November 1 -- The Law of Love

This week’s lectionary texts: Ruth 1:1-18 or Deuteronomy 6:1-9, Psalm 146 or Psalm 119:1-8, Hebrews 9:11-14, and Mark 12:28-34.

In this week’s lectionary texts, we hear – not once, but twice – the greatest commandments in the Christian faith. First in Deuteronomy, and again in Mark, we are instructed in our duty to God as God’s faithful people:

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your strength, and with all your soul, and with all your might.” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5)

“Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:2-30)

No doubt many of us have heard this commandment repeated over and over. And indeed, the first line begins the Shema Yisrael, arguably the most important prayer in Judaism.

But what exactly does it mean to love God all our heart, soul, strength, and mind (or might)? At first, it seems that the injunction to love God so deeply and with virtually every one of our faculties would essentially be a full-time job.

Many of us struggle with even knowing where to begin when it comes to loving God. For some, God is so enormous, so incomprehensibly grand and majestic that trying to love God seems like an impossible task; how could a single person’s love even gain the notice of God?

For others, loving God seems to mean loving a deity who has let terrible things happen. How can I love a God, they might think, who let my husband die, or my neighbor lose her home? The commandment to love God, utterly and completely, seems to them like a cruel joke.

Yet I would argue that the commandment we hear in Deuteronomy and Mark is not just a commandment to blindly love God – rather, it is also a call to awareness and attentiveness, a call to pause and take stock of our lives and the ways in which we have sensed God’s presence.

In Deuteronomy, the commandment continues, “Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise” (Deuteronomy 6:6-7). We are instructed to keep God on our minds and in our heart – to not let our days just fly by, but to be continually reflecting on God’s goodness in our lives.

The passage from Deuteronomy hints at another facet of this commandment to love: the fact that we are to share our love for God with one another. We are to talk about God with our families, and carry God’s spirit with us wherever we go.

Jesus’s teaching in Mark echoes this idea. After explaining to the Sadduces that the commandment to love God is the first commandment, he adds a second: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:31).

Here we see that the commandment to love God does not exist in a vacuum. We are not instructed to just sit in our homes all day, meditating on how much we love God (though such a practice can certainly sometimes be beneficial). Rather, we are called to love God by loving God’s people – to go into the world, showing love to all those we meet. We cannot truly love God if we are not actively loving others.

As is written in the first letter of John, “Those who say ‘I love God,’ and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from his is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.” (1 John 4:20-21)

The commandment to love God totally, utterly, and completely can seem overwhelming. God is God, and loves us with a perfect love; how could we ever hope to return even a tiny portion of God’s love? But perhaps our concern ought to be remembering that we can show our thanks and love to God by loving our neighbors: our families, friends, classmates, coworkers, those people we like and those who frustrate us, men and women and children in our own country and around the world.

One of the psalms appointed for this week praises God, noting that God “executes justice for the oppressed,” “gives food to the hungry,” “sets the prisoners free,” “opens the eyes of the blind,” and “lifts up those who are bowed down” (Psalm 146:7-8). Let us join with God in these acts of love, being mindful and attentive to the needs of others, and serving one another in love for God and our neighbor.

Photo credit here.

October 25 -- Prayers of Praise

This week's lectionary texts: Job 42:1-6 and 10-17 or Jeremiah 31:7-9, Psalm 34:1-8 and 19-22 or Psalm 126, Hebrews 7:23-28, and Mark 10:46-52.



If you asked one hundred people about their prayer lives -- how they pray, when, where, why -- no doubt you'd receive one hundred different answers. Prayer, indeed, is a simple word for an incredibly complex set of possible practices. Prayer can be carried out collectively, in pairs, in small groups, or in whole churches. Prayer may be deeply personal, held silently within one's own mind. Prayers can be well-known and standardized -- the Lord's Prayer is perhaps the most famous example -- or spontaneous and unrehearsed. Prayer may use countless elaborate words -- or it may use no words at all.

Though it would be impossible to list all the reasons that people might pray, I suspect that for many of us, prayer often consists of asking God for something, whether it's inner peace, success at an interview or on a test, healing for a loved one, or nice weather for our soccer game. There's nothing wrong with this kind of prayer. But in today's lectionary texts we find an emphasis on another kind of prayer: prayers of blessing and thanksgiving to God.

Psalm 34, subtitled "Praise for Deliverance from Trouble," is a beautiful reflection of the Psalmist's gratitude for the mercy and care of God. The author is so grateful that he can't contain himself; he has to enlist other people to join in his joy:

"I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad. O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together." (Psalm 34:1-3)

Growing up I sometimes thought it seemed strange to talk about "blessing" God -- wasn't God supposed to be the one to bless us? How could humans even bless God, anyway? But as the Merriam-Webster dictionary explains, blessing someone can also mean to glorify them. So blessing God, as does David in Psalm 34, means to glorify God for all the good things that God has done in our lives.

The psalm continues in a similar vein, expressing thankfulness for answered prayer and deliverance from worry:

"I sought the Lord and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears. Look to him and be radiant; so your faces shall never be ashamed. This poor soul cried, and was heard by the Lord, and was saved from every trouble. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them." (Psalm 34:4-7)

Again, notice how the Psalmist is inviting others into his psalm of praise and thanksgiving. He is so filled with gratitude that he wants to use his own testimony of God's faithfulness to assure others of God's goodness: "Look to him and be radiant," he exclaims. We are often encouraged to share our struggles with one another, in order to help lighten each other's loads, and give each other assistance and aid. Here, David reminds us that we ought to share our happiness and gratitude too, that our joy may be contagious and help others to realize the signs of God's grace in their own lives.

As the psalm continues, listeners are reminded over and over that God is a God of care and protection:

"O taste and see that the Lord is good; happy are those who take refuge in him." (Psalm 34:8)

"Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord rescues them from them all. He keeps all their bones; not one of them will be broken." (Psalm 34:19-20)

This is evocative language; God's looking out for our "bones" recalls the reminder in Luke that God has numbered every hair on our heads (Luke 12:7). In short, the Psalmist is praising God for God's protection and personal concern with every human being. And in this week's text from Jeremiah, we see an example of God's care and deep love:

"See, I am going to bring [my people] from the land of the north, and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth...I will let them walk by brooks of water, in a straight path in which they shall not stumble." (Jeremiah 31:8-9)

Prayer can take countless forms, and each of them has its advantages. But sometimes, in the hustle and bustle of our busy lives, we forget to take time to simply thank God for God's goodness and grace. This week's texts remind us to remember to express our happiness and thanksgiving -- to bless God, and happily encourage others to do the same.


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October 18 -- Pondering Paradox

This week's lectionary texts: Job 38:1-7 and 34-41 or Isaiah 53:4-12, Psalm 104:1-9, 24, 35c or Psalm 91:9-16, Hebrews 5:1-10, and Mark 10:35-45.

This week, we hear in Mark an intriguing story of paradox featuring James and John, the sons of Zebedee. Jesus and the twelve disciples are on their way to Jerusalem, and Jesus has just told them -- for the third time -- that he will be betrayed and killed when they reach the city.

Upon hearing this undoubtedly unsettling prediction again, James and John immediately approach Jesus. They don't mince words, asking boldly, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you" (10:35).

When Jesus asks them what they desire, they reply, "Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory" (10:37). (One wonders if James and John both preferred the right hand, which was viewed as more honorable.) Their request indicates that they have been giving a lot of thought to Jesus's previous foreshadowings of his death and resurrection, and pondering how they might fit in to the events of the days to come. After all, James and John were two of Jesus's closest disciples; along with Peter, they were the only witnesses to Jesus's transfiguration (9:2-13). Jesus even had a special name for them, calling them "the Sons of Thunder" (3:17).

Jesus, for his part, replies somewhat cryptically. "You do not know what you are asking," he tells them (3:38). Jesus then asks James and John if they are "able to drink the cup that I drink [presumably the cup of God's wrath, according to The Harper Collins Study Bible] or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with [presumably a reference to death, also according to the Harper Collins Study Bible]" (10:38).

James and John put on a brave face: "We are able," they say (Mark 10:39). But Jesus offers a response that is likely different from the one they are expecting, stating that the brothers will indeed share in Jesus's cup and baptism, but that he himself cannot select the people who will sit at his left and right hands: "It is for those for whom it has been prepared" (10:40).

The author of the gospel does not tell us the reaction of James and John, but does note that the other disciples are not happy with the Sons of Thunder. Bringing the twelve back together, Jesus then offer a fascinating and paradoxical reflection on service:

"You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:42-45).

Narry Santos, a professor of New Testament, writes that this seemingly paradoxical statement is one of three similar passages in Mark found "within the context of Jesus' three Passion predictions," the others being Mark 8:35 ("whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it" and "whoever loses his life shall save it") and Mark 9:35 ("If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all") (15).

So what is Jesus doing? At first glance, paradox can be a frustrating rhetorical device; sometimes readers are tempted to throw up our hand in confusion. But a closer look at Mark 10:42-45 offers an intriguing vision of an upending of traditional notions of power, and a stirring charge to rethink our notions of service.

James and John were impressively bold in asking Jesus for the honor of sitting at his left and right hands, and brave in expressing their willingness to share in his suffering. But Jesus's teaching to the twelve disciples places the emphasis not on what might happen in the future, but on what people ought to be doing in the present.

It's understandable that John and James wanted assurance of future reward: it seems only human. Yet this week's text from Mark drives home the point that future glory means nothing if we don't take time now, this very day, to serve one another. Children are hungry now. Violence is destroying lives now. With a seemingly paradoxical statement, Jesus draws the attention of his disciples to the importance of focusing on what we can do for others, and not what others can do for us.

Similar sentiments are expressed in a prayer commonly attributed to Saint Francis, also characterized by apparent paradoxes that resolve into a vision of loving care for others:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is darkness, light.
Where there is sadness, joy.

Oh divine Master,
Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.


Sources:

Harper Collins Study Bible, Revised Edition (New York: HarperOne, 2006).

Santos, Narry. "Jesus' Paradoxical Teaching in Mark 8:35, 9:35, and 10:43-44." Bibliotheca Sacra 157 (January-March 2000), 15-25.

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October 11: When God Can't Be Found

This week's lectionary texts: Job 23:1-9 and 16-17 or Amos 5:6-7 and 10-15, Psalm 22:1-15 or Psalm 90:12-17, Hebrews 4:12-16, and Mark 10:17-31.





I'd like to begin this week's post by introducing myself! My name is Caitlin, and I began writing the lectionary blog last week. I am a second-year M.Div. student at Harvard Divinity School, and I'm very excited to be doing field education this year at the Massachusetts Bible Society. I am a United Methodist, but not on the ordination track; at this point, I'm hoping to ultimately use my degree in the non-profit sector, working on issues of international relief and development. I look forward to journeying through the lectionary with all of you over the next few months!

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As Christians, we proclaim that God is love. We praise God for God's goodness and justice, God's righteousness and care. We thank God for our abundant blessings, and rejoice that we have been brought into relationship with the Divine.

Yet, at the same time, few of us would say that our relationship with God is 100% wonderful, 100% of the time. Sometimes, when confronted with personal afflictions or when considering the vast suffering in the world -- for example, the grave toll of the recent typhoon in the Philippines and the earthquake in Indonesia -- we find ourselves angry with God. "How could you do this?" we might ask, or, "How could you let this happen?" At other times, we may feel that God has become distant or is no longer answering our prayers. And sometimes we may even find ourselves afraid of God.

In this week's lectionary texts, we hear from people struggling with their relationships with God. Take Job, for example. Job's tragic tale is relatively famous: despite faithfully serving God, his children are killed and his wealth destroyed. He refuses to "charge God with wrongdoing" (Job 1:22) but is still broken-hearted and dismayed.

Part of Job's grief stems from the fact that God seems to have disappeared -- Job cannot even find God to ask him why such terrible things have happened:

"Today also my complaint is bitter; his hand is heavy despite my groaning. Oh, that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even to his dwelling! I would lay my case before him, and fill my mouth with arguments. I would learn what he would answer me, and understand what he would say to me [... But] if I go forward, he is not there; or backward, I cannot perceive him; on the left he hides, and I cannot behold him; I turn to the right, but I cannot see him." (Job 23:2-5, 8-9)

Not only is Job frustrated by his inability to find God, but he acknowledges another strong emotion: fear. "God has made my heart faint," he exclaims, "the Almighty has terrified me; If only I could vanish in darkness, and thick darkness would cover my face!" (Job 16-17)

For Job, recent events seem to be presenting God not as a loving protector, but as a distant, even wrathful deity: someone to be feared. And this theme is continued in Psalm 22, when David cries,

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer; and by night, but find no rest." (Psalm 22:1-2)

The Psalmist's words -- words spoken by Jesus on the cross in Matthew 27:46 -- are clearly the lament of someone who feels cut off from God. The language is darkly evocative, portraying a person who is "poured out like water," with a heart "like wax," lying in "the dust of death" (Psalm 22:14-15). God, for reasons that are unclear, seems to have left the Psalmist alone in a time of anguish.

I suspect that most of us have experienced seasons of life where we feel cut off from God, or indeed questioned God's very reality. But David's psalm, while reflecting the human experience of feeling that God has left us alone, also offers hope. He calls our attention to the great faithfulness God has shown in the past: "To you [our ancestors] cried, and were saved; in you they trusted, and were not put to shame" (Psalm 22:5). "Since my mother bore me you have been my God," David continues, reminding us that we have always been God's children, even when we cannot feel God's presence (Psalm 22:10).

Human existence is characterized by both great joy and great pain. At times -- perhaps when life is otherwise going well, or perhaps when we have just been thrown a curveball -- we may discover that God seems to have withdrawn. Such experiences can be painful and frightening. But as we see in Job and in Psalm 22, we need not be afraid to call out to God anyway, to express our fear or anger: God can take it.

In the lectionary text from Hebrews, we read, "Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:16). The author of Hebrews is saying that we needn't be afraid to approach God, to express our deepest worries and fears, or to ask for the mercy and grace that God has promised us. Indeed, I would contend that this week's texts show us that doing our best to keep our relationship with God alive -- whether by praising God, or lamenting to God, or questioning God -- will help sustain us even in those times in our lives when we feel that God is far away.

Photo credit here.