The Sixth Sunday After Pentecost, July 20, 2003 (Proper 11B)
Isaiah 57:14b-21; Psalm 22:22-30; Eph. 2:11-22; Mark 6:30-44
“There is no peace for the wicked.” This quotation from today’s Old Testament reading is used often among Christians whenever people complain wryly about the amount of the work they have to do. The lessons for today, however, contrast the real wicked with the merely wayward, with most attention given to the wayward. These are the faithful who, for various reasons, continually fall short of God’s standard and turn away from the path he has set out — yet they are indeed the faithful.
Most Christians have habitual or besetting sins to which they are continually subject — blind spots in the spiritual life. It may be a complaining spirit, a sense of being superior, a judgmental attitude toward those who differ from them. It may be a secret or not-so-secret addiction to alcohol, pornography, or food. It may be nagging doubt about the certainty of God’s love for them. In spite of their sin, they are dedicated to Christ. To these, the word of God in this Sunday’s lections can be a balm: “remove every obstruction from my people’s way”; “I dwell … with those who are contrite … to revive the heart”; “I will not continually accuse”; “I have seen their ways, but I will heal them.”
In parallel to this lesson, in the gospel the people who crowd upon Jesus are “like sheep without a shepherd.” At the least, this means subject to many dangers, wandering, and ill-fed. Knowing their need, they drop everything to listen to Jesus whom they recognize as the One who is able to meet their needs. Jesus “had compassion for them,” and fed them abundantly.
The psalm and the epistle speak of drawing near to God. The psalm says, “When [the poor] cry to him he hears them … those who seek the Lord shall praise him” (Psalm 22:23, 25). The epistle is addressed to Gentiles — those “who once were far off” — with the proclamation that they “have been brought near.” As we read through all the lessons, there is only one group that is left out of the promises and grace of God: Those who are included are “the poor,” “the Gentiles,” the “offspring of Israel,” and even “all the ends of the earth” and “the families of the nations.” Amazingly, even “all who sleep in the earth bow down in worship.” Who, then, is left out? “There is no peace for the wicked” (Isaiah 57:21). Contrasting these with the wayward, the wicked are those who are dedicated to their sin, and although they “are like the tossing sea that cannot keep still,” tossing up “mire and mud,” they will not turn to the Lord God where alone peace can be found.
Look It Up
The epistle says that the faithful in Christ, both Jew and Gentile, are “members of the household of God” (Eph. 2:19-20). But what is the foundation of this household, and who is the cornerstone?
Think About It
If the foundation of the household includes the prophets, what is the word of the prophets for today as their utterances are read in the light of the apostles’ teaching?
Next Sunday
The Seventh Sunday After Pentecost, July 27, 2003 (Proper 12B)
2 Kings 2:1-15; Psalm 114; Eph. 4:1-7, 11-16; Mark 6:45-52
