February 2023 – A Preacher’s Ponderings

Temptation

First Sunday in Lent; 26 February 2023; Lent 1A (RCL); Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7; Psalm 32; Romans 5:12-19; Matthew 4:1-11.

I had a Cambodian friend who read this passage in Genesis as a coming-of-age story. According to him, children in Cambodia were not gendered until about the age of five, “when they put their pants on.” It’s about the same age there were expected to begin to know right from wrong. Adam and Eve recognize their nakedness once they have eaten the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That throws an interesting light on the story — temptation as a step along the way to growing up.

Tabernacles

Last Sunday after Epiphany; 19 February 2023; Last Epiphany A (RCL); Exodus 24:12-18; Psalm 2; 2 Peter 1:16-21; Matthew 17:1-9.

I’m not sure why I chose Psalm 2 this year. If the leaflets weren’t already printed, I might change to Psalm 99. Psalm 2 is a coronation psalm, and speaks of the victory of the new king over his (God’s?) enemies, who are foolish to try to rebel. The lectionary, of course, assigns it as an option with the Transfiguration because the voice from heaven quotes it — This is my son.

Salt and light

Fifth Sunday after Epiphany; 5 February 2023; Epiphany 5A (RCL); Isaiah 58:1-12; Psalm 112:1-9; 1 Corinthians 2:1-12; Matthew 5:13-21.

Chapter 58 of Isaiah is one of those clarion passages that depict the righteous society envisioned by the prophets as fulfillment of Torah. It seems to be set against the events of the return from Exile, with Jerusalem in ruins. There is apparently a contest with the returnees for how best to reestablish the righteous society. The books of Ezra and Nehemiah give us a hint about this contest. Isaiah is all for opening the Temple to the nations, while Ezra/Nehemiah wants to constrain membership in the new community to those who can show ancestry among the Exiles.