The Fifth Sunday after The Epiphany - 6 February 2011
Isaiah 58:1-12
Psalm 112
I Corinthians 2:1-16
Saint Matthew 5:13-20
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| Sargent - "Prophetic Frieze" |
BACKGROUND – The Prophets II
As we became students of the Scriptures when we were children, we were brought into an understanding of biblical events and characters that were unique and peculiar to Israel. If we continued our biblical studies, we may have become aware of the shared culture that our Scriptures represent. Was the prophetic office unique to the religion of Yahweh? It appears that it was not, with prophetic offices being seen in Canaanite, Mesopotamian, and Egyptian cultures and cults. Often the prophetic office was a part of the royal household, providing guidance about political decisions, and divining what it was that the god desired. Other prophetic callings were known as well, not all of them having a royal or cult sanction. Ecstatic prophets were also known in Israel (see I Samuel 10:5-7, 10-13) as well as in Phoenicia. The office of prophet was often combined (confused) with that of the priest. Samuel seems to have functioned in both capacities, and both prophets and priests are seen in the ancient cultic sites of Israel. Does this somehow diminish the role and integrity of the prophets in our theology and scriptures? If anything, it underscores how deeply bedded biblical culture is in the culture of its time, and how thoroughly human the “God Talk” of any time is.
Isaiah 58:1-12
Thus says the high and lofty one
who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
Shout out, do not hold back!
Lift up your voice like a trumpet!
Announce to my people their rebellion,
to the house of Jacob their sins.
Yet day after day they seek me
and delight to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that practiced righteousness
and did not forsake the ordinance of their God;
they ask of me righteous judgments,
they delight to draw near to God.
"Why do we fast, but you do not see?
Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice? "
Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day,
and oppress all your workers.
Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight
and to strike with a wicked fist.
Such fasting as you do today
will not make your voice heard on high.
Is such the fast that I choose,
a day to humble oneself?
Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush,
and to lie in sackcloth and ashes?
Will you call this a fast,
a day acceptable to the LORD?
Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of injustice,
to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them,
and not to hide yourself from your own kin?
Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up quickly;
your vindicator shall go before you,
the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer;
you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am.
If you remove the yoke from among you,
the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,
if you offer your food to the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,
then your light shall rise in the darkness
and your gloom be like the noonday.
The LORD will guide you continually,
and satisfy your needs in parched places,
and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water,
whose waters never fail.
Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
the restorer of streets to live in.
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| The Ascetic Buddha |
We have no great traditions of fasting in our culture (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant Culture). When Lent rolls around many among us will give up chocolate or television. In post-exilic Israel, this latter Isaiah is instructing the people on the meaning of fasting, allowing them to participate in the privations of their ancestors. This Isaiah, however, adds another twist. It is not enough to symbolically repeat the destitution of former times, but rather the people are called upon to give up, so that other who has nothing may simply have. Giving up bread, so that my sister or brother might have bread makes for a more complete picture of fasting. What do the wealthy get out of this transaction? The poor get the bread of those who have bread, and the wealthy get the patience of the poor, who wait on the Lord to hear their cry. Such shared humility, patiently observed, allows God to shine in our midst as a great deliverer. This notion of fasting might give us some ideas come Lent, and serves as an expansion of what Micah attempted to teach us last Sunday.
The last verses provide an interesting note about when this was written. The notes on fasting are evocative of a time, when several prophets were keen to restore the faith of the people. There are more striking clues, however, when the prophet describes the state of Jerusalem: “Your ancient ruins shall be built up…the restorer of streets to live in.” The rebuilding of the Temple was only in 515 BCE, and the restoration of the walls of Jerusalem around 445 BCE (see Nehemiah 6:15). The prophet uses the very situation of the city to talk about the promise of a God who visits humankind even in the most lowly and disheartening of situations.
Breaking open Isaiah:
- Do you ever fast? Why?
- Have you ever thought about contributing what you do not eat to someone who has nothing?
- What do the poor give to you?
Psalm 112 Beatus vir
Hallelujah!
Happy are they who fear the Lord *
and have great delight in his commandments!
Their descendants will be mighty in the land; *
the generation of the upright will be blessed.
Wealth and riches will be in their house, *
and their righteousness will last for ever.
Light shines in the darkness for the upright; *
the righteous are merciful and full of compassion.
It is good for them to be generous in lending *
and to manage their affairs with justice.
For they will never be shaken; *
the righteous will be kept in everlasting remembrance.
They will not be afraid of any evil rumors; *
their heart is right;
they put their trust in the Lord.
Their heart is established and will not shrink, *
until they see their desire upon their enemies.
They have given freely to the poor, *
and their righteousness stands fast for ever;
they will hold up their head with honor.
The wicked will see it and be angry;
they will gnash their teeth and pine away; *
the desires of the wicked will perish.
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| Queen Esther |
Psalm 112 is both an acrostic, each line representing a character of the Hebrew alphabet, and it is a Wisdom psalm as well. As such it represents a tradition from which Jesus drew the beatitudes, which we read last Sunday. Like the beatitudes, this psalm points out the virtues of the righteous person. Verse 2 is better translated as “A great figure (hero) in the land his seed shall be”. This righteous human looms large and not for just a lifetime, but in the generations that follow as well. The righteousness of these people is so firm that they “will not be afraid of any evil rumors” – such rumors could not even be entertained by those around them. The tenth verse seems harsh, but it is a common feature in Wisdom Psalms, in which a comparison is presented to those who live in righteousness. The verse makes clear the fate of those who do not choose to live in righteousness.
Breaking open Psalm 15
1. Who are the heroes in your life?
2. What makes them a hero for you?
3. What does it mean to say that someone is “righteous”?
I Corinthians 2:l1-16
When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come proclaiming the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I came to you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.
Yet among the mature we do speak wisdom, though it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to perish. But we speak God's wisdom, secret and hidden, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written,
"What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the human heart conceived,
what God has prepared for those who love him" --
these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For what human being knows what is truly human except the human spirit that is within? So also no one comprehends what is truly God's except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us by God. And we speak of these things in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual things to those who are spiritual.
Those who are unspiritual do not receive the gifts of God's Spirit, for they are foolishness to them, and they are unable to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. Those who are spiritual discern all things, and they are themselves subject to no one else's scrutiny.
"For who has known the mind of the Lord
so as to instruct him?"
But we have the mind of Christ.
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| William Bouguereau |
From this, Paul leads us to understand the next stage of development, where the “infants”, new to the workings of the Spirit and still enthralled by the world, are slowly led to a maturity in the Spirit, where they become “perfected.” He makes this argument to convince the Corinthians that just because they might have spiritual gifts (charismatic gifts) they are not at the end of their apprenticeship. In these dichotomies, Paul teaches the Corinthians about the progress of Christian life.
Breaking open I Corinthians:
- How much are you a “material” man or woman, and how much of your life is “in the Spirit”?
- Are you an “infant” in your Christianity, or are you coming into “perfection”?
- Do you have any spiritual gifts?
Saint Matthew 5:13-20
Jesus said, "You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot.
"You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.
"Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."
The reading for this morning is actually two pericopes (sections) of Matthew. The first is a section of teaching to the disciples, describing what their effect ought to be in the world. The images are startling and real: salt and light – both immediately perceivable in our senses. Salt might become mingled with other substances (especially true in the ancient world) and not be effective as a flavor enhancer or as a preservative. Light can become hidden. The disciples, then, are to “out there” salty and filled with light – visible, tasty, and evident to all around them.
The second pericope wrestles with the Law, specifically, as Jesus would say, “the law and the prophets”. In other words, Jesus is teaching a lesson on what the whole of Scripture means, and his role over against those writings. The important distinction is that Jesus is not a negation of the Law, but rather a “perfection” or “completion” of the Law (see the comments on Paul’s descriptions of the stages of Christian development in the comments on the Second Lesson). Unlike the Pharisees who had parsed the law out into some 613 discrete observances, Jesus sees no such distinctions; all are of equal gravity. The Christian task is the perfection or completion of the law, “unless your righteousness exceeds…”.
Breaking open the Gospel:
- How is your church “salty”, and how is it a light set up on a hill?
- How could you make your life in Christ (and in the Church) saltier?
- How do your deeds exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees?
After breaking open the Word, you might want to pray the Collect for Sunday:
Set us free, O God, from the bondage of our sins, and give us the liberty of that abundant life which you have made known to us in your Son our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
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