From Evil to Grace and Wisdom
Commentary
Jeremiah 8:18--9:1
The First Lesson is found in a collection of prophecies of a late 7th or early 6th-century BC prophet from Judah during the reigns of Josiah in Judah through the era of the Babylonian captivity. He dictated these prophecies to his aid Baruch. Three sources of the book have been identified: (1) An authentic poetic strand; (2) biographic prose; and (3) Deuteronomist redaction, reflecting themes of the 7th-century religious reforms under King Josiah. The interplay of these strands suggests that the final editors see Jeremiah’s prophecies as relevant in a new context.
The lesson is the prophet’s lament over Judah. He first expresses grief over the condemnation he must pronounce (8:18-22). Noting that the people are still not saved (reference to the harvest being passed could suggest that the people were suffering drought [8:20]), Jeremiah wonders why there is no physician and why the people’s health has not been restored. Reference to balm in Gilead in this verse is to resin from the stryax tree in the northern Transjordan region of Gilead. This balm was widely used for medicinal purposes in the Ancient Near East (8:22). The prophet prays that he could weep day and night for the slain among his people (9:1).
These harsh words of Jeremiah directed towards the people of Judah on the eve of their conquest by the Babylonians were occasioned by the internal decay the prophet saw in the land. Reference is made earlier in the book to the Judean’s oppression of immigrants and children along with the widespread practice of theft, adultery, and idolatry (7”4-10). In a Gallup Poll earlier in the year, it was found that a majority of Americans (58%) are dissatisfied with the number of Americans entering our nation. Shoplifting has been on the rise exponentially since the pandemic began to wane. A 2019 Pew Research Center poll discovered that ½ of American Christians believe that casual sex between consenting adults is sometimes or always acceptable. As for idolatry, take a look at the crowds at the shopping center Sunday morning on the way to church. America (including all of us) is condemned by this lesson. A sermon on this text will make it clear that Jeremiah is right about us. We are in need of more awareness of how our problems in American life are our own making.
Preachers might develop the theme of how seeing faults in ourselves is good for us, that our critics are actually our friends. This idea that God’s critique of us is an act of friendship and love is in line with how the prophet and God weep over our waywardness (9:1). The divine critique we endure is by a caring God. Preachers might also develop the theme of how the balm or resin (8:22) is a medicine. God intends to be our physician, to heal and cure us of our maladies and waywardness.
Psalm 79:1-91
The alternative First Lesson appears in a book of Hebraic hymns of praise, most of which were composed to accompany worship in the Jerusalem temple. This psalm is an Asaph Group Lament, praying for deliverance from national enemies. (Asaph was one of David’s chief musicians.) But most scholars believe that this one was probably not written until the end of the conquest of Jerusalem by Babylonians.
The psalm begins with a lament made by God that the temple has been defiled and Jerusalem laid to ruins (v.1). Dead bodies of the Judeans have become food for animals (v.2). None is left to bury the dead (v.3). Mass executions seem to have characterized the Babylonian conquest. The Judeans have come to be mocked by other nations, presumably charged of being abandoned by God, so that they are without one (v.4; cf. v.10). Petitions are raised to Yahweh regarding how long he will remain angry (v.5). He is begged to pour out his anger/wrath on those who do not know him (v.6). Petitions are offered that the Lord not remember the iniquities of our ancestors, and his compassion come to meet us speedily (v.8). God is asked to forgive/atone for [kaphar, cover] our sins and deliver [natsal, snatch away] us (v.9).
Trust in civic institutions is plummeting. A 2021 Pew Research Center poll found that only 18% of us trust government “always or most of time,” down from 62% in 1968, and our support for authoritarianism is growing, especially among the young, less educated and less politically engaged. New books have appeared with titles like The End of Democracy?: Russia and China on the Rise, America in Retreat (by Douglas Schoen) and Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism(by Anne Applebaum). Nor should we forget January 6, 2021, and the raid on the U.S. Capitol. Drawing analogies between these developments and the ruin of Jerusalem, the death of what is precious in the nation, will help bring the text to life for hearers of the sermon.
Some of the same themes reflected in the other First Lesson text are appropriate for this text as well. If America is to get back on its feet again, it needs the word of condemnation that sermons on this lLesson can afford. But the Good News is that we are not abandoned by God, for he knows us in all our ways (v.4; cf. v.10). And even better, the text affords opportunity to proclaim God’s compassion, his forgiving love, and how he “covers” our sin or “snatches” us away. Wrapped up in God’s compassion, we may be lifted away from all the skepticism, destructiveness, and despair which characterizes much of life in America today.
1 Timothy 2:1-7
The Second Lesson is taken from an epistle purportedly written by Paul, but not likely his own work. Pauline themes regarding justification by faith are missing, though the author may have been acquainted with other Pauline letters. Since the author is also apparently aware of the Book of Acts, this letter may not have been written until late in the first century. Although purportedly addressed to Timothy, a young convert to Christianity and companion of Paul in his travels (Acts 16:1; Romans 16:21; 1 Corinthians 4:17), most of the letter is a general teaching targeting an entire congregation and readers in various congregations. Besides providing guidance on problems of church administration, the epistle also opposes false teaching of a speculative type which may have been related to Gnosticism.
The lesson offers regulations on worship. The author urges that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving be made for everyone, including rulers, so that we might lead quiet, peaceable lives (vv.1-2). The preceding exhortation is said to be good and acceptable in the sight of God (v.3). God is said to desire all to be saved (v.4). A psalm is cited, praising the one God and one mediator between God and humanity, Christ Jesus, who as a human, gave himself as ransom for all (vv.5-6). Assuming the persona of Paul, the author claims he was appointed a herald and apostle, a teaching of the Gentiles (v.7).
A late 2021 Gallup poll indicated that only 44% trust America’s executive branch of government and only 37% trust the legislative branch. The numbers are not much better at the state level. Polls earlier in our new century indicated that nearly 50% of Protestants believe in an authoritative God who punishes (Paul Froes and Christopher Bader, America’s Four Gods).
This lesson affords an opportunity for sermons devoted to either of these challenges. The text calls for prayer for all, including rulers, that we might lead quiet and peaceable lives (v.3). This is an excellent opportunity to preach on the values of public service and how government only works when we honor and care for our leaders (albeit with healthy doses of criticism concerning when and if they guide the nation to peace).
But the text also testifies to Jesus as our mediator, giving himself as a ransom for all (vv.5-6). This is clearly not a punishing God, and so this becomes a wonderful contrast to the way most Americans think of God. The idea that God wants all saved (v.4) also opens opportunities to speak of how faith does not save, that God saves. The gift of salvation is already in our laps. Celebrate the peace and comfort of this insight.
Luke 16:1-13
The gospel is drawn from the first part of the author’s two-part history of the church. Both books aim to vindicate outreach to the Gentile community, and its author is supposed to have been a Gentile, Luke a physician and associate of Paul (Colossians 4:14; 2 Timothy 4:11). Addressed to Theophilus (1:1), it is not clear if this means that the work was written for a recent convert or for a Roman official from whom the church sought tolerance. But since Theophilus means “lover of God,” it is possible that the author was addressing all the faithful. This gospel is clearly indebted to oral traditions about Jesus which have been recorded in Mark, though this lesson, Jesus’ parable of the dishonest manager, has no clear parallels.
Jesus first reports to the disciples how a rich man had a manager/steward [oikonomia] against whom charges had been brought for squandering the rich man’s property (v.1). The rich man summons the manager and dismissed him from his office (v.2). This creates much worry for the former manager who was unwilling to take on menial work or beg (vv. 3-4). Then the manager tries a new strategy. He calls on all the debtors of the rich man and forgives them a portion of their debt if they pay it in part (vv.5-7). The master hears of this and commends the dishonest manager for acting shrewdly. Jesus adds that the sons of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light [phos, the spiritually enlightened] are (v.8).
Some scholars believe that what follows in the lesson are later additions and not directly related to the parable’s original meaning. The verses are related in the sense of helping the faithful see that life is not found in the accumulation of wealth. Jesus is next reported as teaching that he would have the faithful make friends by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they will be welcomed in eternal homes (v.9). Praise is given to those who know what is coming and adapt to it. He proceeds to note that no house-slave can serve two masters, as he will hate one and despise others. So, none cannot serve God and wealth (v.13).
Sermons on this text may proclaim Christian responsibility for seeking economic justice. Another possibility is to encourage appreciation that there is more to life than wealth. If this approach is taken, v.13’s observation is crucial, as it calls us to recognize that serving God should be our priority over everything, including the quest for wealth. If you move to focus
more on economic justice, then preachers do well to focus on how the inflation we now experience hurts the poor more than the rich (Jalen Small, “Inflation is Making Poverty in the U.S. Even More Difficult”). Focus the sermon on not just how your congregation members are suffering from the inflation, but especially how the poor are impacted even more, since they are losing a larger percentage of their income to the added costs than most economically comfortable Americans, that they often do not have the means or ability to travel to stores where the best prices can be found. The Gospel Lesson seems to praise the shrewdness or practical wisdom of the dishonest manager. The lesson this teaches modern-day Christians is that in facing the inflation and poverty in general, we and the church do well to be shrewd — in our personal and institutional strategies, and also regarding which politicians running for office in the November mid-terms can best serve the interests of economic justice. Sermons on this text might remind the flock to be looking to vote for candidates, not on the basis of ideology or personal attractiveness, but to vote for those who have the best ideas and who can really implement more justice in our economic systems. In this connection, reference might be made to the analysis of former Secretary of Labor and economics professor Robert Reich. He claims that the deeper structural reason for the price hikes have to do with the concentration of economic power into the hands of just a few corporate giants who have the power to raise prices. If he is right, we need to learn which politicians are beholden to these corporate giants.
The lessons all call us to wisdom — both a spiritual wisdom but also to a political, economic wisdom in the quest for justice and in celebration of the peace that comes from being right with God.
The First Lesson is found in a collection of prophecies of a late 7th or early 6th-century BC prophet from Judah during the reigns of Josiah in Judah through the era of the Babylonian captivity. He dictated these prophecies to his aid Baruch. Three sources of the book have been identified: (1) An authentic poetic strand; (2) biographic prose; and (3) Deuteronomist redaction, reflecting themes of the 7th-century religious reforms under King Josiah. The interplay of these strands suggests that the final editors see Jeremiah’s prophecies as relevant in a new context.
The lesson is the prophet’s lament over Judah. He first expresses grief over the condemnation he must pronounce (8:18-22). Noting that the people are still not saved (reference to the harvest being passed could suggest that the people were suffering drought [8:20]), Jeremiah wonders why there is no physician and why the people’s health has not been restored. Reference to balm in Gilead in this verse is to resin from the stryax tree in the northern Transjordan region of Gilead. This balm was widely used for medicinal purposes in the Ancient Near East (8:22). The prophet prays that he could weep day and night for the slain among his people (9:1).
These harsh words of Jeremiah directed towards the people of Judah on the eve of their conquest by the Babylonians were occasioned by the internal decay the prophet saw in the land. Reference is made earlier in the book to the Judean’s oppression of immigrants and children along with the widespread practice of theft, adultery, and idolatry (7”4-10). In a Gallup Poll earlier in the year, it was found that a majority of Americans (58%) are dissatisfied with the number of Americans entering our nation. Shoplifting has been on the rise exponentially since the pandemic began to wane. A 2019 Pew Research Center poll discovered that ½ of American Christians believe that casual sex between consenting adults is sometimes or always acceptable. As for idolatry, take a look at the crowds at the shopping center Sunday morning on the way to church. America (including all of us) is condemned by this lesson. A sermon on this text will make it clear that Jeremiah is right about us. We are in need of more awareness of how our problems in American life are our own making.
Preachers might develop the theme of how seeing faults in ourselves is good for us, that our critics are actually our friends. This idea that God’s critique of us is an act of friendship and love is in line with how the prophet and God weep over our waywardness (9:1). The divine critique we endure is by a caring God. Preachers might also develop the theme of how the balm or resin (8:22) is a medicine. God intends to be our physician, to heal and cure us of our maladies and waywardness.
Psalm 79:1-91
The alternative First Lesson appears in a book of Hebraic hymns of praise, most of which were composed to accompany worship in the Jerusalem temple. This psalm is an Asaph Group Lament, praying for deliverance from national enemies. (Asaph was one of David’s chief musicians.) But most scholars believe that this one was probably not written until the end of the conquest of Jerusalem by Babylonians.
The psalm begins with a lament made by God that the temple has been defiled and Jerusalem laid to ruins (v.1). Dead bodies of the Judeans have become food for animals (v.2). None is left to bury the dead (v.3). Mass executions seem to have characterized the Babylonian conquest. The Judeans have come to be mocked by other nations, presumably charged of being abandoned by God, so that they are without one (v.4; cf. v.10). Petitions are raised to Yahweh regarding how long he will remain angry (v.5). He is begged to pour out his anger/wrath on those who do not know him (v.6). Petitions are offered that the Lord not remember the iniquities of our ancestors, and his compassion come to meet us speedily (v.8). God is asked to forgive/atone for [kaphar, cover] our sins and deliver [natsal, snatch away] us (v.9).
Trust in civic institutions is plummeting. A 2021 Pew Research Center poll found that only 18% of us trust government “always or most of time,” down from 62% in 1968, and our support for authoritarianism is growing, especially among the young, less educated and less politically engaged. New books have appeared with titles like The End of Democracy?: Russia and China on the Rise, America in Retreat (by Douglas Schoen) and Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism(by Anne Applebaum). Nor should we forget January 6, 2021, and the raid on the U.S. Capitol. Drawing analogies between these developments and the ruin of Jerusalem, the death of what is precious in the nation, will help bring the text to life for hearers of the sermon.
Some of the same themes reflected in the other First Lesson text are appropriate for this text as well. If America is to get back on its feet again, it needs the word of condemnation that sermons on this lLesson can afford. But the Good News is that we are not abandoned by God, for he knows us in all our ways (v.4; cf. v.10). And even better, the text affords opportunity to proclaim God’s compassion, his forgiving love, and how he “covers” our sin or “snatches” us away. Wrapped up in God’s compassion, we may be lifted away from all the skepticism, destructiveness, and despair which characterizes much of life in America today.
1 Timothy 2:1-7
The Second Lesson is taken from an epistle purportedly written by Paul, but not likely his own work. Pauline themes regarding justification by faith are missing, though the author may have been acquainted with other Pauline letters. Since the author is also apparently aware of the Book of Acts, this letter may not have been written until late in the first century. Although purportedly addressed to Timothy, a young convert to Christianity and companion of Paul in his travels (Acts 16:1; Romans 16:21; 1 Corinthians 4:17), most of the letter is a general teaching targeting an entire congregation and readers in various congregations. Besides providing guidance on problems of church administration, the epistle also opposes false teaching of a speculative type which may have been related to Gnosticism.
The lesson offers regulations on worship. The author urges that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving be made for everyone, including rulers, so that we might lead quiet, peaceable lives (vv.1-2). The preceding exhortation is said to be good and acceptable in the sight of God (v.3). God is said to desire all to be saved (v.4). A psalm is cited, praising the one God and one mediator between God and humanity, Christ Jesus, who as a human, gave himself as ransom for all (vv.5-6). Assuming the persona of Paul, the author claims he was appointed a herald and apostle, a teaching of the Gentiles (v.7).
A late 2021 Gallup poll indicated that only 44% trust America’s executive branch of government and only 37% trust the legislative branch. The numbers are not much better at the state level. Polls earlier in our new century indicated that nearly 50% of Protestants believe in an authoritative God who punishes (Paul Froes and Christopher Bader, America’s Four Gods).
This lesson affords an opportunity for sermons devoted to either of these challenges. The text calls for prayer for all, including rulers, that we might lead quiet and peaceable lives (v.3). This is an excellent opportunity to preach on the values of public service and how government only works when we honor and care for our leaders (albeit with healthy doses of criticism concerning when and if they guide the nation to peace).
But the text also testifies to Jesus as our mediator, giving himself as a ransom for all (vv.5-6). This is clearly not a punishing God, and so this becomes a wonderful contrast to the way most Americans think of God. The idea that God wants all saved (v.4) also opens opportunities to speak of how faith does not save, that God saves. The gift of salvation is already in our laps. Celebrate the peace and comfort of this insight.
Luke 16:1-13
The gospel is drawn from the first part of the author’s two-part history of the church. Both books aim to vindicate outreach to the Gentile community, and its author is supposed to have been a Gentile, Luke a physician and associate of Paul (Colossians 4:14; 2 Timothy 4:11). Addressed to Theophilus (1:1), it is not clear if this means that the work was written for a recent convert or for a Roman official from whom the church sought tolerance. But since Theophilus means “lover of God,” it is possible that the author was addressing all the faithful. This gospel is clearly indebted to oral traditions about Jesus which have been recorded in Mark, though this lesson, Jesus’ parable of the dishonest manager, has no clear parallels.
Jesus first reports to the disciples how a rich man had a manager/steward [oikonomia] against whom charges had been brought for squandering the rich man’s property (v.1). The rich man summons the manager and dismissed him from his office (v.2). This creates much worry for the former manager who was unwilling to take on menial work or beg (vv. 3-4). Then the manager tries a new strategy. He calls on all the debtors of the rich man and forgives them a portion of their debt if they pay it in part (vv.5-7). The master hears of this and commends the dishonest manager for acting shrewdly. Jesus adds that the sons of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light [phos, the spiritually enlightened] are (v.8).
Some scholars believe that what follows in the lesson are later additions and not directly related to the parable’s original meaning. The verses are related in the sense of helping the faithful see that life is not found in the accumulation of wealth. Jesus is next reported as teaching that he would have the faithful make friends by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they will be welcomed in eternal homes (v.9). Praise is given to those who know what is coming and adapt to it. He proceeds to note that no house-slave can serve two masters, as he will hate one and despise others. So, none cannot serve God and wealth (v.13).
Sermons on this text may proclaim Christian responsibility for seeking economic justice. Another possibility is to encourage appreciation that there is more to life than wealth. If this approach is taken, v.13’s observation is crucial, as it calls us to recognize that serving God should be our priority over everything, including the quest for wealth. If you move to focus
more on economic justice, then preachers do well to focus on how the inflation we now experience hurts the poor more than the rich (Jalen Small, “Inflation is Making Poverty in the U.S. Even More Difficult”). Focus the sermon on not just how your congregation members are suffering from the inflation, but especially how the poor are impacted even more, since they are losing a larger percentage of their income to the added costs than most economically comfortable Americans, that they often do not have the means or ability to travel to stores where the best prices can be found. The Gospel Lesson seems to praise the shrewdness or practical wisdom of the dishonest manager. The lesson this teaches modern-day Christians is that in facing the inflation and poverty in general, we and the church do well to be shrewd — in our personal and institutional strategies, and also regarding which politicians running for office in the November mid-terms can best serve the interests of economic justice. Sermons on this text might remind the flock to be looking to vote for candidates, not on the basis of ideology or personal attractiveness, but to vote for those who have the best ideas and who can really implement more justice in our economic systems. In this connection, reference might be made to the analysis of former Secretary of Labor and economics professor Robert Reich. He claims that the deeper structural reason for the price hikes have to do with the concentration of economic power into the hands of just a few corporate giants who have the power to raise prices. If he is right, we need to learn which politicians are beholden to these corporate giants.
The lessons all call us to wisdom — both a spiritual wisdom but also to a political, economic wisdom in the quest for justice and in celebration of the peace that comes from being right with God.
