Patrick Comerford
Next Sunday, 31 October 2021, is the Fourth Sunday before Advent, with the Liturgical Provisions for Proper 26.
This Sunday may also be observed as All Saints’ Day.
The readings in the Revised Common Lectionary as adapted for use in the Church of Ireland for Sunday as the Fourth Sunday before Advent are:
The Continuous Readings: Ruth 1: 1-18; Psalm 146; Hebrews 9: 11-14; Mark 12: 28-34.
The Paired Readings: Deuteronomy 6: 1-9; Psalm 119: 1-8; Hebrews 9: 11-14; Mark 12: 28-34.
There is a link to the readings HERE
The Church of Ireland Directory says: ‘The Readings for All Saints’ Day may be preferred’ on this Sunday. Many editions of the Revised Common Lectionary note that the ‘Sunday between 30 October and 5 November’ may be observed as ‘All Saints’ Sunday.’
These resources are for Sunday 31 October as the Fourth Sunday before Advent. Resources for All Saints’ Day, whether it is celebrated on Sunday 31 October or Monday 1 November, are available later this morning HERE.
Introducing the Readings:
Ruth is a story about migrants, women, and those on the margins. Ruth moves with her mother-in-law, and works on the margins of Boaz’s field, so that she is on the margins in many ways. Yet she becomes central to story of God’s salvific plan.
Psalm 146 reminds us how God loves those who follow his ways, cares for the stranger in the land, looks after the orphan and the widow, and upsets the plans of the wicked.
In the Gospel reading, Christ is teaching in the Temple, when a Scribe challenges him but finds they agree that at the heart of religion and faith are the love of God and the love of our neighbour.
Ruth 1: 1-18
For two consecutive Sundays, the lectionary provides an edited summary of the Book of Ruth.
This story is set ‘in the days when the judges ruled,’ before the institution of the monarchy. Although Boaz, Ruth’s husband, and Naomi, Ruth’s mother-in-law, may be the principal characters in this story, Ruth becomes a strong female figure in the Old Testament, not only because she becomes the great-grandmother of David, but because of her humility and her kindness too.
Ruth was born in the land of Moab, a border nation and a frequent enemy of Israel. Her name means ‘female friend.’ Ruth emerges as a chaste woman, and provides a welcome contrast to the ugly behaviour in the Book of Judges, which comes before this.
Because of a famine in Judah, Elimelech and his family become migrants and move to Moab, to the east of the Dead Sea. His two sons marry local women, but then die, so now there are three widows who are powerless and destitute when news arrives that the famine is over. They set out to return to Judah, but Naomi suggests they go back. Naomi has no more sons to marry Orpah and Ruth. But Ruth remains constant.
Out of love and loyalty to her mother-in-law, Ruth travels back to Bethlehem with Naomi, while Orpah stays in Moab.
This reading concludes with a memorable song or poetic passage:
Where you go, I will go;
where you lodge, I will lodge;
your people shall be my people,
and your God my God.
Where you die, I will die—
there will I be buried.
May the Lord do thus and so to me,
and more as well,
if even death parts me from you! (Ruth 1: 16-17)
When they arrive back, Naomi steers Ruth towards a relationship with a distant relative, Boaz. He marries Ruth, and she is rescued from the sad life she faced as a widow. Ruth abandons her home and her traditional religion, and she becomes a Jew by choice.
Ruth is marked by her kindness and loyalty, she is a woman of integrity who maintains high morals, and she is also a hard worker in the fields, gleaning leftover grain for Naomi and herself. Ruth’s deep love for Naomi was rewarded when Boaz marries Ruth and she finds love and security.
Ruth’s life seems to be a series of timely coincidences, but is really about the providence of God, leading towards the birth of David, then from David to the birth of Jesus. She plays a key role in the coming of the promised Messiah, and the Gentile ancestors of Jesus include Ruth. Ruth and Boaz are the parents of Obed, who is the father of Jesse, and Jesse is fathered David, Israel’s greatest king. She is one of only five women mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus, along with Tamar, Rahab, Bathsheba and Mary (see Matthew 1:1-16).
Deuteronomy 6: 1-9:
In this reading, Moses explains that the great commandment is to ‘love the Lord your God with all your heat, and all your soul, and all your might.’
In Jewish tradition, these verses are known as the Shema (שְׁמַע), from the first word in verse 4, ‘Hear’ or ‘Listen O Israel’ (שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל). Verse 4 has become what the late Jonathan Sacks describes as ‘the supreme declaration of faith’ for Jews, and ‘supreme act of faith-as-listening: to the voice that brought the universe into being, created us in love and guides us through our lives.’
The Shema contains no human requests, no praise, no plea. It is less a prayer than a prelude to prayer. To listen is to understand, internalise and obey.’ Lord Sacks preferred to translate the opening word as ‘Listen’ rather that ‘Hear’ because, as he wrote, ‘listening is active, while hearing is passive.’
He argues that the word Shema is untranslatable in English, and that means listen, hear, reflect on, understand, internalise, respond in action and obey In rabbinic Hebrew it developed additional senses, including transmit, know about, infer, learn.’
He describes the Shema as ‘a call to action on the part of the mind, emotion and will. It asks us to reflect on, strive to understand, and to affirm the unity of God. To serve him is to listen with the totality of our being.’
With fresh insight, he continues: ‘Secular terms for understanding are permeated with visual images. We speak of insight, foresight, vision, observation, perspective; when we understand, we say “I see.” Judaism, with its belief in an invisible, transcendent God, is a culture of the ear, not the eye. The patriarchs did not see God; they heard him.’ (Jonathan Sacks, ‘Commentary,’ Authorised Daily Prayer Book, pp 66-67, 277-278, 382-383.)
To give dramatic force to the idea that God is heard, not seem, it is the Jewish practice to cover the eyes with the right hand as the words of the Shema are said.
The great commandment in verse 5 is essentially a restatement of the Decalogue or Ten Commandments in a positive form.
With these two commitments – listening to God and loving God – comes the expectation of handing these commitments on to future generations, giving them primary place in the heart, soul and body, at home and away, at rest and at work, in the evening and in the morning.
Psalm 146:
Psalms 146-150 form the culmination and crescendo of the Book of Psalms as a whole, and these six psalms correspond to the six days of creation.
Psalm 146 draws a contrast between human and divine rule. Human beings are mortal, we come from dust, and we return to dust. God is eternal, as are the values by which God governs human affairs.
The psalmist will praise God throughout his life. We should not look to powerful people for security and help because they are finite: when they die, so do their plans.
But God is to be trusted, for he is creator, and he keeps his promises forever. He gives justice to the oppressed, food to the hungry, freedom to the prisoner, sight to the blind, hope to those on the margins of society, looks after the orphan and the widow, and brings frustrates the plans of the wicked.
He loves those who follow his ways, cares for the stranger in the land, looks after the orphan and the widow, upsets the plans of the wicked.
These principles of justice are the governing ideals of a society under the sovereignty of God. This is the God the psalmist praises and this is the God who reigns forever.
Psalm 119: 1-8:
Psalm 119 is the longest psalm (176 verses), with an unusual and artificial structure. It is an alphabetic acrostic, in which each stanza consists of eight lines, each beginning with the same Hebrew letter.
The 22 stanzas use all the letters of the Hebrew alphabet in turn. In addition, almost every line contains the word ‘law’ or a synonym, such as ‘testimonies,’ ‘ways’ or ‘precepts.’
This psalm is a late composition, and the predominant mood of lament suggests that it may have been composed as a prayer for deliverance from trouble. However, the language may be intuitive, and perhaps the whole psalm is a literary exercise in praise of the written law, the expression of God’s covenant with humanity, and of keeping it.
The emphasis is on the love and desire for the word of God in the law, rather than being burdened with it.
This reading, verses 1-8, is the first of the 22 stanzas Each verse in this stanza begins with aleph (א), the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
The psalm begins with a prayer for help in observing the Law. To be happy (verses 1-2) is to be blessed by God.
As in other stanzas, various words are used for law. In this stanza they are precepts, statutes, commandments and ordinances. The psalmist seeks to avoid sin, and to live in God’s ways.
Hebrews 9: 11-14:
Earlier in this chapter in the Letter to the Hebrews, the writer describes the Temple practice in Israel. Before the Temple was built, there was a tent known as the Holy Place. Inside this tent, a second tent was known as the Holy of Holies, and this was seen as the place where God dwelt.
Each year, on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the high priest alone went into this second tent, the Holy of Holies, to sacrifice goats and calves to redeem unintentional sins. This ritual continued year after year.
The writer tells us Christ’s death is analogous to the Yom Kippur sacrifice, and his resurrection and ascension are analogous to the high priest’s entry to Holy of Holies. Christ has offered the perfect sacrifice with his blood and has entered the eternal Holy Place and the eternal Holy of Holies, so that our consciences are purified, and we are free to ‘worship the living God.’
Mark 12: 28-34:
In the Gospel reading on the previous Sunday (24 October 2021, the Fifth Sunday before Advent), Jesus sets out on the road from Jericho to Jerusalem (see Mark 10: 46-52).
In the interval, the narrative of Saint Mark’s Gospel continues with Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Mark 11: 1-11), which we read this year on Palm Sunday (28 March 2021).
The lectionary skips over the Palm Sunday story this week, and the cleansing of the Temple (Mark 11: 12-19).
The setting for this reading on this Sunday morning is the Temple in Jerusalem, where Jesus is teaching in the Temple in Holy Week, where the Chief Priests, the scribes and the elders have challenged his authority to teach (Mark 11: 27-33), where he has been challenged by some Pharisees and Herodians (Mark 12: 13-17), and where some Sadducees question him also (Mark 12: 18-27).
Now it is the turn of Scribes. A scribe who has overheard all these questions, answers and arguments. He is impressed by Jesus’s answers and the way in which he has avoided falling into the traps. This scribe has a question of his own, but he is asking genuinely without seeking to set another trap for Jesus.
The scribes pay attention to the law and have intimate knowledge of its content. They are responsible for making copies of the law and teaching it to others (see Ezra 7: 6; Ezra 7: 10-12; Nehemiah 8: 1, 4, 9, 13. For example, Ezra ‘was a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses’ (Ezra 7: 6).
In New Testament times, the scribes are usually Pharisees, although not all are Pharisees (see Matthew 5: 20, Matthew 12: 38). They support but sometimes also supplement the written law with their traditions (see Matthew 23: 2). In the Gospels, the titles ‘scribes’ and ‘lawyers’ are often interchangeable (see Matthew 22: 35; Mark 12: 28; Luke 20: 39). They are the public teachers of the people, and frequently come into collision with Christ. Later, many scribes are hostile to the apostles (see Acts 4: 5; Acts 6: 12).
They are teachers of the people (Mark 1: 22) and interpreters of the Law. They are widely respected by the community because of their knowledge, dedication, and law-keeping.
The scribes act responsibly and seriously in their task of preserving Scripture, and are faithful in the study of Scripture, particularly the Law and how it should be followed. They copy and recopy the Bible meticulously, even counting letters and spaces to ensure each copy is correct.
They are professional at spelling out the letter of the Law, but in the Gospels are often charged with ignoring the spirit behind the law, so that the regulations and traditions added to the Law become more important than the Law itself. They know the Law and they teach it to others, but do not always honour the spirit of the Law.
There is a contrast in the passages immediately before this reading: while Jesus teaches with personal authority (see Mark 11: 27-33), no Scribe ever gave an independent judgment or a decision on his own, but would begin, ‘There is a teaching that …’
The scribe in this reading asks Jesus in the Temple, ‘Which commandment is the first of all?’ (Mark 12: 28)
There are 613 commandments, precepts or mitzvot in Jewish law. They include positive commandments, to perform an act (mitzvot aseh), and negative commandments, to abstain from certain acts (mitzvot lo taaseh). The negative commandments number 365, which coincides with the number of days in the solar year, and the positive commandments number 248, said to be the number of bones and main organs in the human body (Babylonian Talmud, Makkot 23b–24a).
The number of tzitzit or knotted fringes of the tallit or prayer shawl worn by pious Jews at prayer is connected to the 613 commandments: the Hebrew numerical value of the word tzitzit is 600; each tassel has eight threads (when doubled over) and five sets of knots, totalling 13; the sum of these numbers is 613. This reflects the idea that donning a tallit or prayer shawl with tzitzit reminds its wearer of all 613 Torah commandments.
Later in this chapter, in the reading provided for the following Sunday (Mark 12: 38-44), Christ refers to the fashion of the Scribes walking around in long robes (Mark 12: 38), perhaps a reference to an ostentatious display of prayer shawls that indicate a claim to observing each and every one of the 613 commandments.
But this scribe wants to know which of one of these 613 is the most important.
In his reply, Christ offers not one but two commandments or laws. But it is interesting to notice how neither is quoted from the Ten Commandments (see Exodus 20: 1-17 and Deuteronomy 5: 4-21). Instead, Christ steps outside the Ten Commandments and quotes from Deuteronomy 6: 4-5, and Leviticus 19: 18.
The first command Christ quotes is the shema, ‘Hear, O Israel, …’ (verse 29), recited twice daily by pious Jews. The shema became a prayer composed from Deuteronomy 6: 4-9 and 11: 13-21, and to this day it is recited twice a day in Jewish practice.
Christ links this first commandment to a second, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself’ (verse 31). Once again, he is not quoting from the Ten Commandments; instead, here he is quoting Leviticus 19: 18.
Christ combines these two precepts into a moral principle, linked by love. But he is not the first, nor is he the last, to do this, and the combination is not unique for the scribes or the Pharisees.
Hillel the Elder (ca 110 BC to 10 AD), who was asked a similar question, cited this verse as a most important message of the Torah for his teachings. Once, Hillel was challenged by a gentile who asked to be converted on condition that the Torah was explained to him while he stood on one foot. Hillel accepted him as a candidate for conversion to Judaism but, drawing on Leviticus 19:18, told the man: ‘Do not do to anyone else what is hateful to you: this is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation; go and learn’ (Babylonian Talmud, Shabbath 31a).
The scribe agrees with Jesus and elaborates. Both precepts are much more important than all the burnt-offerings and sacrifices in the Temple (verses 32-33).
For responding in this way, Christ tells this scribe that he has answered wisely and is near the kingdom of God (verse 34).
And that silenced everyone who was listening, and it put an end to the debates … for the moment.
The ‘Golden Rule,’ the principle of treating others as one would wish to be treated by others, is a maxim found in many religions and cultures. The Golden Rule may have been first codified in Babylon in the Code of Hammurabi stele and tablets (ca 1754 BC). A partial copy exists on a 2.25 metre stone stele, now in the Louvre in Paris, and a copy is on display in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin.
The term ‘Golden Rule’ or ‘Golden Law’ began to be used widely in the early 17th century in England by Anglican theologians and preachers. The earliest known usage is that of Anglicans Charles Gibbon and Thomas Jackson in 1604.
It is interesting that on three occasions Saint Paul presents the second of these commandments, and not the combination of the two, as the summary of the Law:
‘… for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law’ (Romans 13: 9); ‘love is the fulfilling of the law’ (Romans 13: 10); and, ‘For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself”’ (Galatian 5: 14).
Saint James offers the same emphasis, ‘You do well if you really fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself”’ (James 2: 8).
Mark 12: 28-34 (NRSVA):
28 One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, ‘Which commandment is the first of all?’ 29 Jesus answered, ‘The first is, “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; 30 you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” 31 The second is this, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these.’ 32 Then the scribe said to him, ‘You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that “he is one, and besides him there is no other”; 33 and “to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength”, and “to love one’s neighbour as oneself”, — this is much more important than all whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices.’ 34 When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’ After that no one dared to ask him any question.
Liturgical Resources:
Liturgical Colour: Green (Ordinary Time, Year B)
The Collect:
Almighty and eternal God,
you have kindled the flame of love in the hearts of the saints:
Grant to us the same faith and power of love,
that, as we rejoice in their triumphs,
we may be sustained by their example and fellowship;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Collect of the Word:
O God,
whom to follow is to risk our whole lives:
as Ruth and Naomi loved and held to one another,
abandoning the ways of the past,
so may we also not be divided,
but travel together into that strange land
where you lead us,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The Post-Communion Prayer:
Lord of heaven,
in this Eucharist you have brought us near
to an innumerable company of angels
and to the spirits of the saints made perfect.
As in this food of our earthly pilgrimage
we have shared their fellowship,
so may we come to share their joy in heaven;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Suggested Hymns:
Ruth 1: 1-18:
592, O Love that wilt not let me go
Psalm 146:
4, God, who made the earth
125, Hail to the Lord’s anointed
92, How sweet the name of Jesus sounds
357, I’ll praise my maker while I’ve breath
97, Jesus shall reign where’er the sun
99, Jesus, the name high over all
535, Judge eternal, throned in splendour
363, O Lord of heaven and earth and sea
708, O praise ye the Lord! Praise him in the height
712, Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord
8, The Lord is King! Lift up your voice
376, Ye holy angels bright
Deuteronomy 6: 1-9:
381, God has spoken – by his prophets
649, Happy are they, they that love God
543, Lord of the home, your only Son
229, My God, I love thee; not because
Psalm 119: 1-8:
630, Blessed are the pure in heart
649, Happy are they, they that love God
601, Teach me, my God and King
Hebrews 9: 11-14:
411, Draw near and take the body of the Lord
220, Glory be to Jesus
417, He gave his life in selfless love
418, Here, O my Lord, I see thee face to face
671, Jesus, thy blood and righteousness
439, Once, only once, and once for all
528, The Church’s one foundation
9, There’s a wideness in God’s mercy
291, Where high the heavenly temple stands
Mark 12: 28-34:
515, ‘A new commandment I give unto you’
11, Can we by searching find out God
349, Fill thou my life, O Lord my God
520, God is love, and where true love is, God himself is there
649, Happy are they, they that love God
523, Help us to help each other, Lord
358, King of glory, King of peace
229, My God I love thee; not because
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 hymn 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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