Year C

Dec 17 2024

Reflection-Persisting in Prayer

In this delightful story from the book of Genesis, Abraham is presented as being on such intimate terms with God that God not only talks things over with Abraham, but responds to Abraham’s gentle nudging. Notice how Abraham first “draws nearer” to God, asking if God will really sweep away the innocent with the guilty. Then he increases the pressure: “Should not the judge of all the world act with justice?” Quite of bit of chutzpah there! In the end, God momentarily yields to Abraham’s persuasive—and persistent—intercession.

Jesus urges his disciples to persist in prayer to God, after teaching his prayer to them. This great prayer is the basis for our approaching God with persistence. We are told to call God Father, and then to make two prayers of praise and three petitions to God. Those praying move from blessing and praising God’s name and sovereignty to asking for our most basic needs: bread, forgiveness, and deliverance from evil. Jesus follows the gift of his prayer with advice and encouragement.

His advice is to persist; his encouragement is to remember that God is a father who loves his children. God will not refuse the gift of the Spirit to those who have been buried with Christ and have already been raised with him in baptism. As the author of the Letter to the Colossians reminds us, God brought you to life along with Christ even when you were dead in sin. How could God refuse us anything that was truly good for us?

Consider/Discuss

Do you have confidence that God will hear your prayer?
Do you ask for the Holy Spirit to help you in your prayer?

Responding to the Word

Lord, may I come to know the truth of the words of today’s response: “Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.” May we rest peacefully in that assurance that we have received a Spirit of adoption that allows us to cry, “Abba, Father.”

Dec 17 2024

Persisting in Prayer

The account of the dialogue between Abraham and God over the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah is actually a discussion about the nature of divine justice. In traditional societies, there is a tension between communal guilt and innocence and individual guilt and innocence. More emphasis is given to the group than to the individual member. At issue in this passage is the extent to which the righteousness of a few people can balance the sinfulness of most. The story demonstrates the power of the righteous. God is willing to allow a few righteous people to save many.

Paul describes the effects of the triumph of the power of God in the lives of believers as it is manifested in the resurrection of Christ. He does this by relating Christ’s burial in the grave of the earth with the burial of Christians in the waters of baptism. Paul’s argument moves from consideration of actual physical death to spiritual death, the condition of those who, because of sin, are separated from God, who is the source of life. It is important to note that it was precisely while they were sinners that they were saved. The debt owed because of transgressions of the past has been canceled.

Jesus’ own practice of prayer prompted his disciples to ask for direction in their prayer, just as the disciples of other religious leaders asked to be taught to pray. Jesus’ discourse on prayer can be divided into three separate but related segments: the Lord’s Prayer itself (vv. 1–4), an example of persistence in prayer (vv. 5–8), and the assurance of that prayer will be heard (vv. 19–13). There is question about whether this passage should be seen as an actual prayer or as a pattern to follow when praying. The persistence with which one should pray is characterized by the story of the man who woke his sleeping friend. This entire discourse encourages the disciples to persevere in prayer.

Dec 17 2024

Reflection-Crossing Boundaries

It is instructive to look at the maps found in most Bibles. You get a sense of how “man-made” (here meaning “made by males”) boundaries are. The boundary lines of the biblical world at the time of the Exodus yield to those at the time of King David and then again to those of the world at the time of Babylonian ascendency, and on to the time of Jesus and the early church. The shifting boundaries are a constant over the centuries.

The two stories today reveal a seismic shift in boundaries between God and us. Up until this time in the story of Abraham, God had spoken with Abraham, but now God comes for a home visit. A boundary of intimacy is crossed. Abraham provides a meal and waits on the Lord. In response, God tells Sarah that, after a quarter of a century of hearing the promise, she will have a son by next year.

When Jesus said to Martha that Mary had chosen the better part, he was also approving a shift in boundaries. There were physical boundaries in the Jewish home, “male space” and “female space.” By sitting at the feet of Jesus, Mary had crossed the line. Only a disciple of a teacher would do this and only a man could be a disciple. When Martha notes that Mary is not where she belongs, helping in the kitchen, Jesus makes clear where he stands—and where Mary can sit. All part of a new creation, and not yet a finished one either.

Consider/Discuss

What boundaries have changed in your lifetime?
What boundaries still need to be changed, opening up more shared space?

Responding to the Word

Loving God, you set the boundaries of earth, sky, and sea. In doing this, you provide a place for us to live responsibly and work happily in your creation. Direct our efforts to be as hospitable as Abraham was to passing strangers and as innovative as Jesus was with his friends Martha and Mary.

Dec 17 2024

Crossing Boundaries

The reading from Genesis follows a classic story form well known in the ancient Near East: heavenly beings come in disguise to a humble home, are shown hospitality, and announce a future birth.

Abraham is portrayed here as the perfect host. One of the visitors foretells the birth of Sarah’s son. Sarah’s significance is clear. She is named rather than merely identified as Abraham’s wife. The child is identified as her son rather than Abraham’s. Obviously, this woman will play an important role in the life of this child. All of this points to the extraordinary nature of the yet unborn child.

Paul rejoices in his sufferings, for he believes that they will benefit the Colossian Christians. He would never say that the sufferings of Jesus were in any way lacking in their atoning efficacy. Rather, he believed that, joined to Jesus, his own sufferings had merit and could be seen as part of the sufferings that would inaugurate the messianic age. Ultimately, the real message that Paul proclaims is Christ the risen Lord. To borrow from the great Jewish rabbi Hillel, everything else is commentary! However, commentary is necessary for us to understand the specific impact of the message in every time and place.

Martha welcomes Jesus into her house. She is not merely overwhelmed with the traditional household duties; she is fulfilling the customary responsibilities of hospitality. The word “service” has specific ministerial connotations. Mary sits at Jesus’ feet, the customary place of a disciple. In their own ways, both sisters are faithful disciples of Jesus, one listening to his word and the other performing service. Jesus is not being asked to intervene in a domestic squabble. He is being asked to set priorities. Last Sunday we saw that attention to the person in need is to be preferred over the fulfillment of one’s everyday responsibilities. The story of Martha and Mary seems to be another example of this principle.

Dec 16 2024

Reflection-Our Good Neighbor God

The word “neighbor” is rooted in the Old English words “near” (neah) and “a dweller” (gebur). A neighbor, then, is one who dwells near. As a boy, I lived in what was called a row home; all the houses on our street were attached. Our neighbors were those who literally lived next door.

Today’s readings take the definition of a neighbor beyond physical nearness. When the lawyer asks Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” he was asking about the requirement of the law that commanded that one love one’s neighbor as oneself. Jesus’ answer went to the heart of the issue. To be a neighbor was to reach out to help anyone in need, setting aside any barriers that either society or selfishness might set up. To be a neighbor was to open one’s heart to another, recognizing in the other the image of the God who created them. To be a neighbor was to treat another with mercy.

When Moses said God’s law was “something very near, already in your mouths and in your hearts,” he was presenting God as a true neighbor, as near as our heartbeat. When Paul said Jesus was both the image of the invisible God and the head of his body, the church, could any image better capture the nearness of Christ and his church? St. Teresa of Ávila echoed this when she said, “Christ has no body now but yours, no hands or feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which Christ’s compassion looks upon the world.”

Consider/Discuss

Is the basic choice to be either a neighbor whose love touches other lives, or a parasite that lives off other lives?
Can being a member of Christ’s body move you to drawing nearer to someone today?

Responding to the Word

God, who placed your law in our hearts, help us to remember your nearness to us in the depths of our being, and to allow your Son’s law of love to guide what we see, say, and do. Increase our openness to your Spirit and how your Spirit guides us.