Another 8th century BCE prophet--relatively contemporaneous with Hosea and even Isaiah. Amos follows Joel in our Old Testament most likely because of phrases (Joel 3:16 and Amos 1:2) that are virtually identical.
Amos was a farmer from the Southern Kingdom of Judah who was a prophet to the Northern Kingdom of Israel--and not very welcome there because of the message God sent him with. His message was pretty negative. It sometimes took the form of a judicial declaration of guilt. His words were hard to take.
Chapters 1-2 The LORD is, from the beginning of this prophetic scroll, NOT a comfortable figure. He roars (1:2) like a lion. His breath is like a hot wind.
There follow a series of condemnations of the enemies of Israel that take a specific form:
"For three transgressions of ___ and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because they have ________[commited the following evil]
So I will [send the following punishment]"
The objects of God's punishment are Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom, the Ammonites, Moab, and Judah.
What? JUDAH?!? then ISRAEL?!?
Lumped in with all those enemy states and cities?
God accuses Judah of "rejecting the law of the LORD" (2:4).
God accuses Israel in even more specific terms:
because they sell the righteous for silver
and the needy for a pair of sandals--
they who trample the head of the poor
into the dust of the earth,
and push the afflicted out of the way;
father and son go in to the same girl,
so that my holy name is profaned;
they lay themselves down beside every altar
on garments taken in pledge;
and in the house of their God they drink wine bought with fines they imposed. (2:6-8)
It's important to note that Israel's sins are social: failing to care for the poor, the widow, the sick; and they are ritual. The sexual acts cross the line both ways: sexual acts with girls by father and son are about self-aggrandizement rather than commitment, and the following phrases imply that the venue may be temple prostitution. But again, the ritual sin and the social sin are tangled together, each making the other worse. The Torah prohibited taking a garment in pledge for a debt and keeping it overnight. A poor man used his coat at night as a blanket.
The LORD's response to all this sin is to "press down" the one who tramples the poor (2:7,13).
Chapter 3 develops the idea of the LORD as the Lion roaring in the forest. Pay attention to the syntax. These are all rhetorical questions.
Chapter 4 gives us the magnificently offensive description of narcissistic Israelites as "cows of Bashan" and describes all the ways that God tried to get their attention--by famine, drought, blighted crops--and in every case concludes: "..yet you did not return to me."
Chapter 5 develops the metaphor of Israel as a maiden who has fallen "no more to rise." The form is a funeral lament. And the familiar prophetic language about the coming "day of the LORD" appears as well, and another reference to lions (5:19). The climax of the chapter is passage that was made so familiar to Americans in the speech of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
I hate, I despise your festivals,
and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them;
and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals
I will not look upon.
Take away from me the noise of your songs;
I will not listen to the melody of your harps.
But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. (5:21-24).
Chapter 6 takes up a lament for the wealthy, leisured class of Israelites. (Amos wrote in a time of relative political stability when Israelites were accumulating wealth.)
Chapter 7 is in the form of visions that Amos has of the future. Amos is appalled:
O Lord God, forgive, I beg you!
How can Jacob stand?
He is so small!
Then Amos says: "The LORD relented concerning this; "It shall not be," said the LORD.
This chapter contains King Amaziah of Israel's encounter with Amos. Basically, he says that Amos's words are not good for the morale of the country and he should just head south to his own part of the world and leave Israel alone.
Chapter 8 has another vision which really only makes sense in the Hebrew language, because it's based on what you might call a visual pun. Amos sees a basket of fruit (qayits in Hebrew) and God tells him that he is about to see the end (qets in Hebrew) of Israel.
Another very familiar and beloved passage is in this chapter.
In 8:11 we read:
The time is surely coming, says the Lord GOD,
when I will send a famine on the land;
not a famine of bread, or a thirst for water,
but of hearing the words of the LORD.
Chapter 9 closes with an oracle of hope and restoration. As in the prophet Isaiah, the idea of a righteous remnant being preserved is expressed here.
The time is surely coming, says the LORD,
when the one who plows shall overtake the one who reaps,
and the treader of grapes the one who sows the seed;
the mountains shall drip sweet wine
and all the hills shall flow with it.
I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel,
and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine,
and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit.
I will plant them upon their land,
and they shall never again be plucked up
out of the land I have given them,
says the LORD your God. (9:13-15)
How do we responsibly read these prophetic books in our own day? It can be simply a case of reading the promise parts when things get difficult, and looking at other people's wicked behavior and applying the threatening parts to them. "Our country is about to suffer because of the terrible sins of those (fill in the blank) who live in our midst." I don't think that's the best way to read, because usually God wants to call the reader and the hearer to repentance for our own sins and complicity in the big communal/social sins of our day. I'm reminded that the beloved hymn does not say: "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like you."
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Sunday, January 4, 2015
Back after a LONG Break
At the end of June, I went on a 3 week road trip, visiting all five of my children, performing a wedding, and touching base with old friends, returning to some interesting challenges in my parish. And then I did some continuing education in Arizona and took my last vacation week for our son's wedding. In November we had a flood at church when a radiator burst. Then it was Advent and Christmas. The blog languished.
It's January 4, 2015.
It is COLD in Minot, North Dakota. The wind chill when church began this morning was south of -40 degrees (where, incidentally, the Fahrenheit and Celsius scales cross…), and it was -17F before we factored in the wind chill. The temperature has risen a bit, but so has the wind. It was so bitter that when I wanted to capture the amazing sun dogs late this afternoon, I was too wimpy to go outdoors!
People in my congregation have continued to read. It has not always been easy or pleasant. sometimes it hasn't even seemed very edifying. Yet when we've met on Wednesdays, a group of retired women for the most part with an occasional visitor, the conversations have been meaningful.
So where are we this coming week? Reading Hosea and Joel. Reading Psalms 101-106. Starting to read the Gospel of Luke. We are on our second pass through the Psalms, and now just beginning our second pass through Luke. I will be interested to ask the group how their second reading this year differs from their first reading. These women have been reading the Gospels all their lives and hearing passages read in church. Yet the more intensive task of reading larger chunks of the Bible daily has been eye-opening.
So…. some comments about HOSEA, the first of what are called the "Minor Prophets," because they are relatively short and they come at the end of the English Old Testament; or the "Twelve" in the Hebrew tradition.
Hosea preached in the 8th century before the Common Era, just before the Northern Kingdom of Israel fell to the Assyrians.
Hosea 1.
Notice the structure of the first verses. We locate Hosea as "the son of Beeri" and the time when "the word of the LORD came to" him, both in the dynasties of the Kings of Israel and the Kings of Judah.
Hosea is called to what I'd like to call Prophetic Street Theatre. God calls him to marry a prostitute and have children with her, "for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the LORD" (1:2).
Having been a priest for more than a quarter century, I have seen the pain that marital unfaithfulness causes. It's hard to imagine a person willingly taking on the risk of marrying someone who has no plans to be faithful. Perhaps that's too un-charitable a reading of Gomer's situation. Maybe she was amazed that Hosea would ask her to marry. Maybe she fully intended to be a conventional wife. Maybe she was a conventional wife at the start. Hosea and Gomer had babies together, and gave them names that would be hard to carry: Jezreel, "Not Pitied," and finally "Not My People."
Hosea 2.
If we'd been hoping that Gomer would respond to Hosea's love with faithfulness, it would appear that chapter 2 doesn't allow for such an interpretation. Hosea's relationship with his wife and children is like God's relationship with Israel: passionate, loving, but disappointing.
What do you think about the role of the land in reflecting God's disappointment with Israel?
What do you think of this picture of God as One who punishes unfaithfulness?
The feminist in me still recoils at the idea of an unfaithful woman as a metaphor for human sinfulness.
Yet the pain and pathos of the LORD in the face of the unfaithfulness of his people is so very moving in Hosea's words:
"She did not know
that it was I who gave her the grand, the wine, and the oil,
and who lavished upon her silver
and gold that they used for Baal.
God continues to try to woo Israel back:
"Therefore, I will now allure her
and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her.
From there I will give her her vineyards,
and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.
There she shall respond as in the days of her youth,
as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt (2:14-15).
The following chapters continue this theme. The idolatry of Israel is likened to adultery.
God is so frustrated, so disappointed.
(This is an astounding admission on God's part, gives us a very different picture of God than we sometimes have. Theologians of the Middle Ages spoke of the Impassibility of God. They could not imagine God in pain, God suffering, because pain and suffering imply imperfection, a lack of completeness, and God must, by their definition, be perfect.)
Hosea 6:4: "What shall I do with you, O Ephraim?
What shall I do with you, O Judah?
Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes away early."
Watch how Hosea develops the metaphor of a vine in Ch. 10.
Watch how Hosea's words "Out of Egypt I called my son" (11:1) are used in Hosea, and how they are appropriated in Matthew's gospel as a prophecy of the Flight of the Holy Family into Egypt. (Matthew 2:15)
Notice how God continues to agonize in 11:8ff!
And notice how even by the end of the book there is still ambiguity. 14:4-7 are so full of hope and love. Yet 14:8 still is quite open-ended; we don't know what Israel's response will be:
"O Ephraim, what have I to do with idols?
It is I who answer and look after you.
I am like an evergreen cypress;
your faithfulness comes from me."
(14:9 is actually a post-script and probably not originally part of Hosea's prophecy.)
It's January 4, 2015.
It is COLD in Minot, North Dakota. The wind chill when church began this morning was south of -40 degrees (where, incidentally, the Fahrenheit and Celsius scales cross…), and it was -17F before we factored in the wind chill. The temperature has risen a bit, but so has the wind. It was so bitter that when I wanted to capture the amazing sun dogs late this afternoon, I was too wimpy to go outdoors!
People in my congregation have continued to read. It has not always been easy or pleasant. sometimes it hasn't even seemed very edifying. Yet when we've met on Wednesdays, a group of retired women for the most part with an occasional visitor, the conversations have been meaningful.
So where are we this coming week? Reading Hosea and Joel. Reading Psalms 101-106. Starting to read the Gospel of Luke. We are on our second pass through the Psalms, and now just beginning our second pass through Luke. I will be interested to ask the group how their second reading this year differs from their first reading. These women have been reading the Gospels all their lives and hearing passages read in church. Yet the more intensive task of reading larger chunks of the Bible daily has been eye-opening.
So…. some comments about HOSEA, the first of what are called the "Minor Prophets," because they are relatively short and they come at the end of the English Old Testament; or the "Twelve" in the Hebrew tradition.
Hosea preached in the 8th century before the Common Era, just before the Northern Kingdom of Israel fell to the Assyrians.
Hosea 1.
Notice the structure of the first verses. We locate Hosea as "the son of Beeri" and the time when "the word of the LORD came to" him, both in the dynasties of the Kings of Israel and the Kings of Judah.
Hosea is called to what I'd like to call Prophetic Street Theatre. God calls him to marry a prostitute and have children with her, "for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the LORD" (1:2).
Having been a priest for more than a quarter century, I have seen the pain that marital unfaithfulness causes. It's hard to imagine a person willingly taking on the risk of marrying someone who has no plans to be faithful. Perhaps that's too un-charitable a reading of Gomer's situation. Maybe she was amazed that Hosea would ask her to marry. Maybe she fully intended to be a conventional wife. Maybe she was a conventional wife at the start. Hosea and Gomer had babies together, and gave them names that would be hard to carry: Jezreel, "Not Pitied," and finally "Not My People."
Hosea 2.
If we'd been hoping that Gomer would respond to Hosea's love with faithfulness, it would appear that chapter 2 doesn't allow for such an interpretation. Hosea's relationship with his wife and children is like God's relationship with Israel: passionate, loving, but disappointing.
What do you think about the role of the land in reflecting God's disappointment with Israel?
What do you think of this picture of God as One who punishes unfaithfulness?
The feminist in me still recoils at the idea of an unfaithful woman as a metaphor for human sinfulness.
Yet the pain and pathos of the LORD in the face of the unfaithfulness of his people is so very moving in Hosea's words:
"She did not know
that it was I who gave her the grand, the wine, and the oil,
and who lavished upon her silver
and gold that they used for Baal.
God continues to try to woo Israel back:
"Therefore, I will now allure her
and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her.
From there I will give her her vineyards,
and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.
There she shall respond as in the days of her youth,
as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt (2:14-15).
The following chapters continue this theme. The idolatry of Israel is likened to adultery.
God is so frustrated, so disappointed.
(This is an astounding admission on God's part, gives us a very different picture of God than we sometimes have. Theologians of the Middle Ages spoke of the Impassibility of God. They could not imagine God in pain, God suffering, because pain and suffering imply imperfection, a lack of completeness, and God must, by their definition, be perfect.)
Hosea 6:4: "What shall I do with you, O Ephraim?
What shall I do with you, O Judah?
Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes away early."
Watch how Hosea develops the metaphor of a vine in Ch. 10.
Watch how Hosea's words "Out of Egypt I called my son" (11:1) are used in Hosea, and how they are appropriated in Matthew's gospel as a prophecy of the Flight of the Holy Family into Egypt. (Matthew 2:15)
Notice how God continues to agonize in 11:8ff!
And notice how even by the end of the book there is still ambiguity. 14:4-7 are so full of hope and love. Yet 14:8 still is quite open-ended; we don't know what Israel's response will be:
"O Ephraim, what have I to do with idols?
It is I who answer and look after you.
I am like an evergreen cypress;
your faithfulness comes from me."
(14:9 is actually a post-script and probably not originally part of Hosea's prophecy.)
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Acts 1-20
During the months of June and July we will be reading from the Book of the Acts of the Apostles. It's the 5th book of the New Testament, and it also functions as "volume 2" for the Gospel of Luke, as Luke makes clear (Acts 1:1).
For a couple of days there the account in Acts actually matched up with our liturgical year, as we read about the events of Ascension and Pentecost. On Sundays, all through the Great Fifty Days of Easter we read from Acts, though, in some ways, it would make more sense to do so after Easter.
But the liturgical year is divided into two parts: one part governed by events in the life of Jesus and dependent on the lunar calendar for the determination of Easter's date; and from the Sunday after Pentecost until Advent, a second part governed by the secular calendar, during which most of our Gospel readings for Sunday Eucharistic worship come from one Gospel. (Matthew in Year A, Mark in Year B, and Luke in Year C. We're in Year A in 2014, until Advent, when we will roll over to Year B.)
This is Luke's account of how the Church follows Jesus' words that "you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (1:8). It is also Luke's attempt, decades after the fact, to write a sort of biography of St. Paul, whose epistles are such an important part of the New Testament, and were all written before any of the gospels.
You can watch Peter assume leadership in the beginning of Acts (1:15), and then see the focus move to Paul after his conversion.
You can see how the Greek conventions about oratory and speeches are followed in Acts, and notice the important speeches and who gives them. They are clearly not verbatim, start-to-finish transcriptions, but designed to show in summary form the kinds of teaching that Peter, Stephen, and Paul engaged in.
You can see how Luke, as he did in his Gospel, continues to quote scripture (the Septuagint Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible) as he seeks to show how Jesus is the One to whom the scriptures had been pointing from the very beginning.
You can watch a shift from concern with believers who were Jews to believers who were Gentiles.
You can see a continued concern for food and table fellowship and its meaning.
You can see an attempt to show the Church unified about matters which Paul had earlier found very disruptive and contentious.
You can see language about Jesus as Savior, Healer; and throughout, you can see the work of the Holy Spirit continuing, as it had in Luke.
You can see Luke showing (for example in Chapter 3) how the apostles did the same kinds of acts of healing that Jesus had done; and you can see the joy that the healing brought into the hearts of those who were healed (3:8).
Interestingly, in his speech explaining this healing, Peter speaks of the Messiah as still to come: "Repent, therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah appoint for you, that is, Jesus, who must remain in heaven until the time of universal restoration that God announced long ago through his holy prophets" (3:19-21).
In Chapter 4, we see how opposition to this group of followers of the Way of Jesus continues. It is infighting within the Jewish community at this point. We get to our third speech by Peter (4:8 and following) and a second manifestation of filling by the Holy Spirit (4:24-31), in the context of a rather detailed prayer offered by the apostles. And we find ourselves introduced to Barnabas, whose name means "son of encouragement." Barnabas has sold a piece of property and given the proceeds to the apostles (4:37), and his behavior is contrasted in Chapter 5 with that of Ananias and Sapphira, who claimed to do so, but gave only part of the proceeds (5:2). In behavior which is really quite reminiscent of Moses, Peter is aware of their deception. When people in Moses' day treated God with insufficient honor and respect for the utter holiness of the LORD, they, too, died.
The apostles are imprisoned by a high priest who belongs to the sect of the Sadducees (remember? they're the ones who don't believe in the resurrection of the dead or any kind of life after death). And they are miraculously released by an angel (5:19) so they return to the temple to continue proclaiming their message, where they are caught again and flogged. Luke summarizes in 5:41: "As they left the council they rejoiced that they wee considered worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name."
In Chapter 6 we read about the development of the office of Deacon (which means "servant"), the selection of seven deacons, and their receiving the laying on of hands by the apostles (6:6). One deacon in particular, Stephen, comes to prominence because he is "full of grace and power" (6:8). He is arrested, and in an eloquent speech in Chapter 7, Stephen links the events of his own time with the history of God's deeds among the people of Israel. He is articulate and eloquent, and things are actually going okay until he applies to his listeners the same labels the prophets had given to the Israelites. In 7:51-53, he calls them "stiff-necked people…forever opposing the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do". And that is the straw that broke the camel's back; and the crowd decides to stone Stephen. As he dies, Stephen, very Christ-like, cries: "Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." Then, a moment later, quoting Jesus, prays: "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit" and, finally, "Lord, to not hold this sin against them."
Luke brilliantly names Saul --who will be re-named Paul--as a young man present and approving of this stoning of Stephen. Stephen is the first Martyr (Greek word for "witness"); and the persecution of the Church really takes off at this point (Chapter 8). And the proclamation of the Good News moves from Jerusalem to Judea and Samaria (8:9 and following). So the apostles needed to check out this new thing; and they sent Peter and John. Their response was to lay hands on the new Samaritan Christians and ask God that they might receive the Holy Spirit (8:14-17). Simon the Magician thought that was pretty amazing and asked to buy the power that the apostles seemed to have a connection to. Peter was incredibly dismissive--you don't manipulate God, after all! and it is dangerous to try--but Luke leaves the encounter open-ended, as Simon asks the apostles to pray for him (8:24).
And now, Philip, in obedience to God's guidance, shows how the Good News will go to the whole world, as he preaches to the Ethiopian Eunuch, who though God-fearing, could never become a Jew because Jews with crushed or missing testicles could not enter the Temple (Dt. 23:1).
So…to the ends of the earth!
Now we watch the focus begin to shift, in several transitional chapters, to the mission of Paul to the Gentiles.
In Acts 9, we see the dramatic conversion of Saul, and meet a different Ananias, who is, in his own way, very brave to trust God that this Saul was no longer a danger to followers of Jesus. We meet Barnabas again, who is the one who takes Saul around and introduces him to Christians as now himself a Christian. What a "Son of Encouragement!"
Also in this chapter, we see Peter call a woman back from the dead, so she may continue to serve God and God's people. (Another way that Peter's apostolic status is confirmed as he follows Jesus.)
Then the major transitional chapters, where what we saw in Chapter 8 with Philip, is confirmed by Peter's behavior toward gentiles as he meets Cornelius and, in the power of the Spirit, overcomes his own visceral reaction to Gentiles to invite them into relationship with Jesus. This is a HUGE, HUGE shift in Peter's thinking. Amazing that for Luke, table fellowship and food --hospitality of God opening up to Gentiles--are the central nexus of this conversion of Peter to openness about the Gentiles also being part of God's plan. Again, the Spirit of God is present in power, and these Gentiles are baptized (Chapters 10-11). Again, it requires ratification by the leaders of the Church in Jerusalem. Their conclusion is "Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life." (11:18).
And Gentiles even further off, in Antioch, are also becoming Christians, and Barnabas, then Barnabas and Saul, spend time with Gentiles there, teaching. "It was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians (11:26).
In Acts 12, we read about further persecution of the Church, and the first martyr of the apostles: James. Peter is imprisoned, miraculously led out again by an angel of the Lord. He thinks he's having a vision, so he is really shocked when he discovers he was actually free.
In Acts 13, Barnabas and Saul are consecrated for their work, which will turn out to be among the Gentiles. We hear the first long speech of Paul (13: 16 and following). (And note, in this chapter, Paul becomes known no longer as Saul but as Paul! (13:9) As a result of that speech and his further teaching in Antioch, Paul concludes: "It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken first to you. Since you reject it and judge yourselves to be unworthy of eternal life, we are now turning to the Gentiles." (13:46).
Similarly, in Acts 14, Paul and Barnabas begin in the synagogue and extend out to Gentiles. Greeks treat them as if they are Zeus and Hermes. Whenever they return home, they share what they've seen God do through them.
By Chapter 15, the Church in Jerusalem needs to weigh in on what has been happening. The elders interview Paul and Barnabas, and the question becomes: are we expecting Gentiles to become Jews as a result of their giving their allegiance to Jesus? Their dialogue brings them to the conclusion that Gentiles do not need to become Jews. And Paul and Barnabas propose a missionary journey to the churches where they had been before. But they disagree about John Mark, and it is bitter enough--alas! even among godly followers of Jesus this happens sometimes--that Paul and Barnabas part ways, and Paul takes Silas along with him.
In Chapter 16, we watch Paul and Silas begin their journey and then revise it in the context of a vision. They head to Macedonia (Greece), and end up on Philippi, a "leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony" (16:12). This chapter also has the story of the conversion of the Philippian jailer that I loved so much when I was a kid--another miraculous release from prison!
Chapter 17: By now we are seeing that Christianity is not only problematic to Jews but also to Gentile governments as the values of the Kingdom of God clash with the values of the world, the desire to make money not the least of those values (16-17). And Paul gets to Athens and preaches his sermon about the "Unknown God" whom he proclaims to be Jesus. For Greeks, the resurrection of the dead is just as much a problem as it was for the Jews (17:32ff), though for different reasons.
Chapter 18: And now we notice Timothy and Apollos, who appear in Paul's letters. And we see Paul make a definitive turn toward the Gentiles: When the Jews of Macedonia opposed him as he preached that Jesus was the Messiah, "in protest he shook the dust from his clothes and said to them, "Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles" (18:6). So he moved from synagogue as the locus of his teaching to the home of a Gentile. And he stayed a year and a half with these Gentile Christians.
Chapter 19: There is a story that clarifies the difference between the baptism of John "of repentance for the forgiveness of sins" and the baptism in the name of Jesus. And the affirming presence of the Holy Spirit, with the laying on of hands and the sign of speaking in tongues. Interesting that the text says of these Corinthian believers "there were about twelve of them." (19:7) Is this a sort of new apostolate to the Gentiles? A sort of reprise of the Pentecost event (which was to Jewish believers) for Gentiles?
There is another narrative about local exorcists/magicians in vss. 11-20. And it is made clear once again that the Way of Jesus is not about manipulating spiritual powers, but about submitting in repentance to the Lord of the Universe, about receiving his love and forgiveness.
And in 23-41 the Christian Way has begun to disrupt the economic status quo in Ephesus.
In chapter 20 we begin to see the pronoun "we" creep into the narrative, as Luke joins the travelers. We also see Paul show a tender and very human side as he bids these people farewell.
For a couple of days there the account in Acts actually matched up with our liturgical year, as we read about the events of Ascension and Pentecost. On Sundays, all through the Great Fifty Days of Easter we read from Acts, though, in some ways, it would make more sense to do so after Easter.
But the liturgical year is divided into two parts: one part governed by events in the life of Jesus and dependent on the lunar calendar for the determination of Easter's date; and from the Sunday after Pentecost until Advent, a second part governed by the secular calendar, during which most of our Gospel readings for Sunday Eucharistic worship come from one Gospel. (Matthew in Year A, Mark in Year B, and Luke in Year C. We're in Year A in 2014, until Advent, when we will roll over to Year B.)
This is Luke's account of how the Church follows Jesus' words that "you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (1:8). It is also Luke's attempt, decades after the fact, to write a sort of biography of St. Paul, whose epistles are such an important part of the New Testament, and were all written before any of the gospels.
You can watch Peter assume leadership in the beginning of Acts (1:15), and then see the focus move to Paul after his conversion.
You can see how the Greek conventions about oratory and speeches are followed in Acts, and notice the important speeches and who gives them. They are clearly not verbatim, start-to-finish transcriptions, but designed to show in summary form the kinds of teaching that Peter, Stephen, and Paul engaged in.
You can see how Luke, as he did in his Gospel, continues to quote scripture (the Septuagint Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible) as he seeks to show how Jesus is the One to whom the scriptures had been pointing from the very beginning.
You can watch a shift from concern with believers who were Jews to believers who were Gentiles.
You can see a continued concern for food and table fellowship and its meaning.
You can see an attempt to show the Church unified about matters which Paul had earlier found very disruptive and contentious.
You can see language about Jesus as Savior, Healer; and throughout, you can see the work of the Holy Spirit continuing, as it had in Luke.
You can see Luke showing (for example in Chapter 3) how the apostles did the same kinds of acts of healing that Jesus had done; and you can see the joy that the healing brought into the hearts of those who were healed (3:8).
Interestingly, in his speech explaining this healing, Peter speaks of the Messiah as still to come: "Repent, therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah appoint for you, that is, Jesus, who must remain in heaven until the time of universal restoration that God announced long ago through his holy prophets" (3:19-21).
In Chapter 4, we see how opposition to this group of followers of the Way of Jesus continues. It is infighting within the Jewish community at this point. We get to our third speech by Peter (4:8 and following) and a second manifestation of filling by the Holy Spirit (4:24-31), in the context of a rather detailed prayer offered by the apostles. And we find ourselves introduced to Barnabas, whose name means "son of encouragement." Barnabas has sold a piece of property and given the proceeds to the apostles (4:37), and his behavior is contrasted in Chapter 5 with that of Ananias and Sapphira, who claimed to do so, but gave only part of the proceeds (5:2). In behavior which is really quite reminiscent of Moses, Peter is aware of their deception. When people in Moses' day treated God with insufficient honor and respect for the utter holiness of the LORD, they, too, died.
The apostles are imprisoned by a high priest who belongs to the sect of the Sadducees (remember? they're the ones who don't believe in the resurrection of the dead or any kind of life after death). And they are miraculously released by an angel (5:19) so they return to the temple to continue proclaiming their message, where they are caught again and flogged. Luke summarizes in 5:41: "As they left the council they rejoiced that they wee considered worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name."
In Chapter 6 we read about the development of the office of Deacon (which means "servant"), the selection of seven deacons, and their receiving the laying on of hands by the apostles (6:6). One deacon in particular, Stephen, comes to prominence because he is "full of grace and power" (6:8). He is arrested, and in an eloquent speech in Chapter 7, Stephen links the events of his own time with the history of God's deeds among the people of Israel. He is articulate and eloquent, and things are actually going okay until he applies to his listeners the same labels the prophets had given to the Israelites. In 7:51-53, he calls them "stiff-necked people…forever opposing the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do". And that is the straw that broke the camel's back; and the crowd decides to stone Stephen. As he dies, Stephen, very Christ-like, cries: "Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." Then, a moment later, quoting Jesus, prays: "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit" and, finally, "Lord, to not hold this sin against them."
Luke brilliantly names Saul --who will be re-named Paul--as a young man present and approving of this stoning of Stephen. Stephen is the first Martyr (Greek word for "witness"); and the persecution of the Church really takes off at this point (Chapter 8). And the proclamation of the Good News moves from Jerusalem to Judea and Samaria (8:9 and following). So the apostles needed to check out this new thing; and they sent Peter and John. Their response was to lay hands on the new Samaritan Christians and ask God that they might receive the Holy Spirit (8:14-17). Simon the Magician thought that was pretty amazing and asked to buy the power that the apostles seemed to have a connection to. Peter was incredibly dismissive--you don't manipulate God, after all! and it is dangerous to try--but Luke leaves the encounter open-ended, as Simon asks the apostles to pray for him (8:24).
And now, Philip, in obedience to God's guidance, shows how the Good News will go to the whole world, as he preaches to the Ethiopian Eunuch, who though God-fearing, could never become a Jew because Jews with crushed or missing testicles could not enter the Temple (Dt. 23:1).
So…to the ends of the earth!
Now we watch the focus begin to shift, in several transitional chapters, to the mission of Paul to the Gentiles.
In Acts 9, we see the dramatic conversion of Saul, and meet a different Ananias, who is, in his own way, very brave to trust God that this Saul was no longer a danger to followers of Jesus. We meet Barnabas again, who is the one who takes Saul around and introduces him to Christians as now himself a Christian. What a "Son of Encouragement!"
Also in this chapter, we see Peter call a woman back from the dead, so she may continue to serve God and God's people. (Another way that Peter's apostolic status is confirmed as he follows Jesus.)
Then the major transitional chapters, where what we saw in Chapter 8 with Philip, is confirmed by Peter's behavior toward gentiles as he meets Cornelius and, in the power of the Spirit, overcomes his own visceral reaction to Gentiles to invite them into relationship with Jesus. This is a HUGE, HUGE shift in Peter's thinking. Amazing that for Luke, table fellowship and food --hospitality of God opening up to Gentiles--are the central nexus of this conversion of Peter to openness about the Gentiles also being part of God's plan. Again, the Spirit of God is present in power, and these Gentiles are baptized (Chapters 10-11). Again, it requires ratification by the leaders of the Church in Jerusalem. Their conclusion is "Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life." (11:18).
And Gentiles even further off, in Antioch, are also becoming Christians, and Barnabas, then Barnabas and Saul, spend time with Gentiles there, teaching. "It was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians (11:26).
In Acts 12, we read about further persecution of the Church, and the first martyr of the apostles: James. Peter is imprisoned, miraculously led out again by an angel of the Lord. He thinks he's having a vision, so he is really shocked when he discovers he was actually free.
In Acts 13, Barnabas and Saul are consecrated for their work, which will turn out to be among the Gentiles. We hear the first long speech of Paul (13: 16 and following). (And note, in this chapter, Paul becomes known no longer as Saul but as Paul! (13:9) As a result of that speech and his further teaching in Antioch, Paul concludes: "It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken first to you. Since you reject it and judge yourselves to be unworthy of eternal life, we are now turning to the Gentiles." (13:46).
Similarly, in Acts 14, Paul and Barnabas begin in the synagogue and extend out to Gentiles. Greeks treat them as if they are Zeus and Hermes. Whenever they return home, they share what they've seen God do through them.
By Chapter 15, the Church in Jerusalem needs to weigh in on what has been happening. The elders interview Paul and Barnabas, and the question becomes: are we expecting Gentiles to become Jews as a result of their giving their allegiance to Jesus? Their dialogue brings them to the conclusion that Gentiles do not need to become Jews. And Paul and Barnabas propose a missionary journey to the churches where they had been before. But they disagree about John Mark, and it is bitter enough--alas! even among godly followers of Jesus this happens sometimes--that Paul and Barnabas part ways, and Paul takes Silas along with him.
In Chapter 16, we watch Paul and Silas begin their journey and then revise it in the context of a vision. They head to Macedonia (Greece), and end up on Philippi, a "leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony" (16:12). This chapter also has the story of the conversion of the Philippian jailer that I loved so much when I was a kid--another miraculous release from prison!
Chapter 17: By now we are seeing that Christianity is not only problematic to Jews but also to Gentile governments as the values of the Kingdom of God clash with the values of the world, the desire to make money not the least of those values (16-17). And Paul gets to Athens and preaches his sermon about the "Unknown God" whom he proclaims to be Jesus. For Greeks, the resurrection of the dead is just as much a problem as it was for the Jews (17:32ff), though for different reasons.
Chapter 18: And now we notice Timothy and Apollos, who appear in Paul's letters. And we see Paul make a definitive turn toward the Gentiles: When the Jews of Macedonia opposed him as he preached that Jesus was the Messiah, "in protest he shook the dust from his clothes and said to them, "Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles" (18:6). So he moved from synagogue as the locus of his teaching to the home of a Gentile. And he stayed a year and a half with these Gentile Christians.
Chapter 19: There is a story that clarifies the difference between the baptism of John "of repentance for the forgiveness of sins" and the baptism in the name of Jesus. And the affirming presence of the Holy Spirit, with the laying on of hands and the sign of speaking in tongues. Interesting that the text says of these Corinthian believers "there were about twelve of them." (19:7) Is this a sort of new apostolate to the Gentiles? A sort of reprise of the Pentecost event (which was to Jewish believers) for Gentiles?
There is another narrative about local exorcists/magicians in vss. 11-20. And it is made clear once again that the Way of Jesus is not about manipulating spiritual powers, but about submitting in repentance to the Lord of the Universe, about receiving his love and forgiveness.
And in 23-41 the Christian Way has begun to disrupt the economic status quo in Ephesus.
In chapter 20 we begin to see the pronoun "we" creep into the narrative, as Luke joins the travelers. We also see Paul show a tender and very human side as he bids these people farewell.
Friday, June 13, 2014
Psalms 80-90
I think it might be helpful to know what kinds of helpful insights you can get from reading a commentary on the psalms. I find that I can "go on autopilot" when reading the psalms, especially in a liturgical setting. If you pray daily morning or evening prayer in the Anglican/Episcopal tradition, you will get a large dose of psalmody into your head and heart over the years. It will generally be in the lovely but idiosyncratic translation that is unique to the Book of Common Prayer 1979. Psalms in the BCP are laid out with each verse in two parts, enabling choral singing in a monastic setting, with two groups sitting, one on each side, responding antiphonally. That scheme means that sometimes the number of verses and the versification itself are unique to the BCP. If you read a commentary reference to the Psalms, you will follow the argument better if you read from the Bible than from the BCP.
Psalm 80 has a repeating refrain (I guess that's a redundant redundancy, isn't it?): "Restore us, O God..."
The commentary that accompanies the NRSV New Oxford Annotated Bible (4th edition) (NOAB) offers some historical perspective. References to "Joseph" and to "Ephraim, and Benjamin and Manasseh"in "vv.1-7 ask God to aid the northern tribes suffering from the effects of God's anger, vv.8-13 recall Israel's founding event (the exodus and settlement of Canaan) called into question by the enemies' triumph, and vv.12-19 pray that God act now. The psalm imagines the founding event as the transplanting of a vine to Canaan" (p. 840).
In the Gospels, we read parables of Jesus that feature vineyards. This psalm gives us some insight in understanding the richness of Jesus' allusions in those parables.
Psalm 81 is a great contrast to the psalm it follows. It is full of joy at the beginning, inviting the community--and remember! psalms were first sung and remembered in communal worship--to praise God using song, shouts of joy, and musical instruments of all kinds: strings, percussion, and brass.
It is a psalm that invites the community to remember its past. God speaks: "I relieved your shoulder of the burden; your hands were freed from the basket. In distress you called, and I rescued you..."
But God goes on to remind the people that they have a long history of ignoring God's voice.
The final verse (81:16) reads:
I would feed you with the finest of the wheat,
and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you."
Several of my children attended a camp called Honey Rock. I love this verse because I love the earthiness of home-made sourdough wheat bread and honey. What a beautiful marriage of sour and sweet! God giving us something delicious, nourishing, and wonderful!
Psalm 82 The NOAB points out that, as in Psalm 29 and "to a lesser extent Pss 58 and 75, the setting is the assembly of the heavenly beings, who were thought to rule the nations of the earth under God's supervision (cf Deut 32:8-9). This psalm tells how these beings lost their authority by ruling unjustly, and how God took over their rule. The psalm shares mythic and historical material with Gen 6:1-2; Isa 14.12-21; and Ezek 28.1-19" (NOAB 842).
Notice how The major complaint that God has here is that these people don't take seriously the needs of "the weak and the needy" the "lowly and the destitute" (vss.3-4).
C.S. Lewis, in Reflections on the Psalms has a wonderful commentary on the concept of justice in the Psalms:
It was...with great surprise that I first noticed how the Psalmists talk about the judgments of God. They talk like this; "O let the nations rejoice and be glad, for thou shalt judge the folk righteously" (67,4) ...Judgement is apparently an occasion of universal rejoicing. People ask for it: "Judge me, O Lord my God, according to thy righteousness" (35,24).
The reason for this soon becomes very plain. The ancient Jews, like ourselves, think of God's judgement in terms of an earthly court of justice. The difference is that the Christian pictures the case to be tried as a criminal case with himself in the dock; the Jew pictures it as a civil case with himself as the plaintiff. the one hopes for acquittal, or rather for pardon; the other hopes for a resounding triumph with heavy damages.
...Notice what [Our Lord] means by "an unjust judge". ...The Unjust Judge in the parable is quite a different character. There is no danger of appearing in his court against your will: the difficulty is the opposite--to get into it. It is clearly a civil action. The poor woman (Luke 18,1-5) has had her little strip of land--room for a pigsty or a hen-run--taken away from her by a richer and more powerful neighbor (nowadays it would be Town-Planners of some other "Body"). And she knows she has a perfectly watertight case. If once she could get it into court and have it tried by the laws of the land, she would be bound to get that strip back. But no one will listen to her, she can't get it tried. No wonder she is anxious for "judgement".
...We need not therefore be surprised if the Psalms, and the Prophets, are full of the longing for judgement, and regard the announcement that "judgement" is coming as good news. Hundreds and thousands of people who have been stripped of all they possess and who have the right entirely on their side will at last be heard. Of course they are not afraid of judgement. They know their case is unanswerable--if only it could be heard. When God comes to judge, at last it will.
Dozens of passages make the point clear. ...When God accuses earthly judges of "wrong judgement", He follows it up by telling them to see that the poor "have right" (82,2,3).
The "just" judge, then, is primarily he who rights a wrong in a civil case..." (pp. 9-12)
Lewis's words are helpful as we read the next psalm (Psalm 83), as well. This one is full of allusions to events described in 1 Samuel (which we're reading simultaneously with this psalm) and in the book of Judges.
Just for the beauty of it, look at the language that the psalmist uses to ask God to bring vengeance down on his enemies (83:13ff).
O my God, make them like whirling dust,
like chaff before the wind.
As fire consumes the forest,
as the flame sets the mountains ablaze,
so pursue them with your tempest
and terrify them with your hurricane.
Psalm 84 has been set to music many times. Here is one of the loveliest, by Brahms, from his Requiem: "How lovely is thy dwelling place, O Lord of Hosts"
Psalm 85 Another psalm that asks God to "restore us"! (God has done it in the past--v.1--now the psalmist asks God to "restore us again" in v. 4.)
The request in v. 7 is for God to show his hesed, translated "steadfast love" or "mercy." It is one of the chief OT words to describe how God acts towards his people.
I have often thought that v. 10 expresses a longing that I, too, have for characteristics that seldom are found in the same person:
Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet;
righteousness and peace will kiss each other.
Faithfulness will spring up from the ground,
and righteousness will look down from the sky.
The LORD will give what is good,
and our land will yield its increase.
The BCP translates: "Mercy and truth have met..."
Interesting, because the word for truth in Hebrew is related to the word for faithfulness, for dependability, for trustworthiness.
Psalm 86 This psalm contains the characteristic self-description that the LORD uses in each of the major divisions of the Hebrew Bible: Torah, Prophets, and Writings (Psalms are in the "Writings" category.) The Psalmist prays:
But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness (86:15).
It's a word pair that we also saw in Psalm 85 above.
Psalm 87 A psalm about Jerusalem. When a friend of mine was celebrating a New Ministry in a parish, the preacher preached on the last two verses of this psalm:
The LORD will record as he enrolls the peoples,
These also were born there."
The singers and the dancers will say,
"All my fresh springs are in you."
My friend has a beautiful singing voice, and a love of the arts. The preacher prayed that she would continue to find the LORD to be the source of all her creativity and refreshment.
Psalm 88 A classic psalm of lament. Just so it doesn't distract, we might need a definition of "Abaddon" (v. 11). We might get a hint from its position in the poem apposite "the grave". The notes of the NOAB are helpful: "(literally "destruction") another name for the abode of the dead" (NOAB, p. 846). It is rare in that it ends in greater despair than it begins with.
Psalm 89 This is a prayer asking God to be faithful to David. It alludes to the way God makes himself known in nature, and makes reference to "Rahab" the primeval chaos monster. (What would it be like to have the name "Rahab"? Are they actually from the same Hebrew root? If so, would it license a person to be somewhat wild and out of control?) God overpowers that monster.
God promises to act in hesed and faithfulness. Yet by the end of the psalm, the psalmist is asking the perennial question: "How long, O LORD?" Evidence of the events of the psalmist's day make it difficult to remember that God is continuing to care, continuing in control. The final petition is:
"Remember, O Lord, how your servant is taunted..." Remember! Remember!
The final blessing stated in v. 52 is not formally part of the psalm, but is rather a formal marker of the 3rd of the 5 "books" of the Psalms. There are five "books" or divisions in the psalms, likely to mirror the 5 books of the Torah
Psalm 90 If you read your psalms in the BCP, you miss the attributions at the beginnings of the psalms. They often don't add much to devotional reading, but interestingly, this psalm's attribution reads: "A prayer of Moses, the man of God."
The description of timelessness in v.2 is really remarkable. The contrast between our finite human lives and timescale and God's eternity is important to this psalm (vss.2-10). The conclusion: "So teach us to count our days that we may gain a wise heart" (v. 12).
And then again comes that question, HOW LONG, O LORD!?!?!?
And the psalmist begs God to show hesed and compassion.
Psalm 80 has a repeating refrain (I guess that's a redundant redundancy, isn't it?): "Restore us, O God..."
The commentary that accompanies the NRSV New Oxford Annotated Bible (4th edition) (NOAB) offers some historical perspective. References to "Joseph" and to "Ephraim, and Benjamin and Manasseh"in "vv.1-7 ask God to aid the northern tribes suffering from the effects of God's anger, vv.8-13 recall Israel's founding event (the exodus and settlement of Canaan) called into question by the enemies' triumph, and vv.12-19 pray that God act now. The psalm imagines the founding event as the transplanting of a vine to Canaan" (p. 840).
In the Gospels, we read parables of Jesus that feature vineyards. This psalm gives us some insight in understanding the richness of Jesus' allusions in those parables.
Psalm 81 is a great contrast to the psalm it follows. It is full of joy at the beginning, inviting the community--and remember! psalms were first sung and remembered in communal worship--to praise God using song, shouts of joy, and musical instruments of all kinds: strings, percussion, and brass.
It is a psalm that invites the community to remember its past. God speaks: "I relieved your shoulder of the burden; your hands were freed from the basket. In distress you called, and I rescued you..."
But God goes on to remind the people that they have a long history of ignoring God's voice.
The final verse (81:16) reads:
I would feed you with the finest of the wheat,
and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you."
Several of my children attended a camp called Honey Rock. I love this verse because I love the earthiness of home-made sourdough wheat bread and honey. What a beautiful marriage of sour and sweet! God giving us something delicious, nourishing, and wonderful!
Psalm 82 The NOAB points out that, as in Psalm 29 and "to a lesser extent Pss 58 and 75, the setting is the assembly of the heavenly beings, who were thought to rule the nations of the earth under God's supervision (cf Deut 32:8-9). This psalm tells how these beings lost their authority by ruling unjustly, and how God took over their rule. The psalm shares mythic and historical material with Gen 6:1-2; Isa 14.12-21; and Ezek 28.1-19" (NOAB 842).
Notice how The major complaint that God has here is that these people don't take seriously the needs of "the weak and the needy" the "lowly and the destitute" (vss.3-4).
C.S. Lewis, in Reflections on the Psalms has a wonderful commentary on the concept of justice in the Psalms:
It was...with great surprise that I first noticed how the Psalmists talk about the judgments of God. They talk like this; "O let the nations rejoice and be glad, for thou shalt judge the folk righteously" (67,4) ...Judgement is apparently an occasion of universal rejoicing. People ask for it: "Judge me, O Lord my God, according to thy righteousness" (35,24).
The reason for this soon becomes very plain. The ancient Jews, like ourselves, think of God's judgement in terms of an earthly court of justice. The difference is that the Christian pictures the case to be tried as a criminal case with himself in the dock; the Jew pictures it as a civil case with himself as the plaintiff. the one hopes for acquittal, or rather for pardon; the other hopes for a resounding triumph with heavy damages.
...Notice what [Our Lord] means by "an unjust judge". ...The Unjust Judge in the parable is quite a different character. There is no danger of appearing in his court against your will: the difficulty is the opposite--to get into it. It is clearly a civil action. The poor woman (Luke 18,1-5) has had her little strip of land--room for a pigsty or a hen-run--taken away from her by a richer and more powerful neighbor (nowadays it would be Town-Planners of some other "Body"). And she knows she has a perfectly watertight case. If once she could get it into court and have it tried by the laws of the land, she would be bound to get that strip back. But no one will listen to her, she can't get it tried. No wonder she is anxious for "judgement".
...We need not therefore be surprised if the Psalms, and the Prophets, are full of the longing for judgement, and regard the announcement that "judgement" is coming as good news. Hundreds and thousands of people who have been stripped of all they possess and who have the right entirely on their side will at last be heard. Of course they are not afraid of judgement. They know their case is unanswerable--if only it could be heard. When God comes to judge, at last it will.
Dozens of passages make the point clear. ...When God accuses earthly judges of "wrong judgement", He follows it up by telling them to see that the poor "have right" (82,2,3).
The "just" judge, then, is primarily he who rights a wrong in a civil case..." (pp. 9-12)
Lewis's words are helpful as we read the next psalm (Psalm 83), as well. This one is full of allusions to events described in 1 Samuel (which we're reading simultaneously with this psalm) and in the book of Judges.
Just for the beauty of it, look at the language that the psalmist uses to ask God to bring vengeance down on his enemies (83:13ff).
O my God, make them like whirling dust,
like chaff before the wind.
As fire consumes the forest,
as the flame sets the mountains ablaze,
so pursue them with your tempest
and terrify them with your hurricane.
Psalm 84 has been set to music many times. Here is one of the loveliest, by Brahms, from his Requiem: "How lovely is thy dwelling place, O Lord of Hosts"
Psalm 85 Another psalm that asks God to "restore us"! (God has done it in the past--v.1--now the psalmist asks God to "restore us again" in v. 4.)
The request in v. 7 is for God to show his hesed, translated "steadfast love" or "mercy." It is one of the chief OT words to describe how God acts towards his people.
I have often thought that v. 10 expresses a longing that I, too, have for characteristics that seldom are found in the same person:
Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet;
righteousness and peace will kiss each other.
Faithfulness will spring up from the ground,
and righteousness will look down from the sky.
The LORD will give what is good,
and our land will yield its increase.
The BCP translates: "Mercy and truth have met..."
Interesting, because the word for truth in Hebrew is related to the word for faithfulness, for dependability, for trustworthiness.
Psalm 86 This psalm contains the characteristic self-description that the LORD uses in each of the major divisions of the Hebrew Bible: Torah, Prophets, and Writings (Psalms are in the "Writings" category.) The Psalmist prays:
But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness (86:15).
It's a word pair that we also saw in Psalm 85 above.
Psalm 87 A psalm about Jerusalem. When a friend of mine was celebrating a New Ministry in a parish, the preacher preached on the last two verses of this psalm:
The LORD will record as he enrolls the peoples,
These also were born there."
The singers and the dancers will say,
"All my fresh springs are in you."
My friend has a beautiful singing voice, and a love of the arts. The preacher prayed that she would continue to find the LORD to be the source of all her creativity and refreshment.
Psalm 88 A classic psalm of lament. Just so it doesn't distract, we might need a definition of "Abaddon" (v. 11). We might get a hint from its position in the poem apposite "the grave". The notes of the NOAB are helpful: "(literally "destruction") another name for the abode of the dead" (NOAB, p. 846). It is rare in that it ends in greater despair than it begins with.
Psalm 89 This is a prayer asking God to be faithful to David. It alludes to the way God makes himself known in nature, and makes reference to "Rahab" the primeval chaos monster. (What would it be like to have the name "Rahab"? Are they actually from the same Hebrew root? If so, would it license a person to be somewhat wild and out of control?) God overpowers that monster.
God promises to act in hesed and faithfulness. Yet by the end of the psalm, the psalmist is asking the perennial question: "How long, O LORD?" Evidence of the events of the psalmist's day make it difficult to remember that God is continuing to care, continuing in control. The final petition is:
"Remember, O Lord, how your servant is taunted..." Remember! Remember!
The final blessing stated in v. 52 is not formally part of the psalm, but is rather a formal marker of the 3rd of the 5 "books" of the Psalms. There are five "books" or divisions in the psalms, likely to mirror the 5 books of the Torah
Psalm 90 If you read your psalms in the BCP, you miss the attributions at the beginnings of the psalms. They often don't add much to devotional reading, but interestingly, this psalm's attribution reads: "A prayer of Moses, the man of God."
The description of timelessness in v.2 is really remarkable. The contrast between our finite human lives and timescale and God's eternity is important to this psalm (vss.2-10). The conclusion: "So teach us to count our days that we may gain a wise heart" (v. 12).
And then again comes that question, HOW LONG, O LORD!?!?!?
And the psalmist begs God to show hesed and compassion.
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
1 Samuel 19-31
We are at the point where David's life is in danger. Jonathan makes this clear to him, and Michal covers for him as he escapes. Interestingly, he escapes to Samuel (19:18ff). Saul sent people to hunt David down; but the Spirit of God had other ideas, as all the emissaries that Saul sent fall into a prophetic frenzy. Finally Saul goes himself, and he, too, has the Spirit fall on him so that he is quite literally out of his mind (19:23-24).
David in Chapter 20 goes back to find Jonathan, and they arrange for Jonathan to get word about his father's plans. Saul accuses Jonathan of treason, favoring David over himself; and the father-son relationship is irretrievably strained from that point on.
In the Gospels, Jesus refers to the episode narrated in Chapter 21, where David solicits the assistance of Ahimelech the priest, and takes the holy bread that has been offered to the LORD. David himself feigns madness and hides in the Philistine city of Gath, and then moves to a cave in Adullam. His family and allies generally know where he is by this time; and he begins to exercise leadership in the classic way: people come to him for guidance; and the most disaffected elements of society gather around him (22:1-2). They're a tiny, ragtag bunch of relatives and malcontents. He moves his parents in the care of the King of Moab. But Ahimelech is in grave danger because of the assistance he gave to David. No Israelites would obey the king's order to kill Ahimelech. Only Doeg the Edomite would do so. Abiathar, one of Ahimelech's sons, escapes, but the rest of the family are slaughtered. David takes Abiathar under his protection.
In Chapters 23 and 24, we watch Saul divide his attention between the internal threat that David represents and the external threat of the Philistines. When David has a chance to kill Saul (24:3 ff), he refuses to do so, saying: "The LORD forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the LORD's anointed, to raise my hand against him, for he is the LORD's anointed" (24:6). But David did cut off a scrap of Saul's cloak, demonstrating that he was close enough to do serious harm to Saul but refused to do so. Saul finally realizes--and becomes resigned to the idea?--that David is set up to be the next king, and it's probably inevitable.
25:1 tells us that Samuel died. The mediating, judging influence of this man will no longer be felt in Israel. And in this chapter we have the story of Nabal, and see David meet Abigail, Nabal's wife, and develop a relationship with her. What started out as simple gratitude soon develops into a relationship that will be significant indeed. Abigail, after Nabal's death, becomes one of David's wives.
David and Saul continue their cat-and-mouse games. It's important to remember that Saul represents the tribe of Benjamin, and David the tribe of Judah; and I think we will see that the north-south division of the Kingdom of Israel after Solomon's day occurs along similar fault lines. A strange sort alliance between David and the Philistines develops (Chapters 29-30).
The book of 1 Samuel ends with the deaths of Jonathan and Saul. The story of Saul's death is ambiguous. Was it a suicide or an assisted suicide or outright murder? Once again we see how respectful David was to the very end of Saul's status as the LORD's Anointed.
This is a great story! The narrative is rich and detailed. You get a sense of what motivates the characters to act as they do. The human characters are....well....so human. They could be people in our own time.
David in Chapter 20 goes back to find Jonathan, and they arrange for Jonathan to get word about his father's plans. Saul accuses Jonathan of treason, favoring David over himself; and the father-son relationship is irretrievably strained from that point on.
In the Gospels, Jesus refers to the episode narrated in Chapter 21, where David solicits the assistance of Ahimelech the priest, and takes the holy bread that has been offered to the LORD. David himself feigns madness and hides in the Philistine city of Gath, and then moves to a cave in Adullam. His family and allies generally know where he is by this time; and he begins to exercise leadership in the classic way: people come to him for guidance; and the most disaffected elements of society gather around him (22:1-2). They're a tiny, ragtag bunch of relatives and malcontents. He moves his parents in the care of the King of Moab. But Ahimelech is in grave danger because of the assistance he gave to David. No Israelites would obey the king's order to kill Ahimelech. Only Doeg the Edomite would do so. Abiathar, one of Ahimelech's sons, escapes, but the rest of the family are slaughtered. David takes Abiathar under his protection.
In Chapters 23 and 24, we watch Saul divide his attention between the internal threat that David represents and the external threat of the Philistines. When David has a chance to kill Saul (24:3 ff), he refuses to do so, saying: "The LORD forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the LORD's anointed, to raise my hand against him, for he is the LORD's anointed" (24:6). But David did cut off a scrap of Saul's cloak, demonstrating that he was close enough to do serious harm to Saul but refused to do so. Saul finally realizes--and becomes resigned to the idea?--that David is set up to be the next king, and it's probably inevitable.
25:1 tells us that Samuel died. The mediating, judging influence of this man will no longer be felt in Israel. And in this chapter we have the story of Nabal, and see David meet Abigail, Nabal's wife, and develop a relationship with her. What started out as simple gratitude soon develops into a relationship that will be significant indeed. Abigail, after Nabal's death, becomes one of David's wives.
David and Saul continue their cat-and-mouse games. It's important to remember that Saul represents the tribe of Benjamin, and David the tribe of Judah; and I think we will see that the north-south division of the Kingdom of Israel after Solomon's day occurs along similar fault lines. A strange sort alliance between David and the Philistines develops (Chapters 29-30).
The book of 1 Samuel ends with the deaths of Jonathan and Saul. The story of Saul's death is ambiguous. Was it a suicide or an assisted suicide or outright murder? Once again we see how respectful David was to the very end of Saul's status as the LORD's Anointed.
This is a great story! The narrative is rich and detailed. You get a sense of what motivates the characters to act as they do. The human characters are....well....so human. They could be people in our own time.
Monday, June 9, 2014
1 Samuel--highlights
I apologize for not getting any notes up about the book of Judges. We had a very good conversation at the Wednesday noon Bible study about how to regard the violence that pervades this book. I may get back some time to put some notes on this blog, but it seems wiser to move forward with some thoughts on 1 Samuel, which we will be reading from June 9 through 20.
1 and 2 Samuel are part of the Bible known as the Deuteronomistic History: consisting of Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, and 1 and 2 Kings. These books were written by one or more authors and editors, and deal with the history of the land of Israel from its conquest under Moses and Joshua to the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BCE. The narratives especially of the books of Samuel and Kings are some of the most beautifully written sources we have from the Ancient Near East. If you want to do some serious study of this text, you might really appreciate reading from Robert Alter's translation, The David Story.
The story begins with the birth of Samuel the prophet to Hannah and her husband, Elkanah. What we have there is a sort of annunciation "type scene," as Alter calls it, which rings changes on the annunciations of Isaac's birth and Samson's birth, for example. I love this story, with its leitmotif of "open/close" as Hannah's mouth as well as her womb is closed (she can't eat; she prays with her lips moving but no sound coming out) at the beginning. Then God opens her womb; she is able to conceive and she praises God eloquently. The first "piece" I spoke in a children's Thanksgiving Sunday School program when I was about 2 years old was: "Hannah said, 'Thank you, God, for Samuel.'" Our first child, Samuel, has his name in part because we longed for a child after two miscarriages, and God brought a great blessing into our lives through his birth thirty years ago.
And some time ago I worked with a group of people on their way to ordination as vocational deacons in the Diocese of Southern Ohio, teaching them biblical studies, Christian ethics, and church history, and was honored to preach at their ordination on the call of Samuel in 1Samuel 3.
Notice how in Chapter 4 the leitmotiv of vision, or its lack, continues: (4:15) "Now Eli was 98 years old and his eyes were set, so that he could not see." When the Ark is captured, that is a bigger thing for Eil even than his personal grief that his sons had been killed. He dies; his daughter in law dies in childbirth; his grandson lives, but carries a name that reflects the gravity of the circumstances surrounding his birth, with the name Ichabod ("glory departed").
Don't feel guilty if you find a certain whimsy in the story of the capture of the Ark by the Philistines and its return to the Israelites in Chapters 5-7 There's a little showdown between the Ark and the House of Dagon (a Philistine god). The holiness of this sacred object makes it dangerous to possess without God's blessing or consent. Samuel begins in these chapters to function as a judge (7:6).
Mizpah becomes an important place where the Israelites were challenged to give up their idolatry to local gods and to worship the LORD exclusively. (It helped that they wanted God's help as the Philistines were raiding Israelite territory again. ) At Mizpah Samuel set up a stone monument and called it "Ebenezer," which means "stone of help." You can see how the Judge Cycle from the Book of Judges is recapitulated in these chapters.
In Chapter 8, Samuel tries to make the office of judge an inherited one, rather than one conferred by God's Spirit on whom God chose. It didn't work that way, however. Samuel's sons were almost as worthless as Eli's sons had been when Samuel was a boy.
And this leadership vacuum seems to make the issue of a king for Israel somewhat more urgent. You can see how ambivalent the writer of 1 Samuel is about monarchy:
8:7-9 reads: and the LORD said to Samuel, "Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. Just as they have done to me, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so also they are doing to you. Now then, listen to their voice; only--you shall solemnly warn them, and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them."
The list sounds like what happens when the profits of the land are not shared equitably between rich and poor, when the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. It is the opposite of the social structures that were built into the commands given by the LORD in the Torah.
Chapter 9 introduces Saul, a Benjaminite. He is tall, well-connected, handsome--the sort of person people might naturally look to as a leader. Except he seems to have been afraid of the power and the responsibilities that the LORD was laying upon him with his anointing; so he ran away and hid (10:22). So we see how the Judge Cycle pattern is evolving to absorb the leadership of a king.
Notice, too, how you can actually see in this text the results of research on the Dead Sea Scrolls that were discovered in the mid-20th Century. It has taken half a century for this material to reach biblical researchers in a form that could be widely disseminated and studied. Scholars discovered a much older and slightly different text of 1 Samuel that includes the material between 10:27 and 11:1 about the tradition of gouging out the right eyes of the men of the tribes of Gad and Reuben by King Nahash of the Ammonites, thus rendering them unable to shoot with bows and arrows.
And in Chapter 11 we see Saul perform the sort of mighty acts that helped to confirm in Judges that the LORD had called a Judge to save the Israelites. 11:6 says: "The Spirit of God came upon Saul in power when he heard [about the plight of the people]...and his anger was greatly kindled. He took a yoke of oxen, and cut them in pieces and sent them throughout all the territory of Israel by messengers, saying, 'Whoever does not come out after Saul and Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen!"
By the end of the chapter, Saul is king. In Chapter 12 Samuel gives what is sort of a concession speech, or a retirement speech. He reminds the Israelites gathered there about their past and about God's saving acts. And he says, "If both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the LORD your God, it will be well; but if you will not heed the voice of the LORD but rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then the hand of the LORD will be against you and your king" (12:14-15).
At 13:1 we first see the formula that is used for reporting on the reign of the Kings of Israel in the rest of the Deuteronomistic History.
But it takes almost no time for Saul to impulsively and impatiently disregard the guidance of the LORD as mediated by Samuel; and this leads to Samuel having to tell him (13:13-14): "The LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever, but now your kingdom will not continue; the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart; and the LORD has appointed him to be ruler over his people, because you have not kept what the LROD commanded you."
This is also the chapter where we first meet Jonathan, Saul's son. And we see another example of Saul's impulsive style in 14:24-45. By 15:10, the LORD is saying to Samuel: "I regret that I made Saul king." Samuel is apparently feeling betrayed by the LORD and struggles all night, doubtless because he is going to be at terrible risk if he must deliver this news personally to Saul. Fortunately, when Samuel does confront Saul, he still has enough authority that Saul repents (15:24).
But Samuel's work is not done, even though Saul is a failure as a king. He is sent to anoint Saul's successor. (Another high-risk activity for a senior citizen...) in Chapter 16. So we meet David; and really the Books of Samuel are about David and his court. Saul's impulsivity has turned to something we might today call serious mental illness; and this circumstance brings Saul and David together.
There are clearly two textual traditions juxtaposed here; in Ch. 16 it seems that Saul has met David; but in Ch. 17 it seems that Saul has not yet met him. And Ch. 17 introduces the famous and beloved story of David and Goliath. And soon afterward the lifelong friendship of David and Jonathan begins (18:1: "the soul of Jonathan was bound to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul." And as David's exploits and bravery become known, David becomes a threat to Saul. 18:10 presumes that David continues to play the lyre to calm Saul.
Who said, "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer"? Saul seemed to follow that advice, as he marries this successful commander into his family, promising his daughter Merab to David; then giving her to a different commander instead when David hadn't yet been killed in battle. But Michal, Saul's other daughter, had her eyes on David; so Saul offered her in exchange for the foreskins of 100 dead Philistines. (Yes, a grisly detail, emphasizing how the enemy of the Israelites were Gentiles.)
The scheme, which should have got David killed, backfired, and now David was more popular and successful than ever, and a still greater threat to Saul.
Even Jonathan, who should have been the heir apparent, was on David's side in the rift between David and Saul at court, as we see in Chapter 19.
1 and 2 Samuel are part of the Bible known as the Deuteronomistic History: consisting of Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, and 1 and 2 Kings. These books were written by one or more authors and editors, and deal with the history of the land of Israel from its conquest under Moses and Joshua to the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BCE. The narratives especially of the books of Samuel and Kings are some of the most beautifully written sources we have from the Ancient Near East. If you want to do some serious study of this text, you might really appreciate reading from Robert Alter's translation, The David Story.
The story begins with the birth of Samuel the prophet to Hannah and her husband, Elkanah. What we have there is a sort of annunciation "type scene," as Alter calls it, which rings changes on the annunciations of Isaac's birth and Samson's birth, for example. I love this story, with its leitmotif of "open/close" as Hannah's mouth as well as her womb is closed (she can't eat; she prays with her lips moving but no sound coming out) at the beginning. Then God opens her womb; she is able to conceive and she praises God eloquently. The first "piece" I spoke in a children's Thanksgiving Sunday School program when I was about 2 years old was: "Hannah said, 'Thank you, God, for Samuel.'" Our first child, Samuel, has his name in part because we longed for a child after two miscarriages, and God brought a great blessing into our lives through his birth thirty years ago.
And some time ago I worked with a group of people on their way to ordination as vocational deacons in the Diocese of Southern Ohio, teaching them biblical studies, Christian ethics, and church history, and was honored to preach at their ordination on the call of Samuel in 1Samuel 3.
Notice how in Chapter 4 the leitmotiv of vision, or its lack, continues: (4:15) "Now Eli was 98 years old and his eyes were set, so that he could not see." When the Ark is captured, that is a bigger thing for Eil even than his personal grief that his sons had been killed. He dies; his daughter in law dies in childbirth; his grandson lives, but carries a name that reflects the gravity of the circumstances surrounding his birth, with the name Ichabod ("glory departed").
Don't feel guilty if you find a certain whimsy in the story of the capture of the Ark by the Philistines and its return to the Israelites in Chapters 5-7 There's a little showdown between the Ark and the House of Dagon (a Philistine god). The holiness of this sacred object makes it dangerous to possess without God's blessing or consent. Samuel begins in these chapters to function as a judge (7:6).
Mizpah becomes an important place where the Israelites were challenged to give up their idolatry to local gods and to worship the LORD exclusively. (It helped that they wanted God's help as the Philistines were raiding Israelite territory again. ) At Mizpah Samuel set up a stone monument and called it "Ebenezer," which means "stone of help." You can see how the Judge Cycle from the Book of Judges is recapitulated in these chapters.
In Chapter 8, Samuel tries to make the office of judge an inherited one, rather than one conferred by God's Spirit on whom God chose. It didn't work that way, however. Samuel's sons were almost as worthless as Eli's sons had been when Samuel was a boy.
And this leadership vacuum seems to make the issue of a king for Israel somewhat more urgent. You can see how ambivalent the writer of 1 Samuel is about monarchy:
8:7-9 reads: and the LORD said to Samuel, "Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. Just as they have done to me, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so also they are doing to you. Now then, listen to their voice; only--you shall solemnly warn them, and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them."
The list sounds like what happens when the profits of the land are not shared equitably between rich and poor, when the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. It is the opposite of the social structures that were built into the commands given by the LORD in the Torah.
Chapter 9 introduces Saul, a Benjaminite. He is tall, well-connected, handsome--the sort of person people might naturally look to as a leader. Except he seems to have been afraid of the power and the responsibilities that the LORD was laying upon him with his anointing; so he ran away and hid (10:22). So we see how the Judge Cycle pattern is evolving to absorb the leadership of a king.
Notice, too, how you can actually see in this text the results of research on the Dead Sea Scrolls that were discovered in the mid-20th Century. It has taken half a century for this material to reach biblical researchers in a form that could be widely disseminated and studied. Scholars discovered a much older and slightly different text of 1 Samuel that includes the material between 10:27 and 11:1 about the tradition of gouging out the right eyes of the men of the tribes of Gad and Reuben by King Nahash of the Ammonites, thus rendering them unable to shoot with bows and arrows.
And in Chapter 11 we see Saul perform the sort of mighty acts that helped to confirm in Judges that the LORD had called a Judge to save the Israelites. 11:6 says: "The Spirit of God came upon Saul in power when he heard [about the plight of the people]...and his anger was greatly kindled. He took a yoke of oxen, and cut them in pieces and sent them throughout all the territory of Israel by messengers, saying, 'Whoever does not come out after Saul and Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen!"
By the end of the chapter, Saul is king. In Chapter 12 Samuel gives what is sort of a concession speech, or a retirement speech. He reminds the Israelites gathered there about their past and about God's saving acts. And he says, "If both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the LORD your God, it will be well; but if you will not heed the voice of the LORD but rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then the hand of the LORD will be against you and your king" (12:14-15).
At 13:1 we first see the formula that is used for reporting on the reign of the Kings of Israel in the rest of the Deuteronomistic History.
But it takes almost no time for Saul to impulsively and impatiently disregard the guidance of the LORD as mediated by Samuel; and this leads to Samuel having to tell him (13:13-14): "The LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever, but now your kingdom will not continue; the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart; and the LORD has appointed him to be ruler over his people, because you have not kept what the LROD commanded you."
This is also the chapter where we first meet Jonathan, Saul's son. And we see another example of Saul's impulsive style in 14:24-45. By 15:10, the LORD is saying to Samuel: "I regret that I made Saul king." Samuel is apparently feeling betrayed by the LORD and struggles all night, doubtless because he is going to be at terrible risk if he must deliver this news personally to Saul. Fortunately, when Samuel does confront Saul, he still has enough authority that Saul repents (15:24).
But Samuel's work is not done, even though Saul is a failure as a king. He is sent to anoint Saul's successor. (Another high-risk activity for a senior citizen...) in Chapter 16. So we meet David; and really the Books of Samuel are about David and his court. Saul's impulsivity has turned to something we might today call serious mental illness; and this circumstance brings Saul and David together.
There are clearly two textual traditions juxtaposed here; in Ch. 16 it seems that Saul has met David; but in Ch. 17 it seems that Saul has not yet met him. And Ch. 17 introduces the famous and beloved story of David and Goliath. And soon afterward the lifelong friendship of David and Jonathan begins (18:1: "the soul of Jonathan was bound to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul." And as David's exploits and bravery become known, David becomes a threat to Saul. 18:10 presumes that David continues to play the lyre to calm Saul.
Who said, "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer"? Saul seemed to follow that advice, as he marries this successful commander into his family, promising his daughter Merab to David; then giving her to a different commander instead when David hadn't yet been killed in battle. But Michal, Saul's other daughter, had her eyes on David; so Saul offered her in exchange for the foreskins of 100 dead Philistines. (Yes, a grisly detail, emphasizing how the enemy of the Israelites were Gentiles.)
The scheme, which should have got David killed, backfired, and now David was more popular and successful than ever, and a still greater threat to Saul.
Even Jonathan, who should have been the heir apparent, was on David's side in the rift between David and Saul at court, as we see in Chapter 19.
Monday, May 26, 2014
Luke 12-20
Luke 12-- note v. 1 “the crowd gathered by the
thousands”. I wonder what it was like
for all those people to hear Jesus.
In the context of all the conversations about privacy
especially on the Internet, verse 3 seems important: “Therefore whatever you
have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered
behind closed doors will be proclaimed from the housetops.” If we are the sort of person who is
completely un-hypocritical and who treats everyone as of equal value, then
perhaps we would not fear for people to say things we’ve said in private.
12:4-7 are strange.
On the one hand we are told to “fear him who…has authority to cast into
hell” and on the other hand, we are told that God values us more than “many
sparrows.”
And here’s where Luke puts the language about blaspheming
the Holy Spirit (v. 10). Someone
helpfully said once that if you’re worried about whether you have ever done it,
you may be sure that you didn’t and that God forgives the sin you do commit.
And now beginning at 12:13, we have parables about
slaves/stewards who work for or manage for an Owner or Lord. These parables are kind of another approach
into the end times, into questions about what our lives are for, and how we are
to live as faithful slaves in the Kingdom of God.
Jesus sees what is coming next as challenging and
divisive. It’s as if the “thousands” of
the beginning of the chapter are threatened by the end.
Luke 13-- Parables of the Kingdom abound here! Including the open-ended one about the barren
fig tree that has a second chance and is not to be chopped down, but to
experience manure put all around it.
Hmmm….funny how that makes us grow! (vss. 6-9)
Then the parable of the mustard seed, the yeast, and the
narrow door.
And again the shadow of the cross starts to fall across
their path as Jesus puts the works he does in the context of what is coming and
weeps over Jerusalem: “And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes
when you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord’” (13:35).
Luke 14-- Okay, so what is dropsy? “An old term for the swelling of soft tissues due to the
accumulation of excess water. In years gone by, a person might have been said
to have dropsy.” ( http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=13311
)
Jesus is emphasizing that the Sabbath is a day of blessing.
More parables about the way things work in the Kingdom of
God. Banquets and dinners! One of my favorite commentaries on the Gospel
of Luke is called The Hospitality of God.
(Brendan Byrne: Liturgical Press).
Meals are very, very important in the Gospel of Luke!
Now Jesus moves on in 14:25-33 to talk about what it costs to be
his disciple. It involves taking up
one’s cross. Those hearers could have
had no idea about how literally to take this teaching.
Luke 15-- More parables: the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin. And people have commented many times about
how God’s behavior if it is like the behavior of the shepherd or the woman is
completely imprudent and irrational! God
is simply relentless in seeking out the lost!!!!!
And so we come to the centerpiece of the Gospel of Luke. Every Christian who speaks English should
sometime read Henri Nouwen’s magnificent little book: The Return of the Prodigal Son.
Recently there was an article by
Deanna A. Thompson in The Christian
Century about a book by Sharon Baker
called Executing God: Rethinking
Everything You’ve been Taught about Salvation and the Cross. It begins with this thought experiment:
And
what if Jesus said:
A man had two sons. The younger son demanded his inheritance from
his father, left home, squandered it, and returned home, admitting to his
father that he had sinned and begging for forgiveness.
The father responded, “I cannot simply
forgive you for what you have done. You
have insulted my honor by your wild living.
Simply to forgive would be to trivialize your sin. Justice, forgiveness, and reconciliation
cannot occur unless the penalty for your sin is paid. Either you must be punished or you must pay
back the honor you stole from me.
The older brother spoke up, telling his
father he would pay the debt of his younger brother. The brother worked day and night to pay the
debt until he died of exhaustion. The father’s wrath was finally placated
against the younger brother, and they lived happily until the end of their
days.
(Christian Century
April 30, 2014, p. 31)
But of course that is not how this story is told. And remember, it’s only told in Luke. What does it tell us about how Jesus
understood his role in bringing us freedom and salvation?
Luke 16-- More marvelous parables! Including the only parable where one of the
characters has a name: Lazarus, which is the Anglicized version of a Hebrew
name, “Eliezer,” which means “God helps.”
A wonderful way for us to remember that God helps the poorest of the
poor. Money is very hard to live with in
ways that don’t keep us from fully embracing the values of Kingdom of God or
its King!
Luke 17-- The
juxtaposition of the sayings in the beginning of this chapter about forgiveness
with the story of the ten men healed of leprosy, of whom only one returned,
reminds me of a little quotation attributed to Mother Teresa:
People are often unreasonable, illogical and
self centered;Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you've got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God;
It was never between you and them anyway.
[Reportedly inscribed on the wall of
Mother Teresa's children's home in Calcutta, and attributed to her. However, an article in the New
York Times has since reported (March 8, 2002) that the original version of
this poem was written by Kent M. Keith.]
Luke 18—More
parables!
· The Widow and
the unjust judge—the importance of perseverance in asking God for justice.
· The Pharisee
and the Tax Collector. There is a
wonderful painting in St. Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh called “The Presence” by a not
particularly well known early 20th century painter called A.E.Borthwick. My parents had a lithograph
of it in the hallway of my childhood home, and I loved it. It has the same mood, though the painting is
of people contemporary to the painter.
It took me a long time to find it the last time I preached on this text,
but I just had to locate it. It shows Jesus comforting a very humble person praying in the back of St. Mary's Cathedral in a dark corner only illumined by His light, far from the brightly-lit and sumptuously appointed altar.
Jesus also has words again about the way wealth and possessions
can be a kind of security that we put in place of God’s security. The “rich young ruler” “goes away sorrowful”
(v. 23), but we don’t know whether he ever was able to do what Jesus asked him
and return joyful…
Note also, how in this chapter, Jesus explicitly predicts his
death and resurrection again.
Luke 19—The story of
Zacchaeus begins the chapter. We have a
baby boy in our congregation who is named Zacchaeus. He is not going to be the “wee little man”
that children sing about in the little chorus.
He’s already really tall for his age!
But he may, God willing, be a person who invites Jesus to come into his
house, and who will find then that “salvation has come to [his] house”
(19:9).
Then we have another parable:
The ten Pounds, given to stewards to trade with by an Owner who goes
away and will come back. Jesus has a LOT
to say about money, about stewardship, and about what happens while he is
“away,” doesn’t he?
And so at last we come, at 19:28, to Holy Week.
Triumphal entry, Jesus weeping over Jerusalem, Jesus cleansing
the temple… all in rapid succession
Luke 20 But then the dramatic speed of the
narrative slows way down while Jesus cleverly (perhaps wisely would be better) responds to the challenges of the religious
leaders of his day.
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