We Dare Not Duck Our Sinfulness
Commentary
All the lessons and the theme of the day remind us that we dare not duck our sinfulness.
Joel 2:1-2, 12-17
The First Lesson is taken from a book which reports on the ministry of a cultic prophet who did his work in the Jerusalem temple, probably during the period of Persian domination after the return of the Babylonian exiles (539 BD – 331 BC). (Some speculate that the concluding sections of the book [2:28ff.] may be the work of an editor of the period of the Maccabees in the 2nd century BC.) The book’s historical theme is the plague of locusts that had destructively descended on Israel (1:4). It is also characterized by apocalyptic/eschatological elements – references to the day of the Lord (2:1-11,28-32; 3:1-3,9ff.). There is an evolution in this concept from being a day of judgment, not one of salvation, to the suggestion that it is a theme of hope and salvation (3:1ff.).
The text is a cry of alarm since the cataclysmic day of the Lord is coming. Reference to a great and powerful army and to the clouds of thick darkness is probably a way of talking about the plague of locusts ravaging the land (though they might just symbolize the eschatological cataclysm) (vv. 1-2). Yahweh even seems at the head of this plague in v.11, but then the prophet abruptly changes to a more gentle tone. He proceeds to make a call to repentance by which the calamity might be averted (vv. 12-17). Fasting, weeping, mourning, and offerings in The temple are commended, but above all a repentance of the heart is exhorted (vv. 12-13,15). Yahweh is said to be gracious and merciful (a phrase often attributed to the Lord as it is rooted in Israel’s ancient formulations of faith [Exodus 34:6; cf. Nehemiah 9:17,31; Psalm 86:5]). An assembly to sanctify the people is called (vv. 15-16). These verses and the one continuing to the end of the lesson take the form of a traditional liturgy. Priests (also called “ministers [sharath] of the Lord”) are called on to weep for the people in the temple (especially in the inner court reserved for priests – between the vestibule and the altar) and urge God to spare the people, that the truth of their commitment to Yahweh no longer be questioned by Gentiles (v.17).
The text affords a good opportunity to call the congregation to repentance and perhaps to explain why confession of sins is part of worship, that both are driven by grace (the gracious and merciful God Joel describes). Help the congregation to appreciate what requires their repentance (citing personal and social flaws which typify the community in which the sermon is preached). Stress that repentance is needed urgently, just as Joel contended that the day of the Lord was at hand. Aim to have the faithful recognize how badly we need (cite the urgency of receiving) Christ’s reassurance that we are loved and forgiven.
Isaiah 58:1-12
The alternative first lesson is drawn from a book which is really two or three distinct oral traditions in one. The first 39 chapters are prophecies of the historical Isaiah, whose ministry to Judah (the Southern Kingdom) transpired in the 8th century BC. This lesson is part of the book which is stylistically like Chapters 40 through 55, a segment likely written during the Babylonian captivity (597 BC-534 BC), but was probably written after the return of the exiles to Judah. Deliverance and imminent punishment of oppressors are promised.
Themes characteristic of this section of Isaiah clearly reflect in this lesson on the contrast between mere religious ritual and the service God desires. The prophet is directed to announce to God’s people their sin and rebellion (v.1). They are a people who seek God and ask for his righteous judgments (v.2). But in fact, they only serve their own interests, oppressing others (v.3). The fasting done by the Jews is thus deemed hypocritical (vv. 4-5). True fasting is freeing the oppressed, feeding the hungry, housing the homeless poor (vv. 6-7). When this is done, the people’s light [the Hebrew term is or which can connote deliverance] will break forth, healing will spring up, and the glory of Yahweh will become the people’s rear guard (v.8). This obedience is said to result in the restoration of Israel and its ancient ruins (vv. 9-12).
This lesson affords excellent opportunities to call people to repentance for their social sins of allowing poverty and homelessness to persist. We are indeed called to serve the poor. But sermons need to preach against the lesson’s implied message that God will only restore us if we serve the poor. Rather, it is God’s forgiveness which empowers us to worship him in wordand deed.
2 Corinthians 5:20b--6:10
The second lesson by Paul is part of an epistle to address relations with the Corinthian church which had further deteriorated during the period after I Corinthians had been written. Chapters 10-13 of the book are so different in style and tone from the first chapters (in which the lesson is located) as to lead scholars to conclude that they are the “severe letter” mentioned in 2:4. In this text, Paul is either responding to critics or writing part of a letter of reconciliation.
Paul begins the lesson by urging the Corinthians for Christ’s sake to be reconciled [katallasso, to be changed thoroughly] to God (5:20b); Christ, it is noted, became sin (assumed our sinful nature [Romans 8:3]) so that we might become the righteousness of God (5:21; cf. I Corinthians 1:30). Justification and righteousness [dikaiosune] are here woven together. They have a similar Greek root, for justification [dikaioma] resembles the Greek equivalent for the term righteousness. You cannot be declared right without “rightness” or “justice.” There is much controversy in New Testament scholarship about what Paul means by “righteousness of God,” a tendency to critique the idea that it entails that God declares us righteous. This argument is made on grounds that there are no Old Testament precedents for such an idea. But the concept of righteousness as not having to do with distributive justice but with relationships (with God’s relationship with the faithful and so salvation) is an Old Testament concept (Nehemiah 9:8; Isaiah 57:1; Gerhard von Rad, Old Testament Theology, Vol.1, p.371). And New Testament scholarship tends to understand the concept this way – in terms of a restored relationship (Rudolf Bultmann, Theology of the New Testament, Vol.1, p.271). And so it seems appropriate in this text (and elsewhere in Paul’s writings) to interpret God’s righteousness in terms of his faithfulness to his relationship with his people, that it is his righteousness which restores the relationship (Psalm 71:2; von Rad, p.373). The concept of “reconciliation” in v.20b as entailing being thoroughly changed supports this idea. God’s righteousness, restoring our relationship with him, thoroughly changes the faithful. And even the Pauline idea of the righteousness of a righteous one being given to those who have fallen (a vicarious death) is itself a Hebrew concept; see II Maccabees 7:37-38; IV Maccabees 6:28; 17:22).
The apostle proceeds to urge that we not accept God’s grace in vain (6:1). Citing Isaiah 49:8 about God listening at an acceptable time, helping the faithful on the day of salvation, Paul notes that now is the moment to act (the end is near) (6:2). No obstacle will be put in the way of any believer, and so no one can rightly criticize his ministry (6:3). He accounts the suffering and persecution he has experienced in ministry (6:4-7). In antiquity, hardship and virtue were closely linked. The apostle concludes with seven antithetic clauses illustrating the hiddenness of the gospel – under dishonor, death, suffering, sorrow, poverty (vv. 8-10).
The text exhorts the faithful to recognize that we are not reconciled to God. From our end, the relationship is not God. Then proceed to explain Christ’s atoning work , his identifying with our sin. Another alternative is to explain the righteousness of God as described above, emphasizing our unworthiness of the relationship God has established with us. Or the sermon might concentrate on how, just as Paul speaks of his suffering, the Christian life is hidden, not a smooth life of prosperity, but one prone to ups and downs.
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
This lesson reports another segment of Jesus’ Sermon on The Mount, teaching practical piety. Most of the text is peculiar to Matthew and his efforts to address Jewish Christians in Antioch who were no longer in communion with the synagogue. Jesus begins with a warning against a hypocritical piety (esp. doing merciful deeds; Matthew usually has the Pharisees in mind when referring to “hypocrisy”) that aims for others to notice one’s faith (v.1). Likewise, it is said to be better to give alms (gifts of charity in synagogues, the foremost act of piety in the eyes of first-century Jews) without fanfare, but so that “the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing” (vv. 2-4). In a similar manner, it is said to be better to pray privately than ostentatiously in public (vv. 5-6).
After a critique of long public prayers (vv. 7-8), teaching The Lord’s Prayer (vv. 9-13), and exhorting forgiveness (vv. 14-15), Jesus urges that fasting not be done ostentatiously so that only the Father knows (vv. 16-18). (In this era, pious Jews fasted twice a week.) Here we observe Matthew’s anti-Pharisaism coupled with a moral strategy. Jesus critiques trust in worldly goods, which are prone to destruction (vv. 19-20). In ancient times, a large part of wealth consisted of costly garments liable to destruction by moths. Then Matthew has Jesus add that one’s treasure is indicative of one’s heart [kardia] (v.21), i.e. one’s moral priorities (see 9:4; 12:34; Psalm 24:3-4).
This lesson affords an opportunity to condemn the sin of ostentatious faith and feigned holiness. Playing celebrity or games of self-promotion are part of the ethos of our day (Christopher Lasch, The Culture of Narcissism, pp.116-117), and from these we need to repent. As another option preachers might instead focus on the need to repent of our infatuation with earthly goods, on the need to get our priorities straight (focusing on God and his forgiveness).
All the lessons for Ash Wednesday entail sermons reminding us of our sinfulness. But we need to ensure that such preaching does not lose sight of or fails to emphasize God’s forgiving love.
Joel 2:1-2, 12-17
The First Lesson is taken from a book which reports on the ministry of a cultic prophet who did his work in the Jerusalem temple, probably during the period of Persian domination after the return of the Babylonian exiles (539 BD – 331 BC). (Some speculate that the concluding sections of the book [2:28ff.] may be the work of an editor of the period of the Maccabees in the 2nd century BC.) The book’s historical theme is the plague of locusts that had destructively descended on Israel (1:4). It is also characterized by apocalyptic/eschatological elements – references to the day of the Lord (2:1-11,28-32; 3:1-3,9ff.). There is an evolution in this concept from being a day of judgment, not one of salvation, to the suggestion that it is a theme of hope and salvation (3:1ff.).
The text is a cry of alarm since the cataclysmic day of the Lord is coming. Reference to a great and powerful army and to the clouds of thick darkness is probably a way of talking about the plague of locusts ravaging the land (though they might just symbolize the eschatological cataclysm) (vv. 1-2). Yahweh even seems at the head of this plague in v.11, but then the prophet abruptly changes to a more gentle tone. He proceeds to make a call to repentance by which the calamity might be averted (vv. 12-17). Fasting, weeping, mourning, and offerings in The temple are commended, but above all a repentance of the heart is exhorted (vv. 12-13,15). Yahweh is said to be gracious and merciful (a phrase often attributed to the Lord as it is rooted in Israel’s ancient formulations of faith [Exodus 34:6; cf. Nehemiah 9:17,31; Psalm 86:5]). An assembly to sanctify the people is called (vv. 15-16). These verses and the one continuing to the end of the lesson take the form of a traditional liturgy. Priests (also called “ministers [sharath] of the Lord”) are called on to weep for the people in the temple (especially in the inner court reserved for priests – between the vestibule and the altar) and urge God to spare the people, that the truth of their commitment to Yahweh no longer be questioned by Gentiles (v.17).
The text affords a good opportunity to call the congregation to repentance and perhaps to explain why confession of sins is part of worship, that both are driven by grace (the gracious and merciful God Joel describes). Help the congregation to appreciate what requires their repentance (citing personal and social flaws which typify the community in which the sermon is preached). Stress that repentance is needed urgently, just as Joel contended that the day of the Lord was at hand. Aim to have the faithful recognize how badly we need (cite the urgency of receiving) Christ’s reassurance that we are loved and forgiven.
Isaiah 58:1-12
The alternative first lesson is drawn from a book which is really two or three distinct oral traditions in one. The first 39 chapters are prophecies of the historical Isaiah, whose ministry to Judah (the Southern Kingdom) transpired in the 8th century BC. This lesson is part of the book which is stylistically like Chapters 40 through 55, a segment likely written during the Babylonian captivity (597 BC-534 BC), but was probably written after the return of the exiles to Judah. Deliverance and imminent punishment of oppressors are promised.
Themes characteristic of this section of Isaiah clearly reflect in this lesson on the contrast between mere religious ritual and the service God desires. The prophet is directed to announce to God’s people their sin and rebellion (v.1). They are a people who seek God and ask for his righteous judgments (v.2). But in fact, they only serve their own interests, oppressing others (v.3). The fasting done by the Jews is thus deemed hypocritical (vv. 4-5). True fasting is freeing the oppressed, feeding the hungry, housing the homeless poor (vv. 6-7). When this is done, the people’s light [the Hebrew term is or which can connote deliverance] will break forth, healing will spring up, and the glory of Yahweh will become the people’s rear guard (v.8). This obedience is said to result in the restoration of Israel and its ancient ruins (vv. 9-12).
This lesson affords excellent opportunities to call people to repentance for their social sins of allowing poverty and homelessness to persist. We are indeed called to serve the poor. But sermons need to preach against the lesson’s implied message that God will only restore us if we serve the poor. Rather, it is God’s forgiveness which empowers us to worship him in wordand deed.
2 Corinthians 5:20b--6:10
The second lesson by Paul is part of an epistle to address relations with the Corinthian church which had further deteriorated during the period after I Corinthians had been written. Chapters 10-13 of the book are so different in style and tone from the first chapters (in which the lesson is located) as to lead scholars to conclude that they are the “severe letter” mentioned in 2:4. In this text, Paul is either responding to critics or writing part of a letter of reconciliation.
Paul begins the lesson by urging the Corinthians for Christ’s sake to be reconciled [katallasso, to be changed thoroughly] to God (5:20b); Christ, it is noted, became sin (assumed our sinful nature [Romans 8:3]) so that we might become the righteousness of God (5:21; cf. I Corinthians 1:30). Justification and righteousness [dikaiosune] are here woven together. They have a similar Greek root, for justification [dikaioma] resembles the Greek equivalent for the term righteousness. You cannot be declared right without “rightness” or “justice.” There is much controversy in New Testament scholarship about what Paul means by “righteousness of God,” a tendency to critique the idea that it entails that God declares us righteous. This argument is made on grounds that there are no Old Testament precedents for such an idea. But the concept of righteousness as not having to do with distributive justice but with relationships (with God’s relationship with the faithful and so salvation) is an Old Testament concept (Nehemiah 9:8; Isaiah 57:1; Gerhard von Rad, Old Testament Theology, Vol.1, p.371). And New Testament scholarship tends to understand the concept this way – in terms of a restored relationship (Rudolf Bultmann, Theology of the New Testament, Vol.1, p.271). And so it seems appropriate in this text (and elsewhere in Paul’s writings) to interpret God’s righteousness in terms of his faithfulness to his relationship with his people, that it is his righteousness which restores the relationship (Psalm 71:2; von Rad, p.373). The concept of “reconciliation” in v.20b as entailing being thoroughly changed supports this idea. God’s righteousness, restoring our relationship with him, thoroughly changes the faithful. And even the Pauline idea of the righteousness of a righteous one being given to those who have fallen (a vicarious death) is itself a Hebrew concept; see II Maccabees 7:37-38; IV Maccabees 6:28; 17:22).
The apostle proceeds to urge that we not accept God’s grace in vain (6:1). Citing Isaiah 49:8 about God listening at an acceptable time, helping the faithful on the day of salvation, Paul notes that now is the moment to act (the end is near) (6:2). No obstacle will be put in the way of any believer, and so no one can rightly criticize his ministry (6:3). He accounts the suffering and persecution he has experienced in ministry (6:4-7). In antiquity, hardship and virtue were closely linked. The apostle concludes with seven antithetic clauses illustrating the hiddenness of the gospel – under dishonor, death, suffering, sorrow, poverty (vv. 8-10).
The text exhorts the faithful to recognize that we are not reconciled to God. From our end, the relationship is not God. Then proceed to explain Christ’s atoning work , his identifying with our sin. Another alternative is to explain the righteousness of God as described above, emphasizing our unworthiness of the relationship God has established with us. Or the sermon might concentrate on how, just as Paul speaks of his suffering, the Christian life is hidden, not a smooth life of prosperity, but one prone to ups and downs.
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
This lesson reports another segment of Jesus’ Sermon on The Mount, teaching practical piety. Most of the text is peculiar to Matthew and his efforts to address Jewish Christians in Antioch who were no longer in communion with the synagogue. Jesus begins with a warning against a hypocritical piety (esp. doing merciful deeds; Matthew usually has the Pharisees in mind when referring to “hypocrisy”) that aims for others to notice one’s faith (v.1). Likewise, it is said to be better to give alms (gifts of charity in synagogues, the foremost act of piety in the eyes of first-century Jews) without fanfare, but so that “the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing” (vv. 2-4). In a similar manner, it is said to be better to pray privately than ostentatiously in public (vv. 5-6).
After a critique of long public prayers (vv. 7-8), teaching The Lord’s Prayer (vv. 9-13), and exhorting forgiveness (vv. 14-15), Jesus urges that fasting not be done ostentatiously so that only the Father knows (vv. 16-18). (In this era, pious Jews fasted twice a week.) Here we observe Matthew’s anti-Pharisaism coupled with a moral strategy. Jesus critiques trust in worldly goods, which are prone to destruction (vv. 19-20). In ancient times, a large part of wealth consisted of costly garments liable to destruction by moths. Then Matthew has Jesus add that one’s treasure is indicative of one’s heart [kardia] (v.21), i.e. one’s moral priorities (see 9:4; 12:34; Psalm 24:3-4).
This lesson affords an opportunity to condemn the sin of ostentatious faith and feigned holiness. Playing celebrity or games of self-promotion are part of the ethos of our day (Christopher Lasch, The Culture of Narcissism, pp.116-117), and from these we need to repent. As another option preachers might instead focus on the need to repent of our infatuation with earthly goods, on the need to get our priorities straight (focusing on God and his forgiveness).
All the lessons for Ash Wednesday entail sermons reminding us of our sinfulness. But we need to ensure that such preaching does not lose sight of or fails to emphasize God’s forgiving love.
