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Lectionary
Notes - 16th Sunday after Pentecost
(view sermon
or sermon
for this text)
Readings for 16th
Sunday after Pentecost, 9/16/07:
Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28, Psalm
14, 1 Timothy 1:12-17, Luke 15:1-10
Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28:
- "A hot wind" - We don't
usually mean it as a compliment when we say that someone is full of hot air
- but when God uses it as a self-label, perhaps we'd do well to listen!
- Judgment - God is not going to
cleanse or winnow this time, but judge. The word judgment has so many
negative connotations attached. And I admit, I usually prefer to think of
God as loving rather than God as judging - but the descriptions
are not mutually exclusive! It is good that God judges us. These days, when
I think of how much we fail to follow Jesus, how we fail in discipleship,
the more convinced I am that we need to be judged. The good news is that God's
judgment never comes without God's grace and mercy. Thanks be to God!
- Even in this passage, in which
God has some harsh words spoken through the prophet Jeremiah, God already
speaks mercy: "yet I will not make a full end." (emphasis
added)
- "The earth shall mourn."
We should mourn the destruction and desolation we have brought upon
ourselves. I mourn the way we ignore God. Do you?
Psalm
14:
- "Fools say
in their hearts, 'There is no God.' Chris
Haslam, my first stop for quality exegesis, says that this verse doesn't
indicate atheism for the fools, but those who doubt that God
actually cares about human affairs and behaviors. A lot of fools today, eh?
- "There is
not one who does good, no, not one." This statement is perhaps exaggerated,
or, if not, at least extreme, unless only in the sense that we are
all sinners. But it reminds me of the quote from Augustine: "If we have
understood, than what we have understood is not God." Likewise, we are
not good, not even one of us, because God is good. If God is good, we are
only a shadow of that...
- I wonder about
the context of this psalm - the psalmist seems to have something very specific
in mind - specific folks upon whom the psalmist wants God's 'terror' poured.
1 Timothy 1:12-17
- "But I received
mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief." Interesting wording
- that unbelief is equated with ignorance. Just not getting it. And because
we don't get it, God still shows mercy. However...I don't think all our unbelief
is from ignorance - I think we are stubborn, unconvinced, believing other,
etc. Even so, God still shows mercy!
- "Christ Jesus
came into the world to save sinners." Pretty straightforward, in a way,
and yet so complicated theologically. What does "saving" entail?
I agree that Jesus saves sinners, but I bet I would describe it a lot differently
than some of my colleagues.
Luke 15:1-10:
- I like how Jesus sets these stories
up, saying, "who doesn't respond this way?", as if everyone
reacts as in the parable - he sets the correct response as the expected norm
even if he is actually advocating unusual behavior. What do I mean? Well,
in this passage, Jesus acts like a whole crowd would really gather if a woman
found a coin that she had lost. Maybe I'm just ignorant of the times, but
I have a hard time believing that that would be the case. But Jesus acts as
though it is normal, and urges us to behave likewise. Effective!
- "he lays [the sheep] on his
shoulders and rejoices." Just love this image, as do others, evidenced
by this imagery finding its way into so much artwork. It just seems like so
much love pours through the shepherd carrying the sheep in this way.
- A friend of mine
in seminary preached his senior sermon
on this text, and it still is so clear to me. This friend is a gay man, who
is so gifted, so called, so talented in ways that would make him a wonderful
pastor. He preached about Jesus seeking after him - he is the one Jesus
will go out of the way to find - this sheep, who is a part of God's fold.
Pastor’s Note: (I use the Greek-English
Lexicon from Liddell and Scott, the “little Liddell”
and the Metzger et. al Greek New Testament in my translation work.)
Lectionary
Notes are from the Lectionary Chat Group Bible Study of St.
Paul's UMC, Oneida, NY, Rev. Beth Quick.
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