The Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany, 16 February 2014
Ecclesiasticus
15:15-20, or Deuteronomy 30:15-20
Psalm
119:1-8 (Aleph)
I
Corinthians 3:1-9
St.
Matthew 5:21-37
Background: The Apocrypha and the Revised Common Lectionary
When the Lectionary of
the Roman Church which resulted from the liturgical changes engendered by
Vatican II were widely adopted by both the Episcopal and Lutheran Churches, a
trickle of readings from the Apocrypha became available for use on Sundays and
Holy days. These works, not
included in the canon of the Hebrew Scriptures, were none-the-less used,
commented on, and mined by the early Christian community. With the repristination of all things
liturgical that was desired by the reformers, these books and their subsequent
inclusion in the lectionary were deleted from its collection. In both Lutheran and Episcopal
churches, however, the Apocrypha was always held as a collection worthy of
being read and included in the devotional life of Christians. Thus with the versions of the Roman
Lectionary that were included in the revisions by both Episcopalians and
Lutherans readings from the Apocrypha were retained. Indeed as the use expanded amongst Presbyterians and
Methodists, and other Christians as well, it was felt that the lectionary
needed to come into greater conformity, and the result was the Revised Common
Lectionary. Where apocryphal readings
are indicated for a day, such is this Sunday; alternatives are placed for those
who are uneasy using the apocryphal text.
Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 15:15-20
If you choose, you can keep the commandments,
and to act faithfully is a matter of your own choice.
He has placed before you fire and water;
stretch out your hand for whichever you choose.
Before each person are life and death,
and whichever one chooses will be given.
For great is the wisdom of the Lord;
he is mighty in power and sees everything;
his eyes are on those who fear him,
and he knows every human action.
He has not commanded anyone to be wicked,
and he has not given anyone permission to sin.
Unlike other books in the Bible, there is a
relative certainty as to who wrote this book, for he signed his name to
it. He is Jesus, son of Eleazar,
son of Sira, and he seems to have written this material around 180 BCE. Its contents are a defense of Judaism
in the face of over-whelming Hellenistic influence. Thus he lifts up the Wisdom of the ancient days, and of the
practice of Israel for the benefit of Jews living in Palestine or the
Diaspora. What results in our
reading for today is a discourse on the notion of free will. Notice in
the reading the multiple uses of the idea of choice: keeping the commandments,
faithfulness, fire and water, life and death. In a time of cultural upheaval, which the Hellenistic period
certainly represented, the ancient values are questioned and the decisions
about daily life and faithfulness are difficult. He is firm that God has not laid sin in our laps, but it is
our own choice over these things that need to be examined.
Breaking
open Ecclesiasticus:
1.
What
choices face you today?
2.
Are any
of them choices of a moral nature?
How?
3.
How will
you do God’s will?
Or
Deuteronomy 30:15-20
Moses said to all Israel the words which the Lord commanded him,
"See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and
adversity. If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I am
commanding you today, by loving the LORD your God, walking in his ways, and
observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and
become numerous, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land that you are
entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but are
led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them, I declare to you today
that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land that you are
crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. I call heaven and earth to witness
against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and
curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the LORD
your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and
length of days, so that you may live in the land that the LORD swore to give to
your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob."
The initial verse forms a model upon which Sirach
may have built his own argument: “See, I
have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity.” Although the word choice is not included here it is
certainly implied. This is not the
first time that such choices have been laid out before humankind. Indeed, in the primary narrative, the
creation stories, we have the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil planted in
the center of the garden. So the
Deuteronomist stresses our need to make moral choices in the world, and gives
us the example of the commandments, and faithfulness to YHWH to guide us in
both living and dying. This is a
covenantal moment, and like others before him, the author summons us to the
courtroom to hear the testimony of the witnesses – “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today.” Then we are urged to “choose life.” What follows in the Deuteronomist’s mind is life and “length of days, so that you may live in the
land.” Here we are aware that Israel stands at the cusp and on the border
of the Promised Land. What will
life be like there?
Breaking
open Deuteronomy:
1.
What
might the testimony of heaven and earth about you be like?
2.
How do
you know good from evil?
3.
How do
you choose life?
Psalm 119:1-8 Aleph: Beati immaculati
Happy are they whose way is blameless, *
who walk in the law of the LORD!
Happy are they who observe his decrees *
and seek him with all their hearts!
Who never do any wrong, *
but always walk in his ways.
You laid down your commandments, *
that we should fully keep them.
Oh, that my ways were made so direct *
that I might keep your statutes!
Then I should not be put to shame, *
when I regard all your commandments.
I will thank you with an unfeigned heart, *
when I have learned your righteous judgments.
I will keep your statutes; *
do not utterly forsake me.
 |
| Lucas Cranach the Elder - "Law and Grace" |
It may be that this psalm, a long acrostic in which
each section of eight lines of poetry begins with a letter of the Hebrew
alphabet, has a deep connection with the Book of Deuteronomy. It’s intents and purposes are parallel
to those of both the Deuteronomist and ben Sira. In its explication of the Law, the author wants to
reacquaint the reader with the fundamentals of Judaism. For this reason, many scholars date
this psalm sometime during the post-exilic period, when such a primer would be
necessary. The sources of this divine
instruction are many: law, decrees, ways, commandments, statutes, and
judgments. Here is the Wisdom that
was sought not only by Israel, but also by the ancient cultures that surrounded
them, and here was the Wisdom that would sustain them in less than charitable
times. It was a bargain, “I will keep your statutes; do not utterly
forsake me.”
Breaking
open Psalm 119:
- What do you learn from the Ten Commandments?
- Would you add any?
What might they be?
- What stringent rules do you have for yourself?
1 Corinthians 3:1-9
Brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but
rather as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not
solid food, for you were not ready for solid food. Even now you are still not
ready, for you are still of the flesh. For as long as there is jealousy and
quarreling among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving according to human
inclinations? For when one says, "I belong to Paul," and another,
"I belong to Apollos," are you not merely human?
What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to
believe, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave
the growth. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything,
but only God who gives the growth. The one who plants and the one who waters
have a common purpose, and each will receive wages according to the labor of
each. For we are God's servants, working together; you are God's field, God's
building.
 |
| Maurice de Vlaminck - "The Gardener" |
This morning we resume our continuing reading from
I Corinthians. Wisdom is on our
minds here, especially remember last Sunday’s reading where Paul speaks of that
“hidden wisdom” that emanates from
the Spirit, and calls the Christian community to Christ. Paul wants the Corinthians to
understand that he is not only a recipient of that wisdom but also a dispenser
of the same. Why is he alone the
possessor? “I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for solid
food.” The gift of the Spirit
is strong stuff and the behaviors of the Corinthian congregation give evidence
of their immaturity, “there is jealousy
and quarreling among you.” Thus
Paul, the teacher and mentor, reminds the reader of his goal and purpose, and
of what must be both learned and kept.
The metaphor of the gardener and the garden is perfect here. There is a common purpose for both.
Breaking
open I Corinthians:
- How do you judge the maturity of your faith?
- In what ways are you an infant?
- What goals for maturity do you have?
St. Matthew 5:21-37
Jesus said, "You have heard that it was said to those of ancient
times, `You shall not murder'; and `whoever murders shall be liable to
judgment.' But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you
will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be
liable to the council; and if you say, `You fool,' you will be liable to the
hell of fire. So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember
that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there
before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then
come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are
on the way to court with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge,
and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Truly I tell
you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.
"You have heard that it was said, `You shall not commit adultery.'
But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already
committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin,
tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members
than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes
you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of
your members than for your whole body to go into hell.
"It was also said, `Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a
certificate of divorce.' But I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife,
except on the ground of unchastity, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever
marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
"Again, you have heard that it was said to those of ancient times,
`You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the
Lord.' But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the
throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for
it is the city of the great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot
make one hair white or black. Let your word be `Yes, Yes' or `No, No'; anything
more than this comes from the evil one.
Again we have a
collection of separate pericopes in this reading that follow the Great
Instruction that begins with the Beatitudes:
1. 5:21-26:
Instruction on Anger
2. 5:27-30:
Instruction on Adultery
3. 5:31-32:
Instruction on Marriage
4. 5:33-37:
Instruction on Oaths
Anger:
The verse “If you bring your offering to the altar…”
was a verse that preceded the offering of peace in a liturgy from the Worship
Supplement, a trial liturgy used in the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod in
the late 1960s. I vividly recall
its use and a subsequent reaction when after the celebrant recited the verse
and called upon us to share the peace, the professor sitting next to me greeted
me and then left in haste. I need
to mention that this was during the period of time when the Missouri Synod was
in great turmoil, with professors at Concordia Seminary, Saint Louis, being
questioned about their faithfulness and teaching. After the Mass, I sought out the professor and asked why he
had left before the communion. He
explained that he had not made his
peace with another professor who was accusing him of false teaching. He could not, he felt, participate in
the Eucharist, until he had reconciled with his brother professor.
Adultery
It is a bit specious to
say that this pericope is about adultery, when really the import is that we
cannot keep the law. It was Jimmy
Carter that lifted up this particular teaching when he was President. Try as we might to keep the statutes of
the Law we will “miss the mark.” Jesus’ comments about throwing away
parts of our body (our life, our existence) that cause us to sin are sort of a
reverse creation. Better that the
Spirit blow new life in us so that we can walk with God.
Marriage
Jesus is the true radical
here in that he seeks to get at the radix
(the root) of what the ancient teaching.
If he is put against the teachings of Moses, as the Pharisees and
Sadducees will do, Jesus shows that he can out-Moses anybody. The commandments of God set a high
bar. Who can jump it?
Oaths
In making our argument to
our fellows we often resort to institutions and existence well outside of
ourselves. Watching anything in
culture these days have seen these entities pummeled into dust by our unknowing
use of them. Better a “Yes” or a “No”,
Jesus says. But that would be
difficult in our time when “Yes” is a shill for “No” and visa versa. The promises of our culture and our
commerce are empty and demeaning, and yet we seek after them. Jesus calls us to simplicity of life
and meaning.
Breaking open Gospel:
1. How do you attempt to keep the Commandment?
2. What is your idea of human perfection?
3. Is it possible? Why or why
not?
After
breaking open the Word, you might want to pray the Collect for Sunday:
O God, the strength of all who
put their trust in you: Mercifully accept our prayers; and because in our
weakness we can do nothing good without you, give us the help of your grace,
that in keeping your commandments we may please you both in will and deed;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy
Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
All questions and commentary copyright © 2014,
Michael T. Hiller
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