Today in the Spirit: Proper 14C
Moving forward in Luke’s detailed section of Jesus’ approach to Jerusalem, we come to Proper 14C to more intense teaching directed to the disciples alone. In the assigned Gospel reading out of Luke 12:32-40, we enter into the middle of a discourse on radical commitment to gospel service in the world. Using both intimate and firm forms of address, our Lord gives counsel: “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give to the needy” (32-33). The second part of the reading shifts to an appeal for watchfulness in preparation for the second coming: “You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (40).
The assigned OT reading from Genesis 15:1-6 will take us back to YHWH’s dealings with Abram (not yet Abraham). Here is the second of three narratives in Genesis of covenant promises given to the patriarch: this time that “[Ishamael] shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir” (4); and that his offspring shall be as numerous as the stars in the sky (5). There is no recorded response from Abram, but famously, the narrator adds the comment: “And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness” (6).
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This Sunday, for the fourth and last time in the three-year cycle, we put words of praise to ideas raised in the other readings with Psalm 33 (also Lent 2A, Easter 6B, Easter 3C). In response to the “righteousness” of Abram, we join the chorus of those who sing, “[YHWH] loves righteousness and true judgment; the earth is full of the goodness of the LORD” (5). And hearing Jesus’ appeal to his disciples for watchfulness will remind us of the worshipers in the temple who declare, “Our soul has patiently waited for the LORD, for he is our help and our shield” (19).
At Proper 14C, we begin a four-week series of NT readings from the latter chapters of Hebrews. The first assigned lection from Hebrews 11:1-6 gives us that memorable definition of faith, “Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (1). This is followed by the first in the series of “by faith” illustrations, featuring (of course) Abraham! Recalling the images of our Genesis passage, the writer comments: “Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore” (12).
The assigned Collect has us as saints praying not merely for the grace to obey what God commands but to “love what you command.” In Christ, through the Spirit, we are given the heart of Jesus who above all loves the Father and can do nothing other than what he receives from the Father.
The Collect
Almighty God, give us the increase of faith, hope, and love; and, that we may obtain what you have promised, make us love what you command; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Abram Believed the Lord (Genesis 15:1-6)
1 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” 2 But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” 4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” 5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
Genesis 15:1-6
“Abram believed the LORD” (6). But, from the text, what precisely do we find is the quality of that belief? One key for interpretation is the opening words “after this” (1). After what? At the end of Chapter 14, Abram has just come away from an unlikely victory over an alliance of Canaanite kings seeking to overthrow Sodom (where his nephew Lot settled). In return, the king of Sodom has offered to give Abram everything but his people in return, but Abram will take nothing from the world but that which YHWH has promised him (see 14:21-24). Naturally, at this point, Abram will begin to reflect on how these promises have gone unfulfilled to this point. It is in this context (“after this”) that “the word of the LORD [comes] to Abram in a vision” (1).
As I write these words, I am in Cuba in a family home with no internet and only sporadic electricity. Some of our family (from Blanca’s side) and friends are Christians. Without exception, they live without material wealth and little encouragement spiritually under the strong arm of an atheistic, socialist government. Their faith in the Lord is breathtakingly strong. This is despite little evidence of gospel progress aside from the personal conviction concerning the Lordship of Jesus found among the small numbers of people meeting in churches. Here, in the countenance of those who believe despite proof of the fulfillment of promises of prosperity found in Scripture, is the faith of Abram.
The commentary on the trust of Abram and that of his contemporaries in our NT reading from Hebrews picks up on this quality of faith: “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance” (Heb. 11:13).
Today, in the Spirit, grant me the faith to be, like Abraham and Sarah and our brethren from
Psalm (Psalm 33:[1-9]10-21)
17 Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon those who fear him, *
Psalm 33:18-21, New Coverdale Psalter (BCP 2019)
and upon those who put their trust in his mercy,
18 To deliver their soul from death, *
and to feed them in the time of famine.
19 Our soul has patiently waited for the Lord, *
for he is our help and our shield.
20 Our heart shall rejoice in him, *
because we have hoped in his holy Name.
21 Let your merciful kindness, O Lord, be upon us, *
as we have put our trust in you.
Or “steadfast love” (vs. 21, ESV—where it is vs. 22 due to the BCP New Coverdale Psalter’s unique numbering derived from its precursor). There it is again, that phrase steadfast love. This phrase actually derives from one word in Hebrew (hesed) which appears 244 times in every part of the OT, and three times in this assigned song of praise. We need to understand that when the ancient Israelites wrote about this steadfast (or unfailing NIV) love of God, they were not guessing at feelings God might have for them, as when a young man confesses his affection for a girl, hoping but not altogether certain she might feel the same. No.
For Israel, hesed is contractual language based on the covenant of love YHWH has made with his people. Thus, Moses declares: “Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations” (Deuteronomy 7:9; also 1 Kings 8:23, Nehemiah 1:5).
As Christians, we understand the covenant of love pronounced from Sinai and celebrated in the psalms to have been fulfilled by the flesh and blood revelation of the Son of God. The fullness of God dwelling in him (Colossians 1:19) is the fullness of his love. Jesus Christ is living, dying, and rising with steadfast love for his people. Thus, John writes, “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him” (1 Jn. 4:9).
Today, with the help of the Spirit, we sing this psalm, invoking the contracted steadfast love of the One God we find delivered in the appearance of our Savior Jesus Christ.
NT (Hebrews 11:1-16)
1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. 4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks. 5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. 7 By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. 8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. 11 By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore. 13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.
Hebrews 11:1-16
Or, “People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own” (14, NIV).
How do the saints described in this reading “show” their longing for their better, heavenly country? By their actions, Abel’s righteous offering, Noah’s preposterous construction of the ark, and Abraham’s puzzling departure from a comfortable life in Mesopotamia. And what are the origins of their radical actions? By their faith: an impulse of trust installed in the heart of each one by God to serve God even in the face of the world’s condemnation. The quality of their actions demonstrates a faith that could not come from human reasoning but from God.
Along the highways in Cuba, you find billboards advertising, not products or services for sale, but Communist propaganda. One I saw earlier today says, “La Habana vive dentro de nosotros” (“Havana lives inside us”). Here is the government in Cuba seeking to create loyalty in the human spirit of its citizens for “a better country” they cannot yet see. The goal is that they might stand fast against outside opposition, causing them to suffer for the socialist cause. All human societies attempt the same enterprise of internal persuasion, but not with the effect of the saints of the one God.
Today, Holy Spirit, I will resist every attempt at internal manipulation directed at me from other sources to leave space in me for radical action born “by faith” in Jesus Christ.
Your Father’s Good Pleasure (Luke 12:32-40)
32 “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 35 “Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, 36 and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. 37 Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. 38 If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! 39 But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
Luke 12:32-40
Note that our Lord does not direct his exhortation “fear not” to his disciples facing an external opposing force like enemies or persecutors, but rather their own going forward in service to the kingdom of God. It is not “do not be afraid, little flock, your attackers cannot hurt you” (Jesus does say that too, compare Mt. 10:28). No, here, it is “fear not, little flock, for it is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (32). The opposing force is internal, the disciple’s own heart. The implied pastoral question of this statement is, what is inside of them to deter them from service?
Beloved, in the face of our Lord’s teaching in this passage, what do you find inside of you to prevent you from giving wholeheartedly to the service of Jesus Christ? Is it a question of your fearing a commitment of time or money? Is it your attachment to the comforts of this world? Could it be a fear of upsetting loved ones, family, or friends? Or is it simply that you prefer not to change a balanced routine that has taken years to establish for yourself? Our Lord is asking us, his children, complete abandonment to his cause. The directive, “Sell your possessions” (33) is exaggerated language, but only slightly so. It is a plausible reality for the Christian sold out to the work of the gospel (we are all missionaries!).
Paul, using not the license of a preacher, but autobiographical testimony language, shows us a real-life application of Jesus’ teaching: “Therefore I do not run like a man aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize” (1 Cor. 9:26-27).
Charles Wesley wrote: “Jesus, confirm my heart’s desire to work and speak and think for thee. Still let me guard the holy fire and still stir up the gift in me.” Today, Holy Spirit, meditating on this teaching of the Lord, assist me to examine my heart and to stir up the desire to make one practical change in favor of giving all to you, and receiving more from the kingdom.
Today in the Spirit
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