October 2021 – A Preacher’s Ponderings

The essence of faithfulness

Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost; 31 October 2021; Proper 26B (RCL); Ruth 1:1-18; Psalm 146; Hebrews 9:11-14; Mark 12:28-34.

All of these readings seem to struggle with the heart of religion under changed conditions: what does it mean to be faithful to God in new circumstances?

The story of Ruth is a perfectly lovely story, but surprising for its time. Although scholars have trouble dating Ruth, it seems to me to fit best in a post-exilic context, as a counter-point to the book of Ezra. Any crisis forces a culture to reassess its assets, and to commit what is important to long-term memory. The crisis of the Exile forced a look back at the long period of the monarchy, being honest about both its strengths and shortcomings. Deuteronomy probably achieved its final form sometime after the crisis of exile, and sees the exile itself as God’s punishment for Israel’s and Judah’s unfaithfulness.

Restored vision

Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost; 24 October 2021; Proper 25B (RCL); Job 42:1-6; Psalm 34:1-8, 29-22; Hebrews 7:23-28.

In my mind, the prose ending of the Book of Job almost undoes the terrible beauty of the poetic chapters. Apparently, the poet(s) inserted the poem into the middle of an existing prose tale, which follows a familiar pattern — the righteous one suffers and is vindicated at the end. The poem completely subverts the expectation of the prose tale. God appears, and the righteous one is left speechless before the majesty of God. And then, Job’s fortunes are restored. I hope the poet(s) intended irony by returning to the prose tale.

Moving off center

Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost; 17 October 2021; Proper 24B (RCL); Job 38:1-7, 34-41; Psalm 104:1-9, 25, 37b; Hebrews 5:1-10; Mark 10:25-45.

Not very many people are satisfied with God’s answer to Job. God has allowed the Satan to reduce Job’s condition to misery and yet Job refuses to curse God. He even insists that if he could find God, he would lay his case before God, and God would vindicate him. And when God does show up, God calls Job’s attention to the act of creation, even pointing out Leviathan and Behemoth (the hippopotamus?). What has one to do with the other?

Treasure in heaven

Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost; 10 October 2021; Proper 23B (RCL); Job 23:1-9, 16-17; Psalm 22:1-15; Hebrews 4:12-16; Mark 10:17-31.

The Book of Job seems to me to be a response to the deuteronomistic revision of Israel’s history. Deuteronomy, and the histories contained in the books of Samuel and Kings, likely found their final form in the Exile in Babylon. This deuteronomistic retelling of history was a way of explaining the catastrophe of the Exile: over and over again, God promises to bless the people if they walk in God’s ways, and to punish them (with Exile) if they depart from God’s ways. We live with the consequences of this retelling: catastrophe (whether corporate or personal) is punishment for sin.