Today in the Spirit: Proper 16A
Following the Gospel of Matthew in Year A, this week in our worship we contemplate another recorded incident of Jesus and his disciples while north of the Sea of Galilee; this time in the district of Caesarea Philippi, an important city in the region governed by Philip, the son of Herod, and a center of pagan worship.
In the assigned Gospel reading from Matthew 16:13-20, we overhear our Lord eliciting Peter’s confession: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (16). In a reply found only in Matthew’s version, Jesus answers, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven” (17), followed by an important statement on Peter’s faith being the foundation of the ministry of the Church of Christ.
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In the assigned Old Testament reading from Isaiah 51:1-6, YHWH urges the Israelites in exile to consider his faithfulness to Abraham and Sarah and so to be assured of his continued devotion to them:
Look to Abraham your father
Isaiah 51:2-3
and to Sarah who bore you;
for he was but one when I called him,
that I might bless him and multiply him.
For the Lord comforts Zion;
he comforts all her waste places
and makes her wilderness like Eden,
her desert like the garden of the Lord;
joy and gladness will be found in her,
thanksgiving and the voice of song.
We can recite Psalm 138 assigned this week as if, like the Israelites in exile, we have received a great word of comfort and respond in faith with a desire to worship: I will give thanks to you, O Lord, with my whole heart; even before the gods will I sing praises to you (1).
The assigned New Testament reading from Romans 11:25-36 contains a message from the apostle Paul that is both prophecy and teaching about the future restoration of “all Israel” (keeping in mind his more limited understanding of who is a true “Jew,” see Rom. 2:28-29). To the Gentile Christians in Rome, he writes: “For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy (30-31).
The assigned collect was translated into English from medieval Catholic sources by Thomas Cranmer for use in the 1549 Prayer Book. In the 1662 Prayer Book, Cranmer’s translation of “congregation” was changed to “Church” to make the benefit of the prayer more clearly apply to the whole body of Christ. Some have recognized a nautical theme, as the Latin term gubernare (“govern”) was used to describe piloting a ship. The petition is that God will both purify (“cleanse and defend”) and direct (“protect” and “govern”) his Church.
The Collect
Let your continual mercy, O Lord, cleanse and defend your Church; and, because it cannot continue in safety without your help, protect and govern it always by your goodness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Listen to Me You Who Pursue Righteousness (Isaiah 51:1-6)
1 “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness,
Isaiah 51:1-6
you who seek the Lord:
look to the rock from which you were hewn,
and to the quarry from which you were dug.
2 Look to Abraham your father
and to Sarah who bore you;
for he was but one when I called him,
that I might bless him and multiply him.
3 For the Lord comforts Zion;
he comforts all her waste places
and makes her wilderness like Eden,
her desert like the garden of the Lord;
joy and gladness will be found in her,
thanksgiving and the voice of song.
4 “Give attention to me, my people,
and give ear to me, my nation;
for a law will go out from me,
and I will set my justice for a light to the peoples.
5 My righteousness draws near,
my salvation has gone out,
and my arms will judge the peoples;
the coastlands hope for me,
and for my arm they wait.
6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
and look at the earth beneath;
for the heavens vanish like smoke,
the earth will wear out like a garment,
and they who dwell in it will die in like manner;
but my salvation will be forever,
and my righteousness will never be dismayed.”
This passage is addressed to the Israelites in exile. It is an exhortation in two parts, each starting with a similar command—”Listen to me” (1) and “Give attention to me” (4). In the first part, the focus is on relief from suffering in the near future. For these returnees, “Zion” (Jerusalem) has become a “waste place,” and YHWH promises he will “comfort” the land and his people again. The second part looks beyond the present day to cosmic, eternal salvation. The references to the ultimate destruction of the earth and an otherworldly “salvation” are among the earliest end-time symbolic (“apocalyptic”) language in the OT. The writings of Peter and John were clearly influenced by it (see 2 Pet. 3:10, Rev. 21:1ff).
Devotionally, the church intends us as worshipers to see the connection between “the rock from which you were hewn” in this passage (1) and the “rock” of faith on which Jesus says he will “build [his] church” (Mt. 16:18). The “rock” in each case is connected to mortal humans–Abraham and Sarah on one hand, and Peter on the other. But consider this: rocks exist only because of the ground on which they lie (and were buried). They are formed by the materials around them combined with heat. We “look to” Abraham and Sarah (and to Peter) by God’s intention only to behold the ground on which they lay. Thus, the passage reads: “Look to Abraham… for he was but one when I called him, that I might bless him and multiply him” (2).
Today, Holy Spirit, we who “pursue righteousness” (1) heed your command to look to the saints, and, observing your transforming work in them, trust you to do the same in us.
You Will Revive Me (Psalm 138)
1 I will give thanks to you, O Lord, with my whole heart; *
Psalm 138, New Coverdale Psalter (BCP 2019)
even before the gods will I sing praises to you.
2 I will worship toward your holy temple and praise your Name, because of your loving-kindness and truth, *
for you have magnified your Name and your word above all things.
3 When I called upon you, you heard me *
and gave me increase of strength.
4 All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O Lord, *
for they have heard the words of your mouth.
5 They shall sing of the ways of the Lord, *
that great is the glory of the Lord.
6 For though the Lord be high, yet he has respect for the lowly; *
as for the proud, he beholds them from afar.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, yet shall you refresh me; *
you shall stretch forth your hand upon the furiousness of my enemies, and your right hand shall save me.
8 The Lord shall make good his loving-kindness toward me; *
your mercy, O Lord, endures for ever; despise not the works of your own hands.
“David” is in the temple as he offers this song of thanksgiving. At first glance it may appear his lofty comments “before the gods I will sing praises to you” (1) and “all the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O Lord” (4) arise out of the enthusiasm of ecstatic worship. But going further we find that, no, he is mindful of the present adversity he brings into the sanctuary: “Though I walk in the midst of trouble, yet shall you refresh me; you shall stretch forth your hand upon the furiousness of my enemies, and your right hand shall save me” (7). He comes to worship, not with the whimsical zest of one who is doing well, but with the overcoming spirit who will stand before God in pain and sing his praises to YHWH over the circumstances.
How do you come to worship this Sunday, saying the words of this psalm? Is there any of that compulsion in you to shout over the troubles of “the real world,” or are you going through the religious motions thinking the words carry no real relevance to the rough and tumble of your daily existence? Well, you are present, and that’s commendable. Devotionally, however, the discipline we seek to develop is to let fly the lofty thoughts of the Holy Spirit feeds into our hearts in worship, even as they are filtered through the pain of adversity into the open air. “Yes,” we must declare with David, “the lesser ‘gods’ be damned and ‘the kings of the earth’ beware. God is good and faithful, and I will proclaim over the noise of life’s storms, ‘great is the glory of the LORD’ (5).”
David is strengthened by his calling out to God in worship in the midst of adversity. A poignant passage from Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables illustrates the point. The eight-year-old child Cosette is walking through the woods late at night with a bucket full of water:
…she summoned up all her strength, picked up her bucket again, and courageously resumed her march, but the poor little desperate creature could not refrain from crying, “O my God! my God!” At that moment she suddenly became conscious that her bucket no longer weighed anything at all: a hand, which seemed to be enormous, had just seized the handle, and lifted it vigorously. She raised her head. A large black form, straight and erect, was walking beside her through the darkness; it was a man who had come up behind her, and whose approach she had not heard. This man, without uttering a word, had seized the handle of the bucket which she was carrying. There are instincts for all the encounters of life. The child was not afraid.
Today, Holy Spirit, in our worship, build in us the faith of David to discern clearly your highest thoughts of the Father and the Son, and, despite our troubles, hold onto them for dear life as we praise your name.
I Do Not Want You to Be Unaware of This Mystery (Romans 11:25-36)
25 Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written,
Romans 11:26-35
“The Deliverer will come from Zion,
he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”;
27 “and this will be my covenant with them
when I take away their sins.”
28 As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. 29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. 30 For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, 31 so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy. 32 For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all. 33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord,
or who has been his counselor?”
35 “Or who has given a gift to him
that he might be repaid?”
36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
Paul was gifted with an extraordinarily fertile mind for understanding the OT scriptures. In a way my seminary professors might have considered highly suspect if I did it, he pieces together scattered phrases from Isaiah and Jeremiah (vv. 26-27 above) to articulate what the Holy Spirit has revealed to him about the present hardening and future salvation of his people, “Israel.” The revelation itself, as well as the manner in which the apostle receives it, is a mystery; and Paul, not unlike John in the Book of Revelation, is compelled to disclose it. He does not want the Roman Christians “to be unaware of this mystery” (25); and God, by providentially preserving what Paul has written in the NT, determines that the whole Church everywhere and for all time should know it too.
God, by his own counsel, reasons that there are many mysteries we do not need to know–but this one we do. For making these choices, what we need to know and what we don’t, God deserves our praise. Just so, Paul adds a doxology to the passage (perhaps quoting a hymn of the early church) about the wisdom of God: “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” (33).
Today, by the Spirit who inspires Paul to communicate mysteries given to him as an apostle, and us to hear them, we give thanks for divine wisdom to help us thrive as a holy people.
On This Rock (Matthew 16:13-20)
13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.
Matthew 16:13-20
Can you imagine looking another human being in the eye and saying, “You are God”? Probably no one reading these words would ever consider doing such a thing, but that’s what Peter does: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (16). Now we may remember that just two Sundays ago, from the Gospel reading about Jesus walking on water, we heard the disciples, as a group, tell Jesus, “Truly you are the Son of God” (Mt. 14:33), and that no response from Jesus is recorded. Here, while walking on the road, without the provocation of any miracle, Peter says the same thing; and our Lord commends that confession, and Peter himself, and delivers some of the most profound teaching on the nature of the Church that makes that confession.
Devotionally, we learn here the power of making our humble confession of Jesus, the Son of God, in the routine spaces of our lives. It is one thing to say, “Thank you, Jesus, you are Lord,” on the receiving end of a great miracle. But how sweet it is to the ears of Jesus to hear that same declaration when we rise early in the morning, Bible open, ready to receive a word from him and to pray. And, corporately, what about when we stand in worship and confess in the company of the faithful, “We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God” (Nicene Creed). Beloved, right there, we are standing on solid petra (“rock”). To us, too, though we do not hear it audibly, Jesus says, “Blessed are you!” (17).
Peter is a young man when he makes this confession at Caesarea Philippi. Only later, with time and by the infilling of the Spirit, would he have the power to declare Jesus is God even as he suffered for him. See in his first letter how he commends all Christians to do the same: “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you” (1 Pet. 4:12-14).
Today, in the Spirit, by faith we look at you, Lord Jesus, in the eye and confess that you are Messiah and Son of God; even when no one is looking and through suffering, we declare that you are our God.
Today in the Spirit
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