Proper 24 | Ordinary Time 29 | Pentecost 22, Cycle C (2016)
THEME OF THE DAY
The difference relating to God makes. The lessons for this week focus on living faithfully (Sanctification).
Psalm 119:97-104
This is a Wisdom Psalm on the Law of God, especially devoted in these verses to its beauty and sweetness. It is an acrostic Psalm in which each stanza consists of eight lines beginning with the same Hebrew letter. The 22 stanzas use all the letters of the Hebrew alphabet in turn.
Love [aheb] of the Law [torah] is expressed. It is the object of meditation all day (v. 97). The commandment is said to make us wiser than our enemies. (Wisdom is practical knowledge on how to live for the Hebrews. It is often equated with the way of righteousness [Gerhard von Rad, Old Testament Theology, Vol. 1, pp. 418ff). Yet our enemies are said to be always near us (v. 98). Of course the decrees of God make us wiser [chakam] than all our teachers (v. 99). In keeping its precepts we understand more than the aged (v. 100). The psalmist holds back his feet in every way in order to keep the Lord’s word [dabar] (v. 101). He has been taught how sweet his words are (vv. 102-103). Every false way is hated (v. 104).
Application: This is a Psalm about how to live. Sermons might focus on the joy of meditation on the Ten Commandments and God’s will, on how such meditation can give valuable guidance in living every day (Sanctification).
OR
Psalm 121
This alternative Psalm is a Song of Ascent, which is a liturgy of blessing. Ascent Psalms may have been pilgrim songs by those returning to Jerusalem from exile, since one needed to ascent Mount Zion in order to reach the temple in Jerusalem. But reference to ascend might refer to the ascending music scale in which the Psalm was sung.
Reference is made to lifting up the eyes to the hills seeking help (v. 1). This may allude to the high places where the local fertility gods were worshiped (2 Kings 23:5). Help, it is said, comes from Yahweh, who made heaven and earth (v. 2). He will not let our feet be moved, and he will not slumber (v. 3). The image of sleep was a way of expressing God’s inactivity. Thus the psalmist is claiming here that God will remain active on behalf of his people. The Lord keeps [shamar, takes heed of] Israel (v. 4). He is our keeper (v. 5). The sun will not strike us (v. 6). The Lord will keep us from all evil [ra], keeping our going and coming forevermore (vv. 7-8).
Application: Sermons on this text will focus on Providence, on God’s loving care for us in our everyday lives.
Jeremiah 31:27-34
The lesson is again drawn from a Book of Prophecies of the late-seventh/early-eighth BC prophet of Judah, dictated to his aide Baruch during the reigns of Josiah, Jehoiakim, and Zedekiah through the era of the Babylonian Captivity. Some of the prophet’s criticism of the house of David and the temple, giving more attention to the Sinai Covenant or a new covenant, may relate to his having as an ancestor one of David’s high priests, Abiathar, who lost control of the Jerusalem Temple and was finally banished (1 Kings 2:27). This text is part of the book of Consolation (30:1–31:40), words of homecoming, promising a restoration of Israel, probably written just before the Babylonian Captivity.
The lesson is part of the so-called Hopeful Scroll (see 30:1-3). It was probably a promise directed to Israel as a whole. As prophecies have been loosened in editing from their original historical context, these prophecies of hope become new for every successive generation. The days are coming, according to Yahweh when he will sow Israel and Judah with the seed [zera] of humans and animals (repopulating the land with people and animals) (v. 27). He promises to watch over them to restoration as he did in bringing them evil (v. 28). In those days, the prophecy goes, they will no longer sing that because of the parents’ evil the children must endure evil (v. 29; cf. Ezekiel 18), but rather shall die for their own sins (v. 30). The Lord is prophesied as in the future establishing a new covenant [berith] with Israel, replacing the one given on Mount Sinai that had been broken (vv. 31-32). Actually the phrase is literally “cutting a new covenant,” which typically involved the sacrifice of animals. The new covenant will involve putting the law in the hearts [leb] of people and renewing Israel’s status as God’s people (v. 33). All will know him and the people’s sin will be forgiven, for God will remember [zakar] their sin no more (v. 34).
Application: This lesson should give rise to sermons proclaiming that we are forgiven, God remembers our sin no more (Justification by Grace), and how he frees us from all that was destructive in the past (Sanctification). The cutting of a new covenant, with its sacrificial elements, could suggest sermons on the Atoning Work of Christ.
OR
Genesis 32:22-31
Like all five Books of the Pentateuch, this Book of Origins is probably the product of several distinct literary traditions. This one is just comprised of three strands: 1) J, a ninth /tenth-century BC source, so named for its use of the Jahweh or Yahweh (translated “Lord”); 2) E, an eighth-century BC source named for its use of the divine name Elohim; and 3) P or Priestly source, dated from the sixth century BC. This lesson is the story of Jacob wrestling with God, probably the work of E.
Traveling to reconcile with his brother Esau, Jacob traveled and crossed the ford of the Jabbok River (an eastern tributary of the Jordan River) (vv. 22-23). Left alone, he wrestles with a man [ish] until daybreak. When the man saw that he did not prevail, he struck Jacob on the hip socket, putting Jacob’s hip out of joint (vv. 24-25). The man sought release, but Jacob asserts that he will only let him go if blessed [barak] (v. 26). The desire of the one with whom Jacob wrestled to end the encounter before daybreak likely connoted his divinity. For in the ancient Near East the gods vanished before sunrise. He asks Jacob his name, which he provides (v. 27). And then the man renames Jacob Israel, for it is said that he had striven with God and humans and had prevailed (vv. 27-28). Jacob asks the man’s name [shem]. In antiquity it was believed that one’s name expressed selfhood, and so Jacob’s new name signified a new self. The new name Israel probably means “God rules.” Jacob only receives a blessing from the man (v. 29). So Jacob called the place Peniel, for he says that he had seen God face to face and yet lived (v. 30). Then the sun rose as he passed Penuel, and he was limping (vv. 31-32). The limping is a frequent motif in myth and legend suggesting maturation, both personal and cultural.
Application: This Complimentary Lesson can inspire sermons to remind us to grapple with God in our personal lives that such encounters make us brand new (Sanctification).
2 Timothy 3:14–4:5
Once again we note that along with 1 Timothy through Titus, this is one of Pastoral Letters, concerned with leadership offices and pastoral oversight. This epistle differs from the other pastorals in being the most personal of them, directed specifically to Timothy, a young convert and companion to Paul in his travels (Acts 16:1; Romans 16:21; 1 Corinthians 4:17). As such it has the best claim of all the Pastoral Epistles for being an authentic work of Paul. The letter’s purpose is to provide advice from a veteran missionary to a younger colleague responsible for a group of churches and for preserving them from dissidents within.
This lesson offers further reflections on the pastor and the flock, with special exhortation to Timothy. Timothy is urged to continue in what he has learned and to believe firmly (3:14). It is acknowledged that from childhood he has known the sacred writings that are able to instruct us for salvation [soteria]. All scripture [kethab], here reference is only to the Hebrew Bible, though it seems valid in the Christian context to refer the pericope to the Christian Bible as a whole is inspired [theopneustos, God-breathed] by God, useful for reproof, correction, and training in righteousness [dikaiosune], so that all who belong to God may be equipped for good works [ergon agathon] (3:15-17).
The author next offers exhortations in the presence of God and Christ Jesus who judges [krino] the living and dead in view of the coming [epiphaneia, appearing] kingdom (4:1). Timothy is to proclaim the message, be persistent no matter whether the time is favorable, to convince, rebuke, and encourage with patience and teaching (4:2). The time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, for with itching ears they seek teachers to suit their own desires and wander away to myths [muthos] (4:3-4). Timothy is urged to be sober, endure suffering, and do the work of an evangelist (4:5).
Application: This is a lesson for sermons advocating for the importance of Bible study, the nature of the Bible’s authority, and how such study might make a difference in church and society (Sanctification and Social Ethics).
Luke 18:1-8
We are again reminded that this gospel is the first installment of a two-part history of the church traditionally attributed to Luke, a physician and Gentile associate of Paul (Colossians 4:14; 2 Timothy 4:11; Philemon 24). Along with Acts, the author’s intention was to stress the universal mission of the church (Acts 1:8). Addressed to Theophilus (1:1), it is not clear if this means that the work was written for a recent convert or for a Roman official from whom the church sought tolerance. But since Theophilus means “lover of God” it is possible that the author addressed all the faithful. This lesson is the parable of the widow and the unjust judge, a teaching unique to Luke.
The parable aims to proclaim the need to pray [proseuchomai] always and not to lose heart (v. 1). Jesus notes a judge in a city who neither feared God nor respected people (v. 2). A widow kept coming to plead for justice (v. 3). The judge eventually granted this justice on account of her repeatedly going to him (vv. 4-5). Jesus urges attention to the unjust judge’s comments. Certainly God will grant justice to his elect [eklekto] who cry to him day and night (vv. 6-7). Jesus notes that God will quickly grant justice to the chosen ones. Yet the question is whether, when the Son of Man comes, he will find faith [pistis] on earth (v. 8).
The precise translation is difficult to ascertain, as an Aramaic phrase would suggest that the long delay on God’s part could be expected. The lesson may then address the delay of Christ’s return. Either way, the text connotes God’s vindication of the weak and defenseless.
Application: It seems best to develop sermons emerging from this text that proclaim the virtues of persistent prayer, how this is a word of grace when we become accustomed to intimate contact with a God who changes us (Sanctification).
