Lectionary Notes and More

The Week of Quadragesima: Lent I
Sunday, 21 February AD 2010

It’s Friday morning, the third day of Lent, and near the end of a very busy week. There were pancakes on Tuesday, two celebrations of the Ash Wednesday rite, Stations of the Cross and the first session of a Lenten Study yesterday evening. There eas also the preparation of the study, and there’s still a sermon to get ready for Sunday (even though there’s also Vestry)! So in providing some reflections on this week’s readings, I find that I must fall back on other resources —at least more obviously than I usually do. Nonetheless, I trust that these comments will be of some assistance. As always, the notes at the RCL site are helpful.

Anglican Resources for Anglicans

When we come to the Gospel reading, I will direct you to some sermons from the past which I have found very helpful. This reminds me to mention a very valuable Anglican resource you may not have met yet It is Project Canterbury, “a free online archive of out-of-print Anglican texts and related modern documents,” which may be found at http://anglicanhistory.org/.

Another useful site is The Anglican Library. “The aim of the Anglican Library is to publish new HTML editions of Christian literature from the Anglican tradition and other works that have traditionally been of interest to Anglicans. In addition, we hope to serve as a guide to Anglican literature located elsewhere on the internet.”

See http://www.anglicanlibrary.org/index.htm.

The Readings
Deuteronomy 26.1-11

In Year C the first reading is the passage from Deuteronomy which gives directions for the ofering of firstfruits in thanksgiving in the promised Land. In the Roman Missal, a shorter section is read from this chapter; it is only verses 4-10, the declaration to be made when the offering is handed over to the priest. This declaration centres on God’s mighty act of salvation in the Exodus. A note in the New St Joseph Daily Missal reminds that the Exodus had “a meaning similar to what the death and resurrection of Jesus means to us as Christians. Both are might acts of God resulting in liberation. Both inspire a Confession of Faith in which these mighty acts are recited.” At the beginning of Lent this reading makes us look forward to the Christian Passover which is the goal of the season and all its disciplines.

Psalm 91.1-2, 9-16

This psalm is classed as a psalm of trust ending with an oracle of salvation (vv. 14-16); the promse of glory and length of days in the final oracle points to the kings as being its recipient. Verses 10-11 are quoted by the devil in today’s Gospel reading. The art of quotation, it has been said, is knowing when to stop. It is interesting to note that in Luke 4.11, the devil stops quoting this psalm at v. 12, omitting the next verse which promise that with the help of angels the faithful will trample on wild beasts, in which, as the NJBC puts it, “the psalm moves from God’s protecting his faithful one to his equipping him to battle evil (cf.Ps 18)”.

The Epistle: Romans 10.8b-13

The notes in the St Joseph Missal identify this reading as containing a Baptismal confession (v.9), thereby linking it to the confession in the first reading.
The Comments in the New Oxford Annotated Bible and in the NJBC are helpful, placing this passage in the wider section, Romans 9.30-10.13, in which St Paul is explaining that “true righteousness is by faith”, which is in turn part of his argument that the new way of righteousness in Christ Jesus does not contradict God’s promises of old to Israel (9.1-11.36). Thus the Gentiles who come to confess that Jesus is Lord are called by the same Lord who called Israel to be his people (10.12).

The Holy Gospel: Luke 4.1-11

Every year on the first Sunday in Lent the Gospel readings tell us of the Temptation of our Lord in the Wilderness, because it is on his forty days’ fast that Lent is modelled. Perhaps you will forgive me for sending you to some works which I have found to be better reflections on this Sunday’s Gospel reading than anything I can think up.. For years my first reading about the Temptation has been in sermons of two great Anglican preachers of the seventeenth century.
John Cosin (1594-1672), Bishop of Durham, and one of the architects of the Restoration of the Church in 1660, preached two sermons on our Lord’s Temptations. When and where he preached them is not recorded, but it seems likely that it was at his parish of Brancepath in Yorkshire, perhaps soon before 1630. They may be found on line at
http://anglicanhistory.org/lact/cosin/1/sermon4.html

and
http://anglicanhistory.org/lact/cosin/1/sermon5.html

One reason I think Cosin’s two sermons were for his parish is that they are clearly based on a series of seven sermons on the Temptations by Lancelot Andrewes, and are very compressed and simplified versions of them. Andrewes' sermons may be found in his collected Works, volume 5, and are on line at
http://anglicanhistory.org/lact/andrewes/v5/index.html.

Don’t forget to check the collection of patristic commentaries in the Catena Aurea at http://www.catecheticsonline.com/CatenaAurea-Luke4.php.

Now it's Friday noon, and that’s all there is for this week.

Lectionary Notes

Some Thoughts on the Readings for Proper 6, Year B

The Sixth Sunday after Epiphany

15 February, AD 2009

Owing to a glitch in the internet service, there were no lectionary notes last week. I am sorry for the inconvenience. Readers may be interested to know that two of my Lenten Sermons are available on the Reflections page at the Anglican Diocese of Toronto website. http://www.toronto.anglican.ca/index.asp?navid=633

Both the first reading, 2 Kings 5.1-14, and the Gospel, Mark 1.40-45, tell of the cleansing of a person suffering from leprosy. As all the commentaries tell us, the words translated as “leprosy” do not necessarily mean the disease now known as leprosy, that is, Hanson’s disease, but several repulsive skin diseases, and the precise meaning is uncertain. Indeed, the laws concerning “leprosy” in Leviticus 13-14 also cover blemishes affecting garments and buildings.
The horror and fear of this disease meant that the sufferer was quarantined, at least in its later stages. In Israel it involved ritual uncleanness and complete exclusion fro community and religious life. “According to the rabbis, the healing of leprosy was ‘as difficult as the raising of the dead’” (D. E. Nineham). Apparently, whatever malady Naaman suffered was not so far advanced that he had to be quarantined.
There is a striking difference between the two stories in the manner of the healer. When Naaman comes to Elijah’s doorway, the prophet sends a message telling him to wash in the Jordan and be cleansed; he does not deign to come out to him, let alone heal him with some impressive gesture. The Lord Jesus, on the other hand, is moved with pity and reaches out to touch the leper who has fallen on his knees before him, with no regard for contagion or ritual uncleanness.

The other synoptic Gospels tell this story in different contexts. In Matthew 8.2-4 it comes just after the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount, while in Luke 5:12-16 it comes just after the account of the unexpected catch of fish (5.1-11). This suggests that this story of a leper cleansed originally circulated as an isolated unit of tradition, and that each evangelist has used it for his own, presumably theological, reasons. Indeed, as it stands in Marks Gospel, where it follows a summary of Jesus’ preaching in Galilee (1.39) and no further indication of where or when it happened.. Perhaps Mark intended it to be “a sort of appendix to the specimen day, showing that Christ ‘s power was able to deal even with leprosy—a claim that would certainly have seemed something of a climax to the contemporary reader.” What the Old Testament religion could not do, Jesus did readily. (D. E. Nineham). According to Luke 7.22, the cleaning of lepers was an expected sign of the Messiah’s coming. On all this see Romans 8.3.

Everyone knows that the Olympic games were meant to be a revival of the games that were celebrated at ancient Olympia every four years, but are less familiar with the other Greek games that were celebrated regularly in ancient times, the Nemean games, the Pythian games at Delphi, and the Isthmian Games which were held near Corinth every two years. So it is not surprising that St Paul would think of using athletic metaphors in his letter to the Corinthian Christians. This metaphor extends the comments in the preceding passage about the discipline he has taken on “for the sake of the gospel”. Like all metaphors, this one should not be pushed too far. St Pau; uses the fact that on the track, all the contestants run, but only one wins, to remind the Corinthians of the possibility that they may fail to persevere in the faith. The RCL notes are helpful here:
It seems that by being believers and joining in the liturgical and sacramental life of the Church some Christians at Corinth thought themselves sure of eternal life – but the Christian way requires more than this. While we all set out on the Way in our baptism, not all persevere as we should. In athletics, one person wins; in Christian life, not all persevere beyond baptism so Paul says “run in such a way that you may win it” (v. 24).
This calls to mind the verse of the Psalm, “While I felt secure, I said, I shall never be disturbed”. In Christian life it is necessary to know the difference between a sure and certain trust in God’s love and a feeling of security. We can speak of a certain and sure trust in God because it is founded on the steadfast love promised in scripture, but security is founded on a complacent trust in one’s own constancy. Lancelot Andrewes once had occasion to note that:

The Holy Scriptures nowhere recommend Security, but rather seem to to take offence at the Word: We ought to avoid it, since such are reproved by the Apostle, who would trust to it: For when Men shall say, Peace and Safety, then sudden Destruction cometh upon them, 1 Thess. 5.3. Wherefore I think it ought to be avoided as a thing of an ill Omen. [A Review of the Censure passed upon Dr Barrett’s Opinion concerning Certainty of Salvation]

A little later in the same work, Andrewes adds:

For he that is secure, does not only banish all doubtfulness, but even care too: For Security is directly opposed to care. But we are commanded by the Holy Ghost to make use of all our care and watchfulness: And the Apostle, Heb. 6.11. desires, That every one should shew the same diligence, even unto the end.

St Paul also writes “Therefore let any one who stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor 10.12). It is this which underlies the teaching on self-control of today’s passage.

Lectionary Notes

A Note on the Nativity of our Lord: Christmas Day

The Lectionary provides three sets of readings for the Eucharist at the Midnight, in the Early Morning, and during the day on Christmas. With so much material, I do not propose to comment on all the readings, but urge you even more strongly than usual to refer to the notes at the RCL Commentary site from the Diocese of Montreal (see the link at the left).
At St Columba and All Hallows we will be hearing the first set at the earlier family service and the third set, the traditional readings of the Christmas Mass, at Midnight.
In my own preparation for Christmas this year I have been reading some of the Seventeen Sermons on the Nativity by Lancelot Andrewes. In line with the question which I have recommended as a question to ponder in Advent, some passages from Andrewes’ fifth sermon on the Nativity help us to meditate of the Angel’s words to the Shepherds, which declare what Child this is: “To you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord.” I offer you these passages to consider in the last days of preparation for Christmas.
"The Angel addeth farther, 'A Saviour Which is Christ', For many saviours had been born, many had God sent them that at divers times had set them free from divres dangers of their enemies; Moses, from the Egyotians; Joshua, from the Canaanites; Gideon, from the Midianites; Jephtha, from the Ammonites; Sampson, from the Philistines. And indeed, the whole story of the Bible is nothing else but a calendar of saviours that God from time to time still stirred them up.
"But these all were but pety Saviours. there was One yet behind that was worth them all. One that 'should save His people from their sins' (Mat 1.21); save not their bodies for a time, but their souls for ever, which none of those saviours could do.
****
"And there is yet more particularity in this word Christ: three offices did God from the beginning erect to save his people by; and that by three acts—the very heathen took notice of them—1.Purgare, 2. Illuminare, 3. Perficere. 1. Priests, to purge or expiate; 2. Prophets, to illuminate or direct them; Kings, to set all right, and to keep all right in that perfection which this would admitteth. And all these three had their several anointings. Aaron the Priest (Lev 8,12) Elisha the Prophet (1 Kgs 19.16), saul the King (1 Sam 10.1). In the Saviour which is Christ, His will was all should meet, that nothing in Hum might want to the perfecting of this worl. That He might be a perfect Saviour of all, He was all. “A Priest after the Order of Melchizedek,” (Ps 110..4) a Prophet to be heard when Moses should hold his peace, (Deut 18.18); a King to save His people, 'Whose name should be Jehova Justitia nostra' (The Lord is our righteousness; Jer 23.6). David’s Priest. Moses’ Prophet, Jeremy’s King.
"And these formerly had met double, two of them in some other; Melchizedek, King and Priest; Samuel, Preist and Prophet; David, Prophet and Kimg. Never all three but in Him alone; and so, no Perfect Christ but He; but He all, and so perfect. By His Priesthood to purge, expiate, and 'save us from our sins, being a propitiation to God for them,' (1 John 2,2); by His prophecy to illuminate and save us from the by-paths of error, 'guiding our feet in the way of peace,' (Luke 1.79); by His Kingdom protecting and conducting us through the miseries of this life, till He perfect us eternally by Himself in the joys of His Heavenly Kingdom. Rightly then, 'A Saviour which is Christ.'"

[Lancelot Andrewes; Sermon V on the Nativity, Preached before King James I at Whitehall, on Tuesday the 25th Day of December, AD 1610, being Christmas Day.]

May the Good News of Christmas come to you as new this year, and its joy dwell in you all your days.