First Sunday After Christmas, All Years

Prayer

May we welcome this mystery of your love and thus delight in the joy that will be ours as children and heirs of your kingdom. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen.
From Prayers for Sunday and Seasons, Year B, Peter J. Scagnelli, LTP, 1992.

Some Thoughts on John 1:[1-9]10-18

"For an alternative approach, rather than helping our hearers to see the light of Christ shining in the darkness, preachers might help them to hear Jesus as God’s love song, singing life into the world’s babble, chaos, and voices of death."

Commentary, John 1:1-14, Craig a. Satterlee, Preaching This Week,WorkingPreacher.org, 2012.

"The gospel message does not go forward without witnesses like John, and one of the tasks in this sermon is to help show what it looks like to point our fingers towards Jesus. In the age of talk of missional churches, how does that work out practically? How can we point towards Jesus in mission in such a way that others come to know him and come to know and love God?"

Commentary, John 1:(1-9), 10-18 (Christmas 2), Ginger Barfield, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2010.

"It would be truly horrendous to be in the hands of an all-intrusive God who never left us alone, and who, when it came time to send his messiah, sent one who ruled the earth like some heavenly Mussolini. In the very unobtrusiveness of the light of Christ, God honors our finite freedom."

"Penetrating the Darkness," Ronald Goetz, The Christian Century, 1988. Atreligion Online.

Oremus Online NRSV Gospel Text



I like how Raymond E. Brown approaches this text. There is first the Word with God (1-2). The opening verses of this Christ hymn used to frame an entrance into the Johannine Gospel are brief, and it is completely, or I should say, “seemingly”, uninterested in a metaphysical conversation about the nature of God. It is, however, very clear that Salvation history begins with the relationship between God, revealed through the living Word, and Man. Quite simply, God reveals God-self to us in the work of creation – and by John’s usage here, creation also reveals something about the salvation of man as well. Creation is by its very nature a revealing act. (John, vol. 1, 23, 24)

Secondly, there is the Word and Creation. “All creation bears the stamp of God’s Word,” Brown writes. (Brown, 25) Here we see the author reflecting and re-imagining the opening lines of Genesis. We can see that what is clearly of importance is that creation itself existed primarily for the glory of God and the revelation of who God is. The problem is that the creation is broken; it does not fulfil its purpose as God intended. It is not a sustainable creation. Instead, it is one where there is a constant battle to supplant the power and revelation of God. We can return to the creation story in Genesis, certainly this seems on the author’s mind. However, it is not really that hard or difficult to see and imagine as we read the paper or watch television how humanity has created a non-sustainable kingdom for ourselves and that we wrestle for power with God, placing our needs above our creations' explicit purpose to glorify God.

The third portion of our Gospel selection is the portion where we are re-introduced to John the Baptist. I say reintroduced because we spent several Sundays reading passages from Matthew that dealt with him and his ministry. Yet here we get a slightly different attempt to speak about how John responded to the living Word, the Light in the world. How he was clearly not the one everybody was looking for, but that he dutifully gave witness to the revelation of God. Moreover, that John the Baptist called everyone to a time of preparation and repentance for the light itself, the living Word was entering the world.

We come to the final and fourth portion of our reading, and we return to the relationship between God and humanity, specifically in how the community of God (God’s people) responds to the living Word. God is dwelling with his people. He has made a “tent”, he is incarnated, and he is present within the community. (Brown, 35) The images here in this last section return not to Genesis but play on our remembrances of the Exodus and the idea that God came and dwelt among the people as they made their way in the wilderness. Here, too, is an expressed intimacy between God and people. God is not simply outside, having wound the clock tight and is now letting it run. On the contrary, just as God was intimately involved with creation and the people of Israel, God also is involved in the new community post-resurrection. God has come and is dwelling with the people in wisdom and in truth. God is the living Word is making community within God’s tent and is revealing himself and the purpose of creation to all those who would call him by name: Jesus.

Some Thoughts on Galatians 3:23-25; 4:4-7

"So insidious is Sin that even the good gifts of God, like the Law (Galatians 3:21) or even the gospel, can be easily misused."
Commentary, Galatians 4:4-7, Erik Heen, Preaching This Week,WorkingPreacher.org, 2014.

"The Spirit that God pours into all our hearts is a Spirit of compassion. It is a Spirit that embraces us and makes us a part of a family defined by God's love. It is that compassion that gives us our meaning and purpose in this life."

"Love Came Down," Alan Brehm, The Waking Dreamer.

Oremus Online NRSV Epistle Text 

The theologian Robert Farrar Capon in his book on parables (Kingdom, Grace, Judgement, 2002) offers that God in Christ comes to us in the incarnation as both our savior and judge. But his act of redemption and reconciliation is one of grace, forgiveness, and mercy. He judges with love, and so we are presented to God through the eyes of our beloved Jesus. It is the eyes of his heart that redeem us.  

Capon, though, also says that it is our renunciation and rejection of this coming which judges us guilty. It is our rejection of the spirit of God in our hearts, it is our rejection of our forgiveness, and the rejection of Jesus AND our focus upon the law which, in the end, finds us guilty. 

Paul in Galatians is offering a vision of God who comes and blesses and redeems us. Jesus undoes the power of the law over us. Jesus enables us to be God's children. We are no longer slaves to the law. This is our new reality.

However, the truth is the longer we live focusing on the law and our own failure and the failure of others - the longer we struggle outside the family. Our message is clear God loves. God forgives. God invites us. In this season of incarnation may we offer a message that does the same and enables us to live in the grace which has come into the world. 

May we know in faith our deliverance is real. May we receive it in remembrance of the first Advent and Jesus' birth? May we live it.

Some Thoughts on Isaiah 61:10-62:3

"The mission given to the prophet of Isaiah 61:10-62:3 is still needed today, so long as the world is populated by those who are brokenhearted, mourning and in captivity."
Commentary, Isaiah 61:10 - 62:3, Michael J. Chan, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2014.

"In other words, the people as a whole will be entrusted with the former monarchical function of administering God's justice and righteousness in the world."
Commentary, Isaiah 61:10 - 62:3, J. Clinton McCann, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2008.

"The messages from both Isaiah and Luke have some points in common. As well as the overwhelming joy in the coming of the lord to his people, both have an ethical note to them."
The Old Testament Readings: Isaiah 61:10 - 62:3. Weekly Comments on the Revised Common Lectionary, Howard Wallace Audrey Schindler, Morag Logan, Paul Tonson, Lorraine Parkinson, Theological Hall of the Uniting Church, Melbourne, Australia.


"This "righteousness" stands, likewise, in parallel position to the "salvation" of the previous clause. There, again, the salvation to be achieved by the Messiah is metaphorically portrayed as "garments" (bigdhey-yesha^Ñ [BDB, 447]) with which He has simply "clothed" us [BDB, 527). The hiphil perfect of lbshis, here likewise, employed with the force of a present perfect explaining the basis of the future joy of the church."
"Christmas 1b - Exegetical Notes on Isaiah 61:10 - 62:3," Douglas MacCallum Lindsay Judisch, Concordia Theological Seminary (LCMS - Indiana).

Oremus Online NRSV Text 

"I will greatly rejoice in the Lord..." sings out the prophet. The people are to be delivered and have been changed through their estrangement, captivity, and enslavement in Babylon. The prophet sings out in joy in receiving the God who abhors injustice. The mixed images of wedding garments and the continued eschatological imagination of Isaiah play on the joy and heighten the joy. The prophet "is completely absorbed in his intense expectancy, and it is clear that he will continue to speak until the dawn of the day of salvation." (See the comments by Australian exegetes on this passage here.) The passage is about the present and future joy of the people at God's deliverance. 

I suggest the passage is a character of prophetic joy. 

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks reminds us that the Greeks and the Romans believed in fate. He gives this example:

This was a major difference between ancient Israel and ancient Greece. The Greeks believed in fate, moira, even blind fate, ananke. When the Delphic oracle told Laius that he would have a son who would kill him, he took every precaution to make sure it did not happen. When the child was born, Laius nailed him by his feet to a rock and left him to die. A passing shepherd found and saved him, and he was eventually raised by the king and queen of Corinth. Because his feet were permanently misshapen, he came to be known as Oedipus (the “swollen-footed”).

The rest of the story is well known. Everything the oracle foresaw happened, and every act designed to avoid it actually helped bring it about. Once the oracle has been spoken and fate has been sealed, all attempts to avoid it are in vain. This cluster of ideas lies at the heart of one of the great Greek contributions to civilization: tragedy. (See Sack's article on prognosticating the future here.) 

There is a present fatalism in our society too. Superhero movies and comics promise a Greek ethic of fate.

Against such fate, I suggest prophetic joy stands out. Sacks speaks about how joy is such an "unexpected" word used by the prophet Moses, and I would add Isaiah. Not unlike the Israelite's escape from Egypt and their wandering in the desert, the Babylonian captivity and the feelings of God's silence have been anything but categorically joyous. I offer that Isaiah, like Moses, reminds us that prophetic joy is what "the life of faith in the land of promise is about." No less than a return and commitment to an old Israel is Isaiah's imagining. (See Sacks' article on Moses and collective joy here.) Rabbi Sacks reminds us of the ancient Deuteronomic instance of the idea of collective joy.

The central Sanctuary, initially Shilo: “There in the presence of the Lord your God you and your families shall eat and rejoice in everything you have put your hand to, because the Lord your God has blessed you” (Deut. 12:7).

Jerusalem and the Temple: “And there you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levites from your towns” (Deut. 12:12).

Sacred food that may be eaten only in Jerusalem: “Eat them in the presence of the Lord your God at the place the Lord your God will choose – you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levites from your towns – and you are to rejoice before the Lord your God in everything you put your hand to” (Deut. 12:18).

The second tithe: “Use the silver to buy whatever you like: cattle, sheep, wine, or other fermented drink, or anything you wish. Then you and your household shall eat there in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice” (Deut. 14:26).

The festival of Shavuot: “And rejoice before the Lord your God at the place He will choose as a dwelling for His name – you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, the Levites in your towns, and the strangers, the fatherless, and the widows living among you” (Deut. 16:11).

The festival of Succot: “Be joyful at your feast – you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levites, the strangers, the fatherless, and the widows who live in your towns” (Deut. 16:14).

Succot, again. “For seven days, celebrate the feast to the Lord your God at the place the Lord your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete [vehayita ach same’ach]” (Deut. 16:15).

Sacks suggests that even given the journey that has been made by the people, Moses emphasizes joy because he has a vision of the whole course of Jewish history unfolding before him. Sacks paraphrases this moment "It is easy to speak to God in tears. It is hard to serve God in joy. It is the warning he delivered as the people came within sight of their destination: the Promised Land. Once there, they were in danger of forgetting that the land was theirs only because of God’s promise to them, and only for as long as they remembered their promise to God." The point being made is that left to any one of us the promise and joy will be forgotten. This is then a collective act of joy. again Sacks writes, "What Moses is articulating for the first time is the idea of simcha as communal, social, and national rejoicing. The nation was to be brought together not just by crisis, catastrophe, or impending war, but by collective celebration in the presence of God. "

I want to pull from Sacks' work the idea of collective joy. Isaiah is offering a prophetic joy in that he is inviting the people to look up and see the horizon before them, and like Moses before, he is suggesting that the work of joy is collective. I propose then that far from being a joy experienced by individuals, scriptural joy is prophetic and collective. 

Then prophetic joy is collective. It is about what God has done and what God will do. Christ adds a new dimension to this collective prophetic joy by making it present in the world through the incarnation. It is true that the Old Testament (Indeed Moses and Isaiah, but we might add Hosea and Malachi, too) offer a vision that the collectivity of joy means sharing with the poor and hungry. Prophetic joy is a collective act not simply because the tribe comes together but because the family shares the goodness of the joyful table with others. “Be joyful at your feast – you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levites, the strangers, the fatherless, and the widows who live in your towns” (Deut. 16:14). See also Hosea 9:4 and Malachi 2:3. 

The prophetic joy of Christ and the incarnation is not a mere congregational event but one intended from the earliest days to not be mere individual deliverance or religious corporate observance. The prophetic joy of Christ is meant to look behind and look forward. But from the perspective of Scripture (old and new), it is to be collective in the moment of its reading. A prophetic joy that is transformed into a collective joy that includes strangers, fatherless, motherless, widows, lost, and lonely. 

Proper 28, Year B, November 17, 2024

Prayer
You keep vigil, O God, over the fortunes of your people, guiding their destiny in safety as the history of the world unfolds.  Increase our faith that those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall rise again and give us your Spirit to bring forth in our lives the fruit of charity, so that we may look forward every day to the glorious manifestation of your Son, who will come to gather the us into your kingdom.  We ask this through Christ, with whom you have raised us up in baptism, the Lord who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen.

From Prayers for Sunday and Seasons, Year B, Peter J. Scagnelli, LTP, 1992.

Some Thoughts on Mark 13:1-8

"Apocalyptic eschatology is essentially about God working on behalf of humanity, and that is what is introduced in the beginning of this discourse. It leaves God alarmingly free and open to the future."
Commentary, Mark 13:1-8, Micah D. Kiel, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2012.


"Despite the global disasters that surround us -- some instigated by First World policies -- we'd rather think about a messianic figure who has already arrived and called on us to be kind to our neighbors. But, occasionally, it may be an important reminder to hear an ancient prophet cry out about the fragile nature of the world."
Commentary, Mark 13:1-8, Emerson Powery, Preaching This Week,WorkingPreacher.org, 2015.

"In the end, 'what larges stones' is itself a statement of faith and it's a statement of faith that Jesus asks us to reconsider."
"Storied Stones," Karoline Lewis, Dear Working Preacher, 2015.

Oremus Online NRSV Text

God makes me nervous. Can I just be honest about that for a moment. When I sit quietly and think about the nature of God, God's unfolding work, my human place within his cosmos, I am aware that I am very nervous about God and how "alarmingly free" the God I believe in actually is.

In our passage today we begin a series of teachings by Jesus which make clear that God's purpose is both great and forever.  At the center of the events unfolding is Jesus in relationship to the Temple.

Not unlike the prophets who offered a vision of Jerusalem's future, or the future of the kingdoms, Jesus offers in our passage today a clarity about nature of the Temple and the downfall which is part of the cosmic plan. 

For our comfort we might easily want to remove the power of these words from taking hold of our hearts by locating the passage historically within the writing of the Markan Gospel following the fall of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 a.d.  Though I agree with this scholastic and critical view, we must always caution ourselves to keep from removing the prophetic voice from our own ears by making this passage simply about the past. Jesus has spoken but the living word also offers us a challenging word today.

The purpose here in Mark is to clearly not speak about the Temple. That is not the point of the text at all! The point of the text is to reveal that the old world is passing away.  Not unlike the passage from Revelation we read last week where in it is clear that a new heaven is already rooting itself in the world and upon taking root is forcing out the world of man.  The point of Jesus' words and the prophecy is to show the reality that this is the new age of God and this is an age that is to be marked by faithfulness and following the living God and Jesus Christ.

Jesus tells us: be careful though because humans will always build new temples and new religions and new teachings.  People will come and they will be false prophets and false leaders. They will tell you a truth that you will want to hear - the church is ruined.  They will seek to lead you - follow me for I know the truth. They will offer a vision that the things of the past are not fading away in the midst of a new future.  What is rooted in Jesus' warnings is not so much that there will be these false teachers but humans out of their desire to be comfortable will seek after them hoping to extinguish the discomfort of God's unfolding destruction of the age of man. 

When human beings get uncomfortable we follow instead of disciple.  When we are feeling the very foundations turn into ashes below us we want a new stronger foundation; and we rarely look forward but look to those who will comfort us with the past. We look for false teachers who offer us a shelter from the storm, the safety of a castle keep, and the island home.  We look for teachers and prophets who will lie to us and tell us that God is safe and predictable and not free.

I am reminded of the Grand Inquisitor in Doestoevsky's Brothers Karamazov as he questions the Messiah upon his return. The Inquisitor is a cardinal and promises that the world the church is creating is better than the world Jesus promises.  He says to the Lord, "So we have done. We have corrected Thy work and have founded it upon miracle, mystery and authority.  And men rejoiced that they were again led like sheep, and that the terrible gift that had brought them such suffering, [your gift of freedom] was, at last, lifted form their hearts.  Were we right teaching them this? Speak!  Did we not love mankind, so meekly acknowledging their feebleness, lovingly lightening their burden, and permitting their weak nature even sin with our sanction? " The temple is passing away even as we speak and it shall be rebuilt as the new heave takes root in our midst.

Nostalgia is after all the idea that we look back at a time that never really existed and make it into a reality which can be compared to the reality we experience in the here and now. It is a way of looking back to a time and place that keeps us from facing the time and place we inhabit today.

Christians have always lived in between the earth which is falling away and the heaven which is not yet fully revealed.  We live in a time which calls not for seeking shelter in the storm but rather for being the shelter in the storm for the world's fearful.  We are the ones, like Jesus, to see the times and the seasons, to know that the what we cling to as humans is passing, that heaven is coming and that safety is not guaranteed but adventure is promised.  This God we worship is free and alarmingly so. This God we worship has a plan and the plans of men are falling in the wake of its eternal progression.

We are as a Christian people invited to cling to Jesus and his love and to counteract the seasons of change.  We are invited to counteract the seasons of change, not by clinging to the temple which is crumbling, or by following every fad that promises a return to a golden age - but rather to counteract the world with love.  So let us endure the birth pangs for the kingdom that is to come requires disciples and apostles to midwife its labors through a mission and proclamation of love.

Some Thoughts on Hebrews 10:11-14 (15-18), 19-25

"What is new about the New Covenant, therefore, is not the idea that God loves the world enough to bleed for it, but the claim that here he is actually putting his money where his mouth is."

"Covenant," sermon discussion from Frederick Buechner, Frederick Buechner Blog.

"As the author grounds his goal for church participation in the eschatology of Christ's session, he grounds the guarantee of Christ's session in the character of God. They can hold their confession without wavering, because the one who promised is faithful."

Commentary, Hebrews 10:11-14 [15-18] (Pentecost 25B), Amy L.B. Peeler, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2012.

"An intimate and frank relationship with God, openness with one another, and bold public witness that perseveres in the fact of opposition these are the characteristics of the confident community portrayed in today's lesson."

Commentary, Hebrews 10:11-14 [15-18] (Pentecost 24B), Susan Eastman, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2009.

Oremus Online NRSV Text

So it is that we come to the end of our readings in Hebrews. We understand now clearly from the author all that is meant by Jesus as our great high priest. We understand that he has transformed the ritual sacrifice of other religions of the day by making a one time offer.

And, we are given a revelation of Christ as king of heaven. That he is seated at the heavenly throne. He has completed his work.  He has completed his faithful work. 

Here the author then turns to make it clear that this image he offers is none other than the suffering servant image of the old testament. The author is doing a quite remarkable job of weaving the story together. We get a sense here then not simply of the continuation of ancient ritual and sacrifice but a greater theme of a creative trajectory. 

The author then invites us to respond to the eternal movement of God and the high priestly sacrifice. We are invited to respond with a clarity of purpose and livelihood crafted as a gift in response to God's work. We are also invited to hold fast to our faith. We are marked as Christ's own forever in baptism and our reciprocity is to express this faith through love and good deeds. We are no longer to be bound by other sacrifices, but instead a response to God's mercy and love with mercy and love. 

And, in case you were wondering if the author of Hebrews was an Episcopalian...you are correct. This work is always to be yoked to a worshiping community! 

Some Thoughts on 1 Samuel 1:4-20 or and 1 Samuel 2:1-10

"As political theologians we may be peculiarly vulnerable to the error of neglecting ”or even denying”the significance of the obscure and personal struggles and victories of the faithful that do not assert themselves onto the grand public stage of society."
"The Politics of Hannah's Opened Womb," Alastair Roberts, Political Theology Today, 2015.

"Our heart is looking to increase our abundance, to decrease our suffering, to set free our unique giftedness. When this happens not only do we experience relief, our energy becomes a place of grace for others around us."
"Hannah's Story: When Good Enough is Just Not Enough," Anna Shirey, The Labyrinth Way, 2015.

"God does not operate within a closed system. God is the God of hope, not the God of despair! In God's system, the world operates based on promises that point toward a future with hope and life. The Christian faith is at heart the hope that God already doing that through Jesus Christ and the Spirit of Life poured out on all creation."
"Future," Alan Brehm, The Waking Dreamer, 2015.

"This is a song of revolution where the bows of the mighty are broken and the poor are raised from the dust. Hannah's song penetrates the surface, pointing to the pillars of injustice that must be pulled down. Some of those pillars may be the very ones that put her in such a desperate situation in the first place."
Commentary, 1 Samuel 1:4-20, Karla Suomaia, Preaching This Week,WorkingPreacher.org, 2012.

Oremus Online NRSV Text

You probably know the story...Hannah cannot bear a child and Elkanah her husband loves her. She is sad, though they have a good family of size and Elkanah's other wife has provided for them. But Hannah wants her own children. This is seen as an outgrowth of her love for Elkanah and her faithfullness. So, Hannah goes to God and prays:

“O Lord of hosts, if only you will look on the misery of your servant, and remember me, and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a male child, then I will set him before you as a nazirite until the day of his death. He shall drink neither wine nor intoxicants, and no razor shall touch his head.”

She does this in the temple where Eli is the priest. Eli, in an almost Jesus like moment, confronts her and they have a bit of a misunderstanding. Eli thinks she is drunk. Then, when he realizes her trouble he says, “Go in peace; the God of Israel grant the petition you have made to him.”

Now, in time, Hannah bears a son and names him Samuel. Of course this is the young Samuel who will grow up into the great prophet.

The story is important because it is the birth story of Samuel who is given over to Eli by Hannah, as promised. It is easy to have Hannah play only a bit supporting role in this story. I think there is more here though for the preacher.

Hannah is herself a prophet. She is the one who, in the very next chapter, gives voice to the poor. She calls out of her own pain, and she gives voice to the pain of the people. She sings, she prays to God:

“My heart exults in the Lord; my strength is exalted in my God. My mouth derides my enemies, because I rejoice in my victory. “There is no Holy One like the Lord, no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God. Talk no more so very proudly, let not arrogance come from your mouth; for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed. The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble gird on strength. Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, but those who were hungry are fat with spoil. The barren has borne seven, but she who has many children is forlorn. The Lord kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up. The Lord makes poor and makes rich; he brings low, he also exalts. He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor. For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and on them he has set the world. “He will guard the feet of his faithful ones, but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness; for not by might does one prevail. The Lord! His adversaries shall be shattered; the Most High will thunder in heaven. The Lord will judge the ends of the earth; he will give strength to his king, and exalt the power of his anointed.”

I don't think you can preach on the first option for this weeks Old Testament without preaching on the second. Yes, Hannah gives birth to Samuel. Samuel will prophetically take on the work that Hannah invites God to undertake.

But here is the great connection. Hannah's song is the song that Mary remembers and brings forward when she hears the news of the birth of the messiah. Hannah is not simply giving voice to the people who struggle in her time. She is giving voice for people in every era who seek deliverance and call out to God from their anguish. Samuel is but the first answer by God to this invitation to intercede - to hear the cry of the people. No. It is the Messiah, God in Christ Jesus, who is the revelation and main actor on behalf of the people.

These are the words to be sung out in Psalm 113 at the Passover meal. These are the words echoed in Luke's account and in Paul's letters. These are the words that are unique to the people of Hannah but to every person persecuted by enemies, oppressed by the mighty, overthrown by armies, who prostitute themselves for bread and food for their children, who sit on the ash heap of life, who sit by the bedside of the dying. This is a song that gives voice to God's promise to care for the weak and the destitute. This is a song that calls out through the voices of Hannah, Mary, around the table at passover in the homes of Jews today and during the Holocaust. This is a song that gives voice to the people of Israel in their imprisonment in Egypt and Babylon. And, and, it is the song of those oppressed, suffering, lost, and selling their souls for bread in our day. This is the song of the street corner and the back alley. This is the song for the people living life in Sheol who are in desperate need of God's mighty hand to reach out and free them.

This is indeed a revolutionary song of the poor. Hannah prophesies not only Mary and the birth of the Messiah. Hannah prophesies the truth about the God we worship - this God cares for the poor, the oppressed, and the imprisoned. This God raised Jesus from the dead, after first raising the people out of Egypt. This God raises people out of their tomb and delivers them.

Hannah, herself and in her own right, is a prophet of the Most High God. Make some space, and giver her some room to speak.

Sermons Preached

Proper 27, Year B, November 10, 2024

Prayer
Robed in glory before all time, O God, your Son was stripped and mocked.  Enthroned in glory at your side, Christ was lifted up on the cross. Equal to you in the splendor of divinity, Jesus emptied himself for our salvation.  Fix our eyes on this self-surrender, stir up our hearts to give freely and generously all that we are and all that we have for the coming of your kingdom.  We ask this through Christ, with whom you have raised us up in baptism, the Lord who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen.

From Prayers for Sunday and Seasons, Year B, Peter J. Scagnelli, LTP, 1992.

Some Thoughts on Mark 12:38-44

"...if we remember that we are called to be stewards of each other – each member committed to the welfare and wellbeing of the rest of the community – maybe we can experience again and anew God’s blessing of us in and through the family of faith."
"Rethinking Stewardship," David Lose, Working Preacher, 2012.

"God?s way is the way of self giving love and God?s community needs to be a place where love has freed people to be like that and that includes its leadership, which can often become an instrument of violence."
"First Thoughts on Year B Gospel Passages in the Lectionary," Pentecost 24, William Loader, Murdoch University, Uniting Church in Australia.

Oremus Online NRSV Text

This Sunday we have two pericopes or passages linked together.  Perhaps we typically look at this story as a question of piety - the religious leaders of the day vs. the widow.  We also may be tempted to make this about pledging as it falls in the cycle of stewardship season.  As I approach it this year I am thinking a little differently. 

We are given an image of religious leaders who enjoy walking about in long robes, they prefer titles for address, sit in the best seats and always have the first place at dinner.  It is an image of endowed special privilege.

We add to the gospel painting a knowledge that the first century widow herself was not allowed to own property or to self-direct and manager her own wealth makes this an even more interested vision.  Moreover, that the religious leaders of the day were the caretakers of the wealth of such widows makes an even more convoluted picture of the relationship between these leaders and the widow.  She brings her last coin; in part because the offering being made by the religious leaders is also her own offering.  She is giving twice, once from the managed resources held out of her control, and once for the little bit she has in her care.

The picture we get is one of oppression and also one of an intertwined life.

Jesus is very clear that this is not the way of the follower of God and it is not the way of the new kingdom recreating the world.  This is quite simply not how God's home is ordered.

This is clear if we take into consideration Jesus' teaching previously of how we are to be kind to one another and to offer one another help and aid and consolation.  The small acts of human love require great courage in a world and system that typically takes advantage of the weak and those on the boundary of life. Therefore, in some sense what is before us is a commentary by Jesus on how those who follow him are to give their all to God.

The thing is that we cannot also take this as purely as a teaching on human righteousness.  First of all, as one dear friend says: righteousness is not a very good motivating factor for humans.  When I read the passage I am also mindful, as the scholars, that the widow is an image of God and of Jesus in particular. 

So, we might once again approach the passage with this question: what does it tell us about God? 

I think when we do this we see that humanity has received from God all that we are and all that we have.  It is from God's generosity and God's bounty that we make our offering.  Who doesn't love the best food, best clothes, and best seats?  All of us - of course.  But what we are reminded of is that these things (the things we normally think of sacrificial offerings) are all God's.  We have taken them and we use them.  God, like the widow though, continues to give and to give out of his love.

Jesus, like the widow, will give of his all; even his life.  This is the nature of God's love.  That though we take and misuse and use God continues to give and pour out his love upon us.  This was true in the crucifixion and it is true in the resurrection; as it is true in the outpouring of God's perfect love - the Holy Spirit.

So, as I go to my desk to prepare words for this day I am mindful not only in the manner in which we might misuse our power and make subject those who enable our lifestyle...I am rather mindful that of God's love and God's faith, like a widow, who gives us his all.

It makes me think that rather than offering a "try harder" to give of everything sermon I might simply remind myself and the congregation of God's faithfulness and love; and wonder with them about how we are to respond as or God makes his way down the aisle carrying the cross, as if he were a widow who give all.

Some Thoughts on Hebrews 9:24-28

"The cycle of sin and atonement ends in Christ."

Commentary, Hebrews 9:24-28, Pentecost 24B, Amy L.B. Peeler, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2012.

"We also encounter the contrast between imitation and reality in relationship to matters of faith."

Commentary, Hebrews 9:24-28, Pentecost 23B, Susan Eastman, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2009.

Oremus Online NRSV Text

We draw closer to the end to our reading of Hebrews. The author too wishes now to put a very fine point on his argument. Let there be no misunderstanding, regardless of your tradition, Christ has passed through the gap and entered into heaven on our behalf. This has happened and it need not happen again. Our sin has been taken away by the one who has gone before us to prepare a place for us.

There is no rebreaking of the bread, or Christ's body, there is no sacrifice necessary, no work to be done on our behalf, no matter how early or late you come to the party, the blood has been shed and the sins of many are forgiven. And, just as he came into the world to do this work, to save the sinner, so when he returns he will be about his father's business again. Not to judge, for that judgement has been made, and the price has been settled, and so we - in that time - shall be gathered in.

Some Thoughts on Ruth 3:1 - 4:17

"Through her friendship with Ruth, Naomi again experiences a joy untold. In a world, ancient or contemporary, where people are unwilling to extend themselves on behalf of others and be changed for the better by the encounter, this story stands as an indictment of closed hearts, minds, and spirits of any age." 
Commentary, Ruth 3:1-5; 4:13-17, Alphonetta Wines, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2015.


"Ruth followed her mother-in-law's advice to the letter, and it worked like a charm. Boaz was so overwhelmed that she'd pay attention to an old crock like him when there were so many young bucks running around in tight-fitting jeans that he fell for her hook, line, and sinker and, after a few legal matters were taken care of, made her his lawful wedded wife." 
"Ruth," sermon discussion from Frederick Buechner, Frederick Buechner Blog.

"This week's reading concludes the book of Ruth, which was begun last week. The prescribed passages appear to be representative of the book overall, and especially this week preachers must fill in the gaps."  
Commentary, Ruth 3:1-5; 4:13-17, Pentecost 24B, Patricia Tull, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2012. 

"What does the Lord require of you? Is it to be a present-day redeemer for another? It will not be necessary for you to give your life, or even to relocate to another country. Much simpler acts of reaching out to help others in need is what the world needs now." 
Risking Relationships that Redeem, Pentecost 24, Mary Lautensleger, 2012. 

Oremus Online NRSV Text

We continue our reading in Ruth this week. In this weeks passage Naomi explains to Ruth how she is to go about involving herself in the life of Boaz. Ruth follows the instructions. Boaz sees her as loyal and promises to further help her become part of the family.

Boaz goes to his kinsmen and explains Naomi's situation as well as how Ruth has faithfully served and that as one takes on the fields and wealth of Naomi so too comes with her the faithful Ruth. Boaz ends us himself taking them into his house. 

Ruth bears a son, who is to be the father of Jesse and the grandfather of David. Of Ruth and the child the women say:

“Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without next-of-kin; and may his name be renowned in Israel! 15He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has borne him.”

We wrote a great deal about this passage in our last week's post. Here we see the culmination of Ruth's faithfulness. She is faithful to Naomi and so is received into the house of Israel. However, to think this is merely about Ruth's faithfulness is to miss the deep theology here.

Israel, through this story, is wrestling with the intermarriage of foreigners within their tribes. So, here is a story that explains not only how such intermarriage has come to be - in other words it is a kind of creation story; it is also a story about how the faithfulness of the people in welcoming the stranger into their midst brings about blessings too. 

The story is about the community's faithfulness to welcome the stranger. It is a story not only of welcoming and hospitality, it is a story about how the community makes a foreigner one of its own. 

The story of Ruth lives out the invitation of God to create a community of diverse people who live in peace.

It is a story that reveals that the community needs foreigners and strangers in order for itself to thrive. You see...without Ruth...there is not Davidic reign. Without the Davidic reign there is not precursor of the great messianic reign of David. 

And, we must remember that Jesus himself is born into the lineage of David. 

What this means is that the messiahship of Christ, the unique person of God in Jesus, is itself rooted in the reality that the community welcomed a foreigner into their midst and made her one of their own. 

Let us be clear. Without the acceptance of Ruth the Moabite (an enemy of Israel) into the familial lineage of Jesse, then David, and onto Jesus...there is no messiahship. The community's salvation comes, quite literally, from welcoming the stranger and enemy as one of Israel's own.
 

Some Thoughts on 1 Kings 17:8-24

This passage also appears in 5c

"The literary shifts that bring us to chapter 17 in the book of Kings make Elijah the central character of this narrative."
Commentary, 1 Kings 17:8-16, Steed Davidson, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2015.

"The widow's doubt, as well as her profession of faith, may also be our own. It is easy to believe in death-dealing powers, for that is what we witness in the world every day. It is much harder to imagine the power of love that conquers death."
Commentary, 1 Kings 17:17-24 (Pentecost 3C), Cameron Howard, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2013.

"The proclamation of biblical texts in the context of a community of faith feeds the religious imagination of that community, and provides an opportunity to challenge naïve ethical conclusions that do not fully appreciate the impact of religious and political decisions on people at risk of starvation and death. They challenge the assumption that God is best seen in glorious victory and suggest that God is more present among those whose lives are most affected by the decisions of those in power."
Commentary, 1 Kings 17:8-16 (Pentecost 3C), Corrine Carvalho, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2013.

"The encounter between Elijah and widow is an inspiration and a challenge for today?s moderate and progressive churches and institutions: an inspiration to explore today?s perceived 'impossibilities' in light of divine wisdom and to trust God enough to generously share with others, knowing that generosity connects us with the energy of the universe and the wisdom of God, which will provide for our deepest needs."
Surprising Abundance, Bruce Epperly, Faith Forward, Patheos, 2010.

Oremus Online Text

This is the story of Elijah and the Widow of Zarephath. Elijah comes to the widow to stay there. He is commanded to go by God. While staying in her home there is not enough food. But Elijah tells her to have faith and the food they have is multiplied. While there the widow's son dies. Elijah prays over the son and he lives. 

In both cases the woman is upset because she has not enough. She is upset because having such a great prophet in her house has arisen her understanding of her own low station. This again comes out as the boy dies. She tells him that her sins have brought this upon her. Furthermore, she is a widow. This means she has no station and more than likely she is completely dependent upon the people of the area, the tribal leaders. 

To make this more interesting, the land of Zarephath was north of where the tribe of Asher settled and east of where the tribe of Dan. It was a land predominately made up of Phoenicians and Canaanites. So like Jesus who flees to Egypt, or spends 40 days in the desert, or the mission to the Gentiles our story has a particular flair for taking place in an uncharted territory where the people of Israel are not present. In other words God and God's deliverance and power comes to rest on people who are foreigners to Israel. And, in doing so one of God's own, Elijah, is cared for as well. He must depend upon the kindness of God and of this widow.

This is a gospel story. She, like so many widows in the scripture, is one of the least of God's people. She is considered of no value. Not only because she is widow, but most likely not of Israel. So she is an extreme outsider. Yet it is exactly to them that God comes, in this story in the presence of one of the greatest prophets of Israel. God comes and provides. God comes and raises the dead.

The God of Israel is a God of the widow and the child, of those who have none, and those who are not worthy. It is exactly to the lost and the least (Robert Farrar Capon's term from Kingdom, Grace, and Judgement) that this God comes. 

And, though the least of God's people have nothing, and are lost in suffering and death, this God is present and acts. This is the God who freed the people of Israel out of bondage. In the book of Kings this God continues to act in the affairs of mortals - acting exactly for the those who are imprisoned by loss, hunger, scarcity, brokenness, and are of no value to society.

Sermons Preached 

"You Are Almost There"
Sermon on Mark 12.38, the Widows Mite, proper 27b, preached at St. Stephen's in Beaumont and St. Paul's Kilgore, November 8 2015

"The Widow's Iphone Ap"
Meditating on the Widow's mite in Mark's Gospel chapter 12:38-44, Proper 27B. November 25, 2009.

Proper 26, Year B, November 3, 2024

Prayer
You are one God, O Lord, and beside you there is no other.  You alone are we to love with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our strength, and our neighbor as ourselves.  Sharpen our ears to hear this great commandment.  Arouse our hearts to offer this twofold love.  We ask this through Christ, with whom you have raised us up in baptism, the Lord who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen.

From Prayers for Sunday and Seasons, Year B, Peter J. Scagnelli, LTP, 1992.

*Most people will transfer All Saints to this Sunday. If you do not, this is the set of lessons for the day.

Some Thoughts on Mark 12:28-34

"Sacrifices and outward worship never pleased God unless we first did the things which we owe to God and our neighbours."

From the Geneva Notes.

"All of us who spend our days swimming in the fickle currents of the church, at war with things both petty and impossible -- tired, sometimes, before the meeting begins -- that we are not far from the kingdom."

"Extra Credit," Robin R. Meyers, The Christian Century, 2000. At Religion Online.

Oremus Online NRSV Text


The passage is one set with a narrative of confrontation between the religious leaders of Jesus' day and the message that he brings to the world.  The re-genesis of the world is now and the kingdom and dominion of God is now.

God is one, not a static one, but one forever.  God is unity and unifying.  God is working the unity of the world with God and has been doing so from the beginning of time.  The world above and the world below are being unified in the work of Jesus and the work of God. (Marcus, Mark, vol 2, 845)

In a time when God seems distant and when all seems lost, both for the first followers of Jesus and for the Jewish empire itself, this is a radical message.  God is even now joining heaven and earth.

And even more radical is the message it entails: Love God and love neighbor and we shall be connected.  Part of the very work from the creations time is the work of becoming a loving community focused upon God and the neighbor.

I am rereading The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky and remember now the Elder's words in the section entitled "An Unfortunate Gathering," chapter 4.  Here the Elder speaks of active love.

"By the experience of active love. Strive to love your neighbour actively and indefatigably.  In as far as you advance in love you will grow surer of the reality of God and of the immortality of your soul.  If you attain to perfect self-forgetfulness in the love of your neighbour, then you will believe without doubt, and no doubt can possibly enter your soul.  This has been tried. This is certain." (1912 trans by Constance Garnett, p53)

This is love which Jesus speaks about is a "one way love" as my friend the Rev. Dr. Paul Zahl talks about it. God has one way unifying love for the creation and for the creature wherein the two dominions are to be joined together beyond any one man's ability to try and put it asunder.  Jesus tells us that we are to be about this one way love as well.  Our one way love is to be directed towards God and towards others.

On this occasion when I read the passage I enjoyed most Jesus last words to his dear inquisitor: "You are not far from the kingdom of God."  This one way active love is greater than all burnt offerings and sacrifices to be sure; and yet it is so very hard to do!!!

As the Elder offers consolation to the young woman seeking to communicate how hard this active love is he comforts her and then offers:

"I am sorry I can say nothing more consoling to you, for love in action is a harsh and dreadful thing compared with love in dreams.  Love in dreams is greedy for immediate action, rapidly performed and in the sigh to fall.  Men will even give their lives if only the ordeal does not last long but is soon over, with all looking on and applauding as though on the stage.  But active love is labour and fortitude, and for some people too, perhaps a complete science.  But I predict that just when you see with horror that in spite of all your efforts you are getting further from your goal instead of nearer to it -- at that very moment I predict that you will reach it and behold clearly the miraculous power of the Lord who has been all the time loving and mysteriously guiding you."  (Ibid, 55)

How easy is the dream of doing Jesus' guiding commandment, how hard to be constantly about active love. So you see we are all so very near the kingdom of God.  Just in the moment when all is lost we may in fact clearly recognize the one way love of God and so be redeemed.  And, in the moments when we offer such love on way to the other we are near.

That is good news it seems to me.  We are being joined and knit together in a new creation by God through God's love.  And, we in life, as we draw close we automatically begin to give that love to others.

I doubt this Sunday that a "work harder on loving God and neighbor" sermon will produce the desired results.  But a sermon of God's one way, uniting love, may in fact be just the medicine for the wounded heart and just the thing to knit our own fractured lives together.

Some Thoughts On Hebrews 9:11-15

"We might even seek to emulate the level of creativity our author has shown when we face the challenge of speaking this same message to people in our day who live in a different symbolic world but face substantially the same needs."

"First Thoughts on Passages on Year B Epistle Passages in the Lectionary,"Pentecost 23, William Loader, Murdoch University, Uniting Church in Australia.

Oremus Online NRSV Text

God first came to Jesus' people in the wild places. The message in this week's lesson from Hebrews is a great missionary encouragement. It reminds us that the Gospel took place out in the wild in the midst of a tent. The author also reminds us that the old ways were ways that were repeated on a seasonal and regular basis.

Jesus is our great high priest, and while we are called to remember his sacrifice - this is not a repeat of it. We are invited to ponder instead the perfection of Jesus' sacrifice and to worship a living God who has broken open the temple, mended the gulf between heaven and earth, and who invites us once again out into the world, into the wildness for we are free and a redeemed people.

Some Thoughts On Ruth 1:1-19

"Ruth followed her mother-in-law's advice to the letter, and it worked like a charm. Boaz was so overwhelmed that she'd pay attention to an old crock like him when there were so many young bucks running around in tight-fitting jeans that he fell for her hook, line, and sinker and, after a few legal matters were taken care of, made her his lawful wedded wife."
Ruth," sermon discussion from Frederick Buechner, Frederick Buechner Blog.

"People are often surprised to find that the words from Ruth 1:16b-17, often heard at weddings, are not about the joys of beginning a new life together."
Commentary, Ruth 1:1-18, Alphonetta Wines, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2015.

"I wish the church could be as open-hearted and buopen-minded and free as it was on that little patch of front lawn as the sun came out from behind the clouds. I wish that we could affirm as truly as we did there that wherever people love each other and are true to each other and take risks for each other, God is with them and for them and they are doing God's will."
"Buechner on Marriage Equality," sermon discussion from Frederick Buechner, Frederick Buechner Blog.


"I hear in my own life a call to love those who chose to stay behind in a theology of literalism and punitiive justice AS WELL AS those who are determined to journey with me into a life with the God of love, radical hospitality and social justice."
"And She Blessed Them Both," Kimberly Knight, Day1, 2009.

Oremus Online NRSV Text

First, It is too bad that this Sunday lesson falls where it does. We get so few chances to read Ruth! I do hope that in the coming few weeks you will recapture this first reading and do some preaching on this part of God's narrative.

Now, so you don't have to look through your books, let us have a bit of a refresher. The story takes place sometime before 1000 B.C.E. Israel is ruled by tribal chiefs. Mostly these are small communities that are internally focused. From time to time they might have to fight but for the most part they are a people living unto themselves. There is no overall unity and the scripture describes the time as one without a leader. The story is important for a number of reasons. Partly, the story is important because the scribes will link David to Ruth's son. He is to be David's grandfather. 

This is a story about migration. It is a story about people on the inside and people on the outside. It is a story about how foreigners were blamed for the problems of the society to which they came. It is about scapegoating foreigners and migrants who wander into the land. There is intermarriage, as we will see, and this causes no shortage of consternation for the tribal elders. 

This reading tells us there is a famine in the land. That the land is ruled by judges. Elimelech migrates to Moab to escape the famine with his wife Naomi. There are two sons. They marry and then they die. There are three widows now and they are trying to discern what to do. They find out the famine is over and they want to go back...to return.

It is Naomi's thought that she will leave the two widows to live and remarry in their own native land. She will return to her family. There are no more sons to marry. Naomi frees the two women as she leaves.

But Ruth says the following:

 “Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you! Where you go, I will go; Where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God. 17Where you die, I will die— there will I be buried. May the Lord do thus and so to me, and more as well, if even death parts me from you!”

With these words Ruth pledges herself to Naomi. So it is that they all leave and go with Naomi back to Judah. What is profound is that Ruth does not have to do this. Ruth returns to a land where she will not be welcomed, where she will be seen as a foreigner, and where she has no future.

This very first chapter reveals God's faithfulness and the faithfulness, the steadfastness, of faith that is a characteristic of God's people. It is a characteristic found even in the foreigner who comes and dwells among the chosen. She will go where Naomi goes. Ruth is a character in the narrative of God marked for her tenacity of faith.

While she will not be welcomed and even seen as part of the "calamity" that befell Naomi, Ruth will be a key ingredient to the health and vitality of the people of Israel.

How often we see the other, the foreigner, the migrant person seeking life among a new people as a burden. God's story, God's narrative flips this on its head. Not unlike most of God's narrative, the story of Ruth takes what we see in the world and flips it so we see the world differently. In this story, we will discover, the migrant and foreigner are essential ingredients to the overall faithfulness and steadfastness of the people of God. We discover that we are not complete without the outsider.


Sermons Preached

Proper 25, Year B, October27, 2024

Prayer
God our Savior, from the ends of the earth you gather the weak and the lowly.  You make them a great and glad multitude, refreshed and renewed at your hand.  Throwing off the burden of sin, they run to the Teacher for healing.  Let the faith Christ bestows restore to the church this vision of the gathering that embraces the weary and wounded of this world.  We ask this through Christ, with whom you have raised us up in baptism, the Lord who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever. Amen.

From Prayers for Sunday and Seasons, Year B, Peter J. Scagnelli, LTP, 1992.

Some Thoughts on Mark 10:46-52

"...what would you do if failure didn't matter? What would you endeavor, dare, or try? What mission would you attempt, what venture would you risk, what great deed would you undertake?"

"Bartimaeus, Luther, and the Failed Reformation," David Lose, Working Preacher, 2012.


"How do we retell the story without sidelining blind people today? That is easier said than done. If we play up the miraculous we heighten the pain where healing is not happening and may be impossible. Piety can easily race by in the euphoria of symbolism and the only abiding message is; we are irrelevant and you are irrelevant."

"First Thoughts on Year B Gospel Passages in the Lectionary," Pentecost 22, William Loader, Murdoch University, Uniting Church in Australia.

"If your prayer isn't answered, this may tell you more about you and your prayer than it does about God. If God doesn't seem to be giving you what you ask, maybe he's giving you something else."

"Bartimaeus," sermon discussion from Frederick Buechner, Frederick Buechner Blog.

Oremus Online NRSV Text

Jesus has been teaching that the society of the kingdom of God is one marked by servanthood rather than rank or power.  He has prophesied that his own life will end as the suffering servant and that he will be raised.  He has offered a vision of a new world; a recreated world. 

Jesus has also offered an understanding of discipleship which is one in which the follower leaves the comfort of life in order to help the lives of those who are comfortless.

So it is that we come to the roadside outside Jericho.  This passage is filled with drama and symbolism. 

Jesus makes his way in the business of a crowd towards Jerusalem; always with his face set like a flint to the cross.  And from the margins, from the edge of this mission, comes the cry of the blind man.  He is at first hushed by those around Jesus.  This is a reminder of how easy it is while trying to be faithful to be deaf to those on the edge who faith is intended to help.   How blind the crowd of Jesus followers is to the cries from the edge.  And, I imagine them hushing him again, and saying, "We are too busy following Jesus."  So it is the blindness of the followers of Jesus that is revealed as Bartimaeus' sight ever sharpens.

Bartimaeus knows all that is happening and in the story and he cries out.  Sometimes I think in the midst of life we are unaware of just how aware those on the margin are - prophetically aware. This hit me squarely as I read through Joel Marcus' textual exegesis and he offered this from a boot entitle Memory; about the holocaust: 

The uncanny effect of this sort of blind sight is evoked by Douglas' description of a Holocaust survivor who wore dark glasses during her testimony at Adolf Eichmann's trial in Jerusalem:  "She appeared, then, to be blind (though she was not), an impression made all the more striking as the dramatic force of her testimony found focus in the words 'I saw everything.'" (Joel Marcus, Mark, vol 2, 763)

As the passing diorama makes its way, Bartimaeus shouts ever louder.  Jesus stops, invites his petition, and then heals him.  The response to this event is the throwing off of his clothes, the clarity of sight about the world around him, and then Bartimaeus follows.

Joel Marcus and others remind us that the passage is very much linked to early baptismal rites.  For example this one from Marcus' commentary.

Baptizand: "Have mercy on me!"
Deacon, in the role of Jesus to the congregation: "Call him."
Congregation: "Be brave, get up, he's calling you."
Baptizand removes his clothes and approaches the deacon.
Deacon to Baptizand: "What do you want me to do?"
Baptizand: "I want to be illuminated."
Deacon, baptizing him: "Your faith has saved you."
(Mark, vol 2, 765)

So in our passage today we are given wonderful new ways of seeing ourselves and our following.  We are able to see the world of servanthood to the comfortless.  We are to interpret our own faith journey in light of being given sight to see and to follow.  We are given an encouraging word to cast off our clothes, to move from the edge into the center of the stage, and to participate in the new ways of this strange emerging kingdom of God.

We should be careful first not to punish our own crowd that will sit before us as preachers this weekend.  We should remember they too are there like Bartimaeus, on the fringe of society, doing something most people will not do this week's end - go to church. They are there calling out for a bit of grace and mercy and kindness. They are calling out for love. 

The preacher has a dual-task this week's end, both to stop as Jesus did, and remind the blind of his love for them. To stop and pause for a moment so that their sight might be restored and so they can follow along the way.  That they might cast off their clothes that bind them, so that they may enter the crowd of life and along the way help others to see as well. 

The passage reminds me that the Christian Church is not a society of the wealthy who redistribute their wealth for the sake of the poor, but a community of blind people seeking clarity of sight so that we might in turn help our brothers and sisters see.

Epistle Hebrews 7:23-28

"While of major interest in the first century, most Christians today do not think much about the nature of the priesthood. Amidst this comparison, however, the author makes some very important statements about how Jesus accomplished human salvation."

Commentary, Hebrews 7:23-28, Scott Shauf, Preaching This Week,WorkingPreacher.org, 2012.

"He died once; he intercedes perpetually."

From Wesley's Notes.

"One reason that Jesus the High Priest can offer this eternal salvation is that he can focus his priestly work on intercession because he has already taken care of the problem of sin. Other priests are daily occupied with sin removal (Hebrews 7:27)."

Commentary, Hebrews 7:23-28, Amy L B. Peeler, Preaching This Week,WorkingPreacher.org, 2015.

Oremus Online NRSV Text

Jesus is the new high priest and the author here reiterates this work in case the reader/hearer did not understand the first time.  So it is that we are told (as if from a different vantage point) that Jesus is able to provide this once for all intercession on our behalf. The cross of Christ is a one-time victory for all sin and not a rehearsal each time there is sin. Christ is not continually offering Christ's self for humanity but instead, this one-time defeat and victory over sin and death is a "sufficient sacrifice once offered" as our prayer book liturgy reminds us.

This one-time offering is therefore also a better offering than human priesthood and a new and better covenant than the many old ones. For here in this new covenant, we are redeemed forever and marked as Christ's own.

Furthermore, this offering is perfect(ed) in that it is God's offering instead of our own human offering. It is God's offering and of such a quality that it is everlasting. 

Sometimes, I think our faith is tested not by our belief that God reached across the cosmos to embrace us and has forever mended the gulf between us but that such an occurrence and work of Jesus is forever. I think we sometimes lack the belief that Christ is victorious. So we might say that we know that Christ is our intermediary, our great high priest, but we should get to work saving ourselves just in case.

In this lack of faith in Christ's sufficient work on our behalf, we return to an old law. In this old law we are the priest who is completely imprisoned by our sin, brokenness, and fallen-shortness of the kingdom. Here we must continually offer new sacrifices trying to live into some ideal. Here we attempt to acquire a list of qualities that we might repeatedly purify ourselves. Each of our sacrifices, like the sacrifices of the religious priesthood of Jesus' own day, were made over and over again for the sake of salvation. 

The high priesthood of Christ is once and for all, there is no more sinful economic exchange required on our part.

Some Thoughts on Job 42:1-17

"What can Job possibly say to God after hearing God finally speak?"
Commentary, Job 42:1-6, 10-17, Karla Suomala, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2015.

"The only hope for a truly 'happy ending' for us all is that we truly do serve a God of all grace who is rich in mercy and compassion and kindness."
The Center for Excellence in Preaching commentary and sermon illustrations, Scott Hoezee, 2015.


"The resolution to the crisis of injustice in our world is found neither in giving up on God nor in the simplistic presumption that God won't let bad things happen to good people It is found in continuing to believe that God will never abandon you or me or anyone in this world, especially in the midst of suffering."
"Where Is Justice?" Alan Brehm, The Waking Dreamer, 2015.

"This epilogue to the book of Job is, for many readers, hard to accept."Commentary, Job 42:1-6, 10-17, Kathryn Schifferdecker, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2012.

"In one sense I find the epilogue disappointing because it appears to support the idea that the righteous come out alright in the end and the wicked are punished. Job is rewarded for being faithful. Some scholars try to put an interpretation which says it was a free gift of God and not a reward. This is a bit difficult to sustain in light of the context."
Job 42:1-17, Pentecost 21, Commentary, Background, Insights from Literary Structure, Theological Message, Ways to Present the Text. Anna Grant-Henderson, Uniting Church in Australia.

"I've always appreciated how the Lutherans of the Reformation made this point. They distinguished between earthly "security" (securitas), a presumption that no one should expect as an entitlement or reward for faith, and "certitude" (certitudo), the unfailing promise of God's presence whatever comes your way."

"The Story of Job: Personal Disaster Reveals Genuine Faith," The Journey with Jesus: Notes to Myself, Daniel B. Clendenin, Journey with Jesus Foundation, 2009. 2006 reflection.

Oremus Online NRSV Text

Like many folks the ending of The Book of Job is disappointing. Like a poorly crafted "happy ending," the book falls short of bringing the complexity of the book into a good theological finish. The end is a kind of, almost sickly sweet, hands in the air, kind of "oh well" to the whole affair. Good faithful people who have had to deal with terror in their lives will find that the passage has very few life-giving words to take with them after the sermon is said and done.

Therefore, I want to make the case that the redactionist poor theology who crafted the passage (on one of their better days) must not have the last word.

While the God we worship, who comes near in Jesus, is the God of the Whirlwind, this God cannot make humanity do God's will without taking away free will. [The paragraphs that follow are based upon Girard's work. An Excerpt from René Girard's Job: The Victim of His People (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1987), pages 154-168.]

Not only would the God of the Whirlwind be without the freedom to love but this God would become the God of the persecutors! To force human goodness would require God of the victims to become God who victimizes. There are plenty who claim a persecuting God and such a God is often promoted by those who know best and themselves would be the persecuting God.

Job himself has well made the case that this is true. The book itself highlights how his frenemies are exactly the persecutors who worship the persecuting God. God reminds us in this last passage that they have this quite wrong. Job's friends suggest that Job is attacking God. Job's friends are present with us today and would suggest that a God who does not persecute leads to atheism (Ibid.) René Girard writes:

When Job proves that justice does not hold sway in the world, when he says that the sort of retribution Eliphaz implies does not exist for most men, he thinks he is attacking the very concept of God. But in the Gospels, Jesus very explicitly claims as his own all Job's criticisms of retribution. 

Remember Jesus deals with this in Luke 13:1-5. And, Jesus says:

"Do you suppose these Galileans who suffered like that were greater sinners than any other Galileans? They were not, I tell you. No; but unless you repent you will all perish as they did. Or those eighteen on whom the tower at Siloam fell and killed them? Do you suppose that they were more guilty than all the other people living in Jerusalem? They were not, I tell you. No; but unless you repent you will all perish as they did."

There are plenty of Christians who wish to contradict Jesus and Job and take up the case and view promulgated by Eliphaz and Job's friends. (Ibid.)

Violence, persecution, scapegoating, cancer, sickness, starvation, accidents, and all the other terrible parts of human life are very real. The persecuting lesser gods and their followers are quick to show how the blessings and the curses are God's.  They forget not only Jesus' teaching from Luke 13, but Jesus' teaching in John 9:2-3: "Neither he nor his parents sinned . . . he was born blind so that the works of God might be displayed in him". (Ibid.)

Girard writes:

All the parables have much the same meaning. God always plays the role of the absent master, the owner who has gone on a long journey. He leaves the field free for his servants, who prove themselves either faithful or unfaithful, efficient or timid. He does not allow the wheat to be separated from the tares, even to encourage the growth of good grain, whereas Aeschylus does the reverse. God makes his sun shine and his rain fall on the just as well as on the unjust. He does not arbitrate the quarrels of brothers. He knows what human justice is. (Ibid.)

The persecuting demigods and their followers may quickly point out that this all seems to be a lazy God. This God of the victims is a God who simply lets the people suffer. (Ibid.) But we should quickly say, as a Gospel people, this God is the God who gives his very self for the life of the world. This is the God who gives all that humanity may have life and have it abundantly. This is the God who becomes a true victim in order to share victimhood and redeem it. This true God does not let persecution, violence and death have the last word.

His very life in this world reveals as Girard points out, that "they are dedicating themselves to the scandal by their desires that are crisscrossed and thwarted by imitation." (Ibid.)

It would be easy to take the last words of Job and make them about abundance in this world and wealth. But I think a bit of Gospel redaction enables us to preach that what God gives the Job-like victim is companionship in suffering and in victimhood. God gives mercy and forgiveness plenty. And, God gives life everlasting. These truly are gifts greater than what Job started with at the beginning!

Some Thoughts on Jeremiah 31:27-34

"Lent is a time for honesty that may disrupt the illusion of well-being that is fostered by the advocates of indulgent privilege and strident exceptionalism that disregards the facts on the ground. Against such ideological self-sufficiency, the prophetic tradition speaks of the brokenness of the covenant that makes healthy life possible."

"Ferguson and Forgiveness," Walter Bruegemann, ON Scripture, Odyssey Networks, 2015. Video: Race in America.

"Hope for the future in Jeremiah involves the same divine message known from Sinai, 'I will be their God and they will be my people' (verse 33); but this time, that covenant relationship will be the defining mark of each person rather than something that must be learned."

Commentary, Jeremiah 31:31-34, Amy Erickson, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2012.

Oremus Online NRSV Text 

We just had this passage this last summer - so if you didn't preach on it you get a second chance. It will appear again this coming year.

Jeremiah continues his prophecy saying that God will bring about a bounteous future. God has not stayed the hand of those who have undone the power of Israel as a civilization rooted in the authority of this world. Remember it was Israel's political and religious machinations that brought it down. Yet, God will in the days to come bring about a resurrection from the death they brought on themselves. God will bring about life from their rubble. 

While the people have suffered and have been deported this will not be the final word. Out of lostness, leastness, and death, God brings about life. From the children whose teeth are set on edge to those who at sour fruit, God will bring about a bounteous feast and plenty for the children. Jeremiah prophesies:

"The parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” But all shall die for their own sins; the teeth of everyone who eats sour grapes shall be set on edge. The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 

God promises a new covenant - a new relationship. Christians understand this prophecy to be about the promise of God to deliver all people. The temple's politics intermixed with the state, the civil war between tribes (between the northern and southern kingdoms) has undone the original covenant that was made with God. They forgot who delivered them out of Egypt and so they thought they were responsible for delivering themselves. They forgot who fed them in the wilderness and thought that it was by their own hands that they had wealth. They forgot that God brought water from the rock and thought instead that their future and the future of their kingdoms would flow from their own power.

God speaks through Jeremiah and he writes:

But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.

Walter Brueggeman calls this part of the prophetic book of Jeremiah "the book of comfort." God is watching and planting and build the new community of hope. While we may well remember the proverb that the parent's sins are visited upon the children (even Jesus quotes this), we see in the passage that the people have an opportunity to begin again. The proverb is "null and void" says Brueggeman. All exiles have the possibility of the new. (Brueggeman, Jeremiah: Exile and Homecoming, 504)

The covenant intends that people not work against one another but rather that they see one another face to face and see God face to face. Again a radical message says that God will forget all their sin.

For Christians, this is the very mission of God in Christ Jesus. That God in Christ comes and is incarnate such that they meet God face to face, and can no longer look at each other without seeing the face of God looking back. That God in Christ will be the very law himself. We are to understand that the highest law shall be the writing of commandments and actions by Jesus himself. Humanity will know, both by sight and by relationship and by story/witness God. The living word shall come and be part of the community and with him he shall bring forgiveness of every iniquity.


While we may wonder why Jeremiah remains in the scripture because of his obvious entanglement with the Babylonian court, what we see is that his words prophesy a new faith. The first Christians, without a New Testament, understood their work as community and the person of Jesus Christ as revealed in the prophecy of Jeremiah.

Sermons Preached on these Passages