1 November 2020: Solemnity of All Saints

Reading 1	Response	Reading 2	Gospel
Rv 7:2-4, 9-14	Ps 24:1bc-2, 3-4ab, 5-6	1 Jn 3:1-3	Mt 5:1-12a

Getting into God’s eternal party

This week the celebration of the Solemnity of All Saints interrupts Ordinary time’s readings. The Lectionary presents stories about the saints: the “holy ones,” God’s heroines and heroes who live with God in the kingdom, us, and how we get there.

The first reading is from John the Seer’s Revelation, possibly the most misunderstood Christian scripture book. Like the author of Daniel, John writes an apocalyptic, a writing style in which an otherworldly being gives a human a revelatory vision about a cosmic transformation. John, writing in the late first century AD, expected a great persecution to break out against the believing communities in Asia Minor, during which many Christians would be martyred. In today’s pericope, John imagines the triumph that awaits those martyrs when God vindicates them, presented as a heavenly liturgical celebration, complete with white robes, palm branches, and songs of glory. The Seer reminds this hearers that “bearing God’s seal” (being a disciple) comes at a cost. Although “sealing” assures divine concern, the believers will still encounter tribulations, just as their Lord, the Lamb, was slain. Disciples are victorious because the Lamb has first conquered. The Lectionary editors chose this reading because it celebrates those who have been saved, the saints, and who worship at God’s throne.

The second reading is from the first letter of John the Elder, written to believing communities in Asia around 100 AD. His letter addresses false teachings about Jesus’ true humanity, which led to a wrong understanding of Christian existence. Today’s pericope addresses the gnostic teaching that Christians are already perfect and so do not need to change their lives further. To correct this error, John explains the difference between what we are now and what we will be. We are already God’s children. We live in “hope” that, when Jesus returns, we will become like the resurrected Jesus and God. Until the parousia, our work is to focus on purification. For John, love is the sign of this purification; we are called to love as God loves and so “be like” God. The Lectionary editors chose this reading because it presents a disciple’s ultimate union with God.

In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus teaches that God’s coming kingdom both heals present losses and also fulfills and completes present hopes.

• What Jesus addresses. In his first discourse, Jesus address the crowd generally, but disciples specifically. The beatitudes describes a disciple’s characteristics and dispositions. The first four beatitudes list discipleship’s passive consequences: poverty (having left all to follow), mourning (the loss of righteousness), humility (to seek righteousness), and desire (for righteous). The second four beatitudes list discipleship’s resulting actions: showing mercy, living in alignment with God’s law (clean-hearted), seeking the fullness of God’s gifts (peace, shalom), seeking God’s justice (righteousness).
• What Matthew addresses. Matthew writes his gospel in the late 80s when his Jewish Christian ekklesia is unwillingly separating from the Jewish synagogue. When we read the beatitudes in this context of conflict, the beatitudes both define attitudes Matthew’s believing community should exemplify and acknowledge the community’s current sufferings.
• What the kingdom promises. Jesus’ beatitudes are primarily eschatological, although they also include expectations of a present reward. The beatitudes are not “entrance requirements,” but characteristics and actions that will result in a disciple’s full and appropriate eschatological reward. The promise of God’s kingdom frames the beatitudes, and the promises refer to the final judgement, the vindication of the just, and the fullness of God’s perfect kingdom.

This week’s festal readings ask us to think about our place as saints in God’s kingdom. John the Seer imagines a disciple’s life as an eternal victory party with God. John the Elder describes a disciple’s life as living eternally in God’s love. Jesus’ beatitudes recognize discipleship’s personal costs and promise current and future reward. God invites every disciple to be a saint. What is our answer? Do we want the party but think we can skip washing our robes? Do we embody the hope but resist the purification? Do we think we can enter the kingdom without giving up everything else?

—Terence Sherlock

25 October 2020: Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary time

Reading 1	Response	Reading 2	Gospel
Ex 22:20-26 RCL: Lv 19:1-2, 15-18	Ps 18:2-3, 3-4, 47, 51	1 Thes 1:5c-10 RCL: 1 Thes 2:1-8	Mt 22:34-40 RCL: Mt 22:34-46

God’s law and a disciple’s actions

During Ordinary time the Lectionary presents stories and teachings from Jesus’ everyday ministry. This week’s readings focus on how we live out God’s laws.

The first reading is from the book of Exodus, specifically the section that defines social conduct. Hebrew scripture, and especially the prophets, demands protection of powerless society members vulnerable to being exploited: widows, orphans, the resident alien, and the poor. God promises to “surely hear their cry.” Today’s pericope includes a command about right treatment of the neighbor: “If you take your neighbor’s cloak as a pledge, you shall return it to him before sunset.” Honoring God and creating personal holiness require concrete actions. The Torah’s laws, presented in a social context (the widow, orphan, the alien, the poor, the neighbor), inculcate a social ethic based on compassion. The Lectionary editors chose this reading because the laws about social responsibilities toward the neighbor corresponds to the gospel’s greatest commandments.

The second reading is part of Ordinary time’s continuous reading from Paul’s letter to the Thessalonian ekklesia. In this pericope, Paul says his mutual relationship with the Thessalonians (“you know what sort of people we were among you”), is joyful, because, in imitating the missionaries and the Lord, the Thessalonians have become an example for others (“a model for all the believers”). Paul has heard from those others “in Macedonia and in Achaia” how the Thessalonians’ faith and metanoia (“turned to God and away from idols”) has influenced them. The “coming wrath” inserts a note of eschatological deliverance, a theme Paul takes up later in the letter. The Lectionary editors chose this reading as the start of Ordinary time’s continuous reading from Thessalonians.

In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus continues to confront the religious leaders in Jerusalem. A Pharisee tests Jesus by asking him to choose one law that sums up the Torah’s teachings.

• The challenge. The Torah, the revelation of God’s will for Israel, contained 613 precepts that were difficult to remember and sometimes conflicting. To help observant Jews, rabbis distinguished between heavy or serious commandments (like the Decalogue) and light commandments (like responsibilities for a bird’s nest, Dt 22:6-7), and offered “summary statements” of the Torah. The Pharisees test Jesus’ orthodoxy through the commandment he chooses.
• Jesus’ answer. Jesus’ teaching is in line with other Torah summaries. The first command he cites, “Love God,” is from the Shema prayer (Dt 6:5), prayed every day by every devout Jew. The second command, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” is from Lv 19:18. Jesus emphasizes that the second command is equal in gravity or importance to the first. In his Good Samaritan parable, Jesus extends the definition of neighbor from “another Israelite” to “everyone.”
• The consequences. Neither Jesus nor Matthew considered Jesus’ answer as a ruling to disregard the Torah’s other 314 precepts. Jesus statement that “on these two commandments hang the whole Law and the Prophets” assumes that the whole Law remains in effect. Jesus’ law of love summary provides an organizing principle to appreciate and to observe the other commandments. In Matthew’s time, the conflict between the Pharisees and Matthew’s ekklesia continued. Jesus’ traditional and orthodox answer allowed the Jewish Christian believing community to respond to continuing accusations that Jesus and his followers rejected God’s law.

This week’s readings ask us to think about God’s laws and how we live them out. In the Exodus reading, God makes clear that we must act to protect society’s powerless and voiceless. Paul praises the Thessalonians for actively turning to God from idols to serve the true God. Jesus summarizes all God’s laws into the law of love. As disciples, how to we enact God’s law? Do we adhere to a law’s literal reading, or do we act on the law’s deeper meaning? Do we fulfill the minimum of what’s asked of us, or do we act in love? Do we simply check the box to comply, or do we seek out and actively serve those in need?

—Terence Sherlock

18 October 2020: Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary time

Reading 1	Response	Reading 2	Gospel
Is 45:1, 4-6 RCL: Is 45:1-7	Ps 96:1, 3, 4-5, 7-8, 9-10	1 Thes 1:1-5b RCL: 1 Thes 1:1-10	Mt 22:15-21 RCL: Mt 22:15-22

What disciples owe to God

During Ordinary time the Lectionary presents stories and teachings from Jesus’ everyday ministry. This week’s readings focus on God’s reign and human rule.

The first reading is from the prophet Isaiah, specifically second Isaiah, a prophet to the Jews in exile in Babylon in the sixth century BC. In today’s pericope, Isaiah endorses the Persian emperor Cyrus, a gentile king, as God’s anointed (mashiah or “messiah”). Isaiah says God raised up Cyrus to conquer Babylon (“subduing nations before him”) and so restore God’s people (“Jacob, my servant; Israel, my chosen one”) to their homeland. (To see Cyrus’ actual cuneiform edict releasing all captive people, go to http://www.britishmuseum.org and search for “Cyrus Cylinder.”) The Lectionary editors chose this reading to introduce God’s role in history and God’s use of even unbelieving or corrupt leaders to fulfill God’s plan.

The second reading, from Paul’s letter to the Thessalonian ekklesia, begins its continuous reading in Ordinary time. Written as early as the mid-40s, 1 Thessalonians is an historical record of Paul’s early missionary practice and a snapshot of his developing theology. It is the oldest writing in Christian scripture. Paul opens his letter by thanking God for the Thessalonians’ faith, praising the community’s vibrancy, their dedication to others (“your work of faith”) and the power of their hope (“endurance in hope”), and their response to the gospel (“how you were chosen”). Paul’s themes of faith, hope, and election prepare his hearers for the teaching and advice in the rest of his letter. Paul emphasizes that the good news came to the Thessalonians not simply in the missionaries’ words, but in divine power, specifically through the Spirit, whose outpouring resulted in the Thessalonians’ full conviction in the words’ truth. The Lectionary editors chose this reading as the start of Ordinary time’s continuous reading from Thessalonians.

In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus continues to confront the religious leaders in Jerusalem. Matthew describes how the religious leaders and Roman political supporters conspire to lay a trap for Jesus.

• The conspirators, the tax, and the question. The Pharisees were a lay religious movement who followed Mosaic law. The Herodians were a public political party who sought Jewish political independence. The Roman census tax was an annual payment by all men, women, and slaves between the ages of twelve and sixty-five, equal to a laborer’s one-day wage. The Herodians favored payment of the tax; the Pharisees did not. Their question doesn’t seek an answer; they want only to trap Jesus.
• Jesus’ response and challenge. If Jesus answers “yes,” he would offend Jews seeking independence from Rome and implicitly deny that God is the only legitimate ruler of Judea. If Jesus answers “no,” he becomes an enemy of Rome. Jesus tells the conspirators to “show him a denarius.” Jesus’ response is that those who willingly use Caesar’s coins should repay Caesar in kind. He also implies that neither Pharisees nor Herodians are giving God what God is due. This is a serious charge.
• First century and twenty-first century implications. Jesus’ answer is adequate for first century Jews and Christians, to whom the state was completely extraneous. First century Jews and Christians could no more change Roman law than they could change nature’s laws. Matthew’s point is to show Jesus’ skill in avoiding his opponents’ trap and challenging them to pay more attention to “God’s things.” Twenty-first century Christians often use this text as a basis for a doctrine of “church and state,” but this text and others like it do not support such a reading. The gospel provides no theology of church and state. Rather, Jesus challenges twenty-first century disciples to discern what belongs to God.

This week’s readings ask us to think about God’s reign and God’s things. Isaiah tells the exiles that God can use a gentile ruler like Cyrus to bring about their restoration. Paul reminds the Thessalonians that they received the gospel not simply in words, but through God’s power. Jesus turns the conspirators’ question back on them: what are they giving back to God? Discerning what belongs to God and to God’s reign is a disciple’s hardest work. God’s reign is already present, and sometimes in conflict with earthly kingdoms. As disciples, how do we live in God’s reign and give God what God is due? If all humans express God’s image, how can disciples support inequality? If God’s reign is open to all, how can disciples support exclusivity? If God’s reign is love, how can disciples support hate?

—Terence Sherlock

11 October 2020: Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary time

Reading 1	Response	Reading 2	Gospel
Is 25:6-10a RCL: Is 25:1-9	Ps 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6	Phil 4:12-14, 19-20 RCL: Phil 4:1-9	Mt 22:1-14 or Mt 22:1-10 RCL: Mt 22:1-14

Discipleship: more than just answering an invitation

 During Ordinary time the Lectionary presents stories and teachings from Jesus’ everyday ministry. This week’s readings focus on God’s invitation and our ongoing response.

The first reading is from the prophet Isaiah, specifically first Isaiah who lived in Jerusalem in the eight century BC. In today’s pericope, Isaiah announces a victory banquet to be celebrated in God’s city. In Hebrew scripture, just as the vineyard is a symbol of the people of God, so the banquet is a symbol God’s saving purpose achieved at history’s end. “This mountain” is Zion, the highest point in Jerusalem where David built his fortress. The banquet of “rich food and choice wines” recalls Moses’ and the elder’s sacred feast on Sinai after God’s epiphany (Ex 24:9-11). At this eschatological feast, God will heal all divisions that separate humans (“the veil that veils all people”) and “destroy death forever.” The Lectionary editors chose this reading because Isaiah’s promised end-time banquet echoes Jesus’ wedding feast parable in today’s gospel.

The second reading from Paul’s letter to the Philippi ekklesia concludes its continuous reading in Ordinary time. Paul speaks about his own experiences, both of living with little (his current condition, in prison) and of living with abundance. The Greek word here translated as “to learn the secret” actually means “to be initiated (into a mystery cult).” Given the word’s polytheistic overtones, the Philippians would be surprised to hear Paul use it. Paul is suggesting that he “knows how to live” because emulating Christ has initiated him into the Christian life. In either humble circumstances or abundance, Christ empowers Paul (“him who strengthens me”). Paul offers a prayer of gratitude and a wish that God reward the Philippians with spiritual gifts (“whatever you need”) in return for their physical gifts to him. Paul closes with a doxology: “To God and Father be glory into the ages of ages. The Lectionary editors chose this reading to conclude Ordinary time’s Philippians reading.

In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus continues to confront the religious leaders when they question his authority to teach. Matthew has turned Jesus’ parable about a king’s great banquet into an allegory about God’s call, our response, and ongoing discipleship.

• Jesus’ original parables. Scripture scholars identify two separate parables: the great banquet and the wedding garment. In the great banquet parable, the first-invited guests reject the king’s invitation, so the king replaces them with less honorable guests. In the wedding garment parable, the host ejects an inappropriately dressed guest from the banquet.

• Matthew’s allegory. Matthew joins Jesus’ two parables into one allegory that address his own community’s issues. In Matthew’s allegory, the king (God) sends his slaves (prophets) to invite the honorable (religious leaders) to his feast (God’s kingdom). Some of those invited abuse or kill the king’s slaves; the king retaliates by burning their city. The king then invites everyone to the feast. The king inspects (judges) his guests and ejects improperly dressed guests (uncommitted disciples) from the feast.

• The meaning of the parables and the allegory. Jesus addresses the great banquet parable to the chief priests and elders. Jesus’ point, as in the vineyard tenants parable and the two sons parable, is that because the religious leaders rejected the invitation to God’s kingdom, other leaders will take their places. In the wedding garment parable, Jesus teaches that God will judge their righteousness. Matthew addresses his allegory of salvation history to his believing community. Just as the king burns the city of those who killed his slaves, the Romans destroyed Jerusalem. Just as the king invites both evil and good people to the feast, Jesus called all, including sinners and gentiles, into God’s kingdom. The final saying interprets the parables and allegory: although God calls everyone to the kingdom, only a few pass God’s judgement.

This week’s readings ask us to think about our invitation to discipleship. Isaiah’s hope-filled vision promises God’s abundance and care at the eschatological feast. Paul closes his letter with thanks and prayers for the Philippians’ spiritual abundance. Jesus and Matthew warn those invited to the kingdom that God requires righteousness. How are we answering God’s invitation? Do we believe that being on a Christian membership list gets us a reserved seat at the eschatological table? Do we think that baptism guarantees a permanent place at the banquet? Do we consider how our daily words and actions weave our wedding garment? Will God judge us appropriately dressed for the feast?

—Terence Sherlock

4 October 2020: Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary time

Reading 1	Response	Reading 2	Gospel
Is 5:1-7	Ps 80:9, 12, 13-14, 15-16, 19-20	Phil 4:6-9 RCL: Phil 3:4b-14	Mt 21:33-43 RCL: Mt 21:33-46

Discipleship and leaders: how will God judge us?

 During Ordinary time the Lectionary presents stories and teachings from Jesus’ everyday ministry. This week’s readings focus on God’s judgment of disciples and their leaders.

The first reading is from the prophet Isaiah, specifically first Isaiah who lived in Jerusalem in the eight century BC. He advised the kings of Judah (southern kingdom) before the Babylonian exile. Several Hebrew scripture writers (Isaiah, the author of Ps 80, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Nahum) use a “vineyard” or a “vine” as a metaphor for God’s people. In today’s pericope, Isaiah turns a familiar folk harvesting song into an allegory. In the last stanza he makes the allegory clear: the vineyard is Israel, (“the vineyard is the house of Israel, the people of Judah are [God’s] cherished plant.” Isaiah’s friend and vineyard owner is God. Isaiah turns a happy song about country life into an expression of God’s judgment on Judah (“I will make it a ruin”). The Lectionary editors chose this reading for its similarity to Jesus’ vineyard parable in today’s gospel.

The second reading from Paul’s letter to the Philippi ekklesia is part of a continuous reading in Ordinary time. In today’s reading, Paul brings his letter to a close (next week is the final reading from Philippians). Paul highlights the Philippians’ two options: either anxiety or prayer. As mentioned in earlier readings, the Philippians are anxious about persecution, opponents, divisiveness, and enemies. Paul advised them to offer prayers in various forms: requests of God (“prayer”), petitionary prayer (“petitions”), prayers of gratitude for what they have (“thanksgiving”). Only in prayer will they achieve God’s peace. Paul exhorts the Philippians to model their lives on Christ as imitated by Paul. Paul points back to Christ’s example given in the Christ hymn (Phil 2:6-11), read last week. True peace (“the God of peace will be with you”) is found in a restored relationship with God. For Paul, this comes through Jesus’ life of service and transformative death. The Lectionary editors chose this reading as part of Ordinary time’s continuous reading from Philippians.

In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus continues to confront the religious leaders when they question his authority to teach. Matthew has turned Jesus’ parable about vineyard tenants into an allegory about the religious leaders’ failure to care for God’s people.

• The parable’s historical context. First-century Jewish hearers would see parallels between this parable and Isaiah’s vineyard parable (today’s first reading, Is 5:1-7). First-century hearers would also recognize the parable’s economics. Absentee owners leased their properties to tenant farmers who worked the land for a fee or a percentage of the harvest. In the parable, the tenants assume the owner is dead, and, by killing his son, they will inherit the vineyard. Their plan is both illegal and foolish.

• The question. By forcing the chief priests and Pharisees to answer (“what will the owner do to those tenants?”), Matthew has them foretell their own destiny. Matthew interprets the tenants’ fate in connection with Jerusalem’s destruction in 70 AD.

• The answer and its consequences. “The owner will execute those tenants and lease to other tenants who will produce its fruit.” The chief priests and Pharisees understand that the parable applies to them. Matthew is clear that the tenants (= religious leaders), not the vineyard (= God’s people), will be replaced with “others.” These “other tenants” are leaders of Matthew’s Jewish-Christian ekklesia. There is no indication in the parable to assume that the “others” are gentiles, or that the handing over of leadership involves the rejection of Israel.

This week’s readings ask us to think about discipleship and leadership. Isaiah’s parable cautions that God continuously evaluates those who claim to be God’s disciples. Paul reminds the Philippians that true peace comes through prayer and service to others. In Matthew’s allegorical parable, Jesus addresses leaders who fail God’s disciples. God holds disciples to a high standard, and leaders to a higher standard. As family or community leaders, do we act to serve others or expect others to serve us? As social leaders, do we speak for the voiceless or amplify the powerful? As individuals, do we hold leaders to a higher standard or to the lowest common denominator?

—Terence Sherlock