Ordinary Time Week 2

Psalm: Psalm 69:7-10, 11-15, 16-18 

Old Testament: Jeremiah 20:7-13 

Gospel: Matthew 10:24-39 

Epistle: Romans 6:1b-11

Last week was the beginning of Ordinary Time in the Christian Calendar; however, Trinity Sunday was celebrated last week so we didn’t go into the change of seasons. Following the seasons of Advent and Christmas comes Epiphany, Lent, Easter, and finally, Pentecost; from there, the Church celebrates the season of “Ordinary Time” until the start of Advent again. Ordinary Time comes from the word “ordinal,” and means counted time. The weeks between Pentecost and Advent are not ordinary, or mundane, but simple counted. Perhaps that seems like a minor detail, but the meaning behind the Christian Calendar is that all time is sacred. Every Sunday the Church gathers to proclaim the Story of God, whether it is Easter Sunday or any other Sunday of the year.

This week we have some interesting scriptural passages. The reading from Jeremiah presents a view of God that is not very flattering. Jeremiah paints a picture of God who seduced him (using sexually violent language) into being the Lord’s prophet. Jeremiah’s message was always one of “violence and destruction,” and even if he tried to keep quiet, he was compelled to speak like there was a fire burning inside him. We get an image of a prophet who is unwilling, perhaps because his message is one no one wants to hear, but knows that he must still speak it. Our reading ends at verse 13, which is one of praise; however, if we continued to read the rest of the chapter, Jeremiah goes on to curse the very day he was born. There is a reason why Jeremiah is known as the “weeping prophet” and this chapter is one of them. But in the middle of it, Jeremiah offers praise to the Lord, and he still trusts God.

I don’t actually see much connection between our four Scriptures this week, but I’ll continue. In Romans, chapter 6, we have what should be a classical holiness preaching passage. Paul writes that Christians should die to sin, and since we have been baptized into Christ, we shouldn’t sin any more. This passage has so many elements to explore such as the importance of baptism in the life of the believer, how we are freed from sin, the power of the resurrection in our lives, Christ’s victory over death, just to name a few!

Matthew also has many themes to explore. In 15 verses, Jesus covers almost as many topics.  He mentions that we must follow Jesus and just as he, the master, suffered so will they (we), the followers suffer.  This passage also touches on the fact that all of the hairs on our heads are counted and that if we acknowledge Jesus before others he will acknowledge us before the Father.  Matthew brings up the importance of putting Christ above even our families and that we must lose our lives for the sake of Jesus. In reading these verses, I almost want to stop at the first two, “A disciple.” That is what Jesus goes on to describe in what follows and in so much else of his teachings. He is trying to get the disciples to understand what it means to actually be a disciple of Jesus.

Being a disciple runs counterintuitive to our culture and our fallen nature. We are able to follow Christ because he died and rose again, and now lives in us through his Spirit. The exhortations that Jesus and Paul give in our passages today are not something we do on our own. We live faithfully to God, because we are found in Christ Jesus and his spirit empowers us.

Like I said, there isn’t really one, or even a couple, main themes this week. Each passage actually has a lot happening. But that is the beauty and challenge of Scripture. There is always something to explore, some new facet of God, creation, or ourselves to ponder. This week may we continue to explore the Scriptures with wonder and fresh eyes, looking for what God is seeking to show us.

Grace and Peace.