John Shearman's Lectionary

INTRODUCTION TO THE SCRIPTURE

Proper 12   Ordinary 17

Ninth Sunday after Pentecost

July 25, 2010

HOSEA 1:2-10. Does God really want Hosea to marry a prostitute? But that isn’t the real story of this passage. The essence of this prophetic act lies in the meaning of the names Hosea gave to the children born of his marriage to this profligate wife. Their names symbolized Israel’s degraded moral status and conveyed the message of judgment Hosea had received from God.  The names restore the moral credibility of the prophet and proclaim God’s will that the people of God live faithfully in all respects.

PSALM 85. With this beautiful lament the psalmist pleads for God’s mercy and justice. In curious juxtaposition to the foregoing prophecy, it presents a very hopeful attitude. It voices sincere humility and asks for salvation on the basis of God’s past beneficence.

GENESIS 18:20-32. (Alternate) In recent years some Christians have grossly misused the sorry tale of Sodom and Gomorrah in the struggle against homosexuality. This introduction to the story relates how Abraham pleaded with God to save a few citizens of the two cities despite their apparent wickedness. Though the story does not say so, these cities were believed to have been located in the valley of the Dead Sea before their disappearance attributed to a violent earthquake.

PSALM 138. (Alternate) In this personal hymn of thanksgiving the psalmist offers praise to God for preserving him against unnamed enemies.  He trusts God to fulfill God’s purpose for him as an individual, but also has a vision of God bringing all nations to offer praise.

COLOSSIANS 2:6-15, (16-19). The Scottish scholar, William Barclay, called this one of the most difficult passages that Paul ever wrote. Many metaphors and images are stacked one upon the other in these two paragraphs written primarily for Gentiles. Yet the message can be summed up in one sentence: Christians grounded in their faith in Jesus Christ have been forgiven all their sins through his death and resurrection. Thus all are freed from all demands of the Jewish ritual laws and any other forms of worship or discipleship.

LUKE 11:1-13. Most of us feel rather inferior about how we pray; and so did Jesus’ disciples. Their time with Jesus, however, had shown them how much prayer meant to him and how effortless it was for him to pray. They wanted to learn from him. Would that it was so for all of us!

The brief homily that follows what we call “The Lord’s Prayer” explains the willingness of God to match our requests with a grace and kindness beyond all  measure. God’s answer may not be exactly what we ask for or expect. It is far more important that God’s will be the determining factor in our prayers, our lives, for us and for all the world.

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A MORE COMPLETE ANALYSIS

HOSEA 1:2-10. The prophet marries a prostitute to teach the Hebrews a lesson about deserting the path of faithful living and God continuing to love. Now isn’t that a switch? How could God do such a thing as direct to the prophet Hosea to commit sin like that? Doesn’t that give our libertine generation just about all the license we need to do just about anything that is contrary to good morals and a stable, family-oriented society? As if we needed God’s permission anyway!

Well, that may be the headline news story. It certainly makes us open our eyes and prick up our ears. But that isn’t the real story of this passage. The essence of this prophetic act lies in the meaning of the names Hosea gave to the children born of his marriage to this profligate wife: Jezreel, Lo-ruhammah and Lo-ammi. These names symbolized their degraded status and conveyed the message Hosea had received from God.

A footnote in the NRSV translates Jezreel as “God sows.” Another possible translation is “may God make fruitful.”  Yet there is a significant period of Israel’s history bound up in that name.

The Jezreel valley is a very fertile agricultural region in northern Israel. It was in this valley that a bloody battle occurred in which, according to the Deuteronomic version in 2 Kings 9-10, Jehu overthrew the idolatrous dynasty of Ahab and Jezebel. Jehu then proceeded to murder all their descendants and obliterated the worship of Baal which Jezebel had introduced into Israel, the Northern Kingdom. He also killed Ahaziah, king of Judah, the southern kingdom, and slaughtered forty-two of his family. Jehu’s reward, according to this version, was to have five generations of his dynasty rule over the Northern Kingdom of Israel. In contrast, Hosea 1:4-5 tells a very different story. Because of the blood he had shed against the descendants of Ahab, Jehu’s dynasty was to be Israel’s last. This proved to be so when the Northern Kingdom fell to the Assyrian invasion of 722 BCE.

The names of Hosea’s other two children began with the negative *Lo* which in Hebrew means “No.” It is not repeated in 2:1. *Ruhammah* meant “pitied;” and *Ammi* meant “my people.” Uttered as negatives, the daughter’s name expressed Yahweh’s disfavor which was about to be visited on Israel, but not on Judah (vss.6-7). The younger son’s name meant that God had totally rejected Israel as the chosen people. (vss.9-10) Thus the parable of the children’s names restores the moral credibility of the prophet and proclaims God’s will that the people of God live faithfully in all respects.

There is good reason to question whether vs. 11 was part of the original prophecy. The verse reads as if it had been added at a later date after the return from exile in Babylon in the 6^th century BCE when there were high hopes of a restoration of the united kingdom of David and a period of great prosperity with the valley of Jezreel producing abundant crops once again.

PSALM 85. In curious juxtaposition to the foregoing prophecy, this psalm presents a very hopeful attitude. As a lament of the community, it voices sincere humility and pleads for salvation on the basis of Yahweh’s past beneficence. Some unknown historic circumstance may lie behind it, but there are no clues to what that event may have been other than that some imminent danger threatened the whole community.

We have no way of knowing when that was, but it seems likely that the psalm is post-exilic. Some scholars believe that it reflects the conditions in Judah similar to that described by Haggai (ca. 520 BCE) when Judah experienced a severe economic depression and a failure of spiritual enthusiasm (cf. Haggai 1:6-11; 2:15-19).

An eschatological element some detect in the closing vss. 8-13 has given the psalm a wider relevance. A prophetic note similar to that of Second Isaiah sounds through these lines. An earnest desire for peace and fidelity to Yahweh will yield prosperity and social justice.

The psalmist looks forward to a time of faithfulness and well-being throughout the land in his own time period. The Anglican Book of Common Prayer made this the “proper psalm” for Christmas Day. Since the author had in mind an immediate demonstration of Yahweh’s saving power, it seems most appropriate for that or any Christian celebration.

GENESIS 18:20-32. (Alternate)    In recent years some Christians have grossly misused the sorry tale of Sodom and Gomorrah in the struggle against homosexuality. This introduction to the story relates how Abraham pleaded with God to save a few citizens of the two cities despite their apparent wickedness. Though the story does not say so, they were believed to have been located in the valley of the Dead Sea and their disappearance attributed to a violent earthquake.

The heart of this passage has to do with a preliminary decision by God not to tell Abraham, God’s chosen servant, what would happen because of the grave sin of Sodom and Gomorrah. Then God does just that because God intends to reward Abraham’s faithfulness in teaching his children to be faithful and righteous (vss. 17-19).

While two of Abrahams’ visitors go on their way, God remains in active conversation with Abraham who petitions him to save the citizens of those toward fated cities. More of a negotiation than a prayer, Abraham beseeches God to spare Sodom and Gomorrah for the sake of a diminishing number of persons, especially Abraham’s nephew Lot.

PSALM 138. (Alternate)   Less common than laments, which most often ended with a hopeful note of thanksgiving, this pure hymn of thanksgiving is only one of twenty such in the Psalter. It would appear that the psalmist has come to the temple to offer thanks for Yahweh’s steadfast love and faithfulness (vs. 2). His praise has to do with God preserving him against unnamed enemies in some desperate circumstances.  Indeed, he seems a little astonished at the almost miraculous nature of his experience.

The psalmist trusts God to fulfill God’s purpose for him as an individual, (vs. 8), but also has a vision of God bringing all nations to offer praise (vss. 4-6). More than that he has been spiritually strengthened so that he is assured of Yahweh’s continued help (vs. 7).

Scholars have suggested that, despite its individualistic style, it was composed at the time the temple was being rebuilt after the return form exile in Babylon.

Some versions of the Septuagint attributed it to the prophet Zechariah although it is included in a small collection (Pss. 138-145) of psalms attributed to David, but almost certainly not written by him.

COLOSSIANS 2:6-15 (16-19). A cursory analysis of this passage cannot begin to discover all that it has to offer to the careful reader or preacher. One could spend many days making sense of what William Barclay called of the most difficult passages that Paul ever wrote. One metaphor and image upon another crowd into these two paragraphs. Yet is it sufficient to sum up in one sentence all that Paul is saying, as in the following attempt to do so?: “We are rooted in Jesus Christ, forgiven through him and freed from all cultic demands.” (UCC Online Resource. “Gathering.” Edited by Marilyn Leuty and Fred Graham.)

Paul’s metaphors centered on both the human and the risen Christ. He saw Jesus as the one human being in whom the Spirit of God had fully dwelt (vs. 9). He also saw Jesus as the crucified and risen Lord. To these images he added the image of the Christian community as the body of the risen Christ of which Jesus Christ himself was the head. Baptism by immersion in water had become for him a symbolic sharing in the death and resurrection of Christ. The effect of baptism was to erase all record of sin and the demand for moral justification before God. God’s forgiveness through Jesus Christ also removed all necessity for the ritual laws symbolized by Jewish circumcision. In other words, every other religious tradition and all their multiplicity of ritual, dietary and physical practices no longer had any spiritual validity or moral implications. The only thing Christians needed was the spiritual gift of forgiving grace made available to all freely and unconditionally through Christ symbolized by baptism. This alone assured the spiritual growth that results in life with and for God.

In dealing with this passage it is important to remember that the Colossian Christians were being assailed by a rival philosophy which its proponents claimed was necessary in addition to the Christian faith in order to be saved. Scholars have identified this philosophy by different names and definitions, but without reaching any final consensus. In his commentary Edouard Schweizer dedicated more than eight pages of an excursus to analyzing it. He called it a syncretistic Jewish Pythagorean rite about which Philo of Alexandria had complained and which had infiltrated into Jewish families. William Barclay saw it more as a mix of ascetic beliefs and practices drawn from both Gnosticism and Judaism. The Gnostics espoused intellectual knowledge and astrology. Asceticism with its rules and regulations come direct from Judaism. F. W. Beare described the Colossian heresy as having roots in Hellenistic religious syncretism, but also including some Jewish elements.

One wonders if our increased understanding of the influential Essene sect based in Qumran would cause each of these eminent scholars of the past generation to consider them as the likely candidates for Paul’s denunciation. In his masterful study of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Geza Vermes describes this literature as a collection of rule books, biblical interpretations, poetry, wisdom, sectarian calendars, liturgical texts, astrological horoscopes and descriptions of human features related to the dates of a person’s birth. This would appear to fit Paul’s protest remarkably well.

It is possible that there were two different, conflicting groups, one Hellenistic Greek and one Diaspora Jewish, striving to capture those who had begun to live as Christian disciples following the initial instruction they had received from Epaphras.  Perhaps Barclay came closest to the truth when he said simply: “We do not know precisely and in detail what that teaching was.” All we can say is that this letter was written to a congregation in the midst of a very intensive moral and spiritual struggle. That places this reading as one which has extremely helpful counsel for any congregation struggling in the context of our crisis-ridden Western civilization.

In the final analysis, what Paul was saying to the Colossians and to us is that faith in Jesus Christ crucified and raised from the dead is all we really need for a healthy moral and spiritual life. There are behavioral implications enough to keep us all well occupied as we seek to advance God’s reign of love on earth.

See also: Barclay, William. Daily Bible Readings: Philippians, Colossians and Philemon. Edinburgh: The Church of Scotland, 1957.

Beare, F.W. The Interpreter’s Bible. Vol. 11. Nashville: Abingdon, 1955.

Schweizer, Edouard. The Letter to The Colossians: A Commentary. Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1976.

Vermes, Geza. The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English. Allen Lane, The Penquin Press, 1997.

LUKE 11:1-13. So what is it with prayer? Most of us feel rather inferior about how we pray; and so did Jesus’ disciples. Their time with Jesus, however, had shown them how much prayer meant to him and perhaps how effortless it was for him to pray. Quite naturally, they wanted to learn from him. Would that it was so for all of us!

In a little daily devotional book, The Meaning of Prayer, published by Associaton Press of the YMCA in 1915, Harry Emerson Fosdick described prayer in one simple phrase: “friendship with God.” But is that what the formal words of the Lord’s Prayer in vss. 2-4 convey? Certainly the story and admonitions that follow seem to concentrate more on what we may ask of God rather than enjoying the experience of being with God as friend with friend. In some respects, Fosdick pointed out, this is an immature or childish way to pray: “Childishness in prayer is chiefly evidenced in an overweening desire to beg things from God, and a corresponding failure to desire above all else friendship with God himself.”

Fosdick then quoted this prayer of Thomas à Kempis: “Grant me, O most loving Lord, to rest in thee above all creatures, … above all riches and art, above all fame and praise, above all sweetness and comfort, above all hope and promise, above all favors and gifts that thou canst give and impart to us, … above all things visible and invisible, and above all that thou art not, O my God. It is too small and unsatisfying, whatsoever thou bestowest, whilst thou art not seen and not fully obtained. For surely my heart cannot truly rest, nor be entirely contented, unless it rest in thee.”

Yet this lesson seems to suggest the very opposite of what Thomas à Kempis and Fosdick were saying. Jesus encouraged his disciples to be persistent in asking. In the Lord’s Prayer, there are three specific requests: for daily bread; for forgiveness and the freedom to forgive others; and for deliverance from life’s inevitable trials. The exact meaning of the word *epiousios* (Eng. = ‘daily’) is obscure since the word has never been found anywhere else in biblical or other Greek texts. Furthermore, the story of the persistent friend and its exposition in the light of God’s gracious, loving nature as “the heavenly Father” do suggest that we are expected to do as Paul states in Philippians 4:6  “In everything by prayer and thanksgiving let (our) requests be made known to God.”

In the end, we must realize that the disciples’ practice of faithful prayer in any time or place may take one of two forms: the prayer of quiet contemplation or the prayer of thanksgiving and petition. Neither one is better than the other. If Luke 4:42-44, John 17, and the Gethsemane experience are any indication, it is likely that Jesus himself adopted both means of seeking God’s presence, God’s guidance and God’s provision for both body and spirit. His prayer life fully exemplified the life of friendship with God.

SOME ADDITIONAL PREACHING POINTS.

HOSEA 1:2-10. On what does a nation’s moral credibility depend? That is a question about which Christians should constantly struggle. Is it to be open and accepting of many different behavioural patterns? Or is it to be rigidly opposed to any and every behaviour that appears to deny “our family (or community) values?”

Puritanism has shaped a significant part of North American cultural and religious history. Europeans tend to smile with not too secret self-conceit when we hold our political leaders to a higher moral standard than they do, or than we ourselves are willing to follow. OTOH, we also have high regard for our athletic heroes, some of whom have achieved their status despite some very questionable moral behaviour? There is no question, nonetheless, that all of western civilization has been based on the acute sense of moral responsibility of individuals and nations to be found in the ancient Ten Commandments and moral outcries of Israel’s great prophets.

LUKE 11:1-13. Bruce Chilton has built his latest book around the Aramaic version of the Lord’s Prayer. (The Way of Jesus To Repair And Renew The World. Abingdon Press, 2010.) In the introductory chapter he gives what he says is the original Aramaic form and translates it into English as follows:   (My) father/source — your name will be sanctified — your Kingdom will come — give me today the bread that is coming — and release me my debts not bring me to the test.

“Each of these affirmations and petitions involves a way in which a human being responds to God,” he writes.  He then deals with each in a separate chapter to which he gives a single word heading:  Soul; Spirit; Kingdom; Insight; Forgiveness; Mercy; Glory. These titles seem to be taken from the English not the Aramaic version. Finally he summarizes the whole in a chapter he called “Mindful Practice.” There he points out that Jesus lived out the prophetic powers and divine revelation he had inherited from the prophets of Israel.

“Jesus intended to pass on to his followers the inheritance, not merely of believers but of any person who wishes to understand him. They are the pillars of humanity and the continuance of civilization that we can build upon, if we are patient enough to discern them. These are the resources not only of belief but also of learning to become human with Jesus as a guide, and they identify powers within people – despite the variety and hardship of their conditions – that reside within them because they a re God’s children. They only await our recovering them so that we may repair and renew a broken world, starting with our broken selves.” (Chilton, 17. Italics mine.)

In the chapter “Spirit” Chilton discusses the last of the petitions, “release me my debts – not bring me to the test!” (Punctuation his.) He further states that “temptation was constant in Jesus’ life, and he conveyed to his disciples the necessity of resisting it, not simply on one’s own strength, but in prayer. Jesus had broken barriers of convention and prejudice, and he needed to create his own personal form of prayer as a means of distinguishing the transcendent from the temporal, productive transgressions from personal exaltation.”

So how shall we pray in the 21^st century? Above all, let us be real. This is a time when there is much to be distressed about — illness, conflicts, disasters, poverty, famine. Who can count the number of issues to be anxious about and to bring before God in prayer? But it is into such a world that Jesus was born and lived. He is with us still and wants to know just how we think and feel, who we are praying for and how we act in his name.

Then let us be persistent. That is a message of the sermonette that follows the Lord’s Prayer in Luke 11:5-15. It could not be said in plainer words. An elderly preacher of an earlier age said in the typical theological terms of that time, “We should shake the gates of Heaven with our prayers!”

Let us be joyful in our prayers. Check out the number of times the word “joy” and its related terms appears in scripture, especially in the Psalms and the New Testament. There are hundreds of them.

A non-religious source of spirituality suggested that to expel the negativity from our thinking and living we need to meditate to be well, to be happy and to be filled with loving kindness.

(http://www.care2.com/greenliving/how-you-can-unhook-from-negativity.html?page=2 )

Paul and Silas were not happy to be in prison in Philippi, but they were joyfully singing at midnight. (Acts 16:25ff) Years later from Caesar’s’ prison in Rome he wrote to those same Philippians, “Rejoice in the Lord always, again I will say, Rejoice.” To the Colossians he or one of his disciples wrote, “May you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father.” (Col. 1:11-12)

Finally, let us be quiet. Prayer is the expression of our being in the presence of God. We can be sure that God knows who we are; but do we? When we come know who we are in the essence of our being, we transcend ourselves and find the peace and the love for God, our neighbours and ourselves that Jesus so fully exemplified in the way he prayed.

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INTRODUCTION TO THE SCRIPTURE

Proper 11 Ordinary 16

8th Sunday After Pentecost

July 18, 2010

AMOS 8:1-12. In another vituperative outburst against social injustices of his time in the 8th century BC, Amos vividly describes the fate that is about to befall his people. In an amazing series of images beginning with a basket of over-ripe summer fruit and ending with a famine, he depicts God=s unrelenting judgment against the economic,  political and religious chicanery of the rich toward the poor.

PSALM 52. Again echoing the words of Amos, this psalm reiterates God=s judgment for social injustice and false piety. The reference to Zion in vs. 6 indicates that these charges may have been directed against the religious leaders.

GENESIS 18:1-10A. (Alternate) This odd little story tells of God appearing to Abraham in the guise of three travellers to promise that they would have a son in their later years. However incredible, its intent was to lead Abraham and his descendants to an ever deeper trust.

 

PSALM 15. (Alternate) The similarity of this psalm with the teachings of Deuteronomy and Leviticus points to a time after Israel=s return from exile when religious leader sought to instruct the populace in the ancient tradition of the covenant law.

COLOSSIANS 1:15-28. Modern versions of this passage divide it into three paragraphs. The first speaks of the pre-existent, human, crucified and resurrected Christ. The second speaks of the reconciliation God effected through Christ. The third presents the vision of what God is doing in creating this new humanity and the cosmic universe in which we live and serve as did Paul. Few statements of the whole gospel Paul proclaimed have the sweep of this one.

The most puzzling part of the passage is Paul=s claim to be “completing what is lacking in Christ=s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church.” Does he really mean that the suffering of Christ on the cross was lacking some way? More likely, the phrase emphasizes that the Passion of Christ was the central focus of Paul’s faith and the church’s reason for being.

LUKE 10:38-42. The lovely story of Jesus visiting Mary and Martha never ceases to raise romantic views of their relationship now featured in a modern novel. Jesus felt welcome in their home in Bethany and made his headquarters there when in Jerusalem. It lay only a short two kilometres east of the city on the Mount of Olives.

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A MORE COMPLETE ANALYSIS.

 

 

AMOS 8:1-12. Amos in his most vituperative outcry condemns the injustice of his society. The passage contains some vivid metaphors. The basket of summer fruit catches the eye immediately. In Canada, summer fruit is soft because its water content is very high, so it spoils very quickly. Most summer fruit seasons are very short, a couple of weeks at most. In the heat of a summer in Israel, that would take no more than a few hours. Scholars suspect, however, that the metaphor is more of a play on words as footnotes in the NSRV indicate. The Hebrew for a summer fruit is aqayits; but in vs.2 “the end” is aqets.

If that is not enough to attract attention, the image in vs. 3 of the songs of the temple turned into wailing and dead bodies … cast out in every place leaves nothing to the imagination. The most secure place in Jerusalem or any other city was the temple, the site of sanctuary. It usually was the last place of resistance against an invader. In my home town, an armed rebellion by French Canadians against the British colonial government in1837 was fought to its bloody end in the local parish church. Marks of the cannon balls used to flush out les Patriotes are still visible in the church’s stone walls. The end of the battle brought a merciless search of the village by the victorious troops for any would-be escapees. The legend of the rebel patriots heroic defense has grown with time. I clearly recall how it was portrayed in the colorful floats a great parade on the 100^th anniversary of the battle. Histories written for subsequent anniversaries are replete with legends as well as facts.

Amos prophesies an inevitable and immediate catastrophe in response to the corruption he sees everywhere about him. His oracle makes explicit the reasons for this catastrophe in vss. 4-6. It depicts the economic injustices of Amos’ own time and place. Now, his words have become universal as the globalization of business and industry has seized economic advantages everywhere. The wealthy people and the developed industrial nations reap profits and expand their power at the expense of the poor in rest of the world. Many of the most vulnerable people in our own communities are sinking rapidly into poverty as they are forced to the margins of a money-driven society.

A threat of earthquakes, floods, darkness in broad daylight, and public mourning like that for an only son draw a devastating picture of how great the coming catastrophe would be (vss. 7-10). This is followed by a searing description of famine throughout the land (vss. 11-14).  Famine was not uncommon in Israel because water sources are so scarce and rainfall relatively light. If the fall and spring rains did not come as expected, crop failure was all but inevitable. One of the core issues in the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the availability of water.

The prophesy rises to its climax in a brilliant clarification of what has really gone wrong. As severe as they are, it is not the natural disasters which will cause such an incredible catastrophe, but the spiritual vacuum throughout the nation. The real famine is Anot a famine of bread, or a thirst for water, but of a hearing of the words of the Lord@ (vs. 11b).

How elegantly contemporary is this word of the Lord of History. Are there any prophets like Amos willing to speak such words to our world?

PSALM 52. Echoing the words of Amos, this psalm reiterates God=s judgment against social injustice and false piety. The reference to Zion in vs. 6 indicates that these charges may have been directed against the religious leaders. It also points to a later period than that of King David.

The righteous are like a spreading olive tree, says the psalmist at the end of a most vengeful condemnation of the rich and powerful. A note of self-righteousness has crept into the self-awareness of vss.6-8. But does the grateful devotion of vss.9-10 overcome the viciousness of vss.1-5?

One aspect of the work by the editors of the Psalter was their search for a time in ancient stories of David’s life when such an attitude could be attributed to the hero-king. This editorial practice dates from the post-exilic period long after David=s time (ca. 1000 BCE) when the praises of Israel’s religious tradition were being collected and new psalms written to create a composite set of scrolls for use in the reconstructed temple in Jerusalem, possibly in 5^th century BCE.

In The Interpreter’s Bible, vol. 4, p.273, W. Stewart McCullough wrote that like Ps. 58 this psalm recalled invectives of the great prophets (cf. Isa.22:15-19). Yet the psalmist also wished to express trust and confidence in a time when men were debating the problem of the comparative values of good and evil from a utilitarian standpoint of what was profitable for life in their own time (Cf. Pss. 1; 37; 49)

While having the form of a lament, the psalm denounced wickedness and assured the righteous of vindication. Like other psalms and writings in which the relation of piety to success, happiness, and long life is vehemently discussed, this was an attitude of the reconstruction era. We can find this ideology prevalent in much of the Old Testament, based in large part on the theological concept of Israel as Yahweh=s chosen and covenanted people. The books of Job and Ecclesiastes show that this attitude was not universally accepted. Righteousness and wealth do not necessarily follow each other in human behavior.

GENESIS 18:1-10A. (Alternate) This odd little story tells of God appearing to Abraham in the guise of three travellers to promise that they would have a son in their later years. Since this anecdote came from J, the earliest of the four documents which compose the Pentateuch, it presents a relatively primitive description of a theophany. The motif of deity appearing in the guise of three men has much in common with other ancient religious literature. The legend could well have existed in the pre-Israelite settlement in the region of Hebron.   Abraham=s hospitality also follows the traditional custom of tribal societies. Such hospitality usually resulted in a blessing. For this reason alone, the story would have been remembered with great favour in the long oral tradition preceding its documentation.

Specific clues imbedded in the narrative define the incident as a theophany. It occurred Aby the oaks of Mamre, very near modern Hebron, Israel. Regarded to this day as a holy place, with the Arabic name of Ramet el-Khalil (the height of the friend of the merciful One), it lies not far from the tomb of Abraham and Sarah, sacred for both Moslems and Jews. Archeologists have found a 9^th century BCE pavement marking the spot where once the oak of Mamre may have stood. It also marked the place where Jews captured during the revolt of Bar Kocheba  (135 CE) were sold as slaves. Byzantine Christians partially rebuilt a basilica there after its destruction by Moslems in 614 CE.

Other clues to the sanctity of the location also exist in the narrative: the length of Abraham=s speech and the generosity of the feast he prepared for the guests. Three measures of meal amount to about four pecks, a dry measure equal to 2 imperial gallons, 9.9 litres or 8 US quarts. This would have been used to bake flat breads. A young calf would provide an ample meal for four men with plenty left over for the women, children and servants. Vineyards in the region still yield plentiful grapes, so most likely wine would also have quenched the thirst of the three guests.

 

However incredible, the intent of the story was to lead Abraham and his descendants to an ever deeper trust in Yahweh.

 

PSALM 15. (Alternate) The similarity of this didactic psalm with the teachings of Deuteronomy and Leviticus points to a time after Israel’s return from exile when religious leader sought to instruct the populace in the ancient tradition of the covenant law.

 

Behind it may lie a more ancient tradition: the practice of approaching a place of worship to obtain an oracle from a priest. This would guide the supplicant in making a decision or throw light on the meaning of some calamity. Or the supplicant might ask for an interpretation of a sacred law as to his/her duty in a new situation. It cannot be considered a liturgical psalm, but one used in preparation for worship. Psalm 24 contains a liturgical rendition of a similar religious attitude.

The phrase “your holy hill represents the reality of all ancient Israel’s sacred sites. More than likely it stands as a generic term for the specific name Zion. Not only Israelites, but all ancient people built their simplest sanctuaries and greatest temples on heights so that they could be seen from afar. Archeologists still see the evidence of such Aholy hills@ on every tell or mound they investigate.

The ethical measure of the prospective worshiper leaves little to the imagination. Even in recent times, some Protestant denominations of the Calvinist and Presbyterian tradition, held preparation services during the week before a quarterly celebration of the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. The purpose of these services was for the assembled congregation to examine their moral conduct and seek forgiveness in much the same way that the Roman Catholic Church practices the sacrament of Confession, now called Reconciliation.

Of special note too, this moral process banned such financial transactions as lending money at interest and taking bribes. False oaths also had no place in the strict discipline invoked by this psalmist. Steadfast ethical behaviour alone mattered to this understanding of Yahweh=s will.

COLOSSIANS 1:15-28. Christ is the image of the invisible God (vs.15) is only one of many preachable texts in this passage. Perhaps nowhere else in the whole of the Pauline corpus do we find a clearer description of what Paul meant by his metaphor of “the new creation” in 2 Corinthians 5:16-21.

By dividing the passage into three paragraphs as does the NRSV, we can see that the first speaks of the pre-existent, human, crucified and resurrected Christ. The second speaks of the reconciliation God effected through Christ. The third presents the vision of what God is doing in creating this new humanity and the cosmic universe in which we live and serve as did Paul.

If there is a tendency in our preaching to limit reconciliation to the human part of the created universe, this passage should dispel that less than complete understanding of God=s purpose. Just as creation came into being through Christ, Paul claims in vs.16, so also all creation and not just the human race will be recreated through being reconciled to God through Christ=s life, death and resurrection. (vs. 20) That includes all of us who like the Colossians were once estranged from God. (vss. 21-22)

Yet the promise comes with the responsibility of maintaining this new relationship of faith (vs.23). Prevenient grace takes effect when it meets faithful response. The grace that reconciles us to God does not change. Its effectiveness in our lives and through us in the world is inhibited when we no longer respond in faith, hope and love. So Paul goes on to show what this has meant in his own life as an apostle proclaiming this good news (vss. 24-26). He could do no other than link his ministry as an apostle to his experience of conversion and reconciliation.

The most puzzling part of this passage is Paul’s claim to be “completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that, is the church. Does he really mean that the suffering of Christ on the cross was lacking some way? William Barclay says that this is no more than another way of building up and extending the church. “Anyone who serves the Church by widening her borders, establishing her faith, saving her from errors, is doing the work of Christ. And if such service involves suffering and pain and sacrifice, that affliction is filling up and sharing the very suffering of Christ Himself.”  (Daily Bible Readings: Philippians, Colossians and Philemon. Edinburgh: The Church of Scotland, 1957.)

F.W. Beare gives a more extensive exegesis in The Interpreter’s Bible. ( Vol. 11, p.177. Nashville: Abingdon, 1955.). He states that this was the basis for the doctrine of a treasury of merits (formally called supererogation) first authorized in the papal bull by Clement VI in 1343. This doctrine made the sale of indulgences possible and ultimately led to the strong reaction of Protestant theologians and exegetes two centuries later.

Beare points out, however, that Paul in no way suggests that his sufferings he create a store of merits which are available for the account of the church at large. He never regarded his sufferings as an atonement for the sins of other Christians. The issues of atonement for sin did not enter into Paul=s consideration. His sufferings may have been vicarious, but not punishment for sin. He endured them in the interest of others. They were not in any sense a recompense for the sins of others. Paul was saying simply that suffering is part of the Christian vocation. As Jesus had said, “the servant is not greater than his Lord.” The world will treat Christians with hostility as it treated Christ. Nor does the phrase “the deficiencies of Christ’s afflictions” imply that the sufferings of Christ were insufficient in some way to accomplish their purpose of redemption. Paul was not putting the economy of redemption under review. His underlying belief was that the afflictions of the church are also Christ’s afflictions. Thus the sufferings of Christians as Christians would continually supplement the sufferings of their Master. The experience of suffering would become an experience common to Master and servants.

Eduard Schweizer believes that Colossians is a heavily edited, but authentic Pauline letter. He also asserts that Paul or his editor was exaggerating in this statement. It goes further than anything we can find elsewhere in Paul. It would have been alien to him to say anything about suffering being endured for the sake of the church. (The Letter to The Colossians: A Commentary. Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1976., p.99ff.) Schweizer concludes that the expression “Christ’s afflictions” is never used in the New Testament for the Passion, nor for Jesus’ experience of suffering in general. Nor does the church take on and continue the sufferings of Christ which in themselves effected redemption of the world.

The death of Christ brought about the redemptive reconciliation with God once and for all. The apostle’s affliction’ or being afflicted can be regarded as that which comes from participating in the anticipating proclaiming the gospel, thus making it effective in such a way as to let faith attain its fullness among the Colossians and among other communities throughout the world. The sufferings of which Paul speaks are those endured in the community for the sake of Christ, or in Christ. What the community experiences, Paul also experiences and vice versa. This allows his message to become more credible. He and they, and we too, represent Christ in the world. We are to live to bring Christ’s work as the redeemer of the Christian community and the whole cosmos to its fulfillment. Our place of ministry is right where we are now, wherever that may be. And that may well involve us in a discomforting degree of suffering.

LUKE 10:38-42. Martha frets; Mary listens. Or is that an over-simplification of the story? Jesus does seem to rebuke Martha for her task-driven anxiety and to praise Mary for sitting as his feet listening to what he said. This has been the traditional interpretation which some people have pushed to the extreme by claiming that faith and contemplative spirituality are better than works and active service. It is unlikely that Jesus meant to draw such a distinction. Life for Jesus had a much greater balance of both prayer and action, worship and work. He spent his days teaching and healing, but also frequently withdrew to a quiet place for prayer and contemplation of the presence of God in stillness and silence.

Contemplative spirituality is certainly an important facet of the Christian life. The modern Protestant tradition has left it mostly to Catholicism – Anglican, Roman and Orthodox – where it is practiced as a significant means of spiritual formation and daily devotion. Wesley eschewed it, especially in its monastic form, though he urged his converts to follow his own daily practice of the presence of God and the reading of devotional classics such as Thomas à Kempis. Wesley also adopted the love feast and established the class meeting as a means of spiritual support for their continued development. In recent years, some Protestants have turned to Roman Catholic spiritual directors in search of a more effective spiritual life.

In this decade the Internet offers open access to a wide variety of contemplative practices in both Western Christian and Oriental traditions of Buddhist, Hindu and other origins. An unusual combination of several of these traditions can also be seen in some of these web sites. Our Protestant tradition has been rightly criticized for being too activist and task-oriented. Yet this does not obviate the need for action as a vital expression of faith and commitment. Spreading the Good News of God’s redeeming love in Christ does require effective action.

The actual text of what Jesus said to Martha may have come down to us in somewhat garbled form, since various readings of vss. 41-42 survive. Whatever may have been Jesus’ original words, it would appear that he may well have urged Martha to seek first the Reign of God and let other things assume their proper place within that spiritual context, as Matthew 6:33 states. That leaves plenty of room for exegetical and homiletical interpretation.

 

 

Some Additional Preaching Notes.

 

COLOSSIANS 1:15-28. Last Sunday at our local church I was surprised to meet one of the policemen who had been on duty all week during the G8/G20 crisis in Toronto. I asked him if he had been on duty that week. I was surprised because that trying challenge for our police forces occurred only hours after the funeral of his wife of more than 30 years. She had died following an eighteen year battle with cancer.

“Oh, yes,” he replied, then added, “It was only a very small minority of really bad guys in the midst of a lot of very peaceful people wanting to be heard.”

I had seen him once before in fully uniform weighed down by his protective vest and armament. He and a partner were patrolling the stands at a major league baseball game. Seeing him at worship made me realize that by doing his duty under what must have been the most difficult circumstances exemplified very clearly what Paul told the Colossians. We are to live in Christ amid the pain and tribulations of this world as it is.

A brief essay: Liturgy happens in many ways and everywhere.

Scholars have long noted the liturgical style of the Letter to the Colossians. There is a distinct sense of poetry and praise in 1:15-20. Conzelmann regards it as a hymn taken from an earlier source for use in this setting. He claims that there are similar concepts in this hymn to be found in the Greek Pythagorean philosophers of the lst century BCE and in Philo, the Alexandrian Jews of the 1^st century CE. Others, like G. B. Caird for instance, believed that its origin is irrelevant and could be Paul’s own composition.

The latest issue of ARC: The Journal of the Faculty of Religious Study (Montreal: McGill University, 2009.) contains several important essays on ritual and ritual practice. The lead article by Steven Engler dealt with the theory derived from some unusual practices of exorcism in a powerful mixture of Christian Catholicism, neo-Pentecostalism and African animism among descendants of former Brazilian slaves. (“Brazilian Spirit Possession and the Theory of Ritual.” 1-28.) Quoting an earlier source by Maurice Bloch (“Ritual and Deference,” 2006) Engler pointed out that in liturgical matters one relies on “the authority of others to guarantee the value of what is said or done.” Hence the use of prayer books, traditional hymns, liturgical clothing, seasonal candles and paraments. In studying the Bible too we often appeal to authorities (as I have done above) in a ritualistic way so as to strengthen our discussion with their superior knowledge.

Many years ago when still a bachelor, I was invited to supper by an Anglican colleague. He wife left his wife in the kitchen to care for two very young children and prepare the meal for the unexpected guest. I was directed to join him at evensong in the small white church next to the rectory. Proudly my host displayed for me the accoutrements of this exquisite little chapel. “We have better paraments than even the cathedral,” he told me with great pride. I wondered how and why such a small parish could spend such large sums of money of what my denomination regarded as superfluous decorations.

Since I was the only other person present I reminded him that his wife would have supper ready and suggested that it wasn’t necessary for him to conduct the service just for me. “It isn’t for you,” he snapped back. “It’s for God. Even if no one is here, we must always have evensong at six o’clock.” He then proceeded to ring the bell in the steeple to call whoever heard to attention that he was doing so. For the next twenty to thirty minutes he conducted the traditional evensong while his wife waited for us to arrive late for supper.

Just a few years ago in Montreal I dropped into the Anglican Cathedral to see some of the stone work put in place by my paternal great-grandfather, a master stonemason, during the building of that historic church 150 years ago. I was again just in time for evensong and again I was the only person present except for the curate who conducted the liturgy.

In contrast, as these paragraphs were being composed, Canada’s Queen Elizabeth was been given a last farewell at the end of a nine day royal visit to three provinces. Everywhere she went in several stops along the tour she was greeted by rousing cheers from large crowds eager to see their Queen. There was also the traditional honour guard in dress uniform to be inspected by their commander in chief with an artillery unit of four guns sounding the royal salute in the background.

In Halifax, Nova Scotia she formally reviewed an international fleet gathered in Halifax harbour. In Winnipeg, Manitoba, she was invited to lay the cornerstone of new National Museum of Human Rights. In Ottawa, she addressed the Canada Day celebrations on Parliament Hill. In Toronto, Ontario, she unveiled a plaque commemorating the 150th anniversary of the dedication of Queen’s Park by her great-grandfather, before he was crowned King Edward VII. Queen’s Park is the site of the Ontario Legislature. She also visited the Research In Motion factory in Waterloo, Ontario, where Blackberries are manufactured. She was formally presented with the new model of that communications instrument.

At each stop of the tour she was greeted by brief addresses by the Prime Minister or  other official dignitary to which she was invited to reply. On the eve of her departure she was honoured at a state dinner and given several gifts on behalf of the Canadian people marking this occasion of her 22^nd visit to this country. In her brief response she expressed her thanks for the warm welcome given to her and her husband once again. She also referred to the fact that when she spoke at the United Nations on the following afternoon, she would do so as Queen of Canada. She is the formal head of state of this country. The Governor General is the Queen’s representative and acts in her stead when she is not in the country.

These ceremonies can only be regarded as political and secular liturgies. All societies and cultures perform similar secular liturgies on specific national or cultural occasions such as the inauguration of a president or the presentation of a sports championship trophy like the World Cup of Football or the World Series of Baseball. In the introductory Propedia volume of the Encyclopedia Britannica’s 15^th edition, the late Wilfred Cantwell Smith noted the similarity of liturgy and symbolism in Sunday afternoon football games in the United States to the church liturgies of Sunday mornings in American churches.

LUKE 10:38-42. There is another surprising aspect to this pericope. Seen from Luke’s perspective, Martha was criticized for doing exactly what her traditional culture dictated. She was getting the meal for her guest, expending considerable energy in doing so. She is then portrayed as whining because her sister was not helping her. On the other hand, Mary was praised for just sitting at Jesus’ feet listening to him. But was Mary not also quietly criticized too. Unlike the other disciples in other instances or even the lawyer in the previous pericope, she didn’t interact with Jesus. Was she just mooning there in enthralled silence? She was given no commission to act, just her presence acknowledged. Sharon H. Ringe comments in her exposition of this passage: “Whatever may have been Jesus’ relationship with women followers, Luke allots them carefully circumscribed roles. For them, the life of discipleship – at least in Luke’s church – promises few real changes.” (“Luke.” Westminster Bible Companion Series. Westminster John Knox Press, 1994.)

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INTRODUCTION TO THE SCRIPTURE
Third Sunday After Epiphany
Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
January 24, 2010

NEHEMIAH 8:1-10. The passage tells how Ezra the scribe read the law to the assembled populace after the walls of Jerusalem had been rebuilt. This reconstruction had taken place under the leadership of Nehemiah, the Jewish cupbearer of King Artaxerxes I of Persia, who had been appointed governor of Jerusalem and Judea in the mid-5th century BC. The point of the story is that, as in the creation story in Genesis 1:1-2:4, great and good work is to be followed by sincere, committed worship.

PSALM 19. This originally existed as two separate psalms, but at some point were combined as one in an exquisite poem. The composite celebrates the wonder of God’s creation and the spiritual value of true devotion to God and obedience to God’s law.

1 CORINTHIANS 12:12-31a. Paul’s image of the disciple community as the body of the risen Christ has stood the test of time. It still speaks with power to our generation. Of less significance for us is the list of offices and functions which he enumerates. His purpose in doing so is to illustrate how the various gifts he had found among the Corinthian disciples could work together harmoniously when each person fulfilled his or her function for the good of the whole community. He moved from this powerful metaphor to show how this could be done through the best gift of all – love.

LUKE 4:14-21. It was the custom in the Jewish synagogues of the 1st century to ask a visiting rabbi to teach from the scriptures. After making an initial tour of Galilee, Jesus went to worship on the sabbath. He was asked to read and interpret a passage of scripture. He chose or was assigned a passage from Isaiah 61 which was to become the model for his ministry. Then he declared to the congregation that this prophecy was being fulfilled in their hearing.

A MORE COMPLETE ANALYSIS. (The RCL recommends omitting vss. 4 & 7 with their lists of names from the lesson.) Until the time of Origen in the 3rd century, the books of Ezra and Nehemiah were regarded as a unity. They are now again considered as a composite whole edited from earlier sources and memoirs of the two men under whose diligent guidance the walls of Jerusalem and the temple were rebuilt and Israelite law re-established as the guiding principles of late post-exilic life. Most scholars accept that the Chronicler was responsible for the final form of the two books in the 4th century BC. This occurred about a century later than the main events of the reconstruction period in the 5th century BC.

NEHEMIAH 8:1-10. In Ezra 7-10 there is a memoir written in the first person. Similarly in Nehemiah 1-7:5 there is another memoir in the first person. These undoubtedly existed at the time when the editor did his work. The present passage (and the following three chapters, may also be part of the memoir by Ezra which some scholars believe to have been displaced from its original location between Ezra 8 and 9.

This passage tells how Ezra the scribe read the law to the assembled populace after the walls of Jerusalem had been rebuilt. This reconstruction had taken place under the leadership of Nehemiah, the Jewish cupbearer of King Artaxerxes I of Persia, who had been appointed governor of Jerusalem and Judea in the mid-5th century BC. One of the scholarly puzzles is why nowhere in the two complete narratives do the two community leaders, Ezra, the scribe, and Nehemiah, the governor, ever meet.

This event recalls a similar event two centuries earlier when King Josiah commanded that the rediscovered book of the covenant law to be read before the assembled elders of Judah and Jerusalem. (See 2 Chronicles 34:29-32) The reading of the Torah had great influence on succeeding generations, and still has to this day in the Jewish tradition, just as the reading of scripture in the Christian tradition. Like Christianity, however, how one hears the law and interprets its relevance for the present is always a matter of strong debate and frequently open conflict. Of special note in this passage is the statement about interpreting what had been read.

The actual reading during worship may omit two verses which name members of the community present for the occasion. The best explanation for this omission is that the names are virtually unpronounceable for the ordinary reader unfamiliar with Hebrew. The names are not significant, but the role these people played is. They were interpreters who helped the audience understand what they had heard. It is possible that the scrolls of the law were written in a language – Hebrew – that was unknown to most of the audience, who spoke only Babylonian Aramaic.

The role of the rabbi in the Jewish tradition and of the preacher in our own Christian tradition is to do likewise. Naturally, diverse interpretations could be given, leading to a heterogeneous understanding and application of the same law. Jesus himself also appears to have played a similar role in his disputes with the scribes and Pharisees. The same is true today in Judaism as it is in Christianity. For instance, do the laws relating to liturgy, property, sexuality or murder have the same authority today as they had in the time of Nehemiah or Josiah? And whose interpretation has primacy? Out of such differences denominationalism arose in every religious tradition.

PSALM 19. This originally existed as two separate psalms, vss. 1-6 and vss. 7-14. Differences in style, poetic grace and points of view indicate dual authorship. At some
point they were combined, perhaps by the author of the second part, in an exquisite poem extolling the virtue of devotion to God and obedience to God’s law as of equal spiritual value as wonder at the majesty of God’s creation. This could be a great text for an sermon on the holiness of the global environmental.

In the earlier part of the psalm, there are references to ancient myths about the sun long popular in Egypt and Babylon. But, though making use of such ideas, the psalmist stops short of describing the sun as divine, preferring instead a metaphorical allusion. The thinking of Pythogoras about the music of the spheres may also lie behind the poem. In his attempt to discern the basic principle of the universe, that 6th century Greek Philosopher proposed that numbers determined the harmonies of music, the proportions of architecture, the movements of the sun, moon and stars, and the harmony of the spheres. It is entirely possible that some such cross-cultural influence gave this deeply religious psalmist concepts which he transposed into theological language.

In the second part of the psalm, the author carefully observes the rules of Hebrew poetry. The law is represented by six different synonyms paired with one another through parallelism: law – testimony; precepts – commandments; fear – ordinances. However, these have more meaning to the psalmist than mere synonyms. They are means of grace instructing and warning the devoted Israelite of what God requires of the pious believer.

The psalm, probably from the same period as Ezra, the scribe (ca. 450 BCE), ends with a prayer that the worshiper may be preserved from sin and live worthily of his calling as a covenanted soul. For him, the law is no burdensome yoke, but a source of moral strength. Many Jewish people today hold a similar point of view. So do many Christians finding strength and inspiration in Jesus’ invitation in Matt. 11:28-30.

1 CORINTHIANS 12:12-31A. Paul’s image of the disciple community as the body of the risen Christ has stood the test of time. It still speaks with power to many in speaking across the centuries to every generation. Of less significance for us is the list of offices and functions which he enumerates in vss. 27-30. It is impossible to discern whether these were actual offices in the Corinthian community or merely the functions performed at different times by the same leading members like himself. Compare this list also with the shorter one in Ephesians 4:11 which may represent a later development in the leadership structure of the Christian community.

Read the passage with a touch of levity and see if Paul isn’t tweaking his Corinthian converts for their childish behaviour as they squabble about who has the more important gift. One could even create a skit around the parts of the body using paper costumes to represent each organ. A youth group might be enlisted to provide an amusing but thought provoking “sermon” for this Sunday. It might be especially useful for a service that included or was followed by an annual vestry or congregational meeting.

The apostle wanted to illustrate how the various gifts he had discerned among the Corinthian disciples could work together harmoniously if each person fulfilled his or her function for the good of the whole community. He moved on from this powerful metaphor to show how this could be done through the best gift of all – love.

The passage can be interpreted in a wider context than a local congregation or even a denomination. It would make sense to use it for a service celebrating the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. In a year when democratic elections will probably take place in several countries, it could help to focus what is meant by the phrase “the public good.” James Madison, the Virginia-born champion of religious freedom and fourth president of the United States, may have been the first to popularize the idea of public good as distinct from private rights. He emphasized the importance of protecting both in his Federalist Paper, no. 10 written in 1787. That concept has not been popular in the corridors of power in recent decades. Instead private initiative and enterprise in every aspect of life have been given most attention. Yet the concept of public good is as old as the oracles of the Old Testament prophet Amos. That prophet was speaking of what God wills for all of humanity in the 8th century BCE.

In this passage about the gifts of each person, the apostle Paul made a similar call for each member of the Christian fellowship to be concerned for every other member. What is more, there can be no other approach to living in the real world of globalization and universal communication. The whole Body of Christ can now be interpreted universally as the whole of humanity as is implied in the later letters of Ephesians and Colossians attributed to Paul. As retired Bishop John Shelby Spong wrote in his recent book, Eternal Life: A New Vision Beyond Religion, Beyond Theism, Beyond Heaven and Hell:
“The goal of all religion is not to prepare us to enter the next life; it is a call to live now, to love now, to be now and in that way to taste what it means to be part of a life that is eternal, a love that is barrier-free and the being of a fully self-conscious humanity.”

LUKE 4:14-21. It was the custom in the Jewish synagogues of the 1st century to ask a visiting rabbi to teach from the scriptures. After making an initial tour of Galilee, Jesus went to worship on the sabbath. He was asked or was assigned a passage of scripture to read and interpret. As we shall see in next week’s gospel lesson, his interpretation was not what his audience wanted to hear!

Michael Steinhauser made a significant point in an Internet seminar on The Man In The Scarlet Robe by pointing out that although there were at least two major Roman-Hellenist cities in Galilee, Tiberias and Sepphoris, there is no mention in any of the gospels that Jesus entered either of these, but remained in “the surrounding country” (vs.14). Recent archeological discoveries have revealed that there was a significant Jewish population in Sephhoris, scarcely five miles from Nazareth. One can assume that the same was true for Tiberius when Herod Antipas moved his seat of government to that city which he built on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus was more of a village preacher than a Hellenistic cynic or an eminent rabbi from Jerusalem. Yet he was certainly being heard by the common people if not by the religious authorities.

Or was this just Luke’s way of lifting up Jesus’ appeal to the common people in contrast to the later opposition of the authorities? Did he have in mind the community for whom he was writing rather than the curious and disbelieving Nazarenes?

Jesus chose a passage from Isaiah 61 – or it was the assigned reading for the day – which was to become the model for his ministry. Then he declared to the congregation that this prophecy was being fulfilled in their hearing. From this dominical mission, the present disciple community has discerned God’s “preferential option for the poor” and the cause of social justice for the most vulnerable in our society.

In recent years we have seen this mission exemplified in the enthusiastic response by countless ordinary people and scientists of high repute to environmental crises around the world. Despite the lack of cooperation from some of the largest and wealthiest countries several governments adopted the Kyoto Treaty as national policy. Others, like that of my own country, adopted the Kyoto Treaty but subsequently ignored what it had agreed to do. For lack of political will the environment still deteriorates and the climate changes more rapidly year after year.

Again, at the recent UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen some governments, like the Canadian, for instance, appear to have withdrawn more and more from their role of developing realistic programs for bringing about a more tolerable protection of the environment and a more equitable sharing of the world’s limited resources. It becomes more important to drive the industrial and commercial systems that increase wealth to the wealthiest than to bring equity and justice those who most needed. The chief motivation of the most powerful is to compete for control of these resources so that as little change as possible in the lifestyle of the wealthier parts of the world will be necessary. One has to wonder what Jesus would say to us if he were to be asked to preach in our community.

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1 SAMUEL 2:18-20, 26. How does a family bring up children “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” as one traditional baptismal liturgy reads? This scripture tells us that it can best be done by exposing them to the worship and teaching of our faith. Yet, as the passage just prior to this one relates, that isn’t all there is to it. The sons of Eli the priest did not follow in their father’s footsteps to become Israel’s spiritual leaders. That role fell to Samuel, who became one of Israel’s greatest prophets.

PSALM 148. We tend to forget that God loves all the created universe as well as the human race. This psalm summons all of creation to praise God just for being, as are God’s people Israel.

COLOSSIANS 3:12-17. The heart of Christian worship and ethics, wrote Paul, is to create loving relationships – with God, with other people, and with God’s creation. To make his point more vividly, Paul introduces a metaphor about putting on new clothes. It is often said that in the early church newly baptized Christians were dressed in new, white robes as a symbol of the new life Christ had given them. Another metaphor of the indwelling Christ brings out the spiritual growth that comes from worshiping and witnessing within the Christian fellowship.

LUKE 2:41-52. In much the same way that he drew from Hannah’s Song in 1 Samuel 2:1-10 for a model of Mary’s Song in Luke 1:46-55, Luke elaborated on the story of Samuel’s growth under Eli’s tutelage in the Old Testament lesson above. Thus he clarified for his readers that Jesus was a very human person, but with unusual spiritual insight and understanding. An early Christian heresy, called Docetism, claimed that Jesus was divine, but only seemed to be a real human being. In the traditional view based on scripture, he is both fully human and divine.

A MORE COMPLETE ANALYSIS.

1 SAMUEL 2:18-20, 26. The story of Eli and his sons is a tragic one. It appears to have been told to emphasize the contrast between Samuel’s childhood and that of the two wayward sons of Eli. Their sins appear to have been against religious customs or else demanding privileges which were not their due. (2:12-17). One commentator noted that this is an example of clericalism even in early Israel. It should surprise no one that there is still ample evidence of this human fault in clergy today as church leaders seek to protect themselves, their clergy and their institution from widespread public scandals .

The point at issue in our reading, however, deals with Samuel and the way his family was rewarded for dedicating their son to service of Yahweh. For our time this issue might be stated in the words of one traditional baptismal liturgy: How does a family bring up children “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord?” By exposing them to the worship and teaching of the faith, this scripture tells us. Would that it was so simple! Many communities have tales to tell of faithful church members whose children betrayed everything the parents had stood for.

The sons of Eli the priest did not follow in their father’s footsteps to become Israel’s spiritual leaders. That role fell to Samuel, who subsequently became one of Israel’s great prophets. We know that dedicated parenting isn’t all there is to it. Even the most piously trained young people sometimes rebel against their parents’ devotion. How many adults absent themselves from the church because they claim to have had too much of it in their youth?

In practice, it is impossible to tell when and how parental efforts to educate their children religiously will be effective. We are dealing with moral and spiritual matters in which results are notoriously difficult to determine. Some would use authoritarian means to achieve the end they desire. That would be self-defeating, however, since it is an exercise of power rather than advancing the processes of education and spiritual development. Practiced by governments on a regional or national level, it becomes theocracy – a religious state where law is determined by religious mandate rather than by justice for all. This has become an important issue in some fundamentalist Islamic countries where Islamic shariah law has been enforced.

A few years ago, a great deal of publicity was given to a situation in the southern American state of Alabama where the chief justice of his state was removed from office because he defied a judgment by the federal court to remove a monument bearing the Ten Commandments he had erected at the entrance to the state court building. The federal court had ruled that the monument constituted a government endorsement of Christianity, so violating the separation of church and state. The judge argued that being constantly made aware of the laws of God would beneficially effect obedience to the laws of the nation.

PSALM 148. This is the third of five hallelujah psalms at the end of the Psalter. It summons all of creation to praise God just for being. So are God’s people Israel. The well-known hymn, “This is my Father’s world,” found its motif here. We do tend to forget that God loves all the created universe as well as the human race. The psalm has a liturgical structure with vss. 5-6, 13 -14 forming antiphons which could have been sung by a Levitical chorus.

The theological concepts of the psalm developed late in Israel’s history. Yahweh is transcendent, far removed from creation. There are several intervening heavens arranged concentrically like the walls of a city or superimposed one on the other. These concepts reappear in 2 Corinthians 12:2, 4; and again in Hebrews 4:14 and 7:26, so it must have been well-known in rabbinical Judaism. On the other hand, the celestial beings and stars worshiped as gods in other eastern traditions are here seen as
subordinate to Yahweh.

The “horn for his people” (vs. 14) which Yahweh raises up is a symbol of strength and dignity drawn from the horns of animals in the Israelites’ flocks, their ancient source of wealth and power, but not possessed by other animals, particularly those that preyed on the flocks. But is there another possible interpretation of the phrase?

In Exodus 27:2, the instructions for the building of the altar included horns at each corner. They were made of wood covered with bronze. Probably of Canaanite origin and possibly similar to the horns of a ram or a bull, tradition held that this was the most important part of the altar, with special powers to protect those seeking asylum. Adonijah and Joab grasped the horns of the altar to save themselves from Solomon during the struggle for succession to David (1 Kings 1:50; 2:28).

Instructions for sin offering (Leviticus 4:7, 18, 25) also states that the priest should wipe some of the blood of the sacrificial animal on the horns of the altar. Lev. 8:14 refers to this being done by Moses when he ordained the Aaronic priesthood. Aaron did so also when he performed the sin offering ( Lev. 9:9). This gives a symbolic significance of divine power resting in this appurtenance of the sacred altar. By the time the psalm came into liturgical use in the late post-exilic period, it is possible that the historic symbolism remained regardless of the ancient sacrificial practice or sacred accountrements of the temple still remained.

COLOSSIANS 3:12-17. Much scholarly energy has been expended in debating whether or not Colossians was written by Paul or by someone else. Perhaps the most satisfying conclusion to this observer, though admittedly unprovable, is that of Eduard Schweizer: The letter was composed by Timothy on behalf of Paul and himself while the apostle was imprisoned in Ephesus. (1:1)

The heart of Christian worship and ethics, this passage says, is to create relationships – with God and with other people. This is the special work of Christ whom believers encounter in their life together as the church in the real world. Thus the list of five virtues which the Christian must “put on.” These are summarized by “love” in vs. 14 and supplemented by the “peace of Christ to which you were called in the one body.” This all refers to the life of the Christian community, most likely a contentious mix of Jews and Gentiles, rich and poor, employers and employees, perhaps even slaves and free.

To make his point more vividly, Paul reiterates a metaphor about “putting on” as one puts on new clothes contrasting with the “putting off” the five evils of v. 8. In the early church when catechumens came to be baptized, they took off their old clothes and were dressed in new, white robes as a symbol of the new life Christ had given them.

Another metaphor of the indwelling Christ brings out the spiritual growth that comes from the worshiping and witnessing of the Christian fellowship. The dynamic for creating the new relationships the church brings to the world is what Schweizer calls “the stream of love flowing from God to humankind via Christ.” In these times when the church’s influence has been so greatly diminished and we exercise our faith on the margins of society, this important ministry of the whole people of God is often neglected.

LUKE 2:41-52. In much the same way that he drew from Hannah’s Song in 1 Samuel 2:1-10 for a model of Mary’s Song in Luke 1:46-55, Luke elaborated on the story of Samuel’s growth under Eli’s tutelage in the Old Testament lesson above. However, this story should not be interpreted as Jesus’ bar mitzvah, a practice developed in rabbinical Judaism no earlier than the 15th century CE.

Luke clarifies for his readers that Jesus was an very human person as well as having unusual spiritual insight and at least an elementary awareness of his divine mission. The portrait we have here is of a headstrong adolescent who disappeared from the company of Galilean travelers as they left Jerusalem after the Passover festival. He went missing for three days, a terrifyingly long time for his anxious parents. They finally found him in the temple questioning the learned scholars about spiritual matters.

Naturally, Mary rebuked him, as all mothers would. Instead of submitting to her rebuke, he answered her back. The distance between the boy and his parents was already widening, in spite of Mary’s treasuring of this memorable experience. Who was this child-man who so mystified them?

In his biographical study of the biblical record, Rabbi Jesus: An Intimate Biography (Doubleday, 2000), Bruce Chilton reasoned that Jesus was actually an outsider, a mamzer, even in his own family because of his unusual birth. (The term mamzer meant one born outside of his parents’ marriage.) Chilton believes that Jesus fled from Nazareth to join John the Baptist’s movement calling for repentance as young as sixteen or seventeen. Both those who hold to the virgin birth and those who do not can take some rationale for their respective points of view from this story. It would seem that Luke’s intention in telling it was the provide a narrative which later generations would codify in traditional creeds that Jesus was both fully human and fully divine.

An early Christian heresy, still evident in some parts of the church today, claimed that Jesus was divine, but wasn’t a real human being. Today this may be no more than an overemphasis on Christ’s divinity in contradiction to the easy humanizing of Jesus and his ethical message so prevalent in our post-Christendom culture and the renewed search for “the historical Jesus” many traditionalists find so disturbing. On the other hand, to minimize the humanity of Jesus is as heretical as overemphasis on his divinity. Luke does not attempt to do anything more than tell his story and leave the reader to answer the crucial question which confronts us all: Who is this?

Nearly a century ago, some of the Protestant churches in Canada developed two strong teenage youth programs as a counterpart to the Scouting movement. The boys’ groups were called TUXIS and the girls’, CGIT (Canadian Girls In Training). TUXIS was an acronym for the program’s motto: “You and I training for service with Christ and nothing but Christ between us.” TUXIS groups were formed as midweek activities of Sunday school classes in many local congregations. Both of these groups had as their biblical basis the text of Luke 2:52 (KJV): “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.”

This text provided the four basic elements of the program of these two groups: healthy growth of mind and body, and of one’s social and spiritual relationships. A few of the boys’ groups lasted until the early 1950s, but eventually succumbed to a lack of strong male leadership and competition from the Scouting movement. A significant number of male lay and ordained leaders of the church received their strongest religious education from participation in TUXIS groups. There are still CGIT groups in some congregations of The United Church of Canada. Many of the prominent lay women as well as diaconal and ordained ministers of the present generation in the United Church began their leadership training in CGIT.

Panentheism holds that the divine spirit dwells in each person and in all of creation. It is not too much to say that the panentheism which characterizes the theology of many contemporary clergy stems from passages like this. Luke’s narrative in chapters 1 & 2 points to Jesus as being a human person in whom the Spirit dwelt from the time of his conception and was evident to him as early as his visit to the temple in Jerusalem when he was twelve years old.

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