Category: Pentecost-12c

Luke 14:1-14 - Lectionary for Pentecost 12C

8/29/2019

8/29/19
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.

The Sabbath is a day of rest. Regular work is prohibited. Israelites in the time of Jesus, zealous to live a life pleasing to God, would evaluate all their actions to be sure not to work on the day of rest. This practice has continued to the point that, today, some synagogues leave the doors unlocked throughout the Sabbath, hire Gentiles to turn the lights on and off, to adjust the thermostat, and do whatever else might be work. Hopefully this comes from a genuine desire to live according to God’s will.

In Luke 14 Jesus violated the Sabbath as understood by the Pharisees, a group who desired to keep God’s laws. How? By healing a man. Should Jesus have waited until a different day? After all, it was a day of rest. Why would Jesus, claiming divine authority, do something that violated that principle of rest on the Sabbath?

If the Sabbath is a day of rest, it should be a day of relief from pain and suffering. It should be a day when we receive pleasure instead of discomfort. Jesus illustrates this by reminding his listeners that people will continue to provide food and water for livestock, will rescue an animal that is suffering, or will certainly rescue a person who is trapped and endangered. With his divine power, then, it is perfectly easy for Jesus to bring healing and relief to this man. He has made the Sabbath a day of rest instead of suffering.

The New Testament describes Jesus as the ultimate Sabbath, the one who gives rest from the suffering of our struggle against sin. He is the one who finally has brought those who believe him into a place of rest. This is not breaking the Sabbath. It is keeping the Sabbath. May the peace of God rule in your hearts and minds today and every day.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

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Hebrews 13:1-17 - Lectionary for Pentecost 12C

8/28/2019

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8/28/19
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.

A few years ago it was common to say that if you didn’t post a social media status about your workout, you didn’t exercise. There might even be a little truth to that. I, for example, have never posted a status from a gymnasium, except when I have been there for a purpose other than exercise. My physique may reflect it.

In Hebrews 13, the first five verses speak of caring for strangers and the poor, showing hospitality, caring for people who are imprisoned, guarding against sexual immorality, and being content. That’s a really big order! If we are busy about those matters we probably won’t have much time to get into any sort of trouble. It’s the kind of thing that should characterize the Christian life.

Uh-oh. This is beginning to look like a post that will lead to laying a guilt trip onto people who haven’t loved their neighbor like “this unbelievably spiritual and creative persyn who actually lives out their faith!” Let the wise reader understand the words in quotation marks. I’m not going to go there. You know why? It’s because the vast majority of Christians through a tremendous portion of history have poured out their lives, caring for strangers, feeding and clothing the hungry and poor, welcoming people into their homes, visiting those who are sick and in prison, living a healthy life within the bounds of marriage, and doing it all with remarkably little care about riches, honor, or social and political power! Have you not heard of them? In fact, you probably haven’t heard of the individuals, but you may know some of the institutions. This is by design.

Consider the charity hospital. Reflect on the orphanage that takes in troubled and sick children knowing that they may never be adopted. Think about the plague hospitals of bygone eras and in the developing world. We hear of organizations that gather just a few thousand dollars to build a school in the developing world. Do we ever think about the people who go and teach there for virtually no money, sometimes also not having adequate food out of concern for the students? What of the charitable legal defense fund which has top-notch lawyers who are working for a fraction of their value in the general market? What about the charitable program which seeks out safe water sources for villages using engineering techniques that would otherwise cost hundreds of thousands of dollars? We almost never hear of the people who are doing the work. Have no doubt. They are there, laboring away in obscurity, many of them motivated by the love of Christ for those in need. They wouldn’t post a self-glorifying status because they are too busy helping their neighbors. They have busied themselves with showing brotherly love. It’s what the world needs.

My prayer in writing this meditation on Hebrews 13 is that some of my readers, including myself, will find themselves more motivated to serve, less motivated to draw attention to themselves. May the Lord have mercy on us.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

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Psalm 131 - Lectionary for Pentecost 12C

8/27/2019

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8/27/19
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.

Our reading of Psalm 131 reminds me of the extraordinary nature of activism. Our world seems to have a lot of anxiety, largely fueled by outrage over things that most of us are not personally responsible for and that individually we are unable to change. Whether it’s the seven year old who feels responsible for shifts in worldwide ecosystems or the eighteen year old who is anxious because he can’t fully understand how Nietzsche would come to his conclusions and whether he is right or not, we have a world full of concerns which we, as individuals, can’t fix.

The Psalmist reflects on the contentment we can find when we deal with what is in our own domain. We work with what is ours to address. At times, we might have an opportunity to speak or act in a way that reaches farther, but most of us have very few, if any, of those chances. In general, we work within a much more limited framework.

Am I saying that the Bible advocates retreat and fatalistically leaving the job of world change to others, some sort of a ruling class? Not at all. What I’m saying is that the seven year old should not worry about worldwide ecosystems. She should plant some flowers, maybe grow some green beans, and delight in the fact that those plants provide for a world of animals, including herself and her family. She should also draw a nice picture of the bees buzzing around, and make it pretty with fairies and rainbows if she wants, because more is better. I’m saying that the eighteen year old should recognize that Nietzsche was describing the world in its fallenness and, when he looked only at earthly reality he saw something grim. Nietzsche really needed to open his mind to transcendence and the fact that there’s beauty and life all around us. Our eighteen year old friend can find that beauty.

Who knows? As we all work in our spheres of influence, a few people with outstanding gifts of God will have a larger influence. Maybe the little girl will end up showing her friends and family the beauty of having a peaceful little garden and caring for one another. Maybe she will wind up as a scientist who revolutionizes human transportation and efficient flight after observing bumblebees. Maybe she will find a way to feed millions of people better than ever before. And maybe she will make the world better by having a tea party in the flower garden with her little children. Maybe the teen philosopher will realize the world has too little of truth and beauty, and become an artist. Maybe he will decide to figure out why people are discouraged. Maybe he will revolutionize mental health practices. Maybe he will end up keeping things orderly in an office environment and encourage his co-workers around the coffee machine to find order out of chaos in their desks, in their families, and even in the civic soccer league.

If I set out to change the world I will fail. If I set out to care for something within my sphere of influence, I might fail, but I might succeed. If we all care for what is in our domain, we will end up making the world a better place. This is how most of us serve the Lord. We look to his redemptive love and we walk in it right where we are. Our hope is not in our ability to change things, but in the Lord, who has worked redemption and restoration for his people. He understands us and our world. Surely he can direct our paths today.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

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Proverbs 25:2-10 - Lectionary for Pentecost 12C

8/26/2019

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8/26/19
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.

Proverbs 25:7b-10 provides our society with a much-needed corrective. Here we are told not to be too quick to testify about something, realizing that there may be contrary witnesses, and we are told to keep disputes as private as we can. This flies in the face of a popular culture in which almost everyone has a videocamera in his pocket and already posts pictures of food before eating it. When someone is injured it seems all the onlookers are more intent on posting the injury on live social media than helping the person who was harmed. In cases of military or law enforcement activity we presume that the authorities are up to no good, acting in a discriminatory or oppressive manner, trying to abuse their power.

This is an arrogant attitude. While vigilance is appropriate, and while we want to bring a healthy skepticism to our interactions with others, especially when they have been known to abuse authority, we do not know the information the police officer does any more than he or she knows what we do. There may be a very good reason for someone to do what appears to be nonsense. We want to gather as many facts as we can before rushing to provide testimony, and especially before passing judgment.

In the end, we are assured that God is able to govern this world for the best. He uses our service, our testimony, our wisdom as we try to unravel a complicated story. But ultimately God is the authority. He will bring all our trials to their end in one way or another. We try to help those who are in trouble, rather than taking pictures of them. We try to respect authorities but we realize that they are almost as likely to abuse their abilities as we are. We try to render fair judgment, but we recognize that we will not know the whole truth from the start. Above all, we ask the Lord for wisdom and guidance. He alone can open our eyes to unravel the mysteries we see.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

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Luke 14:1-14 - Lectionary for Pentecost 12C

Hebrews 13:1-17 - Lectionary for Pentecost 12C

Psalm 131 - Lectionary for Pentecost 12C

Proverbs 25:2-10 - Lectionary for Pentecost 12C

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Luke 14:1-14 - Lectionary for Pentecost 12C

Hebrews 13:1-17 - Lectionary for Pentecost 12C

Psalm 131 - Lectionary for Pentecost 12C

Proverbs 25:2-10 - Lectionary for Pentecost 12C

​Help Fuel This Ministry by Clicking Here!

About Throwing Inkwells

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Categories

Help Fuel This Ministry by Clicking Here!