No Old Testament Lesson
The psalm for the day is Psalm 118:14-29
No Old Testament Lesson
The psalm for the day is Psalm 30
No Old Testament Lesson
The psalm for the day is Psalm 23
No Old Testament Lesson
The psalm for the day is Psalm 148
No Old Testament Lesson
The psalm for the day is Psalm 67
No Old Testament Lesson
The psalm for the day is Psalm 97
Genesis 11:1-9 (Alternate OT lesson)
| This pericope reports the climactic sin in J's primeval history. After creation had begun with a perfect relationship between God and humans, between man and woman, between people and animals and plants, sin had ruined all these relationships and now even language, which is humanity's premier way of communicating with other members of the species, is a source of division. Contemporary disputes about French and English in Canada or Spanish and English in the United States make this story very poignant. |
| In the next chapter Abram and Sarai are called so that through them all the families of the earth will gain a blessing. God's election of Israel--and of us!--has the purpose of reuniting divided humanity. When we ask, why does God choose us, we should not ask what quality made God choose us over others, but, rather, what would God have us to do. |
| It is widely recognized that the Babylonian temple towers, or ziggurats, stand behind this story. They were constructed between 2200 and 550 BCE, and their ruins are still found at a number of sites. The ziggurat was a ladder to heaven, the shrine on the summit elevating the priests closer to the gods. The best preserved ziggurat is at Ur, built by Ur-Nammu ca 2100 BCE. The one at Babylon itself was called e-temen-anki = the house of the foundation of heaven and earth. |
| The writer explains the alien technology to his Palestinian audience: they used bricks instead of stone and bitumen instead of mortar. |
| Verse 4 indicates that pride and a quest for a "name" lay behind the building of the tower. |
| The explanation of the name in v 9 is a folk etymology. The tower is called "Babel" because there Yahweh "balaled," or confused their language. The normal etymology of "Babel" is "gate of god." |
| Pentecost has often been called Babel in reverse! People were able to hear the gospel in their own language |
The psalm for the day is Psalm 104.
Prov 8:1-4, 22-31
| This chapter features the full personification of wisdom, and verses 22-31 played a prominent role in early christological controversies. |
| The Arians argued that since the Lord created wisdom = Christ, Christ was not God in the same way that the Father was God. The orthodox countered that the verb in v 22 should not be translated created but "possessed." Athanasius even asserted that what was created was not Christ, but his position as the first of God's works or ways. |
| We recognize today that this passage is irrelevant to the christological or trinitarian controversies. Feminist theologians, however, have noted that wisdom as the first of God's creations is feminine and that this balances somewhat the male language often used of God in the Bible. Wisdom is Israel's God in female imagery. Wisdom accompanied God in creation. |
| The word translated "master worker" in v 30 is very difficult. Some would interpret it as "little child" as in the NRSV note. A third possibility is that "master worker" modifies God and not wisdom: "I was with God, the master worker." |
| In Michelangelo's famous painting of creation in the Sistine chapel, God is surrounded by angelic beings and there is a woman encircled by God's left elbow. This woman is Michelangelo's interpretation of wisdom. |
| Wisdom rejoices to be in God's presence, but it also rejoices in the inhabited world and in the human family. Wisdom therefore serves as a bridge between God and humanity. The wisdom literature in the Old Testament has a very positive view of the human condition. |
The Psalm for the day is Psalm 8.
2 Sam 11:26-12:10
| This pericope deals with the aftermath of David's adultery with Bathsheba and his murder of her husband, Uriah the Hittite (2 Sam 11:1-25). In this incident Bathsheba has no voice except for the words, "I am pregnant." A much more assertive Bathsheba appears in 1 Kgs 1:11-31 and 2:13-25. |
| Nathan's parable is meant to evoke the king's role as administrator of justice in society. David takes the bait, announces the death sentence on the rich man, who had appropriated the poor man's lamb, and ordered him to pay fourfold restitution. |
| In Nathan's response, he recites God's great benefactions to David--anointing him as king, delivering from the hand of Saul, giving him his master's daughter Michal (reading "daughter" instead of "house"; the words are very similar in Hebrew), and even giving him Saul's wives! Some have speculated that David's wife Ahinoam, the mother of Amnon (1 Sam 25:43), was the same as Saul's wife, Ahinoam the daughter of Ahimaaz (1 Sam 14:50). God also had given him the kingdoms (house) of Israel and Judah. |
| David should have been more than satisfied with all of this and God would have given him much more if he had asked. But like the rich man in the parable, David had taken the "lamb" of Uriah the Hittite and then had Uriah killed by the Ammonites. |
| The pericope does not include Nathan's words of judgment in vv 11-14. Nathan foretells that the sword will never depart from David's house--thus alluding to the deaths of Amnon (2 Sam 13:23-29), Absalom (2 Sam 18:15), and Adonijah (1 Kgs 2:25). He also predicts trouble in David's house (Absalom, Amnon). David's wives will be given to his "neighbor," who will sleep with them openly (see the account of Absalom sleeping with David's harem in 2 Sam 16:21-22). |
| On David's admission of sin, Nathan pronounces absolution. By law both David and Bathsheba should have been executed. Instead their illegitimate son is condemned to death. Is David granted royal privilege? |
| The gospel, Luke 7:36-8:3, tells how a woman who was a "sinner" anointed the feet of Jesus. When the Pharisees objected to this, Jesus told a parable about how a creditor cancelled the debts of two people, one of whom owed much more that the other. The point is, that the one with the bigger debt would love the creditor more. Hence the woman who had been forgiven much showed greater love. Jesus then announced forgiveness to the woman and told her that her faith had saved her. The first verses of chap 8 names other women who joined the Jesus movement. |
| Was David fully repentant like the woman in Luke, or do members of the royal family get a pass when they commit adultery and thus lose only their child and not their own lives? Or is our suspicious attitude toward David as loveless as that of the Pharisees toward the woman who anointed Jesus' feet? |
The psalm for the day is Psalm 32.
Isa 65:1-9
| Isaiah 56-66 contains materials addressed to Israel after their return from the Babylonian exile, when the great promises of Isaiah 40-55 have not yet been fulfilled and when the community faces bitter internal strife and seems unresponsive to God's gracious deliverance. The lectionary has a surprising number of readings from this section--in the Epiphany season and elsewhere. |
| God's open invitation to God's people is expressed in vv 1-3a. God invites even when we show no interest in being invited, God seeks us when we do not seek God. God's love contradicts our hostility: God holds out his hands to a people who provoke him continually. |
| The specifics of the people's sins in vv 3b-5 are time specifice in the ancient setting: practicing syncretistic worship, offering offensive incense, spending the night in tombs (!), eating pork, and practicing a holier than thou attitude. Preachers will have to imagine what practices today might be similarly offensive to God. |
| Verses 6-7 pose the great dilemma. A just and righteous God has no alternative. God must repay people for their iniquities. God cannot keep silent. |
| Verses 8-9--continuing actually through v 16--show God's great "nevertheless." Despite all of these human provocations, God is not willing to throw out the whole "cluster." God will bring descendants from Jacob. God's words of acceptance refer to his audience as his "chosen." God's servants will indeed settle in Jerusalem. |
| Verse 16 is a beautiful picture of God's acceptance of his servants. People will take oaths by the God of faithfulness, or they will swear by the God of faithfulness. The former troubles are forgotten--our only hope is in a forgetful God!--and they are hidden from my sight. |
The psalm for the day is Ps 22:18-27
1 Kgs 19:15-16, 19-21
| The stories about Elijah begin in 1 Kgs 17:1 and continue through 2 Kgs 2, when he ascended to heaven in a chariot of fire. Elijah was a passionate advocate of Yahwistic monotheism and was in a constant battle with Ahab and Jezebel about the worship of Baal and social injustice (Naboth's vineyard (1 Kings 21). Elijah was convinced he was the only worshipper of Yahweh left (1 Kgs 19:14), but Yahweh assured him that there were 7,000, who had not yet bowed the knee to Baal (1 Kgs 19:18). |
| Verses 15-16 tell of Elijah's threefold commission to anoint Hazael king over Aram (or Syria), Jehu as king over Israel, and Elisha as his own replacement. It was actually Elisha who anointed Hazael (2 Kgs 8:7-15), and Elisha authorized one of his own attendants to anoint Jehu (2 Kgs 9:1-13). Elijah's call of Elisha takes place in 1 Kgs 19:19-21. In 2 Kgs 8:29 Joram the king of Israel was injured in a battle with Hazael of Damascus, and Ahaziah the king of Judah went to visit the injured king. During this visit they both were killed by the newly-crowned Jehu (2 Kgs 9:1-29). In the newly discovered "house of David" inscription, Hazael claims to have killed both Ahaziah and Joram. While his claim in regard to Ahaziah is puzzling, both he and Jehu might rightly have been able to claim some credit for the death of Joram. |
| The lectionary omits vv 17-18 which tell of the violent mission of those who were anointed. If Hazael did not kill someone, Jehu would. And if Jehu did not kill someone, Elisha would. Yahweh claims that he still had at least 7,000 devotees. |
| Elisha was a fairly wealthy farmer--plowing with twelve pairs of oxen. Elijah signals his call of Elisha by throwing his mantle on him. Elisha makes a seemingly reasonable request to say goodbye to his parents, but Elijah wants single-minded devotion. No time for goodbyes! |
| Elisha reverses himself, sacrifices the oxen, and shares the meat in a community sacrificial meal. Then he sets off to become Elijah's servant. |
| The gospel for the day, Luke 9:51-62, echoes the passage about Elisha. A would-be disciple of Jesus wanted to bury his father before following Jesus. Another also wanted to say goodbye to those at home. Jesus puts proclamation of the kingdom first. Let the dead bury the dead! No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom. How will preachers deal with the radicality of this call? |
The psalm for the day is Psalm 16
Isa 66:10-14
| See what was written about Isaiah 56-66 under 3rd Sunday after Pentecost. |
| The exhortation to rejoice with Jerusalem pictures Jerusalem in very maternal metaphors--nursing her citizens with an abundant supply of milk (v 11). The addressees will be carried and nursed like young children (v 12). The prosperity of all the nations of the world will flow to Jerusalem. |
| Yahweh is pictured in a maternal metaphor in v 13. Yahweh will comfort Jerusalem just as a mother comforts her child. "Comfort" can connote bringing Jerusalem's citizens home, rebuilding her ruins, or transforming her waste places into a virtual paradise (Isa 49:13; 51:3; 52:9; 54:11) |
| This part of Isaiah exudes both good and bad news: the hand of Yahweh is with his servants, and his indignation is against his enemies. While the "servant" in Second Isaiah (chaps 40-55) stands for Israel or the prophet himself, the word is used in the plural in Third Isaiah and refers to the righteous believers. |
The psalm for the day is Psalm 66:1-8
Deut 30:9-14
| This chapter is part of a sermon in the Deuteronomistic History, offering the exiled people restoration subsequent to their repentance (30:1-5). |
| Just as circumcision (originally) prepared young men for marriage, so Yahweh's circumcision of Israel's heart will ready them for new obedience (30:6-8). |
| Verse 9 promises restored Israel many blessings: numerous children, numerous cattle, bumper farm crops. Repentance is defined as turning to Yahweh with one's entire heart and soul (v 10). |
| Israel's task is not something exotic or esoteric (vv 11-14). Elsewhere the Deuteronomist sums it up this way: "Hear, O Israel: Yahweh is our God, Yahweh alone. You shall love Yahweh with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might." Deut 6:4-5. |
The psalm for the day is Psa 25:1-9
Gen 18:1-10a
| After various false starts--an attempt to adopt a servant in chap 15, siring a child via Hagar in chap 16--Sarah and Abraham are given the promise of a child, when he is 99 and she 89. |
| Yahweh appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre; three "men" actually showed up for Abraham and Sarah, who demonstrate lavish hospitality--baked goods, a fatted calf. Abraham stood by a tree as his guests ate. |
| Verse 10a gives the wonderful promise that they will be parents within a year. The lectionary wisely omits Sarah's laughing disbelief in vv 10b-15--no point emphasizing a stereotype! |
| The gospel, Luke 10:38-42, speaks of the hospitality of Mary and Martha as Jesus congratulates Mary and castigates Martha. Watch out for the stereotypes! |
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This wonderful sixth century mosaic from the church of St. Vitale in Ravenna depicts this pericope and the sacrifice of Isaac as a foreshadowing of the Eucharist. On the opposite wall, Melchizedek brings out bread and wine (get it?) for Abraham. |
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Note the tree by which Abraham stands has new growth grafted into it, symbolic of the relationship of Christianity and Judaism. Abraham presents the fatted calf (too small from my point of view). The three, Trinitarian guests have three Eucharistic hosts before them. On the right Abraham sacrifices Isaac, with the ram (lamb of God) looking on. Note the hand of God that reaches out from the sky to stop Abraham. Note the pious posture of Isaac, who here is truly a Christ figure. |
The psalm for the day is Psalm 15.