Patrick Comerford
Sunday next, 7 November 2021, is the Third Sunday before Advent.
The Revised Common Lectionary as adapted for use in the Church of Ireland, provides for the following readings on Sunday 7 November 2021 as the Third Sunday before Advent:
Continuous Readings: Ruth 3: 1-5; 4: 13-17; Psalm 127; Hebrews 9: 24-28; Mark 12: 38-44.
Paired Readings: I Kings 17: 8-16; Psalm 146; Hebrews 9: 24-28; Mark 12: 38-44.
There is a link to the Continuous Readings HERE.
There is a link to the Paired Readings HERE.
Introducing the readings:
Is faith expressed in praying for what we want from God? Or is faith about giving thanks to God for God’s abundant generosity, even when we have little in life?
In the two alternative first readings, we meet widows who are outsiders in the community, who have very little, and yet who are rewarded with the bread of life because of their surprising commitment to God.
Ruth is an outsider who commits herself to following Naomi and Naomi’s God. At first, she seems to be reduced to depending on the leftovers of the harvest, yet her unexpected, and at times bewildering, faith is rewarded not only with personal and domestic security but with a reward that she could never have known about: she becomes the ancestor of David, and she has a key role in the story of salvation.
The unnamed widow who offers food, bread and shelter to Elijah finds new life when her son is restored to life.
Psalm 127 could be read as a promise of God’s response to faith, rather than faith setting demands on God.
In the Gospel reading, the demands of people of faith, seen in the ambitions of some scribes, is a sharp contrast to the widow in Temple, who is generous in her faith but seems to make no demands on God.
Who am I more like? Those who seek the best seats in church and in society, when they already have so much, so that I will be noticed and respected? Or the widow, who does not know or care whether anyone notices her, but who continues to love God despite all she has lost in life?
Ruth 3: 1-5; 4: 13-17:
Elimelech has taken his wife, Naomi, and their two sons to live in Moab during a famine (Ruth 1: 1). The sons have married local girls, and Ruth is one of them (1: 4). Elimelech and his sons have died, leaving Naomi and her daughters-in-law as destitute widows.
When the famine is over, Naomi decides to return to Judah and frees Ruth of any obligations to the family. However, Ruth decides to accompany Naomi, and to make the God of Naomi and her people her God too (Ruth 1: 16).
Back in Judah, it is harvest time. The reapers are required to leave some grain for the poor, including widows, to glean. Ruth chooses to glean in Boaz’s field (Ruth 2: 3). Boaz is Naomi’s kinsman (see Ruth 2: 20), so he has some obligation to look after Naomi and Ruth. Boaz notices Ruth, he has learnt of her faithfulness to Naomi, and he favours her. Naomi, for her part, sees the kindness of Boaz as a gift from God.
Now Naomi tells Ruth on how to make Boaz her husband. Grain was separated from chaff, and winnowed, on the threshing floor (Ruth 3: 2). The wind carried the chaff away. The farmer and the workers slept there to guard against theft. Ruth is to wash, put on her best clothes (Ruth 3: 3) and anoint herself, or put on her best perfume. When Boaz goes to sleep, she is to ‘uncover his feet’ (Ruth 3: 4), a euphemism for making herself sexually available for him.
In the verses missing from this reading, Ruth follows Naomi’s advice (see Ruth 3: 6-7), and when Boaz wakes the middle of the night, he finds Ruth beside him. He again treats her with kindness, and he assures her that he will do for her all that she asks (3: 11). He does not take advantage of Ruth. She leaves before daybreak so Boaz’s men will not know she has been there.
In the morning, Boaz goes to the ‘gate’ or meeting place (Ruth 4: 1). There he meets a closer kinsman, who is legally obliged to buy the land Elimelech has left to Naomi, so that it remains in the family. Before witnesses, the man initially agrees to buy it, but when Boaz tells him that protecting Ruth is part of the deal, the other man backs out. The land will pass to Ruth’s sons, so he would pay for land he would later lose (Ruth 4: 5).
The obstacles have been removed, and Boaz is now free to marry Ruth (4: 13). When they marry, God gives her a son. The women of the town tell Naomi that God has blessed her: she now has a grandson (4: 14-15). Elimelech’s line continues, and Obed becomes the grandfather of David (4: 17). This is the point of the story: David had foreign blood, so marrying foreigners is acceptable. In the Gospel genealogies (see Matthew 1: 5 and Luke 3: 31-32), Obed is listed as an ancestor of Jesus. People of all nations have a place in God’s family: ‘Govern the hearts and minds of those in authority, and bring the families of the nations, divided and torn apart by the ravages of sin, to be subject to his just and gentle rule’ (Collect of the Day).
I Kings 17: 8-16:
The story of the widow’s generosity to Elijah has parallels with the generoisty of abundant generosity of the widow in the Temple seen by Jesus in our Gospel reading. But this reading also has resonances with the feeding of the wandering people in the wilderness in Sinai, or the story of the conversation between Christ and the Samaritan woman at the well.
In the verses immediately before this reading, we are told that King Ahab of Israel, the northern kingdom (ca 870-850 BCE), and his wife Jezebel ‘did evil in the sight of the Lord’ (I Kings 16: 30). They worshipped Baal, the Canaanite god of storms and fertility, rather than the God of Israel.
In I Kings 17: 1, Elijah, on his own authority and as God’s servant, decrees a drought as punishment for Ahab’s waywardness. Elijah has not been commissioned as a prophet but, in verses 2-3, God gives him instructions for avoiding arrest by Ahab and starvation. In verses 4-7, he shows himself to be God’s servant by obeying God’s orders. He, like the people in the wilderness during the Exodus, is fed by God.
When the drought gets worse, God sends Elijah to Zarephath near Sidon (verse 9), out of reach of Ahab and where Baal is worshipped. Claiming to speak for God, he assures the widow that they will not starve. Verse 16 shows that Elijah is indeed God’s prophet. That they have enough to eat is a miracle.
Later, in verse 18, the widow sees her son’s death as punishment for her sin. She wonders whether hosting a ‘man of God’ has brought past sinfulness to the attention of God. However, verses 20-22 tell us that Elijah can intercede with God, and that God will respond. In verse 24, the Baalist woman recognises the power of Israel’s God and asserts the validity of Elijah’s claim to speak for God. Elijah is indeed a prophet.
Psalm 127:
Psalm 127 is known by the Latin incipit of its first two words, Nisi Dominus, found in the Book of Common Prayer from 1662. This is one of 15 ‘Songs of Ascents’ and the only one among them attributed to Solomon rather than David: ‘A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon.’
Psalm 127 says a safe home and a large family are the Lord’s gifts.
The text is divided into five verses, with two wise sayings (verses 1-2 and 3-5). The first two verses (verses 1-2) express the notion that ‘without God, all is in vain’, popularly summarised in Latin in the motto Nisi Dominus Frustra. They say anxiety has no place in the life of the faithful.
The second part (verses 3-5) describe children as God’s blessing, and say the gift of many stalwart sons makes a father feel secure.
In Jewish tradition, Psalm 127 is recited as a prayer for protection of a new-born infant. According to Jewish tradition, Psalm 127 was written by David and dedicated to his son Solomon, who would build the First Temple. According to the French mediaeval rabbi, David Kimhi (Radak), verses 3-5 express David’s feelings about his son Solomon. Another French mediaeval rabbi, Shlomo Yitzchaki, said these verses refer to the students of a Torah scholar, who are called his ‘sons.’
The Midrash Tehillim interprets the opening verses of the psalm as referring to teachers and students of Torah. On the watchmen of the city mentioned in verse 1, Rabbi Hiyya, Rabbi Yosi, and Rabbi Ammi said, ‘The [true] watchmen of the city are the teachers of Scripture and instructors of Oral Law.’
On ‘the Lord gives’ in verse 2, the Midrash explains that God ‘gives’ life in the world to come to the wives of Torah scholars because they deprive themselves of sleep to support their husbands.
The translation of the psalm presents some difficulties, especially in verses 2 and 4. Jerome, in a letter to Marcella in the year 384, laments that Origen’s notes on this psalm no longer exist, and discusses the various possible translations of לֶחֶם הָעֲצָבִים (‘bread of sorrows’ (KJV), ‘bread of anxious toil’ (NRSVA), after the panem doloris of Vulgata Clementina).
Jerome’s own translation is panem idolorum, ‘bread of idols,’ following the Septugiant (LXX). The phrase בְּנֵי הַנְּעוּרִֽים (‘children of the youth’ (KJV), ‘sons of one’s youth (NRSVA)), is translated in the Septuagint (LXX) as υἱοὶ τῶν ἐκτετιναγμένων, (‘children of the outcast’).
There are two possible interpretations of the phrase כֵּן יִתֵּן לִֽידִידֹו שֵׁנָֽא ‘for he gives sleep to his beloved’ (verse 2, NRSVA). The word ‘sleep’ may either be the direct object (LXX, Vulgate, KJV, NRSVA), or an accusative used adverbially, ‘in sleep,’ meaning ‘while they are asleep.’ The latter interpretation fits the context of the verse much better, contrasting the ‘beloved of the Lord’ who receive success without effort, as it were ‘while they sleep’ with the sorrowful and fruitless toil of those not so blessed.
This sentiment is paralleled in Proverbs 10: 22, ‘The blessing of the Lord makes rich, and he adds no sorrow with it’ (NRSVA).
English translations have been reluctant to emend the traditional translation, due to the long-standing association of this verse with sleep being the gift of God. And so it is that Elizabeth Barrett Browning uses the phrase ‘He giveth his beloved Sleep’ as the last line of each stanza in her poem ‘The Sleep.’
Psalm 127 is sometimes called ‘the builders’ psalm,’ because of the opening verse and because of the similarity between the Hebrew words for sons (banim) and builders (bonim).
The phrase Nisi Dominus Frustra (‘Without God, it is in vain’) is a popular motto often inscribed on buildings. It has been the motto of Edinburgh since 1647, it was the motto of the former Borough of Chelsea, and it is the motto of several schools, including Mount Temple School, Dublin.
The Vulgate text, Nisi Dominus, has been set to music by many Renaissance and Baroque composers, often as part of vespers, including Monteverdi, Charpentier, Handel and Vivaldi.
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.
Hebrews 9: 24-28:
The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews continues to see Christ as the great high priest, and to contrast him with a high priest in the Temple. Heaven is the perfect, ideal sanctuary (Hebrews 9: 24), while the Holy of Holies is a ‘mere copy’ of the divine one.
Christ did not enter the Holy of Holies but rather heaven itself to make appear on our behalf ‘in the presence of God’ (9: 24). Unlike the high priest in the Temple, who entered the sanctuary once a year to offer animal blood for the redemption of certain sins of the people, Christ sacrificed himself ‘once for all’ (9: 26), for all people. Whereas, in the past, release from sin only lasted one year, Christ has permanently abolishing sin.
Christ came ‘at the end of the age’ (verse 26). In the cycle of nature, people die once (9: 27), followed by the judgment at the end of time. In the same way, Christ sacrificed himself once and will later return. But his second coming will complete or finalise the salvation of people. By taking our sin on himself, he has taken it away.
Mark 12: 38-44:
A scribe has put a question to Christ: which is the greatest precept in the law? His agreement that to love God and to love one’s neighbour are the most important has led Jesus to tell him that he is almost ready for the kingdom of God.
Now, as Christ teaches in the synagogue, he warns of certain scribes, professional interpreters of the Law, who walk around ostentatiously, seek honour in the market-places or public places, and seek the best seats in synagogues and at banquets.
The best seats in the synagogue (verse 39) were near the Holy Ark, where the Torah scrolls were kept and faced the congregation. The places of honour at a banquet were couches at the host’s table. Both gave people high visibility which brought with higher social prestige and status.
Some scribes, as the legal trustees of a widow’s estate, charged exorbitant fees for their services. The fee was usually a part of the estate, but some took the widows’ houses, yet kept up the appearances of piety. They will be judged harshly in the greatest court of all on Judgment Day.
Christ then moves from the synagogue to the Temple, where he sits down and watches the people bringing money as an offering to the Treasury (verses 41-44). The Treasury is in the outer court of the Temple, where people placed their offerings in chests.
As he is watching, Christ singles out a poor widow as an example of good discipleship. Widows were often poor, vulnerable and exploited, as Christ reminds us in the first part of this reading. Yet she makes a real sacrifice in giving two leptas, two small copper coins, the lowest value coins then in circulation.
He tells those who are listening that she ‘has put in more than all’ the other contributors that day, for the rich people were giving only what they do not need, while ‘she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.’
Mark 12: 38-44 (NRSVA):
38 As he taught, he said, ‘Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the market-places, 39 and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honour at banquets! 40 They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.’
41 He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. 42 A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. 43 Then he called his disciples and said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. 44 For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.’
Liturgical Resources:
Liturgical Colour: Green (Ordinary Time, Year B)
The Collect:
Almighty Father,
whose will is to restore all things
in your beloved Son, the king of all:
Govern the hearts and minds of those in authority,
and bring the families of the nations,
divided and torn apart by the ravages of sin,
to be subject to his just and gentle rule;
who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Collect of the Word:
O God,
whose blessed Son came into the world
that he might destroy the works of evil
and make us your children
and heirs of eternal life:
grant that, having this hope,
we may purify ourselves as he is pure;
that, when he comes again
with power and great glory,
we may be made like him
in his eternal and glorious kingdom;
where he lives and reigns with you
and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Post-Communion Prayer:
God of peace,
whose Son Jesus Christ proclaimed the kingdom
and restored the broken to wholeness of life:
Look with compassion on the anguish of the world,
and by your healing power
make whole both people and nations;
through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Suggested Hymns:
Ruth 3: 1-5; 4: 13-17:
43, Holy is the seed-time, when the buried grain
545, Sing of Eve and sing of Adam
I Kings 17: 8-16:
517, Brother, sister, let me serve you
647, Guide me, O thou great Jehovah
Psalm 127:
63, All praise to thee, my God, this night
481, God is working his purpose out as year succeeds to year
543, Lord of the home, your only Son
288, Thine be the glory, risen, conquering Son
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
Hebrews 9: 24-28:
400, And now, O Father, mindful of the love
258, Christ the Lord is risen again!
266, Hail the day that sees him rise, alleluia!
431, Lord, enthroned in heavenly splendour
439, Once, only once, and once for all
140, The Lord will come and not be slow
Mark 12: 38-44:
218, And can it be that I should gain
219, From heav’n you came, helpless babe
580, I want to walk with Jesus Christ
591, O happy day that fixed my choice
593, O Jesus, I have promised
639, O thou who camest from above
597, Take my life, and let it be
605, Will you come and follow me
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment