John Shearman's Lectionary

INTRODUCTION TO THE SCRIPTURE
Proper 18 Ordinary 23
Fourteenth Sunday After Pentecost
September 6, 2009

PROVERBS 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23. The Book of Proverbs consists of Jewish wisdom sayings and poems collected and edited by some unknown author(s), probably in the 5th century BC or later. It may well have been educational document intended to guide serious students along paths of righteousness, intelligence and human fulfilment. The emphasis on social justice found in Israel’s great prophets, especially Isaiah and Amos, stands out clearly in these selected doublets.

PSALM 125. This is another of the Songs of Ascent, most likely sung by pilgrims approaching Jerusalem and the temple. Mountains do indeed surround Jerusalem as vs. 2 states. This provides a fitting symbol for the protection God provides for Israel. The rest of the psalm restates Israel’s religious tradition: righteousness that fulfils the nation’s covenant relationship with God.

ISAIAH 35:4-7A. (Alternate) This is another passage which envisions the Shalom of God, God’s reign of peace, justice and love. To a people who had suffered frequently from invasion, subjugation and exile, this imaginative prophecy would have brought great comfort. More recent visions of Utopian societies draw much from Old Testament passages like this.

PSALM 146. (Alternate) This brief psalm of praise, one of the five that end the Psalter, celebrates the hopes of Israel in God’s desire for freedom and justice.

JAMES 2:1-10, 14-17. A rhetorical question in vs. 1 states the thesis of this brief homily: favoring the wealthy creates social injustice. The next three verses illustrate the issue. Vv. 5-7 sets out God’s will in this regard in another series of rhetorical questions. James puts this in a scriptural context in vv. 8-11 and then summarizes his argument in vv. 12-13.

Beginning in vv. 14, James deals with the implications for faith of this ethical principle. Faith that does not produce good works is a false faith. An intellectual religious commitment without corresponding changes to one’s moral life cannot be a saving faith.

MARK 7:24-37. Two healing miracles, at least one of them on foreign territory, give rise to instructions from Jesus to keep his presence and his power secret. The attempt to heal failed, as vs. 36 points out.

A MORE COMPLETE ANALYSIS.

PROVERBS 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23. The Book of Proverbs consists of Jewish wisdom sayings and poems collected and edited by some unknown author(s), probably in the 5th century BC or later. It may well have been educational document intended to guide serious students along paths of righteousness, intelligence and human fulfilment. During the post-exilic Persian, and especially the Hellenstic domination of Israel after 330 BCE, there was strong pressure on Jewish young people to adopt syncretist religious and cultural practices. The ancestral traditions needed to be reinforced more effectively. This became the primary purpose of the Book of Proverbs.

As a teaching compendium, the redactors intended students to learn and recite by rote these doublets and poems in much the same way that we learned children’s nursery rhymes. Its collection came long after the use of these sayings had been orally transmitted from generation to generation. The book contains unsurpassed insights into human affairs of all kinds, especially in relation to social and religious matters. Attributed to Solomon, many of these sayings may well have been common currency in his time (10th century BCE). Their enduring moral and spiritual value is attested by their use in the oral traditions of many religious cultures until recent times. Sadly, however, as the knowledge of and reading of scripture has declined in western civilization, so has the use of this proverbial wisdom.

These excerpts actually represent the end of a second collection of proverbs and the beginning of a third which scholars have identified within the book The break appears at 22:17 as the title phrase, “The words of the wise …” and the succeeding lines of poetry indicate (vss. 17-23). There is reason to believe that this third collection is based on a very similar Egyptian document dated about 1000 BCE.

The emphasis on social justice found in Israel’s great prophets, especially Isaiah and Amos, stands out clearly in these selected doublets. A strong element of legalistic righteousness has been blended in to create a sense of moral justification for good
behavior resulting in good fortune.

PSALM 125. As we have seen in previous readings, this is another of the Songs of Ascent (Pss. 120-134) most likely sung by pilgrims approaching Jerusalem and the temple. Mountains do indeed surround Jerusalem as v. 2 states. Mount Zion is only one of several on which Jerusalem is situated. Originally, it was the location of the fortress which David successfully captured (2 Samuel 5:6-10). The temple Solomon built stood, not on Mount Zion, but on Mount Moriah, where the Islamic Dome of the Rock is now situated.

In later Hebrew prophesy and poetry, Zion became a symbolic name for Yahweh’s holy city in which the temple stood. This provided a fitting symbol for Yahweh’s protection of Israel just as the mountains surrounding Jerusalem served as sentinels for the city’s security.

The rest of the psalm, composed in post-exilic times, restates Israel’s religious tradition: righteousness fulfils the nation’s covenant relationship with Yahweh. Two distinct groups of people are identified: those who put their trust in Yahweh and those who have associated with the godless. The phrase “the sceptre of wickedness” in vs. 3 hints that the latter group may have included some powerful Israelites who may have conspired with foreigners thereby endangering the nation’s independence.

Recently, a Jewish rabbi described his tradition as a religion of morality. Many church folk mistakenly define their religious convictions in similar terms. But that is not what the Christian scriptures describe. Much as we respect our Jewish neighbors, mere morality doesn’t make it. Ours is a redemptive or salvatory faith tradition, rooted nonetheless in the continual historical redemption of Israel by God. It rests on repentance for moral failure to which all succumb, the gracious forgiveness of God and the renewal of life acceptable to God through faith in Jesus Christ, who is God incarnate in human form and a present power in us through the gift of the Holy Spirit.

ISAIAH 35:4-7A. (Alternate) This is another passage which envisions the Shalom of God, God’s reign of peace, justice and love. To a people who had suffered frequently from invasion, subjugation and exile, this imaginative prophecy would have brought great comfort. More recent visions of Utopian societies draw much from Old Testament passages like this.

“This exultant lyric of confidence and joy,” to quote my late professor of OT, Dr. R.B.Y. Scott, (Interpreter’s Bible. 5.358) includes parts of the two main themes of the poem: the manifestation of Yahweh as deliverer of Yahweh’s helpless, exiled people and their joyful return to Zion. The passage exudes confidence, giving expression to the indomitable faith that has withstood the innumerable shocks of history for three millennia. If it any verse is to be made the text for a sermon (e.g. vs. 4), it would be appropriate to read the whole poem rather than this brief excerpt.

Obviously the poem dates from a time near the end of Babylonian exile (539 BCE) and would be more appropriate as part of Deutero-Isaiah (Isa. 40-66). With the eschatological poem in ch. 34, it had at some unknown time been attached the prophecies of Isaiah, who lived in the 8th century BCE.

The images of vss. 5-6a may seem exaggerated until we recall very similar words of Jesus to the disciples of John the Baptist when they came asking if he was indeed the Messiah (Matt. 11:2-6; Luke 7:18-23). It is possible that Jesus had this passage in mind when he uttered those words, although the image is of the most helpless and vulnerable having the most cause to praise God.

The restoration of ecological wholeness envisaged in vss. 6a-7a can be seen in the way modern Israel has reclaimed parts of the Negev desert in southern Israel for agriculture. Even in the inhospitably arid Dead Sea valley, there are fruitful plantations of date palms growing because of careful irrigation from ancient springs. Similarly fruitful farming land is being redeemed from the Negev desert through careful irrigation. At the same time, the limited water resources of the region are not shared equitably between the Israelis and the Palestinians. With environmental disasters multiplying in many parts of the world, our generation must turn our minds and wills to similar reclamation projects from which all people may benefit.

PSALM 146. (Alternate) This brief psalm of praise, one of the five hallelujah psalms that end the Psalter, celebrates the hopes of Israel in God’s desire for freedom and justice.

The outstanding aspect of this psalm is its central theme that only God, not human power and politics, can be trusted to provide hope and help in resolving the basic problems of society. No more succinct definition of this moral and spiritual truth can be found than in vss. 3-4. Even the greatest leaders, despite their best intentions, cannot meet the needs suffering humanity. If ever there was a time in history when this message needs to be shouted from the roof tops, that time in now.

The psalm concludes with a proclamation that Yahweh is the Lord of history, a message to be found throughout the OT. At the same time, in this day of global conflicts pitting powerful religious traditions against one another in apparent struggle for world domination, this may be difficult to imagine. On the other hand, the scriptures give voice to faith and hope, not geopolitical anxieties.

JAMES 2:1-10, 14-17. A rhetorical question in vs. 1 in the NSRV states the thesis of this brief homily: favoring the wealthy creates social injustice. Most translations do not render this opening sentence as a question. Original Greek manuscripts had no punctuation and used only capital letters. Thus it is a moot point whether or not this was a question or a strong admonition to the recipients of the letter.

The first segment of this reading, however, has the form of a sermon regarding what undoubtedly was a serious problem in early Christian communities. Acts 4:32-5:11 gives a specific instance of the possible dangers wealthy believers brought to any congregation. The great prophets of Israel, Amos, Isaiah and Micah had railed against the same economic inequities and injustices. As the Deuteronomists clearly emphasized in their interpretation of the Mosaic Law, exilic and post-exilic Israel faced similar problems. In this they differed not a whit from modern western civilization which gave rise to the inequities of capitalist economies and socialist class struggles for a more equitable distribution of wealth.

The reality still exists for contemporary Christian churches. In many Ontario towns and cities, different congregations of the same denomination have been identified with wealthier professional and managerial classes or the laboring classes who live in different parts of the same community with different standards of housing.

One young minister and his bride were tracked down at their supposedly secret honeymoon location and invited to appear for an interview for a post in a wealthy church. They were hosted and feasted far above what they could afford. After the interview they were promised that following a suitable period as assistant to the senior minister, they could have any pastorate they chose. They felt that all that was required of them was due deference to the rich and influential members of this particular congregation. The young couple refused the tempting opportunity without regret. In later years, though they called to serve in a much wealthier community than their first pastorate, they never felt completely at home.

Vv. 5-7 sets out God’s will in this regard in another series of rhetorical questions. Christian are called to demonstrate a different set of values. James puts this in a scriptural context in vv. 8-11 and then summarizes his argument in vv. 12-13. Injustice brings judgment, not on the basis of human economic standards, but on God’s sense of equity.

Beginning in vv. 14, James deals with the implications for faith of this ethical principle. Faith that does not produce good works is a false faith. An intellectual commitment without corresponding changes to one’s moral life cannot be a saving faith. Some interpreters have drawn a sharp distinction between Paul’s theology of grace alone and James’ theology of faith plus works. Others have made a similar distinction between Judaism and Christianity. These are both false antitheses. The debate which both Paul and James engage in can be found also in pre-Christian Jewish literature and in the writings of Philo of Alexandria, a contemporary of Jesus. All held that both faith and works of righteousness contributed to salvation.

Contrary to what some claim, Paul did not proclaim a doctrine of justification by faith alone without any subsequent response to demonstrate that justification had brought about changed behavior. In fact, Paul clearly rejected such a view as blasphemous (Rom. 3:8 and 6:1-2). Nor did he condemn the “Judaizers” of Galatia, or even Peter, for holding a similar viewpoint. If there is any discrepancy between Paul and James, it is between a false Paulinism and James’ position. A distortion of what Paul taught about the sufficiency of grace that results in moral transformation may well have been evident in the communities for which this letter was written. B.S. Easton presents a detailed exegesis of this issue in The Interpreter’s Bible, 12, 40-42.

MARK 7:24-37. Two healing miracles, at least one of them on foreign territory, gave rise to instructions from Jesus to keep his presence and his power secret. The attempt at secrecy failed, as v. 36 points out.

Tyre was an important Mediterranean seaport in what is we know as Lebanon. Originally an island, it was connected to the mainland by a great mole built by Alexander during his siege of the city in 333 BCE. Early in his ministry, Jesus had preached to people from there (Mark 3:8). Thus, it is fair to speculate that he may have gone there to visit someone he knew. In any small community, gossip would have made his presence known, especially if his host had been particularly impressed with his teaching and honoured by his visit. Jesus, on the other hand, wanted to keep his visit a secret (vs. 24b), but to no avail.

We can also assume that Jesus’ host was a Jew, but his neighbors included many Gentiles, as was the Syrophoenecian woman who came to him pleading for her daughter to be healed. Neither the disease nor the demon which, according to contemporary belief, had caused it, nor the manner of healing interested Mark. He chose to emphasize the conversation between the woman and Jesus. The elements of the pericope may have come from tradition; the actual words were from Mark who had his audience in mind.

The narrative reveals a particular aspect of Jesus’ humanity: his willingness to be convinced, even by a Gentile woman, that God’s saving love extended beyond the covenanted people of Israel. This could well have been a significant issue for Mark’s audience, particularly if they were a mix of Jews and Gentiles.

The second miracle (vss. 31-35) occurred after Jesus had returned from Tyre. It is curious that he “went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of Decapolis.” That was quite a voyage to make on foot. Sidon in north of Tyre on the Mediterranean coast, about 40 miles northwest of the Sea of Galilee. Decapolis lies southeast of the Sea of Galilee across the Jordan valley. He certainly was taking the long road home. Or Mark may not have known the geography of Galilee very well. Another possibility presents itself in this strange route: Mark may be pointing out for the benefit of his audience that it was not unusual for Jesus, a Jew from Galilee, to traverse and minister in Gentile territory.

The central message of the pericope, however, is the miracle itself and the effort Jesus made to keep it secret. It has important links to the motif in Mark’s Gospel which scholars have designated as “the messianic secret.” This interpretation actually deals with the various levels of redaction through which the oral tradition passed in being transmitted and ultimately recorded for reading or hearing by future generations. However explicitly Mark may have described the incident, we have no way of knowing how Jesus healed this deaf and dumb man. Nor does that really matter.

The pericope presents the modern reader with the same question it posed for the original audience for whom Mark wrote: who is this Jesus of Nazareth? The miracles that so amazed people then and still trouble us now, probably for very different reasons, describe transcendent events. These were not merely good deeds by an exceptionally skilled, charismatic and caring healer. They caused everyone then – and they still cause us – to choose either to believe or disbelieve that Jesus is as Mark proclaimed in the very first words of his gospel: “Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”

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INTRODUCTION TO THE SCRIPTURE
Proper 17 Ordinary 22
Thirteenth Sunday After Pentecost
August 30, 2009

SONG OF SOLOMON 2:8-13. Biblical scholars still debate what kind of literature this beautiful collection of poems with vividly erotic metaphors really is. Is it dramatic dialogue? Is it a manual for love within the marriage relationship? Is it an allegory of God’s love for Israel or Christ’s love for the church? Or is it a celebration of God’s gift to us of human sexuality? Attributed to Solomon, the text actually comes from Hebrew Wisdom literature of a much later date, but may have had origins in much earlier times.

PSALM 45:1-2, 6-9. This unusual psalm takes the form of an ode by a court poet for a royal marriage. More secular than religious, it appears to refer to a princess of a foreign country wedding the king of Israel.

DEUTERONOMY 4:1-2, 6-9 (Alternate) All of Israel’s former history was measured against the doctrinaire standard set forth here. Attributed to Moses, it was actually composed in the late 7th century BCE. See 2 Kings 22 for the apparent “rediscovery” of the law while the temple was being refurbished during King Josiah’s reign circa 621 BCE. As the whole Old Testament narrative reveals, this standard was an ideal which no former or subsequent generation could meet.

PSALM 15. (Alternate) This psalm teaches the supreme values intended to guide the moral and spiritual life of the truly religious Jew. In many respects it summarizes the highest teachings of the great prophets as well as the laws of Leviticus and Deuteronomy.

JAMES 1:17-27. Because it makes few references to Jesus Christ, the Letter of James was one of the very last to be included in the Christian scriptures. It has more of the flavour of a moral essay attributed to James, the brother of Jesus. It may well be a collection of his sayings compiled after his martyrdom or a formal letter encouraging its recipients to live in a strictly ethical and deliberately spiritual way at a time of threatened persecution.

MARK 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23. In this biting rebuke of the Pharisees for their excessive attention to purification rituals, Jesus defined what true piety is: commitment from the heart totally dedicated to loving service of God and for others Quoting from Isaiah 29:13, he condemns their hypocrisy. We can tell from the explicit details of Jewish purification rites in vss. 3-5 that Mark had a Gentile audience in mind.

A MORE COMPLETE ANALYSIS.

SONG OF SOLOMON 2:8-13. Biblical scholars still debate what kind of literature this beautiful collection of poems with vividly erotic metaphors really is. Is it dramatic dialogue? Is it a manual for love within the marriage relationship? Is it an allegory of God’s love for Israel or Christ’s love for the church? Or is it a celebration of God’s gift to us of human sexuality?

The Oxford Companion to the Bible (Oxford University Press, 1993) identifies five different ways it which it has been interpreted through the centuries: A popular Jewish view regarded it as an allegory of the relationship between Yahweh and Israel. Christians reinterpreted this as the relationship between Christ and the Church. The mediaeval monk, Bernard of Clairvaux, wrote eighty-six sermons most of which were based on the allegorical interpretation of only the first two chapters.

Some early Greek versions copied it as a drama with various sections assigned to specific speakers. This theory was popular in the 19th century. Others saw it merely as a collection of lyrical love poetry for which there was ample precedent in other cultures, especially similar collections in Egyptian and Palestinian literature. Still others believed it had liturgical origins, while a few felt that due to the absence of any mention of God, it could be understood as a parable about theological themes such as Israel’s covenant with Yahweh.

Attributed to Solomon, it actually comes from Hebrew Wisdom literature of a much later date, perhaps from the 5th or 4th centuries BCE. It contains words derived from both Persian and Aramaic, leading to a similar conclusion. Its subject matter and vivid imagery made it a popular teaching tool.

Toward the end of the 1st century CE when the Hebrew canon was being finalized, some rabbis objected to its inclusion. One of the great rabbinical leaders of the time is said to have made a persuasive and memorable speech likening it to the Holy of Holies. Another rabbi was quoted as saying that anyone sang it as a secular piece fit only for banquet halls or taverns, that person had no place in the world to come. It has been used in the celebration of Passover in some Jewish traditions.

The passage selected here contains some of the most imaginative lyrics of the whole book. It depicts youthful, passionate romance in full flower. Two voices lend credibility to the dramatic interpretation. Vss. 8-9 are in the voice of the young woman hearing the approach of her lover. Vss. 10-13 are composed as if she was hearing him plead with her to escape with him to the countryside vibrant with the sounds and smells of spring. Because the poet had such sensitivity to how the young woman in love might feel and respond, one has to wonder if the author was a woman.

PSALM 45:1-2, 6-9. It is a pity that this psalm selection is so truncated. It is unusual in that it takes the form of an ode by a court poet for a royal marriage. Vs. 1 makes it evident that this was the poet’s intent. The superscription indicates that it was created by or for the Korahites, one of the families of Levitical priests from the Hebron area. In post-exilic times, they became one of the two great guilds of temple singers. Pss. 42, 44-49, 84-85 and 87-88 may have come from their hymn book.

Despite frequent references to Yahweh, the content of the psalm are more secular than religious. They refer specifically to a princess of a foreign country wedding the king of Israel. It may even have been the queen or a princess from Ophir, possibly in Arabia or East Africa (vs. 9). The first few verses sing the praises of the king. Then the poet turns attention to the beautiful princess who is leaving her father’s house (vs. 10) for a new lord (vs. 1l). The wedding procession has already begun to make it s way to the king’s palace (vs. 12b-15). For its final paean, the poet returns to the king whose marriage to this princess is for one purpose alone: to beget more heirs so that his dynasty will continue. As we have seen from the Davidic narratives in 2 Samuel, the times required the birthing of many sons.

While we may react rather negatively to the traditional patriarchal attitudes of this psalm, we should not completely disregard its significance to the Hebrew tradition. Its inclusion in the Psalter may well have resulted from an allegorized interpretation. The Targum of this psalm, an Aramaic interpretative paraphrase from late pre-Christian times, treated it as an allegory of the marriage of the Messiah to his bride Israel. Early Christian interpreters also followed this approach as Revelation 22:17 appears to suggest, except that the bride in this latter instance is the Church.

DEUTERONOMY 4:1-2, 6-9 (Alternate) All of Israel’s history was measured against the doctrinaire standard set forth here. Attributed to Moses, various parts of the Book of Deuteronomy were actually composed in the late 7th and 6th century BCE. See 2 Kings 22 for the apparent “rediscovery” of the law while the temple was being refurbished during King Josiah’s reign circa 621 BCE. That reformation followed an extended period of gross idolatry and moral decline during the long reign of Manasseh (697-642 BCE). The Deuteronomists regarded Manasseh as the worst of the Davidic monarchs. But as the whole Old Testament narrative reveals, the standard they set was an ideal which no former or subsequent generation could match.

As Deut.1:5 indicates, these are the supposedly the words of Moses as he prepared the Israelites for entry into the Promised Land. In chs. 1-3 he had recited many of the experiences of the Exodus and the wandering in the wilderness. This gave the historical background against which the rest of the book is set. In 3:23-29 he acknowledged that Joshua, not he, will lead them across the Jordan. The intent of this reading was to introduce the Torah, the moral constitution which is to guide the national life in the Israelites new homeland. The details of that constitution begin at 4:44.

Repeated references to observing the statutes and ordinances in this passage add a certain gravity to Moses’ address. Instructions to make these forthcoming laws known “to your children and your children’s children” add dramatic intensity to the moment. The scribes who created this composite work had great literary skill as well as resolute purpose in performing their task.

Reading this brief excerpt leaves no doubt about the rigorous moral life expected of all Israelites. The passage also contains the two of the three central unities of the whole book: Israel is one people and Yahweh is God alone who can be worshiped beside no other god. The third unity does not appear until later in 12:5-14, i.e. there is only one place of worship where an altar is to be set up and sacrifices offered. This latter element was the purpose of Josiah’s reformation, but lasted only a few decades before the Babylonians razed the temple in Jerusalem and led the priesthood and leading citizens of the nation into captivity (598-586 BCE). Yet it was during that captivity that the Book of Deuteronomy took its final shape.

PSALM 15. (Alternate) Where does a person go when seeking guidance in making a decision or light on some persistent affliction? The ancient custom was to repair to some place of worship and seek instruction from an oracle communicated by a priest. This psalm embodies such a practice within the Jewish tradition. It teaches the supreme values intended to guide the moral and spiritual life of the truly religious Jew. In many respects it summarizes the highest teaching of the great prophets as well as the laws found in the Books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy. Here is Torah, literally teaching, in the best sense of that word. The psalm probably dates from the post-exilic period when Torah had achieved its final stages of development.

Instruction often proceeded by a traditional question and answer method such as found here. This parallels the prophetic method we have seen in passages as Micah 6:6-8. The psalm also exhibits liturgical characteristics. But it may have been used more at home in preparing for worship than in the temple itself. It sets forth clearly how the believer is to present himself so as to appear righteous before God and receive God’s blessing. As in the Decalogue on which it may depend, there are ten qualifications (vss.2-5). Most of the sins enumerated emphasize primarily antisocial acts rather than religious transgressions.

The whole psalm consists of three parts similar to a catechism: question, answer and reward. It places significant value on moral integrity and truth. The psalmist must have lived in times when such virtues were lacking. Yet he wrote a tract equally applicable to our times.

JAMES 1:17-27. The Letter of James is one of the anomalies of the New Testament. Because it makes few references to Jesus Christ, it was one of the very last to be included in the Christian scriptures. It has more of the flavour of a moral essay attributed to James, the brother of Jesus. Of course, this claim has been disputed almost from the time the church set about the task of defining the NT canon. It may well be a collection of the sayings of James compiled after his martyrdom or a formal letter encouraging its recipients to live in a strictly ethical and deliberately spiritual way at a time of threatened persecution.

Despite certain inconsistencies, its language is fairly good Greek with a few Semitic phrases here and there. It also has the form of a literary letter typical of the 1st century introducing and developing specific themes. In 5:12 it appears to repeat one saying which Matthew 5:34-37 attributes to Jesus himself. However, the letter lacks any knowledge of the teaching of Paul, but does include some references to Palestinian culture. Scholarly estimates of its origin and date place it in Judea in the 60s CE immediately preceding the Jewish revolt against Rome that ended in the fall of Jerusalem.

This passage contains several good but isolated preaching texts or themes: vss. 17-18; 19-21; 22-25; 26-27. As a whole, it presents the view that those who belong to the believing community must avoid adopting the ethics of its oppressors. It reflects a dependence on God and strict adherence to Judaeo-Christian morality. Like so much other counsel of the NT in the gospels and in the Pauline corpus, it encourages the practice of ethical standards which separate Christians from their easy-going cultural milieu. No permissive “everybody does it” attitude can be found throughout the letter. This high moral standard is most clearly defined in the very last clause in vs. 27.

Nor is this strict emphasis on moral behaviour isolated from the ultimate divine purpose. The idea of the Christian community as “the first fruits” of a new creation comes out in vs. 18 and reverberates throughout the passage. Yet this does not inhibit good living. Rather, those who live in obedience to this strict moral standard find that it liberates and blesses (vs. 25). One might well compare this passage with the opening declarations of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5 known as the Beatitudes. Was that the “word” and “law” to which James referred in vss. 22-25?

While Luther, immersed as he was in Pauline theology, condemned the Letter of James as “that wretched book,” a thousand years earlier Augustine had given a more balanced view: “That which is called the Christian religion existed among the ancients, and never did not exist. From the beginning of the human race until Christ came in the flesh, at which time the true religion, which already existed, began to be called Christianity.” The letter has been regarded as a collection of isolated sayings and brief homilies which were not originally unified. But it also has the form of a literary letter, which a disciple of James may have preserved from remembered homilies after his death in 61 CE. These few excerpts from the religious environment of Judean Christianity in the 50s and 60s CE reflect its close identity with Judaism. Jesus and his brother had been raised in a similar religious environment. At the time this letter was composed Christianity might well have been regarded as a Jewish sect. The high Christology found in Paul and the later Christian scriptures had not yet filtered down to the birthplace of the new tradition.

MARK 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23. If James represents a Judaic Christian perspective, this confrontation with the Pharisees represents a tradition emanating from a very different milieu. In this biting rebuke of the Pharisees for their excessive attention to purification rituals, Jesus defined what true piety is. Apparently this tradition was sufficiently well known that Matthew also used it in his gospel (Matt. 15:1-20).

We can tell from the explicit details of Jewish purification rites in vss. 3-5 that Mark had a Gentile audience in mind. Most probably, the gospel was written for a Christian community made up primarily of Gentile believers who knew little about the strict Levitical Code which the Pharisees strove so hard to impose on 1st century Judaism. A note in The Complete Gospels (Polebridge Press, 1992) suggests that in this passage the Pharisees are stock characters acting as Jesus’ main antagonists while the disciples act as surrogates for Mark’s audience. In vss. 3-5, he addressed his audience directly on the assumption that they will not comprehend the Jewish rules of food preparation.

The incident took place in Galilee where Jews wrestled with strong Roman and Hellenist cultural influences. Not far from Nazareth in the Galilean hills, Herod Antipas had his capital at Sepphoris until about 20 CE when he constructed a new capital city at Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee. The ancient trade and invasion route from Damascus to the Mediterranean passed through the heart of this same region. The Pharisees had reason to fear these foreign threats to Jewish religious traditions. Raised in a more cosmopolitan milieu, Jesus was bound to have more open attitudes than the stricter Judaism that the Pharisees and their Judean followers represented.

Not only that, the Pharisees expertly interpreted the law to suit their own comforts. Quoting from Isaiah 29:13, Jesus condemned their hypocrisy (vss. 6-7). Mark probably knew the Greek version, for that is what he quoted, although not exactly. Isaiah’s prophetic outburst must have been well known in the Christian community because Paul quoted Isa. 13:14 in 1 Cor. 1:19.

Phony piety that is self-serving and corrupting still exists in every religious tradition, Christians not excepted. In the 1950s, every corporate executive on the rise made his religious affiliations as well known as his service and country club associations. One widely used church fund raising method sought out the wealthiest or most prominent person in a community, regardless of his participation in the life of the church, and used him to influence others to give more generously than they might have done without his leadership. In both Canada and the United States in recent years, there has been particularly prominent evidence of pious persons bent on achieving political power.

True piety, Jesus said, means commitment from the heart totally dedicated to loving service of God and for others (vss. 20-23). All of the evil intentions named here as defiling a person result in behaviour that is exactly opposite to the compassionate virtues he identified as the essence of the law. An attitude of loving God and neighbour more accurately represented the sense of communal justice and mutual well-being so characteristic of the great prophets of Israel. Neither they nor Jesus had any desire to abrogate the covenant law. Unlike the Pharisees, however, they did not regard legalistic minutiae as the be all and end all of faithfulness. Theirs was more generous, more compassionate morality which found its strength in a committed relationship to God expressed in thankful worship and service. This should be our moral standard too.

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INTRODUCTION TO THE SCRIPTURE
Proper 16 Ordinary 21
Twelfth Sunday After Pentecost
August 23, 2009

1 KINGS 8: (1, 6, 10-11), 22-30, 41-43. Solomon succeeded in building the temple in Jerusalem where his father, David, had failed. This event took place about 950 BC. This passage tells the whole story as recalled from centuries old traditions in the late 7th century BC when Josiah centralized all worship in the temple in Jerusalem. Solomon’s prayer is an exceptionally creative act of worship presumed to have been recited by Solomon at the dedication of the temple.

PSALM 84. This psalm celebrates the significance of the temple for the individual worshiper. It may well have been written by one of the lesser priests or Levites whose daily duties required him to be there participating in the normal liturgies.

JOSHUA 24:1-2A, 14-18. (Alternate) The conquest of Canaan completed, Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to the holy place at Shechem to renew their covenant with God initially made by Abraham. He issued a compelling challenge that they should choose to serve the Lord as he and his family had chosen. They promised to do so although Joshua warned them of how difficult it would be and of the penalty if falling away from their commitment to worship the gods of their foreign neighbours.

PSALM 34:15-22. (Alternate) In difficult times many people have found solace in the words from a psalmist of the Wisdom period, who may also have known some unstated affliction. He also felt that God cared only for the select few righteous people.

EPHESIANS 6:10-20. The issue for Christians in the 1st century to whom this letter was written was whether they would worship God as revealed in Jesus Christ or the Roman emperor who claimed to be a god. In those days too, the emperor’s power was seen to represent cosmic forces. In this remarkable series of metaphors, the unknown author who was using Paul’s name encouraged his audience by identifying the spiritual equipment they would need for their struggle.

JOHN 6:56-69. Jesus’ discourse on the nature of the spiritual life he offered to all who believed so challenged many that they turned away. Would his disciples also leave him, an option he freely gave them? Peter answered for the rest in a striking confession of faith. John added to his account of this incident that his disregard for Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Jesus. Undoubtedly many in John’s audience also faced a similar challenge at the end of the 1st century CE.

A MORE COMPLETE ANALYSIS.

1 KINGS 8: (1, 6, 10-11), 22-30, 41-43. About 950 BCE Solomon succeeded in building the temple in Jerusalem where his father, David, had failed.
1 Kings 5-8 gives the whole story of the building of Solomon’s palace and the temple with the help of King Hiram of Tyre. That gives us a clue to the design of the two structures, especially that of the temple. Relatively recent research reported in the Biblical Archaeological Review (May/June 2000) stated that a temple discovered at Ain Dara in northern Syria “has more in common with the Jerusalem temple described in the Book of Kings than any other known building.” Close by was a royal palace as was Solomon’s. Tyre was a Phoenician city from which Solomon enlisted many artisans for his enterprise. It would appear that this was the model for the Jerusalem temple rather than any other source such as an earlier Canaanite or purely Israelite design.

This passage gives the conclusion to the story as recalled from centuries old traditions and perhaps some surviving chronicles in the late 7th century BCE when Josiah centralized all worship in the temple in Jerusalem. In the post-exilic period, when the temple was being rebuilt, a priestly editor also made certain additions to the traditions from the point of view of the Priestly Code with its penchant for proper divisions, categories and liturgies (e.g. The specific festival references of 6:1). Thus Solomon’s prayer at the dedication of the temple is an exceptionally creative act of worship presumed to have been recited by Solomon at the dedication of the temple. The original dedication may have been in the form of a song recorded in an ancient saga which the LXX says was in the Book of Jasher (N.H. Snaith. The Interpreter’s Bible, 3:71.)

The first part of Solomon’s prayer (vss. 22-30) emphasized the Davidic succession as a crucial element of the covenant between Yahweh and Israel. The temple was but one more artifact symbolizing this covenant relationship which gave all Israelites both the privilege of approaching Yahweh in prayer and the responsibility of keeping the covenant law. However, according to this prayer, the temple also had a missionary function. Vss. 41- 43 point to this role for the foreigner who came to Jerusalem, recognized the temple as a symbol of the transcendent deity, and joined in Israel’s reverence for Yahweh’s sacred name and the covenantal faith.

Do we have similar issues today? Why build new churches when so many older ones are virtually empty? Who are the foreigners who see our temples, so many minimally used as places of worship? In an age when our sanctuaries are left deserted more and more, does not their very existence in every community point to a transcendent reality without which humanity cannot exist?

PSALM 84. This psalm celebrated the significance of the temple for the individual worshiper. It may well have been written by one of the lesser priests or Levites whose daily duties required him to be there participating in the normal liturgies. Lowest of the hierarchy of the priesthood and representative of the whole people of Israel, Levites performed two main functions: they assisted
the higher order of priests and the chief priest in the celebration of the liturgy by preparing for the daily sacrifices and leading the singing of the worshiping congregation; and they cared for and guarded the temple against interlopers who might render the sacred precincts impure by their presence. They did not serve on a permanent basis, but each group attended according to a regular schedule while living normal lives the rest of the year in various parts of the country.
According to Exodus 6:21 and 1 Chronicles 6:22 & 37, and Numbers 26:58, the Korahites of the psalm’s superscription was an order of Levites descended from Levi and resident in the region of Hebron.

Obviously, the psalmist was very familiar with the temple, as a Levite would have been. He saw even the sparrows that nested in various crannies of the building and likened them to those worshipers who frequented the sacred precincts (vs. 3). He also knew the traditions about Israel’s history, referring to the valley of Baca as a place where Yahweh refreshed the Israelites. The name Baca is a variety of gum-producing “balsam trees.” No valley of that name has been found, but the reference may be to the valley of Rephaim, a rich agricultural area near Jerusalem mentioned in several OT passages.

The psalmist’s attention, however, focused on Zion and Yahweh’s presence in the temple. There he had been a functionary who held his role in high regard (vs. 10). He saw this as representative of every worshiper who sought Yahweh’s blessing in keeping the covenant in both its liturgical and its moral expression (vss. 10-11). “This is our faith,” he seemed to say in his closing burst of praise.

Two laymen, father and son, gave distinctive leadership in local congregations throughout long lives of nearly ninety-four and ninety years. Bible class leaders, elders, evangelists in their workplaces, they were stewards of their faith whose children and grandchildren have followed closely in their steps. At their funerals, I was privileged to read this psalm as expressive of the joyful tradition which they pioneered. Truly they had been “doorkeepers in the house of the Lord.”

JOSHUA 24:1-2A, 14-18. (Alternate) The Book of Joshua is part of the Deuteronomic history of the settlement of Canaan by the Jews following the Exodus and the forty years of wandering in the wilderness. Based on collected memories and oral traditions, and possibly some earlier documentation, it reached its final form during the Babylonian exile. Scholars believe that it could have been written in either Judea or in Babylon. One of its themes addresses a people who through disobedience to the law had lost their right to the divine gift of the Promised Land. An associated theme points out the clear relationship between obedience to the law and divine blessing. This latter theme comes forth most strongly in this excerpt.

The conquest and settlement of Canaan completed, Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to the holy place at Shechem to renew their covenant Yahweh had initially made with Abraham. He issued a compelling challenge that they should choose to serve the Yahweh as he and his family had chosen to do. They promised to do so too although Joshua warned them of how difficult it would be and the penalty of falling away from their commitment to worship the gods of their foreign neighbours.

The greatest challenge to any religious tradition comes from alternative beliefs and religious practices. Idolatry, the anxious seeking for certainty and security in relationships other than trust in a transcendent deity and commitment to a strong moral standard, has been the bane of every generation of believers. As this lesson describes, the children of Israel faced this issue as forthrightly as we do today. The Canaanites and the other tribal communities in the lands through which the Israelites had passed had their own religious traditions, “other gods” as Joshua called them in vs. 16. Joshua set before his people the choice they must make. Was Yahweh truly to be their God with whom they were to have a special relationship by being obedient to the moral code of their sacred covenant? He and his family had made that choice. They would serve Yahweh.

It would appear from this passage that Jewish religious thought had not yet settled finally on the moral monotheism, the faith in one God alone and a rigorous moral commitment. The thought that there might be deities other than Yahweh which other nations revered and worshiped remained a very present threat during the Babylonian exile (586-539 BCE). Today we can easily understand this threat to our own tradition. In recent decades it has become increasingly tempting to let other relationships, practices and pursuits dominate our lives. One brilliant insight into the religious challenge to our generation cited professional spectator sports as the dominant religious practice which a visitor from outer space would find in our world. It was just such a distraction against which Joshua warned his people more than three thousand years ago.

PSALM 34:15-22. (Alternate) In difficult times many people have found solace in the words from a psalmist of the Wisdom period, who may also have known affliction. But he also felt that God cared only for the select few righteous people.

In the Hebrew text the psalm has an acrostic form, each line beginning with a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The psalm also is in the wisdom style and so dates from the late Persian or early Greek period (400-300 BCE). Some scholars believe it may also have been associated with the lament of Ps. 25 as a hymn of thanksgiving. The main purpose of the psalm is to celebrate with gratitude the saving power of Yahweh. It expresses great confidence and trust in Yahweh’s special care for the righteous.

While the superscription mistakenly attributes the psalm to an incident in David’s flight from his rebellious son Abimilech, no direct reference to that or any other event in David’s reign can be found. The Davidic references were found in about half of the psalms most likely related to a special collection attributed to David. These titles were added during the compilation process somewhere between the fourth and second centuries BCE.

Viewed from a wider perspective, the psalm points to the constant mercy and love with which Yahweh watched over and delivered Israel from innumerable disasters. At the same time it draws more attention to the individual believer who trusts in Yahweh than to the nation as a whole. This too has been the attitude of saintly Christians through many generations.

EPHESIANS 6:10-20. The issue for Christians in the 1st century to whom this letter was written was whether they would worship God as revealed in Jesus Christ or the Roman emperor who claimed to be a god. In those days too, the emperor’s power was seen to represent cosmic forces against which the Christian community had to struggle as representatives of their sovereign lord, Jesus Christ In this remarkable series of metaphors, the unknown author who was using Paul’s name encouraged his audience by identifying the spiritual equipment they would need for their struggle.

One can imagine the apostle Paul himself and/or his disciple in prison guarded by a Roman soldier. The Book of Acts recorded such a scene several times. William Barclay suggested that the prisoner may well have been shackled to the guard night and day. Each piece of the guard’s equipment represented spiritual armor which every Christian needed for his or her daily conflict with the evil forces seeking to dominate life. Did Paul himself use these metaphors in his attempt to convert his guard?

The passage epitomizes the tension in which every life must be lived. While in faith we have accepted Jesus as Lord and subjected ourselves to his sovereignty, this also remains an incomplete goal and a future hope. For all of us, a moral and ontological tension exists between “being” Christian and “becoming Christian.” This is as true for the whole church as for the individual believer. We have not yet achieved the fullness of Christ who is all in all. So there remains a constant tension between being incorporated into Christ and our earthly existence in a world that is not yet subject to his dominion. While believing and fervently desiring to belong wholly to Christ, we still live in the “old age” as yet un-actualized in what faith tells us we shall become. These weapons are the faith-warrior’s armament for today’s struggle provided for us by our Lord through the gift of his Spirit.

JOHN 6:56-69. Jesus’ discourse on the nature of the spiritual life he offered to all who believed so challenged many that they turned away. Would his disciples also leave him, an option he freely gave them? Peter answered for the rest in a striking confession of faith. John added to his account of this incident his disregard for Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Jesus. Undoubtedly many in John’s audience also faced a similar challenge as to whether to follow or betray Jesus by their daily actions.

The basic issue in this whole discourse and the dialogue with the Jews that runs through it was about the person of Jesus Christ. John raised this issue in his own way rather differently from the Synoptic Gospels. They presented it in the question Jesus asked the disciples at Caesarea Philippi (Matt.16:13-23; Mark 8:27-33; Luke 9:18-22). John placed it in a more literary framework as one of several discourses characteristic of his reflective style. Who really was Jesus for the Christians at the end of the 1st century? Who is he for us today?

Again, it was Peter who responded, so the tradition about Peter’s primacy must have been well fixed even at that early date. (Cf. John 21) Note, however, the unique way John told of Jesus’ question and Peter’s answer. Was there a wistful loneliness in the question? Was there also a sense of love deeper than loyalty in Peter’s reply? The term “Holy One of God” was a messianic euphemism. In the OT, “the Holy One of Israel” referred only to Yahweh, especially in Isaiah and Second Isaiah. In the NT the same term referred to the Messiah (Mark 1:24; Acts 3:14; 1 John 2:20). Here John altered the traditional form, possibly for the benefit of his Gentile audience.

Jesus’ simultaneous approbation of Peter response and condemnation of Judas served John’s purpose of setting before his audience the crucial challenge everyone must face. In every age the issue is the same: one is with Christ as a disciple or against Christ as a betrayer. The moment of decision comes again and again for each one of us.

When this analysis was first composed, the General Council of The United Church of Canada was debating how to rearrange the criteria for membership in the church and participation in the life and work of the church, especially with respect to serving on congregational boards and voting in congregational meetings. Should adherents in a congregation who have not yet made a profession of faith, but who sympathetically participate in the life of the church, be granted essentially the same privileges and responsibilities as members? Is confession of faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour a barrier to participation? For some, is membership in the church becoming a “barrier” to involvement?

Does this incident recorded in John’s Gospel give a clear answer to those questions? Did all who went away do so simply because they did not believe all those difficult things Jesus had said? Were there others who stayed besides “the twelve”? Even Judas Iscariot had not yet totally committed himself. Jesus may still have had an open mind about him. At the end of the 1st century, the case of Judas’ loyalty was closed as far as John was concerned. He had betrayed Jesus with a kiss.

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INTRODUCTION TO THE SCRIPTURE
Proper 15 Ordinary 20
Eleventh Sunday After Pentecost
AUGUST 16, 2009

1 KINGS 2:10-12; 3:3-14. When Solomon succeeded David as king of Israel, he prayed for the wisdom he needed to rule over God’s chosen people. The story reflects an attitude toward Solomon probably contained in a laudatory biography with a few additional sentences from the point of view of the compilers of the Book of Deuteronomy in the late 7th century BC.

PSALM 111. This classic psalm praises the works and wisdom of God. Words such as precepts, wisdom and understanding represent the point of view of the writers of wisdom literature such as Job, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes.

PROVERBS 9:1-6. (Alternate) Always designated as female, Wisdom calls everyone to learn how to live by and benefit from mature standards.

PSALM 34:9-14. (Alternate) This psalm declares an almost absolute trust in God to provide all the answers to life’s great questions. The psalmist claims, however, that only the righteous can have such a relationship with God.

EPHESIANS 5:15-20. The Christian life, wrote the author of this exhortation, is to be one of simplicity, sobriety, spirituality and song. This kind of living will make the best possible thanksgiving for what God has done for us in Jesus Christ.

JOHN 6:51-58. The controversy with the Jews continued as they protested Jesus’ claim that they eat his flesh and drink his blood to gain eternal life. John wrote this reflection in story form as if Jesus had said this himself. It actually reflects the convictions of the Christian church regarding the Eucharist (or Holy Communion) at the end of the first century.

A MORE COMPLETE ANALYSIS.

1 KINGS 2:10-12; 3:3-14. Old Testament scholars have given us a lot of data about the literary origins of the so-called historical books of Samuel and Kings. Originally a single volume, it was not until the translation of the Greek OT, the Septuagint, in the 3rd century BCE, that they came to be regarded as four books of “Kingdoms.” Jerome’s 5th century Latin translation, The Vulgate, followed the same principle and called them “the four books of Kings. They constitute the history of Israel’s monarchy from the false start with Saul to its end in the Babylonian captivity in 587/6 BCE. The compiler of this history belonged to the Deuteronomic school which favoured the centralization of worship in the temple in Jerusalem during Josiah’s reign ca. 621BCE. The sources for this compilation appear to have been a collection of chronicles or annals, some perhaps as early as the reigns of David and Solomon. There were also many oral legends about dominant leaders that had been passed down from generation to generation.

This passage deals with the beginning of Solomon’s reign (ca.962-922 BCE). When Solomon succeeded David as king of Israel, he prayed for the wisdom he needed to rule over God’s chosen people. The story reflects an attitude toward Solomon probably contained in a laudatory biography with a few additional sentences from the point of view of the Deuteronomic compilers in the late 7th century BC. The introductory section (2:10-12) represents formula used by the Deuteronomist throughout the rest of 1 & 2 Kings whenever a succession to the throne occurred.

Similarly, the hand of the compiler can be recognized also in Solomon’s prayer (3:3-14). Since the temple had not yet been built, the story had to be told from the point of view of worship in the decentralized “high places” such as Bethel, Gilgal and Shechem. Most probably, these were sacred sites taken over from the Canaanites by the Yahwist tradition. This process required many centuries to complete, as the Elijah narratives state unequivocally (1 Kings 17-19). In this segment of the reading, the Deuteronomist is setting the stage for the later part of his narrative which served to mandate both Solomon’s construction of the temple in the middle of the 10th century BCE (1 Kings 5) and Josiah’s centralizing reform of the 7th century BCE (2 Kings 22).

Like so many supposedly verbatim accounts of what was said, the words of the prayer came from the imagination of the compiler, not from any court records. Yahweh’s promise to Solomon of discerning wisdom also came from the same imaginative process which shaped the whole of the compiler’s story. The words recall Yahweh’s directive to the Israelites following the Deuteronomic version of the Decalogue (Deut. 5:28-33) and Joshua’s exhortation and renewal of the covenant prior to his death (Josh. 24:1-28). In each instance, the message is clear: This is the way of the Lord; follow it and you will prosper.

PSALM 111. This classic psalm praises the works and wisdom of God. Words such as precepts, wisdom and understanding represent the point of view of the authors of wisdom literature such as Job, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. In particular, the chief identifier of this type of poetry is the phrase “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (vs.10). The acrostic form of this psalm in Hebrew also exhibits another characteristic of wisdom psalms. Several other psalms adopt this same form. Scholars attribute them all to a school of pious Jews concerned about the decline of their traditions in the late Persian and early Greek periods (5th – 4th century BCE) long after the return from exile in Babylon (539 BCE).

The content of the psalm uses this artificiality extremely well to celebrate the goodness of Yahweh to Israel. It has a liturgical quality which points to its creation for use in public worship. Vs. 1 states as much. Despite the limitations of the acrostic form, it still praises Yahweh as the one who has so richly blessed Israel. It briefly recalls the “mighty works” of Israel’s faith-history (vss. 2-4) recounted throughout the Hebrew scriptures. As we now know, at the time wisdom literature of this type appeared many of those scriptures had already reached manuscript form and undoubtedly were familiar to the psalmist.

The providence of Yahweh for Israel in fulfillment of the covenant comes to the fore in vss. 5-9. Because Yahweh has been faithful and just throughout history, “his precepts are trustworthy” (vs.7). Indeed, they are eternal and requiring a faithful response from everyone (vs.8). Redemption rests on this premise (vs. 9)

PROVERBS 9:1-6. (Alternate) Hebrew tradition attributed King Solomon with great wisdom, as the superscripts of Proverbs 1 and 10 indicate. How much of this was legend cannot be discerned after three millennia. Scholars generally agree that the greater part of the Book of Proverbs is composed of a collection of wise sayings from many sources. In fact, it consists of a five separate collections of which only the first two were attributed to Solomon. This reading is taken from the last chapter of the first collection. It is thought to have reached its final form in the 5th century BCE.

Always designated metaphorically as female, in this brief passage Wisdom calls everyone to learn how to benefit from mature living. She speaks as a woman very much in command of her own life situation and willing to counsel all who would listen. The advice to “lay aside immaturity, and live” remains true today. It is a challenge to grow spiritually. Sadly, however, many Christians remain trapped in a primary school version of religious experience where literalism sets finite boundaries on spiritual truth. As my friend Jim Taylor once wrote, that is like riding a tricycle when one is already a teenager or even an adult.

PSALM 34:9-14. (Alternate) This psalm declares an almost absolute trust in God to provide all the answers to life’s great questions. The psalmist claims, however, that only the righteous can have such a relationship with God based on the fear of the Lord. Like Ps. 35 in acrostic form, wisdom style and attribution to David, scholars regard it as a late contribution to the Psalter.

Despite the mood of gratitude in this passage, a sense of self-righteousness could easily develop among those who consider themselves “saints” if vss. 9 and 12 are given a literal interpretation. Faithful people do not always obtain economic security. Indeed, faithfulness often leads to real privation as the Letter to James in the NT points out.

The traditional wisdom phrase, “the fear of the Lord,” may also be considered as reverence due to the deity. As is normal in wisdom psalms, morality plays a significant role in true religious life. This is clearly expressed in vss. 12-14.

EPHESIANS 5:15-20. The Christian life, wrote the author of this exhortation, is to be one of simplicity, sobriety, spirituality and song. This kind of living will make the best possible thanksgiving for what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. As vs. 15 suggests, the passage deals with the overall economy of the Christian life, how one is to live in the real world where clear, wisely chosen ethical standards must govern all our behaviour and relationships.

Vs 16 in the KJV has a wonderful preaching text: “redeeming the time because the days are evil.” The Greek for this text – exagorazomenoi ton kairov – also has much to say to our age. The verb exagorazeiv comes from the marketplace, which Paul knew so well from his tent-making days. It meant to buy up, rescue or ransom something which one considered valuable. Kairos was the special word NT authors used for meaningful time, opportune moments, God’s time. Another word, chronos, distinguished it from measured time. In The United Church of Canada there was a youth group for older teenagers named Kairos. It motivated young people to integrate their lives on basic Christian convictions. We need to think of all life, be it long or short, as kairos.