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Lectionary Notes
-20th Sunday after Pentecost
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sermon for this text)
Readings for
20th Sunday after Pentecost, 9/28/08:
Exodus 17:1-7, Psalm 78:1-4, 12-16, Philippians 2:1-13,
Matthew 21:23-32
Exodus 17:1-7:
- "wilderness of Sin" - great
image.
- Human nature is so perfectly
exhibited by the Israelites, isn't it? We tend to find things to gripe about
no matter what is going on in our lives. "They are almost ready to stone me,"
Moses admits. Perhaps pastors sometimes feel that way when trying to lead
congregations out of the wilderness and into the vision which God has laid
before the people. How can we get over our griping, count our blessings, and
forge ahead?
- The name, Massah and Meribah, is
summed up as indicating the question of the people, "Is the Lord among us or
not?" Hopefully, that should be a rhetorical question: the answer is yes. And
if God is among the people, then the people should respond, live, with faith.
Psalm 78:1-4, 12-16:
- "I will open my mouth in a parable" - I hadn't realized
that the word 'parable' appeared in the Old Testament. But it reminds us that
in Jesus' day, the people would have related to Jesus' style, more, perhaps,
than we are able to relate today.
- "We will not hide them from our children; we will tell
to the coming generation" - I like these verses that convey a sense of the
necessity to tell the story of a people, to make sure the history is known
through time and generations. We have a tendency to forget whole chunks of our
history, don't we, until we are repeating it!
- Verses 12-16 refer to the Israelites being led through
the Red Sea, into the wilderness, and receiving water to drink from the rock,
which ties in with our Old Testament reading.
Philippians 2:1-13:
- "if then there is any (fill in the blank) in Christ . .
. be of the same mind, having the same love." Paul says that whatever in
Christ there is, we should be like-minded. A good strategy!
- "did not regard equality
with God as something to be exploited" I find this such a unique statement.
Imagine if Christ had used his equality to exploit? What would that look like?
Perhaps this is what the devil was tempting
Christ to do - to exploit his equality.
- "emptied himself" Emptying
ourselves.
- "every knee should bend .
. . every tongue should confess." Hm. This is one of those passages often
used by people who are seeking to convert non-Christians and those of other
faith traditions as proof or encouragement about the task at hand. Frankly,
it makes me a bit uncomfortable. If the idea is that people will ultimately
be moved to worship Jesus even against their will, I'm not sure I'd want to
see that display...
- "work out your own salvation" -
this ends up being a very Wesleyan sentiment - obviously, Paul does not mean
that we save ourselves, but he means to remind us that we are active
participants in the justifying and sanctifying grace that should mark our
lives as people of faith.
Matthew
21:23-32:
- "by what authority" - the priests and elders want to
know why Jesus thinks he "has the right" to teach as he's teaching. Who is he?
Who's 'backing' him?
- I love this, this trick Jesus sets them up for. Jesus
himself knows the answer to his own question, doesn't he? But he traps them in
a way that makes it impossible to answer. I think Jesus was having a good time
here.
- Jesus says - it is more important what you do
than what your lips claim you believe. Did you hear that?
- "change your minds" from the Greek metemele^the^te,
which means "to repent" - this is not the typical word used for
repentance/"change of minds" in the New Testament. It is usually metanoeo^,
but the gist of the meaning is the same. But typically, NRSV translates
the meaning as "repent" as opposed to this more literal rendering (preferred
to me) of "change your minds."
Pastor’s Note: (I use the Greek-English
Lexicon from Liddell and Scott, the “little Liddell”
and the Metzger et. al Greek New Testament in my translation work.)
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