Category Archives: Exodus

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For Sunday, 12.22.19

Readings

Isaiah 7:10-16  •  Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19  •  Romans 1:1-7  •  Matthew 1:18-25

Backstory

Isaiah 7:10-16

Before the Israelites ever entered the Promised Land they were human; when the Israelites received their label of ‘Israelite’ – as their ancestor Jacob was renamed Israel – they were human; when the ‘father of the faith’ of the Israelites, Jacob’s grandfather Abraham, found out that he was going to have the label of ‘father’, Abraham, the ‘father of the faith’, was human. Humans disagree, they argue, they fight, they split and separate….they are human just like us.  So, it should be no surprise that the Israelites, in very human fashion, demanded that God let them have a king and then eventually argued, fought, and eventually split over who should be the King (the split was after just three Kings of the united Israel).  This typical, and expected, human behavior brings us to the backstory of our Isaiah passage.  The Israelites had split into two different nations, the kingdom of Israel was the northern consisting of ten of the tribes and the southern kingdom, Judah, consisted of two tribes. Isaiah is talking to the twelfth king of Judah, a guy named Ahaz, who was also very human, actually an extraordinarily bad human.  Ahaz, along with all of Judah, ad just been attacked by Israel and their temporary ally – Syria.  The attack and consequences of the attack were devastating and Ahaz knew that they were facing further aggression from the north.  The prophet Isaiah goes to Ahaz and suggests that the King ask God for a sign as to what steps he should take to avoid another loss.  Ahaz refuses to ask God for a sign because he has already made up his mind without God, he has decided that he will also recruit an ally, he joins forces with Assyria (also a group of very bad humans, led by another bad human). Ahaz does not want to wait for God’s answer, and does not want to trust God. Even though Ahaz refuses to seek God, God speaks to him anyway.  God tells Ahaz that the next King has already been born (which is the next King, Hezekiah, a much better human).  Even though Ahaz finds immediate victory in his unwise alliance with Assyria, two years later, after defiling the temple and debasing himself, he is no longer King and Hezekiah is. Echoes of this story, the story of a child savior already being born for those who would wait, abound in the angel’s message to Mary in the gospel of Luke as well as the message to Joseph in the gospel of Matthew.  Echoes of ‘Peace’, ’wait’ and ‘trust God’ are the beginning of the encouragement to Mary and Joseph as they choose to accept God’s path laid out before them.

Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19 (responsive reading)

In this small collection of verses, the phrase ‘Restore us, O God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved,’ is seen three times.  The phrase is a key to the state of mind of the targeted readers of the verses.  It is a key to our frequent cries out to God as we are confronted with the misery of our own humanity.  As we saw the Israelites, during the exile, come to a realization that their actions had brought about their misery – they then were faced with the reality of waiting on God instead of making their own rash and unwise decisions.  Turning back to God was the right choice but it was not an immediate solution to their misery, they still faced waiting on, and trusting in, God.  The honesty of their wait is dialogue of Psalm 80; a dialogue that always takes them back to ‘Restore us, O God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved.’

Romans 1:1-7

Paul’s letter to the Romans can be boiled down to a primary address/confrontation of the issues that divided the church at Rome.  These issues were social, economic, and religious dividing the rich and the poor, the Jews and the non-Jews, and basically every social grouping of the believes.  We will be reading through the letter to the Romans over the coming weeks to see how Paul uses these elements of division to teach us many basics of our beliefs.

Matthew 1:18-25

It is in the gospels of Matthew and Luke that we find the birth story of Jesus Christ.  While Luke takes one and a half chapters – one hundred and eighteen verses – to tell the story of Jesus’ birth, Matthew takes two chapters – but only a total of forty-eight verses – of which, seventeen verses are a genealogy of the lineage of Abraham to Joseph. In Luke we see the story mostly from the experience of Mary, while in Matthew we see the story more through the experience of Joseph.  Matthew was written with a Jewish readership in mind wishing to prove the the lineage of Abraham to Joseph (the Davidic lineage), while Luke was written more to the Gentiles with the intention of proving the humanity of Jesus Christ.  In this reading, Joseph, defined as a good human with the best of intentions, finds that his reality and future are taking a very unexpected and inexplainable turn into the weird and onto an unprecedented path.  Both stories (Matthew’s and Luke’s accounts) of the radical news delivered by an angel bear the common refrain – ‘do not be afraid’ and ‘peace’.

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Sunday, October 13, 2019

Lectionary Readings

Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7 and Psalm 66:1-12  •  2 Kings 5:1-3, 7-15c and Psalm 111  •  2 Timothy 2:8-15  •  Luke 17:11-19

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Psalm 66:1-12 Our responsive reading comes from Psalm 66 – a praise to God for the deliverance of the people from slavery in Egypt. The first twelve verses focus on remembering and praising God for their deliverance.  In the remainder of Psalm 66 the Psalmist turns from a remembering praise that is internal to a remembering praise that is external, a physical response –  a demonstrative transformation.

2 Kings 5:1-15 The common thread in the books of Kings is the rulers’ abuse of power and God’s provision of the prophets to provide accountability.  Elisha, who followed Elijah as the prophet of the Northern Kingdom – Israel, is in the beginning stages of his ministry.  The successful captain of the army of Aram (an adjacent country – current day Syria – and frequent enemy to Israel), a man named Naaman, is sent to see Elisha to be healed of leprosy (a situation which terrifies the King of Israel). The entire story is an interesting tale of the unexpected avenues of rescue and transformation.  A slave girl from Israel tells Naaman’s wife about the miraculous acts of Elisha and then the healing is almost sidetracked by Naaman’s own arrogance.

Jeremiah 29:1-7 A familiar text to us as we see Jeremiah addressing those who have already been, and those who are about to be, exiled from Judah.  He tells them that they are to continue on with life in the midst of their slavery for the decades to come.  They are to build homes, have children and give their children in marriage….and to work to make their captors successful.  An ironic instruction as Jeremiah himself was forbidden, by God, from marriage and having children due to the fact that they would be part of the coming exile and slavery.

2 Timothy 2:8-15 Last week we saw Paul reminding Timothy to remember his faith.  Now, Paul is calling Timothy to a security and confidence in that faith and of truth itself.  The reason for this urgency of faith is that Timothy is about to come face to face with false teachers who are set on misleading the church.

Luke 17:11-19 Our gospel reading takes place after the parables we have seen in the past weeks the teaching about faith from last week.  Jesus, as he is during most of the gospel of Luke, is one his way to Jerusalem, to the cross.  His encounter with the group of lepers gives us an enhanced understanding of personhood, redemption, cleansing and even salvation.  It is an undeniable demonstration of God’s love and the transformative act of recognition, gratitude, and praise.

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backstory headingFor Sunday, September 15, 2019

 

Lectionary Readings

Numbers 21:4-9  • Exodus 32:7-14  •  Psalm 51:1-10; 78:34-38  •  Jeremiah 4:4-9 

I Timothy 1:12-17  •  John 3:13-17  •  Luke 15:1-10 (C)

Backstory

A People, A Prophet, and God

Exodus 32:7-14 – After the people had experienced God’s act of freeing them from slavery in Egypt, parting the sea, constantly providing, naming them his ‘treasured possession’ and instructing them to be ‘a priestly kingdom and holy nation’, and, after he gave the commandments which began with ‘You shall have no other gods before me’, the people turned from God to other gods.  While Moses was on the mountain speaking with God, the people became impatient waiting for Moses and built an idol like they had in slavery. A heated debate between Moses and God, in response to the actions of the people, ensues.

Numbers 21:4-9 – Once again we see these same people failing to remember God.  This account takes place after the people have proven they did not trust God enough to enter the Promised Land and are now wandering in the desert until the next generation is grown.  Much like most of us, this group of humans are frequently unpleasant to be around – the become dissatisfied with Moses’ leadership and God’s provisions.  They complain about Moses and God.

Hopelessness with Hope

Jeremiah 4:11-28 – We have been looking at the persistent refusal of the people (centuries after entry into the Promised Land) to turn back to God.  Through the warnings of the prophet of Isaiah, and then Jeremiah, the people have refused to see and hear what God is communicating through these prophets.  Instead, they have continued a false Godless religion while progressively turning to the untruths of the politicians, religious leaders, and false prophets who who say things much more pleasant to hear.  Now, the time for cautions and warnings has come to an end.  It is the end of opportunities, and God is not changing his mind, however, his proclamation of doom comes also with a promised hope.

And then there is Joy

Luke 15:1-10 – Jesus is surrounded by religious leaders who are complaining and grumbling about the company that Jesus keeps.  They cannot grasp the fact that he is hanging around with ‘undesirables’.  Jesus responds to their negativity by pointing them to the Joy of God which he desires for us to have in our lives.

Joy Revealed

Psalm 51:1-10 – Our responsive reading this Sunday focuses on the personal experience of Joy that takes place in our own life when we turn back to God. In this Psalm, written by David, we see his recognition of his sin and need for reconciliation with God. It is an experience of repentance, joy, and hope.