Today in the Spirit: Epiphany 4A
In Year A, walking with Jesus in our worship, with the Gospel of Matthew as our guide, the church will focus on the biblical illumination of Jesus as divine teacher. For five consecutive weeks, we will be immersed in the Sermon on the Mount, the first and largest of Jesus’ five teaching discourses in Matthew. The sermon begins, of course, with the Beatitudes—the “Blessed are” poem found in Matthew 5:1-12. In the Spirit, we sympathize with the association of blessing and poverty, blessing and mourning, blessing and meekness, etc., in the passage, while in our worldliness, we ask, how can it be so?
The appointed Old Testament reading from Micah 6:1-8 envisions a courtroom scene in which YHWH presents his “indictment” (2) against the people of Israel. The charges are not named but implied in the well-known final statement of the reading: “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (8).
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The appointed Psalm 37:1-11 is a series of proverbs which, in our worship featuring the Beatitudes, give flesh and bones to the “blessed” life in the teaching of Jesus. Much attention in the psalm is given to our state of mind in the face of enemies to the faith: “Fret not yourself because of the ungodly, neither be envious of those who are evildoers. For they shall soon be dried up like the grass, and be withered even as the green herb. Put your trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land, and surely you shall be fed” (1-3).
With so much ground to cover in the Bible, it is unusual for the church to assign readings from one chapter of a book three weeks running. Only Romans 8, 1 Corinthians 1, and 1 Corinthians 15 receive such attention. This week, the assigned New Testament reading, 1 Corinthians 1:18-31, builds on the theme of “wisdom from God” introduced in the passage from last week. In this reading, we learn that the divine wisdom revealed to the world is “Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (23-24).
The repetition of the word “dangers” in the appointed Collect will prepare us to attend to the theme of persecution in the Gospel reading and the psalm. The petition for “strength” and “protection” is based on two things we know that God knows about us: 1) that we are surrounded by “grave dangers” (physical and spiritual); and 2) that we are by nature too frail to overcome adversity and temptation without divine aid.
The Collect
O God, you know that we are set in the midst of many grave dangers, and because of the frailty of our nature we cannot always stand upright: Grant that your strength and protection may support us in all dangers and carry us through every temptation; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
He Has Told You What is Good (Micah 6:1-8)
1 Hear what the Lord says:
Micah 6:1-8
Arise, plead your case before the mountains,
and let the hills hear your voice.
2 Hear, you mountains, the indictment of the Lord,
and you enduring foundations of the earth,
for the Lord has an indictment against his people,
and he will contend with Israel.
3 “O my people, what have I done to you?
How have I wearied you? Answer me!
4 For I brought you up from the land of Egypt
and redeemed you from the house of slavery,
and I sent before you Moses,
Aaron, and Miriam.
5 O my people, remember what Balak king of Moab devised,
and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him,
and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal,
that you may know the righteous acts of the Lord.”
6 “With what shall I come before the Lord,
and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
8 He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
The people of Judah have fallen into pagan worship and disobedience to the law. Though the details of their cruel exploitation of the poor and open worship of idols are not mentioned in this passage, they are mentioned earlier (see 2:1-2, 5:10ff), and YHWH foretells a day of reckoning in the future (see 6:13-16).
Here, through the mouth of Micah, YHWH, as if in a courtroom, calls Judah (and all Israel) to hear his “indictment” (2,3) against them. He declares he has done nothing to deserve their unfaithfulness. On the contrary, he argues his case on the basis of the recollection of past mercies concerning Israel’s exodus from Egypt (“I brought you up from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery” (4); and their entrance into the promised land (“remember…what happened from Shittim to Gilgal,” referring to the starting and ending points of the Israelites’ miraculous crossing through the Jordan River).
Devotionally, it is worthwhile to consider the Lord’s motivation for causing his people to remember the past. We see it frequently in different contexts of Scripture: worship (Ps. 105:4ff); exhortation (Jer. 51:50ff), 2 Tim. 2:8); admonition (Isa. 17:10f), to name a few. The rhetoric of remembrance produces two effects at once: 1) the display of covenant love from which God never departs; and 2) the exhibition of limitless power against even the mightiest of foes, worldly and spiritual. We find both in the “memorial of our redemption” rehearsed each week in the Prayer of Consecration at Holy Communion:
In your infinite love for us…[Christ] stretched out his arms upon the Cross and offered himself once for all…By his resurrection he broke the bonds of death, trampling Hell and Satan under his feet.
Holy Communion: Ancient Renewed Text, Book of Common Prayer (2019), 132-133
Today, Holy Spirit, let your frequent use of the rhetoric of remembrance encourage us to new heights of devotion to you.
Inherit the Land (Psalm 37:1-11)
1 Fret not yourself because of the ungodly, *
Psalm 37:1-11, 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.
This psalm is a series of proverbs seeking to build up the hearts of the faithful. Twice in the assigned section (and five times in the whole psalm), we see the phrase inherit the land. YHWH had promised the land of Canaan to the families of the OT patriarchs (Genesis 15:7, Joshua 1:6). But to continue dwelling in the land of Israel, and particularly to pass on an inheritance of the land, was a deep concern for the OT Israelites, as there were always evildoersfrom other nations seeking to displace them.
Devotionally, we might ask ourselves: what is our heartfelt concern equal to inheriting the land? From the psalm, we might be tempted to look for something else in the world we can count on as secure—but, alas, there is no such thing. No, from the Christian perspective, the inheritance of land in the OT is foreshadowing a far greater prize. In the NT, we are taught to turn away from concern over what is passing away in this world and look rather to a more abundant bequest in the next.
Note how, in comparison to the passage above, the beatitude of Jesus in the assigned Gospel reads the meekwill inherit the earth(something bigger, more cosmic); and later in his sermon Jesus will say, Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth…but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal(Matthew 6:19-20). Today, Holy Spirit, let me find in the wisdom of “David” about inheriting the land of Israel assurance of a secure lot in the new Israel to come.
God Made Foolish the Wisdom of the World (1 Corinthians 1:18-31)
18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written,
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”
20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. 22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. 26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
Inspired by his reading of the Isaiah passage he quotes at the beginning of this reading (Isa. 29:14, but see also Jer. 8:9), Paul paints a picture of “the wisdom of God” in pitched battle against “the wisdom of the world”. By the Spirit, with his deep knowledge of the OT scriptures and his experience of a blinding conversion, he perceives in the revelation of Jesus Christ the intention of the One God to humiliate any contenders against truth.
Thus, Paul asks a rhetorical question that defies a reply: “Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?” (20). He makes no apology for what he calls “the foolishness of God” in revealing the cross of Christ, but mocks those, the Jews and Greeks, who claim any wisdom for themselves that will stand against it. Make no mistake, worshipers: God the Father is waging war through his Son with the world’s philosophies, and he has (and will) destroy them from the face of the earth.
Now, there is much discussion lately of Christians bringing the gospel of Jesus Christ “into the public square,” with the church politely setting up its booth alongside everyone else in the marketplace. That’s good, but as we smile and take our places, let us be fully aware that God is not at all playing nice with the alternative policies that incentivize our neighbors. The cue we should be taking from Paul in organizing our youth events and running our Alpha courses is that, while we ourselves do not come out violently swinging, God is–and we must pray accordingly: Even as we laying the nicely appointed table, our petition must be that God will destroy the world’s “eloquent wisdom” (recalling the phrase from last week’s epistle reading) holding people captive from hearing the good news of our Savior.
Today, in the Spirit, we hear Paul’s perspective on the fighting spirit of the God who saves, and we humbly take our places in the watchtower of prayer before the invisible battle raging around our humble ministries.
Gospel (Matthew 5:1-12)
1 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
Matthew 5:1-12
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
The third season of the television production “The third season of the television production “The Chosen” begins with the character of Jesus of Nazareth preaching the Sermon on the Mount. The listeners—including disciples, Roman soldiers, Jewish religious leaders, and casual passersby—are heard giving universal approval of the sermon, praising the Nazarene rabbi openly in company with one another. Then, suddenly, Jesus gives his disciples a vacation (why not?), and the remainder of that first episode is dedicated to showing how his followers, in various ways, succeed and fail to apply the lessons they have learned in the sermon with their families, friends, and one another during the off-time.
The drama vividly illustrates the age-old conundrum we face as Christians: wholeheartedly assenting to the word of God in principle and struggling to put it into practice. “Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (3): we sympathize with the idea the first time we read it, but we spend the rest of our lives walking a crooked path to learn what “blessed” and what “poor in Spirit” and what “kingdom of heaven” really mean for the day to day.
The great news is that the God who created us knows us, understands us, and is pleased to work with us over the long haul. Paul writes:
Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.
1 Thess. 5:23-24
Today, Lord Jesus, trusting in your faithfulness, meet us in those places where we struggle daily to show mercy, to be a peacemaker, and to rejoice in the face of opposition, and by your Spirit, mold us into the children of God you have created us to be.
Today in the Spirit
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