Old Testament for June 18, 2023

This beautiful and intricate mosaic is from the basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna, Italy. .
It dates to the 6th-century.
[Photo and description by Fr. Lawrence Lew, O.P.]

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Genesis 18:1-15
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Abraham and Sarah are, after Adam and Eve, among the most famous and significant couples in all of Scripture.  Abraham was an obscure herdsman in Haran, which was situated on a tributary river to the Euphrates.  His father was Terah, who had brought his family there from Ur in Mesopotamia.  Abram (as he was then known) was married to his half-sister Sarai (as she was then known).  And then, God visited Abram and told him:

Leave your country, and your relatives, and your father’s house, and go to the land that I will show you.  I will make of you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great. You will be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you (Genesis 12:1-3).

All of this happened when he was seventy-five, and Sarai was sixty-five! And, demonstrating the faith for which he was to become famous, Abram obeyed God.

However, when our narrative picks up in the Old Testament lectionary reading for this week, there have been profound divine affirmations as well as serious challenges to their faith (see Genesis chapter 12 to 17).  The most serious challenge has been Sarah’s barrenness.  They have even resorted to the extreme — and misguided — effort to have a child through a surrogate mother, the slave girl Hagar.  That doesn’t end well for Hagar and her son Ishmael.

Now, in another divine vision, God has changed Abram’s name to Abraham, and Sarai to Sarah, and God reaffirms his promise:

As for me, behold, my covenant is with you. You will be the father of a multitude of nations.  Your name will no more be called Abram, but your name will be Abraham; for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you. Kings will come out of you.  I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God to you and to your offspring after you.  I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land where you are traveling, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession. I will be their God (Genesis 17:4-8).

But it can’t escape notice that when this epiphany occurs, Abraham and Sarah are old by anybody’s reckoning!

Then Abraham fell on his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to him who is one hundred years old? Will Sarah, who is ninety years old, give birth?” (Genesis 17:17).

So, our account begins on a normal afternoon — the heat of the day.  As with many cultures located in semi-desert climates, they were probably resting during this time of the day when work would be difficult.  They were encamped in tents near the oaks of Mamre, which likely grew near a spring in the area of Hebron.

Everything must have seemed fairly normal to Abraham.  Three strangers appear in front of him, and he does what is natural in a Middle Eastern culture — he offers them hospitality.  Little does he know that he is entertaining Yahweh himself!

The identity of these three strangers is controversial.  Were they angels?  If so, quite frequently the Angel of the Lord is interpreted to be Yahweh himself.  Was one of them the Son of God as the Orthodox church believes?  Or was it mere coincidence that there were three who came — suggesting to the Christian reader a Trinitarian relationship?  We can’t know precisely.

Abraham bows, and invites them to a meal.  All of the courtesies normal for guests in such a culture were offered — water to wash their feet, a place to rest beneath a tree, bread of the finest meal, butter, milk — and veal! He orders his servant to cook a calf.

And then things became interesting.

They asked him, “Where is Sarah, your wife?”

How did they know her name?

She is in the tent and they are out, under the trees.  Given the modesty of Middle Eastern cultures, this is no surprise. A woman wouldn’t likely have been circulating amongst a group of strange men.

We notice that they don’t speak — one  of the three men speaks, with an incredible prediction:

I will certainly return to you when the season comes round. Behold, Sarah your wife will have a son.

The writer of Genesis points out what is painfully obvious:

Sarah had passed the age of childbearing.

But Sarah is curious, naturally, about these strangers, and she has been eavesdropping at the opening of the tent, just out of sight.  And her reaction is very human:

Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have grown old will I have pleasure, my lord being old also?”

This is not merely a comment on her own barrenness, but on poor Abraham’s aged incapacity as well!

Yahweh rebukes Sarah to Abraham, and questions her faith:

Yahweh said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Will I really bear a child, yet I am old?’  Is anything too hard for Yahweh? At the set time I will return to you, when the season comes round, and Sarah will have a son.”

It has become clear to Sarah that something more serious is going on than a bunch of strangers making silly promises to old people:

Then Sarah denied it, saying, “I didn’t laugh,” for she was afraid.  He said, “No, but you did laugh.”

We might like to think that Yahweh shared in the joke, and said this with a twinkle in his eye, rather than sternly.  After all, the name of the son who would be born would be Isaac, which is Hebrew for he laughs. 

APPLY:  

Abraham becomes the paradigm of the Godly man in Scripture.  Paul touts him as the exemplar of faith in his doctrine of justification by faith:

For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”  Now to him who works, the reward is not counted as grace, but as something owed. But to him who doesn’t work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness. (Romans 4:3-5).

And James cites Abraham as an example of a man whose faith was revealed by his works:

Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works, in that he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?  You see that faith worked with his works, and by works faith was perfected; and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him as righteousness”; and he was called the friend of God (James 2:21-23).

This is an example of “both/and” in Scripture — that justifying faith is a pure gift of God, but that it inevitably results in obedience and good works.

But there is another application for those who might be growing a little older — God is never quite finished with us!  We may not be called upon to bear a child at 90 or 100 — we hope!  But God can still use us, even after we may think we are “barren” and useless.

RESPOND: 

Here is a fascinating factoid — at least to me — there are three major monotheistic religions that regard themselves as Abrahamic — derived from the life and faith of Abraham.  They are Judaism, Christianity and Islam.  However, there are also smaller sects that regard themselves as part of the Abrahamic family — Samaritanism, Druze, Babism, Bahai, and Rastafarianism.

Adherents to these Abrahamic religions comprise 54% of the world’s population. Certainly it seems to be true that God’s promise to Abraham has been fulfilled:

 “Look now toward the sky, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” He said to Abram, “So will your offspring be (Genesis 15:5).

Of course from a Christian perspective it is not those who are biologically descended from Abraham who are the only descendants, but those who have faith in the God revealed in Jesus Christ.  Justifying faith is the DNA required to be a child of Abraham, not works of the law or genes.  Paul writes:

Even as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness.”  Know therefore that those who are of faith, the same are children of Abraham.  The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the Good News beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you all the nations will be blessed.” (Galatians 3:6-8).

I feel that because of my faith in Christ, I am a child of Abraham as well — I belong to a family that transcends race and ethnicity.  Like the old song we used to sing around the campfire:

Father Abraham had many sons
Many sons had Father Abraham
I am one of them and so are you
So let’s all praise the Lord.
Right arm!
[I would add, he also has many daughters!]

But there is one other great comfort I glean from this passage.  I am 61 — not really all that old by Abraham and Sarah’s standards.  They started their journey of faith to a new land at 75 and 65 respectively!  And then their son Isaac was born when they were about 100 and 90!

I certainly hope that my wife and I aren’t called upon to bring another Isaac into the world, but I am encouraged to know that God is not ageist.  God can use the very young — as he did with John the Baptist in Elizabeth’s womb, or Samuel when he was only twelve — and the very old, like Abraham and Sarah.

Lord, you revealed yourself in personal relationships to the people of old, and you expressed your interest in their family lives.  You perpetuated the line of Abraham and Sarah through Isaac — and you perpetuate their legacy through the same faith that was inspired in them.  I am Abraham and Sarah’s child by faith — please continue to use me no matter how old I may be.  Amen. 

PHOTOS:
“The Hospitality of Abraham (Ravenna)” by Fr. Lawrence Lew, O.P. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.

Epistle for August 28, 2022

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

The writer of Hebrews is coming to the conclusion of his sermon/letter. The letter of Hebrews compares and contrasts the sacrificial system of the Old Testament with its consummation in the high priestly sacrifice of Christ. In today’s Lectionary reading, he makes practical exhortations about how Christians are to live together.

First and foremost is the foundation of all Christian ethics, consistent with the teaching of Jesus, Paul, James, John and Jude:

Let mutual love continue.

All other ethical and moral teachings in the New Testament flow from love.

Appropriately, they are encouraged to offer hospitality to strangers as an expression of generous love.  However, there is a little extra incentive offered in this case:

for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.

There are solid Biblical grounds for this claim.  Abraham offered a feast to three strangers by the oaks of Mamre who turned out to be angels — and who gave Abraham and Sarah the astounding news that they would be parents even at their well-advanced age (Genesis 18:1-5).  Lot, Abraham’s nephew, welcomes two of these same angels into his home in Sodom, fearful for their safety in that wicked town.  In turn, the angels protected Lot and his family from the wicked Sodomites (Genesis 19:1-22).

Hebrews next encourages them to remember those who are in prison and tortured.  Jesus emphasizes ministry to those who are in prison (Matthew 25:36-39), and Hebrews stressed this earlier in Hebrews 10:34:

For you had compassion for those who were in prison, and you cheerfully accepted the plundering of your possessions, knowing that you yourselves possessed something better and more lasting.

However, there is some nuance here.  While Jesus and the writer of Hebrews might encourage ministry to prisoners in general, there is also an awareness that the Christian community itself was liable to frequent incarceration for their faith.  The apostles and their followers were frequently arrested, tortured, and even executed simply because they were Christians.

This is consistent with the warning of Jesus:

But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name (Luke 21:12).

No doubt, part of the mutual love that Hebrews has in mind is ministry to their Christian brothers and sisters who have been imprisoned and tortured:

But recall those earlier days when, after you had been enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to abuse and persecution, and sometimes being partners with those so treated (Hebrew 10:32-33).

They are exhorted to remember those in prison and who are tortured as though they themselves are experiencing the same suffering — vicariously empathizing with them through their prayers and ministry.

Hebrews moves on to family life and sexual morality:    

 Let marriage be held in honor by all, and let the marriage bed be kept undefiled; for God will judge fornicators and adulterers.

The Christian ethic doesn’t denigrate healthy sexuality, but celebrates the gift of sexuality in the context of marriage.  The marriage bed is to be honored — but what is it that defiles it?  The clearest answer is the following clause:

for God will judge fornicators and adulterers.

These are serious offenses, which God will judge.  Adultery, obviously, is the violation of the marriage covenant by infidelity.  But fornication, from the Greek porneia, literally relates to sex with a prostitute — but as the etymology of the word pornography suggests — it also covers behavior that dishonors the marriage bed by any kind of sexual immorality.

As with other Old Testament and New Testament writers, Hebrews cautions against greed, urging that they:

 be content with what you have…

We hear echoes of 1 Timothy 6:6:

…there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment.

And Hebrews provides a rationale for this attitude of non-materialism — they are able to rely on God to supply all their needs:

 for he has said, “I will never leave you or forsake you.”

Hebrews then returns to the corporate sphere of church life:

Remember your leaders, those who spoke the word of God to you; consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.

The leaders are to be respected not only because they preach the Gospel, but because of their lifestyle that should be emulated.  Later in this chapter, Hebrews will reinforce this teaching:

 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls and will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with sighing—for that would be harmful to you (Hebrews 13:17).

Hebrews then adds this clincher about the ultimate leader of the Christian community:

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

The consistency of Jesus as Savior and Lord is foundational in the Christian faith.  Jesus describes himself in this way:

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end (Revelation 22:13).

And Hebrews returns to one of the themes of his sermon — as high priest, Jesus leads the people of God into proper intercession and worship:

Through him, then, let us continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name.

Confession of the name of Christ is a primary requirement for inclusion in the church. Today’s Lectionary reading also ends on an exhortation that equates good works together with true worship:

Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

APPLY:  

The deep truths that we are taught about the great doctrines of the faith are extremely important.  They are the foundation of our understanding of the Trinity, the nature of Christ as fully God and fully human, salvation, and even the destiny of all created things.

However, how we are to live this Christian life into which we are baptized and which we live by faith is also vitally important.

Hebrews summarizes just some of those practical aspects of Christian life:

• Love is to be our royal law in the community of faith.
• Christians are to offer hospitality to strangers, with no strings attached concerning their ideology, religion, or race.
• We are to have compassion for those in prison, and minister to them.
• We are to honor marriage and maintain sexual purity.
• We are not to love money, but learn the secret of contentment with what we have, trusting in God to take care of us.
• We are to honor our pastors and heed their teaching.
• Conversely, pastors are to live exemplary lives of faith.
• We are to openly confess our faith in Christ, and make sure that our worship is in harmony with our works of mercy.

All of this is grounded first in the love of God revealed for us in Christ Jesus that continues in our lives as we respond to him in love.

RESPOND: 

I am particularly haunted by the phrase:

Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them; those who are being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured.

[Note from Celeste: Tom originally wrote this post August 28, 2016, so the following statistics are from then. You can click on the links at the end of this “Respond” section to get current numbers.]

I am haunted by how easy my Christian witness and life are in comparison to those in countries where the freedom of conscience is not tolerated.  According to Open Doors (a global ministry devoted to the persecuted church), 322 Christians a month are killed for their faith.  214 Christian churches or properties are destroyed.  There are 772 acts of violence and exploitation committed against Christians.  Christians in more than 60 nations face persecution from their governments, or as religious minorities by their neighbors.

I pray for these persecuted Christians, because I’m aware that not everyone enjoys the kind of religious liberty that I do.  Hebrews actually urges me to identify with their suffering, as though suffering with them.

I wonder.  How would I stand up to the kind of pressure and discrimination and even violence that so many Christians experience around the world?

Early in 2015 Christian bishops, priests and faithful Christians in beleaguered Mosul, Iraq, sought refuge from the violence and threats of the Islamic State. They pleaded with the world: “Don’t forget us.”

They spoke for persecuted Christians around the world.

For more information on the persecuted church, check out these sites:

Click here for Open Doors USA

Click here for Persecuted Church

Click here for The Voice of the Martyrs

Our Lord, studying the great doctrines of the faith in Scripture is extremely important to me — but I also know that I must hide your word in my heart, and live what I believe.  Help me to live the life of faith — a life of love, hospitality, compassion, and fidelity in marriage.  Amen.

 PHOTOS:
"religious freedom" by Imagens Cristas is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic license.

Old Testament for June 14, 2020

This beautiful and intricate mosaic is from the basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna, Italy. .
It dates to the 6th-century.
[Photo and description by Fr. Lawrence Lew, O.P.]

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Genesis 18:1-15
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Abraham and Sarah are, after Adam and Eve, among the most famous and significant couples in all of Scripture.  Abraham was an obscure herdsman in Haran, which was situated on a tributary river to the Euphrates.  His father was Terah, who had brought his family there from Ur in Mesopotamia.  Abram (as he was then known) was married to his half-sister Sarai (as she was then known).  And then, God visited Abram and told him:

Leave your country, and your relatives, and your father’s house, and go to the land that I will show you.  I will make of you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great. You will be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you (Genesis 12:1-3).

All of this happened when he was seventy-five, and Sarai was sixty-five! And, demonstrating the faith for which he was to become famous, Abram obeyed God.

However, when our narrative picks up in the Old Testament lectionary reading for this week, there have been profound divine affirmations as well as serious challenges to their faith (see Genesis chapter 12 to 17).  The most serious challenge has been Sarah’s barrenness.  They have even resorted to the extreme — and misguided — effort to have a child through a surrogate mother, the slave girl Hagar.  That doesn’t end well for Hagar and her son Ishmael.

Now, in another divine vision, God has changed Abram’s name to Abraham, and Sarai to Sarah, and God reaffirms his promise:

As for me, behold, my covenant is with you. You will be the father of a multitude of nations.  Your name will no more be called Abram, but your name will be Abraham; for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you. Kings will come out of you.  I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God to you and to your offspring  after you.  I will give to you, and to your offspring  after you, the land where you are traveling, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession. I will be their God (Genesis 17:4-8).

But it can’t escape notice that when this epiphany occurs, Abraham and Sarah are old by anybody’s reckoning!

Then Abraham fell on his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to him who is one hundred years old? Will Sarah, who is ninety years old, give birth?” (Genesis 17:17).

So, our account begins on a normal afternoon — the heat of the day.  As with many cultures located in semi-desert climates, they were probably resting during this time of the day when work would be difficult.  They were encamped in tents near the oaks of Mamre, which likely grew near a spring in the area of Hebron.

Everything must have seemed fairly normal to Abraham.  Three strangers appear in front of him, and he does what is natural in a Middle Eastern culture — he offers them hospitality.  Little does he know that he is entertaining Yahweh himself!

The identity of these three strangers is controversial.  Were they angels?  If so, quite frequently the Angel of the Lord is interpreted to be Yahweh himself.  Was one of them the Son of God as the Orthodox church believes?  Or was it mere coincidence that there were three who came — suggesting to the Christian reader a Trinitarian relationship?  We can’t know precisely.

Abraham bows, and invites them to a meal.  All of the courtesies normal for guests in such a culture were offered — water to wash their feet, a place to rest beneath a tree, bread of the finest meal, butter, milk — and veal! He orders his servant to cook a calf.

And then things became interesting.

They asked him, “Where is Sarah, your wife?”

How did they know her name?

She is in the tent and they are out, under the trees.  Given the modesty of Middle Eastern cultures, this is no surprise. A woman wouldn’t likely have been circulating amongst a group of strange men.

We notice that they don’t speak — one  of the three men speaks, with an incredible prediction:

I will certainly return to you when the season comes round. Behold, Sarah your wife will have a son.

The writer of Genesis points out what is painfully obvious:

Sarah had passed the age of childbearing.

But Sarah is curious, naturally, about these strangers, and she has been eavesdropping at the opening of the tent, just out of sight.  And her reaction is very human:

Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have grown old will I have pleasure, my lord being old also?”

This is not merely a comment on her own barrenness, but on poor Abraham’s aged incapacity as well!

Yahweh rebukes Sarah to Abraham, and questions her faith:

Yahweh said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Will I really bear a child, yet I am old?’  Is anything too hard for Yahweh? At the set time I will return to you, when the season comes round, and Sarah will have a son.”

It has become clear to Sarah that something more serious is going on than a bunch of strangers making silly promises to old people:

Then Sarah denied it, saying, “I didn’t laugh,” for she was afraid.  He said, “No, but you did laugh.”

We might like to think that Yahweh shared in the joke, and said this with a twinkle in his eye, rather than sternly.  After all, the name of the son who would be born would be Isaac, which is Hebrew for he laughs. 

APPLY:  

Abraham becomes the paradigm of the Godly man in Scripture.  Paul touts him as the exemplar of faith in his doctrine of justification by faith:

For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”  Now to him who works, the reward is not counted as grace, but as something owed. But to him who doesn’t work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness. (Romans 4:3-5).

And James cites Abraham as an example of a man whose faith was revealed by his works:

Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works, in that he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?  You see that faith worked with his works, and by works faith was perfected;  and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him as righteousness”;  and he was called the friend of God (James 2:21-23).

This is an example of  “both/and” in Scripture — that justifying faith is a pure gift of God, but that it inevitably results in obedience and good works.

But there is another application for those who might be growing a little older — God is never quite finished with us!  We may not be called upon to bear a child at 90 or 100 — we hope!  But God can still use us, even after we may think we are “barren” and useless.

RESPOND: 

Here is a fascinating factoid — at least to me — there are three major monotheistic religions that regard themselves as Abrahamic — derived from the life and faith of Abraham.  They are Judaism, Christianity and Islam.  However, there are also smaller sects that regard themselves as part of the Abrahamic family — Samaritanism, Druze, Babism, Bahai, and Rastarfarianism.

Adherents to these Abrahamic religions comprise 54% of the world’s population. Certainly it seems to be true that God’s promise to Abraham has been fulfilled:

 “Look now toward the sky, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” He said to Abram, “So will your offspring  be (Genesis 15:5).

Of course from a Christian perspective it is not those who are biologically descended from Abraham who are the only descendants, but those who have faith in the God revealed in Jesus Christ.  Justifying faith is the DNA required to be a child of Abraham, not works of the law or genes.  Paul writes:

Even as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness.”  Know therefore that those who are of faith, the same are children of Abraham.  The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the Good News beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you all the nations will be blessed.” (Galatians 3:6-8).

I feel that because of my faith in Christ, I am a child of Abraham as well — I belong to a family that transcends race and ethnicity.  Like the old song we used to sing around the campfire:

Father Abraham had many sons
Many sons had Father Abraham
I am one of them and so are you
So let’s all praise the Lord.
Right arm!
[I would add, he also has many daughters!]

But there is one other great comfort I glean from this passage.  I am 61 — not really all that old by Abraham and Sarah’s standards.  They started their journey of faith to a new land at 75 and 65 respectively!  And then their son Isaac was born when they were about 100 and 90!

I certainly hope that my wife and I aren’t called upon to bring another Isaac into the world, but I am encouraged to know that God is not ageist.  God can use the very young — as he did with John the Baptist in Elizabeth’s womb, or Samuel when he was only twelve — and the very old, like Abraham and Sarah.

Lord, you revealed yourself in personal relationships to the people of old, and you expressed your interest in their family lives.  You perpetuated the line of Abraham and Sarah through Isaac — and you perpetuate their legacy through the same faith that was inspired in them.  I am Abraham and Sarah’s child by faith — please continue to use me no matter how old I may be.  Amen. 

PHOTOS:
“The Hospitality of Abraham (Ravenna)” by Fr. Lawrence Lew, O.P. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.

Epistle for September 1, 2019

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

The writer of Hebrews is coming to the conclusion of his sermon/letter. The letter of Hebrews compares and contrasts the sacrificial system of the Old Testament with its consummation in the high priestly sacrifice of Christ. In today’s Lectionary reading, he makes practical exhortations about how Christians are to live together.

First and foremost is the foundation of all Christian ethics, consistent with the teaching of Jesus, Paul, James, John and Jude:

Let mutual love continue.

All other ethical and moral teachings in the New Testament flow from love.

Appropriately, they are encouraged to offer hospitality to strangers as an expression of generous love.  However, there is a little extra incentive offered in this case:

for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.

There are solid Biblical grounds for this claim.  Abraham offered a feast to three strangers by the oaks of Mamre who turned out to be angels — and who gave Abraham and Sarah the astounding news that they would be parents even at their well-advanced age (Genesis 18:1-5).  Lot, Abraham’s nephew, welcomes two of these same angels into his home in Sodom, fearful for their safety in that wicked town.  In turn, the angels protected Lot and his family from the wicked Sodomites (Genesis 19:1-22).

Hebrews next encourages them to remember those who are in prison and tortured.  Jesus emphasizes ministry to those who are in prison (Matthew 25:36-39), and Hebrews stressed this earlier in Hebrews 10:34:

For you had compassion for those who were in prison, and you cheerfully accepted the plundering of your possessions, knowing that you yourselves possessed something better and more lasting.

However, there is some nuance here.  While Jesus and the writer of Hebrews might encourage ministry to prisoners in general, there is also an awareness that the Christian community itself was liable to frequent incarceration for their faith.  The apostles and their followers were frequently arrested, tortured, and even executed simply because they were Christians.

This is consistent with the warning of Jesus:

But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name (Luke 21:12).

No doubt, part of the mutual love  that Hebrews has in mind is ministry to their Christian brothers and sisters who have been imprisoned and tortured:

But recall those earlier days when, after you had been enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to abuse and persecution, and sometimes being partners with those so treated (Hebrew 10:32-33).

They are exhorted to remember those in prison and who are tortured as though they themselves are experiencing the same suffering — vicariously empathizing with them through their prayers and ministry.

Hebrews moves on to family life and sexual morality:    

 Let marriage be held in honor by all, and let the marriage bed be kept undefiled; for God will judge fornicators and adulterers.

The Christian ethic doesn’t denigrate healthy sexuality, but celebrates the gift of sexuality in the context of marriage.  The marriage bed is to be honored — but what is it that defiles it?  The clearest answer is the following clause:

for God will judge fornicators and adulterers.

These are serious offenses, which God will judge.  Adultery, obviously,  is the violation of the marriage covenant by infidelity.  But fornication, from the Greek porneia, literally relates to sex with a prostitute — but as the etymology of the word  pornography suggests — it also covers behavior that dishonors the marriage bed by any kind of sexual immorality.

As with other Old Testament and New Testament  writers, Hebrews cautions against greed, urging that they

 be content with what you have…

We hear echoes of 1 Timothy 6:6:

….there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment.

And Hebrews provides a rationale for this attitude of non-materialism — they are able to rely on God to supply all their needs:

 for he has said, “I will never leave you or forsake you.”

Hebrews then returns to the corporate sphere of church life:

Remember your leaders, those who spoke the word of God to you; consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.

The leaders are to be respected not only because they preach the Gospel, but because of their lifestyle that should be emulated.  Later in this chapter, Hebrews will reinforce this teaching:

 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls and will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with sighing—for that would be harmful to you (Hebrews 13:17).

Hebrews then adds this clincher about the ultimate leader of the Christian community:

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

The consistency of Jesus as Savior and Lord is foundational in the Christian faith.  Jesus describes himself in this way:

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end (Revelation 22:13).

And Hebrews returns to one of the themes of his sermon — as high priest, Jesus leads the people of God into proper intercession and worship:

Through him, then, let us continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name.

Confession of the name of Christ is a primary requirement for inclusion in the church. Today’s Lectionary reading also ends on an exhortation that equates good works together with true worship:

Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

APPLY:  

The deep truths that we are taught about the great doctrines of the faith are extremely important.  They are the foundation of our understanding of the Trinity, the nature of Christ as fully God and fully human, salvation, and even the destiny of all created things.

However, how we are to live this Christian life into which we are baptized and which we live by faith is also vitally important.

Hebrews summarizes just some of those practical aspects of Christian life — that love is to be our royal law in the community of faith; Christians are to offer hospitality to strangers, with no strings attached concerning their ideology, religion, or race; we are to have compassion for those in prison, and minister to them; we are to honor marriage and maintain sexual purity; we are not to love money, but learn the secret of contentment with what we have, trusting in God to take care of us; we are to honor our pastors and heed their teaching; conversely, pastors are to live exemplary lives of faith; and we are to openly confess our faith in Christ, and make sure that our worship is in harmony with our works of mercy.

All of this is grounded first in the love of God revealed for us in Christ Jesus that continues in our lives as we respond to him in love.

RESPOND: 

I am particularly haunted by the phrase:

Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them; those who are being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured.

I am haunted by how easy my Christian witness and life are in comparison to those in countries where the freedom of conscience is not tolerated.  According to Open Doors (a global ministry devoted to the persecuted church), 322 Christians a month are killed for their faith.  214 Christian churches or properties are destroyed.  There are 772 acts of violence and exploitation committed against Christians.  Christians in more than 60 nations face persecution from their governments, or as religious minorities by their neighbors.

I pray for these persecuted Christians, because I’m aware that not everyone enjoys the kind of religious liberty that I do.  Hebrews actually urges me to identify with their suffering, as though suffering with them.

I wonder.  How would I stand up to the kind of pressure and discrimination and even violence that so many Christians experience around the world?

Early in 2015 Christian bishops, priests and faithful Christians in beleaguered Mosul, Iraq, sought refuge from the violence and threats of the Islamic State. They pleaded with the world: “Don’t forget us.”

They spoke for persecuted Christians around the world.

For more information on the persecuted church, check out these sites:

Click here for Open Doors USA

Click here for Persecuted Church

Click here for The Voice of the Martyrs

Our Lord, studying the great doctrines of the faith in Scripture is extremely important to me — but I also know that I must hide your word in my heart, and live what I believe.  Help me to live the life of faith — a life of love, hospitality, compassion, and fidelity in marriage.  Amen.

 PHOTOS:
"persecuted church" by Imagens Cristas is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic license.

Old Testament for June 18, 2017

This beautiful and intricate mosaic is from the basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna, Italy. .
It dates to the 6th-century.
[Photo and description by Fr. Lawrence Lew, O.P.]

Start with Scripture:

Genesis 18:1-15

CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Abraham and Sarah are, after Adam and Eve, among the most famous and significant couples in all of Scripture.  Abraham was an obscure herdsman in Haran, which was situated on a tributary river to the Euphrates.  His father was Terah, who had brought his family there from Ur in Mesopotamia.  Abram (as he was then known) was married to his half-sister Sarai (as she was then known).  And then, God visited Abram and told him:

 Leave your country, and your relatives, and your father’s house, and go to the land that I will show you.  I will make of you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great. You will be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you (Genesis 12:1-3).

All of this happened when he was seventy-five, and Sarai was sixty-five! And, demonstrating the faith for which he was to become famous, Abram obeyed God.

However, when our narrative picks up in the Old Testament lectionary reading for this week, there have been profound divine affirmations as well as serious challenges to their faith (see Genesis chapter 12 to 17).  The most serious challenge has been Sarah’s barrenness.  They have even resorted to the extreme — and misguided — effort to have a child through a surrogate mother, the slave girl Hagar.  That doesn’t end well for Hagar and her son Ishmael.

Now, in another divine vision, God has changed Abram’s name to Abraham, and Sarai to Sarah, and God reaffirms his promise:

As for me, behold, my covenant is with you. You will be the father of a multitude of nations.  Your name will no more be called Abram, but your name will be Abraham; for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you. Kings will come out of you.  I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God to you and to your offspring  after you.  I will give to you, and to your offspring  after you, the land where you are traveling, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession. I will be their God (Genesis 17:4-8).

But it can’t escape notice that when this epiphany occurs, Abraham and Sarah are old by anybody’s reckoning!

Then Abraham fell on his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to him who is one hundred years old? Will Sarah, who is ninety years old, give birth?” (Genesis 17:17).

So, our account begins on a normal afternoon — the heat of the day.  As with many cultures located in semi-desert climates, they were probably resting during this time of the day when work would be difficult.  They were encamped in tents near the oaks of Mamre, which likely grew near a spring in the area of Hebron.

Everything must have seemed fairly normal to Abraham.  Three strangers appear in front of him, and he does what is natural in a Middle Eastern culture — he offers them hospitality.  Little does he know that he is entertaining Yahweh himself!

The identity of these three strangers is controversial.  Were they angels?  If so, quite frequently the Angel of the Lord is interpreted to be Yahweh himself.  Was one of them the Son of God as the Orthodox church believes?  Or was it mere coincidence that there were three who came — suggesting to the Christian reader a Trinitarian relationship?  We can’t know precisely.

Abraham bows, and invites them to a meal.  All of the courtesies normal for guests in such a culture were offered — water to wash their feet, a place to rest beneath a tree, bread of the finest meal, butter, milk — and veal! He orders his servant to cook a calf.

And then things became interesting.

They asked him, “Where is Sarah, your wife?”

How did they know her name?

She is in the tent and they are out, under the trees.  Given the modesty of Middle Eastern cultures, this is no surprise. A woman wouldn’t likely have been circulating amongst a group of strange men.

We notice that they don’t speak — one  of the three men speaks, with an incredible prediction:

I will certainly return to you when the season comes round. Behold, Sarah your wife will have a son.

The writer of Genesis points out what is painfully obvious:

Sarah had passed the age of childbearing.

But Sarah is curious, naturally, about these strangers, and she has been eavesdropping at the opening of the tent, just out of sight.  And her reaction is very human:

Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have grown old will I have pleasure, my lord being old also?”

This is not merely a comment on her own barrenness, but on poor Abraham’s aged incapacity as well!

Yahweh rebukes Sarah to Abraham, and questions her faith:

Yahweh said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Will I really bear a child, yet I am old?’  Is anything too hard for Yahweh? At the set time I will return to you, when the season comes round, and Sarah will have a son.”

It has become clear to Sarah that something more serious is going on than a bunch of strangers making silly promises to old people:

Then Sarah denied it, saying, “I didn’t laugh,” for she was afraid.  He said, “No, but you did laugh.”

We might like to think that Yahweh shared in the joke, and said this with a twinkle in his eye, rather than sternly.  After all, the name of the son who would be born would be Isaac, which is Hebrew for he laughs. 

APPLY:  

Abraham becomes the paradigm of the Godly man in Scripture.  Paul touts him as the exemplar of faith in his doctrine of justification by faith:

For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”  Now to him who works, the reward is not counted as grace, but as something owed. But to him who doesn’t work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness. (Romans 4:3-5).

And James cites Abraham as an example of a man whose faith was revealed by his works:

Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works, in that he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?  You see that faith worked with his works, and by works faith was perfected;  and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him as righteousness”;  and he was called the friend of God (James 2:21-23).

This is an example of  “both/and” in Scripture — that justifying faith is a pure gift of God, but that it inevitably results in obedience and good works.

But there is another application for those who might be growing a little older — God is never quite finished with us!  We may not be called upon to bear a child at 90 or 100 — we hope!  But God can still use us, even after we may think we are “barren” and useless.

RESPOND: 

Here is a fascinating factoid — at least to me — there are three major monotheistic religions that regard themselves as Abrahamic — derived from the life and faith of Abraham.  They are Judaism, Christianity and Islam.  However, there are also smaller sects that regard themselves as part of the Abrahamic family: Samaritanism, Druze, Babism, Bahai, and Rastarfarianism.

Adherents to these Abrahamic religions comprise 54% of the world’s population. Certainly it seems to be true that God’s promise to Abraham has been fulfilled:

 “Look now toward the sky, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” He said to Abram, “So will your offspring  be (Genesis 15:5).

Of course from a Christian perspective it is not those who are biologically descended from Abraham who are the only descendants, but those who have faith in the God revealed in Jesus Christ.  Justifying faith is the DNA required to be a child of Abraham, not works of the law or genes.  Paul writes:

 Even as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness.”  Know therefore that those who are of faith, the same are children of Abraham.  The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the Good News beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you all the nations will be blessed.” (Galatians 3:6-8).

I feel that because of my faith in Christ, I am a child of Abraham as well — I belong to a family that transcends race and ethnicity.  Like the old song we used to sing around the campfire:

Father Abraham had many sons
Many sons had Father Abraham
I am one of them and so are you
So let’s all praise the Lord.
Right arm!
[I would add, he also has many daughters!]

But there is one other great comfort I glean from this passage.  I am 61 — not really all that old by Abraham and Sarah’s standards.  They started their journey of faith to a new land at 75 and 65 respectively!  And then their son Isaac was born when they were about 100 and 90!

I certainly hope that my wife and I aren’t called upon to bring another Isaac into the world, but I am encouraged to know that God is not ageist.  God can use the very young — as he did with John the Baptist in Elizabeth’s womb, or Samuel when he was only twelve — and the very old, like Abraham and Sarah.

Lord, you revealed yourself in personal relationships to the people of old, and you expressed your interest in their family lives.  You perpetuated the line of Abraham and Sarah through Isaac — and you perpetuate their legacy through the same faith that was inspired in them.  I am Abraham and Sarah’s child by faith — please continue to use me no matter how old I may be.  Amen. 

PHOTOS:
“The Hospitality of Abraham (Ravenna)” by Fr. Lawrence Lew, O.P. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.

Epistle for August 28, 2016

START WITH SCRIPTURE:

Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16

CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

The writer of Hebrews is coming to the conclusion of his sermon/letter. The letter of Hebrews compares and contrasts the sacrificial system of the Old Testament with its consummation in the high priestly sacrifice of Christ. In today’s Lectionary reading, he makes practical exhortations about how Christians are to live together.

First and foremost is the foundation of all Christian ethics, consistent with the teaching of Jesus, Paul, James, John and Jude:

Let mutual love continue.

All other ethical and moral teachings in the New Testament flow from love.

Appropriately, they are encouraged to offer hospitality to strangers as an expression of generous love.  However, there is a little extra incentive offered in this case:

for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.

There are solid Biblical grounds for this claim.  Abraham offered a feast to three strangers by the oaks of Mamre who turned out to be angels — and who gave Abraham and Sarah the astounding news that they would be parents even at their well-advanced age (Genesis 18:1-5).  Lot, Abraham’s nephew, welcomes two of these same angels into his home in Sodom, fearful for their safety in that wicked town.  In turn, the angels protected Lot and his family from the wicked Sodomites (Genesis 19:1-22).

Hebrews next encourages them to remember those who are in prison and tortured.  Jesus emphasizes ministry to those who are in prison (Matthew 25:36-39), and Hebrews stressed this earlier in Hebrews 10:34:

For you had compassion for those who were in prison, and you cheerfully accepted the plundering of your possessions, knowing that you yourselves possessed something better and more lasting.

However, there is some nuance here.  While Jesus and the writer of Hebrews might encourage ministry to prisoners in general, there is also an awareness that the Christian community itself was liable to frequent incarceration for their faith.  The apostles and their followers were frequently arrested, tortured, and even executed simply because they were Christians.

This is consistent with the warning of Jesus:

But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name (Luke 21:12).

No doubt, part of the mutual love  that Hebrews has in mind is ministry to their Christian brothers and sisters who have been imprisoned and tortured:

But recall those earlier days when, after you had been enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to abuse and persecution, and sometimes being partners with those so treated (Hebrew 10:32-33).

They are exhorted to remember those in prison and who are tortured as though they themselves are experiencing the same suffering — vicariously empathizing with them through their prayers and ministry.

Hebrews moves on to family life and sexual morality:    

 Let marriage be held in honor by all, and let the marriage bed be kept undefiled; for God will judge fornicators and adulterers.

The Christian ethic doesn’t denigrate healthy sexuality, but celebrates the gift of sexuality in the context of marriage.  The marriage bed is to be honored — but what is it that defiles it?  The clearest answer is the following clause:

for God will judge fornicators and adulterers.

These are serious offenses, which God will judge.  Adultery, obviously,  is the violation of the marriage covenant by infidelity.  But fornication, from the Greek porneia, literally relates to sex with a prostitute — but as the etymology of the word  pornography suggests — it also covers behavior that dishonors the marriage bed by any kind of sexual immorality.

As with other Old Testament and New Testament  writers, Hebrews cautions against greed, urging that they

 be content with what you have…

We hear echoes of 1 Timothy 6:6:

….there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment.

And Hebrews provides a rationale for this attitude of non-materialism — they are able to rely on God to supply all their needs:

 for he has said, “I will never leave you or forsake you.”

Hebrews then returns to the corporate sphere of church life:

Remember your leaders, those who spoke the word of God to you; consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.

The leaders are to be respected not only because they preach the Gospel, but because of their lifestyle that should be emulated.  Later in this chapter, Hebrews will reinforce this teaching:

 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls and will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with sighing—for that would be harmful to you (Hebrews 13:17).

Hebrews then adds this clincher about the ultimate leader of the Christian community:

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

The consistency of Jesus as Savior and Lord is foundational in the Christian faith.  Jesus describes himself in this way:

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end (Revelation 22:13).

And Hebrews returns to one of the themes of his sermon — as high priest, Jesus leads the people of God into proper intercession and worship:

Through him, then, let us continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name.

Confession of the name of Christ is a primary requirement for inclusion in the church. Today’s Lectionary reading also ends on an exhortation that equates good works together with true worship:

Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

APPLY:  

The deep truths that we are taught about the great doctrines of the faith are extremely important.  They are the foundation of our understanding of the Trinity, the nature of Christ as fully God and fully human, salvation, and even the destiny of all created things.

However, how we are to live this Christian life into which we are baptized and which we live by faith is also vitally important.

Hebrews summarizes just some of those practical aspects of Christian life — that love is to be our royal law in the community of faith; Christians are to offer hospitality to strangers, with no strings attached concerning their ideology, religion, or race; we are to have compassion for those in prison, and minister to them; we are to honor marriage and maintain sexual purity; we are not to love money, but learn the secret of contentment with what we have, trusting in God to take care of us; we are to honor our pastors and heed their teaching; conversely, pastors are to live exemplary lives of faith; and we are to openly confess our faith in Christ, and make sure that our worship is in harmony with our works of mercy.

All of this is grounded first in the love of God revealed for us in Christ Jesus that continues in our lives as we respond to him in love.

RESPOND: 

I am particularly haunted by the phrase:

Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them; those who are being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured.

I am haunted by how easy my Christian witness and life are in comparison to those in countries where the freedom of conscience is not tolerated.  According to Open Doors (a global ministry devoted to the persecuted church), 322 Christians a month are killed for their faith.  214 Christian churches or properties are destroyed.  There are 772 acts of violence and exploitation committed against Christians.  Christians in more than 60 nations face persecution from their governments, or as religious minorities by their neighbors.

I pray for these persecuted Christians, because I’m aware that not everyone enjoys the kind of religious liberty that I do.  Hebrews actually urges me to identify with their suffering, as though suffering with them.

I wonder.  How would I stand up to the kind of pressure and discrimination and even violence that so many Christians experience around the world?

Early in 2015 Christian bishops, priests and faithful Christians in beleaguered Mosul, Iraq, soughtrefuge from the violence and threats of the Islamic State. They pleaded with the world: “Don’t forget us.”

They spoke for persecuted Christians around the world.

For more information on the persecuted church, check out these sites:

Click here for Open Doors USA

Click here for Persecuted Church

Click here for The Voice of the Martyrs

Our Lord, studying the great doctrines of the faith in Scripture is extremely important to me — but I also know that I must hide your word in my heart, and live what I believe.  Help me to live the life of faith — a life of love, hospitality, compassion, and fidelity in marriage.  Amen.

 PHOTOS:
"persecuted church" by Imagens Cristas is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic license.