August 31, 2003
Prayer of the Day
O God, we thank you for your Son who chose the path of
suffering for the sake of the world. Humble us by his example, point
us to the path of obedience, and give us strength to follow his
commands; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9
{1} So now, Israel, give
heed to the statutes and ordinances that I am teaching you to observe,
so that you may live to enter and occupy the land that the LORD, the
God of your ancestors, is giving you. {2} You must neither add
anything to what I command you nor take away anything from it, but
keep the commandments of the LORD your God with which I am charging
you…. {6} You must observe them diligently, for this will show
your wisdom and discernment to the peoples, who, when they hear all
these statutes, will say, "Surely this great nation is a wise and
discerning people!" {7} For what other great nation has a god
so near to it as the LORD our God is whenever we call to him? {8}
And what other great nation has statutes and ordinances as just as
this entire law that I am setting before you today? {9} But
take care and watch yourselves closely, so as neither to forget the
things that your eyes have seen nor to let them slip from your mind
all the days of your life; make them known to your children and your
children's children--
2. You must neither add anything…nor take away
anything: "The so-called canonical formula (v. 2, ‘you shall not
add to the word…nor take from it’) has a long history…. But it did not
come to have its full meaning until it occurred in sub-apostolic
writings and in the church Fathers. Deuteronomy is not in fact very
far from the idea of a complete course of doctrine with binding
force." [1]
[3-5]: "…the preacher underlines the seriousness of the
situation by giving a terrifying example from ‘salvation history’ as a
warning; the disobedient who deserted Yahweh at Baal-peor [Numbers 25;
Hosea 9:10) received their punishment." [2] The implication is that those who fail to keep
the commandments of Yahweh will suffer a similar fate.
6-8: The "passage looks back to a recital of the law which has
already taken place…. The eloquent words which place the revelation at
Sinai as the embodiment of all wisdom above the truths possessed by
all other nations (vv. 6-8) can surely be understood only as an
exhortation to reinforce a recital of the law which has already been
made." [3]
9: A closing admonition to pass on the knowledge of Yahweh’s
mighty acts to the coming generations.
Psalm 15
(1} O LORD, who may
abide in your tent? Who may dwell on your holy hill? {2} Those
who walk blamelessly, and do what is right, and speak the truth from
their heart; {3} who do not slander with their tongue, and do
no evil to their friends, nor take up a reproach against their
neighbors; {4} in whose eyes the wicked are despised, but who
honor those who fear the LORD; who stand by their oath even to their
hurt; {5} who do not lend money at interest, and do not take a
bribe against the innocent. Those who do these things shall never be
moved.
The Psalm responds to the first lesson
by declaring that those who "walk blamelessly," obeying the
commandments of Yahweh, may dwell with him and shall never be moved.
The actions that are mentioned, speaking truth, standing by an oath,
not lending money at interest, nor taking a bribe, while honoring
their friends and neighbors, those who fear the Lord are the actions
of one bound by the covenant.
James 1:17-27
{17} Every generous act
of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from
the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to
change. {18} In fulfillment of his own purpose he gave us birth
by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits
of his creatures. {19} You must understand this, my beloved:
let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; {20}
for your anger does not produce God's righteousness. {21}
Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of
wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the
power to save your souls. {22} But be doers of the word, and
not merely hearers who deceive themselves. {23} For if any are
hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at
themselves in a mirror; {24} for they look at themselves and,
on going away, immediately forget what they were like. {25} But
those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and
persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act--they will
be blessed in their doing. {26} If any think they are
religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts,
their religion is worthless. {27} Religion that is pure and
undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and
widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
17-18: "We," Christians, have been "born" to be
evidence of the goodness and constancy of God.
19-27: As the first fruits of God’s creatures we must be "doers
of the word, and not merely hearers." Anger, sordidness, wickedness
are the actions of those whose religion is worthless because they
deceive themselves into thinking they are religious. The early
Christian community was composed of people from many different places,
ethnicities, classes, religious backgrounds, and behaviors. They often
found themselves required to treat as equals persons that otherwise
would have been rivals, adversaries, even enemies (That is the point
of Jesus’ admonition to "love your enemies."). James warns all of them
that they must be doers of the word, living out the law of love.
25. the perfect law, the law of liberty: This law is developed
in chapter 2, where it is identified as "the royal law according to
the scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’" (James 2:8,
12).
27. to care for orphans and widows in their distress: The
prophets (Isaiah 1:17; Jeremiah 5:28; Ezekiel 22:7; Zechariah 7:10;
Deuteronomy passim) saw caring for those who had no rights as
the proper expression of the religion of the covenant people, whose
God loved and cared for them though they had no rights to his
love.
to keep oneself unstained by the world: "‘unstained’ must be
completely restricted here to its ethical sense…. There can be no
doubt that in terms of the point it is making, v 27 is leading back to
the fundamental idea of the section: Be doers of the word! This
practical orientation of the verse (and of Jas in general) gives
evidence for a Christianity which sees the confirmation of its faith
in a daily life of brotherly love and moral purity—as Paul would say:
the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22)." [4]
Mark 7:1-8. 14-15, 21-23
{1} Now when the
Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered
around him, {2} they noticed that some of his disciples were
eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. {3}
(For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they
thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the
elders; {4} and they do not eat anything from the market unless
they wash it; and there are also many other traditions that they
observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.) {5} So
the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, "Why do your disciples not
live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled
hands?" {6} He said to them, "Isaiah prophesied rightly about
you hypocrites, as it is written, 'This people honors me with their
lips, but their hearts are far from me; {7} in vain do they
worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines.' {8} You
abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition…." {14}
Then he called the crowd again and said to them, "Listen to me, all of
you, and understand: {15} there is nothing outside a person
that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what
defile…." {21} For it is from within, from the human heart,
that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, {22}
adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander,
pride, folly. {23} All these evil things come from within, and
they defile a person."
3-4: These verse provide a brief explanation of
the ceremonial washings of "the Pharisees, and all the Jews" for the
benefit of those who do not know of such things.
the tradition of the elders: The "tradition of the elders" with
respect to matters of purity "was demanded of everyone by those such
as Pharisees and their scholars (called scribes) who viewed unwashed
Galilean peasants and fishermen as outside the law (see John
7:48-52)…. Keeping purity laws was a near impossibility for peasant
farmers…or for fishermen…. It was also very difficult for people who
traveled about such as Jesus and his disciples." [5]
5-8: Jesus is challenged concerning his seeming disregard for
the laws of purity. Jesus’ retort dismisses the challenge as being
without merit, an illustration of Isaiah’s description of those who
give human tradition the status of God’s commandments. The quotation
from Isaiah 29:13 is "these people draw near with their mouths and
honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and
their worship of me is a human commandment learned by rote…."
[9-13]: Jesus’ counter challenge regarding the vow of Corban,
that is, placing something, property or money, under a taboo. Jesus
interprets this as dishonoring of parents.
14-15. Then he called the crowd again: Having disposed of the
Pharisees Jesus offers to "the crowd," the ordinary people who did not
keep purity as the Pharisees did, an alternative understanding of
purity before God. It is what is inside a person that defiles a
person.
21-23: Jesus lists the impure intentions that come from within
and lead to sin, defiling a person.
Reflection
We pray for strength to follow the example of
obedience of the Son of God. The Gospel would have us understand that
it is our inner motivations that reflect our purity or impurity. To do
the word is not just keeping the letter of the law. Rather it is the
incorporation of God’s intention for us to reflect his purity, by
caring for those who are unable the care for themselves. The second
lesson inveighs against a worthless religion, which is concerned for
one’s self at the expense of one’s neighbor, a fellow-member of the
Christian community.
These lessons, collectively, are a powerful antidote to the
contemporary definition of the Christian life in terms of keeping the
law as an evidence of personal righteousness. Instead, the royal law
is that we love our neighbors as ourselves, and put ourselves at risk
in the effort to care for that neighbor. Widows and orphans are
introduced to personify those who have no rights and no claim on our
generosity, whose care, nevertheless, is a demonstration of pure,
undefiled religion.
It is not what we do to advance our own righteousness that God
looks on with favor, but our love for those who are helpless and
hopeless, those who are ranged against God and his people. It should
be interesting to explore what this might mean as we deal with
homosexuals, abusers, drunks, murders, and so on. Jesus put his life
on the line for such people. He commanded us to love our enemies and
our neighbors as ourselves as he did. Perhaps it is time for us to try
it.
Hymns [6]
With One Voice (e.g. 762v), Hymnal Supplement
1991 (e.g. 725s) and LBW (e.g. 32).
E=Entrance; D=Hymn of the Day; I=First Lesson, P=Psalm;
II=Second Lesson; G=Gospel
401 --E--Before You, Lord,
409 --D--Praise and Thanksgiving
88 --II--Oh, Love, How
800s --II--O Love of
745v --II--Awake, O Sleeper (813s)
235 --G--Break Now the
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334 --G--Jesus, Savior, Pilot
709v --G--Eat this Bread (772s)
701v --G--What Feast of Love
--G--702v/762s, 700v/761s
731v/824s,
290, 487, 467, 722v
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Prayers of
the People [7]
Almighty God, forgive us when we hear and
forget. Make us hearers who remember and doers who act. We hear your
call. Help us by your Holy Spirit to respond. Give us grace to
identify those in distress. Inspire us to change the conditions of
human law and practice that cause the distress. Spur us to be
politically and socially alive, for the sake of Jesus, who meets us in
all human need. God who calls us to serve hear our prayer.
You give us vacation and you offer us rest, O God. You call us to
service and you give us the gifts to serve. Bless all ecumenical and
inter-church councils. We plead for your wisdom again in living and
dealing with one another. Give grace, we pray, to members of the
Lutheran Church-Canada and people of our Evangelical Lutheran Church
in Canada who meet this coming weekend as Lutheran Council in Canada.
Give insight and understanding for the task. God who calls us to serve
hear our prayer.
Or
[8]
Presider or
deacon
Honoring God with our hearts as with our lips, let us offer
prayers for all those in danger and need.
Deacon or other leader
For N our bishop and N our presbyter, for this holy
gathering, and for the people of God in every place.
For mercy, peace, and justice among all peoples.
For students and teachers, and all those returning to their studies.
For workers and their organizations, and for those who employ and
manage them.
For farmers and abundant fruits of the earth, and for safety from
violent storms.
For the sick and the suffering, orphans and widows, prisoners,
captives, and their families, and all those in distress.
For our city and those who live in it, and for our families,
companions, and all those we love.
For those who rest in Christ and for all the dead.
Lifting our voices with all creation, let us offer ourselves and one
another to the living God through Christ.
To you, O Lord.
Presider
Father of lights, in whom there is no variation or shadow, hear the
prayers we offer this day and inspire us to be doers of the word,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Notes
[1] Gerhard von
Rad, Deuteronomy: A Commentary, The Westminster Press, 1966, p.
48.
[2] Loc. cit.
[3] Ibid.,
p. 49.
[4] Martin
Dibelius, James: A Commentary on the Epistle of James.
Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1976, p. 122.
[5] Bruce Malina &
Richard L. Rohrbaugh, Social Science Commentary on the Synoptic
Gospels. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1992, p. 221.
[6]
http://www.worship.on.ca/text/rclb9900.txt
[7]
http://www.worship.on.ca/text/pray_b2.txt
[8]
http://members.cox.net/oplater/prayer.htm
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