Proper 27 | Ordinary Time 32 | Pentecost 24 (Cycle C)

Sunday between November 6 and November 12 inclusive

Perhaps the theological motif that best unites most of the texts selected for this occasion is the statement in Luke 20:38 that God is not God of the dead, but God of the living, and that all who are alive live because of their relationship with God. Some of the texts also proclaim that all life, therefore, should praise and glorify God.

Psalm 17:1-9

The psalmist claims a close relationship with the Lord, using vivid, personal imagery. Throughout the night and as the psalmist wakens in the morning, the psalmist draws near to the Lord, the God of the living. Although there is no expectation of the resurrection of the individual from the dead here, the concept of awakening to new life was incorporated into the resurrection faith of later Israelites, Jews, and Christians.

Psalm 145:1-5, 17-21

For many Jews, Psalm 145 is the most important psalm in the Psalter. It is used daily by many observant Jews in their private devotions to praise and bless the Lord God. It declares the Lord to be the Savior and Preserver of all who call upon the Lord and love the Lord. Millions of Jews were driven into the gas chambers of the Nazi Holocaust or earlier to their death during the pogroms in Easter Europe with the words of this psalm on their lips. The use of this psalm by Christians is much less, but is significant nevertheless. We can add to its use among us as we worship God this weekend.

Haggai 1:15b–2:9

In this text, salvation is proclaimed in the form of an action by the Lord in which the heavens, the earth, the sea and land, and all nations will be shaken so that the treasures of all nations will be brought to Jerusalem. The hope is expressed that then the temple will be furnished with even more splendor than it had at the time of Solomon. Then the people of Jerusalem will prosper because the Spirit of the Lord will be among them.

Job 19:23-27a

The meanings originally intended by numerous words in this text are not clear and unambiguous. For example, the word that within translations into English by many Christian translators is expressed as “Redeemer” in verse 25 is basically an Avenger or Vindicator. It may be “apart from” my flesh rather than “in” my flesh that the character Job in this drama expects to be in verse 26. Although we as Christians would like to see in this text evidence of an early expectation of the resurrection of the body, this is accomplished for us in part only through interpretative translations from the Hebrew words. Nevertheless, especially within this series of texts selected for us for use this coming weekend, we can see in this texts support for the concept that God is the God of the living and that all life should praise and glorify God.

2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17

References to “the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” and to “eternal comfort and good hope” in these verses connect us to the “being raised from the dead” and to the “God of the living” emphases of Luke 20:27-38, to which we now turn.

Luke 20:27-38

Among the Synoptic texts of this dialogue between Jesus and the Sadducees, this Lukan reading is to be preferred. It would be even better if we were to include Luke 20:39: “After that, even some of the scribes said, ‘Teacher, you have spoken well.’ ” Luke 20:27-38 does not use the provocative retort of Jesus present in Mark 12:24 and Matthew 22:29. Therefore, Luke 20:27-38 probably takes us back closest to the Jesus of history of any of the canonical texts of this conversation.

The references in Luke 20:27-38 and its parallels in Mark and Matthew to “the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob” from the burning bush accounts of Exodus 3:6, 15; 4:5; and 6:2 are used to indicate that God is God of the living and that those who are alive live because of their relationship to God. When we concentrate on the sayings of Jesus in this text rather than on the controversy with the Sadducees, we can focus on the resurrection proclamation, especially Luke 20:36 and 38, providing, therefore, an “Easter in November” message.

Sunday between November 13 and November 19 inclusive

The proclamation in most of the texts selected for next weekend is that God will soon act decisively to destroy rampant evil and those who remain faithful to God will survive because God will strengthen them. The parenesis is that the faithful must believe in God and that they must not be afraid. Until all of this occurs, the faithful must continue to be actively praising God and living in accordance with God’s good will for them.

Isaiah 12

The concept of the corporate personality of Israel is apparent in the two psalms (vv. 1-3, 4-6) that comprise this concluding portion of the Isaiah chapters 1-12 traditions. The nation, or remnants of the nation, will give thanks to the Lord as if they were one person on the day when the Lord forgives and restores them, as the context from 11:10 onward indicates. The hope expressed in 11:10–12:6 has been only partially realized even to this day for Israel.

Because of the nature of the reading, two persons should be involved in leadership roles. One person should provide a brief setting from Isaiah 11:10-16 and speak the liturgical rubrics 12:1a and 4a and the liturgical comment 12:3. The other person should speak or chant the psalm portions, turning toward a symbol of the presence of God for 12:1b-2 and stepping toward the congregation for 12:4b-6.

Isaiah 65:17-25 (as used also on Easter Day of this Series C)

In this text, the inspired writer joyfully proclaimed that soon the Lord God will recreate the sky and the earth for Jerusalem and for the Israelite people. For the people of God, there will be no more weeping and distress, and no longer will anyone die short of a long and fruitful life. No one will take from them the products of their labor. God will hear and will respond to help them even while they are still speaking! Wild and rapacious beasts will be gentle and eat grass along with oxen and lambs. The sky and the earth will be resurrected. The people of God will be resurrected. Prophecy will be resurrected. Everything conceivable will be resurrected, except an individual person who has died.

Psalm 98

In this psalm it is proclaimed that the Lord God has come to gain the victory over all evil forces on the earth. Not only the people of Israel, but also all of the other oppressed people of the earth and even nature itself are urged to join together in singing to the Lord a new, joyful song of praise and thankfulness, for they are all free. Evil no longer has any power over them.

Malachi 4:1-2a

All who are arrogant and all evildoers will be consumed as in an oven when the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. Elijah will return on that day in order to gather the faithful together to protect them. After that day of judgment and destruction has passed, those who fear the name of the Lord will spring forth, like young calves released from their stalls, to skip and jump over the ashes of the wicked. The parenesis here is that those who fear the Lord should live in accordance with the instructions provided in the Torah.

2 Thessalonians 3:6-13

This text is almost entirely parenesis. While followers of Jesus wait for the expected future coming of the Lord Jesus Christ in glory, they are to follow the example set by Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, working quietly to support themselves and gladly serving others without weariness or complaint. This example and admonition holds also, of course, for us today as we experience the conclusion of another Church Year cycle.

Luke 21:5-19

The catastrophic events that occurred during the unsuccessful attempts by Jews in Galilee and Judea to free themselves from the oppressive Roman occupation forces during the Jewish War of 66-72 CE fulfilled some, but not all, of the predictions recorded in this Luke 21:5-19 text. Followers of Jesus also suffered during this period, and were supported by the assurance provided by the words of Mark 13, Matthew 24:1-36, and Luke 21:5-36 that Jesus understood their situation and would give them courage and the ability to endure. Only Luke, however, has the strangely contradictory statement that “some of you will be put to death” in 21:16b, followed almost immediately in 21:18 by “But not a hair of your head will perish.” Perhaps the writer intended this to mean that even those who are put to death because of their faith will not perish.

The proclamation here is that Jesus will lead and guide his followers through very difficult times, and that most of them will endure and survive. The parenesis is that Jesus’ followers must believe and trust in Jesus regardless of how terrible their conditions may become. That same proclamation and that same parenesis are applicable for us today.

Sunday between November 20 and November 26 inclusive

With the texts chosen for this occasion, the Church Year ends in a note of triumph. The Lord is King! The Lord rules in these texts in a great variety of ways, but in each in some way the Lord is King. This is the message that we shall proclaim next Sunday. It shall be our task to proclaim with all of the skill given to us by God the many ways in which the Lord is King in these texts and in our lives.

Jeremiah 23:1-6

In its specific context within the Jeremiah traditions, this selection is a word of the Lord for a specific situation before and after the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians in 586 BCE. The word from Adonai is addressed to an Israelite audience that has Israelite expectations of a dynamic political leader, someone who would be like David at his best, or better than David had been.

Although the Jesus of history did not fulfill the messianic expectations of Jewish partisans that included military action for the restoration of Israelite/Jewish national independence and political power, some aspects of those expectations were utilized by followers of Jesus. These aspects helped to inform and to add detail to the portrait of the Christ painted by the early Christians who claimed to be the “New Israel” and who proclaimed the Christ of faith as their King, the fulfillment of texts such as Jeremiah 23:1-6.

In our time, it is essential that the descendants of the original Israel and the descendants of the claimant “Israel” together also with contemporary Muslims share in dialogue their futuristic messianic expectations. This dialogue is urgently needed when distrust and animosity against people who are in the other religious communities are increasing for many Jews, Christians, and Muslims.

Psalm 46

This familiar psalm of trust in the Lord is one of the relatively few eschatological psalms in the Psalter. It is particularly appropriate in times of war and of great stress such as Martin Luther faced during his struggles as a major reformer within the Western Church during the sixteenth century.

Even though the earth may be returned to its primal chaos, Jerusalem, the city of God, is said to be secure because God is in its midst. As perceived by the psalmist, the Lord God brings desolations upon all of the earth, but also brings the peace that shall follow them. The people of the city are merely to be still and to recognize that the Lord is God. Luther gave this psalm of trust a sixteenth-century application. It is our responsibility to give it an application in our time and place. That is our call.

Luke 1:68-79

In this eloquent “Benedictus,” the Lukan writer provided as words of the now believing and jubilant Zechariah a blessing of the Lord God that will be actualized in the work of Zechariah’s son, John the Baptist, who shall go before the Lord Jesus to prepare his ways. In this “Benedictus” the dawning of a new day is anticipated in which Jesus of Nazareth, as the one proclaimed by John the Baptist, will become the King forever.

Colossians 1:11-20

This great confessional hymn to Christ in Colossians 1:15-20 is perhaps the most significant of the texts selected for this occasion. We sense that the inspired writer had access in some form to Philippians 2:5-11, to Paul’s expressions of the followers of Jesus as “the body” of Christ, to Matthew’s description of the community of faith as the “Church,” and perhaps also to John 1:1-18. The result is a masterpiece composed in opposition to persons in Hellenistic syncretism — incipient, or developed Gnostics — who mythologized the elemental spirits such as earth, fire, water, and air, and the stars whose constellations were thought to control the order of the entire universe and with it the fate of each person. Even though our situation differs considerably from the setting of this Christ-hymn, the impact of this hymn is not lost to us. It is an expression of our theology.

There may be concern for some about what the writer of Colossians 1:24 (beyond our text) meant by “I complete the things that are still needed of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh in behalf of Christ’s body (the Church).” The reference is most likely to the suffering that Paul endured at the hands of oppressive Roman political and military authorities who were similar to those who in Jerusalem had crucified Jesus. Paul is represented as accepting such suffering as somehow necessary in obedience to the will of God. It was not a way in which Paul added to the atonement as accomplished in Christ, but was a way in which Paul identified with that atonement and with that Christ. We might add that the Jesus of history was crucified by the Romans because large numbers of his own Jewish people were being filled with hope by Jesus’ message that God, not Caesar, is Lord. The Paul of history was killed by the Romans because many followers of Jesus were being filled with hope by Paul’s message that Jesus as raised from the dead, not Caesar, is King and Lord.

Luke 23:33-43

Comparison of the Synoptic parallels here indicates that the Lukan writer did much editorial rearranging and new composition in preparing this text. Primarily from the materials available in the Markan Gospel, the inspired Lukan writer was able to compose this impressive, memorable scene. Within a composition designed to be superior to its antecedents (Luke 1:1-4), the Lukan writer did not hesitate to change the Mark 15:32b text, “Also the ones who had been and were being crucified along with Jesus reviled him,” into a scene in which one of the two sided with Jesus and the other against him, and did this so skillfully that the impression of continuity is given, that at first both reviled him but that then one sided with him. This little theological drama scene also provided an opportunity for the Lukan writer to demonstrate that Jesus and his friend will be together yet that same day in Paradise, an idea not present in Mark or in Matthew.

National days of thanksgiving within the United States and Canada are by nature primarily expressions of civil religion, not of the ecclesial, individual, family, community, or universal levels of religion, even though every level in which we express our religion may be involved. Because civil religion at its best is inclusive of the religions of all of the people living within a nation, in nations such as the United States and Canada in which there are Native Americans, Jews, Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Atheists, and many other groups, observance of National Days of Thanksgiving should include participation by all of the groups represented and use resources drawn from the oral and written traditions of every group represented. Civil religion at its worst, however, excludes minority groups and uses the power of the state to promote the religion of the powerful majority within the nation. Therefore, worship experiences at the national level should be inclusive of all of the people, and the celebration of national days of thanksgiving in local areas should also be inclusive of all of the people in the local area.

Leaders in worship at the national level of religion ideally should not be pastors, rabbis, imams, and so on, but should be public, national, state, and local officials, and the most appropriate texts should be selected from national documents such as the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights, and comparable documents in Canada. There have been few instances in which such inclusive expressions of religion on national days of thanksgiving have been attempted and have been successful. It would be meaningful to participate in more of these, if they are planned and implemented appropriately, expressing repentance for national acts of oppression, and inclusive of all persons.

National level of religion within our biblical texts is for the most part centered on the political manifestations of the religion of ancient Israel and of Israel as a nation. That nation provided a positive example in some instances and a negative one of exploitation of the poor by the rich and powerful in many others. Deuteronomy 26:1-11 is one of the best of the positive models available to us. The other texts selected for our use on this occasion: Psalm 100, Philippians 4:4-9, and John 6:25-35 are basically expressions of ecclesial rather than national and civil religion. They are expressions of thanksgiving, but not at the level of national, civil religion. They can be used in ecclesial religion on many occasions, but are not designed specifically for civil religion observances.

In summary, since there were no constitutional democracies comparable to the United States and Canada during the lifetimes of the writers of our Scriptures, there are no biblical texts that are ideal for our use on National Days of Thanksgiving in the United States and Canada, even within ecclesial worship services.

Deuteronomy 26:1-11

As indicated above, among the four texts selected for our use on the occasion of a national day of thanksgiving, this text is the most useful and relevant. The use of first fruits of the season in this text provides the emphasis on offering food and dedicating it to the Lord, as well as on sharing food with others. Our practice of sharing baskets of food during the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons with people who cannot afford good food is at most a token effort if those who receive it lack adequate nutrition during the rest of the year.

Psalm 100

This is a beautiful psalm of praise and thanksgiving for any occasion, even though it is not set in the context of a national, civil religion.

Philippians 4:4-9

This also is a very meaningful expression of faith that with considerable adaptation can be used within an ecclesial level of worship on a national day of thanksgiving.

John 6:25-35

The Johannine Jesus is depicted in this text as the “true bread from heaven” giving life to the world. This text can, of course, be used within a totally Christian setting on any day of thanksgiving. It would not be helpful in a civil religion setting that includes Jews, Muslims, and other groups.

The calling of Isaiah, the calling of Peter, and (by implication) the calling of each of us dominate the series of texts selected for our use next Sunday. Each is called for a purpose, to carry on a mission, to be commissioned.

Isaiah 6:1-8 (9-13)

Prophetic call stories typically reveal much about the life and nature of the person called and about the reception that the message of that prophet received. The call story in Isaiah 6 does this well for the Isaiah 1-39 traditions.

The placing of the call of Isaiah story so far into the Isaiah 1-39 text, as Isaiah 6, is unusual. (Compare the positions of the call of Jeremiah in Jeremiah 1, of Ezekiel in Ezekiel 1-3, and of Moses in Exodus 3:1–4:23.) Perhaps this position was chosen by the editors of the Isaiah traditions so that much of the message of the Isaiah 1-39 traditions could be given prominence before the call of the prophet was described.

This call story emphasizes the overwhelming holiness of the Lord and the glory of the Lord over the entire land. “Kadosh, kadosh, kadosh, Adonai Sabaoth; melo kal-ha-aretz kevodo!” Three times both for emphasis and for euphony the Lord is acclaimed as holy. And the cry is passed back and forth between the seraphim. The holiness of the Lord overwhelms Isaiah in the call story. Then the burning coal touches his lips, and his sin and guilt are taken away. He is compliant. He is willing to be sent.

This call story suggests that the message of Isaiah will not be understood; the people will not be healed. This will continue until the land is desolate. Hardly a remnant will remain. Isaiah is expected to be obedient to the Lord even when destruction surrounds him on every side. The same is certainly expected of us.

Psalm 138

Although this psalm is not a call story, there are significant connections between Psalm 138 and Isaiah 6. The glory of the Lord is said to be great in Psalm 138:5 and in Isaiah 6:3. The temple of the Lord is the location of each text, and it is written in each that the Lord will fulfill the purpose of the Lord, for the prophet in one and for the psalmist in the other. There is a difference in that the psalmist is said to have called upon the Lord and the Lord responded, whereas in Isaiah 6:8 the Lord asks a question and the prophet responds.

For us as called people of God today, Psalm 138 is an approximate expression of our situation. We too give thanks to God for God’s steadfast love and faithfulness in calling us to fulfill the purposes of the Lord.

1 Corinthians 15:1-11

The call of Paul to be an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to Paul himself in this text, was the result of an appearance of Jesus as the Christ raised from the dead by God. The message received in the call, Paul wrote, was that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the earlier Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised from the dead on the third day also in accordance with the earlier Scriptures, and that as the Risen Christ he appeared to various disciples and groups of disciples. Like Isaiah in the Isaiah 6 call story, Paul is overwhelmed by the Lord and is not said to have offered resistance to his call. Paul considered his call to be evidence of the grace of God. His response, through the grace of God, was to labor harder than anyone else to proclaim Christ crucified and raised from the dead, a message of hope for both Jewish background and non-Jewish background followers of Jesus.

It is likely that the Lukan writer had access to 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 and used it, together with Galatians 1:11-24, in the composition of the dramatic call of Paul stories in Acts 9:1-22; 22:4-16; and 26:9-18. The simple testimony of Paul himself here in 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 about his call provides a much better model for us of our own call to Christian ministry than does the vivid literary drama composed by the writer of Acts 9:1-22 and liked so much by that writer that the Lukan writer repeated it with only slight variations again in what is for us Acts 22:4-16 and 26:9-18.

Luke 5:1-11

Here again the Lukan writer “improved” the Markan account by using Mark 1:16-20 as the basis for an extensive “Call of Peter” composition that was then placed after the Like 4 account of solo activity of Jesus in Jesus’ hometown. The miraculous great catch of fish in Luke 5:1-11 at the command of the Lukan Jesus symbolizes proleptically the great success of the Spirit-filled apostles of Jesus after the Lukan writer’s Pentecost account.

Incidentally, the John 21:1-11 story that is similar in some respects to Luke 5:1-11 depicts “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (the Johannine community) as recognizing Jesus as the Risen Lord before Peter does and then together with Peter hauling in the net filled with 153 huge fish. The Fourth Gospel tradition insists that the one net can hold all of those huge fish without breaking. Therefore, the Petrine communities associated with and using the three Synoptic Gospels and the Johannine community developing its own separate Fourth Gospel can be one, so long as the Johannine community of the Beloved Disciple can be preeminent.

This Luke 5:1-11 call of Peter account with its success orientation contrasts rather sharply with the Isaiah 6:1-13 call of Isaiah story. When these two texts are used together, as they will be by us next Sunday, the conscientious pastors and worship planning committees are faced with several options. Where shall we place the emphasis for our particular time and for our particular place? Prayerful openness to the Spirit of God actualized within each congregation and community must determine the emphasis to be chosen.

It may be that the Isaiah 6:1-13 text will present the greater challenge and will offer the greater long-term help to the People of God today. At least we could — and perhaps we should — start at Isaiah 6:1-13 before moving to the success-oriented Lukan call of Peter account. In our Christian use, the Isaiah 6 text must not be used to promote the idea that Judaism and the Jews have failed while the Church and Christians as portrayed in Luke 5:1-11 have succeeded. In our Christian use, both texts should point to the cross of Christ and to a biblical Theology of the Cross rather than to a non-biblical Theology of Glory before our homilies are concluded next Sunday.