An Apt Exhortation for Any Age

 

Readings from the book of James continue on the 15th Sunday after Pentecost, in the Year of Mark, with James 2:1-10 being appointed for this day.  As is typical with James, there is exhortation, but in this case, not a little bit of Law.  The preacher  will have to search elsewhere for a word of Gospel when preaching this text.

(The following questions are best used in conjunction with other fine sets of questions which open up a text to preachers.  These questions are designed to uncover the function of the Word in the text, a key concern of Law and Gospel preachers.  For more on this method and on Law and Gospel preaching in general, see my brief guide, Afflicting the Comfortable, Comforting the Afflicted, available from wipfandstock.com or amazon.)

1.  How does the Word function in the text?  This text is split up quite neatly into two distinct functions:  the first 7 verses are a call to obedience, while the last 3 verses are a word of Law.  The opening call to obedience is obscured in the preferred NRSV translation by failing to keep the original imperative voice in the text.  Better is the alternative translation offered in the margins of the NRSV:  "Hold the faith of our glorious Lord Jesus Christ without acts of favoritism."  Most other translations retain the imperative voice.  In any case, this is a call to obedience, exhorting believers to love all equally.  The last three verses point out our precarious state, vis a vis the Law, noting that failing in even one point of the Law makes one guilty of the whole Law.

2.  How is the Word not functioning in the text?  There is no word of Gospel here, no word which proclaims what God has done in Christ.  One could infer that God is not a God of partiality, but that is not stated here.  The only hint of that is in verse 5b, where we read of God's high regard for the poor.

3.  With whom are you identifying in the text?  We are those under judgement here.  We are those who consistently fail to treat people without favoritism, consistently doing the very things that are forbidden here.   We stand guilty as charged.

4.  What Law/Gospel couplet is suggested by this text?  We can imagine a number of couplets, just based on what is the opposite of what is illustrated here:  under judgement/under mercy; treated dishonorably/honored; poor/rich; ignored/welcomed.

5.  Exegetical work:  The word translated as "partiality" is rare in the NT.  It is a composite of two words - face/appearance and receiving/regarding (prosopolemphia).   One can see in this word, prosopo, the word for face, and a form of lambano, the common  verb for receiving.  To show partiality, then, means to receive a person according to their appearance only.  The only other places this word occurs are in Rom. 2:11, Eph. 6:9, and Col. 3:25, where we are assured that "God shows no partiality."  In the OT, we have this same claim in Dt. 10:17 and II Chr. 19:1.  It is interesting that in the disputes with the Pharisees, Jesus was flattered as one who did "not regard people with partiality," (Mk. 12:14, Mt. 22:16, Lk. 20:21), but taught "the way of God with truth."  Even though this is empty flattery, it is true:  Jesus does not receive people according to their appearance.  In one final NT passage, Jesus exhorts his followers to "not judge by appearances." (Jn. 7:24)  John Donne, the 17th century poet and preacher, writes why this is so important:  "And this is truly, most literally, the purpose of the apostle here, that you undervalue no one for their outward appearance; that you overvalue no one for their goodly apparel, or gold rings...But it is a precept of accessibleness, and of affability; affability that is, a civility of the city of God and a courtship of the court of heaven, to receive other people, the images of God, with the same easiness that God receives you." (Reformation Commentary on Scripture, NT, vo. XIII, p. 228.)  Pheme Perkins, in her commentary, speaks of the language of early Christians, and how this bears on this subject:  "Early Christians went beyond the language of benefaction and friendship to speak of one another as 'brothers' and 'sisters'.  The family was the only sphere in which benefits did not come with a corresponding obligation attached."  (Interpretation series, First and Second Peter, James, and Jude, p. 109).

Blessings on your proclamation!

A Bit of Gospel from James?

 James 1:17-27, the Second Reading appointed for the 14th Sunday after Pentecost in the Year of Mark, is part of that book Luther called "the book of straw."  Luther's view of the book of James was so low he reportedly recommended deleting it from the accepted Scriptural canon of his day.  This is understandable given the proverb-like character of much of the book.  Having said that, in this passage, there is a bit of Gospel; it will be the preacher's task to proclaim this good news along with the exhortations that follow.

(The following questions are not meant to be exhaustive, but are best used in conjunction with other fine sets of questions that have other concerns.  These questions attempt to get at the function of the Word in the text, a central concern of Law and Gospel preachers.  For more on this method and on Law and Gospel preaching in general, see my brief guide, Afflicting the Comfortable, Comforting the Afflicted, available from wipfandstock.com or amazon.)

1.  How does the Word function in the text?  In the opening verse, "the Father of lights" is the central actor, the source of "every generous act of giving" and "every perfect gift."  "In fulfillment of [God's] own purpose, [God] gave us birth by the word of truth."  Other translations of this verse make clear the good news nature of this announcement:  "It was a happy day for him when he gave us our new lives;" (Living Bible), "Of his set purpose, by declaring the truth, he gave us birth." (New English Bible).  This is the Word functioning as gospel.

2.  How is the Word not functioning in the text?   The Word functioning as law, that is to say, exposing our need for Christ, is not front-and-center in this text.  Perhaps the closest we get to Law is at the end of the passage when James declares what worthless religion looks like.  Even this passage is done in the context of exhortation.

3.  With whom are you identifying in the text?  We are those to whom this letter is written.  We are the ones being exhorted and those receiving the good news.

4.  What, if any, call to obedience is there in this text?  As is typical of James, calls to obedience are common in this text.  The call to obedience is the Word functioning to invite us to live our lives in a certain way in response to God's "implanted word."  In this passage the call is to "be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger," to rid ourselves  of "all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness,"  to "be doers of the word, and not merely hearers," and finally "to care for orphans and widows in their distress." All these are calls to obedience.

5.  What Law/Gospel couplet is suggested by this text?  Looking to the opening gospel verses we might imagine several couplets:  in poverty/generously provided for; dead/alive; non-existent/birthed.

6.  Exegetical work:  Both Augustine and Luther were clear in highlighting the gospel announcement in this passage.  Augustine, in his letters said, "Man's merit is a free gift, and no one deserves to receive anything from the Father of lights, from whom every good gift comes down, except by receiving what he does not deserve."  (Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, NT, vol. XI, p. 15).  Luther, in his commentary on Romans, went further:  "Therefore we must always pray and work so that grace and the Spirit may increase but the body of sin decrease and be destroyed and our old nature become weak.  For God has not yet justified us, that is, He has not made us perfectly righteous or declared our righteousness perfect, but He has made a beginning in order that He might make us perfect. Hence we read in James 1:18:  "That we should be a kind of first fruits of His creatures." (Luther's Works, vol. 25, "Lectures on Romans", p. 245).  Pheme Perkins, in her contemporary commentary, begins by reminding us of God's gift of the "implanted word" and then goes on to explain James' strategy:  "Lest the previous reference to the 'implanted word' (v. 21) suggest that Christianity dispenses believers from the practice of virtue, James warns that they must practice what they hear."  (Interpretation Series, First and Second Peter, James, and Jude, p. 105).  She goes on to say that other commentators observe that "James involves all parts of the body in the schema of perfection... By working together references to all parts of the body, James presents a picture of "the implanted Word" governing all our activities.  (Ibid., p. 106).

7.  How does the Crossings Community model work with this text?  Jerry Bruce, in an appealing and inventive analysis, brings to light the "worthless" religion that James talks about, introducing us to Ernie and Emma Ernest, both lost in their own self-righteousness.  Through the master "caterer" they are fed and nourished unto eternal life.  Go to crossings.org/text-study for the whole analysis, archived under its reference.

Blessings on your proclamation!

A Call to Faith

 Joshua 24:1-2a, 14-18, the First Reading appointed for the 13th Sunday after Pentecost in the Year of Mark, is a piece of Joshua's final discourse.  Immediately after this speech, the death of Joshua is recorded, and the history of Israel turns to the era of the judges.  In this portion of the speech, Joshua exhorts the people to remain faithful to God, indeed to serve God faithfully and completely all their days.  It will be the preacher's task to issue this exhortation.

(The following questions are not meant to be exhaustive, but are designed to answer questions regarding the function of the Word in the text.  This is a fundamental concern of Law and Gospel preachers.  For more on this method or on Law and Gospel preaching in general, see my brief guide, Afflicting the Comfortable, Comforting the Afflicted, available from wipfandstock.com and amazon.)

1.  How does the Word function in the text?  As stated above, the Word functions here as an exhortation, but an exhortation to what? To faith.  To worshipping the true God.  This is a call to faith, complete with a brief review of God's mighty acts (Gospel).

2.  How is the Word not functioning in the text?  This portion of Joshua's speech does not contain a word of Law, a word which lifts up the people's need for God's saving power.  That comes in verses not included here.  The people proclaim their faithfulness to God, and this text ends there.

3.  With whom are you identifying in the text?  We are those being addressed.  Whom shall we serve?  The God of mighty acts, our Deliverer from slavery (to sin), or the false gods that proclaim much and do little?

4.  What, if any, call to obedience is there in this text?   The call to obedience is not the same as the call to faith.  A call to obedience is the Word functioning to exhort us to live in a certain way in response to God's saving works.  A good example of a call to obedience is the Second Reading appointed for this Sunday:  Ephesians 6:10-20.

5.  What Law/Gospel couplet is suggested by this text?  The couplets are clear:  non-faith/faith; false gods/True God.

6.  Exegetical work:  The setting for this discourse is noteworthy.  Joshua summons the leaders, whether they be sacred or secular.  Those leaders present themselves before God.  The implication is that they stand at the ready to serve God.  Then Joshua addresses the people, not the leaders, as though he wants the leaders to overhear his words, and see the people's response.  We have no report of the leaders speaking; it is the people who are addressed and the people who respond.  Later in the story, Joshua makes a covenant with the people, again exhorting them to do all that they say they will do.  He seems to lay a choice before them, but is it really?  The Reformers are quick to point out that it is not a choice in the common sense of the word.  An example is John Calvin's analysis:  "For the real object of Joshua was, as we shall see, to renew and confirm the covenant that has already been made with God. Not without cause, therefore, does he give them freedom of choice, that they may not afterward pretend to have been under compulsion, when they bound themselves by their own consent." (Reformation Commentary on Scripture, OT, vol. IV, p. 195).  

7.  Consider the insights of the pioneers of the New Homiletic?  David Buttrick was the one who always reminded us of the capacity of the listener to attend to a sermon.  He advised to be aware how many moves are made in the plot of the sermon. Too many and we lose our listeners.

Blessings on your proclamation!

Mary's Song of Praise

 

The song of Mary in Luke 1:46-55 is appropriately chosen as the gospel reading for the Feast of Mary, Mother of our Lord, a festival celebrated every year on August 15.  Because it rarely falls on a Sunday, and perhaps because to some it suggests praise of the mother of Christ that may be problematic for Protestant congregations, it is often overlooked as a text for preaching.  As such, however, it is a rich text for preaching, giving the preacher a grand occasion to lift up the mighty acts of God.

(The following questions are part of a method that seeks to lift up the function of the Word in the text, a fundamental concern of Law and Gospel preachers.  These questions are not meant to be exhaustive, but are best used with other helpful sets of questions available to exegetes.  For more on this method and on Law and Gospel preaching in general, see my brief guide, Afflicting the Comfortable, Comforting the Afflicted, available from wipfandstock.com or amazon.)

1.  How does the Word function in the text?  The Lutheran Study Bible entitles this passage "Mary's Song of Praise," and so it is.  It is pure praise.  God is the subject of nearly every sentence and God is doing great things.  This is all good news.  The Word is clearly functioning as Gospel, for the work of Christ can be seen again and again in these phrases.

2.  How is the Word not functioning in the text?  There is a sense here that the Law is not present.  That is true except for those who might suspect they fall into the role of "the proud, the powerful, or the rich."  Of course, the fact is that not many of us could deny that we are sometimes proud; certainly some of us have power, and even the rich are amongst Christ's followers, so yes, there is a sense of the Law here, yet it must be said that this is not at all the primary function of the Word in this text.

3.  With whom are you identifying in the text?  Our mantra is always to identify with those to whom the Word is addressed, but here the Word is addressed to all listeners, none in particular.  For that reason, we may have to choose if it is the lowly or the proud, the hungry or the filled, the poor or the rich, that we most closely identify with.

4.  What, if any, call to obedience is there in this text?  The call to obedience comes to us in this text only through the example of Mary.  She is faithful, humble, and filled with joy.  She is not calling us to this in her words, although she is certainly a model for us.

5.  What Law/Gospel couplet is suggested by this text?  There are, of course, some couplets obviously present in the text:  brought down/lifted up; hungry/filled; empty/rich.  Perhaps an overarching couplet could be:  lowly/looked upon with favor.

6.  Exegetical work:  When one translates the text it is immediately noticeable that most of the action attributable to God is in the past tense (aorist).  The aorist tense is, of course, not best understood as an  action in the past, but in a punctiliar sense, that is, as something done once and completed for all time.  Fred Craddock, in his commentary, speaks about the timeless quality of this construction:  "...it is most striking that the lines that clearly refer to God's establishing justice and mercy in the future, in the end time (eschaton), contain past tense verbs, not future verbs.  Why?  This particular use of the past tense (aorist) of the Greek language here expresses what is timelessly true; past, present, and future without differentiation."  (Interpretation series, Luke, p. 30).  Craddock goes on:  So sure is the singer that God will do what is promised that it is proclaimed as accomplished fact." (Ibid.).  Levine and Witherington concur:  "Mary is also prophesying:  the verbs in the hymn are aorist or past tense:  in Mary's imagination, God has already performed these social reversals.  For Mary, the victory is already won." (New Cambridge series, The Gospel of Luke, p. 42).  Luther, in his sermon on the Magnificat, seems to agree, when he comments on verse 51:  "...I rendered this verse, 'He shows strength,' and here, 'He has shown strength.'  I have done this in order that we may the better understand these words, which are not bound to any one time, but are intended to set forth in general the works of God that He always has done, always does, and always will do.  Hence the following would be a fair translation: 'God is a Lord whose works are of such a nature that he mightily scatters the proud and is merciful to those who fear Him.'" (Luther's Works, "The Sermon on the Mount and the Magnificat", vol. 21, pg. 339).  

7.  How does the Crossings Community model work with this text?  Kris Wright, in an interesting analysis, lifts up the three models of sin in the text:  the proud, the powerful, and the rich, and sets them as examples of lostness.  The 'sweet swap', as Ed Schroeder used to say, comes when we are called blessed, when Christ is lifted up, and when mercy reigns.  See this interesting 2014 analysis at crossings.org/text-study, archived under its reference.

Blessings on your proclamation!

Daily Bread in Abundance

 Exodus 16:2-4, 9-15, the First Reading appointed for the 10th Week after Pentecost in the Year of Mark, is a wonderful story of human sin and God's grace.  It is a story retold elsewhere in the Pentateuch, but told here in such a way that God's generosity, patience, and mercy are highlighted.  It will be the preacher's privilege to proclaim this.

(The following questions have been developed to unearth the function of the Word in the text, a central concern of Law and Gospel preachers.  These questions are not meant to be exhaustive but are best used in conjunction with other exegetical methods which have other concerns.  For more on this method and Law and Gospel preaching in general, see my brief guide, Afflicting the Comfortable, Comforting the Afflicted, available from wipfandstock.com or amazon.)

1.  How does the Word function in the text?  This text has a clear demarcation of Law and Gospel between the two sections.  In section one (vs. 2-4), the Law is illustrated clearly; that is to say, the the Word is functioning to expose our need of a Savior.  There is grumbling, whining, and profound unbelief.  The second section is the opposite: it is purely Gospel, proclaiming God's amazing grace.  God promises to "rain down bread from heaven", God hears the cries of the people, God's glory appears in a cloud - a clear sign of God's presence, and finally God delivers meat and bread.

2.  With whom are you identifying in the text?  We are clearly the Israelites, prone to complaint, impatience, and even unbelief, especially in the face of any suffering or need.  We are also those who receive God's gifts so abundantly, despite our unbelief.

3.  What, if any, call to obedience is there in this text?  A call to obedience is not present in this part of the story.  That will come later, when the Israelites are asked to trust God and gather enough manna for two days on Friday, so as to not gather on the Sabbath.  The call in this text is the call to faith.

4.  What Law/Gospel couplet is suggested by this text?  We might imagine any number of couplets using the details of this story:  lack/abundance; fear/faith; Egypt's bondage/freedom in God's provision.

5.  Exegetical work:  It is interesting to note the construction of the verb which is central to the Israelites' complaint.  They say, "...you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger." (vs. 3b).  The verb has a causal construction which means it could be literally translated as "you caused us to go out into this wilderness," (i.e.  We wouldn't have gone had you not forced us!)  It is really astonishing how, after only six weeks of freedom, the Israelites are interpreting their release from bondage as a forced march to their death.  Given this profound amnesia and unbelief, what is more remarkable still is that God pays no attention to their whining, but like a dutiful and loving parent, provides for them what they need to be sustained.  Terence Fretheim, in his commentary, notes this connection between food and faith: "The people have expressed doubt to Moses/Aaron that they have had the people's best interests at heart in bringing them out from Egypt.  God has disappeared as a subject of the deliverance; the people have reverted to the pre-exodus stance of 14:10-12. ["Were there not enough graves in Egypt?!]  The food crisis has led to a faith crisis."  (Interpretation series, Exodus, p. 182-183.)  It is no doubt fair to say that any lack of 'daily bread' that we experience can easily turn into a crisis of faith.

6.  How does the Crossings Community model work with this text?  There is perhaps no more straightforward example of the Crossings model than Peter Keyel's analysis of this text.  He begins with the voices of complaint, and ends with the voices of witness, coming full circle through the depths of unbelief, to the encounter with the life-giving God, to faith.  See crossings.org/text-study to see the details.

Blessings on your proclamation!