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Mark 7:31-37 - Lectionary for Pentecost 16B

9/6/2018

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9/6/18
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 Gospel passage from Mark 7:31-37 shows Jesus acting in love for his neighbor. He does this by bringing healing through very earthly means. After bringing the deaf man away by himself he engages in some very  tactile actions. He touches the man’s ears and his tongue. Here Jesus also spits, which people try to interpret in many different ways. What is he doing? So far, everything Jesus has done can be understood by the deaf man. And the deaf man can agree with Jesus’ actions. When the fingers go in his ears he agrees that he can’t hear. When the finger t ouches the tongue he agrees that he has trouble speaking. But what does Jesus do next? He makes a command to the man’s ears. “Be opened.” Of course, the man cannot hear this command. He isn’t trying to hear. After all, he is deaf.

Jesus does what is impossible for this man. He opens his ears and frees his speech by his command. It’s a command which the man can’t even receive. Yet Jesus’ word is powerful.

What does Jesus do in his people and in the world? By his gracious word of command he gives life by creating faith to hear him. By his mercy he places us in a world where sick people recover, where food and water are generally readily available, and where we normally get along with one another relatively well. By his love he raises up those who will proclaim God’s words of Law and Gospel, calling us to sorrow for our sin and toreceive forgiveness, life, and salvation by grace through faith. God in Christ is good to this world, even when we don’t wish to listen to him. He cares regardless. Just like he can heal the deaf man through a word of command, he can bring the spiritually dead to life by the Gospel.

Our response? Believe that Jesus can really work in us, just as He did in the deaf man. He is faithful.

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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James 2:1-10, 14-18 - Lectionary for Pentecost 16B

9/5/2018

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9/5/18
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 letter of James in the New Testament gets a lot of bad press. Theologicans of a more literal bent like to portray it as contradictory to Paul’s writings. After all, they say, James teaches a dependence on works, while Paul asserts that salvation is by grace through faith alone. What’s more, they say, pointing the skewer straight at a Lutheran, Luther didn’t really trust James. Ha! Take that!

Let’s unpack this situation for a moment. James was one of the writings which was slower than some to be recognized by Christians. That was not due to any concerns about the content. On the contrary, because the name “James” was very common, and because the letter was not altogether well identified, it was slow to be adopted. It became recognized as canonical on the strength of the content, rather than becaue of a known author.

What about Luther, then? Granted, Martil Luther was on the forefront, the cutting edge, of the Reformation. He didn’t use James very much, but he was very familiar with the text. There’s no doubt about it. He translated it carefully into German. Luther’s hesitation, again, was not due to the content but due to the fact that the author was unidentified.

How about the alleged argument between James and Paul? Please read Ephesians 2:8-10 and note that verse 10 follows immediately on the heels of verses 8-9. Christians are saved by grace through faith, with the intent that they will do good works. After all, God, the one who is good, likes good works since they are good.

How does that reconcile with James? James never asserts salvation by works. But in chapter 2 verse 18 he says he is unable to show his faith apart from works. So he does good works. After all, they are good. They are used to care for our neighbor and our world.

What will we do, then? We hold to faith in Jesus. That living faith expresses itself in good works toward our neighbor. The Scripture is consistent.

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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Isaiah 35:4-7a - Lectionary for Pentecost 16B

9/4/2018

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9/4/18
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 Old Testament reading from Isaiah 35:4-7a brings encouragement to those who fear. I expect if we are honest with ourselves we can all name times when we had little or no hope. We felt overwhelmed. And in those situations we wanted to run and hide. This is why in verse 4 the person addressed is usually called “fearful” or “timid.” By the way, I do have to say that of all the translations I surveyed, the Christian Standard translation of “cowardly” seems the most extreme. Most of us could say we have never been cowards, but we can freely admit to being timid or frightened at times. Let’s stay there.

What hope do we have when we are afraid? Well, what do we normally do in our normal daily lives when we are afraid? We call upon help which can ease the fear. Sometimes that means we lock the door because there are sometimes criminals in our neighborhood. Sometimes that means we call for a friend or relative because we find safety in numbers, especially against the arachnid climbing up our walls. Sometimes we call the police, the doctor, or the lawyer. We need a special kind of help or protection that we wouldn’t have on our own. That’s what we do. We call out for help.

In Isaiah 35, God is the one who comes to the aid of his people. He brings “vengeance” or “retribution.” But let’s notice what kind of work that is. He makes the deaf hear. He makes the blind see. He brings speech to those who couldn’t speak. He makes the lame able to leap and dance. He provides water where there was none before. This doesn’t sound quite like the way we usually get vengeance. What’s God doing? He is correcting the situation which would cause us to call out for help. That’s all he is doing. He sees and understands our frailty. He knows what troubles us. He comes and takes care of it.

When we are in trouble, big trouble or little trouble, we can call out to God in Christ. He is ready to answer our call and take care of us in our trouble. He’s that kind of a God.

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 146 - Lectionary for Pentecost 16B

9/3/2018

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9/3/18
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.

Who are you going to trust? Psalm 146 reflects on this topic. There are some in our world who we wouldn’t want to trust. Yet occasionally we are surprised, very surprised. I have a vivid recollection of a conversation I once had with someone, a complete stranger at the time. In his appearance he might have been homeless, someone left behind by society. Then again, he might have been a university professor. It’s always possible. He asked me probably the most intelligent question I had heard in that entire month. Other times I’ve needed to turn to people who show all the signs of being mentally disturbed, intoxicated, and quite lost in order to ask directions or other little bits of advice. Really? Do you know what city you are in? And I just asked you to tell me how  the subway system works? You might have told me about an airport in another state, for all I know.

Eventually we end up trusting people, even people we don’t think are very trustworthy. The fact is, in most mundane situations, we won’t go so badly wrong. It’s pretty likely that we can find the library, that someone will know which direction is which, or that the nice person at the library reference desk will actually come up with a right answer to the more intricate question.

But in our Psalm, we are told not to trust in the nobility, humans who seem gifted and well placed. Why is this? Are they all out to cheat us? No, counter to what might be a popular statement in today’s Western world, they aren’t all a bunch of terrible cheats. Many times I’ve had high school students tell me that they don’t trust politicians of any sort. They all have bad motives and just want to destroy society. I have to disagree. In fact, though their policies and actions might have a harmful effect, at least some of the time, I have hardly ever met anyone who is actually intending to ruin our world. It’s simply that I would often disagree with the methods of their intended improvements.

That’s the issue with trusting in the nobles. They are humans just like we are. They may wish to do good, but it’s altogether possible that harm will come when they intended good. Then again, good may come of their efforts. They aren’t reliable. That’s exactly the problem.

In contrast to these human authorities, the Psalmist urges dependence on God. He is the one who is eternal, who understands all about the created order, who lasts forever and always wants to bring good. He rescues the righteous. He cares for the oppressed. Even when we got ourselves into these messes, he is the one who brings us out of harm’s way.

What about those times when it seems God’s help was too little or too late? That’s when we need to realize that this is the God who works outside of our own constraints. He may care perfectly well for people in eternity, though things look pretty bad for them just now. He sometimes rescues the oppressed of this world by taking them out of this world. He allows suffering and trouble sometimes so that we can see how bad it really is, then we can develop a true desire for goodness and mercy. And God is the one who has plent of that.

Yes, we look to the Lord, who is able to care for all this world.

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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