The 17th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 21C), Sept. 26, 2004M
Amos 6:1-7; Psalm 146 or 146:4-9; 1 Tim. 6:11-19; Luke 16:19-31
The psalm in a Sunday’s readings usually gets about as much attention as a bat boy. We know it’s there, people nod in its direction, but the focus quickly shifts to the “real” players.
Today’s psalm allows us to see just how universal can be the prayer, the praise, the sentiment of the various psalmists.
David wrote this one, and it comes across as a personal prayer of praise for God. In the psalm he gives an impressive list of ways that God has been made known to him. Just when it was written and in what circumstances are not clear, which allows us to let it float and let it be applied in many contemporary settings.
Christians of China discover the maker of heaven and earth (146:6). In the moral vacuum of communism, new believers there rejoice to learn that the mind of the maker has revealed a moral order for life and gives all humans the source of identity and purpose.
The black African Muslims of the Beja people in eastern Sudan may well be the next ethnic group to be targeted for elimination by the Arab Muslim government. The world may be silent at that time as it has been for the slaughter of the other black Muslims of Darfur. If so, the Beja Christians will take heart that the God and Father of Jesus Christ upholds those oppressed and bowed down (146:7,8).
Those imprisoned for their faith in North Korea and Myanmar/Burma find hope that God brings freedom for those in prison, even if they are never released. (146:7).
The starvation that continues to devastate the people of Malawi will not wipe out the hope of the faithful there. They know the promise that God gives food to the hungry and provides a constant supply of hope (146: 5,7).
The refugees of Darfur have suffered oppression in their own land, and then they moved across the desert into Chad. Once again they are at the mercy of others. Refugees take heart that this God travels with them. “He watches over the strangers and cares for the widows and fatherless” (146:9). What a treasure for an uprooted and disoriented people who can find in God a secure anchor instead of despair.
By putting the psalm in the mouths of believers in today’s hot spots, some things immediately become clear. This God is precious -- because he is unique and he meets our every need.
Look It Up
Compare this passage with Christ’s claim to fulfill Isaiah’s declaration of the ministry of the Messiah (Isaiah 61:1,2; Luke 4:16-19). How does Jesus fulfill the qualities of the psalm?
Think About It
What are some simple ways in our liturgies to highlight the power of the psalms, "the prayers of the people of God"?
Next Sunday
The 18th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 22C), Oct. 3, 2004
Hab. 1:1-6(7-11)12-13;2:1-4; Psalm 37:1-18 or 37:3-10; 2 Tim. 1:(1-5)6-14; Luke 17:5-10
