Proper 22 / Pentecost 20 / Ordinary Time 27
Devotional
Water From the Rock
Lectionary Devotional for Cycle C
Object:
I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you.
-- 2 Timothy 1:5
This letter to Timothy was filled with thoughts that challenge some of our easy assumptions. Those who think that somehow Paul turned his back on Judaism as a result of his experience on the Damascus Road need to reflect on Paul's expressed continuity with that faith. "I am grateful to God -- whom I worship with a clear conscience, as my ancestors did...." While it was clear that the experience of Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus transformed Paul's understanding of the meaning of his faith, he nevertheless remained a Jew in his faith.
Paul also gave evidence contradicting his reputation of being negative toward women. Whatever the cause of his admonition for women to be silent in the church (1 Corinthians 14:34), it was clear that he recognized the power of women to convey the faith to others. "I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you."
From the prosperous businesswoman, Lydia, who formed a church in Phillipi to Lois and Eunice, the role of women was prominent in Paul's ministry. At the moment when he feared that Timothy might be faltering in the faith, he drew on the power of generational memory to reinforce his faith. It is not unusual for people to be carried through the valleys of doubt because they do not wish to shame the family that has nurtured them in the faith.
A third thought is lifted up in this passage is Paul's intriguing understanding of Christ. Christ, who Paul clearly identifies with Jesus of Nazareth, had also preceded Jesus. In 1 Corinthians 10:4, he identified Christ as the rock from which the Israelites drank in the wilderness, and then he identified Christ as the bearer of grace even before the ages began. While Christ had been present and active all along in creation, it was only in the life of Jesus that Christ had been revealed. John Cobb, in the Pluralistic Christ, explored this possibility as a means of recognizing Christ in other religions and in great works of art. Finally, Paul returned to the amazing grace of God made manifest in God's having chosen someone like Paul to advance the gospel among the Gentiles. There is enough here to challenge our faith for many days of reflection.
-- 2 Timothy 1:5
This letter to Timothy was filled with thoughts that challenge some of our easy assumptions. Those who think that somehow Paul turned his back on Judaism as a result of his experience on the Damascus Road need to reflect on Paul's expressed continuity with that faith. "I am grateful to God -- whom I worship with a clear conscience, as my ancestors did...." While it was clear that the experience of Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus transformed Paul's understanding of the meaning of his faith, he nevertheless remained a Jew in his faith.
Paul also gave evidence contradicting his reputation of being negative toward women. Whatever the cause of his admonition for women to be silent in the church (1 Corinthians 14:34), it was clear that he recognized the power of women to convey the faith to others. "I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you."
From the prosperous businesswoman, Lydia, who formed a church in Phillipi to Lois and Eunice, the role of women was prominent in Paul's ministry. At the moment when he feared that Timothy might be faltering in the faith, he drew on the power of generational memory to reinforce his faith. It is not unusual for people to be carried through the valleys of doubt because they do not wish to shame the family that has nurtured them in the faith.
A third thought is lifted up in this passage is Paul's intriguing understanding of Christ. Christ, who Paul clearly identifies with Jesus of Nazareth, had also preceded Jesus. In 1 Corinthians 10:4, he identified Christ as the rock from which the Israelites drank in the wilderness, and then he identified Christ as the bearer of grace even before the ages began. While Christ had been present and active all along in creation, it was only in the life of Jesus that Christ had been revealed. John Cobb, in the Pluralistic Christ, explored this possibility as a means of recognizing Christ in other religions and in great works of art. Finally, Paul returned to the amazing grace of God made manifest in God's having chosen someone like Paul to advance the gospel among the Gentiles. There is enough here to challenge our faith for many days of reflection.
