Lectionary Notes

Some Notes for the Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost
The Sunday between 4 and 10 September
Proper 23 in Year A

The Collect for this Sunday in the BAS was the one appointed for the Sunday Next before Advent in the Prayer Book, which in turn is a version of the ancient Latin Collect. Since in the new lectionary, the Sunday before Advent is kept as the Reign of Christ it is good that this Collect has been retained on a different day. Other Churches of the Anglican

Communion have done the same in different ways. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stir-up_Sunday

Some of the notes on the readings have appeared in earlier postings, but the whole has been largely re-written.

THE READINGS
Exodus 12.1–14

This is the account of the institution of the Feast of Passover, which God commanded the people of Israel to keep as an everlasting memorial of the delivery from bondage in Egypt. The feast is called “the Passover of the Lord” because the Lord passed over the land of Egypt in judgement (verse 12), but passed over the houses where the Israelites were, which were marked with the blood of the Passover lamb (verses 7, 13). The first Passover meal was, as it were, the “last supper” of Israel in Egypt, as can be seen in the words about eating the meal in haste (verse 11). The whole of the Exodus celebrated in the Passover is seen in Christian tradition as a type or foreshadowing of the death and resurrection of Christ, the true Paschal Lamb. This is why we read this passage on Maundy Thursday. We read it today as one of the highlights in the story of the Exodus. Much has been passed over since last week’s reading (Chapter 3), and should be read in order to know the whole story.
The word ‘passover’ translates the Hebrew pesach, which is from a verb meaning ‘to pass over, spring over’. An old Hebrew commentary on this passage says, “The sacrifice is called פֶּסַח (pesach) because of the skipping and the jumping over, which the Holy One, blessed be He, skipped over the Israelites’ houses that were between the Egyptians houses. He jumped from one Egyptian to another Egyptian, and the Israelite in between was saved.” In the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures and in Christian writings, pesach became pascha, which in turn became the name for Easter in many languages. Pascha is surprisingly similar to the Greek word for ‘suffering’ (paschein).
It seems unnecessary to comment here on all the technical instructions for the passover

The Psalm

Psalm 149, is one of the “Hallelujah Psalms”. “Hallelujah” (alleluia is simply a form of the word more euphonious in Latin and Greek) is a Hebrew word meaning “Praise the Lord”. This is a liturgical song, inviting the congregation of the faithful to praise. The New Oxford Annotated Bible suggests that it was a hymn meant to accompany a festival dance [verse 3], of an apparently war-like character [verses 6-9]. The psalms chosen for the lectionary usually seem to reflect on the first reading: here the judgement on the nations reflects the final plague sent by the Lord against Egypt. One might also note, however, a link between the “binding of the kings in chains” and the promise of the Lord Jesus to his disciples that what they “bind” on earth will be bound in heaven. See also the notes on this Psalm at the RCL site:
http://montreal.anglican.org/comments/apr23l.shtm

The Epistle: Romans 13.8–14
Importance of Love for One’s Neighbour

Our reading from the Letter to the Romans jumps over the opening seven verses of Chapter 13, a very important passage which speaks of the relation Christians ought to have to the civil government of the country in which they live. In particular there are assumptions about the duty to pay taxes which should not be ingored. These verses are not read in Church, but it would be helpful to read them over before looking at the passage we will be reading.
After making it clear that we are to pay everything that we owe, St Paul begins the next section by reminding us of the one debt that is never paid: “Owe no one anything, except to love one another: for he who loves his neighbour, has fulfilled the law”. Love of neighbour is not a favour we grant and could as well withhold, but is a debt we owe—to God. This might be a surprise to some; in fact it is another element of the Christian life which involves being “transformed by the renewal of our minds”. On the words that love fulfills the law, see Mark 12.31; James. 2.8 John 13.34; 1 John 4.11; Col 3.14;1 Tim 1.5; 1 Corinthians 13. St Paul is here commenting on the words of Jesus, who in turn quoted Leviticus 19.18.
If love is the fulfilling of the law it is the foundation of all Christian conduct. The urgency for Christians to conduct themselves is all the greater because of the imminence of Christ’s coming. Though the time seems to have stretched, the urgency of our calling is no less. We may not know the time [kairos] of Christ’s coming, but we know very well that it is high time to act in love, and follow all these words of St Paul.

The Holy Gospel: Matthew 18.15–20

Much important material between last week’s Gospel reading and this week’s is omitted from the Sunday readings. Passages that are read at other times or read in parallel version are noted:
XVII. 1-8. The Transfiguration. Read on the Last Sunday after Epiphany or Lent 2
XVII. 9-13. Conversation On The Descent.
XVII. 14-21. The Epileptic Boy.
XVII. 22, 23. Second Announcement Of The Passion. The parallel, Mark 9:30-32 is read on Proper 25, Year B
XVII. 24-27. The Temple Tax.
XVIII. 1-4. Jesus On Personal Ambition. The parallel, Mark 9:33-37 is read on Proper 25 ,Year B
XVIII. 5-9. Considerate Behaviour Towards Little Ones. The parallel, Mark 9:38-50 is read on Proper 26, YearB
XVIII. 10-14. The Preciousness Of The Individual. Partly paralleled in Luke 15:1-10, read on Proper 24, Year C

This teaching on disputes that arise between Christians is found only in St Matthew, except for an echo in one verse of St Luke: Take heed to yourselves; if you brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him (Luke 17.3). A sizeable body of opinion holds that this passage reflects the later experience and condition of the Christian community rather than the original words of Jesus. Indeed, the passage seems to assume a more established community even if we understand “church” as a local group of believers, as some do.
Some Christians, particularly at the time of the Reformation, have taken this passage as a prescriptive regulation for Church discipline. It is one of the scriptural foundations of the practice of excommunication.
The rule is obviously good, for first one is to try and settle the matter privately, and only when that has failed, to involve other Christians. In verse 15 ‘point out the fault’ could be given with more strength, "convince him of his fault," i.e. get him to acknowledge the wrong. The teaching on reconciliation continues in next week’s reading : the whole shows us that it is a duty for both the offender and the one offended.The need for witnesses (verse 16) is founded on Deuteronomy 19:15, but the Lord Jesus seems to have reduced the minimum requirement to one witness in addition to the plaintiff.
We cannot stress too much that the goal is the reclamation of the sinner, rather than punishment: if he listens to you you have won him. This commends the translation “convince” in verse 15: unless one acknowledges one’s fault there is no real reconciliation, but only giving in resentfully.
The passage concludes with a guarantee, the assurance, so to speak, that the decisions of the church have the authority of heaven. Here the words that were spoken to Simon Peter are now addressed to all the disciples.
This passage needs to be read and understood in context, for its context is forgiveness and reconciliation, as the Gospel Acclamation reminds us. It immediately follows the parable of the Lost Sheep (18.10-14) and is itself followed immediately by Peter’s question of how many times he must forgive his brother, to which Jesus says “Seventy times seven” (18.21-22). This in turn is followed by the parable of the Unforgiving Servant (18.23-end). This context should make Christians cautious, thoughtful, and prayerful in applying the rules of 18.15-17.
A further consideration how we are to take the words let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector, which is generally taken to mean “an unworthy outsider”, one fit to be expelled from the Church. This interpretation is hard to deny. But as we think about these words, let us simply consider how the Lord Jesus himself treated Gentiles and tax collectors.

CALENDAR
September

Feria signifies an ordinary weekday.
FAS is For All the Saints: Prayers and Readings for Saints’ Days, which may be purchased at the ABC or found on-line at http://www.anglican.ca/resources/liturgicaltextsonline/
ACP: Anglican Cycle of Prayer.

1 Thursday: Feria [in BCP, Giles, Abbot in Provence, c. 720]
Pray for the parish of St. George, Haliburton
ACP Saskatchewan (Rupert's Land, Canada) The Rt Revd Michael William Hawkins; Saskatoon (Rupert's Land, Canada) The Rt Revd David Irving
Have an oyster! This day is traditionally counted as the beginning of the oyster season, the eight months containing the letter R in which it was thought safe to eat oysters. However, the legal opening of the oyster season in Britain was August 5th. He was a bold man that first eat an oyster. ~ Jonathan Swift

2 Friday: Memorial of The Martyrs of New Guinea, 1942

When Japanese forces invaded New Guinea in 1942, a number of Anglican missionaries decided to stay with their people for as long as possible, despite orders for white people to evacuate the island. Their faithfulness resulted in martyrdom. See FAS p. 266
Pray for the parish of St. James, Fenelon Falls
ACP: Sebei - (Uganda) The Rt Revd Augustine Joe Arapyona Salimo
On this day in 1666 began the Great Fire of London

3 Saturday: Memorial of Gregory the Great, Bishop of Rome, 604

Gregory the Great was Bishop of Rome from 590 to 604, a time of great danger and uncertainty, and in which the leaders of the Church had to take care for civil government and social welfare. Gregory is particulalry remembered for sending Augustine of Canterbury to preach the gospel among the heathen English. See FAS p. 268
Pray for the parish of St. James, Kinmount
ACP Sekondi - (West Africa) The Rt Revd John Kwamina Otoo

4 Sunday: The Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost
Pray for Volunteer Workers in Diocesan Ministry
ACP The Rt Revd Paul Keun-Sang Kim Presiding Bishop of the Anglican Church of Korea & Bishop of Seoul

5 Monday: Commemoration of First Anglican Eucharist in Canada, 1578; Labour Day
Robert Wolfall, a priest of the Church of England, was among the company of Martin Frobisher’s expedition to the canadian Arctic in 1568. On Sunday, September third, Wolfall preached and celebrated communion on the shore of Baffin Island, the first Anglican Eucharist in what is now Canada. FAS, p. 270.
Pray for Couchiching Jubilee House, Orillia (FaithWorks)
ACP Seychelles - (Indian Ocean) The Rt Revd James Richard Wong Yin Song

6 Tuesday: Feria
Pray for the parish of St. John, Dunsford
ACP Sheffield - (York, England) The Rt Revd Steven Croft; Sheffield - Doncaster - (York,
England) The Rt Revd Cyril Guy Ashton

7 Wednesday: Feria
Pray for the parish of St. John, Irondale
ACP Shinyanga - (Tanzania) The Rt Revd Charles Kija Ngusa

8 Thursday: Memorial of The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

'The legend of the nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary … bears witness to a deeper truth of faith — that Mary herself was the daughter of Israel’s hope and the child whose own offspring would fulfill the longing of the whole family of creation’ ; see FAS, p. 272.
Pray for the parish of St. John, Rosedale
ACP Shyira - (Rwanda) The Rt Revd Laurent Mbanda

9 Friday: Feria
Pray for the parish of St. Luke, Burnt River
ACP Shyogwe - (Rwanda) The Rt Revd Jered Kalimba
On this day in 1513 an English army defeated the Scots at Flodden Field, a disaster for the Scots commemorated in the famous lament The Flowers of the Forest.

10 Saturday: Memorial of Edmund James Peck, Missionary to the Inuit, 1924 Edmund Peck spent almost forty years in mission in the Eastern Arctic where he ‘built the Anglican Church … not only spiritually by his preaching but also physically with his own hands. See FAS, p. 274
Pray for the parish of St. Margaret, Wilberforce
ACP Sialkot - (Pakistan) The Rt Revd Samuel Sant Masih Pervaiz

11 Sunday: The Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Pray for The Bridge Prison Ministry, Brampton (FaithWorks)
ACP Sittwe - (Myanmar) The Rt Revd Dr James Min Deng

Lectionary Notes

Some Notes for the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost
The Sunday between 28 August and 3 September
Proper 22 Year A

Here we go again!
Dear Friends: Thank you for your patience while I took a Summer Break from preparing these weekly notes. I wish I could say it had been a holiday.
I was pleased to discover this week that I published a set of notes on this week’s reading in 2008; I have revised them here.

The Collect for this Sunday is adapted from the Prayer Book Collect for the Seventh Sunday after Trinity, used since the First Prayer Book of 1549 :
LORD of all power and might, Who art the Author and Giver of all good things; Graft in our hearts the love of Thy Name, increase in us true religion, nourish us with all goodness, and of Thy great mercy keep us in the same ; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
It was in turn translated and adapted from the ancient Latin Collect for the same Sunday. It is interesting to compare the English version of the same Collect in the New St Joseph Sunday Missal:
Almighty God, every good thing comes from you. Fill our hearts with love for you, increase our faith, and by your constant care protect the good you have given us. we ask this through Jesus Christ, your Son …
The difference between 'graft in our hearts the love of your Name' in the Anglican and 'fill our hearts with love for you' in the Roman Catholic version seems to arise from the interpretation of the original, ínsere pectóribus nostris tui nóminis amórem. In Latin there are two almost identical verbs insero, one {insero, inserere. inserevi, inseritum], meaning 'to graft', the other [insero, -ere, -ui, -tum] meaning 'to let in, insert'. The present imperative singular of both is insere. In the first English Prayer Book this was taken as 'graft', which, according to J. H. Blunt (Annotated Book of Common Prayer, new edition, 1892), was suggested by the good and evil fruit' contained in the Epistle for Trinity VII, Romans 6.19-23.

Readings
Exodus 3.1–15
In Midian the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob reveals himself to Moses and summons him to the work of delivering Israel from Egypt.
Moses, who had been raised by Pharaoh’s daughter [Exodus 2.1-10] has fled from Egypt because it was discovered he had slain an Egyptian task-master for beating a Hebrew slave [2.11-15]. He fled to Midian, where he married Zipporah, daughter of the priest Jethro. Jethro is elsewhere (Exodus 2:16-19 and Numbers 10:29) called Reuel, but some suggest that is his father’s name; in Judges 4.11 he is called Hobab. The confusion over his name does not affect today’s passage. The Midianites were a people related to the Israelites (see Gen 25.2), who at this time appear to have lived in the north of the Sinai Peninsula.
Meanwhile, the Pharaoh (probably Seti I) died, and “the people of Israel groaned under their bondage and cried out for help”. In Midian God revealed himself to Moses and called him to be his agent for the deliverance of Israel. We hear the first part of the narrative in today’s reading.
The call of Moses is also a revelation of the Lord God as one who cares for his people and hears their cry of anguish. The revelation itself is a miracle both because the bush that burns and is not consumed causes Moses to wonder, since it is outside the known powers of nature and because it is clearly God’s direct action. But how do we imagine this event? Does God speak aloud, actually moving the air and acting on Moses’ ear-drums? Or is the voice that Moses hears an inner one? There is no way to know, but however we think of it, we must decide whether we believe that God did act.
The first verse of this passage is a good example of why comments have to be selective!
v. 1: . beyond the wilderness: is literally ‘behind the wilderness’ or ‘at the backside of the wilderness’ (KJV); although the RCL commentary suggests that this is ‘a mysterious place like the deep in the forest of fairy tales’ the RSV ‘west side of the wilderness’ seems more likely. The Hebrew preposition ‘achar, ‘behind’ is often used to mean ‘West’, as in Judges 18.12; in a common way of speaking, the East was always 'in front' (Genesis 4.16), the North on 'the left' (Ez. xvi. 46), the South on 'the right' (1 S. xxiii. 19). Other suggestions are “after the free pastureland” and “the edge of the desert”. Horeb The mountain of God is called both Horeb or Sinai; Horeb seems to reflect a later tradition. Whatever its name, the precise location of the holy mountain is not known, although tradition places it at Jebel Musa or Mount Catharine in the south of the Sinai.
v.2. the angel of the Lord, as in Genesis 16.7, is not a subordinate spirit but the Lord himself manifested to Moses. (see Genesis 16.13). The bush may have been a thorn-bush or bramble-bush; another suggestion is a blackberry (I will avoid a pretty obvious joke). Since this is a miraculous event, there is no need to be too concerned about what sort of a bush it was. Note that the Hebrew word for bush, seneh’; is possibly a play on the word Sina, sē•nah'•ē;.
v. 4. When the Lord calls from the bush Moses answers “Here am I”. In the Septuagint Greek text, however, what Moses says is τί ἐστι; (ti esti?), “What is it?” In some ways this seems to me a more natural response!
vv 6-10. The Lord declares to Moses that he has seen the suffering of his people and heard their cries, and has come down to free them and lead them into that good land he had promised their ancestors. He will send Moses to Pharaoh to lead the people out of Egypt.
v 11. Moses is reluctant to obey. Like Gideon (Judges 6.11-22) and Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1.4-10) he raises objections to God’s call. In 3.11-4.17 Moses makes four excuses; this reading includes only the first two: “who am I to do this?” (3.11), to which God replies, “I will be with you”, and “the people will ask the name of the God who sent me” (3.13), to which God replies by solemnly declaring his name.
v. 14. Note that the Lord’s reply, I am who I am, can be translated in different ways: the NRSV offers I AM WHAT I AM and I WILL BE WHAT I WILL BE. The Greek version, ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν (egō eimi ho ōn), can mean something like I am he who is, which has serious theological implications (see Eric Mascall, He Who Is, esp. pp 5, 10, 13; Existence and Analogy, pp 10-13).
v. 15. The divine Name, YHWH, is not pronounced under any circumstances in Jewish tradition. Four things may be noted here. Instead of YHWH, the Hebrew word Adonai, Lord, or Elohim, God, was pronounced instead. The vowel-signs for these words were added to the YHWH to ensure the proper word was pronounced. In fact, the proper vowels are not precisely known; the form Yahweh is an approximation
Second, it is from reading it with the “wrong” vowels that gave rise to the name Jehovah, which does not represent any form of the name used in Hebrew.
Third, the Jewish practice has for the most part always been followed by Christians: in the Septuagint, the Greek version of the Hebrew Scriptures, the word Κύριος (Kyrios) was used to render the divine name; Dominus was likewise used in Latin: both mean Lord. In English versions the convention has grown to represent the divine Name by “The LORD”, written in small capitals. The Vatican has recently (and rightly) reaffirmed the rule that the name YHWH is not pronounced in worship. Finally, when we understand this background of the word Lord as a rendering of the divine Name, we can see the true implications of such New Testament expressions as “Jesus is Lord”.
The Psalm 105.1-6, 23-26, 45c.
Psalm 105 tells in verse the story of God’s mighty acts of salvation; compare Psalm 78. Verses 23-26 commemorate the sufferings of Israel in Egypt and the call of Moses. “Ham” is a poetic name for Egypt: see Genesis 10.6.

The Epistle. Romans 12.9-21.
St Paul exhorts his readers to the good Christian life. As a statement of the “law of love”, this passage should be read along with Chapter 13 of 1 Corinthians. The most difficult part of this teaching is the absolute prohibition of vengeance in verse 19. Only when we have truly ceased to “conform to this world” and have been “transformed by the renewal of mind” (12.2; see last week’s reading) will the instinct to avenge and justify oneself be rooted out.
It might seem that the teaching in verse 20, that you ought to assist your enemy in need and thereby “heap burning coals on his head” spoils the whole thing by turning an act of love into revenge! In fact, it means that acts of kindness bring the enemy to shame (embarrassment is often accompanied by redness and a rise in temperature) and, it is to be hoped, to repentance.

The Holy Gospel, Matthew 16.21-28
Immediately after St Peter’s confession of him as Christ, the Son of the Living God, Jesus for the first time tells his disciples of the path of suffering before him. It is as if he said to them, You have confessed that I am Messiah; now learn what it means to be Messiah. We note that the Gospel says not that he began to tell them but to show them. the sense is made known, but we should not miss the visual quality of ‘show’ that comes again at the end of the passage. He says that he must suffer at Jerusalem, the city where the prophets were put to death; see Matthew 23.29-39. Although the scriptures of the Old Testament mention only one such death (Zechariah son of Jehoiada; see 2 Chronicles 24.20-22), others were recorded in legend.
Peter could not accept the idea that the Messiah should suffer. He takes Jesus and begins to rebukes him, as if saying, “Ah, Master, don’t say that!”. It should be noted that Luke 9 omits Peter’s rebuke and the sequel. Jesus’ reply needs to be read carefully.
He turned and said to Peter. Matthew seems to mean that Jesus turned to Peter and said to Peter. However, in Mark it is turning and seeing his disciples he rebuked Peter.
Get behind me, Satan! seems to mean “begone from me”, but it was often taken by the early Fathers to mean “Come after me”. We should note that the expression here translated “get behind me”, also appears in verse 24 as “after me” (come after me). With this in mind, we might not be surprised at St Hilary’s comment:
The Lord, knowing the suggestion of the craft of the devil, says to Peter, Get you behind me; that is, that he should follow the example of His passion; but to him by whom this expression was suggested, He turns and says, Satan, you are an offense to me. For we cannot suppose that the name of Satan, and the sin of being an offense, would be imputed to Peter after those so-great declarations of blessedness and power that had been granted him.
Again, Origen wrote on this passage:
Yet the words in which Peter and those in which Satan are rebuked, are not, as is commonly thought, the same; to Peter it is said, Get you behind me, Satan; that is, follow me, you that are contrary to my will; to the Devil it is said, Go your way, Satan, understanding not 'behind me,' but 'into everlasting fire.' He said therefore to Peter, Get you behind me, as to one who through ignorance was ceasing to walk after Christ. And He called him Satan, as one, who through ignorance had somewhat contrary to God. But he is blessed to whom Christ turns, even though He turn in order to rebuke him
Peter’s words seemed to be a continuation of Satan’s temptation of Jesus in the desert: see Matthew 4:10 and Luke 4:8.
Note that there is a parallel between the stumbling block in verse 23 and the Lord’s words about the rock in last week’s reading. The Rock (ver. 18) is now a rock of offence (cf. Isa. viii. 14), a rock in the straight path on which one may stumble and be thrown out of the way. After the sudden revelation ‘from heaven’ the unguarded soul of Peter was now occupied by another spirit. He wished for an earthly Messiah who would not suffer or die: his mind was set not on divine things, but on human. The verb translated as setting your mind is the same used by St Paul in Phil 2.5, ‘Have this mind in you which was also in Christ Jesus’ — where also in verse 8 … he speaks of his ‘becoming obedient even unto the death of the cross. We find this verb in today’s reading from Romans, as well: the phrase translated there as “do not be haughty” is literally “Mind not high things”.
In the second part of the reading (verse 24-28), Jesus tells his disciples that those who would follow him must deny themselves and take up the cross to follow him. In the Roman world, the word “crucify” had come to be a general word for suffering or torture, as is found in secular literature of the time, and in our English word “excruciate”. One condemned to die on the cross carried it, or at least the cross-beam, to the place of execution. “Jesus sees that acceptance of his message with its promise also may bring destruction. Only those who in faith accept the threat of destruction will find life. See also Matthew 5:11-12; 10:38-39; Mark 10:29-31; Luke 14:27; 17:33; John 12:25” [NOAB].
Life; the Greek word is ψυχὴ, psychē; the Authorized version had “soul”. Here it means life not in the sense of physical existence but the higher or spiritual life, the real self. The question for what one would sell one’s soul calls to mind the legend of Faust, who made a pretty shoddy deal for his. Again, Jesus had been tempted to ‘gain the whole world (Matt 4.9) but he preferred the kingdom of heaven: ‘the world’ he left to Caesar (Matt 22.21).
One’s life might be a trifle, worth casting off for the rewards that the world can offer, if this world was everything; but it is not. The Son of man comes to bring the Father’s rewards, which are true life, forgiveness, love and joy.
This Gospel passage can be read well along with the passages from Romans we read last week and this. To deny self is an essential part of being transformed in mind (Romans 12.2). Furthermore, although the Lord’s call to take up one’s cross tell us of suffering imposed on us for our choice to follow Christ, they also speak of the death that is involved in turning away from passions and habits of the old life. Few things can be worse than denying oneself the pleasures of vengeance, of getting one’s own; which is why it is so hard to give it up. To learn to bless those who persecute, and not curse, even in the depths of your heart is part of following our Lord.
In the final words of the passage, Jesus declares that some who are standing with him will not taste death until they see the Son of man coming in his glory. Some interpret this to mean the Transfiguration, which is related in the following chapter. Others, noting that in the parallel passage in Mark (9.1) it is “before they see that the kingdom of God has come in power”, take it as referring to the coming of the Spirit on the Day Pentecost (Acts 2).

God willing, the Calendar Notes will resume in September.

Lectionary Notes

Some Notes for The Fourth Sunday After Pentecost
10 July 2011
The Sunday between 10 and 16 July: Proper 15 Year A

The Sentence appointed for Years A & B, which is taken from Deuteronomy, has no particular relation to any of the readings for this Sunday.
The Collect is a famous prayer adapted from the Confessions, the spiritual autobiography of St Augustine of Hippo. “You move us to delight in praising You; for You have formed us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in You (Tu excitas ut laudare te delectet, quia fecisti nos ad te et inquietum est cor nostrum donec requiescat in te~ Conf. 1.1.1). Various prayers have been composed on this sentence, of which our collect is one of the simplest.

The Readings
Genesis 25.19–34

The next highlight we come to in our readings from Genesis is the story of Jacob and Esau, the twin sons of Isaac and Rebekah. After their marriage Rebekah went twenty years without having children. With her prolonged barrenness, compare the cases of Sarah, and Rachel (29.31), the mothers of Samson (Judges 13.2), Samuel (1 Sa. 1.2), and John the Baptist (Lk. 1.7). Isaac prayed for her and finally the Lord answered the prayer. It did not easily for Rebekah. The word translated ‘struggled’ together mean literally ‘crushed each other’; the dismayed mother took this as a portent and went to consult the Lord.
We are told nothing of how the Lord was consulted, but may presume that an oracle was given through some holy person. At any rate, the words recorded are rhythmic. The pre-natal struggle is said to prefigure the future rivalries of two nations. The point of the prophecy is in the last line : The elder shall serve the younger.

The name Jacob means "heel holder" or "supplanter" (or even “layer of snares”) and comes from a root that seems to mean “to come from behind”; the reading today is the first part of the story of how he supplanted his elder brother. It continues in Chapter 27, which is not included in the Sunday readings, but is important to know if you want to understand the reading for next Sunday (28:10-19).
The story of Jacob and Esau does not only explain how God’s choice fell on the younger son instead of the elder, but also of why Israel was dominant of the neighbouring kingdom of Edom, which was descended from Esau.
On another level it is also a story about the difference between a nation of hunters and a nation of herdsmen (see v 27).
In relation to this, it is important to note the play on the word “red” in this passage. Esau is born ruddy and hairy. The word for ruddy is 'admoniy; in verse 30, when he sees the stuff Jacob is cooking (the original is indeed that vague), Esau asks for ‘some of that red [‘âdom ] pottage’ (Skinner suggests translating this as Let me gulp some of the red—that red there!). This, the narrator explains is why he was called “Edom”, which means “red”.
Jacob shows himself to be the supplanter in that he takes his brother’s distress as the opportunity to secure the long-coveted birthright, i.e. the superior status which properly belonged to the first-born son. The climax of the story is Esau’ s unconcern even when he discovers that he has bartered the birthright for such a trifle as a dish of lentil soup. This is not the end of the story. To follow the whole, and see the Sunday highlight in context, it would be helpful to read Genesis 27 and 28:1-9 before next Sunday

Psalm 119.105-112

We have commented before that this very long psalm is a meditation on the Law of the Lord written in the form of an Alphabetical acrostic. In each section of 8 verses, each line begins with the same letter (in this case “nun”, n), and works through a series of words referring to the law (word, judgements, law, commandments, decrees, statutes).
It is not particularly clear to me why this selection is appointed for this Sunday.

The Epistle: Romans 8.1–11

This year I am reading the letter to the Romans with the help of a commentary by P. C. Boylan (Dublin, 1934). The epistle itself, and Boylan’s reflections on it are too lengthy to be easily digested for these notes. For that reason, I only give a brief summary of the passage from his notes. He titles the section of the epistle our reading is from : The Christian's Life In The Spirit (Chapter 8,1-39)
In chapter 7 Paul analysed the condition of those living under the Law without strength to fulfil its commands, and overcome by the power of Sin. Now he goes on to depict the Christian life with its endowment of God's Spirit and all the abundance of aiding grace which that endowment implies.
In verses 1-4 he describes the rescuing act of God by which the power of Sin was broken, and men were enabled to walk according to the Spirit.
In verses 5-8 he contrasts vividly the conditions of "men of the flesh" and "men of the Spirit."
In verses 9-13 Paul shows that the spirit actually dwells in the Christian, and points out that, through that indwelling, the life of the Christian is the life of a spiritual being. Even the bodies of Christians are made to share in the quickening of the indwelling Spirit. The Christian has, therefore, no further obligations to the Flesh so as to be compelled to yield to its demands. Such yielding would bring death. The whole being of the Christian must be' dominated and directed by the Spirit.
It is of the greatest importance in reading this and other passages in St Paul to avoid a simple identification of the “flesh” with the human body. In fact it cannot be so identified, since the body is God’s good creation and is to be redeemed and raised as is the soul. As Canon Boylan puts it, the opposition between Flesh and Spirit is not a dualism within the human being, but “a contrast between types of men living in different circumstances either as united with Christ, or as persisting in sin.” It is illuminating to note that many of the “works of the flesh” listed in Galatians 5.19-21 (as jealousy, anger, party spirit, envy) are indeed spiritual; but as arrayed against God are counted as of the “flesh”.

Matthew 13.1–9, 18–23

See Mark 4.4-8, 14-21 ; Luke 8.5-8, 11-15.

In Matthew 13.1-52 there is a group of parables, massed together in the same way that many of Jesus’ sayings are massed in the Sermon on the Mount. It is not to be supposed that Jesus spoke all the parables in this chapter on the same occasion. For Luke relates the Parables of the Mustard Seed and the Leaven on a different occasion from that of the Parable of the Sower. Matthew has grouped seven (one of his favourite numbers) parables together to illustrate Jesus' parabolic teaching.
This Sunday we read the Parable of the Sower, (1-9) which is followed by a passage in which the disciples ask why Jesus teaches in parables (10-17). This passage is omitted from the lectionary, but should be read. In the next part of the reading (18-23) Jesus gives an explanation of the parable of the sower privately to the disciples.
One commentary gives a helpful definition of parables. Parables are stories drawn from everyday life which convey a spiritual meaning. Jesus used this technique because: 1) Vivid (and sometimes humorous) images made his teaching easy to remember. 2) The stories caused people to think about what he said, to reflect on it. 3) The stories prompted those present to declare for or against his message. 4) By teaching by analogy (or metaphor), he probably reduced hostility to him. [NOAB]
Some things to note, largely taken from the comments of Archbishop Trench:
1. The same day refers to 12.46-50. Jesus went out of the house probably at Capernaum, the city where he usually lived after his ministry began (Matt. 4. 13); it is on the north shore of the sea of Galilee.
2. a boat: St Hilary said, The ship offers a type of the Church, within which the word of life is placed, and is preached to those without, and who as being barren sand cannot understand it. He sat there: sitting was the normal position for a teacher.
3. a sower. In the original it is the sower. Perhaps Jesus looked over from the boat and seeing a farmer on the field taken this starting point for his teaching. The farmer would have scratched shallow furrows on the field and broadcast the seed.
4. on the path: : Not the public road, but the footpath which ran across the field, or, it might be, ran round the edge of it. In 12.1 Jesus and His disciples went through the cornfields by such a path. The soil here may be naturally as good as the best in the field : its fault lies in its being beaten hard by the feet of the passers-by. So the seed could not sink down in the earth, but lay exposed on the surface till at length it fell an easy prey to the birds.
5-6. Rocky ground doesn’t mean and area covered with small stones or rocks, but where the bedrock had only a thin covering of soil so that there is no chance to put down roots. This is why the seeds spring up: all their energy goes into the stalk. So when the hot sun beat down, they withered.
7. among thorns. Archbishop Trench notes that fields were often divided by hedges of thorn (Exod. xxii. 6; Mic. vii. 4), and comments: “This seed fell not so much among thorns that were full grown, as in ground where the roots of these had not been diligently extirpated, in ground which had not been thoroughly purged and cleansed ; otherwise it could not be said that “the thorns sprang up with it' (Luke 7.7).”
9. “The parable describes the experience of Christ in His ministry, which is typical of universal experience. He finds the reason for the varying effect of His ministry in the varying spiritual condition of men. Some were altogether insusceptible ; others were quickly impressed, but the impression passed away. In others the new spiritual impulses struggled to grow, but were finally crushed by stronger passionate evil lusts. In others there were rich and permanent results, though varying in abundance.”
18-23: Matthew, by omitting the disciples' request for an explanation (Mark iv. 10) and Christ's reproach for their not understanding it (Mark iv. 13), makes the interpretation to be given them because they have the capacity to understand it.
Many modern commentators doubt that the interpretation of the Parable is really one given by our Lord, thinking that it is too allegorical and must be the interpretation of Christians reflecting on the parable. This is a question we cannot enter into here: I will only suggest that there is nothing proven, and indeed that we might do well to be cautious in taking the results of modern Gospel criticism as Gospel. One older commentator notes:
“Objections have been raised to the genuineness of this interpretation on the ground of its allegorising the details. But it is expressly stated in Mark iv. 34 that Jesus did expound the parables to His disciples, and there is no sufficient reason for doubting that this interpretation in the main goes back to Jesus.”
19 and does not understand it: The stupidity is not due to a natural want of intellectual power, but to the hardening effect of their habits, resulting in spiritual insensibility. This is the Fool of Psalm 14. Trench: The man 'understandeth it not’; he does not recognize himself as standing in any relation to the word which he hears, or to the kingdom of grace which that word proclaims. All that speaks of man's connexion with a higher invisible world, all that speaks of sin, of redemption, of holiness, is unintelligible to him, and without significance. The evil one: Trench: How natural it would have been to interpret ‘the fowls' impersonally, as signifying, in a general way, worldly influences hostile to the truth. How almost inevitably, if left to ourselves, we should have so done. Not so, however, the Lord. He beholds the kingdom of evil as it counterworks the kingdom of God gathered up in a personal head, ‘the Wicked One.'
20: immediately receives it with joy. Trench: …the joy thus suddenly conceived is not, as the sequel too surely proves, a joy springing up from the contemplation of the greatness of the benefit, even after all the counterbalancing costs, and hazards, and sacrifices, have been taken into account, but a joy which springs from an overlooking and leaving out of calculation those costs and hazards. … We have rather here a state of mind not stubbornly repelling the truth, but woefully lacking in all deeper earnestness ; such as that of the multitudes which went with Jesus, unconscious what his discipleship involved, to whom He turned and told, in plainest and most startling words, what the conditions of that discipleship were (Luke xiv. 25 33 ; Josh. xxiv. 19).
21 such a person has no root: the original is has no root in himself: he has no depths for roots to form in. endures … for a while: literally “is temporary”, is for a time, a fickle nature, without any stability. falls away: literally "is made to stumble," i.e. into unbelief.
22. Trench: It is not here, as in the first case, that the word of God is totally ineffectual ; nor yet, as in the second case, that after a temporary obedience to the truth, there is an evident falling away from it, such as the withering of the stalk indicates : the profession of a spiritual life is retained, the 'name to live ' still remains ; but the power of godliness is by degrees eaten out and has departed. And to what disastrous influences are these mournful effects attributed ? To two things, the care of this world and its pleasures ; these are the thorns and briers that strangle the life of the soul. It may sound strange at first hearing tliat two causes apparently so diverse should yet be linked together, and have the same hurtful operation ascribed to them. But the Lord, in fact, here presents to us this earthly life on its two sides, under its two aspects. There is, first, its oppressive crushing side, the poor man's toil how to live at all, to keep the wolf from the door, the struggle for a daily subsistence, ‘the care of this life,' which, if not met in faith, hinders the thriving of the spiritual word in the heart. But life has a flattering as well as a threatening side, its pleasures no less than its pains ; and as those who have heard and received with gladness the word of the kingdom are still in danger of being crushed by the cares of life, so, no less, of being deceived by its flatteries and its allurements. The old man is not dead in them ; it may seem dead for a while, so long as the first joy on account of the treasure found endures ; but, unless mortified in earnest, will presently revive in all its strength anew. Unless the soil of the heart be diligently watched, the thorns and briers, of which it seemed a thorough clearance had been made, will again grow up apace, and choke the good seed
While that which God promises is felt to be good, but also what the world promises is felt to be good also, and a good of the same kind, instead of a good merely and altogether subordinate to the other, an attempt will be made to combine the service of the two, to serve God and mammon. But the attempt will be in vain : they who make it will bring no fruit to perfection, will fail to bring forth those perfect fruits of the Spirit which it was the purpose of the word of God to produce in them.

Time has run out; we will have to do without the Calendar.

lectionary notes

Some Notes for The Third Sunday after Pentecost
3 July 2011
Sunday between 3 and 9 July Proper 14 Year A

The Sentence appointed for this Sunday is taken from the Gospel reading; the Collect has no immediate relation to any of the readings in Year A.

The Readings
Genesis 24.34–38, 42–49, 58–67

The Sunday readings are necessarily only highlights of the Biblical narrative, the story of Salvation. Last week we read of the sacrifice of Isaac; now we have jumped over moer than one chapter. Anyone who wants to have a proper understanding of today’s passage should read the rest of this section (22.15-24.33). In 22.20-24, in which Abraham receives news of his brother Nahor in Haran; this is an important preparation for Chapter 24. In Chapter 23 we hear of ther death of Sarah, and Abraham’s purchase of a burial-place for her.
24.1-33, When Isaac was grown up, and Sarah his mother had died, Abraham made his steward Eliezer (see 15.2) swear that he would go return to Haran to find a wife for Isaac from among Abraham’s kin. When the servant came to the well at Haran, he prayed to God for a particular sign by which he could identify the woman God has chosen. When Rebekah, daughter of Bethuel, Abraham’s nephew, came to the well she by offered water to both the servant and his camels, thereby fulfilling the sign. Rebekah’s brother Laban, now the head of the family, welcomed the servant and his party and has offered them a meal. But first, the servant insists, he must he must tell his errand. It is here that the reading for today begins.
24.34-49. The servant’s account recapitulates the story up to this point. Such repetition is common in ancient narrative; the minor variations add interest [NJBC].
24.50-57. Rebekah’s family accept that this thing is from God and agree that she should go to Isaac. Abraham’s steward gave them rich gifts. The next morning they called Rebekah and asked if she consented to go
24.58-61. Rebekah agreed, and with the blessing of her family goes away with Eliezer.
In verse 60, The blessing on the marriage (compare Ruth. 4.11 and following), rhythmic in form, is perhaps an ancient fragment of tribal poetry associated with the name of Rebekah.
24.62-67: Isaac marries Rebekah.
In verse 63, to walk translates a Hebrew word of uncertain meaning; traditionally it has been rendered by “to meditate”. Another suggestion is “to roam”.

The Song of Solomon 2.8–13

The full title of this book is found in 1.1: The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s. In Hebrew idiom, “Song of Songs” is a superlative, “the greatest song”. It is a collection of about twenty-five poems or fragments of poems of love and courtship, set as a dialogue between a woman (the bride) and a man (the bridegroom). While some poems of the poems may come from the time of Solomon, the evidence of the language and style in some suggests a later date. The compilation into one book is probably of the third century BC.
The poems are organized as a dialogue between a woman (the bride) and a man (the bridegroom) with a chorus of the daughters of Jerusalem.
The Song of Songs has no obvious religious content; only by assuming that it has a mystical or allegorical meaning can it be given one. It has thus been interpreted as a song of the love between God and his people Israel, or for Christians between Christ and the Church. But although the spiritual interpretation has much to recommend it, we must recognize that the Song of Songs was not intended to be an allegory. “In the literal historical sense it refers to love between humans”. So NJBC, which notes further, “Israel resisted the divinization of sexuality characteristic of the ancient Near East. The Lord had no female consort. Human sexual love was seen as intrinsically good; it could even be a symbol of divine love. [The Song of Songs] presents us with a biblical model of human intimacy. The mutuality and fidelity between lovers, the sensuousness of their relationship, their devotion to each other, clearly emerge … It is widely held that the sages of Israel are responsible for its preservation and transmission because they recognized sound expression of the values of human love (c. Prov 5.18, 18.22).
A passage from Song of Songs is used today in place of a Psalm as a fitting reflection on the story of Rebekah in the first reading. In 2.8-17 the woman recalls a moment when her lover paid a visit in springtime.
The depiction of spring (11-13) has been called the most beautiful song to nature in the Old Testament.

The Epistle: Romans 7.15–25a

As in the other readings, on Sundays we have only highlights of the Epistles. In order to make the best use of the passage read in Church, it is a good idea to read through the whole chapter. Last week we ended at 6.23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”. Chapter 7 opens with a change of image; where Paul spoke of death to sin (see 6.1-4), now he speaks of the Christian as dead to the Law, and in verses 1-6 uses an analogy from marriage. In verses 7-23 we have a view of law and sin as seen through Christian eyes. [NOAB]
In our reading today Paul speaks of the inner conflict between the good he desires to do and the evil he does. Indeed, Sin is like an evil power ruling within
17. But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. Since then things are as I have just described—when I approve what the Law prescribes, and hate the course suggested by Sin, and yet do what I hate, it is clear that it is not I that do the evil thing, but the Sin that dwells in me! Boylan: This verse does not imply that fallen man is not responsible when he surrenders to Sin ; his surrender is a self-surrender with clear consciousness ; and in each particular instance he is free to refuse surrender. The meaning of St. Paul is, that fallen man, unassisted by grace, in spite of the clear teaching of the Law, and his own better judgment, as a general rule surrenders to Sin and thus carries out, not his own will, but the will of Sin. The evil deed then is primarily the work of Sin.
18-20: The thoughts of 15-17 are practically repeated, with a further appeal to Paul's personal experience.
18. in my flesh: NJBC offers in my natural self. It is important to note that Paul does not say that the flesh is evil, but only that good does not dwell in it because of Sin. There is no basis here, therefore, for a Gnostic Dualism teaching the intrinsic and essential sinfulness of the Flesh.

The Holy Gospel: Matthew 11.16–19, 25–30

The first part of today’s passage is the conclusion of a larger unit, 11.2-19, which tells of messengers sent to Jesus by John Baptist to ask whether he is the expected one, and of Jesus answer. Luke 7.18-35 has a parallel to it. Part of the larger passage (2-11) was read on the Third Sunday of Advent this year; the rest is apparently not read on Sundays. If nothing else shows how important it is to read the passage in context before Sunday and not just hear a snippet unprepared on Sunday morning it is this. From the earlier verses we learn that Jesus has just received and answered John’s message and it is the reaction of the people to John and to himself that provokes his comment on this generation. Here the generation seems to mean all the people of Jesus’ time, while in Luke it appears to refer to the Pharisees and lawyers (see Luke 7.30).
As the NJBC points out, this comment comprises a little parable (16-17), an explanation of the parable (18, 19a), and a wisdom saying (19b); the parable is difficult to interpret.
One reading of the parable is this: “One set of children are trying to get another set to join in a game. They try ‘marriages,’ and then ‘funerals’; but in neither case will the others respond. The fault is not in the game, but in the humour of the children. ‘This generation’ is as childishly whimsical in rejecting both John with his gloomy asceticism and Jesus with His joyous freedom. They do not know what they want.” So NJBC has “The most probable interpretation runs thus: The children are John and Jesus; the call is to play wedding, then funeral; the ‘others’ are their Palestinian contemporaries, who reject both the severe way of John and the light yoke of Jesus”.
The wisdom saying [19] has also been found difficult to understand. Part of the problem is that its original form is uncertain. Our version has ‘Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds’ while Luke has ‘… by her children’. ‘Children’ is also found in some manuscripts of Matthew. We may understand that the Wisdom of God sent both John and Jesus for particular purpose; if we read ‘children’; the saying means that this wisdom is recognized by those who are spiritually akin to her, and who respond by welcoming both. If we ‘works’ it is the effects produced on the lives of disciples of John and Jesus that prove the Divine wisdom.
Five verses which follow this are omitted from the reading; they report Jesus’ upbraiding of the cities where he had done most of his mighty works. Then comes the second part of the passage read in church. Compare Luke 10.12-20, where this passage is followed by a notice of the return of the seventy disciples (10.17).
Verses 25-27 record Jesus’ cry of thanksgiving and praise to the Father. In Luke 10.21 this prayer is a response to the return of the seventy. However, following the NJBC, the section 11.25-30 as a whole may be taken as Jesus’ declaration of himself as a revealer of divine wisdom, thus picking up the thenme from verse 19. So we take the section in three parts:
25, 26: thanksgiving for God’s revelation
27, the content of the revelation
28-30, the invitation to the revelation.
Verse 25: infants: the simple, the uneducated. Jesus’ thanks is joyous adoration of the grace of God, who makes the message of the kingdom accessible to all, by requiring only childlike simplicity. This truth is about knowing God not knowing about God. The ‘wise’ are those whose wisdom has made them self-sufficient and unwilling to listen and learn but the ‘children’ are those who are aware that they do not know, and need to learn, so they do listen.
Verse 27: compare John 3.35,10.13, 13.3
This verse and the wonderful sayings which close this passage are found only in Matthew, which has led some commentators to wonder if they are authentic. Such questions are too tangled for us to touch in these notes. I will only say that to my mind no reason sufficient for rejecting them has been put forward.
28. See Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 51.23-27).
29. The yoke had long been a symbol of submission; defeated armies were made to ‘pass under the yoke’. The miracle of Jesus’ dominion is that it is light. . Learn from me: the disciple is to be a life-long learner from the true teacher. This saying gives a further depth to the earlier mention of infants. We are never to think we know it all. Meek: see 2 Corinthians 10.1
29; the burden he calls us to bear is light. This was in contrast to the burdens imposed by the legalism of Jesus’ day (see Matthew 23.4). It is also in contrast t the burdens imposed by the world. See also Isaiah 14.3, 28.12; Jeremiah 6.16, 31.25 and Sirach 6.25, 26 as well as the passage already mentioned,. But while Jesus’ call puts a lighter burden on us in the way of commandments, it makes a more serious demand in that it calls us to give our whole life into his charge. But that is the way of freedom.

Calendar
July

3 b The Third Sunday after Pentecost

4 c Saint Thomas the Apostle HD (transferred from Sunday)

5 d Feria
6 e Commemoration of Thomas More, 1535
7 f Feria
8 g Feria
9 A Feria
10 b The Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

Lectionary notes

SOME NOTES FOR THE SUNDAY BETWEEN 26 JUNE AND 2 JULY
(Proper 13 Year A)
The Second Sunday after Pentecost
26 June 2011

Once again, I have been caught short this week and the notes are not as complete as I might like, but as half a loaf is better than no bread, here goes.

Neither the Sentence nor the Collect seems to have any particular connection to the readings appointed in Year A. The 8:30 congregation will notice that we also use the Collect for the Feast of the Nativioty of St John Baptist, since by the rules of the old Calendar that day is kept with an Octave and Commemorated on the Sunday.

The Readings

On the Second Sunday after Pentecost the lectionary resumes the sequence of readings that was interrupted through Lent and Easter. In fact we resume a sequence of readings already in progress.

Genesis 22.1–14: God Tests Abraham

I. 1-8. Abraham’s willing preparation for the sacrifice.
In the story of Abraham (Genesis 11.27-25.18), rabbinic tradition recognized ten trials and seven blessings (for a list of the trials and blessings, see NJBC 2:18). The call to sacrifice his son Isaac was the last and greatest of the trials, and is followed by a renewal of the promises (see 22.16-18). It is, above all, a story of trust and faith.
1-3: Abraham is told by God to offer Isaac in sacrifice.
1. After these things is a conventional introduction to a new section. Chapter 21 ends with the account of Abraham’s dealings with King Abimelech (21.22-34) and the notice that Abraham ‘sojourned many days in the land of the Philistines’. Tested, that is put under trial to see whether he would obey in faith (12.4; compare Heb 11.17-19). Here I am is a statement of complete availability.
2. Your only son is not literally accurate; Isaac is his only son by Sarah, but he will have other sons. The sense here is beloved, and is meant to emphasize the greatness of the sacrifice, as if to say that God knows right well how much He asks. This is particualry poignant when the passage is read at the Great Vigil of Easter and we rememkber that God does indeed know. The mountain in the land of Moriah is idenitifed in 2 Chronicles 3.1 and later tradition as the Temple mountain in Jerusalem. Scholars are not certain of the accuracy of this identification. More interesting is the fact that the name Moriah is from the Hebrew verb ra’a, ‘to see’, a word on which there is some important play in this passage
3. Abraham obeys immediately and without comment (contrast his response in Genesis 18) we are told nothing of his inner emotions, but left to infer them.
4-8: Abraham and Isaac journey to the place.
4. The third day may be a conventional description of a short journey.
5. Boy translates a word that could mean anything from a small child to a young man and also meant ‘servant’. The story does not give us any chronology from which to guess Isaac’s age.
6. That Isaac bore the wood for the burnt offering is a prefiguring of Christ carrying his cross. Note how “the two of them walked on together” is repeated in verse 8.
7-8. Skinner noted many years ago: “The pathos of this dialogue is inimitable : the artless curiosity of the child, the irrepressible affection of the father, and the stern ambiguity of his reply, can hardly be read without tears.” In Abraham’s answer “God himself will provide the lamb” (8), we meet the verb ra’a, to see, once again. As the NJBC notes, he is not trying to decieve Isaac; this is “evidence of Abraham’s handing everything over to God.
II. 9-14: God sees to the Sacrifice
9-10: The preparation for the sacrifice is described in detail.
11. Suddenly the angel of the Lord intervenes to stop the sacrifice. We know from the very first verse—though Abraham did not—this this was only a test, and that God did not change his mind. The repetition, Abraham, Abraham, expresses urgency ; as 46.2, Ex 3.4, and 1 Sam 3.16. Note that Abraham once again replies with complete obedience: Here I am.
12. Now I know: the essence of the sacrifice was the willingness and readiness to give all.
13. Abraham sees (that verb again) a ram and takes it to offer in place of Isaac. Horrifying as it may be to us, infant sacrifice was common in ancient Canaan and Phoenicia, and in Phoenecian colonies such as Carthage. By its condemnation of the practice the OT shows that it was even done in Israe; (2 Kings 16.3’; Micah 6.7). In the Law, the first-born belonged to the Lord, but was to be ‘redeemed’ rather than sacrificed (Exodus 13; 34). Here we have the first such redemption of a child. See also Luke 2.23-24.
14. The passage concludes with the naming of the place, Jehovahjireh, which means, The Lord will provide, a further play on ra’a. The meaning of the saying "On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided" is not certain: other possibilities are “'In the mount where the LORD is seen” and “In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen”

Psalm 13
Usquequo, Domine

This Psalm is identified as a prayer for deliverance from personal enemies.
1-2: The Psalmist’s complaint: he is sick, and aparently in danger of death.
3-4: He prays for help lest because of his trouble his enemies take heart, rejoice, and triumph over him.
5. His trust in the Lord.
6. A promise of praise to the Lord.

The Epistle: Romans 6.12-23

The overarching aim of Chapter 6 of Romans appears to be a defense against the charge that Paul’s message of free salvation in Christ was really a message of lawlessness. The opening verse states the objection: What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?This objection is restated in verse 15 (see also 3.8). In 15-23 Paul gives the answer: Free forgiveness? What does that mean? Freedom to sin? Far from it. That would be a return to the old slavery. Christians have been rescued from the slavery of Sin, and have become the slaves of God. As their slave-service of Sin led to death, so their service of God leads to holiness, and, in the end, to eternal life. For the wages of Sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus.
Because our baptism into Christ is a baptism into his death (verse 3) and a raising to new life, we are now to live ‘as those who have been brought from death to life’, no longer slaves to sin, but servants of God. To ‘present ourselves to God’ means to put ourselves at his disposal: like Abraham in the first reading, we are to say “Here I am” when God calls.
Verse 14 is a word of encouragement. The thought is, that, if Christians were still under the Law of Moses, they would still be under the power of Sin, for the Law, instead of bringing with it helps for its fulfilment, was nothing but a cold, and challenging, and threatening set of commands and prohibitions. But in the new economy grace is given so abundantly that God's will is gladly fulfilled. The contrast is sometimes put thus : the Law" said "Thou shalt," and only multiplied sin : Grace says, "Thou canst," and gives strength for the victory over Sin. Thus it is that the freedom of grace is not lawlessness, but the power of righteousness.

The Holy Gospel: Matthew 10.40-42

On the Sundays after Pentecost, the Gospel passages follow in sequence. Matthew 10.24-39 is appointed for the Gospel on the Sunday between 19 and 25 June (Proper 12), but was not read last week because it was Trinity Sunday. It is helpful to set this short passage in context. Chapter 10 of Matthew contains the second great discourse of this Gospel, the Lord’s commissioning and instruction of the Twelve Apostles for their Mission. Like the Sermon on the Mount, it was compiled by the Gospel-writer; several of the sayings appear in different contexts in the Gospels according to Mark an Luke.
40. This saying shows both the honour and the responsibility of the Christian’s mission. Compare Luke 10.16, John 13.20. for Jesus’ self-identification with his disciples see also Acts 9.4
42. Compare Mark 9.41, Matthew25.35-40. Little ones refers to the disciples of Jesus: see 18.6. Mark 10.24; Matthew 11.25. A cup of cold water: in a dry season this would be the most valuable of gifts.

Calendar

26 b The Second Sunday after Pentecost
27 c
28 d Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, c. 202 Mem
29 e Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Apostles HD
30 f

July

1 g The Anniversary of Confederation, 1867: Statutory Holiday2 A
3 b The Third Sunday after Pentecost

Lectionary Notes

We apologize for the missing notes recently, and can only plead that they weren't very good. So here we are again.

SOME NOTES FOR THE DAY OF PENTECOST, YEAR A
12 JUNE 2011

The name “Pentecost” is from the Greek word meaning ‘fiftieth’ and was applied in translation of the Hebrew to the feat of Weeks which fell on the fiftieth day after Passover.

The Collect is apparently new, and if so is one of the happier compositions in the BAS, managing to capture most of the themes of Pentecost in one sentence.

The Readings
Numbers 11.24–30

In the wilderness after their deliverance from Egypt and the giving of the law at Sinai, some of the people of Israel have been complaining to Moses about their misfortunes (11.1), and even though the Lord’s anger is kindled, they go on complaining and asking fro the food they enjoyed in Egypt (11.4-6): manna was God-given, nutritious and versatile, but it gets monotonous. The discontent grows until Moses himself complains about the people God has given him to look after “as a nurse carries a sucking child”, v. 12). He cannot carry on alone, better to die than continue in this misery (v. 14-15).
God tells him to gather seventy of the elders and bring them out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp (see Exodus 33.7), where God will put on them some of the spirit that is on Moses so that they can share his burden. (vv. 16-17). Further God tells Moses to promise meat to the people, so much that they will be sick of it (18-23). It is at this point that our reading begins.
25 the cloud symbolizes the presence of the Lord. they prophesied: what is to be understood here is not the formal, poetic prophesy we read in a book such as Isaiah, but an ecstatic sort of prophecy such as was known all over the ancient world, including trances, speaking in tongues and the like; such behaviour was considered inspired by the gods. But they did not do so again: the Hebrew can apparently also mean nor did they cease afterwards. The Latin Vulgate takes it in this sense (nec ultra cessaverunt) “Quite a difference!” [RCL].
26 Two men, Eldad and Medad, who had been numbered among the seventy but stayed in the camp received the spirit of prophecy anyway.
27. As soon as a young man sees them prophesying, he has to go an tell on them.
28. Joshua seeks to have them stopped, because they have not received authority, but [29] Moses asks Joshua whether he thinks the activities of other prophets will diminish his charisma, implying that their prophecy is genuine. The prayer, Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, is wonderfully fulfilled on the day of Pentecost (see Acts 2)

Psalm 104.25–35, 37

Psalm 104 is a hymn to God as creator. In this final section he psalmist expresses wonder and thanksgiving for the variety of creatures and God’s care for them. The refrain, Send forth your Spirit, O Lord, and renew the face of the earth, makes clear the reason that this selection has been chosen for Pentecost.

Acts 2.1–21

This reading narrates the events which we celebrate today.
1. Pentecost: The Feast of Weeks [Hebrew, Shavuot, see Exodus 34:22, Deuteronomy 16:10], celebrating the wheat harvest, was fifty days after the Feast of Unleavened Bread and Passover; hence the name Pentecost. From the second century AD the giving of the law to Moses was also celebrated as part of this feast. Leviticus 23:15-21 commands how this festival was to be celebrated. There would have been many pilgrims on the city, for the Feat of Weeks fell at a season of the year when travel by sea was safest, and was more largely attended than any of the other Feasts. There would have been many pilgrims on the city at this time than any of the other Feasts, for it was a season of the year when travel by sea was safest. They were all together: All may mean the Apostles, who are mentioned as appearing before the people in 2:14, but might also refer to the whole group of 150 disciples mentioned in 1:15. In one place: The traditional interpretation is that the Descent of the Holy Spirit took place in the Upper Room, or Cenacle, the place mentioned in 1.13. However, verse 2 refers to a ‘house’ and verse 5 suggests that there is space enough for a large crowd around it. It has been suggested that the room was one in the precincts of the Temple, where it was natural for such a crowd as is mentioned to be gathered at this feast. In the Greek version of Jeremiah 35.4 the word ‘house’ is in fact used for chambers in the Temple precincts.
2-3. Space does not allow us to discuss the amazing events in any detail. Perhaps we should note that the language used is figurative. There was a sound. It was not wind, but a sound as of a mighty wind. Something appeared. it was not fire , but like as of fire. It is not even clear just what ‘divided tongues’ should mean. But wind—remember this is the same word as ‘spirit’—and fire, were important in the Gospel (see Matt. 3.11, John 3.8) and in the Hebrew Scriptures.
4. Realizing that the promise had been fulfilled, they burst under one uncontrollable impulse into praise of God ! The other tongues here might seem to be ecstatic utterance, like the ‘prophesying’ in the first reading and like the gift of tongues discussed in 1 Corinthians 14:1-33. But the later events suggest something else.
5. At the sound like wind and the noise of praise crowd gathers. Note that these were all Jews: while the Gospel was later to be proclaimed throughout the whole world, it is the fulfilment of God’s promises to Israel that is the focus on this day.
7-11. It is not easy to state with certainty just what this miracle was; one should consult a good commentary on Acts for the variety of interpretations. Furneaux comments on this list of nations that it “presents numerous difficulties. It is made on no discoverable principle as regards either the order of enumeration or the inclusions and omissions. It is quite different in style from Luke’s work, and must be derived from some early authority. The strange inclusion of Judaea may be due to an error in the MSS., since Tertullian quotes the passage as Armenia and Cappadocia ; but the omission of such countries as Syria, Cilicia, and Cyprus, where Jews were numerous, is inexplicable. It is significant that, whereas the passage is adduced as evidence that the disciples at Pentecost spoke in foreign languages, it really lends no support whatever to that theory. It is a list of countries, not of languages ; and the Jews from those countries did not all speak different languages, but would all have understood Greek : would, indeed, have under stood Greek better than the native language of the country in which they lived.”
Nothing in the account of Peter’s speech (2.14-36 suggests that that was understood miraculously.
All that said, one essential meaning of the Pentecost event has become clear as the Gospel has been proclaimed throughout the world: the message of the Church overcomes the differences of language and all people can hear in their own tongues the great things of God in Jesus Christ. In this, according to many ancient interpreters, the curse of Babel has been undone (see Genesis 11.1-9).
I have been trying without much success to find a good map on-line to illustrate verses 9-11; so far the best is to be seen at http://bible-library.com/maps?bookid=44&chapter=2.
12-13. The miracle cannot be explained and this uncertainty prepares the Jews for Peter’s speech. So does the mocking suggestion that what was strange in this matter could be explained by too copious a use of wine at the opening of the festival.
14-21. This is the opening section of Peter’s address (14-36).
15. Nine o’clock, literally, ‘the third hour’.
16. The Prophet Joel: St Peter cites Joel 2:28-32. The text differs from the text of Joel. Acts has “In the last days” in place of afterwards (Joel 2.28). In Acts the prophecy more clearly refers to the end-time. It adds “they shall prophesy” in verse. 18. In verse 30 Acts has added “above”, “below” and “signs”.
Furneaux: “This is the earliest Christian apology, and its grand characteristic is power. Ye shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit hath come upon you, had been Christ s promise, and there is no delay in the fulfilment. Who can read the speech and not feel that, if the gift of Tongues was proof that the Spirit had come, the greater proof was in Peter’s words ? His life hitherto had shown no little inconsistency, not to say cowardice. Only seven weeks before he had disowned his Lord. But he had spent nine days in prayer and had received the Spirit, and we recall the Master’s words, It is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you (Matt. 10.20).”

The Holy Gospel according to St John (20.19–31)

This passage was read on the Second Sunday of Easter (May 1st 2011); it narrates the appearance of Jesus to his disciples on the evening of the first Easter, apparently the same event that is told in Luke 24:36ff. It is read today because it tells that Jesus breathed on the disciples and said Receive the Holy Spirit (v. 22), giving them his mission and the authority to forgive sins. Like the Pentecost event, this is a fulfilment of promise: “The Lord now fulfils the promise of the Baptist concerning him (1.33); He baptises His disciples, not in water which washes away stains, but in holy spirit—the energy of a holy life in obedience to God” [Temple].
From very early times commentators have struggled with the relation of this event to the coming of the Spirit in Acts 2. C. B. Moss wrote: “The special work of the Holy Ghost in the order of grace began at Pentecost (Acts 2:1). We find a foreshadowing of it in St. John 20:22.” It is interesting to note that here the words are literally not “receive the Holy Spirit” but “receive holy spirit” (though we should not make too much of capital letters: they did not exist at the time the Gospels were written); Temple commented: “What is bestowed is not the Divine Person Himself but the power and energy of which He is the source.”
One thing we ought to take from this Gospel reading today is the close link between the gift of the Spirit—or of the Spirit’s energy—and the sending of the disciples into the world to continue Christ’s work of reconciliation. That is the purpose for which we are called and empowered by the Spirit.
Another reason to read this passage today is that we remember that ecstatic and charismatic gifts such as we hear of in the readings from Numbers and Acts are not the only sign of the Spirit’s work. The turning of hearts to God, which may be a quiet and gentle process, is also the work of renewal by God’s Spirit.
But that is all the time we have for writing notes this week.

Calendar
June 2011

12 B THE DAY OF PENTECOST or WHITSUNDAY

13 c Feria
14 d Feria
15 e Feria
16 f Commemoration of Joseph Butler, Bishop of Durham, 175217 g Feria
18 A Memorial of Bernard Mizeki, Catechist in Rhodesia, Martyr, 1896: Eve of Trinity Sunday
19 B THE FIRST SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST: TRINITY SUNDAY

Lectionary Notes

Some (Incomplete) Notes for

the Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year A
22 May 2011

After struggling for the past couple of days (against the almost incessant noise of a chainsaw and other loud tools) to prepare a sermon and some notes for you, I finally have to give up. Herewith are some incomplete notes, which I hope are better than nothing.

Readings
Acts 7.55–60

Stephen, one of seven church members chosen to assist the Apostles, fell afoul of a group in the city and was brought before the Council or Sanhedrin, where his speech in defence of the Christian preaching caused such offence that they rushed him out of the city to a death by stoning. Stephen is honoured as the first martyr (Protomartyr) among Christians. Our word for someone who witnesses unto death is from the Greek word martyros. With this in mind, note that in verse 58 those who took part in Stephen’s death are called ‘witnesses’ (martyres)
Here is an outline of the full story of the Protomartyr:
Acts 6.1-6: The Choosing of the Seven
6.6: Summary
6.8-15: The Arrest of Stephen
6.8: Miracles worked through Stephen
6.9-10: Opposition from ‘the synagogue of the Freedmen”,
6.11-14: who produce false witnesses and bring Stephen before the Sanhedrin
6.15: A moment of expectation
7.1-53: Stephen’s speech to the Sanhedrin
7.54-8.1a: The Stoning of Stephen

Things to note: 56: I see the heavens opened: see Acts 10.11, also John 1.51… the Son of man standing on the right hand of God: This is the only place in the NT outside the Gospels where Son of man is used as a title for Jesus (see also Rev 1.13). In the Gospels it is found 81 times, but only on the lips of Jesus. That he is standing at the right hand of God is also unusual; see Psalm 110.1, Mark 14.26, Lk 22.69; Hebrew 1.2-3; and the creeds. It is not clear why Luke has ‘standing’ here: some suggest that he is standing to welcome the martyr, or indeed to ‘acknowledge before the angels of God’ (Lk 12.8); others that it is a ‘meaningless variation’ [NJBC].
57-58: We do not know whether this examination before the Sanhedrin and the stoning were a legal trial and execution. From the improvised and passionate character of what we read we may that it was a lynching, and illegal. According to Josephus, James, the Lord’s brother, was stoned after having been brought to trial at the instigation of the high priest but the judicial process was found to be illegal and caused he deposition of the high priest (Josephus Ant. xx.199-203). Under the provisions of Deuteronomy 17.7, the witness start the stoning. (This gives a sense of legality to the affair.) Later recorded rules for this kind of execution may have been worked out. See also Hebrews 13.12f Leviticus 24.114; Numbers 15.35f; Acts 22.20
The account of Stephen’s death (58-60) closely parallels the death of the Lord Jesus; see Luke 23:34, 46. Note that whereas Jesus committed his spirit into the Father’s hands, Stephen prayed that Jesus would receive his spirit. As Stephen died, he prayed that his murderers might be forgiven, which is of course something we need to learn. If Stephen could so pray for those who were stoning him, how can we ever refuse to pray for the forgiveness of those who sin against us in lesser ways?
It is perhaps interesting to note that whereas Jesus was stripped of his garments before being nailed to the cross, the ‘witnesses’ at his stoning removed their (outer-)garments for the work, and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul. This is the introduction of Saul (later known as Paul, who will be the central figure in the latter part of Acts. The note (8.1a) that Saul was consenting to his death is strangely omitted from this reading.

Psalm 31
In te, Domine, speravi

With this Psalm, described as ‘a prayer for deliverance from personal enemies’ (NOAB) we reflect on the story of Stephen’s death, particularly in verses 5 (Into your hands I commend my spirit, * for you have redeemed me, O Lord, O God of truth) and 15b-16 (My times are in your hand; rescue me from the hand of my enemies, and from those who persecute me. Make your face to shine upon your servant; and in your loving-kindness save me).

1 Peter 2.2–10
Responsibilities of the Christian Vocation

At the end of Chapter 1, we read that Christians have been born anew through the word of God, the word which abides forever and which is “the good news which was preached to you”. The idea of being born anew suggests a new passage of exhortation, “So put away all malice and all guile and insincerity and envy and all slander” [2.1] Since you are born again, since you have become babes, lay aside all kinds of wickedness, and desire the milk which Christ will give you. Milk causes growth ; the growth will fit them for their place in the spiritual house, the royal priesthood. Here again the Christian is addressed as member of a corporation.
Things to note: 2. Pure spiritual milk is not a good rendering of the Greek; the Av is better, ‘pure milk of the word”. The idea of new-born babies develops the thought of 1.3, 23, and suggests either that the intended readers are new converts or that in St. Peter’s view Christians are always babes, and therefore also always recently born. It is true that all Christians, however long since their Baptism, should desire the ‘milk of the word’ as eagerly and greedily as a new-born desires milk.
6. Quotes Isaiah 28.16
7. Quotes Psalm 118.22
8. Quotes Isaiah 8.14.
10. Once you were not a people: see Hosea 2.23

The Holy Gospel according to St John 14.1–14
The Way to the Father

The scene is the Last Supper; in the last chapter Jesus washed his disciples’ feet [13.3-20] and gave the new commandment that they should love one another as he has loved them [13.34-35], that is, by giving himself for them. At the same time, and intertwined in this narrative, we are told of Judas’ decision to betray Jesus [13.2] and of Jesus’ identification of him, at which he went out [13.21-30]. Jesus then spoke to his disciples of his going away: “Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, 'Where I am going you cannot come”. The disciples do not understand this [13.33, 36]. The chapter ends with Jesus’ prediction that Simon Peter will deny him [13.38]. The chapter division here is unfortunate, although it is hard to find a place that is really any better. This should remind us that such divisions were not in the Gospel, but added many centuries later as an aid for reference.
After these predictions of the betrayal by one of them, of their Lord’s departure, and of Peter’s unfaithfulness, the disciples are amazed and sorrowful. We may imagine Peter’s distress: his voice is missing through the whole scene that follows; indeed he is not mentioned again until he whips out his sword in the Garden of Gethsemane [18.10]. Jesus is aware that his disciples are uneasy and says to them, Let not your hearts be troubled.
Things to note: 1. Believe in God, believe also in me. Never forget that ‘to believe’ is not so much to have opinions about something as it is to trust someone. The disciples (and we, therefore) are to trust Jesus as we would God. This is in one sense an advance on faith in God, in another sense an aid to it, Jesus being the revealer of the Father. This comes before a time in which their faith was to be tested, and in that test they would fail. Failure can teach a lesson: that faith is always insufficient. It should drive us back to God, for it is in forgetting his grace that we fail. Then every fall into sin can become the occasion for growth in grace. (Temple).
2. In my Father’s house. Earlier in the Gospel Jesus had given this name to the Temple (2.16; see also Luke 2.49); what does he mean now? If we take this to be ‘heaven’, just what do we mean? One commentator wrote: “How to interpret the expression in a local, heavenly sense, we cannot tell. In any case the essential idea is that of being near to God and enjoying his love and favour.” William Temple: “One who so faces his own failures is steadily advancing on the pilgrim’s way; he, like his Master, in going to the Father. More than this; if he is travelling the right way at all, he is at home with the Father all the time.” In some way, then, we must understand ‘my Father’s house’ as a present reality we are brought to by Jesus. …are many dwelling places: this translates a Greek word which means shelters for travellers to rest in at stages along their road. This word, which implies progress and rest, fits well the image of pilgrimage. I go to prepare a place for you: “It was the custom in the East … for travellers to send a dragoman forward to make preparations in the next of those resting-places along the road, so thatr when they came they might find in it comfort as well as shelter. Here the Lord presents himself as our spiritual dragoman, who treads the way of faith before us” [Temple] (see Hebrews 12.2).
4. And when I go and prepare a place … I will come again and take you to myself: Jesus here refers not so much to his coming at the end of the world, or in great crises of history, or at the death of believers, as to the progressive influence of the Holy Spirit in his Church, preparing the way for the final and completed union of Christ and his people (after the resurrection at the last day, vi. 40), which is predicted in the succeeding part of the verse.