A Call to a New Humanity: July 2010 Lectionary
It is always a challenge to preach during the month of July. The lazy days of summer made worship attendance sporadic at best and it is easy for the preacher to decide that not much can really happen in summer. Summer is often regarded as a necessary gap between Pentecost and Advent. Hence, the preacher might be tempted to think that his/her task is to just fill in between the “really” important liturgical seasons.
The lectionary readings for July do, however, provide an interesting opportunity to overcome summer doldrums and focus on a particular theme. The Gospels readings are from the section of Luke’s Gospel in which Jesus makes a dramatic turn toward going to Jerusalem, a turn toward his own death. The Lukan lessons for the month are found in the longer section on the journey to Jerusalem (9:51-19:28). Jesus’ turn toward Jerusalem is a major transition in the Lukan narrative and is not so much a geographical journey as it is an editorial structure created by Luke to the examine the mission of the Jesus movement. This is material peculiar to Luke and each reading has ecclesiological implications for the early church and for us.
The readings from Luke are surrounded by readings from the prophets and the Pastoral Epistles. The readings from the Hebrew Bible present Elisha’s healing of Naaman (2 Kings 5: 1-14), two judgment oracles from Amos (7:7-17; 8: 1-12) and Hosea’s marriage to Gomer (Hosea 1: 2-10). Each of these readings can be treated from an ecclesiological perspective in dialogue with the Gospel readings. Each of these readings deals with the mission and character of God’s people from a variety of perspectives and with the judgment that results from unfaithfulness on the part of God’s people.
The Pastoral Epistles each attend to the meaning of life in Christ and do so in the context of the church. How is the church to act/behave in order to be prepared for the new life now available through the Christ event? The readings from Galatians and Colossians concern the quality of this new life in the church. The church is called to be a new humanity. The tension that exists between the old humanity and the emerging new humanity is a theme for all these readings.
With this introduction in mind, I will give attention to each of the readings for the month of July. I am hopeful that a focus on “the new humanity” might be a helpful way to organize summer preaching and challenge some new thinking about our ongoing challenge to be a new people. As Jesus makes the turn toward Jerusalem, there is attention given not only to his death but also to the implications of obedience for the life and work of the church. Perhaps this July might be an opportunity to deepen the conversation about what kind of new humanity we would like to become as we ponder the challenges of our contemporary mission.
Proper 9 (14) July 4, 2010
2 Kings 5: 1-14 Galatians 6: (1-6), 7-16 Luke 10: 1-11, 16-20
The Lukan reading is the sending of the seventy disciples with the instruction to “carry no purse, no bag, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. ”(10:4) There is the assumption of radical hospitality. Disciples are to go out with the expectation that they will be received and cared for by the households of faith. The presence of the reign of God produces hospitality. Perhaps, radical hospitality is a sign of the reign of God. However it works, the instructions that Jesus gives are clear. The disciples are to take nothing, stay where they are welcomed, cure the sick and announce that ‘the Kingdom of God has come near to you. ’ If not received or welcomed, they are to announce judgment by saying that the Kingdom of God has come near.
In Luke’s gospel the appointment of the 70 is clearly a mission strategy. Evan as Jesus turns toward death in Jerusalem, the focus is on how this new movement takes hold, grows, and works. A mission strategy is part of foreshadowing of death and resurrection. The urgency of the reign of God requires a decision – acceptance or rejection.
The passage from 2 Kings is the story of Elisha’s healing of Naaman. A foreigner is healed to both show the power of God and that the neighbor extends beyond Israel. Galatians deals with the theme of Christian conduct. Again the tension between law and freedom is stressed with emphasis being put on life in the spirit which is made possible by the death of Jesus. How men and women are to live in this new humanity was a significant challenge in the first century as it continues to be in the 21st century. How do we deal with our own tensions between law and freedom? How do we talk about Christian living? Perhaps an angle on the conversation is to link the radical hospitality of Luke with the call that Paul issues in Galatians. What would hospitality to the stranger look like for our churches? Can the church practice hospitality to the homeless, the immigrants, or others?
Proper 10 (15) July11, 2010
Amos 7: 7-17 Colossians 1: 1-14 Luke 10:25-37
Luke’s reading is the familiar story of the Good Samaritan. As is a constant theme in Luke, the meaning of new life in Christ is linked to love of neighbor. The neighbor is not simply the one who you know or love but the one who is in need. Hence, Jesus tells this story of the man who fell among robbers and who attended to by a Samaritan. As Jesus turns toward Jerusalem, the focus on love for neighbor does not diminish. Love for neighbor is one of the signs that the reign of God is near. The church is to likewise practice “neighbor love”. Radical hospitality and radical love are marks of the reign of God.
How do we talk about such love in today’s church? My focus in now on making people feel bad for what they are not doing but on focusing a new vision on what we might do. We need encouragement to dream new dreams and have new visions. Colossians 1 is a word of encouragement which stresses thanksgiving and forgiveness. Perhaps we need such an epistle addressed to us today about love and hospitality.
The reading from the prophet Amos is a dialogue between Amaziah, the court prophet and Amos, the shepherd prophet. We do have struggles today among prophets. The prosperity prophets talk not about loving your neighbor but about rewards for faithfulness. How do we address these false leaders who cheapen the gospel and deny the need for both radical love and radical hospitality of the neighbor?
Proper 11 (16) July 18, 2010
Amos 8: 1-12 Colossians 1: 15-28 Luke 10: 38-42
The story of Jesus, Mary, and Martha is the Lukan reading. However sorry one may feel for Martha, the focus on the importance of women as disciples is a consistent theme in Luke. Luke/Acts emphasis upon women is significant in relationship to developing leadership for both the 1st and 21st century church. With sexism raising its ugly head in so many churches, the focus on the primacy of women in the gospel strategy cannot be over emphasized.
The Amos text underlines again the importance of caring for the neighbor and makes clear the judgment that comes when neglect of the poor is practiced. A consistent theme of the prophetic readings is the need to care for the poor, the widow, the orphan, and the stranger.
The Colossians reading is a Christological reflection. The focus is on how a new humanity is possible because of what God has done in Christ. Because of Jesus’ death, there can be reconciliation in the church and a new humanity can be created which witnesses to the power of God in Christ.
Proper 12 (17) July 25, 2010
Hosea 1: 2-10 Colossians 2: 6-15 (16-19) Luke 11: 1-13
Luke’s version of the Lord’s Prayer is shared along with the importance of persistence in prayer. God will give good gifts. “Ask and it will be given to you; search and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ” (11:9) Note that in Luke the call is to forgive our debtors which is in keeping with Luke’s treatment of money. Forgiveness is both material and spiritual.
Colossians is a continuation of the previous week’s Christological reflection. Here the death of Christ is linked to the resurrection of Christ so that a believer is buried in baptism but raised with Jesus from the dead. Not only is Christ the Lord of the Church but the Lord of life. Paul claims that “he (Jesus) disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it. ” (2:15) Believers are to hold fast to Christ and not follow the ways of the world.
The Hosea reading sets up the comparison between Israel as a whore and Hosea’s wife Gomer. Clearly there is a focus on judgment for disobedience.
Conclusion
The journey toward Jerusalem as outlined by Luke does give an organizational frame for preaching during the month of July. Within that frame, the focus on the church as a new humanity is persistent. With an emphasis on ecclesiology, the preacher may use this month to refresh and deepen his/her own thinking about the mission of the church and map our net plans for the year to come.
