Gospel for October 6, 2019

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Luke 17:5-10
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Why do the disciples make such a plaintive request of Jesus?

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”

The answer may well be found in the verses immediately preceding today’s lectionary reading.  In Luke 17:1-4, Jesus warns the disciples not to be the source of stumbling for anyone, with dire consequences if they are; and then he urges his disciples to forgive seven times if one who sins against them repents seven times (he likely uses the number seven for its infinite connotation, meaning they should always forgive).  So when they ask Increase our faith, it seems likely that they are taken aback by this demand that they are to keep on forgiving even a repeat offender.

So Jesus goes to the very source of the Christian life and ethic — faith.  Since they seem to find it difficult to forgive seven times,  he tells them that if they have enough faith, even as tiny as a mustard seed they could command even the natural world to obey them:

If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you would tell this sycamore tree, ‘Be uprooted, and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

Faith is the source of power over the seemingly impossible — like forgiveness!

Then Jesus abruptly seems to change the subject.  What appears to be on his mind is the principle of servanthood and obedience.  He tells them that a servant who has worked hard for their master is still a servant at the end of the day and is obligated to obey the master’s next commands.

While this seems a little unfair by modern “labor practices” that stipulate 40-hour weeks and 8-hour days, his point seems to be that the servant of God never stops being a servant of God:

Even so you also, when you have done all the things that are commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy servants. We have done our duty.’

The servant of God is called upon to obey whenever and wherever the Master commands.

APPLY:  

There are some things that we find difficult for our faith.  It isn’t so much the intellectual questions that may challenge us most, it is the practical application of our faith.

Can we forgive the repeat offender who keeps on doing the same thing over and over again, and then returning to us and asking for forgiveness?  Jesus says we must, and seems to imply that if we have:

faith like a grain of mustard seed, you would tell this sycamore tree, ‘Be uprooted, and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

If we can do that, surely we can forgive!

And then there are the demands of service and servanthood.  We rather like to be able to volunteer and serve on our own schedule, and to do the things for God that we like to do.  Faith means placing ourselves at his disposal — and when we have already been working hard and are ready for rest, when he tells us that there is more to be done, do we do our duty and obey?

Hard sayings for soft Christians.  But we are reminded of the source of our strength and energy:

 I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13).

RESPOND: 

When you enlist in the military, you no longer belong to yourself — you belong to the government. Superior officers can tell you when to get up, what job to do, can send you overseas — all without your permission.

Of course a compassionate and wise commander takes into consideration the needs and talents of his troops, and deploys them accordingly.  But he still reserves the right to give orders and expects to be obeyed.

That seems to be counter to the understanding of most Christians when they join the church.  Somehow the often-talked-about sense of “entitlement” has crept into the language of the faith.  But a true disciple places himself or herself at the service of our Master.  We go where we are called, and do what he bids us do.

Fortunately for us, our Master is infinitely compassionate, and does take into consideration our weaknesses and our strengths. In fact, Jesus has set the example for true servanthood:

For the Son of Man also came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45).

Our Lord, like the disciples I pray, ‘increase my faith.’ Help me to forgive as you have forgiven me.  Give me faith to do the impossible things that you ask me to do.  And give me the willingness to place myself at your service 24/7.  And the energy I will need to obey you.  Amen. 

PHOTOS:
"Just a Little Faith" by Earl is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.

Epistle for October 6, 2019

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
2 Timothy 1:1-14
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

This is the second of St. Paul’s preserved letters to Timothy,  his young protege in ministry.  He clearly establishes his credentials as an apostle, not according to his own choice but according to the will of God and the promise of the life which is in Christ Jesus.

His fondness for Timothy is clear — he calls Timothy his beloved child and wishes the very best for his “son in the faith”:

to Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Interestingly, Paul claims that he serves God just as his forefathers did, with a pure conscience. This is significant because Paul is establishing his continuity with the Jewish traditions and Hebrew Scriptures of his heritage.  He is suggesting that the Christian revelation is in no way a departure from the Old Testament revelation.

Paul’s reference to his own heritage is also a prelude to his discussion of Timothy’s religious heritage.  He tells Timothy that he prays for him, and remembers his tears — perhaps when they were parted, or perhaps when Timothy came to Christ?  Paul is also reminding himself — and Timothy — of the faith of Timothy’s  grandmother Lois and mother Eunice.

We know from Acts 16:1 that Timothy was likely from Lystra in the region of Galatia (in modern-day Turkey).  Even more, we know that his mother was Jewish and his father was Greek.  Very likely his mother and grandmother, whom Paul mentions, had converted to Christianity.

Although his mother and grandmother may have had an impact on his spiritual development, we know that he had not been circumcised as a Jew, no doubt because of his Gentile father.  Paul taught that circumcision was not required of Christians, but Timothy did submit to circumcision in order to quell the criticism of Jews in the region.  Timothy also was an extremely useful messenger and helper in Paul’s ministry.

One of the difficulties of reading someone else’s mail — which we do every time we read an epistle in the New Testament — is that we may not be aware of some of the unspoken assumptions that the original reader is aware of.  In this instance, Paul seems to be striving to encourage Timothy in his ministry.

We might deduce, from Paul’s choice of words, that Timothy is a little shy and reticent in carrying out his ministry assertively.  Paul tells him to:

stir up the gift of God which is in you…

Paul reminds Timothy that he himself has laid hands on him and prayed.

He admonishes Timothy not to be afraid, or ashamed:

For God didn’t give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control.  Therefore don’t be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner…

By the same token, Paul doesn’t soft pedal or sugar-coat the risks of ministry:

endure hardship for the Good News according to the power of God…

And Paul reminds Timothy what it means that Paul laid hands on him and prayed.  He has been saved and has been called to ministry  with a holy calling. Paul takes this opportunity to remind Timothy of the central doctrines of the Gospel:

• Salvation by grace — not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ.
• The centrality of Christ’s life, death and resurrection — revealed by the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the Good News. 

Paul reiterates that this is the message he was appointed to share as a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. Again, he highlights his unique calling — though he himself is a Jew by birth and heritage, and was highly committed to his Jewish faith prior to his conversion, he is convinced that he has been set aside by God to fulfill the Great Commission to all the world, Jews and Gentiles alike.

In a line that almost seems an afterthought, he alludes to his long litany of hardships for the sake of the Gospel, and also his current incarceration in a Roman prison:

 For this cause I also suffer these things.

But despite all of this, he is confident in his faith:

Yet I am not ashamed, for I know him whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to guard that which I have committed to him against that day.

What he may be suffering now hardly compares to the power of God in whom he trusts and who will keep his soul safe until the return of Christ.  We are reminded of Paul’s phrase in Romans:

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which will be revealed toward us (Romans 8:18).

So, Paul exhorts Timothy once more to cleave to the teaching that he has received from Paul, but also to exercise the spiritual gifts of faith and love.  Timothy is to follow Paul’s example, relying on the power of God:

That good thing which was committed to you, guard through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.

APPLY:  

There are such things in the world that cause us to quail at them — persecutions of Christians around the world that make us cringe; an increasingly skeptical and secular culture that finds the Gospel unappealing; and even within the church itself, rampant confusion about the very nature and core of the Gospel.

We might find it easier at times to identify with the more timid Timothy than the ever-bold Paul.  That is why this passage should provide encouragement and comfort to us.

First, we are reminded of the faithfulness of the community of faith that has passed the faith on to us, just as Paul remembers his forefathers, and reminds Timothy of the faithful influence of his mother and grandmother.  Family and church are a source of inspiration for those who may be wavering.

Second, we are reminded to stir up the gift of God that we have been given when we first confessed faith in Christ.  Our response to the Gospel is not passive, but active.  We have this promise that resonates down through the centuries:

God didn’t give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control.

Third, we have the deposit of the faith itself — the pattern of sound words that we have been taught concerning the Good News of Jesus Christ.  This is the solid doctrine of the church that has stood the test of time:

given to us in Christ Jesus before times eternal . . .  now . . . revealed by the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the Good News.

Just as Jude 3  tells us to  contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints, so we are to prevent this faith from adulteration:

That good thing which was committed to you, guard through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.

We are encouraged to overcome our fears by remaining connected to the family of faith; by actively stirring up the gift that has been given us; and by cleaving to the faith once delivered to the saints.

RESPOND: 

Many years ago, my wife and I were in counseling.  We were, and are, a Christian couple for whom faith in Christ and commitment to our marriage are very closely related.

However, I had become a workaholic in my ministry, and my wife was increasingly frustrated by how little she and our sons were seeing of me.

The Christian counselor helped me to see that I was largely motivated by fear — fear of failure, fear of not “measuring up.”  He helped me to understand that God already loves and accepts me, not because of what I’ve done but because of what Christ has done.  That liberated me to find balance in my life.

As one of my former supervisors had once told me, I needed to have three priorities in my life:

• First, God.
• Second, Family.
• Third, Church.

And he admonished me not to confuse God and the Church!

But the counselor also helped me to see that my fear of failure was not consistent with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He quoted this verse from 2 Timothy:

God didn’t give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control.

He broke it down for us:

• God’s perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18)
• Power, love, and self control represent the well-balanced personality:
• Power signifies the self-aware and differentiated person who knows who they are and has the confidence that comes from a strong relationship with God.
• Love is the essential Christian gift that enables a person to have compassion and connection with others.
• Self-control is the capacity for self-discipline that keeps inappropriate appetites and narcissistic impulses in check.

The well-balanced personality begins by being anchored in God.

Lord, sometimes I am filled with anxiety when I think of the sweep of current events, and the desperate need for the love and joy and peace of the Gospel in our world. And then I am reminded — you aren’t anxious!  Why then should I be? Cast out my fear, and imbue me with your power, love, and self-control. Amen.

 PHOTOS:
"2 Timothy 1-7 "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."" by Church Iglesia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Psalm Reading for October 6, 2019

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Psalm 137
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

This is a Psalm of deep and heartfelt lament —  a fitting companion to Lamentations 1:1-6.  The Psalmist paints a vivid picture of the Levitical singers from Zion who find themselves transported far from their beloved home, on the banks of the rivers of Babylon.  Babylon as a city straddled the great river Euphrates, and was criss-crossed with canals.

But even in this cosmopolitan setting, with the lovely willows that grow along the water, the singers can think only of their devastated homeland, the city of Zion.  Taunted by their Babylonian captors, who ask them to “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”,  the singers refuse to comply.

They hang their harps on the branches of the willow trees, and grieve for Jerusalem:

 How can we sing Yahweh’s song in a foreign land?

Refusing to prostitute their musical skill at the beck and call of the Babylonians, the musicians declare that their abilities are linked to their remembrance of Jerusalem.  They would rather forget how to play their harps, or their tongues become impaired, than to forget Jerusalem as their greatest joy.

But with that memory comes great sorrow.  The Psalmist remembers that the Edomites, who had become allies with the Babylonians, had rejoiced and cheered when Jerusalem was destroyed: 

Remember, Yahweh, against the children of Edom,
the day of Jerusalem;
who said, “Raze it!
Raze it even to its foundation!”

And the Psalmist turns his attention to his real oppressors — the Babylonians.  Invoking the principle of an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth, he relishes the thought that his captors will be repaid for their violence against Jerusalem:

Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction,
he will be happy who rewards you,
as you have served us.

These verses are in the tradition of the imprecatory Psalms (Psalms 5, 10, 17, 35, 58, 59, 69, 70, 79, 83, 109, 129, 137, 140).  These are Psalms that channel the visceral, honest rage against cruel enemies by calling for judgment and curses to fall upon them.

This is especially true in the disturbing, and all-too vivid closing verse:

Happy shall he be,
who takes and dashes your little ones against the rock.

No doubt, the Psalmist remembers all too well how the Babylonian soldiers had abused the small children of Jerusalem, and imagines the same violence visited upon the children of Babylon.

APPLY:  

Those of us for whom war and violence are a remote reality, viewed only through the lens of an action film or on the news, can’t fully appreciate the honest, visceral emotions of the Psalmist.  We might be able to identify with how it feels to lose our homes to some extent; but the kind of violent imagery of dashing little ones against a rock is repulsive to us.

It is important to remember that the Psalms are the honest, deep prayers of people to their God, without the filters of social inhibitions or ‘churchiness.’

In this sense, all of the Psalms are an important resource for prayer, because they express virtually every mood and emotion that we may experience — from joy and worship to deep despair and also vindictiveness.

This is not to say that the Christian is justified in praying for revenge against their enemies.  We are taught by Jesus:

You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you, that you may be children of your Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:43-45).

However, this does not mean that when someone does something horrible to those we love that we aren’t first going to feel anger and vindictiveness toward them.  It is probably more healthy to first acknowledge our feelings of outrage, pray about those feelings, and allow the Holy Spirit to help us process and work through our rage.

Then, we can turn justice over to God completely, remembering that he loves our enemies as much as he does us, and desires their repentance as well.  After all, we are counseled by St Paul:

Repay no one evil for evil. Respect what is honorable in the sight of all men.  If it is possible, as much as it is up to you, be at peace with all men. Don’t seek revenge yourselves, beloved, but give place to God’s wrath. For it is written, “Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord.” Therefore
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him.
If he is thirsty, give him a drink;
for in doing so, you will heap coals of fire on his head.”
Don’t be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good (Romans 12:17-21).

RESPOND: 

This is a “gut-check” kind of Psalm.  Although we may empathize with the tears of the singers who find that they cannot sing the songs of Zion in a strange land, we are shocked by the violent rhetoric of revenge as the Psalm ends.

But the tone of this Psalm demands that we be honest with ourselves.  When we think of the worst possible violence that someone could do to ourselves, our loved ones, or our fellow church members or countrymen — don’t we have a similar primitive reaction?

In 2016,  September 11 fell on a Sunday — the 15th anniversary of the 9-11 attacks in New York and Washington D.C.  The pastor at the church I was attending that morning explored his honest reaction on September 11, 2001, as he stood and watched on a t.v. monitor as the second jetliner crashed into the second Twin Tower.

At the time, he was working in a secular job.  He and a co-worker stood, slack jawed in disbelief.  They agreed it had to be the work of terrorists.  And he remembered what he said — “We should bomb ’em back to the stone age!”  His co-worker agreed: “Turn the desert into glass.”

He pointed out, however, that the attitude of revenge isn’t ultimately pragmatic, let alone Christian.  It simply feeds the cycle of violence that continues to escalate until no one has peace.

His solution on a personal level is hard to hear:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’  But I tell you, don’t resist him who is evil; but whoever strikes you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also (Matthew 5:38-39).

It seems to me that there may be times that just war theory may be invoked to prevent a greater evil to occur to innocent people. I think of armed resistance to the Nazis during World War II, for instance.   But I’m also aware that men like Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. were able to practice non-violence and change an entire culture.

Our Lord, I haven’t experienced the kind of devastation that destroys a whole city, or even something like that which collapsed the Twin Towers.  But I have seen enough of the consequences of war vicariously to know how horrific it can be.  While I can understand the grief and rage of those who have been victimized, I pray that instead of revenge we may learn to seek reconciliation and peace instead.  Amen. 

PHOTOS:
"Psalm 137" by Chris Dillon is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.

Old Testament for October 6, 2019

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Lamentations 1:1-6
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Lamentations is traditionally attributed to the prophet Jeremiah, although there are some difficulties with that theory.  This book is a series of five laments that follow upon the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. (although some scholars date the destruction at 587 B.C.) by the Babylonians.  Jeremiah was essentially ‘kidnapped’ by Johanan, one of the last governors of Jerusalem, and carried off to Egypt soon after the fall of Jerusalem.  So the jury is out on how much of the events described in Lamentations he might have witnessed.  On the other hand, Jeremiah would have been present to see the horrific events of the last days of Jerusalem, and certainly might have written his reflections even in exile in Egypt at a later date.

One thing is certain — Lamentations is a vivid poetic account of a grieving people as they see their capital city, its temple, and their very civilization in ruins.

The author of Lamentations personifies Jerusalem as a lonely widow who now sits solitary.  She is described as a princess who:

weeps bitterly in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks;
among all her lovers she has no one to comfort her:
All her friends have dealt treacherously with her; they are become her enemies.

Historically, we are reminded of the alliances into which Judah’s kings entered at various times with kingdoms and empires.  Where were her allies now?  She had been betrayed and oppressed by her former lovers.

The writer then explores the exile of Judah, while continuing to maintain the imagery of the widow/princess:

she dwells among the nations, she finds no rest:
all her persecutors overtook her within the straits.

There is a contrast between Judah (those who have gone into exile) and the desolation of  Jerusalem left behind.  Where once there had been a bustling city and temple full of people, now there is desolation:

The ways of Zion do mourn, because no one comes to the solemn assembly;
all her gates are desolate, her priests do sigh:
her virgins are afflicted, and she herself is in bitterness.

And then the author of the Lamentation says something rather daring — he draws a parallel between Judah’s enemies and Yahweh: 

Her adversaries are become the head, her enemies prosper;
for Yahweh has afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions:

Here, the writer implies that there is almost another feeling of betrayal — that Yahweh himself  is somehow in league with Judah’s adversaries!

We are reminded that the kings and kingdoms are used by Yahweh  to accomplish his purposes.  Assyria was called the rod in the hands of God when the Northern Kingdom of Israel was destroyed, almost 150 years (721 B.C.) before the conquest of Judah (Isaiah 10:5).  And after Jerusalem has been destroyed and thousands carried off into exile in Babylon, it is the Persian king, Cyrus, who will be used by God in 537 B.C. to return the Jews to their homeland (Isaiah 45:1).

The author of Lamentations returns to his guiding metaphor — the  widow/princess has lost even her children:

her young children are gone into captivity before the adversary.
From the daughter of Zion all her majesty is departed:

And finally, the writer shifts into another analogy, a simile comparing the royal sons of Jerusalem to deer who have been run down by the hunters:

her princes are become like deer that find no pasture,
they are gone without strength before the pursuer.

APPLY:  

One of the greatest strengths of the Holy Bible is its honesty about the human experience.  Suffering, whether deserved or undeserved, raises questions about the love and the goodness of God.  And the Biblical authors don’t shy away from raising the question about God’s justice.

We see this in Job, who declares in the face of his suffering:

Therefore I will not keep silent.
I will speak in the anguish of my spirit.
I will complain in the bitterness of my soul (Job 7:11)

We see this in the Psalmist, who asks where the justice of God is when the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer:

But as for me, my feet were almost gone.
My steps had nearly slipped.
For I was envious of the arrogant,
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked (Psalm 73:2-3).

There is a difference in the suffering experienced by Judah at the hands of the Babylonians.  Judah has been warned repeatedly about her offenses against God — idolatry, oppression of the poor, social injustice, violation of the Law of Moses.

Whatever the cause of suffering, our reaction to its scourge will be the same. And we are likely to experience the stages of grief that follow a terrible tragedy, even when it is our own fault — denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.

What the Scriptures help us to do as we read of such horrors as the fall of Jerusalem is to work through our own grief as we move toward renewed faith in God.

RESPOND: 

Years ago I visited a grieving church member who blamed God for the death of her husband .  He was, she said, “such a good man! Why did God take him?”  I thought of my previous visits with them, and remembered the volume of cigarettes that he smoked.  He had died of lung cancer.

I didn’t doubt that her husband was a good man.  But I thought it rather unfair to blame God for his death when the Surgeon General has clearly established that the use of tobacco is a likely cause of cancer.  In my opinion, God didn’t cause his cancer.

I have a personal view of God’s judgment.  It is not so much that God wishes to punish us for our sins — rather, we punish ourselves by our sins.  God doesn’t wish anyone to suffer.  Even here in Lamentations, we read:

For he does not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men (Lamentations 3:33).

However, God does permit us to suffer the consequences of our own willful sin.  That may cause us to grieve as much as the suffering — realizing that we are responsible for our own plight.

Let me be clear — the Bible doesn’t teach that all suffering is our fault. Sometimes the innocent suffer along with the guilty.  But in today’s Lectionary reading, the people of Judah are experiencing the consequences of their sin.

God may use our suffering to turn us back toward our dependence on him, but I don’t believe he causes it.

Lord, we have seen so many tragedies and crises that cause us to weep — from the destruction of the Twin Towers in New York on 9-11, to personal tragedies in families around us.  So often these events are impossible to understand — and so we process them as grieving people comforting other grieving people.  You are our “Comforter” and our “Counselor.” Help us find our hope and healing in you.  Amen. 

PHOTOS:
“The Flight of the Prisoners” by James Tissot is in the public domain.