Season after Pentecost Proper 20 (25) September 22, 2013 Year C

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1 Season after Pentecost Proper 20 (25) September 22, 2013 Year C Br Carl Reginald Hooker, OP 1 1

2 Sunday - (September 22, 2013) 2 o o o First reading and Psalm o Jeremiah 8:18-9:1 o Psalm 79:1-9 Second reading o 1 Timothy 2:1-7 Gospel o Luke 16:1-13 Jeremiah 8:18-9:1 8:18 My joy is gone, grief is upon me, my heart is sick. 8:19 Hark, the cry of my poor people from far and wide in the land: "Is the LORD not in Zion? Is her King not in her?" ("Why have they provoked me to anger with their images, with their foreign idols?") 8:20 "The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved." 8:21 For the hurt of my poor people I am hurt, I mourn, and dismay has taken hold of me. 8:22 Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the health of my poor people not been restored? 9:1 O that my head were a spring of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears, so that I might weep day and night for the slain of my poor people! Psalm 79:1-9 79:1 O God, the nations have come into your inheritance; they have defiled your holy temple; they have laid Jerusalem in ruins. 79:2 They have given the bodies of your servants to the birds of the air for food, the flesh of your faithful to the wild animals of the earth. 79:3 They have poured out their blood like water all around Jerusalem, and there was no one to bury them. 79:4 We have become a taunt to our neighbors, mocked and derided by those around us. 79:5 How long, O LORD? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealous wrath burn like fire? 79:6 Pour out your anger on the nations that do not know you, and on the kingdoms that do not call on your name. 79:7 For they have devoured Jacob and laid waste his habitation. 79:8 Do not remember against us the iniquities of our ancestors; let your compassion come speedily to meet us, for we are brought very low. 79:9 Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name; deliver us, and forgive our sins, for your name's sake. 1 Timothy 2:1-7 2:1 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, 2:2 for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity. 2:3 This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 2:4 who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 2:5 For there is one God; there is also one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus, himself human, 2:6 who gave himself a ransom for all--this was attested at the right time. 2:7 For this I was appointed a herald and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. 2 Revised Common Lectionary SEASON AFTER PENTECOST PROPER 20 (25) SEPTEMBER 22, 2013 YEAR C

3 Luke 16: :1 Then Jesus said to the disciples, "There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property. 16:2 So he summoned him and said to him, 'What is this that I hear about you? Give me an accounting of your management, because you cannot be my manager any longer.' 16:3 Then the manager said to himself, 'What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. 16:4 I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.' 16:5 So, summoning his master's debtors one by one, he asked the first, 'How much do you owe my master?' 16:6 He answered, 'A hundred jugs of olive oil.' He said to him, 'Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.' 16:7 Then he asked another, 'And how much do you owe?' He replied, 'A hundred containers of wheat.' He said to him, 'Take your bill and make it eighty.' 16:8 And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. 16:9 And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes. 16:10 "Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. 16:11 If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? 16:12 And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? 16:13 No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth." SEASON AFTER PENTECOST PROPER 20 (25) SEPTEMBER 22, 2013 YEAR C

4 Good Morning, Using a lectionary as we do presents some interesting issues. For instance, do these scriptures that are blocked together work together and help explain each other or not. The parable from today s reading is just one example. Can we figure out what is being said here based on what Jeremiah, Paul, or the Psalm spoke to? In some cases it can be a clear yes, in others a clear, not so much. Today s is a not so much, because what I want to talk about is not the parable and what it means but what came across as I read the texts and thought about them. I was struck by what we did not read, in other words I read the selection but then I got carried way and kept on going. For next week we skip this passage from Luke that comes at the end of what we read today and where we start next week: When the Pharisees heard all this, they made fun of Jesus, because they loved money. Jesus said to them, "You are the ones who make yourselves look right in other people's sight, but God knows your hearts. For the things that are considered of great value by man are worth nothing in God's sight." The Law of Moses and the writings of the prophets were in effect up to the time of John the Baptist; since then the Good News about the Kingdom of God is being told, and everyone forces his way in. But it is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the smallest detail of the Law to be done away with. SEASON AFTER PENTECOST PROPER 20 (25) SEPTEMBER 22, 2013 YEAR C

5 Good enough, but then, all the way from left field we get this tossed in: "Any man who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery; and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery 3 We find this at the end of the reading from 1 Timothy: 8 In every church service I want the men to pray, men who are dedicated to God and can lift up their hands in prayer without anger or argument. 9 I also want the women to be modest and sensible about their clothes and to dress properly; not with fancy hair styles or with gold ornaments or pearls or expensive dresses, 10 but with good deeds, as is proper for women who claim to be religious. Ok some of you are starting to wiggle a little, but I am just reading from the book, so stay with me. 11 Women should learn in silence and all humility. 12 I do not allow them to teach or to have authority over men; they must keep quiet. 13 For Adam was created first, and then Eve. 14 And it was not Adam who was deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and broke God s law. 15 But a woman will be saved through having children, if she perseveres in faith and love and holiness, with modesty 4 What do we do with all of that? 3 Luke 16:14-18, TEV 4 1 Timothy 2:8-15 TEV SEASON AFTER PENTECOST PROPER 20 (25) SEPTEMBER 22, 2013 YEAR C

6 I remember starting to think, why is this not in the lection? Is it too hard? Is it too controversial? Is it too out of touch? Is it a mistake? Was Paul a little nutty here or what? I read a book a couple of years ago, unchristian 5 It is a study of two groups of Americans, those born between and , this at the time accounted for about 58 million people 6. The focus of the study is to find out their responses to Christianity. So you don t have to wait for the movie I am going to do a very brief synopsis. The general conclusion is that those of us who would call ourselves Christian are seen as: Hypocritical Too pushy Anti-homosexual Exclusionary Too political Too judgmental I do not know about you, but that is not a list of characteristics I am too happy about being on. It does not matter if you or I think we are any of these things, the conclusion of the study is that people outside the church see us that way. 5 Kinnaman, David; Lyons, Gabe ( ). unchristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity and Why It Matters. Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. 6 Ibid, pg 18 SEASON AFTER PENTECOST PROPER 20 (25) SEPTEMBER 22, 2013 YEAR C

7 It is also important for us to think that while we may not see ourselves under any of the items on this list, I bet if we really really looked, we would in fact be guilty as charged of at least a couple. I realize that there are some people who would be glad to have all of these labels as they see it as the way Christianity should be. The question we need to ask ourselves, and the communities we are part of, is do we really want to be thought of like that? Are these labels and ideas in fact biblical? The part I read a bit ago about women, is that really Paul s meaning? Is there more, is this just a piece, and does it mean, or are we to see it just as the words fall off my lips. Paul also says this in Galatians: 28 So there is no difference between Jews and Gentiles, between slaves and free men, between men and women; you are all one in union with Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are the descendants of Abraham and will receive what God has promised 7 7 Galatians 3:28-29 TEV SEASON AFTER PENTECOST PROPER 20 (25) SEPTEMBER 22, 2013 YEAR C

8 So my point. Reading the Bible is an art that takes a very long time and some dedicated effort. If we restrict ourselves to the lectionary we will come up short. When these questions arise we will be ill prepared. I think it is also a realization that we have to engage in conversation, real conversation. Jesus is telling the parable from his day, like he does all the parables, to make a point, in reality many points. The things he said then meant something to those who heard him, something perhaps very different from what we hear today. It does not make the message any less valuable or valid. If I learned anything from the unchristian book, it was that I needed to engage the Bible more and let it challenge me and force the questions to rise to the top. I may have said this before, but these first two pages of the Bible are God s creation and the walk in Eden. Things are good and very good these last two pages are the end view of where God is trying to get us, here too is good and very good. All these pages in the middle are commentary and tell our story, all of our stories, not just those named in them. We will never get them out if we do not read and engage what they contain. SEASON AFTER PENTECOST PROPER 20 (25) SEPTEMBER 22, 2013 YEAR C

9 If we want to be or think we are Christian, we must get familiar with the Owner s Manual. It at least needs to be read and then discussed, and not for a few minutes on Saturday night or Sunday morning. Not just during Advent, Christmas Eve, Lent or Easter. But every day. This is biblical too 68 Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. 69 And now we believe and know that you are the Holy One who has come from God 8 AMEN 8 John 6:68-69 TEV SEASON AFTER PENTECOST PROPER 20 (25) SEPTEMBER 22, 2013 YEAR C