appadmin – Page 11 – A Preacher’s Ponderings

Birthpangs

Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost; 14 November 2021; Proper 28B (RCL); 1 Samuel 1:4-20; 1 Samuel 2:1-10; Hebrews 10:11-25; Mark 13:1-8.

In our semi-continuous reading of the Old Testament, we now stand at the verge of the monarchy. Samuel will serve as the last of the judges and anoint two kings in succession: Saul and then David. In the deuteronomistic historiographical tradition, this will be the beginning of both the glory and the shame of Israel. Solomon will build the Temple, but also build shrines for the gods of his foreign wives. His united kingdom will reach its furthest extent, but the worship of foreign deities (and the concomitant unfaithfulness to YHWH) will sow the seeds of the nation’s destruction.

The resurrected life

All Saints’ Day (observed); 7 November 2021; All Saints’ Day, Year B (RCL); Wisdom of Solomon 3:1-9; Psalm 24; Revelation 21:1-6a; John 11:32-44.

The story of the revivification of Lazarus is a complicated one, with many details that beg questions: Why does Jesus delay for two days after hearing that Lazarus is sick? When Thomas says, “Let us also go and die with him,” who is the ‘him’ — Jesus or Lazarus? In this passage, the translators do us a disservice. Jesus is not “greatly disturbed” (twice), but in the Greek, he is indignant (twice). Why? And why is Lazarus twice called “the dead man”?

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.

Fruitfulness

Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost; 3 October 2021; Proper 22B (RCL); Job 1:1, 2:1-10; Psalm 26; Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:5-12; Mark 10:2-16.

The modern preacher always feels the need to tread carefully with this Gospel reading, knowing that a fair number of the congregation will be divorced persons. Shame is not always a helpful homelitic aid. And this is the only saying of Jesus (besides the last supper) quoted by Paul, so it seems pretty firmly fixed in the tradition. What to do?

Impediments

Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost; 26 September 2021; Proper 21B (RCL); Esther 7:1-6, 9-10, 9:20-22; Psalm 124; James 5:13-20; Mark 9:38-50.

I did my Clinical Pastoral Education as a chaplain intern at the Massachusetts General Hospital. I was assigned to the rehabilitation floor, so we dealt with patients who had longer stays than most. One of the young men I encountered was a teenager (maybe 16), who was having his hand reconstructed. He had taken this passage literally, and laid his hand on a railroad track, because he did what teenaged boys do. I have a hard time hearing this passage, without recalling that young man.

Whose wisdom?

Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost; 19 September 2021; Proper 20B (RCL); Proverbs 31:10-31; Psalm 1; James 3:13 -4:3, 7-8a; Mark 9:30-37.

Wisdom literature is typically addressed to an audience of young men of means, who are getting ready to make their way in the world, and often at court. It provides life lessons in how to avoid messing up. The book of Proverbs opens with Lady Wisdom inviting the young men to submit to her, rather than following Lady Folly. And the book ends with a paean to the good wife — perhaps Lady Wisdom in the flesh.

The challenge of difference

Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost; 5 September 2021; Proper 18B (RCL); Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23; Psalm 125; James 2:1-17; Mark 7:24-37.

The story of the Syrophoenician woman has always made Christians uncomfortable. Since when does Jesus insult people (besides religious authorities)? It doesn’t fit with our picture of Jesus. And to deny a healing, no less.