Proper 24 | Ordinary Time 29 | Pentecost 21 (Cycle C)
Sunday between October 16 and October 22 inclusive
Perseverance by people and by God is the unifying theme in the texts selected for next weekend. The writer of Psalm 119:97-104 claims to continue in meditation over the Torah all day long. It is proclaimed in Psalm 121 that the Lord who keeps watch over Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps. Both the Lord and Jacob persevere in the hero of faith saga about Jacob wrestling with the divine figure in Genesis 32:22-30. According to Jeremiah 31:27-34, in the new covenant that the Lord God will make with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, the Lord will watch over the people constantly, writing the commandments of the Lord on their hearts. Finally, we have the admonition to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:14–4:5 to continue steadily on the course that he has taken, and the Gospel account is the parable in Luke 18:1-8 about the widow who persevered so persistently that the judge ruled in her favor even though her cause may or may not have been just.
An emphasis on perseverance, therefore, can hardly be avoided within expository preaching based on these texts. This makes these texts excellent selections for use during Confirmation services in the growing number of congregations in which the Confirmation ceremony is scheduled for late October rather than late May in the calendar year. They are also excellent texts for services of Baptism.
Where, however, is the “gospel” in this emphasis on perseverance? Is the “gospel” adequately expressed in the Lukan parable in which the message seems to be that if a thoroughly secular and selfish civil judge will finally rule in favor of a widow who pesters the judge constantly with her entreaty, how much more will God who is holy and self-giving respond affirmatively to our prayers if we bring them persistently to God? Is the “gospel” for Christians adequately expressed in the hero of faith saga about the struggle between Jacob and the divine man in Genesis 32? Perhaps the “gospel” is most clearly proclaimed within these texts in the assurance in Psalm 121 that the Lord keeps watch over the psalmist every day and every night. The psalmist reacts positively to the Lord, Timothy is urged to react to God through faith in Jesus as the Christ, and God is said to react finally to us if we pray persistently following the example of the widow in the parable in Luke 18:1-8.
Possibly an alternate theme that could be as good or even better than the theme of perseverance — at least in terms of the “gospel” — would be the theme that the good news in these texts is that God interacts with us.
Psalm 121
This psalm is almost entirely an expression of faith in the unmerited grace of God. As a psalm of trust, it is excellent for use in the evening, before we enter into rest and sleep. It is also appropriate for the morning hour, or for the beginning of corporate worship experience. The theme of divine-human interaction as “gospel” is more pronounced in this psalm than is the theme of perseverance.
Psalm 119:97-104
The interaction between the psalmist and God in this portion of this extensive psalm is the interaction between the psalmist and the Torah (the instruction, guidance, word of God), as it is in every section of this psalm. The psalmist begins with an acclamation of love for the Torah, on which the psalmist meditates at all times. Because of meditation on the Torah, the psalmist becomes more wise, more understanding, more perceptive, and more satisfied and fulfilled than anyone else can be. Through the Torah, God sustains and guides every aspect of the life of the psalmist.
Genesis 32:22-31
The interaction of God with Jacob (Israel) causes the “wrestling” to occur, continues throughout the “wrestling” experience, and remains relevant after the “wrestling” ceases in the morning. The “wrestling” interaction is itself good news, especially when we realize that the opposite of this interaction of “wrestling” would be the silence and inaccessibility of God. For those who trust in the grace of God, interaction with God is always good. It culminates in a mutual blessing, as it does in this text.
Jeremiah 31:27-34
For Jeremiah and for those who were inspired to develop the written Jeremiah traditions, in this account there is a message of the judgment of the Lord on their own religious heritage and an optimistic expression of hope for a more intimate interaction and experience with the Lord, an individual experience written in the hearts of the people wherever they might go.
Jews have interpreted this text as an expression of their dynamic covenant relationship with the Lord and have recognized that their covenant has innumerable ever-unfolding manifestations, rich in meaning for them and for all people. Jews have seen in this text one of many blueprints in their tradition for life as it should be, for life as it will be “when the Messiah comes,” or more likely during the anticipated Messianic Age when everyone — whether Jewish or not — will be forgiven and will “know the Lord.”
Christians usually interpret this text as a prophetic prediction of the “new covenant” that God established through Jesus as the Christ, and perceive each Christian Baptism and Eucharist as a sacramental action of the “new covenant,” a divine-human interaction instituted by Jesus himself.
Luke 18:1-8
This text includes the rather unusual feature of providing a brief description of the purpose of the parable before the parable is given. This description of purpose in 18:1 suggests that the life setting of the parable is most likely that of the early Church during the period of 70-85 CE when many followers of Jesus were “losing heart” (v. 1b) because of the long, unexpected delay during which God had not vindicated the elect (v. 7) and when there was a question in the mind of the inspired writer over whether when the Son of Man comes he would find faith on the earth (v. 8b). Interaction between God and the followers of Jesus during this period seems to be lacking. The message of the parable in the face of this problem is that the believers of Jesus should persevere in prayer and that God eventually would provide a positive response. If the secular, unjust judge, who neither feared God nor had any compassion for the poor, finally vindicated the widow who persevered in her pleas to him, certainly God, who is God and cares greatly for God’s elect people, will respond favorably to them. The followers of Jesus, therefore, should persevere in their prayers; God will certainly then interact favorably with them. This text and this parable provide the same message for us today.
2 Timothy 3:14–4:5
Problems similar to those addressed in the Lukan parable of the Unjust Judge appear to be factors in this text. Vaticinia ex eventu seem to be operative here. The situation of what is the present time of the inspired writer is described from the vantage point of the past by means of the literary medium of a letter sent by Paul to Timothy at a much earlier date. At any rate, there was (or was to be) a situation in which many who had been participants in the community of faith composed of followers of Jesus were no longer with them, but were involved in Gnostic Christian speculation (vv. 4:3-5). Interaction with God is said to be readily available through use of the “sacred Scriptures,” which in this context were probably the Torah and the Prophetic traditions of the Jews. It is claimed here that God also interacts with God’s people through Jesus Christ, as indicated in 2 Timothy 3:15 and 4:1. How do we believe that God interacts with us today?
