Proper 18
Devotional
Streams of Living Water
Lectionary Devotional for Cycle B
Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23
A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches and favor is better than silver or gold.
-- Proverbs 22:1
The wisdom of Proverbs is a summary of wisdom gathered from an intense observation of life. It is a very familiar form of wisdom treasured in most cultures. It is the golden nugget mined from the flowing stream of life. It is not meant to be a truth imposed on life like a commandment but rather a truth deduced by observing life. For example, we have popular sayings such as, "A stitch in time saves nine." "If we could just learn the right religious formula, then we could be healers as well." "A penny saved is a penny earned." None of these maxims is in the form of a commandment. They are observations that have their authority in people's acknowledgment.
Consider two contrasting examples. Arthur set out to become a rich man, and he was not concerned about who he stepped on to get there. He described himself as a bottom-line guy. He forgot that "a good name is to be chosen rather than great riches." He did not have many close friends since he assumed that other people were a lot like him and were basically after his money. He was a rich, lonely, unhappy man. Eloise was always able to find time for other people. People intuitively trusted her. She did not have much money. She cleaned other people's houses for a living and put two children through school. When she fell ill, people from all over offered to help her with expenses. At such times, she knew that "favor was better than silver or gold." Of course, one can think of exceptions to the truth of such proverbs, but they represent a truth that has stood the test of time.
Psalm 125
Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever.
-- Psalm 125:1
This is a difficult psalm because it seems to challenge our very experience. The message is clear. We are to trust in the Lord, and God will surround us with protection in the same way that Jerusalem is surrounded by mountains that protect it. The analogy is based on the assumption that in the same way that the topography of Jerusalem builds in a natural protection that makes it impregnable, so our trust in God will make us impregnable. The problem is that foreigners have conquered Jerusalem several times. The very analogy can make us insecure about our faith. Perhaps from a longer historical perspective, we can recognize that given the continual attacks on our faith and the occasional occupation of our faith by the enemies of doubt and fear, our only protection is the Lord.
While, like the mountains that surround Jerusalem, the active practice of our faith can provide us a shield, we cannot assume that the natural trappings of faith will ultimately protect us. There will be times when our only source of help will rest beyond whatever we can do. We need to continually pray, "Do good, O Lord, to those who are good, and to those who are upright in their hearts" (v. 4). Our faith does not protect us from challenges internally and externally, but when we are attacked, we can learn again and again to trust in the one who is faithful to us even when we fail in our own faithfulness. It is our one and only hope.
James 2:1-10 (11-13) 14-17
My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ?
-- James 2:1
James continues his assault on "people who talk the talk but don't walk the walk." He is unrelenting and not very kind in his challenge to behavior that he is seeing among Christians. For middle-class Christians, his words strike at the heart of class and economic differences within our society. Who is this preacher who challenges our social graces by pointing out that we are showing favoritism to those who are dressed richly over against those who come into our churches dressed in dirty clothes? He even goes further and suggests that God may have an option for the poor: "Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him?" (v. 5). Then he really shows his prejudice by suggesting that if we were to be wary of anyone, we should be wary of the wealthy: "Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into court? Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you?" (vv. 6-7).
For those who have worked hard to acquire whatever possessions they have, James' words seem harsh and offensive. They certainly are not designed to attract the wealthy members of the community to join the church. Unless, of course, those of us who have been blessed with material goods experience a transformation of the heart that recognizes that what we have is a blessing that allows us to be generous with those who have less. By James' challenge, we are invited to examine the living out of our faith as it shapes our use of the resources with which we have been blessed. "If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, 'Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill.' And yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead" (vv. 15-17).
Since most of us have seen and perhaps participated in acts of discrimination in our lives, we recognize how difficult it is to live the Christian faith. We are always in need of the grace of God and the vision of what it is that God asks of us.
Mark 7:24-37
Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs.
-- Mark 7:28
Here are two stories of Jesus healing people outside the faith community. In both cases, they violated Jesus' desire for obscurity. In the first case, Jesus had entered a house to find some quiet, and a foreign woman violated his privacy to seek assistance for her daughter. In the second, Jesus asked the man and his friends to keep the healing quiet, but they immediately go out and spread the word about his healing power. In both cases, the ones seeking the healing did not feel any necessity in accepting what Jesus told them. In the first story, Jesus made it very clear that his time needed to be focused on his ministry to the Jewish community. He even used what appears to be an insulting proverb. "Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs" (v. 27). But the woman refused to be offended by the proverb and turned it to her own favor. "Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs" (v. 28).
In the second story, though he had received the favor of Jesus' healing, the man and his friends refused to keep quiet about what had happened. And in both cases, Jesus was clearly exercising his ministry outside the bounds of the Jewish community. Clearly, the second story reflects the prophet Isaiah's grand vision of the day of salvation where "the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy" (Isaiah 35:5-6a). Perhaps the first story reflects Isaiah 49:6: "It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth."
For Mark's church, and perhaps ours, the stories push the church beyond normal assumptions of what is acceptable and reminds the church that God is outside the church responding to the needs of others who seek new beginnings for themselves or their loved ones.
A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches and favor is better than silver or gold.
-- Proverbs 22:1
The wisdom of Proverbs is a summary of wisdom gathered from an intense observation of life. It is a very familiar form of wisdom treasured in most cultures. It is the golden nugget mined from the flowing stream of life. It is not meant to be a truth imposed on life like a commandment but rather a truth deduced by observing life. For example, we have popular sayings such as, "A stitch in time saves nine." "If we could just learn the right religious formula, then we could be healers as well." "A penny saved is a penny earned." None of these maxims is in the form of a commandment. They are observations that have their authority in people's acknowledgment.
Consider two contrasting examples. Arthur set out to become a rich man, and he was not concerned about who he stepped on to get there. He described himself as a bottom-line guy. He forgot that "a good name is to be chosen rather than great riches." He did not have many close friends since he assumed that other people were a lot like him and were basically after his money. He was a rich, lonely, unhappy man. Eloise was always able to find time for other people. People intuitively trusted her. She did not have much money. She cleaned other people's houses for a living and put two children through school. When she fell ill, people from all over offered to help her with expenses. At such times, she knew that "favor was better than silver or gold." Of course, one can think of exceptions to the truth of such proverbs, but they represent a truth that has stood the test of time.
Psalm 125
Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever.
-- Psalm 125:1
This is a difficult psalm because it seems to challenge our very experience. The message is clear. We are to trust in the Lord, and God will surround us with protection in the same way that Jerusalem is surrounded by mountains that protect it. The analogy is based on the assumption that in the same way that the topography of Jerusalem builds in a natural protection that makes it impregnable, so our trust in God will make us impregnable. The problem is that foreigners have conquered Jerusalem several times. The very analogy can make us insecure about our faith. Perhaps from a longer historical perspective, we can recognize that given the continual attacks on our faith and the occasional occupation of our faith by the enemies of doubt and fear, our only protection is the Lord.
While, like the mountains that surround Jerusalem, the active practice of our faith can provide us a shield, we cannot assume that the natural trappings of faith will ultimately protect us. There will be times when our only source of help will rest beyond whatever we can do. We need to continually pray, "Do good, O Lord, to those who are good, and to those who are upright in their hearts" (v. 4). Our faith does not protect us from challenges internally and externally, but when we are attacked, we can learn again and again to trust in the one who is faithful to us even when we fail in our own faithfulness. It is our one and only hope.
James 2:1-10 (11-13) 14-17
My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ?
-- James 2:1
James continues his assault on "people who talk the talk but don't walk the walk." He is unrelenting and not very kind in his challenge to behavior that he is seeing among Christians. For middle-class Christians, his words strike at the heart of class and economic differences within our society. Who is this preacher who challenges our social graces by pointing out that we are showing favoritism to those who are dressed richly over against those who come into our churches dressed in dirty clothes? He even goes further and suggests that God may have an option for the poor: "Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him?" (v. 5). Then he really shows his prejudice by suggesting that if we were to be wary of anyone, we should be wary of the wealthy: "Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into court? Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you?" (vv. 6-7).
For those who have worked hard to acquire whatever possessions they have, James' words seem harsh and offensive. They certainly are not designed to attract the wealthy members of the community to join the church. Unless, of course, those of us who have been blessed with material goods experience a transformation of the heart that recognizes that what we have is a blessing that allows us to be generous with those who have less. By James' challenge, we are invited to examine the living out of our faith as it shapes our use of the resources with which we have been blessed. "If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, 'Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill.' And yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead" (vv. 15-17).
Since most of us have seen and perhaps participated in acts of discrimination in our lives, we recognize how difficult it is to live the Christian faith. We are always in need of the grace of God and the vision of what it is that God asks of us.
Mark 7:24-37
Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs.
-- Mark 7:28
Here are two stories of Jesus healing people outside the faith community. In both cases, they violated Jesus' desire for obscurity. In the first case, Jesus had entered a house to find some quiet, and a foreign woman violated his privacy to seek assistance for her daughter. In the second, Jesus asked the man and his friends to keep the healing quiet, but they immediately go out and spread the word about his healing power. In both cases, the ones seeking the healing did not feel any necessity in accepting what Jesus told them. In the first story, Jesus made it very clear that his time needed to be focused on his ministry to the Jewish community. He even used what appears to be an insulting proverb. "Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs" (v. 27). But the woman refused to be offended by the proverb and turned it to her own favor. "Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs" (v. 28).
In the second story, though he had received the favor of Jesus' healing, the man and his friends refused to keep quiet about what had happened. And in both cases, Jesus was clearly exercising his ministry outside the bounds of the Jewish community. Clearly, the second story reflects the prophet Isaiah's grand vision of the day of salvation where "the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy" (Isaiah 35:5-6a). Perhaps the first story reflects Isaiah 49:6: "It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth."
For Mark's church, and perhaps ours, the stories push the church beyond normal assumptions of what is acceptable and reminds the church that God is outside the church responding to the needs of others who seek new beginnings for themselves or their loved ones.
