Faith -- pure and simple
Commentary
To believe is not very complicated. From Genesis to Revelation it is described as a simple act that shows trust. Jesus suggests that children are our best teachers in our search to understand what it means to believe.
But if faith is simple, it is also challenging. Faith calls for more than intellectual assent to a formula. Genuine faith is a response that shows itself in what we do.
That idea is inherent in the texts for this Sunday. Though several brothers think it is best to kill Joseph, two disagree. Whether it is so much an act of faith or simply concern for their father, Judah and Reuben find a way to spare their favored brother. Given the future importance of Joseph in the unfolding story of God's people, the efforts of these two brothers to save the life of Joseph are critical.
The Romans passage is linked to the theme from last Sunday when we reflected on the sorrow Paul felt in his heart over the failure of his own people -- the Jews -- to embrace the gospel. But that does not deter him from lifting up and accenting the privilege the Gentile Christians have in God's decision to include them in the family of faith.
In the Gospel Lesson, Peter becomes a symbol for the whole church, representing the call to take the step of faith, to venture out on the waters, and to trust in Jesus as our only hope.
We will need to exercise care on this Sunday -- especially if we focus on the Gospel account -- not to leave the impression that dramatic actions are the only evidence that one has faith. For most of us, it is in the ordinary, mundane tasks of our daily routine that faith will be most evident. Yet, even in that arena we need to be conscious of the call to act and speak as those who trust Christ rather than our own ingenuity.
Grist For The Mill
Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28
Jacob, the favored son of his mother Rebekah, now seems to be making the same mistake by singling out Joseph for special favor among his many sons. The coat of many colors is no doubt but one of many ways in which he showed that this son had a special place in his heart. Little wonder that jealousy raged in the hearts of the others.
Having said this, there is in this text, as in the account of Jacob and Esau, an accent on the purposes of God that sometimes defy human tradition. Joseph may not have been the firstborn son, but he was clearly the son best equipped to carry forward the unfolding plan of God for Israel. Could any of the others, including the newly-favored son Benjamin, have done what Joseph did when the opportunity came to him in Egypt?
The reaction of the brothers is not unlike the tensions seem among the disciples of Jesus. They wondered about positions at his right and left hand. Though Peter eventually came to occupy a central place -- as is reflected in the Gospel Lesson -- there was constant vying for place among the twelve.
It need not be that way. And this is where the role of Judah and Reuben comes into focus. They could have gone along with the plan to kill Joseph. But they chose to do otherwise. An act of faith? That may be straining the text a bit. But, at the very least, it is their way of being used by God to work out a divine purpose.
Envy and jealousy still plague the people of God. Though it takes subtle forms, it is just as deadly to the propagation of the faith. But it need not be that way. David and Jonathan, Peter and Andrew, Paul and Timothy, Luther and Melancthon, John and Charles Wesley. These are but a few examples of those who were used to work in harmony to fulfill God's plan.
Romans 10:5-15
The contrast in this text is between the old and the new. Faith is not the hard way of following the law; it is the "easy" way of simple trust. But it is also the radical way. In fact, a good case can be made for the idea that Paul's understanding of the Christian faith is more radical than what one finds in other parts of the Bible.
Here in Romans faith is seen as twofold: declaring that "Jesus is Lord," and believing that "God raised him from the dead." When linked with what has been said by Paul up to this point, the essence of faith is indeed radical. Into a world where the proclamation of Christ might have been interpreted as the addition of another god to the already crowded panoply of gods, Paul is radical. Christ is unique. He stands alone. It is by faith in him that we are made right with God.
"If Paul is the most radical," writes Gerhard Forde, "then dogmatics must cope with Paul and cannot search for milder forms merely to soothe its tastes; the so-called plurality of the New Testament message cannot be used dogmatically to escape the offense of its most radical formulations." (Gerhard Forde, Christian Dogmatics, Carl E. Braaten, ed.; Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984, p. 401.)
As in the other texts for this day, the role of the proclaimer is important. Though all is by grace, God uses people to bring us the message.
Matthew 14:22-33
Living on the shore of a rather large body of water gives me much respect for the vagaries of nature, including sudden windstorms. Some frightening experiences on the water have taught me to keep an eye on the skies and to head for home before a storm breaks loose. I have also learned to trust the judgment of those with more experience in handling a boat during a storm.
That is the irony of this account of the storm on Galilee. It is Jesus the carpenter who should be looking to the experienced fishermen for advice and counsel in the fury. Instead, it is they who look to him. That is part of the message. It is not by our ingenuity that we are saved, but by trust alone in Christ.
We are inclined to be a bit hard on Peter for his lack of faith once he stepped onto the water. But we would do well to honor him above the others for his attempt to at least try to make the walk. None of the others, of course, would know his embarrassment. But neither would they know the reassurance that came from having his hand grasped by that of Jesus.
Faith is not a heroic act. It is simple trust. But that is the harder thing to do. We like to point to "heroes of the faith," persons who by some exemplary work have caught the attention of the church and others. But that makes faith illusive for those who do not see themselves as heroes. We must see faith in its essence as a desperate cry from the heart when we are at the end of our rope and about to lose our grip on everything. That is why we can hear echoes of the liturgy of the early Christians in this text. When we cry out, "Lord, have mercy; Christ, have mercy; Lord, have mercy," we are repeating the cry of Peter, "Lord, save me!"
FIRST LESSON FOCUS
By James A. Nestingen
Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28
As Luther told this story, he wondered at the hardness of heart that it took for Joseph's brothers to calculate such a cold-hearted plot, especially when they had to face their father, ancient Jacob, with it.
Perhaps the tempting agent was envy. Sibling rivalry seems built right into family relationships. It never takes much to convince one child that another has gotten the long end, leaving the short. Bringing such a conviction to attention doesn't usually promote equalization, either. Back and forth, back and forth, children can multiply perceived slights and contrived injustices into enough bitterness for a lifetime.
Or maybe it was despise, a craftier emotion. It takes a lot of love and even more familiarity to fuel such a mixture of contempt and resentment. Nowadays, there aren't many families that stay together long enough for such a level of disgust to develop. But when people live in each other's laps for a long time, when they are bound together by mutual dependence as Joseph's brothers were, the grounds are fertile with disgust. Brothers and sisters become so desperately accustomed to one another's tricks and traps, shadings and devices, that they lose sight of the person behind the machinations. Sick and tired of one another, they expect no value and less redemption -- nothing but more of the desperate same.
But maybe it's better not to speculate. Jacob made the original mistake. Favored himself by old Rebekah, he stepped into a trap parents know enough to avoid but don't often escape: he picked a favorite. And Joseph was naive about it, though that hardly seems likely given the nature of his parents: already dressed in a resplendent robe, he prattled on about his dreams, seemingly oblivious to the teeth gnashing all around him.
Given all of his experience, it's a wonder that Jacob didn't see something coming. Maybe he did, worrying that the brother's jealousies might at some point erupt. Maybe age made him insensitive. Or maybe, holding all of his sons in love even as he favored the youngest, he assumed that they would never harm Joseph.
Whatever, the suggestion to settle up with Joseph moved among his brothers with icy dispatch. It started big, to kill him and be done with altogether, and then scaled back progressively, to leaving him in a pit and then selling him wholesale. Reuben appears more warm-blooded, at least in first consideration, but he managed to repress his humanity long enough to pitch in with the others. In the end, Joseph was carried off alone. It will become a story of redemption; at this point, there is nothing to redeem any of it. Sinners aren't novel.
But if faith is simple, it is also challenging. Faith calls for more than intellectual assent to a formula. Genuine faith is a response that shows itself in what we do.
That idea is inherent in the texts for this Sunday. Though several brothers think it is best to kill Joseph, two disagree. Whether it is so much an act of faith or simply concern for their father, Judah and Reuben find a way to spare their favored brother. Given the future importance of Joseph in the unfolding story of God's people, the efforts of these two brothers to save the life of Joseph are critical.
The Romans passage is linked to the theme from last Sunday when we reflected on the sorrow Paul felt in his heart over the failure of his own people -- the Jews -- to embrace the gospel. But that does not deter him from lifting up and accenting the privilege the Gentile Christians have in God's decision to include them in the family of faith.
In the Gospel Lesson, Peter becomes a symbol for the whole church, representing the call to take the step of faith, to venture out on the waters, and to trust in Jesus as our only hope.
We will need to exercise care on this Sunday -- especially if we focus on the Gospel account -- not to leave the impression that dramatic actions are the only evidence that one has faith. For most of us, it is in the ordinary, mundane tasks of our daily routine that faith will be most evident. Yet, even in that arena we need to be conscious of the call to act and speak as those who trust Christ rather than our own ingenuity.
Grist For The Mill
Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28
Jacob, the favored son of his mother Rebekah, now seems to be making the same mistake by singling out Joseph for special favor among his many sons. The coat of many colors is no doubt but one of many ways in which he showed that this son had a special place in his heart. Little wonder that jealousy raged in the hearts of the others.
Having said this, there is in this text, as in the account of Jacob and Esau, an accent on the purposes of God that sometimes defy human tradition. Joseph may not have been the firstborn son, but he was clearly the son best equipped to carry forward the unfolding plan of God for Israel. Could any of the others, including the newly-favored son Benjamin, have done what Joseph did when the opportunity came to him in Egypt?
The reaction of the brothers is not unlike the tensions seem among the disciples of Jesus. They wondered about positions at his right and left hand. Though Peter eventually came to occupy a central place -- as is reflected in the Gospel Lesson -- there was constant vying for place among the twelve.
It need not be that way. And this is where the role of Judah and Reuben comes into focus. They could have gone along with the plan to kill Joseph. But they chose to do otherwise. An act of faith? That may be straining the text a bit. But, at the very least, it is their way of being used by God to work out a divine purpose.
Envy and jealousy still plague the people of God. Though it takes subtle forms, it is just as deadly to the propagation of the faith. But it need not be that way. David and Jonathan, Peter and Andrew, Paul and Timothy, Luther and Melancthon, John and Charles Wesley. These are but a few examples of those who were used to work in harmony to fulfill God's plan.
Romans 10:5-15
The contrast in this text is between the old and the new. Faith is not the hard way of following the law; it is the "easy" way of simple trust. But it is also the radical way. In fact, a good case can be made for the idea that Paul's understanding of the Christian faith is more radical than what one finds in other parts of the Bible.
Here in Romans faith is seen as twofold: declaring that "Jesus is Lord," and believing that "God raised him from the dead." When linked with what has been said by Paul up to this point, the essence of faith is indeed radical. Into a world where the proclamation of Christ might have been interpreted as the addition of another god to the already crowded panoply of gods, Paul is radical. Christ is unique. He stands alone. It is by faith in him that we are made right with God.
"If Paul is the most radical," writes Gerhard Forde, "then dogmatics must cope with Paul and cannot search for milder forms merely to soothe its tastes; the so-called plurality of the New Testament message cannot be used dogmatically to escape the offense of its most radical formulations." (Gerhard Forde, Christian Dogmatics, Carl E. Braaten, ed.; Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984, p. 401.)
As in the other texts for this day, the role of the proclaimer is important. Though all is by grace, God uses people to bring us the message.
Matthew 14:22-33
Living on the shore of a rather large body of water gives me much respect for the vagaries of nature, including sudden windstorms. Some frightening experiences on the water have taught me to keep an eye on the skies and to head for home before a storm breaks loose. I have also learned to trust the judgment of those with more experience in handling a boat during a storm.
That is the irony of this account of the storm on Galilee. It is Jesus the carpenter who should be looking to the experienced fishermen for advice and counsel in the fury. Instead, it is they who look to him. That is part of the message. It is not by our ingenuity that we are saved, but by trust alone in Christ.
We are inclined to be a bit hard on Peter for his lack of faith once he stepped onto the water. But we would do well to honor him above the others for his attempt to at least try to make the walk. None of the others, of course, would know his embarrassment. But neither would they know the reassurance that came from having his hand grasped by that of Jesus.
Faith is not a heroic act. It is simple trust. But that is the harder thing to do. We like to point to "heroes of the faith," persons who by some exemplary work have caught the attention of the church and others. But that makes faith illusive for those who do not see themselves as heroes. We must see faith in its essence as a desperate cry from the heart when we are at the end of our rope and about to lose our grip on everything. That is why we can hear echoes of the liturgy of the early Christians in this text. When we cry out, "Lord, have mercy; Christ, have mercy; Lord, have mercy," we are repeating the cry of Peter, "Lord, save me!"
FIRST LESSON FOCUS
By James A. Nestingen
Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28
As Luther told this story, he wondered at the hardness of heart that it took for Joseph's brothers to calculate such a cold-hearted plot, especially when they had to face their father, ancient Jacob, with it.
Perhaps the tempting agent was envy. Sibling rivalry seems built right into family relationships. It never takes much to convince one child that another has gotten the long end, leaving the short. Bringing such a conviction to attention doesn't usually promote equalization, either. Back and forth, back and forth, children can multiply perceived slights and contrived injustices into enough bitterness for a lifetime.
Or maybe it was despise, a craftier emotion. It takes a lot of love and even more familiarity to fuel such a mixture of contempt and resentment. Nowadays, there aren't many families that stay together long enough for such a level of disgust to develop. But when people live in each other's laps for a long time, when they are bound together by mutual dependence as Joseph's brothers were, the grounds are fertile with disgust. Brothers and sisters become so desperately accustomed to one another's tricks and traps, shadings and devices, that they lose sight of the person behind the machinations. Sick and tired of one another, they expect no value and less redemption -- nothing but more of the desperate same.
But maybe it's better not to speculate. Jacob made the original mistake. Favored himself by old Rebekah, he stepped into a trap parents know enough to avoid but don't often escape: he picked a favorite. And Joseph was naive about it, though that hardly seems likely given the nature of his parents: already dressed in a resplendent robe, he prattled on about his dreams, seemingly oblivious to the teeth gnashing all around him.
Given all of his experience, it's a wonder that Jacob didn't see something coming. Maybe he did, worrying that the brother's jealousies might at some point erupt. Maybe age made him insensitive. Or maybe, holding all of his sons in love even as he favored the youngest, he assumed that they would never harm Joseph.
Whatever, the suggestion to settle up with Joseph moved among his brothers with icy dispatch. It started big, to kill him and be done with altogether, and then scaled back progressively, to leaving him in a pit and then selling him wholesale. Reuben appears more warm-blooded, at least in first consideration, but he managed to repress his humanity long enough to pitch in with the others. In the end, Joseph was carried off alone. It will become a story of redemption; at this point, there is nothing to redeem any of it. Sinners aren't novel.
