In today’s lessons we read of the constant theme of all Jewish and Christian history: the relationship between God and his people. In Isaiah we witness the people of Israel hearing of the faithfulness of God, but responding that “The Lord has forsaken me, my Lord has forgotten me.” The Lord responds to the servants unfaithfulness with continued faithfulness: “Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.”
Earth changes…mountains shake…rivers roar.” Amidst the uproar, Psalm 46 says: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” What a juxtaposition of thought — strength and refuge! We need the church to provide spiritual shelter and protection from distress. Yet, a comforting place to retreat from “the troubles of the world” is only part of what we need. Today’s lessons challenge us to balance our need for refuge with strength of mind and body, enabling us to do God’s will in the world.
God, you have taught us through your son Jesus Christ that a prophet has no honor in his native place. Let me honor you, though my heart has been a native place to you; since a child, I have known you through Baptism and the Sacraments.
I have always been sure of my motivation to be baptized, and sure of my motivation to be confirmed in the Episcopal Church and once there to become an acolyte and serve on various committees. But do I sometimes push aside the fact that I wish to glorify him in all these things, and instead wallow in the warmth of self-importance? Do I sometimes yield to the temptation of thinking, as the Pharisee in the Temple, that I’m better than the person next to me on the subway because I’m so involved in the life of my church?
You are not far from the Kingdom of God,” Jesus tells a questioner in today’s Gospel, unlike our two Old Testament readings, in which Israel seems very far indeed. Yet Hosea and the psalmist are at pains to stress that it is our distance from God, not God’s distance from us. Hosea likens God to a foolish lover, longing for the affection of those who carelessly abuse and spurn him. The psalmist strikes the same plaintive note: “If my people would but listen to me….”
Remember the cartoons that had an angel on the character’s right shoulder and a devil on the other? Well, today’s readings brought this scenario to mind, however simplistic it may sound.
In all three readings, the people are warned about how their ancestors “stiffened their necks” against God, his prophets, and, of course, against Christ, who warned: “Every kingdom divided against itself becomes a desert, and house falls against house.”
After reviewing today’s readings, I felt I had been given counsel as to how to create a path toward fulfillment and wholeness. It was a set of instructions that I needed to hear today and need to remind myself of everyday. “Now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I teach you to observe, that you may live….” All three readings, from Moses in Deuteronomy to Asaph in Psalm 78 to Matthew, are exhortations on the path to fulfillment and wholeness. “Live by God’s law,” they cry out in unison.
“REMEMBER NOT THE SINS OF MY YOUTH.” (But how often shall I forgive my brother?) The combined lessons of the day left me with the following impressions: We ask God to set up guidelines for us (e.g., “Lead me in thy truth,” “Teach me thy paths,” “Make me know thy ways,” etc.) Daily we beg God’s forgiveness and remind him of his promises to deliver us in the time of need. (All this despite the fact that we systematically disregard the very guidelines we asked him for in the first place.) We ask for (and secretly expect) carte blanche forgiveness for ourselves while carefully calculating and cataloging wrongs done to us by others. We are the children of God, and we often react like children — striking out blindly in fear/anger and avoiding responsibility for our actions by pointing a finger at someone else.
Playing the hometown crowd is not always easy. What stirred the congregation at Nazareth into such a rage? I have never heard a sermon so offensive that the preacher deserved to be hurled from a cliff. Perhaps if Jesus had been from a faraway town or a noted rabbi down from Jerusalem, his reception would have been different. The sudden fury could have come only from people who knew Jesus well.
JOSEPH SOLD INTO SLAVERY, the messengers and then the son of the vineyard owner beaten and killed…. These readings describe in vivid detail the jealousy and greed of humanity at its worst. However, taken one step further, Joseph’s enslavement led to Moses and the Promised Land, and the slaughtered Son led to the Resurrection and our Christian faith and worship.