20th Sunday After Pentecost, October 26, 2014

First Reading: Deuteronomy 34:1-12

Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho, and the Lord showed him the whole land: Gilead as far as Dan, all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea, the Negeb, and the Plain—that is, the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees—as far as Zoar. The Lord said to him, “This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants’; I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over there.” 

Then Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab, at the Lord’s command. He was buried in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-peor, but no one knows his burial place to this day. Moses was one hundred twenty years old when he died; his sight was unimpaired and his vigor had not abated. The Israelites wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days; then the period of mourning for Moses was ended.

Joshua son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, because Moses had laid his hands on him; and the Israelites obeyed him, doing as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Never since has there arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face. He was unequaled for all the signs and wonders that the Lord sent him to perform in the land of Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his servants and his entire land, and for all the mighty deeds and all the terrifying displays of power that Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.

 

Reflections: I hope this reading troubles you. It certainly does me. Moses had accepted God’s commission to lead a multitude of Hebrew slaves in an escape from the most powerful country of the time. He had forged them into a people through their long journey to the holy mountain, where he received and delivered the Divine Law, and then shepherded them through forty-years of uncertainty and want in the wilderness as they sought the Promised Land.

This Moses, acknowledged in the text as “unequaled,” knew God “face to face,” yet died in the wilderness (not from illness, but from “the Lord’s command”), and was buried who knows where.

          What are we to make of this? Elsewhere we are told that Moses had struck the rock in anger; his punishment was not to be allowed enter the Promised Land (no, I can’t find the reference). Such a punishment seems disproportionate to me—especially in light of what King David did! But the explanation does tell us that Hebrew tradition was not particularly comfortable with his punishment, either.

          To be fair, the Hebrew Bible is not univocal. In addition to divine threats and punishment are texts like the Book of Job. If you remember, Job’s friends blame his suffering on some sin he has failed to acknowledge. But (ignoring the preface and afterward, which are later additions) we discover that Job’s suffering has nothing to do with sin. The whole point seems to be that he suffers dreadfully—and he doesn’t deserve it.

I remember one time when I was a little child, I complained to my dad about something that struck me as unfair. I still remember his bending down and looking me in the eyes with just about the worst news I could imagine: “Life,” he said, “isn’t fair.” The bible reels with this distressing fact, beginning with the casting out from the garden and ending with the crucifixion.

Rabbi Kushner’s book, When Bad Things Happen To Good People, deals with the problem head-on. So, in fact, does Christianity. We want an explanation; we want to a divine parent who behaves like an idealized human parent. But God isn’t an idealized human parent. God is God. And God loves us. And life sometimes life just defies all our efforts to make sense of it. But somehow St. Paul is able to say, “I consider the sufferings of the present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us” (Rom 8:18).

Let us pray to see as St. Paul did.

Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17

Lord, you have been our refuge * from one generation to another.

Before the mountains were brought forth, or the land and the earth were born, * from age to age you are God.

You turn us back to the dust and say, * "Go back, O child of earth."

For a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday when it is past * and like a watch in the night.

You sweep us away like a dream; * we fade away suddenly like the grass.

In the morning it is green and flourishes; * in the evening it is dried up and withered.

For we consume away in your displeasure; * We are afraid because of your wrathful indignation.

Our iniquities you have set before you, * and our secret sins in the light of your countenance.

When you are angry, all our days are gone; * we bring our years to an end like a sigh.

The span of our life is seventy years, perhaps in strength even eighty; * yet the sum of them is but labor and sorrow, for they pass away quickly and we are gone.

Who regards the power of your wrath? * Who rightly fears your indignation?

So teach us to number our days * that we may apply our hearts to wisdom.

Return, O LORD; how long will you tarry? * be gracious to your servants.

Satisfy us by your loving-kindness in the morning; * so shall we rejoice and be glad all the days of our life.

Make us glad by the measure of the days that you afflicted us * and the years in which we suffered adversity.

Show your servants your works * and your splendor to their children.

May the graciousness of the LORD our God be upon us; *

    prosper the work of our hands; prosper our handiwork.

Reflections: The lectionary omits a portion of the psalm, which I have included here in gray because the psalm as a whole evokes the questions raised by the first reading. Despite the fleeting and often brutal nature of life, the psalmist celebrates God—a God unbound by time and the limitations of creation, and yet a God who cares for us and chooses us: a God to whom we are of ultimate significance.

Epistle: 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8

You yourselves know, brothers and sisters, that our coming to you was not in vain, but though we had already suffered and been shamefully mistreated at Philippi, as you know, we had courage in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in spite of great opposition. For our appeal does not spring from deceit or impure motives or trickery, but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the message of the gospel, even so we speak, not to please mortals, but to please God who tests our hearts. As you know and as God is our witness, we never came with words of flattery or with a pretext for greed; nor did we seek praise from mortals, whether from you or from others, though we might have made demands as apostles of Christ. But we were gentle among you, like a nurse tenderly caring for her own children. So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us.

Reflections: Paul encourages the church of Thessalonica to trust him and to examine the motives of those newcomers who criticize the community. Paul, Sylvanus, and Timothy’s original mission to Thessalonica was not for their own sake, but to pour themselves out in love. Not so, he suggests, are the motives of those arrivals who are undermining the faith and confidence of the believers in Thessalonica. 

Matthew 22:34-46

When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
      Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them this question: “What do you think of the Messiah? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.” He said to them, “How is it then that David by the Spirit calls him Lord, saying,

       ‘The Lord said to my Lord,
       “Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet”’?

     If David thus calls him Lord, how can he be his son?” No one was able to give him an answer, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.

Reflections: Yet again, Jesus’ opponents gang up to test him. They obviously do not want to broaden their understanding, or to listen to a different point of view—and they certainly don’t admit that Jesus himself may be a source of illumination! To the contrary; they want to win. And of course they don’t have a snowball’s chance.

          In answering the Pharisee’s question, Jesus didn’t draw from set of laws, like the Ten Commandments, which are sitting right next to each other. Instead, as you may remember from your bible studies, Jesus singles out two laws from completely different places in the Hebrew Scriptures (Deut 6:5 and Lev 9:18). Think the two verses in Deuteronomy and Leviticus take some finding in your Bible? You should try to find them on a scroll. By drawing these succulent verses out of the entire Torah, Jesus’ reveals his deep acquaintance with scripture, as well as his rich understanding of the nature of God, of humanity, and of love.

Loving God with our whole being is only a beginning; love of God is consummated by love of neighbor as ourselves. While we may occasionally think it is easy to love God, it is certainly more of a challenge to love others. But these loves are not separate. Loving God is not our doing; it is itself a sign of grace. And it is this same love within us by which we truly love others. And surely divine love alone makes it possible for us to love ourselves.

To love God with all that we are, and to love others as ourselves is to discover ourselves in the mystery of the Trinity. It is to become who we are called to be. St. Augustine (354-430) summed it up nicely: “Love and do what you will.” This is our vocation.

19th Sunday After Pentecost, October 19, 2014

Collect of the Day (Proper 24): Almighty and everlasting God, in Christ you have revealed your glory among the nations: Preserve the works of your mercy, that your Church throughout the world may persevere with steadfast faith in the confession of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Reflections: I see here a connection between God’s works of mercy and our perseverance in faith.

 Exodus 33:12-23

Moses said to the Lord, “See, you have said to me, ‘Bring up this people’; but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’ Now if I have found favor in your sight, show me your ways, so that I may know you and find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.” He said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” And he said to him, “If your presence will not go, do not carry us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people, unless you go with us? In this way, we shall be distinct, I and your people, from every people on the face of the earth.”

The Lord said to Moses, “I will do the very thing that you have asked; for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.” Moses said, “Show me your glory, I pray.” And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim before you the name, ‘The Lord’; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face; for no one shall see me and live.” And the Lord continued, “See, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock; and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by; then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back; but my face shall not be seen.”

 

Reflections: There’s a general impression on our culture that to question God is the opposite of faith; that to question God amounts to sin. Yet throughout the bible (including the New Testament—witness Mary at the Annunciation, “Doubting” Thomas, and Jesus’ own prayers in the Garden of Gethsemane), people struggle with what God asks them to do and to be. That struggle—call it challenge, argument, negotiation, or doubt—is not the opposite of faith. Rather, it is itself an expression of faith.

          Here, in a passage I had never paid much attention to before, we hear Moses seeking reassurance (a sign of doubt?), challenging God to confirm what God has already told him!

GOD: “You have found favor in my sight.”

MOSES: “…so that I may find favor in your sight.”

GOD: “My presence will go with you.”

MOSES: “How shall it be known…unless you go with us?” and so on.

But notice that God doesn’t punish Moses for lacking confidence. When further, Moses asks to see the God’s glory, the Lord doesn’t complain that Moses is unreasonably demanding. Instead, God gives Moses what he needs and is able to receive. The Lord offers what Moses needs from God, which alone brings true rest.

Psalm 96:1-9

Sing to the LORD a new song; * sing to the LORD, all the whole earth.

Sing to the LORD and bless his Name; * proclaim the good news of his salvation day to day.

Declare his glory among the nations * and his wonders among all peoples.

For great is the LORD and greatly to be praised; * he is more to be feared than all gods.

As for all the gods of the nations, they are but idols; * but it is the LORD who made the heavens.

Oh, the majesty and magnificence of his presence! *  Oh, the power and the splendor of his sanctuary!

Ascribe to the LORD, you families of the peoples; * ascribe to the LORD honor and power.

Ascribe to the LORD the honor due his Name; * bring offerings and come into his courts.

Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness; * let the whole earth tremble before him.

Epistle: 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

(From) Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,

To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.

We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know, brothers and sisters beloved by God, that he has chosen you, because our message of the gospel came to you not in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of persons we proved to be among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for in spite of persecution you received the word with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place your faith in God has become known, so that we have no need to speak about it. For the people of those regions report about us what kind of welcome we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath that is coming.

Reflections: We have just read the opening of what is judged to be the oldest letter of St. Paul in the New Testament. You can tell it’s a letter by the salutation. In these first sentences, we learn two important things. Paul was in continual prayer for the churches he founded. And while he took great pride in the church in Thessaloniki, he did not take credit for their conversion to Christ. It was not his irresistible argument that won them to Christ, but the Holy Spirit. This theme becomes increasingly important as Paul’s theology matures.

Gospel: Matthew 22:15-22

Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said.  So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality.  Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?”  But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites?  Show me the coin used for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius.  Then he said to them, “Whose head is this, and whose title?”  They answered, “The emperor’s.” Then he said to them,

“Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”  When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.

Reflections: How often Jesus is challenged by people who are trying to trip him up! And isn’t it ironic that his challengers refer to him as “sincere,” when they themselves are anything but. If they were sincere, they would have asked the question because they wanted to understand.

          Like Jesus’ questioners, when we are not sincere, we are not open to new perspectives. People whose minds are closed, are more interested in triumphing over other people than in discovering truth. In this gospel selection, Jesus’ challengers expect an answer that fits “in the box,” but Jesus’ answer doesn’t fit in any box. Truth just doesn’t.

18th Sunday after Pentecost, Oct 12, 2014

Proper 23

Lord, we pray that your grace may always precede and follow us, that we may continually be given to good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Reflections: This wonderful collect reminds me of Collect 57, one of two prayers for guidance in the BCP, page 832. Check it out.

Exodus 32:1-14

When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered around Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make gods for us, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” Aaron said to them, “Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” So all the people took off the gold rings from their ears, and brought them to Aaron. He took the gold from them, formed it in a mold, and cast an image of a calf; and they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a festival to the Lord.” They rose early the next day, and offered burnt offerings and brought sacrifices of well-being; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to revel.

The Lord said to Moses, “Go down at once! Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have acted perversely; they have been quick to turn aside from the way that I commanded them; they have cast for themselves an image of a calf, and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’” The Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, how stiff-necked they are. Now let me alone, so that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them; and of you I will make a great nation.”

But Moses implored the Lord his God, and said, “O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce wrath; change your mind and do not bring disaster on your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, how you swore to them by your own self, saying to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’” And the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people.

Reflections: There’s a wonderful Zen saying that play on the classic Zen practice of spending hours at a time on a meditation cushion: “Don’t just do something! Sit there!” Now there’s some sage advice. Unfortunately, it comes several thousand years too late for these Israelites.

But they, rather than acting like despicable idolaters, were just doing what we all tend to do when we don’t know what to do: When in doubt, turn to what is familiar. So maybe we don’t have much of a villain in this story.

But we do have an obvious hero: Moses. Even God appears to disown the Israelites when saying to Moses “Your people, whom you brought . . . have acted perversely.” Sounds rather like an argument between the parents of a kid who’s just broken the neighbor’s window (“Do you know what your son did today?!!). The family analogy doesn’t stop there.

Moses, challenges and negotiates with God. And this is certainly not the only instance in the Hebrew Bible. In this story—as in many others—we see that God invites us, not as submissive spectators of God’s actions, but as family members engaged in a shared striving for truth, justice, and love. 

Psalm 106:1-6, 19-23

Hallelujah! Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, * for his mercy endures for ever.

Who can declare the mighty acts of the LORD * or show forth all his praise?

Happy are those who act with justice * and always do what is right!

Remember me, O LORD, with the favor you have for your people, *
    and visit me with your saving help;

That I may see the prosperity of your elect and be glad with the gladness of your people, *

    that I may glory with your inheritance.

We have sinned as our forebears did; * we have done wrong and dealt wickedly.

Israel made a bull-calf at Horeb * and worshiped a molten image;

And so they exchanged their Glory * for the image of an ox that feeds on grass.

They forgot God their Savior, * who had done great things in Egypt,

Wonderful deeds in the land of Ham, * and fearful things at the Red Sea.

So he would have destroyed them, had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, *
    to turn away his wrath from consuming them.

Reflections: In many of the Psalms, the Israelites sing an unvarnished version of their history, not glossing over their unfaithfulness, but celebrating God’s fidelity and mercy. Their honesty is instructive. I don’t know about you, but when I’ve done something that troubles me, I just can’t get it out of my mind. It plays over and over, and no matter how I try to rehearse it in ways that make me feel better, it won’t be put to rest. I have discovered, however, that peace is not so far away. If by God’s grace, I am willing to do what the psalmists did, suck up my pride and replay the event in brutal honesty, I do find peace. God always offers mercy. But often we are too pained to acknowledge our need for it.

Epistle: Philippians 4:1-9

Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.

I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you also, my loyal companion, help these women, for they have struggled beside me in the work of the gospel, together with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.

Reflections: This reading closes St. Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi. While the bulk of his writing here was theological and therefore perhaps a bit abstract, the close of his message is intimate and practical. Faith means nothing if it is not lived out in concrete terms.

          And what is the antidote for the inevitable conflicts that arise among our personalities, needs, and actions? It is to continually touch down in the great love of Christ that binds us together in a larger identity and purpose, in the reconciling work of God. 

Gospel: Matthew 22:1-14

Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying: The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come. Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.’ But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his slaves, mistreated them, and killed them.

The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.’ Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; so the wedding hall was filled with guests.

But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.

Reflections: Instead of the wedding of a king’s son, the parallel parable in Luke 14 is a great supper. But the invitees in Luke also gave excuses; Luke, however, has the servants invite everyone, and when the hall still wasn’t filled, he ordered the servants to “compel them to come in.” went out and invited, then out and compelled. Luke’s story is followed by passages recounting the cost of discipleship.

The fact that Matthew is different highlights the troubling passage in today’s reading: the bit about the wedding robe.

Mother Karen did something very good with the Gospel reading. She invited us to imagine ourselves as different characters…the invited guests, the slaves, the people recruited to the celebration, and the man caught without a wedding garment. One assumes that the King and his son represents the Father and Christ—though admittedly, that identification causes problems if we take it too rigidly.

Most of us are probably like the invited guests, but we of course we don’t realize it. Like the invitees in the story, who were occupied with justifiable enterprises, we’re busy with our work, or our search for work, or the debt collectors, or running the kids to their next activity. Most of the things that compete for our attention are not optional activities, but serious obligations.

And then there are the slaves, sent out to issue unwelcome invitations, or sent out to round up whoever was available for the feast: sometimes happily received, other times rejected or abused.

And of course, the attendants commissioned to eject the fellow in the wrong clothes. It is difficult, with our understanding of God as unconditional love, to read of this seemingly whimsical God whose invitation proves less unconditional that it initially appeared. More profitable, rather, to ask ourselves, in what ways we might appoint ourselves gate keepers.

But we also can’t escape the possibility that we identify with the one remaining person in the parable. The unfortunate person without a wedding garment. What might that mean? Could we be clothed in something that prevented our sharing in the joy of the divine wedding? Might we be clothed, instead, with regret, resentment? Some pain that claims our soul and will not free us to be fully open to God and to one another in the present moment?

Most likely, we are to some extent all of the characters in the parable. Let us pray for the grace to enter into God’s joy in Christ—even in the midst of our sometimes chaotic and difficult lives.

Seventeenth Sunday After Pentecost, October 5, 2014

Collect of the Day (Proper 22): Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to hear than we to pray, and to give more than we either desire or deserve: Pour upon us the abundance of your mercy, forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things for which we are not worthy to ask, except through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ our Savior; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. 

Reflections: Three points really stand out for me in this prayer. First, God is always more ready to hear than we to pray. Second, God is ready to give us more than we desire or deserve. And third, the things of which we most need forgiveness are probably precisely those things of which our conscience is afraid. I see these themes throughout the readings for this Sunday.

Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20

Then God spoke all these words: ŒI am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. [You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.] ŽYou shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name. Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. [But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.]

Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. ‘You shall not murder. ’You shall not commit adultery. “You shall not steal. ”You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. •You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

When all the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking, they were afraid and trembled and stood at a distance, and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, or we will die.” Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid; for God has come only to test you and to put the fear of him upon you so that you do not sin.” Then the people stood at a distance, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.

Reflections: hey had journeyed from Rephidim, entered the wilderness of Sinai, and camped in the wilderness; Israel camped there in front of the mountain. Then Moses went up to God; the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying

The giving of the Law in Exodus is anything but straightforward. In the previous chapter, the people of Israel had just arrived at the mountain in Sinai. God told Moses to cordon off the area, then to come to the top of the mountain where God then spoke to him. In the last paragraph of our reading, the people draw back in fear, urging Moses to mediate for them.

We have joined the story where God gives the teachings we know as the 10 commandments. However, the writing on the tablets (twice!) do not occur for a number of chapters (next week’s account). The intervening chapters are lists and lists of laws and principles to observe.

            The text is confusing; it’s clearly not a straightforward account. We have learned to expect a story to progress logically through time, but is not simply a tale; it is a repository of sacred memories. And as such, the ideas occur and recur in multiple versions and out of sequence.

            Although we are conditioned to expect a logical storyline, that may not be the most important element of a sacred text. Rather than tensing up against our understandable confusion, we might benefit more by reading it more like poetry, or like we might look at a painting.

            I see two themes from our collect emerging: that God is always more ready to hear than we are to pray, and that God is always ready to give us more than we desire or deserve.

First, that God is also always more ready to hear than we to pray. The Israelites shrink back from the terrifying mountain, with its thunder and lightning, the trumpet, the smoke. To merely touch the mountain can bring death. It’s risky to be too close to God. And what might one hear or see? What might happen? Understandably, they back away, pushing Moses forward. They delegate the scary stuff to someone else. How do we do the same thing? God yearns for us, for deep, personal union with us, but it’s easy to be too busy to notice.

Second, God is always ready to give us more than we desire or deserve. That statement pretty much sums up the God-human relationship over the whole of history.

Sometimes God seems to require a lot of reminding and prodding for God to pour out the gifts we ask for. The last few Sunday readings have shown the Hebrews increasing resentment over having left behind the “comforts” of their slave life in Egypt. What we don’t have concerns us far more than what we do have. God can seem mighty slow.

And even when God’s answers to our prayers (finally) do come, they can prove difficult to recognize; they don’t come with gift tags. God’s gifts can be easy to miss.  For the Hebrews to identify that white, frosty stuff as bread must have taken quite a bit of lateral thinking.

            Perhaps more problematic, though, is that God insists on giving us more than we desire or deserve. God gives us what we don’t have the good sense to want in the first place . . . and sometimes that includes things we have been doing our darndest to avoid.

            We know what we want—the good stuff, and more of it. God knows what we need—and it isn’t more of the status quo. Distressingly, perhaps, God isn’t interested in keeping us comfortable. God is interested in drawing us into the divine life.

        One thing we can be sure of is this: whether or not God gives us what want, we can be sure that God gives us what we need. For in all gifts—the hard ones as well as the sweet, God gives Godself, the greatest gift of all. 

Psalm 19

The heavens declare the glory of God, * and the firmament shows his handiwork.

One day tells its tale to another, * and one night imparts knowledge to another.

Although they have no words or language, * and their voices are not heard,

Their sound has gone out into all lands, * and their message to the ends of the world.

In the deep has he set a pavilion for the sun; * it comes forth like a bridegroom out of his chamber; it rejoices like a champion to run its course.

It goes forth from the uttermost edge of the heavens and runs about to the end of it again;*

    nothing is hidden from its burning heat.

The law of the LORD is perfect and revives the soul; * the testimony of the LORD is sure

The statutes of the LORD are just and rejoice the heart; *
    the commandment of the LORD is clear and gives light to the eyes.

The fear of the LORD is clean and endures for ever; *
    the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.

More to be desired are they than gold, more than much fine gold, *
    sweeter far than honey, than honey in the comb.

By them also is your servant enlightened, * and in keeping them there is great reward.

Who can tell how often he offends? * cleanse me from my secret faults.

Above all, keep your servant from presumptuous sins; let them not get dominion over me; *

    then shall I be whole and sound, and innocent of a great offense.

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, *

    O LORD, my strength and my redeemer.

Reflections: We do not know how often we offend. Neither do we dare even peek at our secret faults. Secret from ourselves, for God already knows, and loves us.

Epistle: Philippians 3:4b-14

I too have reason for confidence in the flesh. If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal (or: have already been made perfect); but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

Reflections: St. Paul continues to deal with a crisis of leadership that has arisen in the church at Philippi. Just prior to these lines, he has warned against self-styled authorities who criticize Paul for not requiring circumcision of the gentiles who had entered the community. The critics, themselves circumcised, considered their obedience to the Law as evidence of their superiority to Paul.

This is in fact the heart of the controversy that Paul addresses in his letter. It’s not simply a struggle for power, or an argument over proper procedure. Paul is defending what he considers essential to the message of Christ. His critics have missed a central truth: It is not necessary to become Jewish in order to have faith in Christ, for Christ calls us into a new reality, a new life. One that cannot be measured by our existing standards: not gender or ethnicity, language or income; not our status as servants, CEO’s, or slaves. All such criteria are irrelevant in the new order, to which we now (and increasingly) belong.

Paul’s apparent bragging demonstrates his point. By his critics’ own standards, he far exceeds them! But that means nothing to him, compared to Christ. In fact, concern with status or qualifications or riches or respect distract us from Christ, focusing us on ourselves, instead.

Gospel: Matthew 21:33-46

Jesus said, listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.’ So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants? They said to him, He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.

Jesus said to them, have you never read in the scriptures:

The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone;
this was the Lord’s doing, and it is amazing in our eyes?

Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom. [The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls (this line is omitted in some early texts).]

When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.

Reflections: So, what was the tenants’ problem? Were they stupid? Certainly not; they were crafty. They knew what they wanted, and they schemed to get it. But their short-term focus made them blind to the longer-term implications that even Jesus’ audience could anticipate: they were bound to lose in the end.

          Jesus ties this parable to some lines in Psalm 118. What does it mean for builders to reject a stone? Something about it must not have met their criteria. Perhaps the color was inconsistent or displeasing; maybe it had a mineral vein, or a potential to crack or split. Perhaps an edge had been damaged. For some reason, the builders judged it wanting. The builders’ criteria clearly missed the mark, failed to perceive the most important thing that ultimately rendered that stone supremely suitable and the anchor on which the entire structure depends.

The passage is understood by Christians to be a clear allusion to Jesus—rejected by our standards, yet the gate and foundation of our life in God. Like the tenants of the vineyard, the builders did not have a full picture of the reality; they were too wrapped up in their own notions to be open to the world as God sees it. For this openness, we must continually pray. It is God’s doing, and marvelous. 

Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Sept 28, 2014

The Epistle: Philippians 2:1-13 

If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. 

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,

who, though he was in the form of God,

      did not regard equality with God      as something to be exploited,but emptied himself,      taking the form of a slave,      being born in human likeness.And being found in human form,
      and became obedient to the point of death—
      even death on a cross.
      and gave him the name
      that is above every name,
      every knee should bend,
      in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
       and every tongue should confess
      that Jesus Christ is Lord,
      to the glory of God the Father.

      he humbled himself

Therefore God also highly exalted him

      so that at the name of Jesus

Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.                   

Reflections: Continuing with St. Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, we remember that while Paul is in prison elsewhere, the church in Philippi is being disrupted by self-styled authorities who criticize the community’s faith. Paul calls the community to share the mind of Christ.

            Citing a hymn, St. Paul gives us an eloquent statement about the nature of Christ: not self-aggrandizement, but self-emptying service. That is the mind of Christ. And in the final analysis, that is the test of those who claim religious authority.

            Paul encourages the saints at Philippi to seek unity in the will of God, and reminds them that it is only God who enables them to fulfill it.