I suppose that most of us want to “go to Church” for the comfort and stability it may provide, an oasis in our troubled week. Yet one of the prime duties of the Church and the scripture that feeds it is to stretch the souls of its members. This week’s readings are no exception: those who worship are hauled beyond their safety and tradition to look a bit further into the greater scheme of Creation. We open the Holy Writings with fear and trembling; our understanding will never be the same again!
Jeremiah was still a boy when he recognized God’s call to speak a word of newness to a culture quite content to be self-righteous. (1:4-10) But his words were to be authored by The Lord: “You shall go to all to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you….I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.” Notice that Jeremiah’s hesitancy is seen as normal by Yahweh, and the divine response is couched in tender terms of partnership. Reading about Jeremiah’s call “suggests that God still calls, God’s mission is not yet accomplished, and even the jaded, weary ex-idealist can still be hauled by God into a fresh place, a renewed discipleship.” (James C. Howell, FEASTING ON THE WORD, C 1:291) Et tu?
I always shudder when the “Love Chapter”, I Corinthians 13, comes around. Way too many brides choose this for their wedding, thinking it romantic and controlling. St. Paul inserts this passage into his lover’s quarrel with the Corinthian Church not as a chintzy hope for what should be, but as a remonstrance to congregations who were NOT particularly patient & kind, who were good at insisting on their own way, being irritable and resentful! Paul is expecting a more noticeable growth in ethical matters and provoking his hearers to more Christ-like lives. Such, of course, are products of intentional intimacy with the Savior…
Jesus preached a good sermon in his home synagogue in Nazareth. (Luke 4:21-30) Old neighbors proudly claimed him as their own. BUT when he recalled that God pushed the envelope of tribal devotion by feeding a SYRIAN widow during the famine, and that Naaman the SYRIAN general was healed of leprosy, this assaulted their complacency so much that they were about to throw Jesus over the cliff! Ever since, the Church’s expected position is On the Edge, right where tradition meets the frontier of disbelief.
Beyond the Call to Do Something for God is a vocational concept of BEING Something for God. Adolescent Jeremiah was called to speak, yes; more importantly, to BE God’s Person. (Read the whole book to see just how he did this!) The cluster of house- churches in eclectic Corinth were called to BE more and more Christ-like. The Nazarene synagogue was called to have a more inclusive world-view, to BE what their Law required.
I expect to be showing my advanced years by quoting German pietist Gerhard Tersteegen– “God Calling Yet! Shall I not hear? Earth’s pleasures shall I still hold dear? Shall life’s swift passing years all fly, And still my soul in slumber lie? God Calling Yet! Shall I not rise? Can I [God’s] loving voice despise, And basely [God’s] kind care repay? {God} calls me still; can I delay?”
God Bless Us, Every One. Horace Brown King
My thoughts on lectionary passages for the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook; or on HoraceBrownKing
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