Surviving for real!
Commentary
Earlier this year the nation was captivated by the television series Survivor -- the Outback. Along with other "real TV" series and cutthroat elimination game shows (including Greed and The Weakest Link), many had the armchair luxury of watching who would win immunity or survive the given ordeal and how they did it.
Our texts today can be read against this idea of surviving. Whether trying to rise above bickering or living with a dreaded disease or enduring exile, there is a word from the Lord to strengthen and sustain believers today.
Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7
Letters were an important form of communication in Old Testament times, just as they were in the New Testament era. David wrote to Joab about placing Uriah on the front line of battle. Elijah sent a scathing letter to King Jehoram about his apostasy. Mordecai established the Feast of Purim by dispatching letters to the Jews scattered near and far, telling them all that happened under Queen Esther. Jeremiah composed a letter to the exiles to counsel them through this time of judgment.
As with his verbal prophecies, Jeremiah's letter carried the word from the Lord. It contained far more than merely wisdom and advice from Jeremiah. It's goal was not merely to lift the mood of those dispirited by the turn of events at the beginning of the sixth century B.C. "Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel...." God himself spoke through Jeremiah to his beloved, those being disciplined for their transgressions. The advice in the letter was for the deportees to settle in to their new community in exile. Babylon would be their home for now (70 years), time enough to build homes and raise families and become invested in the welfare of the community.
Obviously, facing a 70-year exile, this was not good news. There might be a return in the future, but it would not happen for the current generation. All but the very youngest would complete their lifetimes in the foreign land. Their fate was sealed in exile. This was made clear to the royal family by means of a profound metaphor. Coniah, son of Jehoiakim, would have been ruler; but Nebuchadnezzer set up Zedekiah to reign instead (Jeremiah 37:1). Jeremiah compared this to God removing the signet ring of the ruling family off his finger and handing it over to the Babylonians (Jeremiah 22:24-30).
Yet, in another respect, though this judgment was severe, there was a word of promise. The letter continued with the prophecy that God would return his people to their homeland. "For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope" (Jeremiah 29:11). Practically speaking, as a people, they would survive.
So, the wisdom and advice from God through Jeremiah is this: embrace the judgment, stay strong in number and seek the welfare of the city. Build houses, have children and pray for the neighbor. The people will survive the ordeal if they follow these instructions, given in the letter.
It is worth noting from the rest of the letter that there were competing claims as to what would happen to the people. Jeremiah warns against false prophets who would feed off the desires of the people to return home quickly and to be done with this trial. False hope could easily be created, only to be dashed. A gloomy end awaited such false prophets (Jeremiah 29:20-23).
2 Timothy 2:8-15
The key to survival is to "remember Jesus Christ" (2:8). This is not meant to be trite. This Jesus Christ is the one who is "risen from the dead" (2:8). This is survival par excellence. It had not been done before and it has not been done since. (Both the widow's son from Nain, and Lazarus, restored to life by Jesus, were once again laid to rest until the resurrection on the Last Day.) When one is sorely pressed and vexed, remember Jesus. He will be the strength of any who trust in him, as Paul discovered while "wearing fetters like a criminal" (2:9). The writer to the Hebrews understood this also (Hebrews 2:18, 4:14-16, 12:3), as encouragement is given through the example of Jesus, who can help and inspire confidence in those who are going through trials of their own.
Paul embraces his suffering on behalf of the gospel for the sake of the gospel. That is, he sees an evangelical purpose in it. He is perfectly willing to "endure everything," if it will bring anyone to Jesus Christ (2:10). He expresses this most extremely in Romans 9:3, where he states that he would be willing to be damned if it would mean the salvation of his fellow Jews who resist accepting Jesus. Paul focused on the greater purposes of God and subjected himself and his own welfare to those purposes (as he notes in 2 Corinthians 11:23-28).
When Paul writes, "The saying is sure," one expects him to affirm an Old Testament text or quote a contemporary poet or philosopher (as he does at the Areopagus in Athens, Acts 17:28). Apparently, however, Paul is nearer to quoting himself in verses 11-13. (Compare verse 11 with Romans 6:4-5; verse 12a with Philippians 3:10-11; verse 12b with Romans 1:18--2:11 and 11:22; verse 13 with Romans 3:3.)
Paul contrasts the future hope that will balance out the present suffering. The hope is in living and reigning with God -- beyond the suffering and death of this life. For sure, the human will is capable of denying Christ, proving to be faithless; yet, God continues to be true to the covenant in which he has revealed himself as patiently loving and merciful in judgment. This quality of the divine life cannot, nor will not, be subject to change.
Paul adds a rather lengthy counsel to Timothy on the danger of bickering over words that will lead to dissension, quarreling, ungodliness and untruth. Just a couple verses of this are included in the pericope. His concern is to protect the faith of the community of believers, which can easily become unsettled when there is wrangling. He is confident in the content of the gospel that he delivered to the church in Ephesus and exhorts them to handle that word of truth.
Luke 17:11-19
This text gets a run for its money. It is used yearly for Thanksgiving, as well as here in this cycle. One of Jesus' better-known miracles, it accentuates the response of the one leper returning thanks and praise to God after being healed. The irony is that he was a "foreigner" (17:18). Apparently, the others were in part or all people of Israel. The colony of lepers was most likely a mixed group of Jews from the region of Galilee and Samaritans from the region of Samaria. Just as "beggars can't be choosers," neither can lepers.
This miracle happened as Jesus was "on the way to Jerusalem" (17:11). This notation is not just for the "directionally challenged." It's a reminder that earlier Jesus had "set his face to go to Jerusalem" (Luke 9:51). Jesus was on a mission "to give his life a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:28). Yet, he had time and energy to care for a few on his way to the Holy City.
This parable demonstrates that mercy was a primary quality of Jesus' ministry. The lepers asked for it and Jesus, true to his character, gave it to them.
We have probably been too harsh with the nine who did not return to give thanks to Jesus. Stop and think about it for a moment. They are the nine who obeyed his command. They continued on to show themselves to the priests, as Jesus had directed them. (We have no reason to believe otherwise, even though the text does not specifically say that.) It was the one who literally disobeyed Jesus' instructions, who broke ranks and returned to give God praise and thank Jesus. That may be understandable, given that Samaritans did not believe it was necessary to go to Jerusalem to worship God rightly. They had their holy Mount Gerizim (John 4:20) opposite Ebal in the central highlands. In any case, the Samaritan returned, in fact, to God's tabernacle among us -- Jesus. (See John 1:14; the Greek word translated "lived among us" [NRSV] or "dwelt among us" [RSV] has the image of tenting, reminiscent of the nomadic tabernacle that accompanied the Israelites through their wilderness journeys [Exodus 40:34-38].)
By the power of Jesus' word, the lepers were cleansed. In contrast to the healing in Luke 15:12-16, there was no touch necessary this time. There was no prayer given in the prayer for the healing in Mark 7:31-37. There was no demon commanded as was the case in Luke 9:37-43. There was no rebuke of an illness as happened in Luke 4:38-39. Jesus' directions were sufficient. There would be no distraction for others to get ideas of copy-cat miracles. "It must be in the touch or in the prayer or in the incantation against the demon or illness. If we could just mimic that, we too could bind the powers to our will." No! Attention fell appropriately and simply on Jesus, the doer of the deed. That is why the leper returned directly to him and fell at his feet.
Jesus' response is worthy of note. "Your faith has made you well." The sense carried here by the perfect tense of the verb is that the leper's faith has made him "all the way well." The healing was to completion. It was not just a matter of the body, but also the soul. The cleansed man returned to Jesus in praise of God and with subservient gratitude. Here was a creature of God fully cleansed inside and out, physically and spiritually -- all the way well.
Application
What feelings of dismay stir within members of inner city churches and of suburban congregations in changing neighborhoods? Some feel as if they have become strangers in a strange land. Fright and flight frequently characterize their response. Where is there hope for their community of faith? Jeremiah's letter gives some very practical advice for such situations for people who want to be faithful to the God of their salvation.
First, be where you are! Like the people in exile, embrace the present situation, even if considered a plight. Build your homes and plant your gardens there. God's plans and purposes are worked out not through fright and flight, but through obedience to discipline and through submission to God's will, however hard, rather than one's own sense of desire and comfort.
Second, stay strong. Increase in numbers whenever possible and increase in spirit. Multiply the blessings that God bestows, whether that be in children, new members or fortified present members.
Third, seek the welfare of all near you. Engage the community through prayer and beneficent action. As the surrounding community is blessed by God's people, they in turn will be blessed by the community. It is like steel being folded in upon itself in the forging process: It becomes stronger throughout.
In God's time (like the 70 years the exiles had to wait -- two generations!), the promises will come about. Though some may not see the fulfillment, their faithful efforts may indeed be part of the coming of what God pledges. In such participation there is a proleptic peace and joy that rises above the struggles of the present time.
Alternative Applications
1) Throughout the centuries the church has been notorious for striking up differences based upon one letter in a word (the homoousios/homoiousios controversy between Arian and orthodox in the formation of the Nicene Creed) or the metaphysics of sacramental interpretation (transubstantiation/real presence language regarding Holy Communion between Catholics and Lutherans following the Reformation) or the interpretation of a word ("baptizo" meaning to wash or to immerse). Some may consider this a "wrangling over words" (2 Timothy 2:14) which should be avoided; others would claim this is the very struggle for the truth for which one must be ready to die, which many did throughout the ages (for example, during the Inquisition after the Reformation).
A refreshing conversation that circled the globe in recent history under the auspices of the World Council of Churches resulted in a document titled Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry (1982). It challenged the church catholic to find ways to agree on basic understandings of faith's expression through the church. One of the notable contributions to this end has been the discussion on believer's baptism and infant baptism. Both forms of initiation rituals, the document concludes, "require a similar and responsible attitude toward Christian nurture." Recognizing the continuing nature of Christian nurture "may facilitate the mutual acceptance" of these different practices, which has been such a divisive point between Christian fellowships.
One way for the church today to respond to Paul's advice to Timothy in our pericope is to strive for a reconciling word whenever differences emerge in conversations between Christians. This does not mean to gloss over conflicts and treat them as insignificant. It does mean to delve deeper in search of common ground on which participants stand together before the Lord Jesus. The truth in Christ should unite us, not divide us. When we are faced with divisions, we should admit that God is not done with us yet; we should not conclude that we are now done with each other.
2) Another "take home" point Paul offers us today is that we can deal with difficult situations courageously, because we have Jesus Christ to remember, to follow, to imitate, to honor. Just like Jesus (and Paul), we are to seek God's higher purpose in whatever happens. This will keep us from getting discouraged by settling for what seems to be the case (hardship, tragedy, judgment, meaningless), and it will set our eyes and expectations on something that God is yet bringing to us out of the future. It will be nothing less grand than "salvation in Christ Jesus with its eternal glory" (2 Timothy 2:10), for God remains faithful (2 Timothy 2:13). That is our evangelical confidence that enables us to have a survivor spirituality.
How do we survive for real? By submitting before the mercy of God. This is what the lepers did to a person. They called out in chorus, "Lord, have mercy," just like so many Christians do in liturgical mimicry week after week. In what has been called the Kyrie throughout the ages, Christian communities gathered in worship have echoed the cry of the lepers, "Kyrie, elieson!" (Lord, have mercy!).
The cry arises out of our need. We experience life "at a distance" from other people and from God. We feel less than whole, less than well, when we are distant from other people and from God. We pray to reduce the distance, not by setting ourselves forward, but by asking the Lord to draw near. His word of healing covers the distance, by virtue of its own power. His word effects a restoration of that which was not whole. With praise and thanksgiving we can live our lives now energized to care for others, just as he has cared for us. What we discover is that there is life beyond survival, there is life for the living and the giving, as we are on our way to various Jerusalem destinations.
FIRST LESSON FOCUS
By Elizabeth Achtemeier
Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7
When Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians in 598 B.C., the Babylonian ruler Nebuchadnezzar ordered the Davidic king Jehoiachin exiled to Babylonia, placing on the Judean throne instead Jehoiachin's 21-year-old uncle Zedekiah (Mattaniah). In addition, most of Jerusalem's leading citizens among the elders, priests and prophets were deported, along with about half of the populace. When he was discovered among the exiles trudging toward Babylonian, however, Jeremiah was allowed to return to Judah (Jeremiah 40:1-6). The temple treasures were carried off, and Judah was subjected to a heavy tribute.
Zedekiah was by no means equal to the task of bringing order to the capital city. Few regarded him as the legitimate king, pinning their hopes instead on the exiled Jehoiachin. Constant intrigue in the inexperienced court brought hopes of escaping the Babylonian yoke, with the help of Egypt. And false prophets constantly told the people that the exile would be short-lived. When a new pharaoh, Psammetichus II (593-588 B.C.), took the throne of Egypt, ambassadors from the small captive states of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre and Sidon met with the Judeans in Jerusalem to plot how to regain their freedom. Nothing came of the rebellious plans of the little states, and Zedekiah apparently felt constrained first to send a deputation to Babylon (Jeremiah 29:3) and then personally to go to Babylonian (51:59) to assure Neubuchadnezzar of Judah's continuing loyalty. Jeremiah took advantage of the deputation's trip to send a letter to the exiles in Babylonia, and that letter forms the content of our text for the morning.
The burden of the letter was to urge the exiles to settle down in captivity, to build houses and plant gardens, to intermarry with the Babylonians, and even to prosper and pray for the welfare of Babylon, because the exiled Judeans were going to be there for a long time. (The traditional view is that the exile would last 70 years, Jeremiah 29:10, although the decree of Cyrus of Persia that released the Judeans to return home was actually issued in 538 B.C.).
Jeremiah was ordered by God to write such things to counter the words of false prophets among the exiles and in Judah who were prophesying a quick end to the captivity (Jeremiah 29:15). But Jeremiah's letter was daring in the extreme. First, he claimed to be the sole prophet to know the true Word of God. Second, he advocated friendship and even intermarriage, not only with a foreign people (cf. e.g Genesis 28:1), but with a hated enemy. Third, he contradicted the usual view that the Lord was to be found only in the territory of Israel (cf. 2 Kings 5:17). It is no wonder therefore that opposing priests and prophets wanted Jeremiah put in the stocks and silenced (cf. Jeremiah 29:24-28).
Certainly not one of us today can claim the authority with which Jeremiah spoke and acted. There are persons in our society who maintain that they alone know the true will of God, that they have had a new revelation from the Spirit, and that their will alone is to be followed. Many innocent souls have been led astray, and even to mass suicide, by such claims (cf. Jonestown). But we do not have the direct converse with God that was given to the prophets of the Old Testament. In that sense, there are no prophets among us. Rather, our knowledge of God and his will come through the revelation given us in Jesus Christ, who is the Word of God incarnate. And every message claimed to be from the Lord is to be measured by what we know in Jesus Christ. As 1 John 4:1 says, "test the spirits to see whether they are of God; for many false prophets have gone out in the world." We are to test everything by Christ. Does some message measure up to him and his words and deeds? Is some claim in accord with the New Testament revelation of our Lord?
Surely Jeremiah's letter that urged the Judean exiles to settle down to a long life in Babylonian is in the Spirit of Christ. Not only does it set forth God's amazing will, which usually contradicts our limited views, but it also affirms that the God of the Bible is not bound to one place or people. He works among all folk, and he is to be found wherever anyone calls upon his name in faith. God is a universal Lord, the Ruler over all peoples, unlimited by any of our self-centered or clannish or nationalistic claims. We never own God. We never can put him in a box. God owns all, and he breaks any boundaries within which we seek to capture him for ourselves. Our one task, therefore, is to search the scriptures in faith, that we may know the Lord, and knowing, may let him fashion our lives accordingly.
Lutheran Option -- 2 Kings 5:1-3, 7-15c
"Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted" (Luke 14:11; 18:14; cf. Matthew 18:4; 23:12). Perhaps no story in the Old Testament illustrates that repeated teaching of our Lord better than does the story of Naaman, the commander of the army of the king of Syria in the ninth century B.C., that time when the northern kingdom of Israel is occupied with spasmodic guerilla attacks from Syria to her north.
There is no doubt that Naaman is highly exalted among his peers. The king of Syria favors him because he has won many battles. He is known as a mighty man of valor. And even though he has the dread disease of leprosy, he is not banned from either the royal court or his community, as were lepers always at the time. He lives in a comfortable dwelling with his wife, served by captive slaves.
But our text vividly illustrates that in order to effect Naaman's cure, God uses the most humble methods. It is a little Israelite slave girl who informs Naaman's wife that the prophet Elisha can cure him. It is again a servant, this time of Elisha, who bids Naaman wash in the Jordan River seven times in order to be healed. And it is finally Naaman's servants who persuade him to follow Elisha's order. The cure for Naaman comes from the mouths of slaves, contrary to all of Naaman's expectations. He arrived at the door of Elisha's house in a great flurry, on a fine chariot pulled by war horses. He expected some grand gesture from Elisha to cure him of leprosy. Instead, he receives only words from the lowliest of the low, from servant-slaves, who instruct him how his flesh can be made clean.
It is strange, isn't it, how God delivers his words of salvation to us? He picks out a betrothed peasant girl to bear his Son, and has that child cradled in a cattle's stall. Though the Son is named the King of kings and the Savior of the world, he comes not with flashing sword and military might, but with humility, speaking of simple things like the lilies of the field and little children, about farmers raising grain, and about light that is not to be hid under a bushel basket. The disciples he chooses to travel with him are mostly common fishermen, one is even a traitorous tax collector. And the people he gathers around him are the diseased and blind, the deaf and poor -- not those on the social register. When he dies, it is as a criminal, bloodied on a cross, and he even has to be buried in a grave borrowed from a rich man.
God chooses such humble avenues to bring us salvation, because, you see, if we exalt ourselves, he can't do anything with us. He could not cure the flesh of Naaman until Naaman humbled himself, and followed the order of servant-messengers to dip seven times in the muddy Jordan. In other words, Naaman had to give up his self and his power to the working of God. And we too, if we would be cleansed of our sin and delivered from death, must give up our selves. We must turn ourselves, our wills, our desires, our futures over to the Lord, who knows far better than we how to rescue us. For salvation comes not from our power, good Christians, but from the love and power of the Lord.
Our texts today can be read against this idea of surviving. Whether trying to rise above bickering or living with a dreaded disease or enduring exile, there is a word from the Lord to strengthen and sustain believers today.
Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7
Letters were an important form of communication in Old Testament times, just as they were in the New Testament era. David wrote to Joab about placing Uriah on the front line of battle. Elijah sent a scathing letter to King Jehoram about his apostasy. Mordecai established the Feast of Purim by dispatching letters to the Jews scattered near and far, telling them all that happened under Queen Esther. Jeremiah composed a letter to the exiles to counsel them through this time of judgment.
As with his verbal prophecies, Jeremiah's letter carried the word from the Lord. It contained far more than merely wisdom and advice from Jeremiah. It's goal was not merely to lift the mood of those dispirited by the turn of events at the beginning of the sixth century B.C. "Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel...." God himself spoke through Jeremiah to his beloved, those being disciplined for their transgressions. The advice in the letter was for the deportees to settle in to their new community in exile. Babylon would be their home for now (70 years), time enough to build homes and raise families and become invested in the welfare of the community.
Obviously, facing a 70-year exile, this was not good news. There might be a return in the future, but it would not happen for the current generation. All but the very youngest would complete their lifetimes in the foreign land. Their fate was sealed in exile. This was made clear to the royal family by means of a profound metaphor. Coniah, son of Jehoiakim, would have been ruler; but Nebuchadnezzer set up Zedekiah to reign instead (Jeremiah 37:1). Jeremiah compared this to God removing the signet ring of the ruling family off his finger and handing it over to the Babylonians (Jeremiah 22:24-30).
Yet, in another respect, though this judgment was severe, there was a word of promise. The letter continued with the prophecy that God would return his people to their homeland. "For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope" (Jeremiah 29:11). Practically speaking, as a people, they would survive.
So, the wisdom and advice from God through Jeremiah is this: embrace the judgment, stay strong in number and seek the welfare of the city. Build houses, have children and pray for the neighbor. The people will survive the ordeal if they follow these instructions, given in the letter.
It is worth noting from the rest of the letter that there were competing claims as to what would happen to the people. Jeremiah warns against false prophets who would feed off the desires of the people to return home quickly and to be done with this trial. False hope could easily be created, only to be dashed. A gloomy end awaited such false prophets (Jeremiah 29:20-23).
2 Timothy 2:8-15
The key to survival is to "remember Jesus Christ" (2:8). This is not meant to be trite. This Jesus Christ is the one who is "risen from the dead" (2:8). This is survival par excellence. It had not been done before and it has not been done since. (Both the widow's son from Nain, and Lazarus, restored to life by Jesus, were once again laid to rest until the resurrection on the Last Day.) When one is sorely pressed and vexed, remember Jesus. He will be the strength of any who trust in him, as Paul discovered while "wearing fetters like a criminal" (2:9). The writer to the Hebrews understood this also (Hebrews 2:18, 4:14-16, 12:3), as encouragement is given through the example of Jesus, who can help and inspire confidence in those who are going through trials of their own.
Paul embraces his suffering on behalf of the gospel for the sake of the gospel. That is, he sees an evangelical purpose in it. He is perfectly willing to "endure everything," if it will bring anyone to Jesus Christ (2:10). He expresses this most extremely in Romans 9:3, where he states that he would be willing to be damned if it would mean the salvation of his fellow Jews who resist accepting Jesus. Paul focused on the greater purposes of God and subjected himself and his own welfare to those purposes (as he notes in 2 Corinthians 11:23-28).
When Paul writes, "The saying is sure," one expects him to affirm an Old Testament text or quote a contemporary poet or philosopher (as he does at the Areopagus in Athens, Acts 17:28). Apparently, however, Paul is nearer to quoting himself in verses 11-13. (Compare verse 11 with Romans 6:4-5; verse 12a with Philippians 3:10-11; verse 12b with Romans 1:18--2:11 and 11:22; verse 13 with Romans 3:3.)
Paul contrasts the future hope that will balance out the present suffering. The hope is in living and reigning with God -- beyond the suffering and death of this life. For sure, the human will is capable of denying Christ, proving to be faithless; yet, God continues to be true to the covenant in which he has revealed himself as patiently loving and merciful in judgment. This quality of the divine life cannot, nor will not, be subject to change.
Paul adds a rather lengthy counsel to Timothy on the danger of bickering over words that will lead to dissension, quarreling, ungodliness and untruth. Just a couple verses of this are included in the pericope. His concern is to protect the faith of the community of believers, which can easily become unsettled when there is wrangling. He is confident in the content of the gospel that he delivered to the church in Ephesus and exhorts them to handle that word of truth.
Luke 17:11-19
This text gets a run for its money. It is used yearly for Thanksgiving, as well as here in this cycle. One of Jesus' better-known miracles, it accentuates the response of the one leper returning thanks and praise to God after being healed. The irony is that he was a "foreigner" (17:18). Apparently, the others were in part or all people of Israel. The colony of lepers was most likely a mixed group of Jews from the region of Galilee and Samaritans from the region of Samaria. Just as "beggars can't be choosers," neither can lepers.
This miracle happened as Jesus was "on the way to Jerusalem" (17:11). This notation is not just for the "directionally challenged." It's a reminder that earlier Jesus had "set his face to go to Jerusalem" (Luke 9:51). Jesus was on a mission "to give his life a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:28). Yet, he had time and energy to care for a few on his way to the Holy City.
This parable demonstrates that mercy was a primary quality of Jesus' ministry. The lepers asked for it and Jesus, true to his character, gave it to them.
We have probably been too harsh with the nine who did not return to give thanks to Jesus. Stop and think about it for a moment. They are the nine who obeyed his command. They continued on to show themselves to the priests, as Jesus had directed them. (We have no reason to believe otherwise, even though the text does not specifically say that.) It was the one who literally disobeyed Jesus' instructions, who broke ranks and returned to give God praise and thank Jesus. That may be understandable, given that Samaritans did not believe it was necessary to go to Jerusalem to worship God rightly. They had their holy Mount Gerizim (John 4:20) opposite Ebal in the central highlands. In any case, the Samaritan returned, in fact, to God's tabernacle among us -- Jesus. (See John 1:14; the Greek word translated "lived among us" [NRSV] or "dwelt among us" [RSV] has the image of tenting, reminiscent of the nomadic tabernacle that accompanied the Israelites through their wilderness journeys [Exodus 40:34-38].)
By the power of Jesus' word, the lepers were cleansed. In contrast to the healing in Luke 15:12-16, there was no touch necessary this time. There was no prayer given in the prayer for the healing in Mark 7:31-37. There was no demon commanded as was the case in Luke 9:37-43. There was no rebuke of an illness as happened in Luke 4:38-39. Jesus' directions were sufficient. There would be no distraction for others to get ideas of copy-cat miracles. "It must be in the touch or in the prayer or in the incantation against the demon or illness. If we could just mimic that, we too could bind the powers to our will." No! Attention fell appropriately and simply on Jesus, the doer of the deed. That is why the leper returned directly to him and fell at his feet.
Jesus' response is worthy of note. "Your faith has made you well." The sense carried here by the perfect tense of the verb is that the leper's faith has made him "all the way well." The healing was to completion. It was not just a matter of the body, but also the soul. The cleansed man returned to Jesus in praise of God and with subservient gratitude. Here was a creature of God fully cleansed inside and out, physically and spiritually -- all the way well.
Application
What feelings of dismay stir within members of inner city churches and of suburban congregations in changing neighborhoods? Some feel as if they have become strangers in a strange land. Fright and flight frequently characterize their response. Where is there hope for their community of faith? Jeremiah's letter gives some very practical advice for such situations for people who want to be faithful to the God of their salvation.
First, be where you are! Like the people in exile, embrace the present situation, even if considered a plight. Build your homes and plant your gardens there. God's plans and purposes are worked out not through fright and flight, but through obedience to discipline and through submission to God's will, however hard, rather than one's own sense of desire and comfort.
Second, stay strong. Increase in numbers whenever possible and increase in spirit. Multiply the blessings that God bestows, whether that be in children, new members or fortified present members.
Third, seek the welfare of all near you. Engage the community through prayer and beneficent action. As the surrounding community is blessed by God's people, they in turn will be blessed by the community. It is like steel being folded in upon itself in the forging process: It becomes stronger throughout.
In God's time (like the 70 years the exiles had to wait -- two generations!), the promises will come about. Though some may not see the fulfillment, their faithful efforts may indeed be part of the coming of what God pledges. In such participation there is a proleptic peace and joy that rises above the struggles of the present time.
Alternative Applications
1) Throughout the centuries the church has been notorious for striking up differences based upon one letter in a word (the homoousios/homoiousios controversy between Arian and orthodox in the formation of the Nicene Creed) or the metaphysics of sacramental interpretation (transubstantiation/real presence language regarding Holy Communion between Catholics and Lutherans following the Reformation) or the interpretation of a word ("baptizo" meaning to wash or to immerse). Some may consider this a "wrangling over words" (2 Timothy 2:14) which should be avoided; others would claim this is the very struggle for the truth for which one must be ready to die, which many did throughout the ages (for example, during the Inquisition after the Reformation).
A refreshing conversation that circled the globe in recent history under the auspices of the World Council of Churches resulted in a document titled Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry (1982). It challenged the church catholic to find ways to agree on basic understandings of faith's expression through the church. One of the notable contributions to this end has been the discussion on believer's baptism and infant baptism. Both forms of initiation rituals, the document concludes, "require a similar and responsible attitude toward Christian nurture." Recognizing the continuing nature of Christian nurture "may facilitate the mutual acceptance" of these different practices, which has been such a divisive point between Christian fellowships.
One way for the church today to respond to Paul's advice to Timothy in our pericope is to strive for a reconciling word whenever differences emerge in conversations between Christians. This does not mean to gloss over conflicts and treat them as insignificant. It does mean to delve deeper in search of common ground on which participants stand together before the Lord Jesus. The truth in Christ should unite us, not divide us. When we are faced with divisions, we should admit that God is not done with us yet; we should not conclude that we are now done with each other.
2) Another "take home" point Paul offers us today is that we can deal with difficult situations courageously, because we have Jesus Christ to remember, to follow, to imitate, to honor. Just like Jesus (and Paul), we are to seek God's higher purpose in whatever happens. This will keep us from getting discouraged by settling for what seems to be the case (hardship, tragedy, judgment, meaningless), and it will set our eyes and expectations on something that God is yet bringing to us out of the future. It will be nothing less grand than "salvation in Christ Jesus with its eternal glory" (2 Timothy 2:10), for God remains faithful (2 Timothy 2:13). That is our evangelical confidence that enables us to have a survivor spirituality.
How do we survive for real? By submitting before the mercy of God. This is what the lepers did to a person. They called out in chorus, "Lord, have mercy," just like so many Christians do in liturgical mimicry week after week. In what has been called the Kyrie throughout the ages, Christian communities gathered in worship have echoed the cry of the lepers, "Kyrie, elieson!" (Lord, have mercy!).
The cry arises out of our need. We experience life "at a distance" from other people and from God. We feel less than whole, less than well, when we are distant from other people and from God. We pray to reduce the distance, not by setting ourselves forward, but by asking the Lord to draw near. His word of healing covers the distance, by virtue of its own power. His word effects a restoration of that which was not whole. With praise and thanksgiving we can live our lives now energized to care for others, just as he has cared for us. What we discover is that there is life beyond survival, there is life for the living and the giving, as we are on our way to various Jerusalem destinations.
FIRST LESSON FOCUS
By Elizabeth Achtemeier
Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7
When Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians in 598 B.C., the Babylonian ruler Nebuchadnezzar ordered the Davidic king Jehoiachin exiled to Babylonia, placing on the Judean throne instead Jehoiachin's 21-year-old uncle Zedekiah (Mattaniah). In addition, most of Jerusalem's leading citizens among the elders, priests and prophets were deported, along with about half of the populace. When he was discovered among the exiles trudging toward Babylonian, however, Jeremiah was allowed to return to Judah (Jeremiah 40:1-6). The temple treasures were carried off, and Judah was subjected to a heavy tribute.
Zedekiah was by no means equal to the task of bringing order to the capital city. Few regarded him as the legitimate king, pinning their hopes instead on the exiled Jehoiachin. Constant intrigue in the inexperienced court brought hopes of escaping the Babylonian yoke, with the help of Egypt. And false prophets constantly told the people that the exile would be short-lived. When a new pharaoh, Psammetichus II (593-588 B.C.), took the throne of Egypt, ambassadors from the small captive states of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre and Sidon met with the Judeans in Jerusalem to plot how to regain their freedom. Nothing came of the rebellious plans of the little states, and Zedekiah apparently felt constrained first to send a deputation to Babylon (Jeremiah 29:3) and then personally to go to Babylonian (51:59) to assure Neubuchadnezzar of Judah's continuing loyalty. Jeremiah took advantage of the deputation's trip to send a letter to the exiles in Babylonia, and that letter forms the content of our text for the morning.
The burden of the letter was to urge the exiles to settle down in captivity, to build houses and plant gardens, to intermarry with the Babylonians, and even to prosper and pray for the welfare of Babylon, because the exiled Judeans were going to be there for a long time. (The traditional view is that the exile would last 70 years, Jeremiah 29:10, although the decree of Cyrus of Persia that released the Judeans to return home was actually issued in 538 B.C.).
Jeremiah was ordered by God to write such things to counter the words of false prophets among the exiles and in Judah who were prophesying a quick end to the captivity (Jeremiah 29:15). But Jeremiah's letter was daring in the extreme. First, he claimed to be the sole prophet to know the true Word of God. Second, he advocated friendship and even intermarriage, not only with a foreign people (cf. e.g Genesis 28:1), but with a hated enemy. Third, he contradicted the usual view that the Lord was to be found only in the territory of Israel (cf. 2 Kings 5:17). It is no wonder therefore that opposing priests and prophets wanted Jeremiah put in the stocks and silenced (cf. Jeremiah 29:24-28).
Certainly not one of us today can claim the authority with which Jeremiah spoke and acted. There are persons in our society who maintain that they alone know the true will of God, that they have had a new revelation from the Spirit, and that their will alone is to be followed. Many innocent souls have been led astray, and even to mass suicide, by such claims (cf. Jonestown). But we do not have the direct converse with God that was given to the prophets of the Old Testament. In that sense, there are no prophets among us. Rather, our knowledge of God and his will come through the revelation given us in Jesus Christ, who is the Word of God incarnate. And every message claimed to be from the Lord is to be measured by what we know in Jesus Christ. As 1 John 4:1 says, "test the spirits to see whether they are of God; for many false prophets have gone out in the world." We are to test everything by Christ. Does some message measure up to him and his words and deeds? Is some claim in accord with the New Testament revelation of our Lord?
Surely Jeremiah's letter that urged the Judean exiles to settle down to a long life in Babylonian is in the Spirit of Christ. Not only does it set forth God's amazing will, which usually contradicts our limited views, but it also affirms that the God of the Bible is not bound to one place or people. He works among all folk, and he is to be found wherever anyone calls upon his name in faith. God is a universal Lord, the Ruler over all peoples, unlimited by any of our self-centered or clannish or nationalistic claims. We never own God. We never can put him in a box. God owns all, and he breaks any boundaries within which we seek to capture him for ourselves. Our one task, therefore, is to search the scriptures in faith, that we may know the Lord, and knowing, may let him fashion our lives accordingly.
Lutheran Option -- 2 Kings 5:1-3, 7-15c
"Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted" (Luke 14:11; 18:14; cf. Matthew 18:4; 23:12). Perhaps no story in the Old Testament illustrates that repeated teaching of our Lord better than does the story of Naaman, the commander of the army of the king of Syria in the ninth century B.C., that time when the northern kingdom of Israel is occupied with spasmodic guerilla attacks from Syria to her north.
There is no doubt that Naaman is highly exalted among his peers. The king of Syria favors him because he has won many battles. He is known as a mighty man of valor. And even though he has the dread disease of leprosy, he is not banned from either the royal court or his community, as were lepers always at the time. He lives in a comfortable dwelling with his wife, served by captive slaves.
But our text vividly illustrates that in order to effect Naaman's cure, God uses the most humble methods. It is a little Israelite slave girl who informs Naaman's wife that the prophet Elisha can cure him. It is again a servant, this time of Elisha, who bids Naaman wash in the Jordan River seven times in order to be healed. And it is finally Naaman's servants who persuade him to follow Elisha's order. The cure for Naaman comes from the mouths of slaves, contrary to all of Naaman's expectations. He arrived at the door of Elisha's house in a great flurry, on a fine chariot pulled by war horses. He expected some grand gesture from Elisha to cure him of leprosy. Instead, he receives only words from the lowliest of the low, from servant-slaves, who instruct him how his flesh can be made clean.
It is strange, isn't it, how God delivers his words of salvation to us? He picks out a betrothed peasant girl to bear his Son, and has that child cradled in a cattle's stall. Though the Son is named the King of kings and the Savior of the world, he comes not with flashing sword and military might, but with humility, speaking of simple things like the lilies of the field and little children, about farmers raising grain, and about light that is not to be hid under a bushel basket. The disciples he chooses to travel with him are mostly common fishermen, one is even a traitorous tax collector. And the people he gathers around him are the diseased and blind, the deaf and poor -- not those on the social register. When he dies, it is as a criminal, bloodied on a cross, and he even has to be buried in a grave borrowed from a rich man.
God chooses such humble avenues to bring us salvation, because, you see, if we exalt ourselves, he can't do anything with us. He could not cure the flesh of Naaman until Naaman humbled himself, and followed the order of servant-messengers to dip seven times in the muddy Jordan. In other words, Naaman had to give up his self and his power to the working of God. And we too, if we would be cleansed of our sin and delivered from death, must give up our selves. We must turn ourselves, our wills, our desires, our futures over to the Lord, who knows far better than we how to rescue us. For salvation comes not from our power, good Christians, but from the love and power of the Lord.
