I admit it. I’m a fairweather friend. I can be a humorous and sanguine buddy as long as things are going well–but if you really need a helping hand, I can usually duck out by doing something else. Fortunately, God isn’t like that. In all seasons, God can be relied upon to be an empathetic and genuine companion, always ready to hear and attend to our anxieties and disappointments. Lessons for the coming weekend uncover this Steadfast Love, and remind us of our own importance within Creation.
We begin with selected verses from the Book of Esther (7:1-10; 9:20-22) This book wasn’t written down in current form until the time of the Maccabees–about 175 BCE–although portions of it had been passed on as oral tradition for several centuries before. The book doesn’t pretend to be “history”: its purpose is to encourage the Jewish people to endure in times of trouble, for wickedness and racial persecution will get zapped in the end! This message is important today because of the fear- mongers who stir up anxiety about good people who’re maligned because they look different or speak differently or worship differently than “we” do… So it’s a message of social justice and faith in a God who hasn’t let us down.
The Epistle reading is that of James, the Advice Columnist of the New Testament, 5:13-20. Today he urges intercessory prayer for the sick, the broken and the wandering. His implication is that the God of Steadfast Love will receive these needs and make the sufferer(s) whole…no matter how bad things have been. Those who tackle this text “will almost certainly find resistance,since it is no small thing to dislodge the self-serving wisdom of the world with the community-healing wisdom of God.” (Barbara Brown Taylor)
And the Gospel seems loaded with harsh judgment (Mark 9:38-50): is this really Jesus telling us to purge ourselves of an offending body part? The bottom line seems to say that it’s better to enter eternity maimed than to be thrown into hell for the sins of “one part”. (Devout Jews were not allowed into the sanctuary if they were bodily deformed or incomplete.) Can we infer that the God of Steadfast Love makes room in heaven for even the imperfect? This can get tricky, if we’re to keep integrity with Mark’s remembrance.
A recurring theme will continue to surface during these weeks leading to the fulfillment of the Christian Year, before we turn to the anticipation of Advent. That theme is one of Building the Good Community, becoming the People of God more and more along our Holy Journey. There is really nothing to fear as we acknowledge this God of Steadfast Love who is unfolding a goodly future before us.
God Bless Us, Every One Horace Brown King
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