Theme(s): Radical hospitality // Cost of inclusion
Sentence: It is well with those who deal generously and lend, who conduct their affairs with justice (Psalm 112:5)
Collect:
God of nations, help us to reflect and share
the goodness that surrounds us.
Help us to win justice for poor and rich alike,
and to bring trust and friendship
to all our different races. Amen.
Readings (related):
Proverbs 25:6-7 [Sirach 10:12-18 is an alternative];
Psalm 112;
Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16;
Luke 14:1, 7-14
Comments:
Proverbs 25:6-7
It is a matter of simple wisdom to wait to be raised up in status rather than to be put down.
Psalm 112
Sometimes the word 'righteous' invokes an assumption that we are talking about people who live a certain kind of morally upright life, perhaps marked by scruples and tight adherence to minor commands and rules. Here the psalmist expounds the virtues of the righteous in ways that go beyond that kind of assumption.
The righteous are those who fear the Lord (that is, trust in and reverence the Lord) and delight in his commandments (v. 1).
Blessed by the Lord, they are 'gracious, merciful, and righteous' (v. 4).
They are 'generous' and live justly (v. 5; also v.9).
There is a solid stability to these righteous and they are not afraid of evil tidings because 'their hearts are firm, secure in the Lord' (v. 6-8).
Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16
After twelve chapters expounding his theme of the uniqueness, completeness and superiority of Christ as both High Priest and sacrifice, the writer turns her or his attention to practical matters.
'Let mutual love continue. Do no neglect to show hospitality to strangers ... Remember those who are in prison ... Let marriage be held in honor by all ... (vss. 1-4).
Each of these matters could be a sermon in its own right!
But the writer cannot let go of his main theme, the superiority and uniqueness of Jesus. So v. 8 states simply but relevantly, 'Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.' Every day is lived with Jesus, and Jesus expects us to live every day for him.
]Verses 9-14, then, are theologically profound and offer a restatement of interests central to the main body of the letter.]
But what about the practical matter of Christians responding to God? In the light of the completed work of Christ on the cross, fulfilling and finishing all God's purposes in the Old Covenant, how are Christians to worship God? What sacrifices can now be offered meaningfully?
The Hebrews' answer was begun in our reading last Sunday (12:28). Now it is completed:
'Through [Jesus Christ], then, let us continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name. But that is not all. The vertical focus of this worship is joined with a horizontal focus to others. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God' (13:15-16).
All Christian liturgical work and social service is encapsulated in these two verses!
Luke 14:1, 7-14
(Sometimes the lectionary misses out verses and it is annoying as it raises questions about whether some kind of 'political correctness' or 'ecclesiastical correctness' is driving the omission. But in this case Luke 14:2-6 is omitted because it is essentially a repetition of last Sunday's gospel reading, 13:10-17.)
Jesus goes to a Pharisee's house to eat a meal (minor point: despite the great debates between Jesus and Pharisees, he was on friendly terms with some).
After healing someone and challenging his host and host's friends to a debate about it without success, Jesus moves on to another challenge (vss. 2-7).
This meal was more than a simple 'come back to my place for a bite to eat' - more a major dinner party, a banquet even. So in the custom of the day, some places 'at table' were more important than others. Jesus notices the scramble for these places and tells a parable directed at the scramblers (vss. 7-11).
Scripturally this parable builds from a passage such as our Old Testament reading and makes at least the same point: it is unwise to seek for a higher place lest embarrassment through demotion takes place. But is that sufficient explanation for why Luke tells us this story. Is there a 'kingdom of God' point to dig into these verses for?
A cross-referencing Bible may tell you what mine tells me, that 14:11 is similar to 13:30 (and 18:40, Matthew 18:4; 23:12). Luke 13:30 is at the end of a passage which touches on the wide inclusiveness of the kingdom of God (and a feasting kingdom at that). An implication for Luke 14:7-11 is that in the feast of the kingdom of God those seated at the table will be those who otherwise would not expect to be there and those in the least honourable places (if not excluded) will be those who otherwise expected most to be in the best places (i.e. religious leaders).
Jesus is not finished. He goes on to make a devastating critique of his host and his mates.
This critique is the remainder of today's reading. Nothing is implicit or hidden here in vss. 12-14. Jesus does not tell a parable, he just tells the host, "When you give a luncheon or a dinner ..." But the host is us, all readers of Luke's Gospel. When we give a lunch or dinner, we should ... (1) Not invite the people we usually invite (friends, family, well-off neighbours, all of whom are able to repay the favour), but (2) Invite the people who cannot repay us (the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind).
Speaking personally, that is a challenge because 100% of guests at my table are able to repay me. (Technical matters, like inviting a person visiting from overseas whom I may never visit in their city does not, I suggest, count as inviting those who cannot repay me!)
It would be easy to displace the challenge in these verses, say, by doing good to those who cannot do good to you. This could be fulfilled by giving money to a charity which works with people who will never give back to me. But Jesus is quite specific. He does not say 'When you give money ...' but 'When you give a luncheon or a dinner ...' Our homes are precious havens. Jesus challenges that. In the kingdom of God, our homes are to be open to those not like us, not equal to us, and not otherwise deemed worthy of an invite into our home.
Sunday, August 25, 2019
Sunday, August 18, 2019
Sunday 25 August 2019 - Ordinary 21
Possible theme(s): Salvation is wholeness // God's holy love // Terrifying God
Sentence: If you offer your food to the hungry then your light shall rise in the darkness (Isaiah 58:10 adapted).
Collect:
Almighty God,
for the joy that was set before him
your Son endured the cross
and by his resurrection turned our sorrow into joy;
help us to rejoice in his power
that we may walk in his way with glad obedience;
in the power of the Spirit,
through our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
Readings (related):
Isaiah 58:9b-14
Psalm 103:1-8
Hebrews 12:18-29
Luke 13:10-17
Comments:
Isaiah 58:9b-14
The key to this passage is to identify who the 'you' is. The instructions to 'you' are pretty clear. And 'you' should do them. So, who is 'you'? For Isaiah it is the people whom God calls 'my people' (58:1). Those people are still around - you and me, for instance - so the reading here is directed to us. What will we do? What is required is straightforwardly just, generous, kind and fair, with great reward following.
There is a twist in the passage, one which connects it as a 'related' reading to the gospel. Verses 13-14 make special mention of the sabbath, of not trampling on it, not pursuing one's own interests, instead honouring it and taking delight in it. Why is observance of the sabbath singled out? Because it is 'the holy day of the Lord' (v.13). To observe this means special care is being taken by God's people to fulfill all aspects of God's will. Seven days a week, God's people do God's will.
In respect of the gospel below, the challenge Jesus brings is to a perception that the observance of the sabbath has been narrowed in such a way that the interests of other people are being ignored.
Psalm 103:1-8
These verses are among the most wonderful words written down in all Scripture. We should sing them rather than preach about them!
Hebrews 12:18-29
Fire begins and ends this passage. Why? The writer is at pains to emphasise who God is, the God to whom he is both encouraging his readers to draw nearer too, in confidence because of what Christ has done, and challenging his readers to not fall away from, lest they fall to a point of no return to God. Who is God? 'Our God is a consuming fire' (v. 29), a terrifying God (vss. 18-24), the judge of all (v. 23), a God who has sent Jesus to mediate a new covenant at the cost of his own blood (v. 24; and, effectively, chapters 1-10). In biblical and theological language, God is holy.
What are we to do with this passage? It is tempting to ignore it, to set it aside in favour of other 'nicer' passages, in which God is not terrifying, in fact he is our best friend forever, and offers comforting love of a touchy, feely kind. That would be a mistake. That God is love is as true as that God is holy. The trick is to keep them both together in our understanding of God. We could say that God is holy love. God loves us and the God who loves us is not like us (in our sin) but holy.
How then can we even think of approaching God? The long answer to that question is in Hebrews 1-10 (and Romans, Galatians, Colossians, Ephesians, 1 John) but the short answer, in terms of this passage, is 'the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel' (v. 24). That is, the holy love of God has found a way to 'make' (see v. 23) imperfect humanity perfectly righteous and righteously perfect: the blood of Jesus cleanses us from every sin.
There is more to be said (about the importance of 'not refusing the one who is speaking', v. 25) but I will close with two short observations.
First, to take up God's invitation is to receive a 'kingdom that cannot be shaken'. That is worth having.
Secondly, a proper response is that we 'give thanks'. Jesus dying on the cross is the one, perfect, final sacrifice. Only required now is to give thanks for what has been done for us. This is now the acceptable sacrifice we offer to God (v. 28).
Luke 13:10-17
Jesus had quite a few things to say on that sabbath day in that synagogue.
First, he was teaching (v. 10). Then, he spoke to the crippled woman (v.11-12). Thirdly, he rebuked the leader of the synagogue, telling him off for criticising this action on the sabbath. Along the way he made some explicit and implicit points about theological matters: what kind of deeds can and should be done on the sabbath; what is the ultimate nature of illness and disability (it is a bondage of Satan when compared with the salvation (wholeness) intended and now available by God); that teaching (words) can be illustrated and evidence by deeds.
But what is Jesus saying to the church today, when we do not have the difficulty about healing on the sabbath that the synagogue leader had?
We could note (and should not rush past) the possibility that there is 'hypocrisy' which Jesus would challenge us about. Just because we would be pleased to see a healing take place at church this Sunday does not get us out of jail on possible hypocrisy! Is there some other way in which we apply rules of church life to restrict Jesus from freeing people from things which 'cripple' them?
There is also a 'deep' lesson to consider about the nature of illness and disability. When Jesus speaks about the woman's condition in terms of '... whom Satan bound for eighteen long years ... this bondage ...' (v. 16) was he saying something we can receive in our day (when we generally use other explanations for why illness and disability occurs)? I suggest we can, especially if we pause to reflect on the great message of Luke's gospel, that Jesus came to save people in the sense of making people whole, in body, soul, mind and spirit.
If the great purpose of God in Christ is to take a fallen, broken, frail creation and restore it (the kingdom of God), then the 'big picture' explanation of the situation is that the chief ringleader of opposition to God's plan for the world, Satan has bound people into fallen, broken, frail states. But Jesus doesn't make grand, general claims about the situation of the world: this woman is a victim of Satan's opposition: she has been bound these eighteen long years. Jesus can do no other than check the advance of Satan into God's realm. She has been set free from Satan's bondage which is the same thing as being straightened from her crippled state. Luke's description that the woman 'began praising God' tells his readers that the woman's transformation was not solely physical.
Then, we could move from 'depth' to 'width'. What is the nature of salvation of the saving work which Jesus comes to the world to do? Here Jesus begins with 'teaching' and moves to 'action.' A bound person is freed and a disabled person is made able. Salvation comes to the woman as a whole of life transformation. When we work for God in the continuation of that work, we are invited to work for transformation of the whole person, to work on change on many and varied aspects of the life of the world. Some people are 'bound' into poverty, for example, and we could work to free them through socio-economic transformation. Others are 'trapped' in oppression of some kind, perhaps in harsh working conditions. We could work to lift the oppression and set them free from the trap.
One clue to the direction of our participation in the work of salvation is whether it leads to the outcome described in this reading: God is praised!
Sentence: If you offer your food to the hungry then your light shall rise in the darkness (Isaiah 58:10 adapted).
Collect:
Almighty God,
for the joy that was set before him
your Son endured the cross
and by his resurrection turned our sorrow into joy;
help us to rejoice in his power
that we may walk in his way with glad obedience;
in the power of the Spirit,
through our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
Readings (related):
Isaiah 58:9b-14
Psalm 103:1-8
Hebrews 12:18-29
Luke 13:10-17
Comments:
Isaiah 58:9b-14
The key to this passage is to identify who the 'you' is. The instructions to 'you' are pretty clear. And 'you' should do them. So, who is 'you'? For Isaiah it is the people whom God calls 'my people' (58:1). Those people are still around - you and me, for instance - so the reading here is directed to us. What will we do? What is required is straightforwardly just, generous, kind and fair, with great reward following.
There is a twist in the passage, one which connects it as a 'related' reading to the gospel. Verses 13-14 make special mention of the sabbath, of not trampling on it, not pursuing one's own interests, instead honouring it and taking delight in it. Why is observance of the sabbath singled out? Because it is 'the holy day of the Lord' (v.13). To observe this means special care is being taken by God's people to fulfill all aspects of God's will. Seven days a week, God's people do God's will.
In respect of the gospel below, the challenge Jesus brings is to a perception that the observance of the sabbath has been narrowed in such a way that the interests of other people are being ignored.
Psalm 103:1-8
These verses are among the most wonderful words written down in all Scripture. We should sing them rather than preach about them!
Hebrews 12:18-29
Fire begins and ends this passage. Why? The writer is at pains to emphasise who God is, the God to whom he is both encouraging his readers to draw nearer too, in confidence because of what Christ has done, and challenging his readers to not fall away from, lest they fall to a point of no return to God. Who is God? 'Our God is a consuming fire' (v. 29), a terrifying God (vss. 18-24), the judge of all (v. 23), a God who has sent Jesus to mediate a new covenant at the cost of his own blood (v. 24; and, effectively, chapters 1-10). In biblical and theological language, God is holy.
What are we to do with this passage? It is tempting to ignore it, to set it aside in favour of other 'nicer' passages, in which God is not terrifying, in fact he is our best friend forever, and offers comforting love of a touchy, feely kind. That would be a mistake. That God is love is as true as that God is holy. The trick is to keep them both together in our understanding of God. We could say that God is holy love. God loves us and the God who loves us is not like us (in our sin) but holy.
How then can we even think of approaching God? The long answer to that question is in Hebrews 1-10 (and Romans, Galatians, Colossians, Ephesians, 1 John) but the short answer, in terms of this passage, is 'the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel' (v. 24). That is, the holy love of God has found a way to 'make' (see v. 23) imperfect humanity perfectly righteous and righteously perfect: the blood of Jesus cleanses us from every sin.
There is more to be said (about the importance of 'not refusing the one who is speaking', v. 25) but I will close with two short observations.
First, to take up God's invitation is to receive a 'kingdom that cannot be shaken'. That is worth having.
Secondly, a proper response is that we 'give thanks'. Jesus dying on the cross is the one, perfect, final sacrifice. Only required now is to give thanks for what has been done for us. This is now the acceptable sacrifice we offer to God (v. 28).
Luke 13:10-17
Jesus had quite a few things to say on that sabbath day in that synagogue.
First, he was teaching (v. 10). Then, he spoke to the crippled woman (v.11-12). Thirdly, he rebuked the leader of the synagogue, telling him off for criticising this action on the sabbath. Along the way he made some explicit and implicit points about theological matters: what kind of deeds can and should be done on the sabbath; what is the ultimate nature of illness and disability (it is a bondage of Satan when compared with the salvation (wholeness) intended and now available by God); that teaching (words) can be illustrated and evidence by deeds.
But what is Jesus saying to the church today, when we do not have the difficulty about healing on the sabbath that the synagogue leader had?
We could note (and should not rush past) the possibility that there is 'hypocrisy' which Jesus would challenge us about. Just because we would be pleased to see a healing take place at church this Sunday does not get us out of jail on possible hypocrisy! Is there some other way in which we apply rules of church life to restrict Jesus from freeing people from things which 'cripple' them?
There is also a 'deep' lesson to consider about the nature of illness and disability. When Jesus speaks about the woman's condition in terms of '... whom Satan bound for eighteen long years ... this bondage ...' (v. 16) was he saying something we can receive in our day (when we generally use other explanations for why illness and disability occurs)? I suggest we can, especially if we pause to reflect on the great message of Luke's gospel, that Jesus came to save people in the sense of making people whole, in body, soul, mind and spirit.
If the great purpose of God in Christ is to take a fallen, broken, frail creation and restore it (the kingdom of God), then the 'big picture' explanation of the situation is that the chief ringleader of opposition to God's plan for the world, Satan has bound people into fallen, broken, frail states. But Jesus doesn't make grand, general claims about the situation of the world: this woman is a victim of Satan's opposition: she has been bound these eighteen long years. Jesus can do no other than check the advance of Satan into God's realm. She has been set free from Satan's bondage which is the same thing as being straightened from her crippled state. Luke's description that the woman 'began praising God' tells his readers that the woman's transformation was not solely physical.
Then, we could move from 'depth' to 'width'. What is the nature of salvation of the saving work which Jesus comes to the world to do? Here Jesus begins with 'teaching' and moves to 'action.' A bound person is freed and a disabled person is made able. Salvation comes to the woman as a whole of life transformation. When we work for God in the continuation of that work, we are invited to work for transformation of the whole person, to work on change on many and varied aspects of the life of the world. Some people are 'bound' into poverty, for example, and we could work to free them through socio-economic transformation. Others are 'trapped' in oppression of some kind, perhaps in harsh working conditions. We could work to lift the oppression and set them free from the trap.
One clue to the direction of our participation in the work of salvation is whether it leads to the outcome described in this reading: God is praised!
Sunday, August 11, 2019
Sunday 18 August 2019 - Ordinary 20
Possible theme(s): Crisis over Jesus // Jesus the judge // Looking to Jesus
Sentence: Let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:1b-2a).
Collect: Pentecost 10:2 (revised by me)
Come Holy Spirit, to all who are baptised in your name,
that we may turn to good
whatever lies ahead.
Give us faith, give us fire, give us perseverance;
Empower us to transform the world from what it is,
to what you created it to be
through the love of the Father and the transforming power of the Son. Amen.
Readings (related):
Jeremiah 23:23-29
Psalm 82
Hebrews 11:29-12:2
Luke 12:49-56
Comments:
Notes on readings - mostly my own thoughts, sometimes utilizing a commentary, and gratefully assisted by one 'study Bible' in particular, the New Oxford Annotated Bible (Fully Revised Fourth Edition).
Jeremiah 23:23-29
Jeremiah spent much of his prophetic ministry in fierce debate with fellow prophets. He would be proven right because with a terrifying Babylonian threat pressing against Jerusalem, they said everything would be OK and he begged to differ! In these verses we have a representative passage concerning this debate in which God's voice supports Jeremiah.
A universal theme which sweeps through these verses is the question of truth and falsehood. Many claims about truth are made, including claims to know truth from God, but some claims are false. In these verses, God speaking through Jeremiah reminds false claimants of the fix they are in: God sees and hears everything, including liars and the lies they tell in God's name. By contrast the truth, 'my word' (23:29), is like a (destroying) fire and a rock-breaking hammer. Truth always prevails over falsehood. Lies cannot withstand the power of truth.
How does this passage relate to the gospel reading today? In part of the passage Jesus challenges his hearers to discern accurately what is going on around them, the signs of the times. That is, Jesus challenges them and us to seek and commit to the truth, rather than settle for and be comforted by lies.
Psalm 82
This psalm is a 'petition for divine justice.' The 'divine council' (v. 1) reflects the presumption of the time of composition that there was a host of heavenly beings commissioned to rule the world under God's oversight (see Deuteronomy 32:8-9). The accusation in this psalm is that these beings have judged unjustly and thus God has had to intervene, take over their role, and demonstrate true justice.
Hebrews 11:29-12:2
This great chapter on faith comes to an end. In a sweeping survey, the writer gathers up the last of the ones he will name and adds to their number a vast company of unnamed heroes and heroines, offering one of the great accolades from all literature, 'of whom the world was not worthy' (11:38).
They all had one thing in common as people of faith:
'Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised' (11:39).
But this is not a sad historical assessment of the life of faith (e.g. so much hoped for, so little delivered). Rather, God's kindness to those who trust in him now includes those who trust in Jesus Christ (represented by Hebrews' readers) and his promises in which they and we trust are bona fide:
'since God had provided something better so that they would not, apart from us, be made perfect' (11:40).
So what? The writer draws us on with one of the great 'therefores' of Scripture (12:1-2). As the last generation of the people of God, with 'so great a cloud of witnesses (i.e. the previous generations of people with faith in God)' surrounding us, we must live accordingly (lay aside every weight and clinging sin, run with perseverance, look to Jesus).
Note the christological emphasis struck in these verses. The surrounding cloud of witnesses is inspiring enough to run the race etc but there is more than that available to the Christian runner.
We have Jesus to look to, the one who has pioneered out faith and promised to perfect it, who himself was a runner in the race, enduring even the cross, looking beyond it to the joy set before him and who now, consequentially, is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Will we run? Will we persevere? Will we look at ourselves (tired, weary, struggling) or to Jesus (who succeeded in the same race)?
Luke 12:49-56
If we wanted a candidate passage for "Most awkward thing Jesus said" or "Please explain, Jesus, what you meant" Award, then this is as good a passage as any.
The Prince of Peace speaks here of division. The One in Whom God was reconciling the world to himself proposes that 'from now on' households will be divided against themselves.
What did this mean and what does it mean for us today?
As a preliminary engagement with this passage, several clues help us.
- The opening words about fire mean a theme here is 'judgment'.
- The divisions in 12:53 take us to Micah 7:6 and thus also to the theme of judgment.
- The point about interpreting the 'present time' in 12:54-56 is that his contemporaries who can interpret when the weather is going to change (a meteorological crisis) should be able to understand the crisis of their time which is the crisis of Jesus coming into the world.
- This crisis of Jesus coming into the world is a division of the world into those who are alert and ready for him and those who are not (see last week's gospel reading, Luke 12:32-40).
Part of our difficulty with today's passage may be that the language used is not our language. We likely would follow 12:32-40 with 'So, as you can see from these parables I have just told you, judgment is coming and you need to be alert and ready for it. Judgment will be terrifying for those not expecting it and not ready to welcome me.' Jesus, by contrast, talks about fire, baptism, family divisions and weather signs!
A further clue is to consider 'baptism' here as a reference to the death of Jesus (towards which this section of Luke, 9:51-19:28, the Travel Narrative, takes us).
With those preliminary thoughts in mind here goes, then, at making sense of the passage:
Jesus' mission ultimately is about making peace on earth, his gospel being a call to people to enter God's kingdom by coming under the rule of God, a situation in which people are reconciled to one another (think parable of Prodigal Son) and all sorts are included in the one family of God (think of the welcome accorded Zacchaeus in Luke 19:1-10).
Yet the gospel is controversial. People oppose it. Indeed opposition to Jesus will lead to his death by public execution. The opposition stems from what the gospel challenges, the sin of humanity (of which, to give just one recent example as we read Luke's gospel, material greed is a presenting example, as illustrated in the parable of the Rich Fool, 12:16-20).
That is, the call to enter God's kingdom is simultaneously a judgment against those who refuse to enter.
So this passage works on at least two levels.
First, the present time of Jesus is one in which judgment comes as he moves towards Jerusalem and people either welcome or refuse him. His baptism/death lies ahead as a 'crucial' action for the kingdom of God to be established. In this journey, although the mission is ultimately about peace, division is occurring, not least because (as Micah 7 illustrates) Israel is embroiled in sin. All this, like familiar signs that the weather is about to change, should be discernible to those watching Jesus.
A second level is our present time, as readers of Luke's gospel and as people closer to the return of Christ than to the time of the cross.
Jesus continues to be controversial, to inspire opposition as much as welcome and acceptance. His message simultaneously invites people into the kingdom, into a new way of living (thus previous verses in Luke 12 illustrate a new way of living in respect of money and material possessions) and opposes the kingdom of this world, the 'old way of living' in which greed, acquisition and selfishness prevail. To this old way of living, Jesus is the fire of judgment and his baptism/death (now a completed historical action) stands out as a point of division (because people gratefully accept that action as means of salvation or reject it as failure and embarrassment).
That people are divided over Jesus is a 'sign of the time', a sign that the world is in crisis over Jesus and thus people with the slightest inkling that Jesus might be God at work in the world would want to be alert and ready for his return.
One reflection in 2019 - in which all sorts of controversies in the world are going on [Trump, Brexit, culture wars] - is whether division in the church, or over the church, is division over Jesus (the Jesus we proclaim, the Jesus we profess to follow) or something else ...
Sentence: Let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:1b-2a).
Collect: Pentecost 10:2 (revised by me)
Come Holy Spirit, to all who are baptised in your name,
that we may turn to good
whatever lies ahead.
Give us faith, give us fire, give us perseverance;
Empower us to transform the world from what it is,
to what you created it to be
through the love of the Father and the transforming power of the Son. Amen.
Readings (related):
Jeremiah 23:23-29
Psalm 82
Hebrews 11:29-12:2
Luke 12:49-56
Comments:
Notes on readings - mostly my own thoughts, sometimes utilizing a commentary, and gratefully assisted by one 'study Bible' in particular, the New Oxford Annotated Bible (Fully Revised Fourth Edition).
Jeremiah 23:23-29
Jeremiah spent much of his prophetic ministry in fierce debate with fellow prophets. He would be proven right because with a terrifying Babylonian threat pressing against Jerusalem, they said everything would be OK and he begged to differ! In these verses we have a representative passage concerning this debate in which God's voice supports Jeremiah.
A universal theme which sweeps through these verses is the question of truth and falsehood. Many claims about truth are made, including claims to know truth from God, but some claims are false. In these verses, God speaking through Jeremiah reminds false claimants of the fix they are in: God sees and hears everything, including liars and the lies they tell in God's name. By contrast the truth, 'my word' (23:29), is like a (destroying) fire and a rock-breaking hammer. Truth always prevails over falsehood. Lies cannot withstand the power of truth.
How does this passage relate to the gospel reading today? In part of the passage Jesus challenges his hearers to discern accurately what is going on around them, the signs of the times. That is, Jesus challenges them and us to seek and commit to the truth, rather than settle for and be comforted by lies.
Psalm 82
This psalm is a 'petition for divine justice.' The 'divine council' (v. 1) reflects the presumption of the time of composition that there was a host of heavenly beings commissioned to rule the world under God's oversight (see Deuteronomy 32:8-9). The accusation in this psalm is that these beings have judged unjustly and thus God has had to intervene, take over their role, and demonstrate true justice.
Hebrews 11:29-12:2
This great chapter on faith comes to an end. In a sweeping survey, the writer gathers up the last of the ones he will name and adds to their number a vast company of unnamed heroes and heroines, offering one of the great accolades from all literature, 'of whom the world was not worthy' (11:38).
They all had one thing in common as people of faith:
'Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised' (11:39).
But this is not a sad historical assessment of the life of faith (e.g. so much hoped for, so little delivered). Rather, God's kindness to those who trust in him now includes those who trust in Jesus Christ (represented by Hebrews' readers) and his promises in which they and we trust are bona fide:
'since God had provided something better so that they would not, apart from us, be made perfect' (11:40).
So what? The writer draws us on with one of the great 'therefores' of Scripture (12:1-2). As the last generation of the people of God, with 'so great a cloud of witnesses (i.e. the previous generations of people with faith in God)' surrounding us, we must live accordingly (lay aside every weight and clinging sin, run with perseverance, look to Jesus).
Note the christological emphasis struck in these verses. The surrounding cloud of witnesses is inspiring enough to run the race etc but there is more than that available to the Christian runner.
We have Jesus to look to, the one who has pioneered out faith and promised to perfect it, who himself was a runner in the race, enduring even the cross, looking beyond it to the joy set before him and who now, consequentially, is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Will we run? Will we persevere? Will we look at ourselves (tired, weary, struggling) or to Jesus (who succeeded in the same race)?
Luke 12:49-56
If we wanted a candidate passage for "Most awkward thing Jesus said" or "Please explain, Jesus, what you meant" Award, then this is as good a passage as any.
The Prince of Peace speaks here of division. The One in Whom God was reconciling the world to himself proposes that 'from now on' households will be divided against themselves.
What did this mean and what does it mean for us today?
As a preliminary engagement with this passage, several clues help us.
- The opening words about fire mean a theme here is 'judgment'.
- The divisions in 12:53 take us to Micah 7:6 and thus also to the theme of judgment.
- The point about interpreting the 'present time' in 12:54-56 is that his contemporaries who can interpret when the weather is going to change (a meteorological crisis) should be able to understand the crisis of their time which is the crisis of Jesus coming into the world.
- This crisis of Jesus coming into the world is a division of the world into those who are alert and ready for him and those who are not (see last week's gospel reading, Luke 12:32-40).
Part of our difficulty with today's passage may be that the language used is not our language. We likely would follow 12:32-40 with 'So, as you can see from these parables I have just told you, judgment is coming and you need to be alert and ready for it. Judgment will be terrifying for those not expecting it and not ready to welcome me.' Jesus, by contrast, talks about fire, baptism, family divisions and weather signs!
A further clue is to consider 'baptism' here as a reference to the death of Jesus (towards which this section of Luke, 9:51-19:28, the Travel Narrative, takes us).
With those preliminary thoughts in mind here goes, then, at making sense of the passage:
Jesus' mission ultimately is about making peace on earth, his gospel being a call to people to enter God's kingdom by coming under the rule of God, a situation in which people are reconciled to one another (think parable of Prodigal Son) and all sorts are included in the one family of God (think of the welcome accorded Zacchaeus in Luke 19:1-10).
Yet the gospel is controversial. People oppose it. Indeed opposition to Jesus will lead to his death by public execution. The opposition stems from what the gospel challenges, the sin of humanity (of which, to give just one recent example as we read Luke's gospel, material greed is a presenting example, as illustrated in the parable of the Rich Fool, 12:16-20).
That is, the call to enter God's kingdom is simultaneously a judgment against those who refuse to enter.
So this passage works on at least two levels.
First, the present time of Jesus is one in which judgment comes as he moves towards Jerusalem and people either welcome or refuse him. His baptism/death lies ahead as a 'crucial' action for the kingdom of God to be established. In this journey, although the mission is ultimately about peace, division is occurring, not least because (as Micah 7 illustrates) Israel is embroiled in sin. All this, like familiar signs that the weather is about to change, should be discernible to those watching Jesus.
A second level is our present time, as readers of Luke's gospel and as people closer to the return of Christ than to the time of the cross.
Jesus continues to be controversial, to inspire opposition as much as welcome and acceptance. His message simultaneously invites people into the kingdom, into a new way of living (thus previous verses in Luke 12 illustrate a new way of living in respect of money and material possessions) and opposes the kingdom of this world, the 'old way of living' in which greed, acquisition and selfishness prevail. To this old way of living, Jesus is the fire of judgment and his baptism/death (now a completed historical action) stands out as a point of division (because people gratefully accept that action as means of salvation or reject it as failure and embarrassment).
That people are divided over Jesus is a 'sign of the time', a sign that the world is in crisis over Jesus and thus people with the slightest inkling that Jesus might be God at work in the world would want to be alert and ready for his return.
One reflection in 2019 - in which all sorts of controversies in the world are going on [Trump, Brexit, culture wars] - is whether division in the church, or over the church, is division over Jesus (the Jesus we proclaim, the Jesus we profess to follow) or something else ...
Saturday, August 3, 2019
Sunday 11 August 2019 - Ordinary 19
Possible theme(s): Faith. True treasure. Trusting in God for everything.
Sentence: Truly the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love, to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine. Psalm 33:18-19
Collect:
God, the strength of all who believe in you,
Increase our faith and trust
In your Son Jesus Christ
That in him and through your Holy Spirit, we may live victoriously. Amen
Readings (related):
Genesis 15:1-6
Psalm 33:12-22
Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16
Luke 12:32-40
Comments:
Genesis 15:1-6
This reading relates both to the epistle reading (the life of faith) and to the gospel (trusting God that his promises will come true). Abram is offered an extraordinary vision of the future, despite being childless he will father a great, uncountable nation. A lesser man might have dismissed God but Abram believes. He accepts that what God says will come into being. Such belief means 'the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness' (v. 6): in other words, Abram does not work to earn God's favour (e.g. through a long obedience to commands great and small, or through great sacrifices, or through intense effort at being holy) but God responds to Abram's act of trust and counts him as righteous: a right living man in a right relationship with God.
Psalm 33:12-22
Are there any happy nations on earth today? If not, there is a reason and the psalmist gives it!
'Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord' (33:12)
What follows is a delightful poem setting out the greatness of God, the one who sits enthroned above the world and sees all that goes on within it. In that light, the fate of nations is not determined by how powerful a king and his military are. No, victory comes to those who fear God - in Old Testament language this is pretty much the same as New Testament language about trusting God.
It is said that Stalin once asked how many (army) divisions the Pope had. Obviously he knew that the answer was none. Many decades later Stalinism is no more but the faithful followers of the Pope (that is, believers in Jesus Christ within the Roman Catholic church) are greater than 1 billion. If only Stalin (who was once upon a time a trainee in a church seminary) knew this psalm!
Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16
Better than a dictionary definition of faith, the first few verses here tell us what faith is:
'the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.'
Faith is not mere wishful thinking, nor is it imagining things which do not exist. It is the confident conviction that what is not seen (God) and what is not yet experienced (the fulfilment of God's promises) is true and real. God exists (see also 11:6) and the future is the reality that the shadow of the present points to.
In verses 8-16, an example of this definition is given. Abraham (i.e. Abram of Genesis 15) set out in life to receive things which he did not see: 'By faith Abraham obeyed' (v. 8). When he received one such thing (the land promised to him, v. 9) he still needed faith, for he knew there was a great future to come, a city so to speak relative to the tents in which he and his family dwelt (v. 10). So through verses 11 and 12 we find the retroactive reflection on what has been just read from Genesis 15: childless Abraham and Sarah became fruitful, their descendants beyond count.
Luke 12:32-40
Chapter 12:13-30 is Jesus teaching assertively that God will provide for his disciples' needs so they neither need to strive to meet these needs, nor be anxious about God's provision and certainly not store up an abundance of wealth. Verse 32 following continues this theme but quickly flows into the theme of readiness for the coming of the Son of Man (i.e. for the return of Jesus Christ to earth).
Verses 32-34: How do we see God as our provider? As a begrudging giver, perhaps in need of a twist of his arm (e.g. through some form of strong prayer on our part, or impressive display of faith)? Jesus assures us that it is our Father's 'good pleasure' to give us the kingdom. So confident can we be in this generous Father that we should 'Sell your possessions and give alms.'
The best way to break the power of money over our lives, to destroy any allegiance to Mammon is to give away what we have. A positive effect of giving is that we will receive 'an unfailing treasure in heaven'. Verse 34 makes a point already made in a different form earlier in the chapter in the parable of the rich fool (vss. 16-20): for our hearts to be in the right place we need to have our 'treasure' in the right place. Money in the bank, multiple properties, gold bars stashed under our beds are spiritually dangerous: our hearts are likely not in heaven but bound here on earth!
Verses 35-40 With no money in the bank, or properties to worry about, the next instruction for a disciple is easy to follow! 'Be dressed for action and have your lamp lit.'
These verses (which receive further expansion in 12:41-48 and 12:49-59) teach disciples that discipleship is a 24/7 task. We serve our master in the tasks of the kingdom with diligence, patience and persistence, never being found by sudden inspection to have grown slack, complacent or sloppy.
Generally in Luke's Gospel the idea of the 'sudden inspection' inherent in the notion of 'Christ's Second Coming' is downplayed compared to Matthew and Mark. But here Luke discloses Christ's clear instructions in the light of the future coming of himself as 'Son of Man' (12:40) - a theme redolent with ideas of judgement, return, restoration and general putting the world to rights (see, e.g. Daniel 7). Disciples are to be 'alert', v. 37, and 'ready', v. 40 for the return of their master.
Sentence: Truly the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love, to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine. Psalm 33:18-19
Collect:
God, the strength of all who believe in you,
Increase our faith and trust
In your Son Jesus Christ
That in him and through your Holy Spirit, we may live victoriously. Amen
Readings (related):
Genesis 15:1-6
Psalm 33:12-22
Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16
Luke 12:32-40
Comments:
Genesis 15:1-6
This reading relates both to the epistle reading (the life of faith) and to the gospel (trusting God that his promises will come true). Abram is offered an extraordinary vision of the future, despite being childless he will father a great, uncountable nation. A lesser man might have dismissed God but Abram believes. He accepts that what God says will come into being. Such belief means 'the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness' (v. 6): in other words, Abram does not work to earn God's favour (e.g. through a long obedience to commands great and small, or through great sacrifices, or through intense effort at being holy) but God responds to Abram's act of trust and counts him as righteous: a right living man in a right relationship with God.
Psalm 33:12-22
Are there any happy nations on earth today? If not, there is a reason and the psalmist gives it!
'Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord' (33:12)
What follows is a delightful poem setting out the greatness of God, the one who sits enthroned above the world and sees all that goes on within it. In that light, the fate of nations is not determined by how powerful a king and his military are. No, victory comes to those who fear God - in Old Testament language this is pretty much the same as New Testament language about trusting God.
It is said that Stalin once asked how many (army) divisions the Pope had. Obviously he knew that the answer was none. Many decades later Stalinism is no more but the faithful followers of the Pope (that is, believers in Jesus Christ within the Roman Catholic church) are greater than 1 billion. If only Stalin (who was once upon a time a trainee in a church seminary) knew this psalm!
Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16
Better than a dictionary definition of faith, the first few verses here tell us what faith is:
'the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.'
Faith is not mere wishful thinking, nor is it imagining things which do not exist. It is the confident conviction that what is not seen (God) and what is not yet experienced (the fulfilment of God's promises) is true and real. God exists (see also 11:6) and the future is the reality that the shadow of the present points to.
In verses 8-16, an example of this definition is given. Abraham (i.e. Abram of Genesis 15) set out in life to receive things which he did not see: 'By faith Abraham obeyed' (v. 8). When he received one such thing (the land promised to him, v. 9) he still needed faith, for he knew there was a great future to come, a city so to speak relative to the tents in which he and his family dwelt (v. 10). So through verses 11 and 12 we find the retroactive reflection on what has been just read from Genesis 15: childless Abraham and Sarah became fruitful, their descendants beyond count.
Luke 12:32-40
Chapter 12:13-30 is Jesus teaching assertively that God will provide for his disciples' needs so they neither need to strive to meet these needs, nor be anxious about God's provision and certainly not store up an abundance of wealth. Verse 32 following continues this theme but quickly flows into the theme of readiness for the coming of the Son of Man (i.e. for the return of Jesus Christ to earth).
Verses 32-34: How do we see God as our provider? As a begrudging giver, perhaps in need of a twist of his arm (e.g. through some form of strong prayer on our part, or impressive display of faith)? Jesus assures us that it is our Father's 'good pleasure' to give us the kingdom. So confident can we be in this generous Father that we should 'Sell your possessions and give alms.'
The best way to break the power of money over our lives, to destroy any allegiance to Mammon is to give away what we have. A positive effect of giving is that we will receive 'an unfailing treasure in heaven'. Verse 34 makes a point already made in a different form earlier in the chapter in the parable of the rich fool (vss. 16-20): for our hearts to be in the right place we need to have our 'treasure' in the right place. Money in the bank, multiple properties, gold bars stashed under our beds are spiritually dangerous: our hearts are likely not in heaven but bound here on earth!
Verses 35-40 With no money in the bank, or properties to worry about, the next instruction for a disciple is easy to follow! 'Be dressed for action and have your lamp lit.'
These verses (which receive further expansion in 12:41-48 and 12:49-59) teach disciples that discipleship is a 24/7 task. We serve our master in the tasks of the kingdom with diligence, patience and persistence, never being found by sudden inspection to have grown slack, complacent or sloppy.
Generally in Luke's Gospel the idea of the 'sudden inspection' inherent in the notion of 'Christ's Second Coming' is downplayed compared to Matthew and Mark. But here Luke discloses Christ's clear instructions in the light of the future coming of himself as 'Son of Man' (12:40) - a theme redolent with ideas of judgement, return, restoration and general putting the world to rights (see, e.g. Daniel 7). Disciples are to be 'alert', v. 37, and 'ready', v. 40 for the return of their master.
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