Homiletical Helps on LW Series C —Old Testament

Fifth Sunday of Easter Acts 11:1-18 May 6,2007

God's Holiness Code

Preliminary considerations: We are familiar with the fact that during the Sun­days of Easter, the vast majority of the lessons chosen for the first reading are from the Book of Acts. All of them, by and large, are narratives focusing on themes that depict the Gospel reaching beyond the traditional boundaries of Judaism and Jewish Christianity out to Gentiles and their nations. "The Season of Easter" for the Christian church, therefore, is a joyous celebration of the intentionality of the gracious God whose undeserved love extends to the ends of the earth with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He "desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Tim. 2:4).

The reading from Revelation 21:1-7 is picturesque, with the heavenly city Jerusalem, the holy city adorned as the bride of Christ, descending on earth, the ultimate image of God making His residence with His people. St. John sees the dwelling of God among human beings and God making everything new as His cre­ated new order. The glorious resurrection of our Lord has put an end to the grief we now bear and replenishes us with the joy that is irrevocable because of Christ (John 16:22). The Lord assures His disciples that their grief is short-lived, and it shall cease when He shall return, ushering in the new creation in its final form. Amidst the manifold struggles of this world clouded with the shadow of death, our hearts are fixed on Jesus whose blood has washed us clean and on whose account we are declared holy. That is the stronghold for the Christian believer.

Acts is the most historically documented story of the expansion of the Chris­tian church from Jerusalem to Rome, a literal logbook on the effective implemen­tation of the Great Commission during the early decades of the Christian epoch. Peter had been an apostle, witnessing God's redemptive work in Christ boldly among his own people, the Jews and proselytes. On the one hand, God had been preparing the apostle Paul with an immaculate Jewish upbringing as His chosen vessel to bring the Gospel to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel (Acts 9:15). On the other hand, by means of the incidents in Acts 10 and 11, God expands Peter's horizon to see how His salvific plan in Jesus Christ extends be­yond the Jews to embrace all people. God prepared Peter for this mission by means of a vision, leading Peter through an "immersion experience" to acknowledge that God shows no favoritism, and no one can call impure any thing or person that God has made clean.

Notes on the text: Our text, eighteen verses long, is an abridged version of the expanded narrative in chapter ten. Two things happen almost simultaneously in the tenth chapter. Some thirty miles north of Joppa, in Caesarea, God spoke to a God-fearing Gentile centurion, Cornelius, during the mid-afternoon prayer time. The angel of the Lord asked Cornelius to send for Peter in Joppa and bring him over to his house. Cornelius obeyed.

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The next day about lunch hour, while Peter was on the terrace praying, he fell into a trance. In a dream Peter saw a large sheet let down from heaven containing non-kosher food, including all kinds of four-footed animals, birds, and reptiles. Peter was commanded to get up, kill, and eat these animals. Following the Jewish tradition that formed him, Peter considered all these to be unclean food. Leaning on typical pharisaic legalism, Peter tried his hardest to resist any attempt to tiptoe around the ceremonial laws to which he so proudly subscribed. The voice from heaven commanded Peter three times. There was no way he could ignore this voice any more. What is more, Cornelius's emissaries were coming over to Peter to invite him to Caesarea, as directed by the Spirit. Peter was bound to go.

The angel's message is reminiscent of the message of the early Christians (e.g., Acts 16:31): the exclusive claim of Jesus Christ as Savior of all people.

The angel assured Cornelius that he would hear a message explaining how he and his household could be saved. For His mission, God prepares the hearts of people who need to hear the Gospel. He also makes their hearts eager to listen to His Word: "everything that the Lord has commanded you to tell us" (10:33). The use of the Greek verb for listening in the aorist infinitive άκουσα ι and the object πάντβς {omnia) makes the message of the Gospel full and complete and its target audience inclusive of all people everywhere.

God is directly at work among the Gentiles to bring them into His kingdom. The experience of the Gentiles in receiving the Gospel is the same as that of the Jews who were gathered in the upper room. As one commentator put it, "There is nothing second class about the Gentiles receiving the Gospel" (I. Howard Marshall, The Acts of the Apostles, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1980], 197).

Consequently, the Gentile converts are full members of the church of Jesus Christ. Circumcision and the keeping of the Law are not requisite for salvation. Repenting and believing in the Gospel are. The call to repent is extended equally to the Gentiles. The Christ who has fully obeyed the Law is indeed the end of the Law and has put an end to the Jewish ceremonial law as well (Rom. 10:4).

In Christ the Jewish distinction between "clean" and "unclean" has become obsolete. Believers in Christ are given a new identity as the people of God. As He did among those who gathered in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost that followed the resurrection of our Lord, the Spirit manifested His presence among the Gen­tiles who gathered in a Gentile home. For the Gentiles, too, repentance was the way to enter God's kingdom of life.

God's Holiness Code: This theme emerges out of the instruction Peter received, so that he could break away from his comfort zone and reach out with the Gospel to people who were not one kind with him in race, religion, and perhaps language. As Peter ventured on his mission to Cornelius's household, he built a bridge to them with that divine instruction, "Do not call anything impure what God has made clean." This is God's holiness code, established by the death and resurrection of God's Son, sealed with His innocent blood, and delivered in Baptism to those who, in repentance and faith, embrace His promises. The Lord is no respecter of per­sons. He shows no partiality. He is Lord of all.

Victor A. Raj

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Sixth Sunday of Easter Acts 16:8-15 May 13,2007

Textual considerations: Every Christian could well wish that evangelism was this easy and clear cut. First of all, Paul received a night vision, which Luke tells us they concluded was a direct message from God telling them to preach the Gospel in Macedonia. Secondly, they are begged to come to a specific place to preach the Gospel. The fact that the man was standing and begging would suggest that this was a cry of spiritual desperation. Unlike the reluctance of Job in the Old Testa­ment, there is no hesitancy or even the slightest delay in Paul's and Luke's decision to go to Macedonia to proclaim Jesus Christ in Europe for the first time. Thirdly, the two apostles made a speedy journey, not delaying in any of the cities through which they passed. There was a sense of urgency, as there always is in bringing the Gospel to the unchurched. Fourthly, the Christian message was for all people. Since Philippi was a Roman, multi-cultural colony, Paul's audience could have been Roman, Greek, and Jewish. On the Jewish Sabbath Paul and Luke went to a place of prayer, usually considered a circumlocution for a synagogue. It was on a river bank—Jews were accustomed to worship near water, which proved conve­nient for cleansing purposes and purification rites—in this circumstance conve­nient for Christian Baptism. Fifthly, God granted the apostles success. At the synagogue Paul found an attentive and receptive audience. At least one individual in the audience was already a worshiper of the true God. God made Lydia receptive to Paul's message about Christ, and she and her household were baptized. Paul was warmly welcomed into their home. A personal relationship is established between the evangelists and the hearers.

Homiletical considerations: This text provides an excellent opportunity for a mission or evangelism sermon. However, not every mission effort is going to be this easy, with a clear vision from God, an urgent invitation, a receptive and attentive audience, immediate success, and the establishment of a warm, personal relation­ship between the evangelizing individual and the new convert. Yet there are some beneficial lessons that this text can teach us. God may not give us a vision in the night with specific details of where and to whom we are to bring the message of salvation. Nevertheless, evangelism is not an option for Christians as the impera­tives of Matthew 28:19 make very clear.

Today people may not be begging to hear the Gospel message, but the immoral and irreligious conditions of our world demand that the Law be preached, followed by the comforting words of the Gospel to those who repent. In our culture the priority of spirituality has given way to the priority of materialism. God's Law has been jettisoned for universalism. Without a sense of spiritual deprivation that comes from feeling the power and threat of the Law, no one will beg to hear the Gospel—that is one of the main threats of antinomianism. Part of our mission efforts is to create a sense of spiritual need in people through the proclamation of the Law—in the text the man in Macedonia had already felt the burden of the Law and now wanted the Gospel.

So often pastors, people, or congregations as a whole, do not have a sense of urgency about inviting people to share their faith. Yet, that need exists today, perhaps, more than ever. Today there are so many examples of people dying unex­pectedly—terrorist attacks; fires in homes and apartment buildings; victims of DWI; shooting sprees in schools and workplaces; deadly tornados, hurricanes, and

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tidal waves. What if some of these victims had been prospects on our list of evan­gelism calls but put off because of a lack of a sense of evangelistic urgency?

It is increasingly popular to target specific groups of people because most people feel most comfortable in a congregation that is economically, racially, cultur­ally, or socially homogeneous. There is no Biblical justification for that kind of approach, which can be very exclusionary. Philip was sent to a specific individual, the eunuch of Ethiopia. In the Old Testament Jonah was called to an entire city, not just to a segment of it. In our text Paul and Luke are called to the region of Macedonia, which was the stepping stone into all of Europe. In the Great Commission of Matthew 28, the command is to go into all the world. There is a gradual expansive-ness in terms of the work of evangelism. There are no examples of market-like targeting of specific groups of people—in fact, Peter's initial approach of reaching out only to the Jewish people was corrected in the vision he had at the home of Cornelius. Although Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles, his policy was always to preach in the Jewish synagogue first.

Last, but certainly not least, of the lessons of our text is the reminder that it is God who gives success to our mission work. In some of my more recent involvement in mission outreach, I was struck by a common principle that one needs the right method or program in order for evangelistic efforts to succeed—it seems that the power of God was overlooked or clearly not emphasized. While God wants us to proclaim His Word as winsomely and effectively as possible, the power to convert people to faith is in the efficaciousness of the Word itself. (It will be worthwhile to review what F. Pieper or J. T. Mueller have to say in their dogmatic textbooks on the efficaciousness of Scripture.) It is the Holy Spirit working in people's hearts through the power of the Word that leads them to faith, not some well-planned marketing strategies.

Suggested outline :

Begging for the Gospel

I. There is a need and urgency for evangelistic outreach. II. The Word of God is for all people. III. The success of evangelism is dependent on the power inherent in God's Word.

Quentin F. Wesselschmidt

Seventh Sunday of Easter Actsl:12-26 May 20,2007

Choosing Matthias

Preliminary considerations: The Seventh Sunday of Easter follows the celebra­tion of the Ascension of our Lord (hardly commemorated in congregations these days, as the festival falls on a Thursday), marking the threshold of the season of Pentecost.

During this time of the ecclesiastical calendar, the church transitions from the commemoration and celebration of various high points in our Lord's earthly life to the organization of her own life on earth as an ongoing witness in the world, ener-

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gized by the Holy Spirit's enabling and directing. Aptly then, today's appointed Gospel lesson (John 17) directs us to our Lord's

prayer for oneness among all who believe in Him, and the reading from Revelation 22 reassures us of the promise of His second coming. During this interim the church charters her course with faith and confidence in her Lord's leading and directing.

The method Peter and fellow believers in Christ adopted for choosing Matthias "to receive a place of servanthood and apostleship" among them (v. 25) sets a clear pattern for the Christian church to follow in selecting leaders and delegates for God's holy purposes. We read little about Matthias before he became God's choice to fill the place which Judas's demise opened as the twelfth apostle. Little is known about him afterwards. Tradition has claimed that Matthias preached the Gospel in Judea and in Ethiopia, as the Ethiopian church proudly celebrates her origin. Our church calendar has set apart February 24 for the commemoration of Matthias, although since the last century the Roman Catholic Church has moved this date to May 14. Coincidently, this change enables us to remember this day, May 20, the Sunday before Pentecost, God's choice of Matthias.

Textual considerations: More than three decades ago, Robert E. Coleman had published a book, The Master Plan of Evangelism in which he outlined eight ideas he had identified from our Lord's preparation of His disciples for His mission. Four of those apply directly to our text.

1. Selection. Following the ascension of our Lord, a full assembly of Christian men and women, including the apostles, gathered in the upper room of a large house in Jerusalem. Through them God selected Matthias to fill a position of ministry and apostleship, a position Judas held until he became the Lord's be­trayer (w. 12-20). Matthias matched the direct line of the other apostles, as he, like them, was an eyewitness to our Lord's entire public ministry (21-22).

In His church, the Lord in His wisdom chooses His servants to lead His people and to be a witness to His mighty acts. God chooses His servants even from the weak, the lowly and the despised to undo the mighty, the haughty, and the preten­tious of this world so that His wisdom will prevail and triumph over all enemies of the Gospel (1 Cor. 1:27-31). God chooses His people for accomplishing His purposes through them in His way.

2. Association. Matthias was with the Lord the whole time He went around, proclaiming the reign of heaven by word of mouth and demonstrating by miracu­lous signs God's saving presence among people (v. 21). Our Lord's death and rising from the dead were no doubt the climactic events to which Matthias was an eyewit­ness. He qualified for apostleship by his association with the Lord and His follow­ers.

There is no better way of training for a job than being in it and working at it. The fact that Matthias was counted as one of the apostles shows that he was well assimilated into the office of apostleship and found himself one in agreement with the doctrine of the apostles (v. 26).

3. Impartation. Today's Gospel reading, a selection from our Lord's "high priestly prayer" in John 17, begs that the world may know that God has sent Jesus to the earth inasmuch as He loves the world with the same love with which He loves the Son. The ministry of apostleship has primarily been one of proclaiming the Gospel and making it known to the world through actions. An apostle therefore imparts this kind of love to the world as our Lord did. As an eyewitness to every­thing Jesus said and did, Matthias fully qualifies for the apostolic ministry.

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4. Delegation. The ministry that the Lord delegated to His church, that of witnessing the Gospel in word and deed, has continued through the centuries. Just as He has from one man sent forth all human beings to inhabit all the earth, He also wants all human beings to seek Him in repentance and find Him in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (Acts 17). That mission is ongoing by means of the ministry of God's people, people of good rapport and filled with the Spirit and wisdom (Acts 6:3), just as our Lord, too, grew in wisdom and the favor of God and men and was filled with the Spirit as He came to our world to redeem us. The church's ministry is indeed the Lord's ministry delegated to her in accordance with the divine counsel.

Choosing Matthias: Critical events in history steer the course of life for a per­son, family, or community. The loss of a family member, collapse of a marriage, or a change in leadership in a company may be examples. Life transitions require us to make wise choices, learning from the past and looking confidently into the future.

Matthias's life was rooted in God's Word. From the beginning, he had seen Jesus with his eyes, and with his ears he had heard what the Lord spoke. He was an eyewitness to God Incarnate and His mission on earth. He was God's choice for His church in His appointed time.

Not only in the church's life are God's directions mediated through His Word. The community of believers that surrounds us enables us to make God-pleasing decisions and move on with confidence. As a community of believers, the people of God seek His will in all things.

Our life together as a church, in good times and in bad, is a testimony of our faith in the one Lord who saved us by His death for eternity. Declaring that mes­sage with boldness is our mission. If Matthias's faith journey took him to Judea and to Ethiopia, we humbly make the Savior's name known at home and abroad following in the apostles' footsteps.

Victor A. Raj

The Day of Pentecost Genesis 11:1-9 May 27,2007

Understanding the text as text: The text of the account of the Tower of Babylon (Gen. 11:1-9) is well-established, with only two minor textual variants. The Septuagint adds the phrase "to all of them" to the end of verse 1 ("...the same words to all of them," to add the phrase to the ESVs translation). Both the Septuagint and the Samaritan Pentateuch add the words "and the tower" to the end of verse 8 (...they left off building the city and the tower," following the ESVs translation). The first of these is the sort of expansion that often happens in translation, and probably represents the assimilation of the language of this verse to that of verse 6, where the added phrase does occur. The second likely reflects a genuine variant that existed in some Hebrew manuscripts. While the second is slightly more likely than the first to have been in the original text, neither variant should be adopted. In particular, the second appears to have arisen from a failure to recognize that this phrase is a hendiadys (see below). Neither variant significantly affects the meaning of the passage.

The translation of the text is straightforward and presents few problems. While the origin of the geographical term Shinar (v. 2) may be debated among

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scholars, the word is clearly used in Genesis to refer to the general area of southern and middle Mesopotamia, the southeastern third of modern Iraq (cf. Gen. 10:10). The two pairs of cognate accusatives in verse 3 (literally, "let us brick bricks and burn burnings," ESV "let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly"), together with the reference to bitumen, gives us an interesting insight into construction techniques in the period. The use of baked mud-bricks was quite common through­out the Ancient Near East, especially in places such as lower Mesopotamia where there was little stone suitable for construction. Bitumen (naturally occurring pitch) was not only commonly used in construction (and in medicine), it was also a valu­able export item in various periods of Mesopotamian history. Excavations at Babylon have found numerous examples of structures built of the kind of brick and bitumen technique alluded to here.

The ESVs translation of the phrase "a city and a tower" in verse 4 ignores the widespread recognition that this phrase is a textbook example of what Hebrew grammars call an hendiadys (the use of two words to communicate a single con­cept). The phrase does not refer to two things (a city and a tower), but to one thing that has the characteristics of both items referred to ("a towering city").

The highly anthropomorphic language of verse 5 should not be taken to sug­gest that God could not see what was going on from heaven. Rather it is character­istic of the way that the Old Testament describes God's actions in terms that are comprehensible to human experience.

The key speech of God in verse 6 contains one slightly problematic phrase. The ESVs "...this is only the beginning of what they will do," captures the main idea of a phrase that it difficult to put into English without expanding it in some way. It treats the first of the two infinitive constructs as a gerund (beginning).

Verse 7 introduces the pun that will later (v. 9) be made upon the name of the place. God decides to "confuse" (Hebrew bbi) their language. As verse 9 adds, they would name the place "Bablyon" (Hebrew baa), saying that it was so named be­cause there God confused (Hebrew bbz) the language of the whole earth. This is typical of the kind of popular etymology that is common in Genesis. The point is not really so much to give the technical etymology of the name as it is to draw a lesson from the events that occurred there and to make the lesson memorable by connect­ing it with the name of the place by way of a pun. The place name Babylon (Hebrew baa) is not really from the verb "confuse" (abb), but is rather a modification of the Akkadian name of the place, comprised of a phrase of two words (axa b), meaning "gate of [the] god", most likely recalling the view that the sanctuary there was thought to be a point of passage between the material realm and the realm of the divine.

The "tower-as-gateway" concept serves as a reminder to us that such towers— the technical term is ziggurat—were not tombs or funerary monuments like Egyp­tian pyramids, but rather were platforms upon which temples were built. The temples were indeed conceived of as places where heaven and earth met. The ziggurat of Babylon was rebuilt several times—baked mud-bricks tend to erode over time and periodic repairs or reconstructions are required much more fre­quently than with stone structures. Remains of this particular ziggurat in Babylon, called Etemenanki, suggest that, at later times at least, it was about 300 feet square at the base. A re-construction by King Nebuchadnezzar II (c. 605-562) was claimed to be 295 feet tall, though the original tower of Genesis was almost cer­tainly smaller than this. By comparison the Great Pyramid of Cheops (built around 2600-2500 BC) in Egypt is about 756 feet square at the base and was originally

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about 481 feet tall. Understanding the text as literature: This brief account is a transitional pas­

sage that helps to set the stage for the next major section of Genesis, beginning with the account of Abram's ancestry in 11:27. The first part of the book of Genesis (1:1-11:26) is highly periodic. The pattern of this part of the book is that a major event is followed by a short account that illustrates the effects of those develop­ments upon the descendente of the central figure in the main account, and then by a genealogical summary that serves to "fast forward" the narrative to the next main event. Thus, the account of the creation and fall is followed by the short account of Adam's sons (Cain and Abel), and then by genealogical material of Genesis 5. In the next section the flood narrative is followed by the short account of the behavior of Noah's sons, and then by the genealogical material of chapter 10. The short block of 11:1-26, of which our text is a component, provides the transi­tion from the first major section of Genesis to the second major section, the patri­archal narratives. This short block is comprised of two brief units, the account of the confusion of man's languages (our text) and the "Toledoth of Shem." On the literary level this material provides the transition between the first and second main unit of the book. On the historical level it explains how mankind became scattered after the flood and how they came to speak different languages (our account) and also how Abram was related to the descendente of Noah (the "Toledoth of Shem"). Both of these provide us with significant background information as we make the transition to the accounts of how God was going to work in lives of the patriarchs.

Our passage, sometimes characterized as an etiological tale since it explains the origin of human languages, belongs to the broader genre of narrative. More properly, it is a report of an event that focuses on both the human and divine motivations. The twice-repeated human "come" (11:3, 4) is balanced by the divine "behold" (11:6) and "come" (11:7). The men want to get a name so that they will not be scattered (11:4), and in the end God's judgment gives them a name (Babylon) and they are scattered (11:9). The passage turns on the conflicting human and divine wills, and God's decision to impose limits upon the way that mankind exer­cises the dominion that He had given them over His creation (cf. Gen 1:26, 28). Thus the central element (or climax) of the report is the statement of the determi­nation of God to respond to and to restrict the unbounded ambition of mankind (11:6).

Understanding the text as theology: Within its context in the book of Genesis, the account of the tower of Babylon represents the last of a series of examples of the extent of human depravity after the fall. In this sense it is the last of the series that includes the accounts of Cain and Abel (4:1-17), the violence of Lamech (4:17-26, esp. 23-34), the "Sons of God and the Daughters of Man" (6:1-6), and the mock­ing of Ham (9:18-27). Of these, it is most like the accounts of the "Sons of God and the Daughters of Man" in that it goes beyond the faults of individuals to show that the Fall has effected all humanity. And together with the mocking of Ham, our text makes it clear that God's recognition that the "wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continu­ally," (6:5 ESV) was not solved by the judgment of God in the flood. One might, at this point, expect God to inflict another even greater judgment upon sinful human­ity by utterly obliterating a wickedness so great that it would recognize no bounds (11:6). But God does not. He merely thwarts man's overweening ambition by limit­ing his ability to communicate and by scattering them over the face of the earth. By

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limiting man's ability to do evil rather than destroying him God keeps His promise not to destroy mankind by another flood (9:11).

The fact that the narrative continues (after the genealogical interlude) with the call of Abram and God's promises that through Him all the nations of the earth will be blessed (12:3) leads us to Christ and the Gospel, for it shows that God's ultimate response to human depravity is not to destroy, but to save. In this way, an appreciation of the role of this text in the unfolding history of salvation should lead us to a Gospel-centered and Christ-centered proclamation of the text.

This text is selected as a reading for the feast of Pentecost because the di­vinely given ability to understand the speech of different nations (Acts 2:1-11) is seen as undoing the effects of the judgment of God in out text. Indeed it is, but only insofar as it prefigures the eschatological age (Rev. 5:9; 7.9; 15:2-4; 21:22-26). For at Pentecost God does not undo the judgment at the tower of Babylon; He does not permanently undo the confusion of the languages. Rather this temporary rap­prochement is given as a sign that all nations, gentiles as well as Jews, are to be included in the kingdom of God in Christ, in whom the prophecy given to Abram that "all the nations of the earth will be blessed" (Gen. 2:3) is fulfilled and through whom "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" (Acts 2:21).

Proclaiming the text: How may we use this text to proclaim Christ in our gen­eration? In this case we may do so not merely on the basis of what the text says directly, but by following the logic of the salvation history of which this text is a part. As indicated above, the text points us to Christ as God's ultimate response to the overweening ambition of a mankind by using this account as the lead-in to the call of Abram, and the promise to bless all nations through him.

Using this approach, one might begin my comparing the ambition of the Babylonians to our ambitions. Their building of a towering city seems like a small offense compared with such modern examples of human ambition as cloning people, manipulating the human genetic code, traveling beyond the bounds of our planet, taking apart the atom or scouring the heavens through ever more powerful tele­scopes in an attempt to unravel the secrets of creation. Like the Babylonians before us, we attempt to justify all of these in terms of the potential good that they have to offer us and others (cf. 11:4). The more religiously minded in society might recall that, after all, God gave us control over His creation (Gen. 1:26, 28), so He must have intended us to use it. But our "good" is not God's "good." And if God saw the construction of a 300-foot-tall temple-tower in the city of Babylon as a symbol of man's overweening ambition and evidence that "nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them" (Gen. 11:6), what must He think of what we have done? And if God judged them by confusing their languages and scattering them across the face of the earth, what judgment must He have in store for us?

God's response is not what we might expect. His real response to the tower of Babylon was to call Abram and through him set in motion the plan that led to the birth of Christ. For God did not intend to punish the sins of the Babylonians, by sending another flood to destroy mankind. Rather He intended to punish the sins of the Babylonians and our sins by sending Christ to the cross. It is in the crucified and resurrected Jesus Christ that God not only punishes the overweening ambi­tion of a human wickedness so great that "every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually," (6:5 ESV), but through the outpouring of His Spirit on Pentecost and the gathering of Abraham's descendente from all the nations of the earth by the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, God is bringing to­gether in His church what He had previously scattered to the ends of the earth so

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that all mankind may praise Him again in eternity with one tongue. David L. Adams

The Holy Trinity Proverbs 8:1-4,22-31

June 3,2007

Chapters 1 through 9 of Proverbs are an extended discourse from a father to his son(s)—children generally—to choose wisdom over folly in living life. Wisdom and folly (or foolishness) are personified as two different women: Wisdom is, by inference, an honorable woman, a suitable companion, even a "lady" (see, for ex­ample, Horace D. Hummel, The Word Becoming Flesh [St. Louis: Concordia, 1979], 455), while folly is a tramp (Heb. n# π$κ, ESV: "forbidden woman"; or rç-oj, ESV: "adulteress"; lit. "foreign (woman);" cf. Prov. 2:16 et al.). Chapter 7 reiterates the exhortation to seek wisdom and to resist the "seductive speech" (7:21, ESV) of the forbidden woman, whose words lead to destruction. (It is worth noting that the Hebrew vocabulary, e.g., n¡?b, from root npb, for learning or instruction can function both positively and negatively—it depends on the source!)

The first segment of the appointed reading (w. 1 through 4) reminds us that while the forbidden woman calls attractively and seductively, wisdom calls too.

And it still does today. The voices of wisdom and folly compete for our affec­tions, perhaps most prominently in advertising—I was entertained by some of the commercials aired in conjunction with Super Bowl XLI, but wouldn't be inclined to buy what they were trying to sell. In a morning-after review of which ads were hot and which were not, a commentator acknowledged that one automaker's ads were rather prosaic and wound up at the bottom of the list of people's favorites—theirs was the product, however, which I'd be most likely to buy.

The verses between the two segments (w. 5 through 21) assert what wisdom offers to those who seek her. In our "Information" Age, where the quest for data is insatiable and information equals knowledge, it is worth being reminded by wisdom's testimony in these verses that not all information, not all knowledge is equal.

I might be taking a chance—but I'll do it anyway—by summarizing the second segment of the text (w. 22 through 31) this way: In the beginning was wisdom, and wisdom was with God, and wisdom was God.

The English Standard Version translates the first half-line of verse 22 "The LORD possessed me at the beginning of his work." The root rop tends to describe economic action: get or acquire (BDB) or "take by price" (τπηη npb, Even-Shoshan). But Even-Shoshan observes some synonymy between ηψ and ΊΤ (form) or ma (create, as in Gen. 1:1), when God is the agent, e.g., Genesis 14:19, where "God Most High" is the "Possessor [ro£] of heaven and earth"). The remainder of the half-line in our text, taTi rwftn, is translated regularly in English versions as "at the begin­ning of his work" (ESV et al.); some Syriac, Targum, and Vulgate manuscripts have rrtfira, as in Genesis 1:1. The MT, as it stands, could be construed as appositional: wisdom is the first (or head) of YHWH's "work" (ESV) or "way" (NASB). The re­mainder of the verse, ma r^ap DT£, parallels and reiterates the point: "first (or foremost) of his acts from of old." To be sure, the existence and presence of wisdom are at the beginning, and yet the Hebrew construction seems to say more—that the emission, so to speak, of wisdom from YHWH marks the onset of the creation "of

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heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible." Wisdom is of God in a way that "all things" are not. The succeeding verses are a kind of catechism on wisdom's existence: It is a isa WTD f^panpa-before everything else was, wisdom is.

The root translated "brought forth" in verses 24 and 25 is ·?ιπ. Translation values are contextual, but together they seem to involve movement like rotation or spinning (including writhing in pain, especially in childbirth). Wisdom is "birthed," "spun out" by God before the foundation of the world. Maybe Plato is partly right, sort of. And yet it is not the Ideas or Forms such as wisdom which subsist indepen­dently; that alone is God, who ideates and whose ideas (as well as His words) are performative. In verse 27 the terse phrase ··» o$ is translated in relation to the understood past-ness of creation, "when he established the heavens, I was there" (ESV). And yet wisdom is more than an accompaniment to creation. "I [wisdom] am there" as an identifiable and yet not separate participant in the process of establishment, the activity of creating.

ESV follows the BHS layout and begins verse 30 with "then," taking the pre­ceding temporal clauses as dependent on the opening clause of verse 30. I'm not so sure. I think the nominal clause "I am there" in verse 27 is the main clause on which all of the temporal clauses (a plus infinitives construct) in verses 27 through 29 depend. Verse 30 contains two assertions on the part of wisdom: that "she" was, alongside [God], a master workman (ESV; see F. Delitzsch for an extensive discus­sion of fiaç); and that "she" was a/the delight day by day ("his" delight follows the Greek and Syriac, which include the 3rd masculine singular pronominal suffix). The final clause of verse 30 and the opening one of verse 31 are participial clauses which describe "her" work in terms of delight and joy—work well designed and well executed is rewarding—while the closing clause of verse 31 may express either wisdom's pleasure in working with the sons of Adam (cf. ESV) or the delight wis­dom produces in the human creature. In short, our text lets us know that creation's design, rooted in wisdom, was "very good" (Gen. 1:31).

The First Article of the Creed is brief, excruciatingly so. Indeed, God the Fa­ther has created, ex nihilo, all things; and yet there is more to creation than matter. Wisdom is not created, because wisdom is of God—it belongs to His own nature and character. And yet wisdom informs and influences creation, because in cre­ation God exercised (His) wisdom. Wisdom is, thus, not "natural," and yet God has conferred wisdom, in varying degrees, on what we call nature. Elsewhere in the book of Proverbs, the father urges his son(s) to "get wisdom," nasg rta¡?, where "get" is the same root rup used to describe YHWH's inherent possession of wisdom. But wisdom is not a product arrived at by human exertion and ratiocination—it does not come "by my own reason or strength." It is, rather, a gift received by those in whom "the fear of the LORD" dwells; wisdom accompanies being rightly related to God.

That the Scripture says these things means that they couldn't go without saying. That is, wisdom, with all its attendant benefits, was God (the Father's) creation design for His human creatures. But something has interfered with our proper appropriation and use of God's wisdom gift: Adam and Eve's transgression in the garden did not increase knowledge (or wisdom); it diminished it. We actually know less, understand less, because we do not, cannot know God.

And so God (the Father), in His wisdom, has sent God (the Son): Christ, the wisdom of God (1 Cor. 1:24). Our preaching often may employ the Gospel transfor­mations of death-to-life, of sin-to-righteousness, and others; I wonder whether we

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remember and make use of the reality that we are, by ourselves, ignorant of God— "Israel does not know, my people do not understand" (Is. 1:3)—and that it is only as God makes Himself known—reveals Himself—that we can "come to the knowl­edge of the truth" (1 Tim. 2:4). "In the beginning was the Word..." (John 1:1); in the beginning was Wisdom, and the Wisdom of God is Jesus Christ and the Gospel, which He is and has done. The fear of the LORD which is the beginning of knowl­edge and of wisdom is faith in Christ, the One who was begotten of the Father before the foundation of the world, the One who, before Abraham was, is.

Wisdom Calls

I. What the world calls wisdom actually is seductive folly. II. True wisdom subsists in God alone—He is not subject to some external stan­

dard of wisdom—it proceeds from Him, and is appropriated only by those who are rightly related to Him.

III. Humanity's reason and conscience are darkened because of sin; we cannot restore our relationship to God, nor can we live our creaturely life wisely and well.

IV Jesus is the Wisdom of God, whose sacrifice atones for our rebellion and who, by His Spirit, reveals the true nature and character of God and enlightens His people through faith for living wisely—that is, in growing concert with God's will.

William W Carr, Jr.

Second Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 5) 1 Kings 17:17-24

June 10,2007

Liturgical context: This Old Testament text coheres closely to the theme of the appointed Gospel reading; no doubt the pericope was selected to parallel the ac­count provided in Luke 7. In both lections a son of a widow is raised from the dead. In the passage from 1 Kings 17, the prophet Elijah restores life to the son of the widow at Zarephath. In Luke 7, Jesus intervenes at the funeral procession in Nain and raises a widow's son from death. Although this theme of life from death ap­pears on this date because of the lectio continua of readings from Luke, it is an appropriate theme for beginning the season of Pentecost, which celebrates the gift of the Holy Spirit who is "the Lord and giver of life."

Historical and narrative context: Chapter 17 of 1 Rings introduces Elijah, the prototype of the classical prophets of Israel. Previously in 1 Kings are presented the reign of Solomon (1:1-12:24) and the reigns of the kings of the divided kingdom up to Ahab of Israel (12:25-16:34). Chapter 17 begins a new section describing the ministries of Elijah and Elisha (1 Kings 17:1-2 Kings 8:15). Elijah's ministry begins during the reign of Ahab (874-853 B.C.).

Immediately prior to the appointed text, Elijah announces to Ahab that Yahweh's judgment will befall the land in the form of a multi-year drought (17:1). Due to the diabolical influence of his pagan wife Jezebel, Ahab fostered the cultiva­tion of Baal worship in the northern kingdom of Israel (16:30-33). Since Baal was regarded as the lord of the storm cloud and of rain, this suspension of precipitation is a demonstration of the impotence of the Canaanite god and the futility of those

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who worship him. After delivering this message, Elijah withdraws in isolation beside a Transjordan brook, where he is protected by Yahweh and sustained by ravens (17:2-6). However, when the brook dries up as a result of the drought, Yahweh directs Elijah to find sustenance in the home of a Phoenician widow living in the coastal town of Zarepheth between Tyre and Sidon (17:7-9). God thus withdraws His prophet from the land of Israel to Jezebel's homeland and the seedbed of Baal worship. Since Phoenicia also is suffering the effects of the drought, the widow and her son face starvation. Remarkably, she agrees to provide Elijah with room and board, granting his request to eat of her food supplies. Yet as Elijah promised, Yahweh miraculously provides ongoing food to sustain her, her son, and the prophet (17:10-16). This is the context in which the text's narrative is found.

Thoughts on the text: This passage is a narrative, and so to expound it one must understand the development and movement of the story. Similarly, in preaching this text, one should not neglect its narrative force and the pathos of its characters.

To understand the behavior of the widow in the story it is important to note the text's preceding context. In the face of famine and starvation, the prophet Elijah promises the widow at Zarephath that the God of Israel will deliver food to her and her son as she provides lodging to Elijah (17:10-14). Although not explicitly stated, the assumption is that God will sustain their lives.

Yet the text begins with the widow's son becoming ill and dying (17:17). This was not what was expected! It appears to her that Elijah's presence has brought not blessing but bane. The promise of life now appears to be hollow. This loss of her only son is especially grievous because he was to become her sole provider; in this ancient culture a son would be a widow's only hope for future sustenance and survival. One can hear bitterness and even a sense of being betrayed in the be­reaved widow's complaint to Elijah: "What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?" (17:18). Perhaps even Elijah is perplexed with God's action of bringing death to this household, as reflected in his lamentation to Yahweh (17:20).

Yet Elijah does not despair in the face of this death. He knows that Yahweh is not only the God who controls the rain, but also the Lord over death itself and the giver of life. The prophet is bold to make petition to the Lord: "O LORD my God, let this boy's life return to him!" (17:21). Elijah holds Yahweh to be trustworthy to His Word of life.

The God who is able to raise the dead is also willing to do so; Yahweh restores the boy's life (17:22). He bestows deliverance from death to a non-Israelite whose mother has aligned herself with God's prophet—and thus with God Himself. The covenant promise of life is given even to those not of the lineage of Jacob. Elijah presents the formerly dead child to his mother, providing a wonderfully shocking answer to her questions. This miracle—the first instance in history of someone being raised from the dead—serves as a demonstration of Yahweh's power and faithfulness (17:23).

Finally, the gracious act of God works faith in God. The widow acclaims Yahweh to be God and claims His Word as truth (17:24).

Notes on the text: Verse 17: The clause translated as "he stopped breathing," or more literally "until there was no breath left in him," means that the boy had died. The neshamah had departed from him. In the Old Testament, the presence of neshamah indicates that the flesh is alive (Gen. 2:7), and its absence indicates death (Job 34:14-15). The intended meaning of the clause is not that the child was merely inanimate yet alive not even near death; he has died. Accordingly, the

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widow accuses Elijah of killing her son (v. 18), and Elijah accuses Yahweh of caus­ing the boy to die (v. 20). The testimony of these—both of whom are intimate to the situation—is that they young man is dead.

Verse 18: The verb hazkiyr (zkr in the Hiphil) has the sense of causing some­thing to be remembered. What is remembered or called attention to is the woman's sin. This Gentile unbeliever possesses a consciousness of guilt. She also associates her misfortune with such guilt. Certainly this understanding is tainted by her pagan worldview, yet even for pagans the reality of death can bring to bear the accusing function of the Law written on the heart. She is especially conscious of divine judgment because she recognizes that she is in the presence of a "man of God" (ish ha 'elohim). However, as the narrative unfolds, it becomes clear that this disaster was not sent as a punishment for any particular sins, but to reveal the power and mercy of the true God (cf. John 9:3).

Verse 21: Accompanying Elijah's plea for the child's life to return is the physi­cal action of stretching himself out on the boy three time. The verb yithmoded (mdd in the Hithpoel) literally means to measure oneself—Elijah measured himself out upon the boy. Although a different verb is used in 2 Kings 4:34, where Elisha brings back to the Shumanite's dead son, the positioning of the prophet directly over the corpse is similar. Most likely this gesture signifies the transference of the life force from the servant of God to the deceased, not in a magical manner, but in an instru­mental way (i.e., Elijah is the agent of Yahweh's power to restore life, even as pastors today are agents who mediate the Holy Spirit's life-giving power).

Verse 21-23: The repetition of the theme of life in these three verses highlights the central theme of the narrative—Yahweh is the Lord and giver of life. In verse 21 Elijah asks Yahweh to restore the nephesh to the lad. In verse 22 the nephesh is restored, upon which the text states that the child "lived" (wayyechiy). In verse 23 the prophet announces to the mother that her son is alive (chay). The emphasis is clear that this is no mere resuscitation; it is a revivificaiton!

Verse 23: Whereas in verse 18 the widow accuses the "man of God" (ish ha' elohim) of bringing disaster upon her house, now she uses the same epithet to acclaim Elijah as the spokesman of a merciful Yawheh whose word is the truth Cemeth). Her confession is one of faith in Elijah's word (and thus in the word of Yahweh), since her claim that this word is 'emeth is an affirmation of its depend­ability and certainty.

Focus statement: The reason we are confident that we shall live beyond the grave is because God has power over death and promises to raise us from the dead.

Goal: The hearers are confident that God gives life, even—and especially—in the event of death.

Malady: The hearers doubt God's promise of life and so despair when con­fronted with the reality of their own death and that of their loved ones.

Means: In Christ, God has conquered sin and death at the cross and empty tomb. Now, as Lord over death, He gives eternal life to all who trust His power to raise the dead.

Suggested outline:

Questions of Life and Death

Introduction: At the death of a loved one, or as we face death ourselves, we find ourselves asking ponderous questions: "Why did God allow this death? Is God angry with me? Is there life beyond the grave?" In our text from 1 Kings 17, a widow

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who has just lost her only son asks pain-filled questions of the prophet of God: "What do you have against me? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?" (v. 18). In our grief, we ask similar questions. Yet God provides an answer.

I. Our question: Why do we experience death when God has promised life? A. The widow questions why the God who promised life brought death to her

household. 1. She had trusted that Elijah's presence would sustain her life and

that of her son (1 Kings 17:14-16). 2. When her son dies, she assumes that God has brought this judgment

upon her because of her guilt (1 Kings 17:17-18). 3. Her questions to Elijah indicate despair over the promise that their

lives would be sustained (1 Kings 17:18). B. When we experience the death of loved ones, or confront our own death, we

question God's promise of life. 1. We recognize our sinfulness and fear God's punishment of death. 2. We doubt God's willingness to bring life out of death. 3. We despair of God's promise of eternal life.

II. God's answer: He restores life! A. God answers our doubts by demonstrating His power over death.

1. God used Elijah to restore the life of the widow's son (1 Kings 17:19-23).

2. Jesus restored the life of another widow's son (Luke 7:11-17). 3. God resurrected Jesus after His atoning death.

B. God answers our despair by promising to raise us from the dead. 1. Jesus has taken the cause of death—our sin—upon Himself so that

we are forgiven. 2. Jesus has taken the penalty of sin—our death—upon Himself so that

we do not die eternally. 3. Jesus shares His victory over death—His resurrection—with us so

that even though we die, yet shall we live (John 11:25). III. Our response: We are confident in God's promise of life.

A. The widow confessed her faith in the power and promise of God (1 Kings 17:24).

B. We trust God's power over death and His promise of resurrection to us. David Peter

Third Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 6) 2 Samuel 11:26-12:10,13,14

June 17,2007

Understanding the text as text: The text of the account in 2 Samuel 11-12 of the aftermath of David's affair with Bathsheba is reasonably well-established, with only one really significant textual variant (in 12:14, see below). In 12:1, some Hebrew manuscripts join the Septuagint in adding Nathan's title the prophet after his name. A few Greek manuscripts also add an introductory phrase to the beginning of Nathan's speech. Both of these are almost certainly secondary expan­sionist developments. One might be tempted to adopt the shortening of the begin-

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ning of verse 9 from "Why have you despised the word of the Lord..." to "Why have you despised the Lord..." as preserved in the Lucianic rescension of the Septuagint and Theodotion (especially since Theodotion often preserves forms closer to the MT than other Greek translators) were it not for the Lucianic rescension's general unreliability in these passages. Given that Theodotion was probably a revision of earlier Greek translations, the conjunction of these two sources may reflect Theodotion's dependence on a Lucianic-type text rather than a separate witness to the abbreviated reading. The few other variants are a combination of orthographic or stylistic variation among the scribes, and none are likely to be a part of the original text. There is an odd Kethiv-Qere in verse 9. Curiously, every English translation of which I am aware follows the third person suffix of the consonantal text (his eyes) rather than the reading recommended by the Masoretes of the first person suffix (my eyes). The context seems to suggest that the translators are right and the Masoretes are wrong.

The only really significant variant is found in 12:14. There the MT (supported by the Septuagint and the Vulgate) appears to read the problematic "...because you have utterly scorned the enemies of the Lord by this deed..." where the context leads us to expect that David would be accused of scorning the Lord rather than scorning the Lord's enemies. There are no true variants that are helpful in this situation. The Dead Sea Scrolls variant cited by the ESVs notes appears to be a secondary attempt to get around the problem by substituting "word" for "enemies" ("... scorned the word of the Lord..."). Lacking any obvious solution, modern transla­tors take one of two positions. Some translations, including the ESV, generally follow the lead of the RSV in simply omitting the phrase "the enemies of and translate, "...because by this deed you have utterly scorned the LORD..." (ESV). Presumably this is on the assumption that the phrase was inserted into the text at a later time to soften the judgment against the much-admired David. Other En­glish translations follow the general lead of the KJV and attempt to take the verb forms as causative, translating something like, "because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme..." (NKJV, see also NIV and JPS that translate in a similar way). While appealing as a solution, the text itself cannot support this translation. Of these alternatives the former seems to fit the context better.

The translation itself presents few problems. Nathan's parable (2 Sam. 12:1-4) is lovely, evocative Hebrew, and one can almost feel the intensity in David's response (w. 5-6). The contrast between the gentle evocativeness of the parable and the terse language of Nathan's accusation is impressive. The repeated "I"s of Yahweh's speech strike like hammer blows, and the vividness of the language makes one almost wince with David at each new reminder of all that God has done for him. The terse style of these verses make them slightly more challenging to translate, but apart from a few obscure words none of the passage would qualify as difficult Hebrew. The key question in 12:9 is not handled all that well by the ESV: "Why have you despised the word of the LORD, to do what is evil in his sight?" Here the infinitive construct is used (as commonly) to indicate the action that is taken as a way to accomplished something, and a better translation would be, "Why have you despised the word of the Lord, by doing what is evil in his sight?" For comments on the translation of 12:14, see above.

Understanding the text as literature: The passage before us is the climax of a larger narrative that recounts the sin of David with Bathsheba and the narrative of the arranged death of Bathsheba's husband Uriah (2 Sam. 11:1-25). It continues

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after our account with the death of the child born to David and Bathsheba (2 Sam. 12:15-23). This climax contains the dramatic scene of the encounter between David and God's prophet Nathan. In the dialogue, David responds in anger to the situa­tion described in Nathan's parable, and is condemned out of his own mouth as a result. There are few move vivid scenes of prophetic condemnation in the entire Old Testament.

It is the general task of prophetic literature in the Old Testament to interpret the work of God in and through history on the basis of the revelation of God given in the Torah. Such a prophetic epic history is unique in the Ancient Near East. As a result there is no direct parallel to this kind of literature outside the Bible with which we may compare it. While this scene is a part of the larger succession narra­tive that establishes the legitimacy of the Davidic monarchy as the house chosen by God to rule over Israel, it is noteworthy that the text never becomes a fawning hagiography. Despite the fact that he is God's anointed ruler, David is presented as a flawed man, here and elsewhere in the narrative. This distinctive literary aspect of the text has significant thoological implications.

Understanding the text o s theology: The willingness of the Old Testament to show us the flaws of even the most "saintly"'Israelites illustrates an important theological point. That Abraham tried to avoid trouble by passing his wife off as his sister and had a child by his wife's maidservant (whom he subsequently treated very badly); that Moses is shewn to be not only a killer but also one who is willing to lie to Pharaoh about the Israelites' intention to return to Egypt after worship­ping God on the holy mountain for three days; that David is shown to be a polyga­mist, adulterer, and murderer; all of these failings on the part of those who might be thought of as heroes of t!ie faith serve to underscore the lesson that Israel learned at the foot of Mt. Sinai after worshipping the golden calf (Ex. 32-34): Not only did Israel become the people of God by the God's choice and by God's action alone when He redeemed them from Egypt, but also Israel's continuance as the people of God depends not on Israel's ability to keep the Torah, but upon the gracious and compassionate character of God Himself (Ex. 34:5-7). Indeed, our account of David's sin and God's judgment of it could almost serve as an object lesson to illustrate how Exodus 34:5-7 works.

One of the differences between a Lutheran reading of the Old Testament and a conservative Jewish reading of the Old Testament lies in the Lutheran under­standing that we generally call the second use of the Law. Conservative Judaism seems to assume that if God commanded something then it must be possible for us to do it. Hence Judaism's emphasis on the keeping of the Law as the basis for man's relationship with God. Many well-intentioned Christian preachers make the same mistake. Their error expresses itself most directly in works-righteous­ness. The same error is at the heart of the more subtle error of reducing Christian­ity to a life-style, or a way of Living, as well. When Christians reduce Christianity to a morality they make the same mistake that Israel made, the mistake of think­ing that they can keep God's l aw. Israel three times swears that it will keep all of God's commands (Ex. 19:8; 24:3, 7), and then immediately broke the first com­mandment in the most egregious way possible by worshipping a golden calf before Moses was even finished receiving the instructions that Israel had sworn to obey. Lutherans ought not to make the mistake of thinking that if God commanded something we must be able to do it, but should understand that God's commands, like Nathan's parable, drive us to a recognition that we cannot keep the Law of God, and move us, like David, to throw ourselves upon the mercy of God who has

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revealed Himself to be "merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgres­sion and sin..." (Ex. 34:6-7).

The recognition that not only does our salvation depend upon God's grace alone, but our ongoing relationship with God depends entirely on God's forgiving nature and not on our ability to keep His teaching perfectly may tempt some to disregard the reality of the divine call to true repentance. Genuine saving faith begins with repentance. Where there is no repentance there is only a self-serving faith, a faith centered upon ourselves rather than upon Christ. That David was truly penitent is reflected in his words in response to Nathan's accusation, both in our text and as recorded in Psalm 51. It is only when we have joined with David in genuine repentance that we can share his joy in being truly forgiven.

Finally, we should recall the role of David as a type of the messiah who is to come. As the adopted son of God, anointed to rule over Israel, David foreshadows the one who would be the true Son of God, anointed to rule over not only the earthly kingdom of Israel but the eschatological kingdom to which all those called from the ends of the earth to worship the one true God are gathered eternally. The earthly David is judged and condemned for his own sins; the eschatological Messiah-David, though sinless, bears the divine judgment, condemnation, and punishment for the sins of the whole world.

Proclaiming the text: How may we proclaim the Gospel in our generation on the basis of this text? Two ways suggest themselves. First, and most directly, we might follow the line of typological development from earthly David to the messianic Davidic king. "You are the man," Nathan says as he accuses David of sin (2 Sam. 12:7). "Behold the man," Pilate says as he presents Jesus to be crucified (John 19:5). With these words two kings stand condemned, a human king condemned for his own sins and the Son of God, the sinless King of all creation, who stands condemned by God for the sins of the world.

A second approach focuses on the need for genuine repentance, especially in the light of contemporary American Christianity's advocacy of good-feeling and motivational encouragement in the place of preaching true penitence as the basis for Christian living. Following this approach one might note that one of the ways that Christianity in America has changed over the last fifty years is that we have seen a shift in the central metaphor for understanding what we do in church. The classic Christian understanding might be characterized by the metaphor of church-as-hospital. There souls made sick by sin are healed by the grace of God at work in the Word and the Sacraments. Modern American Christianity tends to exchange the church-as-hospital metaphor for a different image, the church-as-pep-rally. According to this understanding of church, the function of worship is to get believ­ers excited about being faithful to God's Word and His mission, and to send them out charged-up for the week ahead. As psychologically satisfying and consistent with our culture as this approach may be, it can never be the basis for genuine Christian faith and growth in discipleship. Nathan calls David to repentance be­cause without repentance there is no absolution, no forgiveness. Preachers and churches that offer Christians "encouragement" in the form of an easy reconcilia­tion with their immorality are faithless watchmen (Ezek. 33:1-9) who are building churches on a foundation of sand and misleading the people of God.

Like Nathan, Luther understood the necessity of genuine repentance. Thus he begins his Ninety-five Theses with the words, "Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, when He said 'Repent', willed that the whole life of believers should be repen-

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tance." But even genuine repentance does not earn God's favor. Rather it turns from sin and humbly receives the grace that God freely gives, to David and, through Christ Jesus, to us.

David L. Adams

Fourth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 7) Isaiah 65:1-9 June 24,2007

This reading appears to be an answer to the question which closes Isaiah 64: "Will you restrain yourself at these things, O LORD? Will you keep silent, and afflict us so terribly?" (64:18, ESV). According to the MT, the pericope includes one complete paragraph (w. 1-7) and two verses of another which runs through verse 12. While one cannot be dogmatic about what is represented by the Masoretic system of open and closed paragraphs—petuchoth, marked by a small midline B, indicate a new paragraph on a new line; and setumoth, marked by a small midline o, indicate a new paragraph on the same line—there is some implication/inference that the petuchoth indicate more "major" and the setumoth indicate more "minor" sections of thought. If there is anything at all to this distinction, it is interesting to note that the last occurrence of a petuchah was at the beginning of Isaiah 51 ("Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness," 51:1, ESV). This suggests (neither more nor less) the possibility that the Masoretes treated the entire section from 51:1 through 65:12 as one extended discourse.

It is neither an exilic phenomenon nor a post-exilic one, but a situation that exists "at all times and in all places" in which those who seek righteousness—in Isaiah the remnant, the faithful—are apprehensive whether they have exhausted God's mercy.

YHWH's answer begins in His availability. The reflexive character of the Niphal forms (tfn and KSQ) includes the notion of permission (see, e.g., Arnold and Choi, A Guide to Biblical Hebrew Syntax [Cambridge, 2003], 40), thus the ESV rendering, "I was ready to be sought.. .and found." Humanity's problem may be represented in two ways: one, enunciated in Isaiah 55, is that people do not seek God where or when He is to be found—looking for God in all the wrong places. The other, ex­pressed here, is that people are not looking. He is present—the force of ran (here with the first common singular pronominal suffix) is to assert presence—and He endeavors to present Himself, even when nobody is searching, even when people are not calling on His name (cf. ESV text note). They are "following their own devices" (65:2, ESV); the root atin is the one used in Genesis 15:6—God's reckoning faith to Abraham as righteousness. People use their own reckonings or reason to get the measure of God, and that just will not work—"I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength..." (SC).

The catalog of impieties (w. 3b-5a) shows how diametrically opposed to God stood the people of the prophet's time. These impieties are couched generally in terms appropriate to the culture of his time, but it requires rather little effort to transpose those activities into our time and culture: our nation (and, probably, even our churches) are not immune to false worship (3b), quests for alternative "spiritualities" (4a), and distorted religious regulations (4b). We make ourselves (our attitudes and understandings, even our values) the benchmark against which we measure God: "Do not come near me, for I am too holy for you" (65:5a, ESV).

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Verses 6-7 assert the God who "will by no means clear the guilty" (Ex. 34:7b, ESV). The condition of Isaiah's people, of themselves, was such that YHWH would be completely justified to "repay" (piel of übti, which here points to a complete dealing without "restraint"; cf. 64:12) the people's iniquities and to "measure" (qal of -no) their past deeds (ESV has "measure.. .payment for their deeds," but that strikes me as a dynamic equivalence that is not. If/when YHWH measures the deeds of the people, it will be shown that they [the deeds] do not measure up; they [the deeds] accordingly will be rejected).

These verses announce what God could do, and would be entirely justified to do. Verses 8-9 are in a new paragraph (w. 9-12, where 10-12 elaborate the basic declaration of 8-9) and in them God announces what He will do according to the fact that He is merciful and gracious... (Ex. 34:6-7a). These verses declare the great "nevertheless." He will not "destroy them all" (65:8, ESV). Repayment, in the form of foreign invasion and, eventually, exile, will come rather indiscriminately against the whole of the people. But YHWH will act for the sake of His servants to preserve a remnant and restore/rebuild His people (Jacob, Judah).

In Isaiah's time God remained forbearing; He restrained or withheld the full­ness of His wrath. Even in the exile, more than a century after Isaiah, YHWH did not exhibit the fullness of His judgment against iniquity. There would come a time, however, when He no longer would restrain Himself. He inflicted the full measure of sin and its consequences against His Son, His only Son, whom He loved, so that we might be preserved and "possessors of [His] mountains" (in contrast to the mountains and hills on which people have made unrighteous offerings, v. 7).

Who are God's servants, His chosen? At many points in the book of Isaiah, how to identify YHWH's proper people is not (re)stated; and so it is here. But one of the themes or thematic patterns of the book of Isaiah is the significance of knowing (root irr) God, understanding (root ya) His nature and character, and trusting (root ntaa) Him. In the wickedness of the world and its consequent troubles, it becomes difficult to perceive God and how He really is; even otherwise solid Christians find it difficult not to wonder where God is, or whether He has gotten fed up with us, or whether and how He will act to preserve those who seek Him. It is the lifted-up Savior, Jesus Christ, who announces and demonstrates the true nature of God: " Ί , I am the LORD, and besides me there is no savior. I declared and saved and proclaimed..., and you are my witnesses,' declares the LORD, 'and I am God'" (Is. 43:11-12, ESV).

William W. Carr, Jr.

Fifth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 8) 1 Kings 19:9b-21

July 1,2007

How Alone Is Alone with God?

Elijah's sense of loneliness, deep and foreboding, far from unique in Scripture, is shared by prophets from Moses to Isaiah to Jeremiah, as well as by psalmists, by "the greatest of the sons of the east," Job, and finally and most fully by our Lord on the cross. So also with people today whose commitment to God (as "zealous" as was Elijah) only deepens the pain of ridicule, rejection, and seeming failure.

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God's multi-level response to Elijah is that he is not as alone and not as empty as he was expressing.

1. God Himself is with Elijah, and to underline that, He "passes by" close enough and clearly enough to move Elijah beyond doubt and fear. Interestingly, God chooses not to reveal Himself in forms of power and force as He did elsewhere (usually in judgment, but also at Sinai), but in that "still, small voice" ("low whis-per-ESV, "gentle whisper"-NIV) that spoke comfort and strength to a deflated Elijah. This "understated" form of God's presence is consistent with the incarnate (and easily rejected) Word and the common means of water and bread/wine. God blows where and how He will, but in ways to comfort and to strengthen His ser­vants.

2. There were seven thousand other Elijahs (v. 18) who were partnering in God's mission, but outside Elijah's acquaintance. The means God uses in His royal and salvific reign are many and varied. His grace is that He includes us among those means, and the joy is in discovering partners and fellows in our common faith and ministry.

3. God appoints a successor, Elisha, who leaves all and follows (zealously) no less than did the disciples at the Lord's call.

4. Underlying all responses is God's implicit call that Elijah continues his "zealous" service of God.

Suggested outline:

I. Service to God can lead to doubt, to a sense of loneliness, as well as fear of failure before God. If left to fester, it can grow into a difficult form of unfaith.

II. God's most fundamental promise to His servants has always been that of His presence, Immanuel (God with us). A. For Elijah that took the form of God's "gentle whisper," gentle not because

it did not leave his hair standing on end but because it left Elijah strength­ened.

B. In the fullness of time, God sent His Son whom He Himself named Immanuel. Through that Son came not just a whisper but a washing, a cleansing of all spiritual grime, both gross and open sin as well as haunt­ing doubt and despair. Indeed, when that Son spoke from the cross to one of the thieves, He bestowed Immanuel, and so He promised to His dis­ciples then and today (Matt. 28:20).

C. Consistent with that "gentle whisper" for Elijah is the gentle touch of water and the gentle sustenance of bread and wine, unpretentious in form, but filled with life, now and forever, with him, Immanuel.

III. With those gifts, God calls His servant (and His servants to this day) to con­tinued service, encouraged by the wider corps of Gospel partners, that spans time (like the 7,000) and space (like the successor Elisha), but all undergirded by the gift and strength of Immanuel.

Henry Rowold

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Sixth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 9) Isaiah 66:10-14

July 8,2007

Submitted below is a manuscript of a sermon. The reader has permission to utilize any useful aspects of this manuscript in crafting his own sermon based on this text.

The Motherly Love of a Father God

God is presented as a father in the Scriptures. Indeed, that is His title as one of the three persons of the holy Trinity—God the Father. Yet though the term "Father" is His proper title, there are also a multitude of maternal or mother-like characteristics with which He is described in the Bible. True, we do not go to an unbiblical extreme and start praying in the Lord's Prayer, "Our Mother who art in heaven." Yet we must not miss those passages in Scripture where the Lord is portrayed with the qualities of a loving mother. One of those passages is our text from Isaiah 66.

In this passage God is figuratively portrayed as a mother who nourishes and cares for her children. In a powerful way Isaiah 66 shows us how mothers model the love and nurture of God. James Thackery once wrote that "mother" is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children. Indeed, God portrays Himself with motherly qualities in this text. Here the prophet Isaiah depicts God with two mother-like characteristics: a mother's provision and her pardon.

First, a mother's provision. A mother constantly provides for and cares for her beloved children. God has created woman uniquely to serve in that nurturing role by endowing her with the ability to nurse a baby. Verses 10 through 12 of Isaiah 66 reflect this. (Read these verses.)

Note that several times in these few verses Isaiah uses the imagery of a baby nursing at his mother's breast. Also observe that the one described as a mother in these verses is the city of Jerusalem. Jerusalem is the city where God dwelt among His people in the Old Testament. The prophet Isaiah is saying that it is in this place, the place where God is, that people find nurture and life. And the imagery that Isaiah uses is that of a mother nursing her babies.

This act of provision is an expression of sacrificial love. A mother gives of herself sacrificially to her children. She cares for her helpless infant's every need. She nurses him, changes his diaper, gets up at night to feed him, carries him wherever she goes. Moreover, that provision continues while the kids are growing up. Mom prepares meals and then sacrificially chooses the smallest portion of food so that her children are fed. She gives much of her time and all that she is to them and for them. She gets tired—dead tired!—and yet she keeps giving.

It is that kind of sacrificial giving that reflects the never-failing provision of God. In verse 12 of our text God promises, "I will extend.. .the wealth of nations like a flooding stream." God is our great provider by graciously giving us food to eat, air to breathe, health, possessions, and all the necessities for our physical life. But there is more! Through His church, which is the new city of God—the true Jerusa­lem—God nurtures and feeds us with His Word and Sacraments. He is our ulti­mate provider in giving us that spiritual milk to nurse upon, which is His life-giving Word. In sending us Jesus Christ, and through Christ's life, death, and

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resurrection, God has given us spiritual life as well—abundant and eternal life. Our text puts it this way, "You will drink deeply and delight in her overflowing abundance" (v. 11). Like helpless newborn infants, we would be lost without it. But the motherly love of our Father God lavishes us through Jesus Christ with all we need for this life—and for the life to come.

Secondly, not only do mothers model for us God's provision, but also His par­don. In our text, the Lord addresses the rebellious and renegade children of Israel, whom He will have to discipline by exiling them in Babylon. They had chosen to disobey Him by pursuing other gods and dismissing His covenant. Similarly, the Lord disciplines us for our sinfulness and rebellion against His will. He is not a permissive parent who simply winks at the wrong-doing of His children. The final statement of our text is that God's "fury will be shown to his foes" (v. 14). To the unrepentant and those who reject God, there is judgment and damnation from His mighty hand. Because of our sin, we are deserving of God's rejection and wrath both now and forevermore.

Yet God extends pardon to His repentant children. In verse 13 God speaks these words: "As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem." This word "comfort" is used frequently in the latter half of the book of Isaiah to express God's mercy and forgiveness to the people of Judah chastened because of their sin. He extends absolution and hope to the people who face exile for their rebellion. And He does so in words which portray a mother's pardon.

I am impressed when I watch televised interviews of mothers of convicted criminals about how they speak of continued love for their children. Murderers, arsonists, thieves, rapists—these are their children. Yet the mothers claim that they could never forsake or forget these incarcerated sons and daughters. Closer to home, we have all hurt our mothers in some way—through disobedience or defi­ance, anger or arrogance, neglect or failure. Still, they forgive us and pardon us, taking us into their arms and comforting us.

It is this kind of motherly pardon that God extends to us as well. How comfort­ing that forgiveness is to us, His disobedient children. As a mother will never forsake her criminal child, so God promises never to forsake us, but to pardon our darkest sins. As a tear-stained child is comforted in his mother's lap, so we sinful children of God are comforted in the warm embrace of His grace.

This pardon is all and only because the punishment for our rebellion has been suffered by Christ, God's only-begotten Son. Upon the cross He cried out, "My God, my God! Why have you forsaken me?" Jesus bore our sin and its eternal punish­ment so that we would never be forsaken by the Father. Instead, we are pardoned and embraced by God like a mother comforts her penitent child.

A mother's provision and her pardon—these are gifts she gives to her children. These are gifts we receive from the motherly love of our Father God.

David Peter

Seventh Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 10) Leviticus (18:1-5) 19:9-18

July 15,2007

Textual considerations: This text is part of a larger unit (chaps. 18-20) on moral laws, believers' responsibilities to their neighbors, which places it in the second

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table of the Law and in the realm of civil righteousness. Leviticus 18:1-5 is an introduction to the prohibitions against Israel following in the incestuous and sexual immoralities of the Egyptians and Canaanites discussed in the rest of chapter 18 and a general introduction to keep all the laws and ordinances of Yahweh itemized in chapters 19 and 20. The introduction ends with a promise in verse 5, namely, that Israelites who live according to God's ordinances will live lives blessed by God. This chapter ends with an allusion to the consequences of disobedience (w. 24-30); there are also frequent mentions of punishments for ungodly conduct in the remainder of chapter 19 and in chapter 20. Concordia Self-Study Bible (St. Louis: Concordia, 1986) says this about chapters 18-20: "Here God's people are given instructions concerning interpersonal relations and a morality reflecting God's holiness. Israel was thereby prepared for a life different from the Canaanites, whose life-style was deplorably immoral. Chapter 18 contains prohibitions in the moral sphere, chapter 19 expands the Ten Commandments to detail correct moral­ity, and chapter 20 assesses the penalties for violating God's standard or morality" (168). In our text the phrase "I am the Lord" occurs eight times (forty-two times in chaps. 18-26) as a constant reminder that God is the author of the moral law. The required conduct of this text is summed up in the second table of the Law—"love your neighbor as yourself (18:11, which is quoted by Christ in the Synoptic Gos­pels).

The main text contains a catalogue of exhortations on godly conduct in relation to other people, especially the poor, downtrodden, and distressed in society. The conduct demanded falls within the area of civil righteousness (cf. the articles on the two kinds of righteousness in this issue) or the second table of the Law. This section begins with an admonition to provide sustenance for people by allowing the needy to glean for the grain that had been left behind in the fields during harvest. It proceeds then in the areas of deception, slander, injustice, and hatred.

Homiletical considerations: The laws listed in this text are not listed as re­quirements for salvation but as specifications on the kind of conduct God expects from His people, those already redeemed. We have here a third use of the Law.

Rather than try to cover all the specific laws in this text the pastor may concentrate on one or several related laws that are especially relevant to the con­temporary or local context. The main thrust of the text is that the behavior of God's people is the opposite of the conduct acceptable to the world (Canaanites vs. the Israelites; secular world vs. Christians). Then one might single out verse l ib and c on lying and deception, which are not only done with abandon but also frequently justified in our society. For background material one might check an article on lying by American presidents in the January/February 2007 issue of The Atlantic, "Un­truth and Consequences" (56-67), and some of the other sources referenced in the article. Lying and deception have become increasingly worse in our society. Sissela Bok wrote in the preface to a 1999 updated edition of her book Lying: Moral Choice in Public and Private Life, "No matter how our own period comes to be judged.. .what is already certain is that we are all on the receiving end of a great many more lies than in the past" (quoted from The Atlantic issue mentioned above, 62). Lying at the highest levels undermines the social fabric and whittles away at political structures. A recent report on the results of educational reforms show an improve­ment in students' grades but a decline in the amount and quality of the material that was actually learned. Either the improved grades or the erosion of cumulative learning is a lie; both cannot be true. If lying becomes endemic and acceptable in religion, then the influence and authority of the pastor and church leaders are

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undercut or the doctrines proclaimed can no longer be trusted as absolute truth. On this front there are a number of illustrations currently beleaguering contemporary Christianity—in contradiction to the Fifth Commandment some churches sanc­tion abortion, or over against clear Biblical mandates opposing homosexuality some churches approve of the gay/lesbian lifestyle and same-sex marriages. One view is the truth and the other is a lie—both cannot be true. Just as in government and in public and personal life, such deception in the church undercuts the integrity and trustworthiness of the church and its message.

Although this is basically a Law text, the Gospel can be brought in in several ways. The text is addressed to the Israelites, those who are already God's chosen people. When we preach on this text, we are speaking largely to an assembly of baptized people—people who already rejoice in the good news of the Gospel. The degree to which we can keep these commandments is dependent on the Holy Spirit working in our hearts—such sanctification can only follow justification. Also, such behavior can be pleasing to God only if it is done in faith. The text speaks to the life of sanctification, not to the process of justification, which depends solely upon Christ and His salvific work.

Some Principles for Christian Living

I. The dangers of living by the world's/society's standards and the rewards of living according to God's expectations.

II. Social acceptance and prevalence cannot sanction immoral, God-forbidden behavior.

III. The benefits of godly conduct include personal and ecclesial integrity, as well ' as blessings that God bestows on His chosen people.

Quentin F. Wesselschmidt

Eighth Sunday after Pentecost St. Mary Magdalene (Proper 11)

Proverbs 31:10-31 July 22,2007

Presuming that the decision is made to displace the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost with the Festival of St. Mary Magdalene, a second-class feast [which would not be the normal procedure historically], the Old Testament reading for this festival day provides the opportunity to preach on vocation in light of the Resurrection of our Lord. The Festival Day of St. Mary Magdalene celebrates her role as the "apostle to the apostles," as depicted in the Gospel reading from John 20, one whose vocation as the first witness to the resurrection should lead to praising her "in the gates" (Prov. 31:31).

Textual comments: Proverbs 31:10-31 is an unabashed celebration of wifely, domestic vocation, a poetic depiction of the ideal female living out her vocation. It is a shame that this festival day does not fall closer to Mother's Day because this reading would be ideal for that secular observance. The reading adopts a perspec­tive that is for the benefit of the husband, and extolling the ideal wife so as to prevent her husband from breaking the Sixth Commandment. The ideal wife de­picted here is a woman who manages her household in the fear of God. Her faithful­ness in looking 'Sveli to the ways of her household" (v. 27) manifests the wisdom of

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God's ordering of His creation. Through her attention to her vocational responsi­bilities she bears witness to her fear of the Lord and of His ways of managing His creation. Her wisdom—seen in the labor of her hands, in her provision for her household, and in the teaching that flows from her mouth—leads the heart of her husband to trust in her (v. 11). Charles Bridges writes in the updating of his A Modern Study of the Book of Proverbs: "Everything is so carefully and economically managed; he is never tempted to dishonesty to fulfill his desires; no need to leave his happy home. The love and loyalty of such a wife will endure throughout their marriage—constant and consistent." The divine economy of God the Father in relation to His creatures through Christ is imaged in this relationship between husband and wife.

Why, then, is this the appointed Old Testament reading for the Festival of St. Mary Magdalene since Christian tradition does not provide us with conclusive information on her marital status? Job 31 is an alphabetic acrostic poem, summa­rizing the ideal of the faithful wife/woman through the use of all the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. This denotes that the wisdom of the wife depicted here is the fulfillment and completion of wisdom in the ideal woman. It also functions as a hymn calling for the praise of a woman who lives by the Wisdom of God. As a hymn [parallels hymnic Psalms 111 and 112] to the superlatively capable woman, call­ing for and instigating praise of her, it extols the active good works of a woman in the vocational realms of the family, community, and business. These good works proceed out of true fear, love, and trust in the Lord. This is true, godly wisdom. In her witness to the resurrection Mary Magdalene is the epitome of such wisdom as she fears and trusts the word spoken to her by the resurrected Lord Jesus.

Liturgical and homiletical comments: As a Responsory for this day indicates— "Mary, do not weep; the Lord is risen from the dead"—the festival of St. Mary Magdalene, like the Sunday on which it is celebrated, is a little Easter in the midst of the great season of Pentecost. As the first to see the risen Lord and the first to bear witness to His appearing, Mary Magdalene epitomizes the response of faith and witness for all those baptized into Christ's death and resurrection: " Ί have seen the Lord!' And she told them that He had said these things to her" (John 20:17). Such a response of faith is encapsulated in the appointed Verse for the day in LSB. In the encounter with the risen Lord is birthed her vocation as a witness to His resurrected life as expressed in the Roman Catholic collect for the day: "Father, your Son first entrusted to Mary Magdalene the joyful news of His resurrection...may we proclaim Christ as our living Lord and one day see Him in glory." The sight of her living Lord, and the word of His mercy and grace toward her, brings life and salva­tion to Mary. From that new life He speaks His call to her to proclaim His Word to the disciples. New life in the Word is the seed of her new vocation as a child of God. In this encounter and in Mary herself passive and active righteousness are indivis­ible. Her identity has been radically changed by the One who was dead but is now alive and has appeared to and greeted her in the embrace of His words. His new life springs up inside of her and she can do no other than to keep His command and proclaim His good news to the disciples. Her new identity through the risen Lord grants a new way of living toward God and toward those around her.

As it is with Mary Magdalene, so it is with those who hear the joyful news of the resurrection in the Word addressed to them in Baptism: "The Almighty God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.. .has given you the new birth of water and the Spirit." Like Mary, we are called, in the words of the LSB collect, to know the Almighty God in the power of the Son's unending life. As Mary heard the call of her

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Good Shepherd (Gradual), so all the sheep incline their ear and hear His voice. Hearing His voice includes heeding His call to bear witness in word and deed to the Word of God—the Wisdom of God—risen and ascended to the Father's throne. A life of witness is reflected in the Wife of Noble Character in Proverbs 31. A woman who fears the Lord is one who lives in the Wisdom of the Lord. A life of Wisdom, at least for those called to be wives and mothers, involves the opening of arms in generosity and vigorous service to those in her household and all those in the community (those who gather within the city gate, Prov. 31:31). The life of Wisdom of Mary Magdalene and of all the baptized is envisioned in Paul's words in 2 Corinthians 5:14-15, "For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised" (ESV). No wonder finding an excellent wife (and husband) of noble character is so difficult! She is far more precious than jewels because such a woman can only be found where the almighty God's work of resurrection and new life is found: in the Word made flesh, proclaimed, and witnessed. Such a servant of God can only be found where the Spirit is bestowing the life and salvation of Christ. And that is exactly where Mary Magdalene is to be found!

Kent J. Burreson

Ninth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 12) Genesis 18: (17-19), 20-33

July 29,2007

There are two lines (for our purposes) that run through Scripture from begin­ning to end, and this text is one of the many places where they touch.

One line is that of a world run amuck, beginning with Adam and Eve, who succumbed to the temptation to decide for themselves what is good and evil. In opting for "good" in separation from God, however, they ended up with evil—not merely something that was not good, but something that spread with explosive, insidious force to every part of life and every part of the world. Sodom and Gomorrah in our text represent the epitome ofthat evil (cf. the sordid narrative in Gen. 19). As we know well, pockmarks ofthat evil dot our world also: warfare, terror, pandemics, starvation, oppression, ecological travesty. (These modern realities can be devel­oped and interwoven in items I and III below.)

The second line is that of God's outreach to His world, beginning also with Adam and Eve. God's first word to them, as they began their fateful journey away from Him, bore an implicit invitation that they return to Him: "Where [else but with Me] are you?" In the face of a world running increasingly amuck and not responding to God's invitation, God proactively selects servants to embody and extend that invitation, and Abraham is the first to be drawn into God's purpose/ mission, namely, to be blessed, to be/become a blessing, so that "in you [and in your descendants] all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (Gen. 12:3). Abraham (and his descendants) bears the touch of God's blessing for the world gone amuck.

Today's text (Gen. 18:17-19,20-23) is one of the places where these lines inter­sect with sparks flying.

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For the Sake of Ten? No, for the Sake of One!

A world amuck, proud and self-content, faces inevitable judgment. A. Self-proclaimed "freedom" is never freedom from God, merely freedom

from the grace of God: 1. Grace to live humane, joyous lives free from fear and strife. 2. Grace to live in the peace and love of God.

B. The Sodoms and Gomorrahs of the world who prefer to live without God live in God's judgment already, with eternal judgment still to come.

C. Abraham, too, understood the gravity of God's pronouncement of judg­ment on Sodom and Gomorrah.

Amazingly, Abraham intervenes and intercedes. A. Abraham begins humbly, aware that he who is "but dust and ashes" (18:27)

is approaching the holy Lord. B. However, Abraham is not being presumptuous because his intercession is

precisely the mission into which God called him, namely, that though him "all the families of the earth shall be blessed," even seemingly the fami­lies of Sodom and Gomorrah.

C. Further, Abraham appeals that God be faithful to His mercy, even at the expense of His justice. Rather than "sweep away the righteous with the wicked," Abraham pleads that God save the cities for the sake of as few as ten righteous people...but also for God's own nature.

As fervent and faithful, even brash, as Abraham's intercession is, however, he could neither find nor make ten righteous. Imagine his shock and disappoint­ment! And "the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace" (19:28). Abraham's ministry of blessing for all the families of the world continues through his offspring and takes new focus in that One whom Matthew terms "the son of Abraham" (1:1). A. In Jesus Christ, those primal lines intersect with clarity and power. B. Abraham reduced the number to ten but came up empty. Jesus reduced

the number to one and Himself became that One. By bearing the judg­ment rained down on systemic evil, He brought the blessing God intended through Abraham. Indeed, He provided the righteousness that none of us could muster on our own.

Paul calls "those of faith" the children/offspring of Abraham (Gal. 3:7), which would include us as well. We have the double joy of (1) being made righteous through the sacrifice of "the son of Abraham" (buried and raised with Him-Col. 2:6-15) and (2) being brought into God's mission, that "in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed" (Gen. 22:18; 26:4). As our Lord calls on us in the Gospel lesson (Luke 11:1-13), we come boldly and confidently with intercession and prayer into God's presence, as did our father Abraham.

Henry Rowold

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