer is prayed to the God who vindicates the righteous. It can be our prayer as ones made righteous by Christ who are confident that if not in this life then in the life to come, God will vindicate us.

2 Thess 2:1-5, 13-17

The first part of this reading attends to the 'coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.' (Appropriate as we are a few weeks away from the season of Advent). 

Intriguing here is reference to the preceding appearance of 'the lawless one' prior to the coming of 'that day.' The imagery in Paul's day of a supreme, anti-God ruler would have reminded Jewish readers of Antiochus Epiphanes who desecrated the Holy of Holies in the Jerusalem Temple (167 BC) while also bringing to mind all the claims to divinity of successive Roman emperors. 

Yet Paul obviously has in mind neither a past nor a present figure but one who is to come. Is the lawless one present in our world today? There are quite a few candidates! We can think of some nasty rulers, some malevolent global business leaders, and widely known 'opinion-makers'. In all likelihood such a specific 'anti-God/anti-Christ' figure has not yet been revealed. (Those words were first written in 2013 and, notwithstanding the Trump/Clinton/Putin "circus" in the run up to the 2016 US election, they remain true today ... in 2019 ... and in 2022, we might underline names such as Putin and Xi Jiang ... and, updated, in 2025 we still have as leaders acting "lawlessly": Trump, Putin, Xi Jiang ... and the past three years have seen the rise of Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthis ... and at times out of control IDF ...).

The second part of the reading strikes a different note, but we see that if we follow Paul here, standing firm in our faith, we will be ready for the great coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, whenever that takes place.

Paul reminds his readers that we are Christians because of God's initiative and as Christians we have a purpose, to 'obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.' So Paul prays for us, verses 16-17, that we may be comforted and strengthened by God 'in every good work and word.'

One interesting note in these verses is Paul's talk in verse 15 of holding fast to 'the traditions you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by our letter.' Paul the apostle is conscious that what he teaches is truth to hold fast to. Whether through oral teaching or written letter, the words he conveys are authoritative. Thus in this short letter, 'holy scripture' is being formed.


Luke 20:27-38

Originally this story, taking place in the last week of Jesus' life, was a story about the reality of the resurrection. The Sadducees (Israel's elite leadership class), who did not believe in the resurrection because not seeing it taught in the only ancient scriptures they recognised as authoritative (Penteteuch = Genesis to Deuteronomy), sought to check out Jesus' views on the matter.

Was the question they asked Jesus an attempt to entrap him, to steer him towards a nonsensical answer exposing the folly of the resurrection? 

Was it a genuine question betraying their intellectual doubts about the resurrection based on hypotheses which troubled them such as the 'what if' of a woman with seven successive husbands. (Incidentally the idea of a woman marrying brothers successively is known as 'levirate marriage' for which see Deuteronomy 25:5-10 and Genesis 38:8).

Either way, it is a good question which might be our question. That is, we too ask such "what if" questions about the resurrection. Thus we might ask today, 

'If there is resurrection, what happens when someone has had more than one spouse? Do they share heaven with both spouses?' [See below for Jesus' answer.]

Or, 'What happens if someone is eaten by a shark or if their body is cremated? Can they still receive a resurrection bod.' [I suggest God's power is greater than consequences of the shark's bite or the act of cremation!]

Jesus answers the question asked of him very neatly and simply. The life we experience in this age is one in which marriage takes place and the life in the age of resurrection is one in which marriage does not take place. Although he does not explain the implication of this for the hypothetical woman, what he says implies the seven brothers will not be competing for her affections in the new age. This distinction between the kind of life we experience here and now, and there and later is further expounded by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15.

There is more. Jesus goes on to make a subtle exegetical point about the scriptures cherished by the Sadducees: in these scriptures (Exodus 3:6) Moses speaks of God with reference to the great patriarchs in a way which supposes the patriarchs to be alive. The tables are turned on the resurrection-denying Sadducees: they do not read their own scriptures correctly.

As a kind of postscript, we could note that today, this response of Jesus is being used as a contribution to current debates about marriage, along these lines: 

'See, Jesus, clearly teaches that marriage is a limited institution, confined to this life and of no bearing on life beyond the grave.' 

From that finitude of marriage some wish to draw other implications. It is not part of this commentary to comment on the debate into which this passage is being drawn but I think it worth observing that the story is being read, by some readers, in a new way today.

In general terms, what might be a lesson we draw from this reading for life today? Likely we are not majorly interested in the inner logic of Sadduceean theology, or in the complexities of family life in heaven.

What might be of interest is Jesus' last statement, in verse 38:

'Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.'

From our perspective, life in heaven can seem like a projection of a human wish in the face of a fear: we wish to live, we fear death, life beyond the grave fulfils the wish and deals with the fear. Thus some non-believers despise Christian believers as weak people unwilling to face the brute reality of life: we die, that is the end. As (I think it was that) Bertrand Russell said, 'When I die, I rot.'

But Jesus brings a different perspective. The resurrection is not a myth due to our weakness in the face of death. The resurrection is the reality of the power of God which is unable to be defeated by any other power, even death. Resurrection is the living God's gift of life. It would be foolish to refuse the gift! 

Sunday 2 November 2025 - All Saints [t/f] or Ordinary 31

All Saints Day is 1 November and the NZL makes provision for today being observed as either Ordinary 31 or All Saints Day. Below I give the readings for Ordinary 31 (without Theme, Sentence, Collect or Commentary) and the Theme etc in the usual way but for All Saints Day.

Readings (related) for Ordinary 31

Isaiah 1:10-18
Psalm 32:1-7
2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12
Luke 19:1-10

Collect: Bosco Peter's Book of Prayers in Common March 2025

Merciful God,

it is your gift alone

by which your faithful people

offer you true and laudable service;

grant, we beseech you,

that we may run, without stumbling, towards your promises;

through Jesus Christ,

who is alive with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever.

Amen.

Material for All Saints Day 2025

Theme: All Saints (For All the Saints) // Who are the Saints?

Sentence: Know what is the hope to which God has called you, what are the riches of the glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of God's power in us who believe. (Ephesians 1:18-19)

Collect:

Eternal God,
you have always taken men and women
of every nation, age and colour
and made them saints;
like them, transformed,
like them, baptised in Jesus' name,
take us to share your glory through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Readings:
Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18
Psalm 149
Ephesians 1:11-23
Luke 6:20-31

Commentary:

Introduction - different to most Sundays, all the readings relate to the feast day theme, All Saints

Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18

Relating to 'All Saints' the keywords are 'the holy ones of the Most High' (v.18).

The verses read here set the scene of a terrifying vision Daniel receives in the context of Babylonian exile which look ahead to four great kingdoms dominating and opposing God's holy ones, Israel. 

Readers familiar with 'end times' speculations regarding the meanings of such visions will be familiar with proposals for interpreting the four beasts. One example: Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome. 

It is widely thought by Daniel scholars that the vision occurred in the period when Greece was the imperial power dictating terms to Israel and acting in profane ways in the Jerusalem Temple. Its setting in the story of Daniel as a court official in Babylon enables the readers of Daniel in a later era to believe that God will prevail since they knew that the Babylonian kingdom fell and the Babylonian Exile of the Jews came to an end. 

Thus verse 18 is a ringing affirmation of the biblical truth that God always wins in the battle between good and evil and the holy ones or saints of God never suffer or die in vain.

Psalm 149

This psalm starts off in cracking form re the saints of God singing God's praises. As the holy ones of God are his special people may it indeed be so, 'Let Israel be glad in its Maker.' What a great encouragement for all the saints that 'the Lord takes pleasure in his people.'

But the psalm takes a darker hue when in the second half of v. 6, which has begun 

'Let the high praises of God be in their throats,' 

we read 

'and two-edged swords in their hands.' 

The rest of the psalm is about the vengeance of Israel on the nations. Thus it is a tricky psalm to say without some explanation, but we should presume that the psalm has a reasonable explanation for its second part.

One thing to note is that this is the second to last psalm and if we go to the second from the beginning psalm (Psalm 2) we find a strong theme of sovereignty for Israel, expressed through talk of the royal Davidic ruler of Israel. 

At the least we might understand Psalm 149 as a psalm written after Israel has suffered an infringement of its sovereignty. The oppressors against Israel have had judgment decreed against them (149:9) and now Israel executes the judgment and restores its sovereign status. Read in this way, the psalm is in keeping with much talk in the Old Testament of Israel's many battles with invading forces from near neighbours or far off empires.

As Christians we might read 'two-edged sword' as the written Word of God, the Bible, and think of ourselves as a people who praise God and proclaim the Word of God. 

Vengeance on the nations, on this understanding, would be the Word of God undermining the prevailing 'word of humanity' or ideology which drove the nations forward in their malevolent ways.

Ephesians 1:11-23

Ephesians is, arguably, the purest 'gospel theology' of all Paul's letters. It has a clear and coherent argument from start to finish (we might contrast the enigmatic 'bump' in the argument of Romans when we read chapters 9-11). 

One great theme is the comprehensiveness of the gospel: it is a message to the whole world setting out God's plan for all of the universe; a message to which calls all people to participate in Christ who is the totality of the whole life of God. Our passage today is a substantive portion of Ephesians chapter one in which this great theme is introduced and developed.

On this Sunday, 'All Saints', our eye is caught by v. 15, 

'I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints ...'. 

Here is a sharp reminder that saints are 'just God's people', you and me, the ordinary people of God for whom God has extraordinary plans (as Ephesians articulates, especially through chapters 1-3). Paul rejoices here in the members of the church to which he writes: they have faith in Jesus and they love one another without exception.

Among many wonderful theological pearls we might pause to admire in this passage, two more deserve mention in connection with 'All Saints'.

1. Paul prays that his readers may know 

'... what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe ...' (vv. 18-19). 

God's future is never for us as individuals only. Our glorious inheritance is not a personal, individual pass to paradise. Rather it is an inheritance of fullness of divine life in the corporate family of all God's people. We live Christianly in the church on earth (with all its difficulties and tensions) as preparation for the greater day when we live eternally as the bride of Christ in the heavenly realms. 'All Saints' is a reminder, on this matter, that we are called to be in fellowship with all God's people.

2. '... for the church ...' (v. 22) Despite the many frailties of the church, which were an experience of church life then as well as now (see various concerns through Ephesians about failure in the church), God's amazing plan for the universe involves the church (i.e. all the saints as the body of Christ). Christ is head over all things for the church. The church is the body of this supreme Christ, filled with the very life of God itself.

How good is that!


Luke 6:20-31

Who are the saints of God now that Jesus has come proclaiming his gospel? They are the ones who are disciples of Jesus, learning the way of God's kingdom while also enduring life in the kingdom. These ones are blessed. 

Yet the blessing of 'the poor' and the contrasting woe of 'the rich' points to a characteristic of disciples, reworked as a theme throughout Luke's gospel, that they have left material possessions behind and entered into the kingdom trusting in God for provision of material needs. On such understanding, saints are those for whom their most treasured possession is the kingdom itself, that is, life lived under God's rule.

Holiness, then, for the holy ones of God is the distinctive way of life which receives the blessing of God and the opprobrium of the world (vv. 22-23). In this distinctive way of life, the response of the saints to opposition is not like for like retaliation but love for enemies, good for those who hate, blessing on those who curse and prayer for abuser (vv. 27-28). Generosity of spirit and purse (vv. 29-30), thus, is the way of Christ's holy ones.

We might make one very important final observation: whatever the merits of calling particular people of God, 'St. Someone', there is an important demerit to this churchy custom. It implies that the calling to saintly or holy living is for the special few and not for all who follow Jesus. All today's passages are addressed to all God's people. We are 'all saints'. None of us has an "opt out" on the quest for holy living, on the importance of living lives distinctively for God and not for ourselves.  

Sunday 26 October 2025 - Ordinary 30

Theme(s): God justifies sinners / Fight the good fight

Sentence: How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts. Psalm 84:1

Collect: Bosco Peter's Book of Prayers in Common March 2025

Everliving God,

increase within us your gifts of faith, hope, and love,

and make us cherish what you command,

so that we may obtain what you promise;

through Jesus Christ,

who is alive with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever.

Amen.

Readings, related:

Jeremiah 14:7-10, 19-22
Psalm 84:1-7
2 Tim 4:6-8, 16-18
Luke 18:9-14

Commentary:

Jeremiah 14:7-10, 19-22

In these verses we have a corporate version of the tax collector in the gospel reading: Jeremiah speaks words of confession of Israel/Judah's many sins. 

In the first part of the reading God is mindful to 'remember their iniquity and punish their sins' (v. 10) but in the second part of the reading, Jeremiah cries more deeply the confession of sin and pleads that God might 'not spurn us' (v. 21).

Psalm 84:1-7

This psalm connects to our reading in the gospel by exalting the virtues of the temple (in which the two men in the gospel parable are praying).

In these seven verses we have a wonderful eulogy to the temple as the earthly house of God in which the Lord dwells. Who would not desire to be there to be with the Lord? Who would not be happy, ever singing God's praise in such a place?

The reading misses the lovely verse 10: 

'For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than live in the tents of wickedness.'

2 Tim 4:6-8, 16-18

Paul is writing at the end of what? His life? (vss. 6-8) or his ministry to this point? (vss. 16-18). 

A 'libation' is drink poured out sacrificially on an altar. Paul has given his life for Christ and now, through death, he seeks (changing metaphors) a 'crown of righteousness.'

We might usefully cross-check with the gospel reading and ask whether Paul is in danger of declaring himself to be righteous like his Pharisaical colleague (Paul, remember, was a Pharisee). But Paul avoids this danger through the words he uses which unmistakably point to the role of God in enabling him to have fought the good fight of faith and to have finished the race (see v. 17: 'the Lord stood by me and gave me strength').

V. 16 has more than a hint of identification with Christ on the cross (whose disciples deserted him). Enigmatically, the reference to being rescued from 'the lion's mouth' implies Paul had his own brush with another form of Roman execution. We do not know whether the rescue was in the form of his release from imprisonment before going to the Colosseum, or from the mortal attack of a lion in the arena itself.

For ourselves the question might be whether we too are fighting the good fight faithfully?

Luke 18:9-14

There is nothing quite like this parable to make sinners feel self-righteous (about not being 'up themselves' like the Pharisee) ... which is perhaps not the intention of Jesus!

The opening to the telling of the parable (v. 9) parallels the opening to the telling of the parable at the beginning of the chapter (v. 1). Presumably Luke has in his mind two parables he wants to share with us, whether or not he sees a connecting theme between them. (There is a slight connecting theme of 'prayer' but only slight because prayer is the theme of the first parable and an incidental detail in the second).

The points of the parable are twofold and, well, pointed. It is told against those who either 'trusted in themselves that they were righteous' and/or 'regard others with contempt'. Few of us have never suffered from either fault. We do well to listen carefully.

The structure of the parable is simple. Two deliberately contrasting figures, a Pharisee (i.e. respected religious adherent of the Jewish faith) and a tax collector (i.e. a despised, likely greedy lackey of the imperialist Romans, at odds with fellow Jews) perform the same action, going up to the temple to pray. 

The Pharisee prays a prayer of thanksgiving, which is directed at himself and his many virtues. We might note that his virtues are not that virtuous: I guess most readers here could also say that we are not a thief, rogue, adulterer or one who cheats-on-our-fellow-citizens. Many of us would tithe and some of us might fast regularly. We could note, with careful observation of detail, that the Pharisee does not pray, 'Thank you God for enabling me to not be like ...' Rather the prayer has the effect of drawing God's attention to how successful the Pharisee has been in being virtuous. In sum, the Pharisee exalts himself before God (and, in terms of the narrative, before those hearing his prayer).

The tax collector prays a prayer of confession which is directed to God and God's many mercies. 

'God be merciful to me, a sinner!' 

His demeanour matches his words as we are told that he stood far off (in an obscure corner of the temple?), refused to look to heaven and beat his breast. His prayer is both a prayer of confession, as he declares he is a sinner, and a prayer of intercession, as he pleads for God to be merciful to him.

Jesus tells us that that man went home 'justified rather than the other.' To that key judgment of the situation is added a familiar saying from elsewhere in the gospels, that the humble will be exalted and the exalted humbled (e.g. 13:30; 14:11; Matt 18:4; 23:12).

It is worth pausing on the word 'justified.' Sometimes the writings of Paul with his key theme that God justifies sinners (and sinners do not justify themselves through good works) are pitted against Jesus and his teaching. But here Jesus and Paul are one: our apparent righteous status does not justify us, nor do our good works and hard earned virtues. Only throwing ourselves on the mercy of God leads to justification.

Sunday 19 October 2025 - Ordinary 29

Theme(s): Persistence in praying and in teaching truth // Faithfulness in doctrine and in the praying life //Never give up on God

Sentence: 'Continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you have learned it' (2 Timothy 3:14)

Collect: Bosco Peter's Book of Prayers in Common March 2025

Everliving God,

conform our wills freely to yours,

and direct our hearts

to share your glory by our undivided service;

through Jesus Christ,

who is alive with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever.

Amen.

Readings, related:

Genesis 32:22-31
Psalm 121
2 Timothy 3:14-4:5
Luke 18:1-8

Commentary:

Genesis 32:22-31

This mysterious story of (a) Jacob wrestling with 'a man' through the night, (b) Jacob demonstrating immense prowess and, (c) upon being blessed, recognising the man was in fact God, offers much food for thought for the student of the Bible. Only a small portion of the food is served up here in this post!

1. The reading is chosen as a 'related' reading to the gospel because it shares with the gospel passage an interest in 'persistence.'

2. Although the story ends with a quaint explanation about why Israelites do not eat the 'thigh muscle that is on the hip socket' (a prohibition not actually attested to anywhere else in the Old Testament), its central importance in the 'theological history' of Israel (the nation) as narrated through the Old Testament lies in the explanation it gives for the name 'Israel.' This name is bestowed on the patriarch Jacob whose twelve sons spawn the twelve tribes which define the extent of the nation Israel.

3. In the original Hebrew telling of the story there are important wordplays:

3.1 Jacob/Jabbok (see v. 22) is ya'aqob/yabboq and 'wrestled' is wayye'abeq (v. 23)

3.2 The location of the story is at Peniel/Penuel (vss. 30-31) which means 'face of God' because Jacob has seen 'God face to face' (v. 30).

4. Jacob's lack of recognition of 'the man' who turns out to be the presence of God mirrors his grandfather Abraham's experience of entertaining three 'men' unaware of their divine status (Genesis 18:1-15).

Psalm 121

Sometimes this psalm is misunderstood in respect of its starting point. It is not a call to lift up one's eyes to the hills in order to seek God's help. Rather, the hills (likely the hills in and around Jerusalem) are precisely where help does not come from. Nor does it come from the "high places" in the land of Israel, on which shrines to other gods were built (per many OT passages). Rather, help comes from the Lord who is the creator of the whole world (plains and valleys as well as hills). It is this God, a God not confined to a specific geographic location, who can help us wherever we are. Further, this God, not confined to a body and thus not subject to the need for sleep, can help us at any time, day or night.

Nevertheless, since this psalm is one of the 'Songs of Ascent' or psalms said by pilgrims on their way 'up' to Jerusalem, there is a certain irony in declaring that help does not come from the hills.

Connecting this psalm to the gospel reading, we can pray confidently to the God who presides over every aspect of our lives 'your going out and your coming in from this time on and forevermore'.

2 Timothy 3:14-4:5

A consistent concern through 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy and Titus is 'sound teaching.' No passage in these three letters better captures this theme than this Sunday's passage.

Paul urges Timothy to 'continue' (3:14) in what he has learned, maintaining his knowledge by recalling how he has learned (both from 'whom', his mother and grandmother and Paul himself, and from 'what', the 'sacred writings', 3:15).

As an aside Paul states his view of "scripture" (3:16, which meant at the least what today we call the Old Testament, but could also have included Christian writings being received by Christian communities as 'sacred writings') and the purpose of scripture (3:17).

In chapter 4, Paul sets up a strong, specific, God-and-Jesus-Christ backed commission for Timothy (4:1-2) in respect of proclaiming 'the message' (i.e. sound teaching).

Note the imperatives through these verses: 

'proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favourable or unfavourable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching.' 

Further imperatival underlining occurs in v. 5.

So, what is the problem to which this 'urging' of Paul is the solution? He foresees a coming time 

'when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths' (v. 3-4).

And that situation, it appears, is where the Western world, formerly Christendom, is rapidly heading towards!


Luke 18:1-8

If we are frank about this parable, it is quite tricky to make sense of all of it! 

v. 1: The intention is that we will read/hear a parable 'about [our] need to pray always and not to lose heart.'

v. 2-5: A parable is told which accords with the intention in the sense that a widow persists in asking a godless, heartless judge for justice and her persistence wears the judge's resistance down to the point where he grants her request.

But the parable 'works' in terms of being about persistent prayer only if we imagine that God is much, much kinder than the heartless judge.

There is then a problem for those of us who also know Jesus' teaching in Matthew 6:7-8 where Jesus teaches against using lots of words in repetitive prayers. 

A possible resolution of the apparent contradiction is for disciples to distinguish between:

(i) occasions when prayers are prayed with the intention of flattering God into responding by virtue of quantity of prayers and 

(ii) occasions when a simple, short prayer is persistently prayed (e.g. on a daily or weekly basis) in the belief that God (perhaps for reasons hidden from us) calls us to pray persistently for a matter. (After all, when Jesus taught "the Lord's Prayer" he didn't say: just say this once in your life and all will be well.)

v. 6: The Lord then offers an enigmatic comment on the parable: listen to the judge. 

Presumably this means: think about what the judge says in the parable and then make the appropriate calculation of what it is that God says to us about our persistent praying. Calculate that God is more eager to answer our prayer than the judge was to answer the woman's plea.

v. 7-8a: Things are starting to get trickier! An additional comment is made but it is not about prayer but about justice!

Of itself the comment could be called 'standard' in respect of God acting justly in response to cries from the unjustly treated, "And will not God grant justice ..." 

Nevertheless it is a change of theme from v. 1's "the need to pray always and not to lose heart" in two aspects. 

First, a change of theme from 'prayer' to 'justice' and from disciples 'not to lose heart' (implying patience is a virtue of disciples) to God and God's quickness to act. 

Secondly, there is also a strong sense that the passage has begun with Jesus speaking to the disciples about their prayer life and now tells them about another group, those unfairly treated, a change, we could say, from 'you' to 'them.'

There is a strong connection, nevertheless, between the themes of 'prayer' and 'justice' because God grants justice to those who 'cry to him day and night.'

v. 8b: 'And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?' 

Further tricky material to comprehend comes with this ending. The introduction of the Son of Man and his 'second coming' is unexpected, as is the introduction of the theme of 'faith'. 

A possible explanation lies in recalling the beginning of this passage in verse one. If Jesus is teaching patient persistence in prayer, the ultimate patience is demonstrated by those disciples who keep praying with faith believing for an answer even to the day when the Son of Man returns. 

But that explanation then highlights the implausibility of v. 7-8a speaking of God acting 'quickly' if by 'quickly' we mean 'very soon.' Thus some commentators think a better translation would be 'suddenly', that is, we pray persistently for justice, God does not act straightaway but when God does act he acts with urgency and immediacy (indeed, the ultimate act of justice is the judgment of the Son of Man whose coming may be delayed but when he does come it will be sudden and for most, unexpected).

A few additional comments:
a. there is a parallel here between the shifting sands of themes through eight verses (albeit roughly conjoined around 'prayer') and the beginning of chapter 16 and its shifting themes (albeit roughly conjoined around 'money').
b. dealing with the trickiness of the passage may be 'our problem' as Western exegetes/preachers used to a certain kind of rational coherency, more than Jesus' (or Luke's) 'problem' as preacher in a different time, place and culture.
c. the shifting nature of the themes does permit a preacher today to make a decision about what to focus on: prayer or persistence and patience in prayer, justice or seeking justice, the character of God, faith.

d. a final reflection from me: are prayer and justice one and the same theme? To pray about a problem is to ask that something which is wrong be put to rights, that is, to ask for justice to take place. Even illness and prayer for healing is a cry for just dealing as our bodies are unjustly attacked by virus or cancer. To pray for a friend to become a Christian is to pray that they might experience the justification of God in their life ... 

Sunday 12 October 2025 - Ordinary 28

Theme(s): Gospel for everyone // God reaches to the outsider "Remember Jesus Christ

Sentence: "Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David - that is my gospel" 2 Timothy 2:8

Collect: Bosco Peter's Book of Prayers in Common March 2025

O God,

we pray that your grace may always precede and follow us,

that we may continually be given to good works;

through Jesus Christ,

who is alive with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever.

Amen.

Readings, related:

2 Kings 5:1-3, 7-15c
Psalm 111
2 Tim 2:8-15
Luke 17:11-19

Commentary:

2 Kings 5:1-3, 7-15c

This story of God healing a non-Israelite fits well with the healing in Luke 17. In both cases leprosy is the problem. A common element between the two stories is that Naaman, like the Samaritan leper, understands that God has done this work and wishes to acknowledge it appropriately.

Psalm 111

This is an interesting psalm as it combines praise for God's law (v. 7) and affirmation of God's wisdom (v. 10). By setting out praise for God and God's works (vss. 2-9) the psalmist provides reason for praise and affirmation of God's word expressed in law and in wisdom: word and deed together have integrity. The God who acts faithfully and justly provides precepts and wisdom for our benefit.

2 Timothy 2:8-15

Two matters stand out for me from this reading which has many dimensions and points of interest.

1. Paul's summary of the gospel he preaches may surprise us.

No mention of (say) forgiveness of sins, God's grace towards us, God's transforming power in our lives. Instead he gives three points, anchored into the historical circumstances of Jesus' life and death: 

"Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David" (v. 8).

Clearly this is a summary, and the verb 'remember' invites Paul's readers to recall the larger story and extended version of his gospel of which 'raised from the dead, a descendant of David' are key notes. Thus one might go to Romans 1:1-6 where Paul sets out a (longer) summary of the gospel and its connection to his calling as an apostle, a summary which includes 'who was descended from David according to the flesh' and 'was declared to be Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by resurrection from the dead.'

Further 'remembering Jesus Christ' must also include the immediately-to-hand things Paul has said about the gospel, e.g. 2 Timothy 1:8-10 which speaks of God's power to save us and to call us to holy living, according to God's gracious purpose, which includes abolition of death and bringing of immortal life.

Why then does Paul say at this point 'Remember Jesus Christ'? The context is an urging of Timothy and through Timothy, his congregation, to engage fully in the Christian life, which includes suffering for the gospel and earnest endeavour to 'obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus' (v. 10). To remember Jesus Christ is to recall that Jesus led the way (1) in suffering so that God's purpose might be fulfilled and (2) in faithfulness to God in all circumstances.

(2) Paul himself endures many things as an apostle and herald of the gospel.

Why?

'For the sake of the elect, so that they may also obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory' (v. 10).

Sometimes Christians get caught up in a debate over whether God's choice of us overrides any real sense that we choose to put our faith in God. Here Paul appears to transcend such debate!

Christians are 'the elect' (those chosen by God to have faith in him) yet Paul worries that they (we) might not 'make it' to the full inheritance of salvation (i.e. election does not override our choice to keep placing our faith in God). Such thinking is at one with Paul's thought in Philippians 2:12-13.

Luke 17:11-19

This is a popular and memorable story.

Popular: because it touches all who hear it through its motif of "gratefulness." We all have memories of people who never show their gratitude for something we have done for them. We might even remember occasions when we have not thanked someone for a kindness.

Memorable: because (as with other gospel stories) the numbers mentioned by Luke are striking and simply to recall: 10 / 9 / 1.

A detail in the story might be overlooked but it is important. The returning thankful person was a Samaritan and Jesus praises him for being the exceptional 'foreigner' who gives thanks when the others do not.

Thus the story is arguably less about the one out of ten who gives thanks (with lesson: and so must we) and more about the outsider who understands Jesus and responds to him (with lesson: and so the gospel is for all, for Samaritans as well as Jews, for Gentiles and for Jews, for outsider and for insiders).

If so, then this story is representative of the gospel Luke preaches through his Luke-Acts narrative: the gospel is God's inclusive love for all, demonstrated by Jesus who died for all and rose again for all, that all might be healed of the sickness which afflicts humanity.