Epiphany 7
Devotional
Streams of Living Water
Lectionary Devotional for Cycle B
Object:
Isaiah 43:18-25
I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.
-- Isaiah 43:25
As second Isaiah speaks to the people living in exile, they are confronted with two equally unpalatable conclusions. Either their God was incapable of defending this chosen people in the face of the onslaught of pagan outsiders or God was allowing them to suffer exile as punishment for their sinful behavior. If it was the former, then, in contemporary terms, secularism is victorious and victory belongs to the powerful. On the other hand, if God was still in charge, as all the prophets declared, then God must have finally given up hope of redeeming them and left them to suffer the consequences of their sins. In either case, they had little reason to have hope for the future.
In the face of this, God declared through the prophet, "Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing ..." (vv. 18-19). The sins of previous generations, or even their own sins, did not determine their fate. God, not their behavior, was what shaped the future. Once before, when they were hopeless, powerless slaves in Egypt, God effected a miracle that opened up for them an entirely new possibility. God was about to bring about a new exodus. Why was God going to do this? It was certainly not because they had earned God's favor through their good behavior. God would blot out their transgressions and remember their sins no more because that is who God is. God's nature is one who redeems. Here in Isaiah, we hear this powerful gospel that we are saved by grace not by works so that no one can boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Psalm 41
Happy are those who consider the poor; the Lord delivers them in the day of trouble.
-- Psalm 41:1
Psalm 41 contrasts the one who is compassionate toward a needy person with those who take advantage of a person in need. The person is blessed, protected, and sustained who is considerate of the poor (vv. 1-3). A person who is needy, even though he has sinned against God (v. 4), has a right to appeal to God for help against those who wish him ill (v. 5). The enemy may well be one who pretends to be a friend and visits him in time of need (v. 6), yet grows impatient with his neediness (vv. 7-8), and yearns for this claim of friendship to be over (v. 9). At such times, our only source of help is God (v. 10).
Our faith is reaffirmed by the very fact that such betrayal does not triumph over us and utterly destroy us (v. 11), and our integrity as an individual is reaffirmed because, unlike a fickle friend, we are able to count on the eternal presence of God (v. 12). The reason why one is blessed who is considerate of the poor or weak (v. 1) is now made clear. In her compassion, she reflects the image of God who is present in times of need (v. 12). Thus, even as we pray deliver us from evil, we are commanded to deliver from evil by being steadfast to others in their time of need.
2 Corinthians 1:18-22
For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you ... in him it is always "Yes."
-- 2 Corinthians 1:19
Paul is responding to criticism of his ministry. Some said that you could not depend on Paul because he was always responding to whatever situation in which he found himself and therefore was not always consistent. Scholars have long held that the letters of Paul must be understood in light of the particular church or situation that he is addressing. Paul, they suggest, is not making universal pronouncements for everyone everywhere but rather seeking to apply the gospel to specific situations. "I became all things to all people ..." (1 Corinthians 9:22).
Pastors often find themselves adapting the faith to fit the particular pastoral situation, which at times may make them appear inconsistent. Paul's defense is that he is applying Christ to each situation and that Christ is God's "Yes," which is consistently applied to the redemption of humanity. While, on the surface, it may appear that Paul's behavior bends with the wind of circumstances, the underlying core of his actions is determined by the way in which God fulfills his promise to humanity through Christ. What appears to be abrupt changes in decisions find their consistency in the overall reconciling ministry of Christ that clearly demonstrates God's affirmation of humanity. When you need to make a decision, ask yourself what the action is that most clearly demonstrates God's reconciling love and affirmation of humanity? (2 Corinthians 5:18-20).
Mark 2:1-12
And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "My son, your sins are forgiven."
-- Mark 2:5
There are two striking things about this sentence. First, it was on the basis of the faith of his friends, not that of the paralytic, that Jesus acted. Our faith has an effect on our neighbor. The Christian faith does not suggest that each of us stands alone before God. Rather we stand together before God. We are not even told whether the paralytic had any faith. When my faith is weak, I can lean on my neighbor's faith, and I have the privilege of offering my faith on behalf of my neighbor. The second thing that stands out is that Jesus offers forgiveness of sins rather than physical healing. We might think that Jesus had the order backward. The friends brought him because he was physically paralyzed. But Jesus' response was based on a deeper reality.
Sin is what separates us from God and neighbor. If we are in deep communion with God and neighbor, even a physical disability can be redemptive, but if our lives are lived in a state of alienation, even perfect health is not enough. All through life, we have to learn to live with physical limitations, but our redemption is discovering that such conditions do not separate us from God or neighbor.
I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.
-- Isaiah 43:25
As second Isaiah speaks to the people living in exile, they are confronted with two equally unpalatable conclusions. Either their God was incapable of defending this chosen people in the face of the onslaught of pagan outsiders or God was allowing them to suffer exile as punishment for their sinful behavior. If it was the former, then, in contemporary terms, secularism is victorious and victory belongs to the powerful. On the other hand, if God was still in charge, as all the prophets declared, then God must have finally given up hope of redeeming them and left them to suffer the consequences of their sins. In either case, they had little reason to have hope for the future.
In the face of this, God declared through the prophet, "Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing ..." (vv. 18-19). The sins of previous generations, or even their own sins, did not determine their fate. God, not their behavior, was what shaped the future. Once before, when they were hopeless, powerless slaves in Egypt, God effected a miracle that opened up for them an entirely new possibility. God was about to bring about a new exodus. Why was God going to do this? It was certainly not because they had earned God's favor through their good behavior. God would blot out their transgressions and remember their sins no more because that is who God is. God's nature is one who redeems. Here in Isaiah, we hear this powerful gospel that we are saved by grace not by works so that no one can boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Psalm 41
Happy are those who consider the poor; the Lord delivers them in the day of trouble.
-- Psalm 41:1
Psalm 41 contrasts the one who is compassionate toward a needy person with those who take advantage of a person in need. The person is blessed, protected, and sustained who is considerate of the poor (vv. 1-3). A person who is needy, even though he has sinned against God (v. 4), has a right to appeal to God for help against those who wish him ill (v. 5). The enemy may well be one who pretends to be a friend and visits him in time of need (v. 6), yet grows impatient with his neediness (vv. 7-8), and yearns for this claim of friendship to be over (v. 9). At such times, our only source of help is God (v. 10).
Our faith is reaffirmed by the very fact that such betrayal does not triumph over us and utterly destroy us (v. 11), and our integrity as an individual is reaffirmed because, unlike a fickle friend, we are able to count on the eternal presence of God (v. 12). The reason why one is blessed who is considerate of the poor or weak (v. 1) is now made clear. In her compassion, she reflects the image of God who is present in times of need (v. 12). Thus, even as we pray deliver us from evil, we are commanded to deliver from evil by being steadfast to others in their time of need.
2 Corinthians 1:18-22
For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you ... in him it is always "Yes."
-- 2 Corinthians 1:19
Paul is responding to criticism of his ministry. Some said that you could not depend on Paul because he was always responding to whatever situation in which he found himself and therefore was not always consistent. Scholars have long held that the letters of Paul must be understood in light of the particular church or situation that he is addressing. Paul, they suggest, is not making universal pronouncements for everyone everywhere but rather seeking to apply the gospel to specific situations. "I became all things to all people ..." (1 Corinthians 9:22).
Pastors often find themselves adapting the faith to fit the particular pastoral situation, which at times may make them appear inconsistent. Paul's defense is that he is applying Christ to each situation and that Christ is God's "Yes," which is consistently applied to the redemption of humanity. While, on the surface, it may appear that Paul's behavior bends with the wind of circumstances, the underlying core of his actions is determined by the way in which God fulfills his promise to humanity through Christ. What appears to be abrupt changes in decisions find their consistency in the overall reconciling ministry of Christ that clearly demonstrates God's affirmation of humanity. When you need to make a decision, ask yourself what the action is that most clearly demonstrates God's reconciling love and affirmation of humanity? (2 Corinthians 5:18-20).
Mark 2:1-12
And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "My son, your sins are forgiven."
-- Mark 2:5
There are two striking things about this sentence. First, it was on the basis of the faith of his friends, not that of the paralytic, that Jesus acted. Our faith has an effect on our neighbor. The Christian faith does not suggest that each of us stands alone before God. Rather we stand together before God. We are not even told whether the paralytic had any faith. When my faith is weak, I can lean on my neighbor's faith, and I have the privilege of offering my faith on behalf of my neighbor. The second thing that stands out is that Jesus offers forgiveness of sins rather than physical healing. We might think that Jesus had the order backward. The friends brought him because he was physically paralyzed. But Jesus' response was based on a deeper reality.
Sin is what separates us from God and neighbor. If we are in deep communion with God and neighbor, even a physical disability can be redemptive, but if our lives are lived in a state of alienation, even perfect health is not enough. All through life, we have to learn to live with physical limitations, but our redemption is discovering that such conditions do not separate us from God or neighbor.
