Proper 11 | Ordinary Time 16, Cycle B (2015)

THEME OF THE DAY:  All are one.  In making clear that this unity is God’s Work, sermons will focus on Justification By Grace, Christ’s Work, and Providence.

Psalm 89:20-37 
The Psalm is identified as a Maskil, an artful song composed with artful skill, composed by Ethan the Ezrahite.  He was either a wise man of Solomon’s court (I Kings 4:31) or a Temple musician (I Chronicles 15:17,19).    This is a hymn extolling God’s power and faithfulness; it has its origins as part of a king’s prayer for deliverance from his enemies.  It is considered a Royal Psalm, for it portrays itself as a prayer of a king for deliverance, a national lament.

Having been defeated in battle (vv.38-45), the Psalmist refers to the anointment of David by Yahweh (v.20), the Lord’s faithfulness [emunah] is extolled (v.24), and his unalterable covenant  [berith] with David is remembered.  It is God’s Promise that David’s descendants be established forever (vv.19-26).  David is considered the Lord’s firstborn [bekov], the highest of all the kings of the earth (v.27).  The Lord pledges steadfast love [chesed or lovingkindness] for David and His covenant with him forever (vv.28-29).  If David’s heirs forsake God’s Law [torah] , Yahweh says that He will punish them, but will not remove His steadfast love (vv.30-33).  The eternity of the covenant with David is reiterated (vv.34-37).          

Application: This Psalm links nicely with the first option for the First Lesson in highlighting    the eternality of the covenant with David and his line, proclaiming God’s faithfulness and love.  Sermons might develop the theme of Justification By Grace, that God never leaves us alone or abandons us, or that God has been faithful to His Promise in the work of David’s heir Jesus (Christology).

or

Psalm 23
The famous Psalm expresses confidence in God the Shepherd’s [raah] protection.  It extols the comfort of Providence.  God is said to lead us in the paths [magal] of righteousness [tsedeq] (v.3).  It is good to remind ourselves again that the concept of “righteousness” even in an Old Testament context is not to imply that the believer lives in faultless conformity to some moral norm.  It has to do with living in right relationship with God (Gerhard von Rad, Old Testament Theology, Vol.1, pp.370-371).  As a result, the Psalm continues, we need fear no evil [ra] (v.4).  Yahweh is compared to a gracious host (v.5).  Surrounded by goodness [tob] and mercy [chesed], the Psalmist pledges regular worship in The Temple (v.6).  This is a Psalm about gratitude to God.   

Application: The Lord as Shepherd and the comfort that brings, how like a Shepherd He keeps us together, is a sermon theme that logically grows out of this Psalm (Justification By Grace and Providence).  

2 Samuel 7:1-14a
We note again that the origin of this Book as a distinct text derives from the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures (the Septuagint), which divided the story of Israel’s monarchy into four sections (1 and 2 Samuel, and 1 and 2 Kings).  This Book is probably the result of two or three sources, culminating with the work of the Deuteronomistic (D) strand (the result of sweeping religious reforms under King Josiah in 621 BC).  The role of this last source not surprisingly entails that a central theme of the Book is the struggle to remain obedient to Torah, to be God’s covenant people, and to inherit divine blessings.  This Book especially relates to the reign of David as King of Israel.      

The Lesson accounts the story of David’s desire, expressed to the Prophet Nathan, to build a temple (vv.1-3) and what follows regarding this dream.  The Lord appears to Nathan indicating His contentment with continuing to dwell in a portable tent (vv.4-7).  This overlooks that the Ark of the Covenant had earlier been housed in a building in Shiloh (1 Samuel 1:7; 3:3).  Scholars tend to conclude that the entire pericope is a later addition to older sources, based on Psalm 89.  Others argue that, insofar as vv.6-7 seem to give no permission of the Tabernacle to be placed in a permanent building, these passages are in fact part of the earlier source. 

The Lord instructs Nathan instead to recount to David how the Lord had brought him to power, from the life of a shepherd [literally, “one who follows sheep”] to an internationally known uncontested leader (vv.8-9).  Yahweh claims that He will appoint a place for Israel from which they will no longer be disturbed and afflicted (v.10).  The establishment of a permanent Davidic dynasty is promised (vv.11b-12).  Reference is made to a Davidic offspring who would build the house of Yahweh’s Name [shem] and the throne would be established forever (v.13).  (Only in the parallel account in 1 Chronicles 28:6 is Solomon expressly designated as the one who will build the Temple.)  Yahweh promises to be a Father to the Davidic ancestor and his status as Yahweh’s Son [ben] is proclaimed (v.14a).  The promise and the desire to build a temple have close parallels to ceremonial texts of the royal house in Israel.

Application: This Lesson opens to door for sermons on the Christological implications of the Lord’s establishment of the Davidic line and also that God is not fully contained in any church.  A bigger God entails all people have some fellowship with Him (Providence).  In getting hearers of the sermon to recognize that God had greater plans in mind than David did, efforts can be made to help them appreciate that God is still in the business of giving us more than we can ever imagine (Providence).

or

Jeremiah 23:1-6
The Book is a collection of prophecies of a late seventh or early sixth century BC Prophet of Judah from the reigns of Josiah through the era of The Babylonian Captivity.  He dictated these prophecies to his aide Baruch.  Some of the Prophet’s criticism of the house of David and The Temple, giving more attention to the Sinai Covenant, may relate to his being an ancestor of one of David’s high priests, Abiathar, who lost control of the Temple and was finally banished. (I Kings 2:26-27).  Three sources of the Book have been identified: (1) An authentic poetic strand; (2) Biographic prose; and (3) Deuteronomistic redaction.  The interplay of these strands suggests that the final editors construed Jeremiah’s past prophecies as relevant in the new context.

This Complementary Lesson is a Messianic Oracle, probably part of a sermon.  The Prophet proclaims woe the shepherds who have destroyed and scattered the sheep (a reproach of Judah’s rulers (v.1).  Yahweh threatens to attend to their evil ways (v.2).  He promises to gather a remnant [sheerith] of the flock out of all the lands where he has driven them, bring them back and allow them to multiple (v.3).  He then pledges to raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them, so that they need no longer fear or be dismayed, and none shall be missing (v.4).  Yahweh then proclaims that He will raise up for David a righteous [tsaddiq] Branch [tsemach], who will reign as king and deal wisely and execute justice [tsedaqah, literally “rightness”] in the land (v.5; cf. 33:15-16).  In making this point it is good to be reminded that the ancient Hebrew term for judgment can refer to a sense of comfort, not just to punishment [Gerhard von Rad, Old Testament Theology, Vol.1, p.358].)  In calling the Lord righteous, we also need to recall that Christian scholarship on the Old Testament largely agrees that God’s righteousness is not so much about a punitive attribute of God as it is about relationship, concerning God’s loyalty to His Covenant in saving us.  Sometimes the righteousness of God is even construed, as perhaps in this Psalm, as something bestowed on the faithful (von Rad, Old Testament Theology, Vol.1, pp.373,376ff.).  It is in this sense that Jeremiah can proclaim that in the Messiah’s days Judah will be saved, Israel will live in safety, and God will be called by the Name, “The Lord is our righteousness.” (v.6)

Application: A sermon on this Prophecy of Jesus might expound the concept of God’s righteousness, but it also affords an opportunity to reflect on how Jesus repairs the brokenness we all experience in Sin (Justification By Grace).

Ephesians 2:11-22
As noted last week, this Book is a circular letter, either written by Paul from prison late in his career of by a follower of the Apostle who had had a hand in assembling the collection of his Epistles.  These conclusions follow from the fact that the Letter includes vocabulary and stylistic characteristics different from the Pauline corpus.  It was likely addressed to a younger, later generation of Christians (1:15).  This Lesson is an exposition of Christ’s benefits, bringing together Gentile and Jew, with special attention to implications for Justification By Grace and Ecclesiology.

Paul notes that though the Gentiles were originally aliens [enos, literally “strangers”] from Israel, in Christ they have been brought near (vv.11-13).  Christ is said to be our Peace [eirene], breaking down the wall that had divided Jew and Gentile (v.14).  In His abolition of the Law [nomos], Christ is said to create a new humanity [anthropos] in order to reconcile the group into one Body [soma] through the Cross (vv.15-16).  Through Christ, then, we have access to the one Spirit and Father.  None are aliens, but members of the household [oikeios] of God built on the foundation [themelios] of the Apostles with Christ the cornerstone (vv.17-20).  Paul next speaks of the Church as a holy temple [katoiketerion, dwelling-place] of the Lord in which we are all joined together in the Spirit (vv.21-22).

Application: This Lesson offers an opportunity to proclaim the unity of the Church and its implications for fully including all through Christ’s breaking down the Law all barriers and bringing us near the Father (Justification By Grace).  In becoming a dwelling place of Christ, we become One with Him as well.

Mark 6:30-34,53-56
We continue again to consider a text in the first of the Synoptic Gospels to be written, a Book that was perhaps the source of other Gospels, perhaps based on oral traditions of the Passion narrative and accounts of Jesus’ sayings (the so-called Q-source).  Probably written prior to the fall of Jerusalem in 70AD, this anonymous work is traditionally ascribed to John Mark, perhaps referred to as an associate of Paul (Acts  12:12-25; 15:37; Colossians 4:10) or as Peter’s scribe (I Peter 5:13).  Some speculate that the original audience was the church in Rome (esp. Gentiles), as the Book presumes readers unfamiliar with Jewish customs and Palestinian geography (see 7:2-4,31), but it also could have been written for Palestinian Christians.  In this pericope we hear the beginning of The Feeding of the Five Thousand, with the actual miracle omitted.  All four of the Gospels include this narrative, except the final verses have no parallel in Luke.

The Lesson begins with the Disciples, having returned from their commission to preach and heal (vv.7-13), returning to Jesus, reporting, and retreating with Him to a deserted place (vv.30-32).  Many are said to have seen Jesus and His followers and followed them on land, meeting them when they docked their boat.   Going ashore Jesus saw a great crowd and had compassion on them, as they were like sheep with no shepherd (vv.33-34).  The actual feeding of the 5000 account follows (vv.35-44), along with a story of Jesus walking on water (vv.45-52).  Both accounts are omitted from the Lesson.  The account resumes with Jesus and His followers landing their boat at Gennesaret.  The crowd recognizes Him and brings the sick to Him, begging that they might touch the fringe [kraspedos] of His cloak [himation, literally “garment”] to be healed [esodzonto].  All touching His cloak were healed (vv.53-56).  (It was common belief in the Ancient Near East at the time to expect holy people to have magical powers, and so touching them to gain blessings was common.  Fringes were blue twisted threads at the four corners of male garments, intended as reminders to obey God’s Commandments [Numbers 15:38-40].)

Application: Several sermon options are suggested by this text.  One possibility is to proclaim that God’s grace and compassion heals, gives life, and gives guidance (Justification By Grace) in the midst of chaos, loneliness, and meaninglessness of our sinful reality.