Accountability
Commentary
Our lessons for this day are not very pleasant ones. There are no warm fuzzies to be had here. Instead, they invite us to some rather unpleasant contemplation. The last Sunday of Ordinary Time (or of the Sundays after Pentecost) shifts our attention to the future. The bridge between the end of Ordinary Time and Advent is suspended by two cables: The anticipation of God's final judgment and the celebration of Christ as the King. We cannot move to the season of Advent without crossing this bridge. These lessons are also related to those for All Saints' Sunday. Like that special celebration, Proper 28 has us reading passages about the end time, the eschaton, and especially about the judgment that is to occur then.
Many of us are uncomfortable with the idea of God's judgment. Some are uneasy with this theme because they feel it compromises our conviction that God is, after all, love and not wrath. Without a doubt, there is a tension in the biblical portrayal of God at this point. On the one hand, God is sometimes pictured as compassionate and merciful and, on the other hand, sometimes as wrathful and stern. Other people may be ill at ease with the idea of accountability because of the associations the concept has for them. How many of us were raised on a diet of "hellfire and brimstone" preaching and even now in adulthood are still reacting against it?
Yet discomfort is no reason to discount this biblical theme. One of the words that comes flying out of these lessons is accountability. Some may feel ambivalent about the suggestion that we are accountable. Among the more independent -- even rebellious -- of us, accountability to anyone is offensive. We like to say that we are accountable only to ourselves. Perhaps others are not quite so skittish when faced with the claim of accountability. But even then, there may be a side of us that would prefer not dealing with this issue directly.
Accountability is also, we think, a social issue today of growing portions. Many in our society seem to believe that (or at least act as if) they are not responsible for their actions. Social science has taught us that we are products of our environment. Maybe in some quarters that lesson has been used to dodge responsibility. The courts are filled with cases that have to do with determining responsibility. Is the individual totally responsible for her or his actions, or are corporations and their greed also responsible? When does emotional illness constitute a reason for violent actions for which a person cannot be held accountable? Accountability seems to be a crucial societal issue for us.
Whatever our reasons for wanting to dodge the question of accountability, Scripture will not let us off the hook. It will not allow us to avoid the conclusion that humans are somehow and in some way accountable to their Creator. Our lives are gifts, and the Giver is concerned about what we do with the gift. In various ways, the four lessons for this Sunday all lead us to contemplate the question of accountability.
Judges 4:1-7
This snippet from the book of Judges doesn't make much sense without Judges 2:11-23. That passage is like a preface to a book which lets the reader in on the secret of the plot. There the author claims that, at least for the time being, the Israelites are trapped within a vicious circle. They would do "what was evil in the sight of the Lord" and worship other gods. God would then abandon them to the consequences of their disobedience and raise up enemies against them to punish them for their disobedience. When they were sufficiently distressed and cried out for help, God would then inspire a leader among them to guide them to victory over their enemy. But "whenever the judge died, they would relapse and behave worse than their ancestors ..." (Judges 2:19). The cycle begins again. It is this rather simple view of history that is played out in the pages of Judges. The view, of course, is typical of the Deuteronomic understanding of history (to which we will have to return later when we discuss the first lesson for Thanksgiving Day). Everything is the result of the people's obedience or disobedience and God's patience. If the people obey, they prosper; if they are disobedient, they suffer.
The tiny portion of Judges that has been sliced out for reading narrates one phase of this cycle on one particular occasion. Sure enough, "The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord" (v. 1), and they are opposed by a new enemy. It is as predictable as the sunrise. When they cry out for help, God inspires a new leader -- this time a woman, Deborah. Here she is called a "prophetess." She enlists a reluctant Barak to aid her in defeating the oppressors. Unfortunately the lesson ends before we hear Barak's response to Deborah's invitation to go to war against Sisera. The brave Barak is none too eager to undertake this calling. He makes a conditional response: "If you will go with me, I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go" (v. 8). In this case, the brave warrior is not the man but the woman!
The simple sense of this fragment of the book of Judges is that God punishes disobedience but in the end aids Israel in escaping the punishment. Israel is accountable. Yet God patiently continues to work with them, even in their disobedience. Perhaps the key passage in this little story is found in verse 3a: "Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help...." Our Creator allows us to suffer the consequences of our actions. But, when we have awakened, realized what we have done, and cried out for God to do what we cannot do for ourselves, God intervenes on our behalf. Accountability, in this case, does not mean that God turns a deaf ear our direction when we are going down for the last time in the chaotic waters of the life we have made for ourselves. It does mean that we have to confess our failures and our inability to save ourselves from the consequences of our actions and bank entirely on God's mercy.
Zephaniah 1:7, 12-18 (Lutheran Option)
This alternative to the reading from Judges is not so hopeful as the story of Deborah. Zephaniah may not be your favorite prophet, so maybe we should remember the setting for his words. He was probably a predecessor of Jeremiah in the early years of the reign of Josiah (640-609 B.C.E.) before Josiah instituted his religious reforms. Zephaniah's message is predominately one of doom and judgment for both Judah and the other nations, as this lesson suggests. But still, there are a few glimmers of the hope for the possibility that a remnant would repent and be saved (3:11-20).
Talk about an uncomfortable response to the challenge of accountability! With this snippet, Zephaniah will surely stir such a feeling. God is at war with Judah -- doing battle with the so-called people of God. The coming judgment is the "Day of the Lord," a classical motif in the prophets. The yom YHWH refers to the decisive act of God in history to straighten out the mess humans have made of it. The expression was probably born out of the concept of God's warfare with Israel's enemies, and the pictures of this day of the Lord continue the notion of God as warrior and victor. It is the day of God's triumph, as verses 14-16 demonstrate. For Zephaniah that decisive day includes God's calling the people to accountability for their behavior. The complacent and comfortable of Jerusalem will be sought out. Everything they hold dear will be destroyed. Verses 17 and 18 suggest that people will pay for their sin with suffering, and nothing can secure them against this punishment. Indeed, in his enthusiasm, Zephaniah makes this accounting sound like the end of the world: "the whole earth shall be consumed...."
This gloomy prophet gives us good reason not to want to talk, much less think about our accountability to God. The picture is filled with gross punishment for sins and very little hope for anything but disaster. You have to read further and into chapter two to find a glimmer of hope for anything but destruction. In 2:3 the prophet holds out the possibility that, if the people seek righteousness, they just might be "hidden on the day of the Lord's wrath." Zephaniah pictures an absolute accountability, and there is no way to dodge it. There are no excused absences. The only way to avoid the worst is to become accountable right now in the way you live, or, as the prophet puts it, "seek righteousness."
1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
The picture is a different one in this lesson, although it has many of the same features as the one painted by Zephaniah and resembles the scene presented in the passage from Judges. This text is one of the places in which Paul sounds very much like an apocalyptic prophet. But these words arose out of a pastoral concern (as is always the case with Paul). It may be that some Christians in Thessalonica are upset because their beloved friends and relatives have died before Christ's return in glory. They mistakenly think that the dead will miss out on the glorious party. Their problem may seem to us rather odd. Yet, when we realize that this was a young and still untrained congregation, their twisted concept of the final days is understandable. Paul tries gently to correct their thinking about this matter with a fuller understanding of the resurrection of the dead (4:13-18).
The reading continues Paul's counsel on the matter of the last days that begins at 5:1. "[T]he times and seasons," as he calls it. Like Zephaniah, Paul warns against a false sense of peace and security and repeats the synoptic theme of the surprise of Christ's return (e.g., Mark 13:32-37). When that day comes, there's going to be no way out, no escape hatch. But in a rather surprising turn in verse 4, Paul reassures the readers that they will be safe on that fateful day. "Children of light and children of the day" have nothing to fear. Those who "belong to the day" (v. 8) are secure. That must mean that Christian identity is wrapped up in this final and glorious appearance of Christ, and in that sense we "belong" to that climactic day. In Christ God has ordained us for salvation and not for wrath. Typical of Paul, he follows this reassuring word of gospel with an imperative: "Therefore, encourage one another ..." (v. 11). He wants the readers to understand themselves as now called to a ministry of encouragement among those who may have unnecessary fears about the fearful day of God's judgment.
Paul proceeds in this section like he is reciting the apocalyptic agenda. Then he suddenly pulls the plug on apocalyptic fear with his reassurance that Christians are freed of the wrath of God. Does that mean that Christians are not accountable to God in the end? Or, does it mean that true accountability begins with our relationship with God in Christ? That relationship and the authentic living of that relationship mean that we do not have to fear accountability. Indeed, Christian identity is fulfilled in accountability.
Matthew 25:14-30
The issue of fear of judgment hovers within the parable of the talents, even as it resides in Paul's words to the Thessalonians. This particular parable stands at the corner of Matthew's story of Jesus -- right at the spot where Matthew turns the reader toward the Passion story. In chapter 24 Matthew gives us a new revised edition of Mark 13. But the first evangelist doesn't stop where Mark stops. The consideration of the end-
time, the glorious return of Christ, is continued for another chapter. After substituting the parable of the faithful and unfaithful servants for Mark's story of the doorkeeper (13:32-
37), this Gospel writer gives us a series of parables followed by a vision of the last judgment (see the Gospel Lesson for Christ the King Sunday). The parable of the talents follows on the heels of the parable of the ten young women and precedes the shift of scenes to the final judgment (25:31-46).
Standing as it does at this decisive turning place in the first Gospel, Jesus teases us with a story about a master who entrusts his wealth to his slaves. A talent was a very large sum of money, some say as much as fifteen years of wages. This master is no dummy. (How else could he have become so wealthy?) He doles out his treasure to three servants according to each servant's ability (v. 15). (Incidentally, the Greek word used for these three is doulos, which can be translated either as slave or servant.) The story follows the pattern of three, as is so often the case in good stories. Two of the three do very well with their master's money, each earning the master a bit of profit. But the third is a total flop. He's uncertain of the stock market right now and simply preserves the master's money. Sort of like putting it under the mattress.
The day of accounting comes when the master returns. The two successful investors are praised and promised promotions. When the master comes to the third servant, however, this cautious worker immediately begins making excuses. "You're a tough boss, and I didn't want to take any chances." He returns the single talent to the master. The accounting goes differently in his case. He is called "wicked and lazy," loses his one talent, and is thrown "into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (v. 30). The weeping and gnashing clause is one of Matthew's favorite poetic ways of imagining the punishment of disobedience (see 8:12; 13:42, 50; 22:13; and 24:51).
The third servant was right: This is a tough boss. He expects more than simple reimbursement. The servants are held responsible for investing and thereby increasing the value of the master's property. But why did the third servant prove to be such a failure at this admittedly none too easy task? The answer is clear: He was scared to death of the guy! "I knew you were a harsh man ... so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground" (vv. 24-25). He was done in by his fear of the consequences of his action, by his fear of what his master would do if he didn't succeed in his investments as the others did.
Accountability. This course through these three (or four) readings brings us face to face with the responsibility to show ourselves accountable to our Creator. And the third servant is right in one sense -- that is a frightening prospect. In Judges and Zephaniah -- and to some extent in 1 Thessalonians as well -- God is pictured as a harsh judge. So, there is a sense in which, like it or not, we are held accountable for what we have done with this life that is given to us. We are responsible for our lives, how we invest them, and what they yield.
Yet there is a remarkable feature of this accountability that emerges from the readings in two related ways. First, the reading from Judges suggests that this stern and demanding judge stands ready to respond to our pleas for mercy. When we have reached the end of our resources, God will respond to our cries. That means that when we feel hopelessly ensnared in responsibility and can't keep our heads above the water, God understands.
Second, in these readings there's the good news that God has shown compassion on us through Christ, so that judgment need not frighten us. Clinging to the promise we have in Christ, we are freed from God's wrath and embraced by God's love. Furthermore, we are shown that fear is precisely what's going to do us in. To paraphrase that famous saying: Fear is exactly what we have to fear. Fear can cripple our willingness to risk and to be adventuresome in the investment of our lives. It can send us out digging in the dirt to hide our treasure of life, and it can paralyze us in the face of challenges. The gospel message to which we are brought by these lessons is that God's saving activity in Christ frees us from fear and liberates us to risk new ventures. That is what Luther meant by the freedom of the Gospel.
FIRST LESSON FOCUS
By Elizabeth Achtemeier
Judges 4:1-7
It is somewhat of a mystery as to why this one text from Judges is inserted into the lectionary at this point. The Lutheran selection fits much better with the New Testament readings. But perhaps this is a feeble attempt to remind the congregation that women too served as leaders in ancient Israel.
After Israel entered into the promised land about 1220 B.C., for the next two centuries until the beginning of the reign of Saul in 1020 B.C., the people were very loosely organized as disparate and scattered tribes into a covenant federation that met together either every one or seven years at a central shrine where the ark of the covenant was located, first at Shechem, then Gilgal, and finally at Shiloh. (Even this loose organization has been questioned by some scholars.)
During this period, the Israelite tribes were constantly harassed by the surrounding Canaanites, who were more numerous and who had the military advantage of possessing horses and chariots. In our text, it is the Canaanites of the northern portion of the land around Hazor, under the kingship of one Jabin and the military leadership of Sisera, who threaten the Israelites' existence.
The Deuteronomic editors, who made the final assembly of the book of Judges, place the stories of the various Judges within a stereotyped theological framework. Israel's time in the promised land is the time of her testing, to see if she will remain faithful to her God. But, say the D editors, Israel constantly falls into idolatry and worships the fertility gods and goddesses of the Canaanites. As a result, God sends his punishment upon her in the form of an attack by the surrounding Canaanites. The people cry out in repentance, according to the framework, and the Lord sends them a deliverer, a Judge, to save them from the enemy. Thus, in our text, the Lord has subjected his people to the oppression of Sisera's army.
The Judge at the time is the prophetess Deborah. She is not a military leader like many of the Judges, but rather exercises a judicial function, deciding in the legal disputes that are brought to her (v. 5). Nevertheless, it is Deborah who summons Barak from the tribe of Zebulon to lead in the battle. She commands him to call forth ten thousand of the farmers in the northern tribes of Naphtali and Zebulon to fight against the superior Canaanites. And because she is a prophetess, she can foretell that God will defeat the Canaanites (v. 7) and that the Canaanite commander will be slain by a woman (v. 9). In the following story those events take place (vv. 12-24).
The notable fact in our text, however, is that God is the one who determines the course of events. "I will draw out Sisera ... I will give him into your hand ..." says the Lord through Deborah (v. 7). Israel is God's covenant people, and it is God who protects and delivers them, because they are the instruments of the purpose of God to bring his blessing on all the families of the earth (cf. Genesis 12:3; Exodus 19:6). Despite Israel's idolatry, despite her continual apostasy and unfaithfulness, God forgives his errant people and moves their history forward toward his goal of salvation for the world.
It is not farfetched to conclude therefore that God is still doing the same thing in our history. Heaven knows we are frequently unfaithful servants, giving our loyalty and worship to everything and everyone except our Lord. But we are also members, with Israel, of God's covenant people, who have been set aside to be God's instruments in the salvation of all peoples. And God is using us -- using even our little sporadic faithfulness and service -- to bring in his kingdom on earth. It is not we who live, but Christ who lives in us, and he will bring our history to his blessed conclusion.
Lutheran Option -- Zephaniah 1:7, 12-18
Our text encompasses the seventh century B.C. prophet's announcement of the nearness of the Day of the Lord, of the dies irae, the day of wrath -- the fearful day at the end of human history when God invades the earth to destroy all of those who oppose him, before he brings in his kingdom.
We live in an age and a society that believes that God never judges anybody. Too often we picture God as a kindly helper who overlooks every wrong and whose task it is simply to forgive us our sins and to deliver us out of any difficulty that we may find ourselves in. So we go our merry ways, ignoring God's loving commandments for us, making up the rules of right and wrong as we go along, and considering ourselves the individual sovereigns over our own lives and our chosen futures.
The results are the chaos in our world, of which we read in the morning headlines, and the agonizing thought that there really is no good future. No. No one rules except us. And try as we may in our decent moments, we seem unable to establish any lasting peace or community of love on our tortured earth. Millions starve, more millions die violently, our streets echo with gunfire and are besmirched with the crime that keeps us behind locked doors. Families fall apart, hatreds fester, and children find themselves bereft of caring parents or education. And we dimly realize that death will be our only deliverance from a sin-saturated life that will never finally know improvement.
But our text gives assurance of a different outcome. To be sure, it is full of darkness and gloom, distress and anguish. God has risen up in warfare against his enemies, says Zephaniah. He has offered that sacrifice that precedes every Israelite battle (cf. 1 Samuel 13:5-12). Now his final judgment is at hand, and he will come to do away with every human military weapon (cf. Isaiah 9:5; Psalm 46:8-9) and every sinful soul who has thought that human beings rule the world and that they are in charge. No material wealth, paid to government or church, will be able to turn aside God's onslaught (v. 18). God in his just judgment will destroy those who have forgotten and defied him. For he is Ruler and Lord over all, and he comes to reclaim his creation.
When the last judgment will take place, Zephaniah does not say, any more than does the New Testament (cf. Mark 13:32-37). The Day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night, reports our epistle lesson. Who knows? Maybe that dreadful day will come tomorrow afternoon! And our Lord's warning to us is to be ready and to "watch."
So our text is finally a call to repentance, isn't it? And a call to the renewal of our trust in Christ's deliverance of us. Writes Paul, "For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Thessalonians 5:9).
What will the outcome be, then? Zephaniah tells us of it.
For I will leave in the midst of you
a people humble and lowly.
They shall seek refuge in the name of the Lord,
those who are left in Israel;
they shall do no wrong
and utter no lies,
nor shall there be found in their mouth
a deceitful tongue.
For they shall pasture and lie down,
and none shall make them afraid.
-- Zephaniah 3:12-13
Truly I say to you. The Kingdom of God will come.
Many of us are uncomfortable with the idea of God's judgment. Some are uneasy with this theme because they feel it compromises our conviction that God is, after all, love and not wrath. Without a doubt, there is a tension in the biblical portrayal of God at this point. On the one hand, God is sometimes pictured as compassionate and merciful and, on the other hand, sometimes as wrathful and stern. Other people may be ill at ease with the idea of accountability because of the associations the concept has for them. How many of us were raised on a diet of "hellfire and brimstone" preaching and even now in adulthood are still reacting against it?
Yet discomfort is no reason to discount this biblical theme. One of the words that comes flying out of these lessons is accountability. Some may feel ambivalent about the suggestion that we are accountable. Among the more independent -- even rebellious -- of us, accountability to anyone is offensive. We like to say that we are accountable only to ourselves. Perhaps others are not quite so skittish when faced with the claim of accountability. But even then, there may be a side of us that would prefer not dealing with this issue directly.
Accountability is also, we think, a social issue today of growing portions. Many in our society seem to believe that (or at least act as if) they are not responsible for their actions. Social science has taught us that we are products of our environment. Maybe in some quarters that lesson has been used to dodge responsibility. The courts are filled with cases that have to do with determining responsibility. Is the individual totally responsible for her or his actions, or are corporations and their greed also responsible? When does emotional illness constitute a reason for violent actions for which a person cannot be held accountable? Accountability seems to be a crucial societal issue for us.
Whatever our reasons for wanting to dodge the question of accountability, Scripture will not let us off the hook. It will not allow us to avoid the conclusion that humans are somehow and in some way accountable to their Creator. Our lives are gifts, and the Giver is concerned about what we do with the gift. In various ways, the four lessons for this Sunday all lead us to contemplate the question of accountability.
Judges 4:1-7
This snippet from the book of Judges doesn't make much sense without Judges 2:11-23. That passage is like a preface to a book which lets the reader in on the secret of the plot. There the author claims that, at least for the time being, the Israelites are trapped within a vicious circle. They would do "what was evil in the sight of the Lord" and worship other gods. God would then abandon them to the consequences of their disobedience and raise up enemies against them to punish them for their disobedience. When they were sufficiently distressed and cried out for help, God would then inspire a leader among them to guide them to victory over their enemy. But "whenever the judge died, they would relapse and behave worse than their ancestors ..." (Judges 2:19). The cycle begins again. It is this rather simple view of history that is played out in the pages of Judges. The view, of course, is typical of the Deuteronomic understanding of history (to which we will have to return later when we discuss the first lesson for Thanksgiving Day). Everything is the result of the people's obedience or disobedience and God's patience. If the people obey, they prosper; if they are disobedient, they suffer.
The tiny portion of Judges that has been sliced out for reading narrates one phase of this cycle on one particular occasion. Sure enough, "The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord" (v. 1), and they are opposed by a new enemy. It is as predictable as the sunrise. When they cry out for help, God inspires a new leader -- this time a woman, Deborah. Here she is called a "prophetess." She enlists a reluctant Barak to aid her in defeating the oppressors. Unfortunately the lesson ends before we hear Barak's response to Deborah's invitation to go to war against Sisera. The brave Barak is none too eager to undertake this calling. He makes a conditional response: "If you will go with me, I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go" (v. 8). In this case, the brave warrior is not the man but the woman!
The simple sense of this fragment of the book of Judges is that God punishes disobedience but in the end aids Israel in escaping the punishment. Israel is accountable. Yet God patiently continues to work with them, even in their disobedience. Perhaps the key passage in this little story is found in verse 3a: "Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help...." Our Creator allows us to suffer the consequences of our actions. But, when we have awakened, realized what we have done, and cried out for God to do what we cannot do for ourselves, God intervenes on our behalf. Accountability, in this case, does not mean that God turns a deaf ear our direction when we are going down for the last time in the chaotic waters of the life we have made for ourselves. It does mean that we have to confess our failures and our inability to save ourselves from the consequences of our actions and bank entirely on God's mercy.
Zephaniah 1:7, 12-18 (Lutheran Option)
This alternative to the reading from Judges is not so hopeful as the story of Deborah. Zephaniah may not be your favorite prophet, so maybe we should remember the setting for his words. He was probably a predecessor of Jeremiah in the early years of the reign of Josiah (640-609 B.C.E.) before Josiah instituted his religious reforms. Zephaniah's message is predominately one of doom and judgment for both Judah and the other nations, as this lesson suggests. But still, there are a few glimmers of the hope for the possibility that a remnant would repent and be saved (3:11-20).
Talk about an uncomfortable response to the challenge of accountability! With this snippet, Zephaniah will surely stir such a feeling. God is at war with Judah -- doing battle with the so-called people of God. The coming judgment is the "Day of the Lord," a classical motif in the prophets. The yom YHWH refers to the decisive act of God in history to straighten out the mess humans have made of it. The expression was probably born out of the concept of God's warfare with Israel's enemies, and the pictures of this day of the Lord continue the notion of God as warrior and victor. It is the day of God's triumph, as verses 14-16 demonstrate. For Zephaniah that decisive day includes God's calling the people to accountability for their behavior. The complacent and comfortable of Jerusalem will be sought out. Everything they hold dear will be destroyed. Verses 17 and 18 suggest that people will pay for their sin with suffering, and nothing can secure them against this punishment. Indeed, in his enthusiasm, Zephaniah makes this accounting sound like the end of the world: "the whole earth shall be consumed...."
This gloomy prophet gives us good reason not to want to talk, much less think about our accountability to God. The picture is filled with gross punishment for sins and very little hope for anything but disaster. You have to read further and into chapter two to find a glimmer of hope for anything but destruction. In 2:3 the prophet holds out the possibility that, if the people seek righteousness, they just might be "hidden on the day of the Lord's wrath." Zephaniah pictures an absolute accountability, and there is no way to dodge it. There are no excused absences. The only way to avoid the worst is to become accountable right now in the way you live, or, as the prophet puts it, "seek righteousness."
1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
The picture is a different one in this lesson, although it has many of the same features as the one painted by Zephaniah and resembles the scene presented in the passage from Judges. This text is one of the places in which Paul sounds very much like an apocalyptic prophet. But these words arose out of a pastoral concern (as is always the case with Paul). It may be that some Christians in Thessalonica are upset because their beloved friends and relatives have died before Christ's return in glory. They mistakenly think that the dead will miss out on the glorious party. Their problem may seem to us rather odd. Yet, when we realize that this was a young and still untrained congregation, their twisted concept of the final days is understandable. Paul tries gently to correct their thinking about this matter with a fuller understanding of the resurrection of the dead (4:13-18).
The reading continues Paul's counsel on the matter of the last days that begins at 5:1. "[T]he times and seasons," as he calls it. Like Zephaniah, Paul warns against a false sense of peace and security and repeats the synoptic theme of the surprise of Christ's return (e.g., Mark 13:32-37). When that day comes, there's going to be no way out, no escape hatch. But in a rather surprising turn in verse 4, Paul reassures the readers that they will be safe on that fateful day. "Children of light and children of the day" have nothing to fear. Those who "belong to the day" (v. 8) are secure. That must mean that Christian identity is wrapped up in this final and glorious appearance of Christ, and in that sense we "belong" to that climactic day. In Christ God has ordained us for salvation and not for wrath. Typical of Paul, he follows this reassuring word of gospel with an imperative: "Therefore, encourage one another ..." (v. 11). He wants the readers to understand themselves as now called to a ministry of encouragement among those who may have unnecessary fears about the fearful day of God's judgment.
Paul proceeds in this section like he is reciting the apocalyptic agenda. Then he suddenly pulls the plug on apocalyptic fear with his reassurance that Christians are freed of the wrath of God. Does that mean that Christians are not accountable to God in the end? Or, does it mean that true accountability begins with our relationship with God in Christ? That relationship and the authentic living of that relationship mean that we do not have to fear accountability. Indeed, Christian identity is fulfilled in accountability.
Matthew 25:14-30
The issue of fear of judgment hovers within the parable of the talents, even as it resides in Paul's words to the Thessalonians. This particular parable stands at the corner of Matthew's story of Jesus -- right at the spot where Matthew turns the reader toward the Passion story. In chapter 24 Matthew gives us a new revised edition of Mark 13. But the first evangelist doesn't stop where Mark stops. The consideration of the end-
time, the glorious return of Christ, is continued for another chapter. After substituting the parable of the faithful and unfaithful servants for Mark's story of the doorkeeper (13:32-
37), this Gospel writer gives us a series of parables followed by a vision of the last judgment (see the Gospel Lesson for Christ the King Sunday). The parable of the talents follows on the heels of the parable of the ten young women and precedes the shift of scenes to the final judgment (25:31-46).
Standing as it does at this decisive turning place in the first Gospel, Jesus teases us with a story about a master who entrusts his wealth to his slaves. A talent was a very large sum of money, some say as much as fifteen years of wages. This master is no dummy. (How else could he have become so wealthy?) He doles out his treasure to three servants according to each servant's ability (v. 15). (Incidentally, the Greek word used for these three is doulos, which can be translated either as slave or servant.) The story follows the pattern of three, as is so often the case in good stories. Two of the three do very well with their master's money, each earning the master a bit of profit. But the third is a total flop. He's uncertain of the stock market right now and simply preserves the master's money. Sort of like putting it under the mattress.
The day of accounting comes when the master returns. The two successful investors are praised and promised promotions. When the master comes to the third servant, however, this cautious worker immediately begins making excuses. "You're a tough boss, and I didn't want to take any chances." He returns the single talent to the master. The accounting goes differently in his case. He is called "wicked and lazy," loses his one talent, and is thrown "into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (v. 30). The weeping and gnashing clause is one of Matthew's favorite poetic ways of imagining the punishment of disobedience (see 8:12; 13:42, 50; 22:13; and 24:51).
The third servant was right: This is a tough boss. He expects more than simple reimbursement. The servants are held responsible for investing and thereby increasing the value of the master's property. But why did the third servant prove to be such a failure at this admittedly none too easy task? The answer is clear: He was scared to death of the guy! "I knew you were a harsh man ... so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground" (vv. 24-25). He was done in by his fear of the consequences of his action, by his fear of what his master would do if he didn't succeed in his investments as the others did.
Accountability. This course through these three (or four) readings brings us face to face with the responsibility to show ourselves accountable to our Creator. And the third servant is right in one sense -- that is a frightening prospect. In Judges and Zephaniah -- and to some extent in 1 Thessalonians as well -- God is pictured as a harsh judge. So, there is a sense in which, like it or not, we are held accountable for what we have done with this life that is given to us. We are responsible for our lives, how we invest them, and what they yield.
Yet there is a remarkable feature of this accountability that emerges from the readings in two related ways. First, the reading from Judges suggests that this stern and demanding judge stands ready to respond to our pleas for mercy. When we have reached the end of our resources, God will respond to our cries. That means that when we feel hopelessly ensnared in responsibility and can't keep our heads above the water, God understands.
Second, in these readings there's the good news that God has shown compassion on us through Christ, so that judgment need not frighten us. Clinging to the promise we have in Christ, we are freed from God's wrath and embraced by God's love. Furthermore, we are shown that fear is precisely what's going to do us in. To paraphrase that famous saying: Fear is exactly what we have to fear. Fear can cripple our willingness to risk and to be adventuresome in the investment of our lives. It can send us out digging in the dirt to hide our treasure of life, and it can paralyze us in the face of challenges. The gospel message to which we are brought by these lessons is that God's saving activity in Christ frees us from fear and liberates us to risk new ventures. That is what Luther meant by the freedom of the Gospel.
FIRST LESSON FOCUS
By Elizabeth Achtemeier
Judges 4:1-7
It is somewhat of a mystery as to why this one text from Judges is inserted into the lectionary at this point. The Lutheran selection fits much better with the New Testament readings. But perhaps this is a feeble attempt to remind the congregation that women too served as leaders in ancient Israel.
After Israel entered into the promised land about 1220 B.C., for the next two centuries until the beginning of the reign of Saul in 1020 B.C., the people were very loosely organized as disparate and scattered tribes into a covenant federation that met together either every one or seven years at a central shrine where the ark of the covenant was located, first at Shechem, then Gilgal, and finally at Shiloh. (Even this loose organization has been questioned by some scholars.)
During this period, the Israelite tribes were constantly harassed by the surrounding Canaanites, who were more numerous and who had the military advantage of possessing horses and chariots. In our text, it is the Canaanites of the northern portion of the land around Hazor, under the kingship of one Jabin and the military leadership of Sisera, who threaten the Israelites' existence.
The Deuteronomic editors, who made the final assembly of the book of Judges, place the stories of the various Judges within a stereotyped theological framework. Israel's time in the promised land is the time of her testing, to see if she will remain faithful to her God. But, say the D editors, Israel constantly falls into idolatry and worships the fertility gods and goddesses of the Canaanites. As a result, God sends his punishment upon her in the form of an attack by the surrounding Canaanites. The people cry out in repentance, according to the framework, and the Lord sends them a deliverer, a Judge, to save them from the enemy. Thus, in our text, the Lord has subjected his people to the oppression of Sisera's army.
The Judge at the time is the prophetess Deborah. She is not a military leader like many of the Judges, but rather exercises a judicial function, deciding in the legal disputes that are brought to her (v. 5). Nevertheless, it is Deborah who summons Barak from the tribe of Zebulon to lead in the battle. She commands him to call forth ten thousand of the farmers in the northern tribes of Naphtali and Zebulon to fight against the superior Canaanites. And because she is a prophetess, she can foretell that God will defeat the Canaanites (v. 7) and that the Canaanite commander will be slain by a woman (v. 9). In the following story those events take place (vv. 12-24).
The notable fact in our text, however, is that God is the one who determines the course of events. "I will draw out Sisera ... I will give him into your hand ..." says the Lord through Deborah (v. 7). Israel is God's covenant people, and it is God who protects and delivers them, because they are the instruments of the purpose of God to bring his blessing on all the families of the earth (cf. Genesis 12:3; Exodus 19:6). Despite Israel's idolatry, despite her continual apostasy and unfaithfulness, God forgives his errant people and moves their history forward toward his goal of salvation for the world.
It is not farfetched to conclude therefore that God is still doing the same thing in our history. Heaven knows we are frequently unfaithful servants, giving our loyalty and worship to everything and everyone except our Lord. But we are also members, with Israel, of God's covenant people, who have been set aside to be God's instruments in the salvation of all peoples. And God is using us -- using even our little sporadic faithfulness and service -- to bring in his kingdom on earth. It is not we who live, but Christ who lives in us, and he will bring our history to his blessed conclusion.
Lutheran Option -- Zephaniah 1:7, 12-18
Our text encompasses the seventh century B.C. prophet's announcement of the nearness of the Day of the Lord, of the dies irae, the day of wrath -- the fearful day at the end of human history when God invades the earth to destroy all of those who oppose him, before he brings in his kingdom.
We live in an age and a society that believes that God never judges anybody. Too often we picture God as a kindly helper who overlooks every wrong and whose task it is simply to forgive us our sins and to deliver us out of any difficulty that we may find ourselves in. So we go our merry ways, ignoring God's loving commandments for us, making up the rules of right and wrong as we go along, and considering ourselves the individual sovereigns over our own lives and our chosen futures.
The results are the chaos in our world, of which we read in the morning headlines, and the agonizing thought that there really is no good future. No. No one rules except us. And try as we may in our decent moments, we seem unable to establish any lasting peace or community of love on our tortured earth. Millions starve, more millions die violently, our streets echo with gunfire and are besmirched with the crime that keeps us behind locked doors. Families fall apart, hatreds fester, and children find themselves bereft of caring parents or education. And we dimly realize that death will be our only deliverance from a sin-saturated life that will never finally know improvement.
But our text gives assurance of a different outcome. To be sure, it is full of darkness and gloom, distress and anguish. God has risen up in warfare against his enemies, says Zephaniah. He has offered that sacrifice that precedes every Israelite battle (cf. 1 Samuel 13:5-12). Now his final judgment is at hand, and he will come to do away with every human military weapon (cf. Isaiah 9:5; Psalm 46:8-9) and every sinful soul who has thought that human beings rule the world and that they are in charge. No material wealth, paid to government or church, will be able to turn aside God's onslaught (v. 18). God in his just judgment will destroy those who have forgotten and defied him. For he is Ruler and Lord over all, and he comes to reclaim his creation.
When the last judgment will take place, Zephaniah does not say, any more than does the New Testament (cf. Mark 13:32-37). The Day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night, reports our epistle lesson. Who knows? Maybe that dreadful day will come tomorrow afternoon! And our Lord's warning to us is to be ready and to "watch."
So our text is finally a call to repentance, isn't it? And a call to the renewal of our trust in Christ's deliverance of us. Writes Paul, "For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Thessalonians 5:9).
What will the outcome be, then? Zephaniah tells us of it.
For I will leave in the midst of you
a people humble and lowly.
They shall seek refuge in the name of the Lord,
those who are left in Israel;
they shall do no wrong
and utter no lies,
nor shall there be found in their mouth
a deceitful tongue.
For they shall pasture and lie down,
and none shall make them afraid.
-- Zephaniah 3:12-13
Truly I say to you. The Kingdom of God will come.
