Ordinary Time Week 11

Psalm: Psalm 107:1-9, 43 or Psalm 49:1-12

Old Testament: Hosea 11:1-11

 or Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14, 2:18-23

Gospel: Luke 12:13-21

Epistle: Colossians 3:1-11

This week I was struggling to find a common theme across the passages, knowing of course during Ordinary Time the passages don't always relate. But by the time I got to Colossians something stood out. The text reads, "set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth." (Col. 3:2) In Colossians, Luke, and Hosea the overwhelming idea is that God must be the first thing in one's life.

Looking at Hosea first, we have a negative image of what happens when this isn't the case. By the time of Hosea, Israel and Judah were on the wrong path of disobedience and breaking the Covenant of the Lord. As we saw last week with Hosea's wife and children's names, Hosea was calling the people to repent. We of course know that didn't happen and conquest and exile would come to each nation. The first half of Hosea chapter 11 is Hosea pointing out how God kept reaching out to his people, yet they kept turning away. Over and over the refrain is, "I [God] did ______, but they [Israel] did______." (vs. 10) The text doesn't quite say that the exile could have been prevented if the people had just followed after God alone, but Hosea does offer an image of the future when the relationship will be restored. In this future vision, Israel "will follow the Lord; He will roar like a lion." This was a reality that never fully came to fruition, but it remained the ideal for the People of God.

Moving into Luke, we read the parable of the rich man who produced so much wealth he decided he needed to build a bunch of barns and storehouses to keep his crops. The man was so pleased and said to himself, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry." (vs. 19) But in his greed he forgot where his priorities should lie according to the Covenant of the Lord. That very night, the man died and Jesus left his audience with the question of who now will own what the man has prepared? It certainly won't do the rich man any good! The implications are that the man was not going to go to Paradise with the righteous. The final line of the pericope ties this story to the other passages, "So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." (vs. 21) The meaning is clear, we have a higher calling and goal in this life. We can't be short-sighted and focused only on earthly treasures.

Finally, as I mentioned, Col. 3:2 reads, "set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth." Paul is making some really dense arguments in this chapter concerning a number of topics, but for our purposes today, when Paul says "set your minds on things above," he doesn't mean cloister ourselves together in a holy circle. Rather, he goes on to list a bunch of characteristic we shouldn't have, followed by ones we should posses. He writes,“So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.” (vs. 12-14) Our view of eternity and Life Everlasting in the Kingdom dictates how we are to live our lives now, day in and day out.

The scripture is full of exhortations of this kind. Our relationship to Christ affects how we are to live. Thanks be to God that we don't do this on our own. We are both in Christ, and have his Spirit in us. Let us seek to live like Christ each and every day and follow him as we seek the things above.

Grace and peace.

Ordinary Time Week 10

Psalm: Psalm 85 or Psalm 138

Old Testament: Hosea 1:2-10

 or Genesis 18:20-32

Gospel: Luke 11:1-13

Epistle: Colossians 2:6-15, 16-19

Happy Sunday to everyone. The heat of the summer is upon some parts of the country I hear, although San Diego remains nice and this week I was on vacation in Yosemite. John Muir said many memorable things about Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada mountain range, but I came across this new one for me, "God never made an ugly landscape. All that the sun shines on is beautiful, so long as it is wild." We can all recognize the beauty in places like Yosemite. But Muir understood that in nature, unmarred by human exploitation, beauty can be found everywhere. God's creation shouts the wonders of his power, but also the depths of his love and the extent of free agency he has given his creation, not least of all humanity. There are a lot of Psalms that express this sentiment, but unfortunately Psalm 85 is not one of them. So I will skip over it, but it for the record it appears to be a Psalm from the Post-Exilic period praising God for restoring his people.

Ordinary Time Week 9

Psalm: Psalm 52 or Psalm 15

Old Testament: Amos 8:1-12

 or Genesis 18:1-10a

Gospel: Luke 10:38-42

Epistle: Colossians 1:15-28

The passage I want to look at today is the Gospel reading, since we discussed it last week as well with the parable of the Good Samaritan. This story of Mary and Martha follows that parable and interestingly, Bethany, where they lived, is on that same road between Jerusalem and Jericho where the Good Samaritan took place.

So the question I have to ask is why does Luke place this account right after the Good Samaritan? First, you will recall that the Good Samaritan was about the most unlikely of heroes imaginable, a good-for-nothing Samaritan, loving his neighbor and thus fulfilling Torah. The Kingdom of God was expanding to include those the Jews had rejected, but God hadn't. That springboards us into the account of Mary and Martha where it is not a racial separation, but one of gender.

Oridnary Time Week 8

Psalm: Psalm 82 or Psalm 25:1-10
Old Testament: Amos 7:7-17
  or Deuteronomy 30:9-14
Gospel: Luke 10:25-37
Epistle: Colossians 1:1-14

Today we have the very timely parable of the Good Samaritan in our Gospel reading from Luke. The funny thing about this story is that although it was timely when Jesus spoke the words, I don't think there has ever been a time in human history when this parable didn't need to be spoken to a group of people. Right off the bat, we have to say just how radical this message is. Humanity is inclined in our very nature to define who is in and who is out. We are predisposed to set up boundaries, groups, and families, and then to war and oppose whoever we deem to be outside our group.

Ordinary Time Week 7

Ordinary Time Week 7

Psalm: Psalm 30 or Psalm 66:1-9

Old Testament: 2 Kings 5:1-14

 or Isaiah 66:10-14

Gospel: Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

Epistle: Galatians 6:1-6, 7-16

I want to do something a little different this week from my normal post. As I was reading Gal. 6 I stopped short at the words in verse 17, "From now on let no one cause trouble for me, for I bear on my body the brand-marks of Jesus." The "brand-marks" of Jesus Paul wrote. I don't think I have ever heard this passage preached on, nor do I recall ever reading it, although of course I have. The word for "brand-marks" in Greek is stigmata: a word that I always thought referred to the phenomenon of having Jesus' five wounds appear on a believer. In the Middle Ages, and even today, experiencing "Stigmata" is seen by some to be a sign of blessing from God on a prophet.