The Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 17, 30 August 2015
Song of Solomon
2:8-13
Psalm 45:1-2, 7-10
Or
Deuteronomy 4:1-2,
6-9
Psalm 15
James 1:17-27
St. Mark 7:1-8,
14-15, 21-23
Background: The
Holiness Code
Although the Holiness Code refers to a specific section of
the Book of Leviticus (see Leviticus 17-26) the general tenor of the Law
commends this as a good place to understand the purity laws of Judaism, which
Laws both Moses and Jesus make comment on. The breadth of the Holiness Code
covers a multitude of things: the sacred nature of blood, sexual behaviors,
general behavior, punishment for sins, the purity of priests, holy days and
Passover, Pentecost, New Year’s Day, the Day of Atonement, the Feast of
Booths, Aspects of the
Tabernacle/Temple, the Sabbatical Year, the Jubilee Year and its customs, and
finally what comes with obedience to the Law, and disobedience as well
(Blessings and Curses). These provisions have a special interest in the
political and religious conversations of our time, but the ones that are
especially noted in are time seem limited to the provisions for sexual purity.
The code seems to be a product of the compilers of the Priestly strand of the
Torah, and owe some influence to the civil codes of the cultures that
surrounded Israel. There are other writings in the Bible with which one might
compare it, namely the 22nd Chapter of Ezekiel, the Covenant Code (Exodus 20:19
– 23:33), and the Deuteronomic Code (Deuteronomony12-26). From the standpoint
of the biblical student, the Lay Reader, or from the Deacon or Priest, it might
be a good study habit to reacquaint oneself with these codes, their
similarities and their differences. Just being a good citizen would demand it.
Song of Solomon
2:8-13
The voice of my beloved!
Look, he comes,
leaping upon the mountains,
bounding over the hills.
My beloved is like a gazelle
or a young stag.
Look, there he stands
behind our wall,
gazing in at the windows,
looking through the lattice.
My beloved speaks and says to me:
“Arise, my love, my fair one,
and come away;
for now the winter is past,
the rain is over and gone.
The flowers appear on the earth;
the time of singing has come,
and the voice of the turtledove
is heard in our land.
The fig tree puts forth its figs,
and the vines are in blossom;
they give forth fragrance.
Arise, my love, my fair one,
and come away.”
Broad
in terms of its composition (sometime between the fourth and second century
BCE), and in its cultural sources (there are many examples of similar
literature in Egypt and Mesopotamia), the book must be taken at face value, and
each contribution examined for what it proposes to give. Our reading is the
so-called “Fifth Poem” (2:8-17). With this
pericope we begin to see an example of a fully formed song, not just the
fragment of one. The phrase “my beloved” is repeated often (five times) and
grants a cohesiveness to the song. We meet characters, the gazelle (the male
lover), “my darling, my fair one” (the female lover. It is not only love that
is celebrated here, but the season attuned to it – springtime.
Breaking
open the Song of Solomon:
- Why do you think this is in the Bible?
- What might this love be a metaphor of?
- Have you ever written a poem about one you loved?
Psalm 45:1-2, 7-10
Eructavit cor meum
My heart is stirring with a noble song;
let me recite what I have fashioned for the king; *
my tongue shall be the pen of a skilled writer.
You are the fairest of men; *
grace flows from your lips,
because God has blessed you for ever.
Your throne, O God, endures for ever and ever, *
a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom;
you love righteousness and hate iniquity.
Therefore God, your God, has anointed you *
with the oil of gladness above your fellows.
All your garments are fragrant with myrrh, aloes, and cassia, *
and the music of strings from ivory palaces makes you glad.
Kings' daughters stand among the ladies of the court; *
on your right hand is the queen,
adorned with the gold of Ophir.
The tune to this psalm may be "lilies", if we are
take the ascription literally. It accompanies the love song from the Song of
Solomon well, for it seems to be a love song performed on the occasion of the
king's marriage to a foreign princess. You might want to read the entire psalm
to get the drift of its meaning and the beauty of its words. Unusual in this
psalm is the praise that the author heaps upon himself, "my tongue shall
be the pen of a skilled writer." Verse seven presents us with some
difficulty. Is it God's throne, as the BCP translation seems to imply, or might
it be the throne royal. Robert Alter translates it as; "Your throne of God
is forevermore,"[1] which would
continue the royal focus of the poem. Some commentators feel that this psalm is
actually the work of the royal court, perhaps Solomon’s.
Breaking open Psalm
45:
1. Why is the king glorified in this psalm?
2. What is the relationship of the psalm to God?
3. In whom do you see beauty?
Or
Deuteronomy 4:1-2,
6-9
Moses said: So now, Israel, give heed to the statutes and ordinances
that I am teaching you to observe, so that you may live to enter and occupy the
land that the LORD, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. You must neither
add anything to what I command you nor take away anything from it, but keep the
commandments of the LORD your God with which I am charging you.
You must observe them diligently, for this will show your wisdom and
discernment to the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say,
"Surely this great nation is a wise and discerning people!" For what
other great nation has a god so near to it as the LORD our God is whenever we
call to him? And what other great nation has statutes and ordinances as just as
this entire law that I am setting before you today?
But take care and watch yourselves closely, so as neither to forget the
things that your eyes have seen nor to let them slip from your mind all the
days of your life; make them known to your children and your children's
children.
Last Sunday we reviewed the story of Joshua and his urging
the people to remain faithful to the covenant with YHWH. This Sunday, we hear
Moses’ urging the same thing. What we have is a homily that moves us from the
introductory material of Deuteronomy to the main part of the work. The word in
our translation, “give heed” is the
word Shema, the first verb in the
great confession of Israel, “Hear, O
Israel…” The verb asks us to listen, or to understand what is to follow. There is purpose to Moses’
instructions, “so that you may live to
enter and occupy the land that YHWH, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. There
are consequences to this listening and taking heed.
The author/editor of this tradition has Moses warn the
people to neither add nor subtract anything from these laws. Since this was
most likely written later in the seventh century BCE, the laws that are
reported here have been refurbished and edited for the present situation;
therefore it is logical to request that no further changes be made. There is
another interesting argument that is made and that is the one that appeals to
the wisdom of these laws. Israel did not exist in the midst of other cultures
that had no such codified law – to the contrary, they existed in the midst of a
magnificent tradition of law making. Here the argument is that the people
should be proud of their own legal tradition and writing, the gift of YHWH.
Breaking open Deuteronomy
1. How did you learn what was “right” and what
was “wrong”?
2. What role does the Ten Commandments play in
your life?
3. What is the wisdom of the Law?
Psalm 15 Domine, quis
habitabit?
LORD, who may dwell in your tabernacle? *
who may abide upon your holy hill?
Whoever leads a blameless life and does what is right, *
who speaks the truth from his heart.
There is no guile upon his tongue;
he does no evil to his friend; *
he does not heap contempt upon his neighbor.
In his sight the wicked is rejected, *
but he honors those who fear the LORD.
He has sworn to do no wrong *
and does not take back his word.
He does not give his money in hope of gain, *
nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.
Whoever does these things *
shall never be overthrown.
 |
| Dürer - The Sun of Righteousness |
Some have seen in these verses a qualifying set of questions
given to those would “abide upon your
holy hill.” This seems unlikely, however. It seems to be a concise
rehearsal of God’s law – a summary if you will recount that makes for
righteousness. The author describes to the hearer “the blameless life.” First there is concern for the neighbor,
either speaking badly of him or her, or doing no evil nor insulting them. This
seems to be the main focus of the psalm, this righteousness that is bestowed
upon a fellow human being. Bribery
is proscribed, and usury is condemned. Such behaviors are described as giving
the righteous man or woman a stature honored by God.
Breaking open Psalm
15:
1. What does righteousness mean to you?
2. How are you righteous?
3. How do you honor your neighbor?
James 1:17-27
Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above,
coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or
shadow due to change. In fulfillment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the
word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures.
You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen,
slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God's
righteousness. Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of
wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to
save your souls.
But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive
themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like
those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on
going away, immediately forget what they were like. But those who look into the
perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget
but doers who act-they will be blessed in their doing.
If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but
deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and
undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in
their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
How wonderful to have a series of readings from the Book of
James, which Martin Luther condemned as “that strawy epistle.” Very little is
known about the date of the book, but there seems to be some consensus that
James is likely the author. Some see the book as predating Paul, while others
see Pauline influence in the writing. The final opinion is divided. The theme
of the book is “Wisdom” and it is shown in a variety of “essays” devoted to
aspects of wisdom. The magnificence of the initial scene of our pericope is
stunning, “coming down from the Father of
lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” These
thoughts frame the wisdom that is to be granted to the reader. The language
that follows almost mirrors Moses’ Shema,
“be quick to listen” and before that “you
must understand.” The author contrasts hearing with doing, and advocates
for the doing – namely “to care for
orphans and widows in their distress.” It is not all altruism, however, for
the reader is cautioned to “keep oneself
unstained by the world.”
Breaking open James:
1. How do you do Christianity?
2. How do you understand Christianity?
3. How do you care for others as a Christian?
St. Mark 7:1-8,
14-15, 21-23
Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from
Jerusalem gathered around Jesus, they noticed that some of his disciples were
eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. (For the Pharisees,
and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus
observing the tradition of the elders; and they do not eat anything from the
market unless they wash it; and there are also many other traditions that they
observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.) So the Pharisees and
the scribes asked him, "Why do your disciples not live according to the
tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?" He said to them, "Isaiah
prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written,
'This people honors me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
in vain do they worship me,
teaching human precepts as doctrines.'
You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition."
Then he called the crowd again and said to them, "Listen to me,
all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a person that by going in
can defile, but the things that come out are what defile. For it is from
within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft,
murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander,
pride, folly. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a
person."
In a way, this pericope (and I advise you to read it in its
entirety, rather than just relying on the snippets that the lectionary provides
– see here) sits on the cusp of
the great healing journeys in Galilee, and what follows in Jesus’ experience
with Gentiles. We begin with the critical attitudes of the Pharisees who
condemn what they see as a lax observance of the Mosaic Law. Jesus sees it as
an opportunity to make commentary on the Law and its place in human life. He
quotes Isaiah 29:13 as a comeback
to their assertion that all of Israel, priest and people, needed to follow the
precepts of the Holiness Code. Jesus wants his audience to understand that it
is not external things or forces that make people impure, and Mark then
provides a list of those things, which actually do provide for an unclean life.
It is a perfect example how early Christianity adopted certain Stoic means of
instruction. This use of Hellenistic devices prepares the reader for the next
pericope, which is the story of the Syrophoenician Woman.
Breaking open the
Gospel:
1. What do you think makes you clean?
2. What defiles you?
3. How do you guard yourself against what makes
you unclean?
After breaking open
the Word, you might want to pray the Collect for Sunday:
Lord of all power and might, the author and giver of all
good things: Graft in our hearts the love of your Name; increase in us true
religion; nourish us with all goodness; and bring forth in us the fruit of good
works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the
Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen.
Questions and comments copyright © 2015, Michael T. Hiller
[1]Alter,
R. (2009), The Book of Psalms: A
Translation with Commentary, W.W. Norton & Company, New York, Kindle
Location 3947.
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