In some circles there’s a feeling of individualism: as long as I’m OK, then it doesn’t matter about the rest of you guys. Lessons to be heard this weekend speak to the community formed around the Christ. Persons involved are reminded that God’s Grace is universal, that it is God’s intention to include everyone in the Kingdom. “The days after Pentecost offer a season for communal theological reflection about relationships with those who do not have the same faith convictions.”–Stephanie Y. Mitchem, in FEASTING on the WORD, A 3:342.
The Third section of Isaiah (56–66) is aimed at those returning from Exile in Babylon and those who have “stayed home”. In ISAIAH 56:1, 6-8 we read about the coming salvation even for “foreigners” and the “outcasts of Israel” who are willing to keep the Sabbath and to hold fast God’s covenant. The “salvation” preached here is not a matter of Who’s In and Who’s Out, but rather an acknowledgement that having been touched by God, the whole community will WANT to emulate the Holy Life. God invites everyone, even the looney neighbors next door.
In the 11th chapter of ROMANS, Paul continues to bemoan the fact that his Jewish People have yet to answer the call of Christ. He maintains that those who have observed the Covenant of old are still receiving God’s mercy, even though their experience is yet incomplete. But God isn’t ready or willing to let any of us go: we can reject God and the Creative Plan, but God continues to chase us as the Hound of Heaven. And those who taste salvation are encouraged to build a community which reflects holy Justice and strives after holy righteousness.
MATTHEW tells a puzzling story in 15:21-28: away from his home base, Jesus is confronted by a Gentile woman requesting a healing for her tormented daughter. Jesus argues that his ministry is for the Jews only–but she prevails by asking for the crumbs dropped under the table. Impressed by her faith, Jesus heals the girl. It appears that God’s compassionate power is EVERYwhere! Was there an echo here of Third Isaiah’s commentary to the Jews who claimed an exclusive entrance to God’s grace? Is there implied a command to go into even the toxic areas nearby with the banners of Justice and Righteousness?
Martha C. Highsmith reminds us that “Grace is God’s alone to offer, and God offers it, it seems, to all people–the Jew and the Gentile, the ins and the outs, the faithful and the disobedient.” It’s good to celebrate our salvation–we do so by being inclusive, living the life of Justice, presenting a face of Righteousness to a yet-skewed world.
In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King
Join in at horacebrownking. com every Tuesday a we examine scriptural lessons to be read on the upcoming weekend.
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