Patrick Comerford
Sunday next, 25 October 2020, is the Fifth Sunday before Advent (Proper 25). The readings provided in the Revised Common Lectionary, and set out in the Church of Ireland Directory, for next Sunday are in two groupings, the Consecutive Readings and the Paired Readings:
The Continuous Readings: Deuteronomy 34: 1-12; Psalm 90: 1-6, 13-17; I Thessalonians 2: 1-8; and Matthew 22: 34-46.
There is a link to the Continuous Readings HERE.
The Paired Readings: Leviticus 19: 1-2, 15-18; Psalm 1; I Thessalonians 2: 1-8; Matthew 22: 34-46.
There is a link to the Paired Readings HERE.
The last Sunday in October may also be observed as Bible Sunday, with these readings:
Nehemiah 8: 1-4 (5-6), 8-12; Psalm 119: 97-104 or Psalm 119: 105-112; Colossians 3: 12-17; Matthew 24: 30-35.
Kerry Crescent in Calne, Wiltshire, recalls a FitzMaurice family title and a story told by Charles Gore (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)Introducing the Readings:
Charles Gore (1853-1932) was one of the great, almost formidable theologians at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. He was the editor of Lux Mundi (1881), an influential collection of essays; the founder of the Community of the Resurrection (1892); and the first Bishop of Birmingham (1905). He was also from a well-known Irish family; his brother was born in Dublin Castle, his father, Charles Alexander Gore, was brought up in the Vice-Regal Lodge, now Arás an Uachtaráin, and his mother was from Bessborough, Co Kilkenny.
But formidable theologians are also allowed to play pranks on the unsuspecting. And it is told that Charles Gore loved to play a particular prank on friends and acquaintances when he was a canon of Westminster Abbey.
He would enjoy showing visitors the tomb of one of his collateral ancestors, the 3rd Earl of Kerry, with an inscription that ends with the words, highlighted in black letters and in double quotation marks: ‘hang all the law and the prophets.’
On closer inspection, he would point out, the words are preceded by ‘… ever studious to fulfil those two great commandments on which he had been taught by his divine Master …’ ‘…hang all the law and the prophets.’
A more recent Irish-born theologian of international standing, Professor David Ford, sees these two commandments as the key, foundational Scripture passage for all our hermeneutical exercises.
David Ford was born in Dublin, and from 1991-2015 he was the Regius Professor of Divinity in the University of Cambridge. Speaking at the Dublin and Glendalough Clergy Conference in Kilkenny eight years ago [2012], he was asked about some of the hermeneutical approaches he outlines in his book, The Future of Christian Theology (Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011). He said that if the two great commandments are about love, and God is love, then no interpretation is to be trusted that goes against love.
And he reminded the clergy present of Augustine’s great regula caritatis, the rule of love. If love is the rule, then the ‘how’ of reading scripture together is as important as the ‘what.’
In The Future of Christian Theology, he says: ‘Anything that goes against love of God and love of neighbour is, for Christian theology, unsound biblical interpretation.’
In other words, this passage, and its parallels in the other synoptic Gospels, provide for David Ford the key to understanding all Biblical passages.
Deuteronomy 34: 1-12
This reading is the final chapter in the Book Deuteronomy and the conclusions of the Law or the Torah, the first five books of the Bible. The wandering in the wilderness is over, and after 40 long years the people can now look to the promise of the future as they prepare to enter the Promised Land.
However, Moses has been told that he is going to die without entering the Promised Land because he ‘broke faith’ with God when the people demanded water and God provided it (see Numbers 20: 1-13).
God shows Moses the whole Land from a mountain near the northern end of the Dead Sea. Moses, now an old man, dies suddenly in Moab (verse 6). We are told he dies as he lived, ‘at the Lord’s command’ (verse 5). Joshua is his successor and is commissioned.
Psalm 90: 1-6, 13-17:
Psalm 90 is a moving reflection on the eternity of God and the shortness of our lives. We read a succession of poetic images conveying the brevity of human life: it flows as fast as a swollen river; it ends as quickly as a sleep or a dream; it fades like grass in parched land that withers by the end of the day; it is like a sigh, a mere breath, like a bird that lands briefly and then flies away.
The speed which these metaphors succeed one another mirrors the rapidity with which the days and the years pass.
The moral at the heart of the psalm is its lesson to remember how short life is, so that we may spend our time on those things that endure.
‘May the graciousness of the Lord our God be upon us’ (verse 17): according to the Sages, this is the blessing Moses gave to the people when they finished building the Tabernacle, adding: ‘May the Divine presence rest in the work of your hands.’
I Thessalonians 2: 1-8
We began reading through I Thessalonians, the earliest letter from the Apostle Paul, and the earliest book in the New Testament, the previous Sunday.
Saint Paul recalls how he was ‘shamefully mistreated’ on Philippi. He now turns his back on the way other teachers and philosophers of his day seek popularity for ‘impure motives’ and through ‘trickery.’
He wants neither ‘flattery’ nor his own advantage. Instead, he has been gentle and caring, sharing all that he has.
In other words, instead of self-love, he has lived and worked in the love of God and the love of others.
Matthew 22: 34-46
In Saint Mark’s Gospel, these two commandments are cited in this way when one of the scribes comes and asks Christ which is the first commandment of all? (Mark 12: 28-31).
In Saint Luke’s Gospel, these two commandments are given in answer to a certain lawyer who stands up, tempts him, and asks him what he shall do to inherit eternal life (Luke 10: 25-28).
In this reading, the two great commandments come as part of a reply to a debate within the series of dialogues in the Temple in the week leading up to Christ’s passion, death and resurrection.
The Sadducees believed that human life ended with our physical death. Some of them have argued with Jesus, and have tried to show him, by quoting from the Torah or the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, what they see as the absurdity of belief in the Resurrection.
Christ has told them that they neither understand the ‘power of God’ (verse 29), to transform us into a new way of being alive when risen. Nor have they understood the purpose of the Scriptures.
The Pharisees now ‘test’ (verse 35) Christ by asking him a question that was often debated at the time (verse 36): of the 613 laws in the Torah, which is most important?
The first part of Christ’s answer would not have surprised them.
However, the second part of his answer, his understanding that a ‘second’ commandment (verse 39) is of equal weight (‘like it’) would have surprised them, for it was considered not be important.
Here Christ is citing Leviticus 19: 18, which says: ‘you shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ And he says this commandment is of equal importance with the first.
Yet, as Daniel Harrington says in his commentary on this Gospel (p 315), and as Sarah Dylan Breuer writes in agreement with him, ‘there is no hint in the Bible of the modern psychological emphasis on the need for self-esteem and the idea that one must love oneself before loving others.’
She says self-esteem is a fine and people have benefited a great deal from the insights of modern psychology. But these interior emotional states were not a focus in first-century Mediterranean cultures.
The earliest Christian commentary on this text after the Gospels is James 2: 1-17, which may be a major help in discussing this.
When Christ says ‘love your neighbour as yourself,’ he is essentially saying, ‘treat all those around you as you would your own flesh and blood’ – as sisters and brothers in one family, deserving of equal honour and special care.
It is worth noticing that in that passage, James treats ‘faith’ and ‘love’ almost as synonyms.
Developing a right relationship of actively loving God and our fellow humans provides the key to understanding the Scriptures and to our faith.
The Pharisees regarded themselves as the experts in Biblical interpretation. But Christ now asks them some questions (verse 42).
At the time, the general understanding and expectation among people was for a political ‘Messiah’ who was descended from David, ‘the son of David’.
At the time it was also thought the David was inspired by the Spirit to write the Psalms. But in verses 43-44, Christ asks: ‘How is … that David’ refers to ‘him’ (the Messiah) as ‘Lord’ (overlord), in writing ‘The Lord’ God (Yahweh) ‘said to my Lord’ (in other words, David’s overlord, whom Christ present in this dialogue as the Messiah) ‘sit …’
So (verse 45), how can the Messiah be both David’s son and his overlord?
While in English and Greek, the word ‘Lord’ (κύριος, kurios) occurs twice, Christ may have quoted Psalm 110: 1 in Hebrew; there the words are different. He was probably not unique in taking ‘my Lord’ there to be the Messiah, for a political Messiah would defeat his ‘enemies.’
And so, the Pharisees too are shown not to understand the Scriptures. And the two great commandments certainly do not provide them with the hermeneutical key to understanding the whole of Scripture, as Professor David Ford would want us to have.
Matthew 22: 34-46 (NRSVA):
34 When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, 35 and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 ‘Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?’ 37 He said to him, ‘“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” 38 This is the greatest and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’
41 Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them this question: 42 ‘What do you think of the Messiah? Whose son is he?’ They said to him, ‘The son of David.’ 43 He said to them, ‘How is it then that David by the Spirit calls him Lord, saying,
44 “The Lord said to my Lord,
‘Sit at my right hand,
until I put your enemies under your feet’”?
45 If David thus calls him Lord, how can he be his son?’ 46 No one was able to give him an answer, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.
Liturgical resources:
Liturgical Colour: Green (Ordinary Time, Year A).
The Collect of the Day:
Blessed Lord,
who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning:
Help us to hear them,
to read, mark, learn and inwardly digest them
that, through patience, and the comfort of your holy word,
we may embrace and for ever hold fast
the blessed hope of everlasting life,
which you have given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ.
The Collect of the Word:
O God,
whose Son has taught us
that love is the fulfilment of your law;
stir up within us the fire of your Holy Spirit,
and pour into our hearts your greatest gift of love,
so that we may love you with our whole being,
and our neighbour as ourselves;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Post Communion Prayer:
God of all grace,
your Son Jesus Christ fed the hungry
with the bread of his life and the word of his kingdom.
Renew your people with your heavenly grace,
and in all our weakness
sustain us by your true and living bread,
who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Suggested Hymns:
Deuteronomy 34: 1-12:
563: Commit your ways to God.
567: Forth, in thy name, O Lord I go.
653: Lead, kindly light, amid the encircling gloom.
657: O God of Bethel, by whose hand.
323: The God of Abraham priase.
681: There is a land of pure delight.
Leviticus 19: 1-2, 15-18:
515, ‘A new commandment I give unto you’
494, Beauty for brokenness
39, For the fruits of his creation
321, Holy, holy, holy! Lord God almighty
535, Judge eternal, throned in splendour
525, Let there be love shared among us
497, The Church of Christ, in every age
509, Your kingdom come, O God!
Psalm 90: 1-6, 13-17:
6: Immortal, invisible, God only wise.
537: O God, our help in ages past.
Psalm 1:
649, Happy are they, they that love God
56, Lord, as I wake I turn to you
383, Lord, be thy word my rule
I Thessalonians 2: 1-8:
645: Father, hear the prayer we offer.
567: Forth, in thy name, O Lord I go.
653: Lead, kindly light, amid the encircling gloom.
593: O Jesus, I have promised.
639: O thou who camest from above.
662: Those who would valour see (He who would valour see).
372: Through all gthe changing scenes of life.
529: Thy hand, O God, has guided.
491: We have a gospel to proclaim.
Matthew 22: 34-46:
515: ‘A new commandment I give unto you.’
250: All hail the power of Jesu’s name.
517: Brother, sister, let me serve you.
520: God is love, and where true love is, God himself is there.
125: Hail to the Lord’s anointed.
523: Help us to help each other, Lord.
495: Jesu, Jesu, fill us with your love.
525: Let there be love shared among us.
594: O Lord of creation, to you be all praise!
281: Rejoice, the Lord is King!
597: Take my life, and let it be.
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org
The hymns suggestions are provided in Sing to the Word (2000), edited by Bishop Edward Darling. The hymn numbers refer to the Church of Ireland’s Church Hymnal (5th edition, Oxford: OUP, 2000)
Material from the Book of Common Prayer is copyright © 2004, Representative Body of the Church of Ireland.
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