Reversal of Fortune
Commentary
Of course, we never quite return to the way things were -- because we have been changed by good fortune or bad. As we make sense of a world that has known the 2020 pandemic there are several things that can’t be undone, regardless of medical advances and a return to whatever we choose to call normalcy. First, not all of us made it through. Some of those who survived are not returned to full health. More important, the damage done by uncivil discourse, the sharp exchanges by those holding radically different views cannot be easily undone.
This holiday’s scriptures talk about a return: from natural disaster in Joel, exile in Psalm 126, political fears in 1 Timothy, and in Matthew, bondage to the worries of this world. The world gets turned upside down, and sometimes right side up again. We are called to be in community together, as citizens of a larger world. And amid worry and fear, we are called to live boldly in trust and obedience to a kingdom no one sees but which we as Christians acknowledge.
Joel 2:21-27
There is no scholarly agreement about the dating of the book of the prophet Joel, nor of the exact circumstances that inspired these verses. Joel seems to have used a natural disaster involving a plague of insects to proclaim a warning! This catastrophic event has led Joel to speak of the day of the Lord as a dark and dangerous time, admonishing those of us who are smug and certain of our place in God’s kingdom that we may not be as ready as we think!
That’s why, as people struggle with recovery, Joel reminds them of even greater catastrophe -- the failure to repent and change before the true day of the Lord. But Joel can also call us to joy and thanksgiving -- be assured that God is good and capable and restoring our fortunes and is doing so. True cause indeed for thanksgiving and praise.
In contrast to last Thanksgiving, which some observed in isolation, while others gathered, risking the potential for spreading disease and death, Joel sings of a joyful time of recovery and renewal, made more precious because of all we’ve been through together.
Add a verse or two to this reading, and you will come across the familiar words quoted at Pentecost: “Then afterward I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female slaves, in those days, I will pour out my spirit.” (Joel 2:28-29)
These are words that lead to the startling images of the day of the Lord, but also remind us that the Holy Spirit is moving powerfully among us.
Psalm 126
It’s common enough to type LOL, “Laugh Out Loud,” in response to anything remotely funny in an email, text, or social media post. Sometimes it’s a way of showing appreciation. Sometimes we’re just being polite.
But the “laughing out loud” described in this psalm is full throated and authentic. It comes from a situation where return seemed impossible, nothing more than a vague promise in the distant future, but it’s coming true right now. Psalm 126 is subtitled “A Song of Ascents,” a psalm sung by a pilgrim approaching Mount Zion, where the temple once stood, and perhaps was standing once again. Those who had been led away into exile from Jerusalem in tears, (see Psalm 137 for the depths of that grief) are returning in joy. Everyone sees it! Other nations testify that the Lord has done great things for God’s people!
There are images of the dry places in the Negev, gullies normally dry as death most of the year. Those of us who have lived out west are familiar with those empty stream beds that suddenly, as in this biblical passage, run wild with swiftly rushing streams that restore the desert to green. We were weeping, now we’re singing, for our seed corn has brought forth fruit and now we’re bringing in the sheaves.
As I write this, I have no idea what shape your church is in, nor what you’ve been through. In my own situation there were those who died who, though mourned, were not remembered in funeral services because we could not gather. Relationships between old friends were strained because of differing political beliefs that in turn fostered harshly different viewpoints on the pandemic. But people are returning, healing is taking place, and mouths are filling with laughter. Are you preparing for a Thanksgiving feast, gathering without fear?
I hope so.
1 Timothy 2:1-7
I find this a subtle, almost tricky scripture. It’s sometimes misused by those of either political party to strongarm people of different political beliefs to support a leader they oppose, but it’s really calling us to become good citizens who affirm that we are in this world, but not of it. We are to “make petition, prayer, intercession, and thanksgiving” for all people, and then to include “kings,” (the title of the Roman emperor in the east) and other authorities, rather than the other way around. The purpose is so we can live lives of “piety and dignity,” (the NRSV says “godliness and dignity”). There’s a recognition in these words that we Christians are strangers in a strange land, attempting to live in the kingdom of God, guided by the Sermon on the Mount. We do well to obey those worldly laws we can, and to live in a fashion consistent with our society to the extant we are able, remembering God’s aim is the redemption of the whole world. We do not practice an unthinking obedience to every worldly regulation, because there are limits to our obedience to worldly authorities. The first Christians lived in conflict with emperors who proclaimed themselves divine sons of gods, we are enjoined to pray not to rulers, but for them.
Keep in mind that the apostles and early Christians had no control over the governments under which they lived. Those emperors seldom died in bed, and were overthrown by violence on many occasions, thanks to the machinations of generals and other powerful people who sought to wrest control of the imperial throne. The rest of the people were powerless. So, the apostle enjoined first century Christians to pray for stability and peace.
We do not live in a situation like them. Giving thanks and praying for authorities also means holding those authorities and ourselves to account for what occurs.
Matthew 6:25-33
No one must be told not to worry unless we can safely assume that our lives consist of worry. In some cases, constant worry. The emblem of “Mad Magazine” was a figure named Alfred E. Neumann who grinned gap-toothed back at us above his motto, “What, me worry?” The very nature of that symbol was a way of telling us “There’s a lot to worry about. You’re crazy if you don’t worry!”
While some of us feel a certain level of safety and security, not all of us do. There is insecurity about employment, about the cost of medical care, about food insecurity, about any number of situations real or imagined. Not only that, but the entire world has endured a pandemic the likes of which has not been seen for a century. I can only assume as I write this months in advance of Thanksgiving 2021 that some of that is behind us. But who knows? So, when Jesus tells us to put aside worry, should we worry about that?
The thing about this text is that it in no way explains away the fact that there are things worth worrying about. Jesus spoke in a world also filled with insecure people, many of whom had been reduced to day labor, never knowing what tomorrow would bring. Hunger, disease, and governmental insanity were facts of life.
The Beatitudes, which preface the Sermon on the Mount, of which this passage is the conclusion, list the things we have to be fearful about -- hunger, thirst, persecution, insecurity, sorrow, brutality, poverty, and martyrdom. But Jesus challenges us to live by the laws of God’s kingdom, seeking first the kingdom of God, and God’s righteousness. We are to look to the world of plants and animals, and its self-sustaining nature, to recognize we’re only part of something much greater. You will recall that in the book of Job God never tells Job about the debate between God and the adversary. Instead, God opens Job’s eyes to the great universe of which he is only a part, to see a larger picture. The animals live and die, but against the backdrop of the world’s abundance they live their day in the present.
Seeking first the kingdom is part of living bountifully in the present, turning the other cheek, serving others, lifting up others, and recognizing our own self-worth.
We come into the world naked and powerless and require care and feeding as infants -- and as seniors. Our joy and satisfaction comes from being cared for and caring for others. We are most thankful when we are a thankful people. That’s what made our isolated Thanksgiving so hard. We could not enjoy the Lord’s blessings with each other as we normally would. If we can do so now, let us celebrate fully mindful of our fragility as well as of God’s love and concern for us and for all creation.
This holiday’s scriptures talk about a return: from natural disaster in Joel, exile in Psalm 126, political fears in 1 Timothy, and in Matthew, bondage to the worries of this world. The world gets turned upside down, and sometimes right side up again. We are called to be in community together, as citizens of a larger world. And amid worry and fear, we are called to live boldly in trust and obedience to a kingdom no one sees but which we as Christians acknowledge.
Joel 2:21-27
There is no scholarly agreement about the dating of the book of the prophet Joel, nor of the exact circumstances that inspired these verses. Joel seems to have used a natural disaster involving a plague of insects to proclaim a warning! This catastrophic event has led Joel to speak of the day of the Lord as a dark and dangerous time, admonishing those of us who are smug and certain of our place in God’s kingdom that we may not be as ready as we think!
That’s why, as people struggle with recovery, Joel reminds them of even greater catastrophe -- the failure to repent and change before the true day of the Lord. But Joel can also call us to joy and thanksgiving -- be assured that God is good and capable and restoring our fortunes and is doing so. True cause indeed for thanksgiving and praise.
In contrast to last Thanksgiving, which some observed in isolation, while others gathered, risking the potential for spreading disease and death, Joel sings of a joyful time of recovery and renewal, made more precious because of all we’ve been through together.
Add a verse or two to this reading, and you will come across the familiar words quoted at Pentecost: “Then afterward I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female slaves, in those days, I will pour out my spirit.” (Joel 2:28-29)
These are words that lead to the startling images of the day of the Lord, but also remind us that the Holy Spirit is moving powerfully among us.
Psalm 126
It’s common enough to type LOL, “Laugh Out Loud,” in response to anything remotely funny in an email, text, or social media post. Sometimes it’s a way of showing appreciation. Sometimes we’re just being polite.
But the “laughing out loud” described in this psalm is full throated and authentic. It comes from a situation where return seemed impossible, nothing more than a vague promise in the distant future, but it’s coming true right now. Psalm 126 is subtitled “A Song of Ascents,” a psalm sung by a pilgrim approaching Mount Zion, where the temple once stood, and perhaps was standing once again. Those who had been led away into exile from Jerusalem in tears, (see Psalm 137 for the depths of that grief) are returning in joy. Everyone sees it! Other nations testify that the Lord has done great things for God’s people!
There are images of the dry places in the Negev, gullies normally dry as death most of the year. Those of us who have lived out west are familiar with those empty stream beds that suddenly, as in this biblical passage, run wild with swiftly rushing streams that restore the desert to green. We were weeping, now we’re singing, for our seed corn has brought forth fruit and now we’re bringing in the sheaves.
As I write this, I have no idea what shape your church is in, nor what you’ve been through. In my own situation there were those who died who, though mourned, were not remembered in funeral services because we could not gather. Relationships between old friends were strained because of differing political beliefs that in turn fostered harshly different viewpoints on the pandemic. But people are returning, healing is taking place, and mouths are filling with laughter. Are you preparing for a Thanksgiving feast, gathering without fear?
I hope so.
1 Timothy 2:1-7
I find this a subtle, almost tricky scripture. It’s sometimes misused by those of either political party to strongarm people of different political beliefs to support a leader they oppose, but it’s really calling us to become good citizens who affirm that we are in this world, but not of it. We are to “make petition, prayer, intercession, and thanksgiving” for all people, and then to include “kings,” (the title of the Roman emperor in the east) and other authorities, rather than the other way around. The purpose is so we can live lives of “piety and dignity,” (the NRSV says “godliness and dignity”). There’s a recognition in these words that we Christians are strangers in a strange land, attempting to live in the kingdom of God, guided by the Sermon on the Mount. We do well to obey those worldly laws we can, and to live in a fashion consistent with our society to the extant we are able, remembering God’s aim is the redemption of the whole world. We do not practice an unthinking obedience to every worldly regulation, because there are limits to our obedience to worldly authorities. The first Christians lived in conflict with emperors who proclaimed themselves divine sons of gods, we are enjoined to pray not to rulers, but for them.
Keep in mind that the apostles and early Christians had no control over the governments under which they lived. Those emperors seldom died in bed, and were overthrown by violence on many occasions, thanks to the machinations of generals and other powerful people who sought to wrest control of the imperial throne. The rest of the people were powerless. So, the apostle enjoined first century Christians to pray for stability and peace.
We do not live in a situation like them. Giving thanks and praying for authorities also means holding those authorities and ourselves to account for what occurs.
Matthew 6:25-33
No one must be told not to worry unless we can safely assume that our lives consist of worry. In some cases, constant worry. The emblem of “Mad Magazine” was a figure named Alfred E. Neumann who grinned gap-toothed back at us above his motto, “What, me worry?” The very nature of that symbol was a way of telling us “There’s a lot to worry about. You’re crazy if you don’t worry!”
While some of us feel a certain level of safety and security, not all of us do. There is insecurity about employment, about the cost of medical care, about food insecurity, about any number of situations real or imagined. Not only that, but the entire world has endured a pandemic the likes of which has not been seen for a century. I can only assume as I write this months in advance of Thanksgiving 2021 that some of that is behind us. But who knows? So, when Jesus tells us to put aside worry, should we worry about that?
The thing about this text is that it in no way explains away the fact that there are things worth worrying about. Jesus spoke in a world also filled with insecure people, many of whom had been reduced to day labor, never knowing what tomorrow would bring. Hunger, disease, and governmental insanity were facts of life.
The Beatitudes, which preface the Sermon on the Mount, of which this passage is the conclusion, list the things we have to be fearful about -- hunger, thirst, persecution, insecurity, sorrow, brutality, poverty, and martyrdom. But Jesus challenges us to live by the laws of God’s kingdom, seeking first the kingdom of God, and God’s righteousness. We are to look to the world of plants and animals, and its self-sustaining nature, to recognize we’re only part of something much greater. You will recall that in the book of Job God never tells Job about the debate between God and the adversary. Instead, God opens Job’s eyes to the great universe of which he is only a part, to see a larger picture. The animals live and die, but against the backdrop of the world’s abundance they live their day in the present.
Seeking first the kingdom is part of living bountifully in the present, turning the other cheek, serving others, lifting up others, and recognizing our own self-worth.
We come into the world naked and powerless and require care and feeding as infants -- and as seniors. Our joy and satisfaction comes from being cared for and caring for others. We are most thankful when we are a thankful people. That’s what made our isolated Thanksgiving so hard. We could not enjoy the Lord’s blessings with each other as we normally would. If we can do so now, let us celebrate fully mindful of our fragility as well as of God’s love and concern for us and for all creation.
