Twelfth Sunday After Pentecost, August 15, 2010
“Let us … lay aside every weight” (Heb. 12:1).
BCP: Jer. 23:23-29; Psalm 82; Heb. 12:1-7(8-10)11-14; Luke 12:49-56
RCL: Isaiah 5:1-7; Psalm 80:1-2, 8-18; or Jer. 23:23-29; Psalm 82; Heb. 11:29-12:2; Luke 12:49-56
The lesson from Isaiah provides a detailed image of an ordinary vineyard, established with the plain toil of digging, clearing, planting and protecting. Yet at the end the image is suddenly identified with an entire nation, and God is shown as the one who has power even to command clouds to withhold rain. A similar image is presented in the matching Psalm 80, yet in expansive, world-size descriptions that include God’s enthronement upon the cherubim, mountains covered with shade, and branches that cover an entire land.
Jeremiah’s prophecy begins with the reminder that God is a God “far off” as well as “near by” — that is, One not to be taken too simply or for granted. Jeremiah reminds his hearers that God “fills heaven and earth.” God’s authoritative word is to be trusted as “wheat” in contrast to the “straw” of the falsehoods of those who speak without regard for God’s might. Psalm 82, coupled with this lesson, begins by placing God “in the midst of the gods” for the sake of “holding judgment,” and concludes by proclaiming that “all the nations belong to [God].” This is no merely localized and simple deity.
In the gospel lesson, Jesus likewise uses plain and common images such as clouds and wind, the “appearance of earth and sky” that are thoroughly familiar to his hearers, to remind them that mighty things are immediately at hand yet unrecognized by them. He is the One who has come to “bring fire to the earth” and longs to do so, whose supremacy shall even bring about the sundering of the closest of family bonds when some realize that they must make a choice about Jesus — a choice that involves the highest stakes that one can imagine.
The lesson from the Letter to Hebrews sets forth in the deepest and clearest terms what the other lessons only describe: there is a long list of the faithful whose devotion to God set them completely apart from merely “this worldly” concerns. The fidelity of these persons brought them both spectacular deliverance (“the people passed through the Red Sea”) and acute persecution through suffering and rejection. These are they “of whom the world was not worthy.” These provide for today’s faithful a “great cloud of witnesses” who encourage us to “run with patience the race that is set before us.”
Look It Up
Reflect on that enigmatic passage in today’s Psalm (82:6), “You are gods, children of the Most High.” What could it mean, especially in the context of today’s lessons?
Think About It
Have you ever had a sudden realization that something of dramatic importance to your life with God is right in front of you? —and may have been in front of you for a long time but unrecognized? If so, what kept you from recognizing it, and what caused you to recognize it at last?
Next Sunday
The Thirteenth Sunday After Pentecost (Proper 16C), August 22, 2010
BCP: Isaiah 28:14-22; Psalm 46; Hebrews 12:18-19,22-29; Luke 13:22-30
RCL: Jeremiah 1:4-10; Psalm 71:1-6; or Isaiah 58:9b-14; Psalm 103:1-8; Hebrews 12:18-29; Luke 13:10-17
