Proper 8
Devotional
Streams of Living Water
Lectionary Devotional for Cycle B
Object:
2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27
Your glory, O Israel, lies slain upon your high places!
-- 2 Samuel 1:19a
The story behind this lamentation is quite significant. David has just received the report of the death of Saul and Saul's son, Jonathan. By his behavior, Saul had become David's enemy. Saul had attempted to kill David several times; yet twice when he had the opportunity, David refused to kill Saul. Despite their estrangement, David revered Saul as the Lord's anointed or the messiah. He took no pleasure in hearing that the one who had sought his life and had driven him into exile was now dead. Saul was God's chosen one and that deserved human reverence and respect. "Your glory, O Israel, lies slain upon your high places," laments David upon hearing of Saul's death. This becomes a very significant image for those who would disparage the body of Christ for its failures. There are many who have been estranged, driven into exile, from the church. One does not need to excuse the church's behavior in such cases to recognize that it remains, even in its sinfulness, the body of Christ. If a particular expression of that body is so resistant to the grace of God in its presence that it fails to proclaim the resurrection life, then a lament for its death is appropriate.
But that lament should never be spoken in glee or in a way that gives comfort to the secular world that has opposed the faith. "Tell it not in Gath, proclaim it not in the streets of Ash'kelon; or the daughters of the Philistines will rejoice, the daughters of the uncircumcised will exult" (v. 20). The Christian is inextricably linked to the body of Christ and must always remember that it is the church that has provided us with the word by which we live. "O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you with crimson, in luxury, who put ornaments of gold on your apparel" (v. 24). David will proceed to become the new king of Israel. The very ones who are estranged from the church may become the chosen ones to renew the body. This only happens if we remember that even in our estrangement, we revere the body as the true choice of God to proclaim a light unto the nations.
Psalm 130
O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is great power to redeem.
-- Psalm 130:7
It is so easy for the church to grow dispirited and discouraged in the face of all that troubles the world. What does it mean for the church to cry out, "Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord! Lord, hear my voice!" (vv. 1-2). Does it not mean that the church is joining the rest of the world in struggling with the reality of evil? Like Christ, does the body of Christ need to identify with the pain and fear of people's lives? Does the church need to confess its inability to rise above its own tendency to serve itself? Is it only when we are boldly honest about our sinfulness as a church, that we can recognize our need of God? "If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, Lord who could stand? But there is forgiveness with you, so that you may be revered" (vv. 3-4). Is it only from repeated experiences from the depth of despair that we can have the illusion of self-sufficiency shattered? It is then that, instead of planning God's agenda, we can say, "I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope" (v. 5).
It is so hard for the church to wait for the Lord. Waiting seems like such a useless waste of time when there is so much to be done. Our impatience is like that of a watchman waiting for the morning. Yet, our hope, our only sustaining hope, is in "the steadfast love" of the Lord, and it is by experiencing that love out of our depths that we have hope to offer others. Waiting seems so beyond our control. There is no way to measure it. Like Christ, the body of Christ is totally dependent on God and our hope is that God "will redeem (the church) from all his iniquities" (v. 8).
2 Corinthians 8:7-15
For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has -- not according to what one does not have.
-- 2 Corinthians 8:12
The people living in Jerusalem are apparently suffering from extreme poverty, and Paul has committed himself to raising an offering from the Gentile churches to respond to their needs. The year before, the church at Corinth had accepted the challenge of the offering (1 Corinthians 16:1-4). As happens in many financial campaigns, there appears to be some falling off of the initial enthusiasm, and Paul is writing to encourage the completion of the offering. It may be that the economic climate of the people of Corinth has changed and caused them to question whether they are able to respond as they intended. Paul encourages them to complete what they have started but is insistent that the real issue is one of attitude that is reflective of the faith in their lives.
The way of the Christian is to recognize that their lives are to be reflective of Christ. "For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich" (v. 9). But Jesus, who they are urged to imitate, did not give of himself reluctantly but rather with joy. It is not enough for someone to make a generous offering but to internally feel angry, self-righteous, or manipulated into doing so. Paul is quite clear that one should not give out of guilt nor should they give what they cannot afford. "For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has -- not according to what one does not have."
The challenge for Christians is to honestly evaluate what they do have rather than to assume a false air of neediness. Far too often we fail to recognize the abundance that we do have because we have simply adjusted our expenditures up according to our income. Most surveys clearly indicate that poor people within the community of faith give a far larger percentage of their income to the church than do those with greater wealth. When one is offered the opportunity to respond to the needs of others, it is an opportunity to utilize the resources with which God has blessed that person, trusting that God will continue to bless him or her in the future. As Paul suggests, "It is a question of fair balance between your present abundance and their need, so that their abundance may be for your need, in order that there may be a fair balance" (vv. 13-14). We must trust that God is as capable of working within the heart of our neighbor when we are in need as God has worked in our heart to respond to their need.
Mark 5:21-43
Your daughter is dead, why trouble the teacher any further?
-- Mark 5:35b
This passage contains two stories of desperation. First we are introduced to a father who is deeply concerned about his daughter who is critically ill. But while Jesus is journeying toward their home, he encounters a woman whose hemorrhages were destroying her health. Both were desperate enough to take risks in coming to Jesus. The father, Jairus, was a leader of the synagogue. What dignity and even reputation does he endanger by falling at the feet of a controversial rabbi and begging him repeatedly to help his daughter? The woman had been bleeding for twelve years. Such bleeding would have made her ritually unclean, and she clearly risked rebuke by touching a rabbi in a manner that would make him unclean, as well. In addition to the two individual stories, the interweaving of them reflects the way in which people can often pit one need against another in the church. Since addressing either need requires energy, we are faced with an issue of which one deserves our attention first.
In both stories the practical solutions had failed, and they now were turning to Christ in desperation. One goes directly to Jesus, and the other tries to draw strength from him in an indirect manner. In both cases, Jesus responds to their needs but in his own timing. While the daughter is critically ill, Jesus feels free to interrupt his response to her by stopping to have a conversation with the woman who was already healed. Then while he was talking to the woman, some members of Jairus' household came and told him that his attempt to acquire Jesus' help was wasted effort. His little daughter was already dead. Yet Jesus neither feels the need to hurry nor is he constrained by the limits of death. If these stories and their relationship to each other interpret Jesus' response to our prayers when we come to Jesus seeking help, what do we learn about God's response?
Your glory, O Israel, lies slain upon your high places!
-- 2 Samuel 1:19a
The story behind this lamentation is quite significant. David has just received the report of the death of Saul and Saul's son, Jonathan. By his behavior, Saul had become David's enemy. Saul had attempted to kill David several times; yet twice when he had the opportunity, David refused to kill Saul. Despite their estrangement, David revered Saul as the Lord's anointed or the messiah. He took no pleasure in hearing that the one who had sought his life and had driven him into exile was now dead. Saul was God's chosen one and that deserved human reverence and respect. "Your glory, O Israel, lies slain upon your high places," laments David upon hearing of Saul's death. This becomes a very significant image for those who would disparage the body of Christ for its failures. There are many who have been estranged, driven into exile, from the church. One does not need to excuse the church's behavior in such cases to recognize that it remains, even in its sinfulness, the body of Christ. If a particular expression of that body is so resistant to the grace of God in its presence that it fails to proclaim the resurrection life, then a lament for its death is appropriate.
But that lament should never be spoken in glee or in a way that gives comfort to the secular world that has opposed the faith. "Tell it not in Gath, proclaim it not in the streets of Ash'kelon; or the daughters of the Philistines will rejoice, the daughters of the uncircumcised will exult" (v. 20). The Christian is inextricably linked to the body of Christ and must always remember that it is the church that has provided us with the word by which we live. "O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you with crimson, in luxury, who put ornaments of gold on your apparel" (v. 24). David will proceed to become the new king of Israel. The very ones who are estranged from the church may become the chosen ones to renew the body. This only happens if we remember that even in our estrangement, we revere the body as the true choice of God to proclaim a light unto the nations.
Psalm 130
O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is great power to redeem.
-- Psalm 130:7
It is so easy for the church to grow dispirited and discouraged in the face of all that troubles the world. What does it mean for the church to cry out, "Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord! Lord, hear my voice!" (vv. 1-2). Does it not mean that the church is joining the rest of the world in struggling with the reality of evil? Like Christ, does the body of Christ need to identify with the pain and fear of people's lives? Does the church need to confess its inability to rise above its own tendency to serve itself? Is it only when we are boldly honest about our sinfulness as a church, that we can recognize our need of God? "If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, Lord who could stand? But there is forgiveness with you, so that you may be revered" (vv. 3-4). Is it only from repeated experiences from the depth of despair that we can have the illusion of self-sufficiency shattered? It is then that, instead of planning God's agenda, we can say, "I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope" (v. 5).
It is so hard for the church to wait for the Lord. Waiting seems like such a useless waste of time when there is so much to be done. Our impatience is like that of a watchman waiting for the morning. Yet, our hope, our only sustaining hope, is in "the steadfast love" of the Lord, and it is by experiencing that love out of our depths that we have hope to offer others. Waiting seems so beyond our control. There is no way to measure it. Like Christ, the body of Christ is totally dependent on God and our hope is that God "will redeem (the church) from all his iniquities" (v. 8).
2 Corinthians 8:7-15
For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has -- not according to what one does not have.
-- 2 Corinthians 8:12
The people living in Jerusalem are apparently suffering from extreme poverty, and Paul has committed himself to raising an offering from the Gentile churches to respond to their needs. The year before, the church at Corinth had accepted the challenge of the offering (1 Corinthians 16:1-4). As happens in many financial campaigns, there appears to be some falling off of the initial enthusiasm, and Paul is writing to encourage the completion of the offering. It may be that the economic climate of the people of Corinth has changed and caused them to question whether they are able to respond as they intended. Paul encourages them to complete what they have started but is insistent that the real issue is one of attitude that is reflective of the faith in their lives.
The way of the Christian is to recognize that their lives are to be reflective of Christ. "For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich" (v. 9). But Jesus, who they are urged to imitate, did not give of himself reluctantly but rather with joy. It is not enough for someone to make a generous offering but to internally feel angry, self-righteous, or manipulated into doing so. Paul is quite clear that one should not give out of guilt nor should they give what they cannot afford. "For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has -- not according to what one does not have."
The challenge for Christians is to honestly evaluate what they do have rather than to assume a false air of neediness. Far too often we fail to recognize the abundance that we do have because we have simply adjusted our expenditures up according to our income. Most surveys clearly indicate that poor people within the community of faith give a far larger percentage of their income to the church than do those with greater wealth. When one is offered the opportunity to respond to the needs of others, it is an opportunity to utilize the resources with which God has blessed that person, trusting that God will continue to bless him or her in the future. As Paul suggests, "It is a question of fair balance between your present abundance and their need, so that their abundance may be for your need, in order that there may be a fair balance" (vv. 13-14). We must trust that God is as capable of working within the heart of our neighbor when we are in need as God has worked in our heart to respond to their need.
Mark 5:21-43
Your daughter is dead, why trouble the teacher any further?
-- Mark 5:35b
This passage contains two stories of desperation. First we are introduced to a father who is deeply concerned about his daughter who is critically ill. But while Jesus is journeying toward their home, he encounters a woman whose hemorrhages were destroying her health. Both were desperate enough to take risks in coming to Jesus. The father, Jairus, was a leader of the synagogue. What dignity and even reputation does he endanger by falling at the feet of a controversial rabbi and begging him repeatedly to help his daughter? The woman had been bleeding for twelve years. Such bleeding would have made her ritually unclean, and she clearly risked rebuke by touching a rabbi in a manner that would make him unclean, as well. In addition to the two individual stories, the interweaving of them reflects the way in which people can often pit one need against another in the church. Since addressing either need requires energy, we are faced with an issue of which one deserves our attention first.
In both stories the practical solutions had failed, and they now were turning to Christ in desperation. One goes directly to Jesus, and the other tries to draw strength from him in an indirect manner. In both cases, Jesus responds to their needs but in his own timing. While the daughter is critically ill, Jesus feels free to interrupt his response to her by stopping to have a conversation with the woman who was already healed. Then while he was talking to the woman, some members of Jairus' household came and told him that his attempt to acquire Jesus' help was wasted effort. His little daughter was already dead. Yet Jesus neither feels the need to hurry nor is he constrained by the limits of death. If these stories and their relationship to each other interpret Jesus' response to our prayers when we come to Jesus seeking help, what do we learn about God's response?
