Today in the Spirit: Proper 22C
At Proper 22C, in our journey with Jesus through Luke, we come to a third consecutive Gospel reading with teaching addressed to his disciples. Luke 17:5-10 begins with a request of “the apostles” (5) to “the Lord” to “increase our faith” (5). In fact, this is likely in response to the teaching given prior (see 17:1-4), but in response to the request, Jesus tells them, “‘If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you’” (6). Then he asks the rhetorical question, “‘Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’?” (7). No is the answer anyone from ancient Palestine would give. Thus, Jesus says, “‘So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty’” (10).
The assigned OT reading from Habakkuk 1:1-13, 2:1-4 is the only selection from the Book of Habakkuk in the three-year cycle. In response to the prophet’s prayer for relief from destruction in Jerusalem, the oracle “the prophet saw” was confirmation that the Babylonians would be coming. The prophet resolves to wait and pray, hearing only that Habakkuk should speak the word of coming destruction and commenting, “‘Behold, [the soul of the unrighteous] is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith’” (2:4).
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The assigned Psalm 37:1-17 (also at Epiphany 7C, Proper 2C) makes for a believer’s chorus in support of the messages of the OT and Gospel readings: “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him” (9) sings like encouragement to Habakkuk as he seeks the face of YHWH. The proverb in the psalm, “Commit your way unto the Lord and put your trust in him, and he shall bring it to pass (7), prepares us to hear Jesus’ teaching, “‘If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you’” (Lk. 17:6).
Our Year C series out of Paul’s letters to Timothy now moves to 2 Timothy 1:1-14. The tone of this letter is one of urgent encouragement for him to use his gifts and face the hardships of ministry. We will hear Paul’s famous saying, “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” (6-7).
The assigned Collect, which begins, “Keep, O Lord, your household the Church,” is restored from BCP 1979 to its original wording (contemporized) and placement as in the BCP 1662. The plea that the Church “may be free from all adversities” (as opposed to not being overcome by them) is also a throwback to older Anglican language. Compare also the Morning Prayer Collect of Grace, “that we may not fall into sin nor run into adversity” (BCP 2019) with, “that we may not fall into sin, nor be overcome by adversity” (BCP 1979).
The Collect
Keep, O Lord, your household the Church in continual godliness, that through your protection it may be free from all adversities, and devoutly serve you in good works, to the glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
O Lord You (Habakkuk 1:1-13, 2:1-4)
1:1 The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw.
Habakkuk 1:1-13, 2:1-4
2 O Lord, how long shall I cry for help,
and you will not hear?
Or cry to you “Violence!”
and you will not save?
3 Why do you make me see iniquity,
and why do you idly look at wrong?
Destruction and violence are before me;
strife and contention arise.
4 So the law is paralyzed,
and justice never goes forth.
For the wicked surround the righteous;
so justice goes forth perverted.
5 “Look among the nations, and see;
wonder and be astounded.
For I am doing a work in your days
that you would not believe if told.
6 For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans,
that bitter and hasty nation,
who march through the breadth of the earth,
to seize dwellings not their own.
7 They are dreaded and fearsome;
their justice and dignity go forth from themselves.
8 Their horses are swifter than leopards,
more fierce than the evening wolves;
their horsemen press proudly on.
Their horsemen come from afar;
they fly like an eagle swift to devour.
9 They all come for violence,
all their faces forward.
They gather captives like sand.
10 At kings they scoff,
and at rulers they laugh.
They laugh at every fortress,
for they pile up earth and take it.
11 Then they sweep by like the wind and go on,
guilty men, whose own might is their god!”
12 Are you not from everlasting,
O Lord my God, my Holy One?
We shall not die.
O Lord, you have ordained them as a judgment,
and you, O Rock, have established them for reproof.
13 You who are of purer eyes than to see evil
and cannot look at wrong,
why do you idly look at traitors
and remain silent when the wicked swallows up
the man more righteous than he?
2:1 I will take my stand at my watchpost
and station myself on the tower,
and look out to see what he will say to me,
and what I will answer concerning my complaint.
2 And the Lord answered me: “Write the vision;
make it plain on tablets,
so he may run who reads it.
3 For still the vision awaits its appointed time;
it hastens to the end—it will not lie.
If it seems slow, wait for it;
it will surely come; it will not delay.
4 “Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him,
but the righteous shall live by his faith.
The “violence” and “destruction” Habakkuk observes in Jerusalem probably refer to the internal decay of society, probably in the period (around 600 BC), after King Josiah’s reforms had long been forgotten and his evil sons had begun to reign. Looking for deliverance from this, the prophet learns that YHWH will, in fact, send worse, much worse, from the outside—”the Chaldeans” (the Babylonians, 6). Habakkuk is devastated; but even as he complains, he demonstrates his faith in the sovereignty of God in a series of “you” statements pertaining to the character of his God: “Are you not from everlasting, O Lord my God, my Holy One?…O Lord, you have ordained them as a judgment, and you, O Rock, have established them for reproof. You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong…(12-13). With his agonizing questions and his faith, Habakkuk resolved to go “on the tower” to wait and seek divine guidance.
My Lord, I confess to you that I come to you often with my distress but without the abiding faith of Habbakuk behind. So full of the pain of the situation, I forget the color of your compassionate eyes and the shape of your outstretched hand. Let the “you” declarations of the prophet–you are everlasting, you are holy, you are pure–be calculated into the petitions about my deeply seated concerns–the “destruction” threatening my personal life, my community, and my nation.
Today, in the Spirit, we hear Habakkuk in our worship and ask that in Christ we might be counted among the righteous who pray and live by faith.
Fret Not Yourself (Psalm 37:1-17)
1 Fret not yourself because of the ungodly, *
Psalm 37:1-17, New Coverdale Psalter (BCP 2019)
neither be envious of those who are evildoers.
2 For they shall soon be dried up like the grass, *
and be withered even as the green herb.
3 Put your trust in the Lord, and do good; *
dwell in the land, and surely you shall be fed.
4 Delight yourself in the Lord, *
and he shall give you your heart’s desire.
5 Commit your way unto the Lord and put your trust in him, *
and he shall bring it to pass.
6 He shall make your righteousness as clear as the light *
and your just dealing as the noonday.
7 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; *
do not grieve yourself over the one whose way prospers, over the one who carries out evil counsels.
8 Refrain from wrath, and let go of anger; *
fret not yourself, lest you be moved to do evil.
9 For evildoers shall be rooted out, *
but those who wait patiently for the Lord, they shall inherit the land.
10 Yet a little while, and the ungodly shall be clean gone; *
you shall look for their place, and they shall not be there.
11 But the meek-spirited shall possess the land *
and shall be refreshed with an abundance of peace.
12 The ungodly plot against the just *
and gnash at them with their teeth.
13 The Lord shall laugh at them in scorn, *
for he sees that their day is coming.
14 The ungodly have drawn out the sword and have bent their bow *
to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay those who walk aright.
15 Their sword shall go through their own heart, *
and their bow shall be broken.
16 The little that the righteous has *
is better than great riches of the ungodly.
17 For the arms of the ungodly shall be broken, *
but the Lord upholds the righteous.
Psalm 37 is a wisdom psalm, reading more like Proverbs than the majority of songs of prayer and praise in the Psalter. One thing to notice here is the frequent repetition of two phrases: 1) “fret not yourself” (1,7,8, ESV); and 2) “shall inherit the land” (9,11,22,29, ESV). One describes a present state of mind, the other a future hope; one is self-generated (“fret yourself”), the other is sourced in external revelation (the promises of God). The effect of the repetitions is to communicate that these two work against one another in the psyche of the human believer: to the extent we “fret,” we fail to comprehend the promises. To the extent we affirm the promises, we worry less.
Lord, we hear the clear call of “David” in this psalm to firmly renounce worrying over things we have no control over. We hear in ourselves the enticement of the enemy to allow preoccupations to swirl like a whirlpool in our minds, and we confess that all too often we go under. Through your word of hope of one day “inheriting the land” (the fullness of eternal life) and the deposit you lay in our hearts in the Holy Spirit, we grab hold of the frenzied anxiety before it takes us, and we cast it into the darkness.
Here is a Collect for Trustfulness in Times of Worry and Anxiety in the Prayer Book: “Most loving Father, you will us to give thanks for all things, to dread nothing but the loss of you, and to cast all our care on the One who cares for us. Preserve us from faithless fears and worldly anxieties, and grant that no clouds of this mortal life may hide from us the light of that love which is immortal, and which you have manifested unto us in your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen” (BCP, p. 670).
Today, in the Spirit, we recite this psalm in our worship and make this prayer with confidence in Jesus’ name.
Do Not Be Ashamed (2 Timothy 1:1-14)
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus, 2 To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 3 I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. 4 As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. 5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. 6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, 7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. 8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, 9 who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, 10 and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, 11 for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, 12 which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me. 13 Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 14 By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.
2 Timothy has a very different feel to it than 1 Timothy. For one thing, it is clear in 2 Timothy that Paul’s own death by execution is imminent, so there is a greater sense of urgency in his communication. Also, whereas 1 Timothy (and Titus) is mainly concerned with straightforward church instruction, 2 Timothy shows Paul getting down to brass tacks about the young pastor’s personal conduct in his ministry. It is almost as if Paul has heard some concerning reports about the church in Ephesus, and that perhaps Timothy has responded in a cowardly manner. There are injunctions for him to “not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord” and to “share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God” (8). (Later comes the repeated exhortations to “endure hardship” (2:3, 4:5).
As Christian disciple-makers at any level—pastors, small group leaders, parents of children at home—we must not distance ourselves from this message to a first-century church elder in a far-away place. The tone and language of 2 Timothy should cause us to examine our own forms of cowering in the gospel task in the face of negative responses to our efforts. Paul’s remedy for Timothy is good for us too:
- to be “reminded” (5) of the dramatic and loving ways Christ has revealed himself to us;
- to hear again that “suffering” in whatever form assigned is part of the calling to be a Christian; and
- to “follow the pattern” (13) of other leaders who are giving up much to serve Christ, according to their callings.
Today, Holy Spirit, encourage us through this reading to put away every form of cowering before the gospel calling on our lives.
Increase Our Faith! (Luke 17:5-10)
1 And he said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! 2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin. 3 Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, 4 and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.” 5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” 6 And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. 7 “Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? 8 Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? 9 Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? 10 So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty’” (1-10).
For our worship, I would suggest adding vv. 1-4 to the beginning of the reading. I believe the prayer of “the apostles” for increased “faith” (5) relates as much to what appears before in the text as to what comes after. Even if Luke is here simply compiling random teachings of Jesus (as in 16:16-18), the inspired word yields more benefit than is intended. As appointed leaders of Christ’s community, the commands to “pay attention to yourselves” against leading others into sin (3) and to repeatedly “forgive” in ministry are so burdensome that they must plead to the Son of God for more power to obey. Then our Lord, in answer to the prayer, responds that they employ their small faith, like the sowing of a mustard seed, to be empowered by God for more (6); and, then, that they resist the temptation to consider themselves ever more than anything but “unworthy servants” (10).
My brothers and sisters in leadership, especially my fellow priests of the Church, we need to allow the full weight of our Lord’s teachings to alert us to the great responsibilities and pitfalls inherent in our vocations. Taking our spiritual authority, we have multiple temptations to reckon with daily: those to abuse our power and cause others to sin; those to refuse to forgive others who hurt us repeatedly; those to fail to trust in the power of God to do the work; and those to forget that we are always, only, servants of One higher. In his book, Strive Toward Freedom, Martin Luther King, Jr., reminds us: “Remember you are a channel of the gospel and not the source.”
Today, Holy Spirit, give us as church leaders the discipline and humility to cry out to you often, with the first apostles, “Increase our faith!”
Today in the Spirit
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