Year C

Dec 05 2024

Counting on the Calendar—or on God?

Jeremiah’s oracle of salvation stems from the period right before the destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon, which the prophet understands to be the just judgment of God for repeated violations of the covenant relationship. In particular, the prophet has accused the Davidic kings of failing in their task of ensuring justice among God’s people (22:1–9). The oracle assures the people, however, that the period of judgment is temporary. In time, God will not only restore Israel, but will also raise up a just Davidic king who will himself “do what is right” and ensure justice in the land, so much so that Judah and Jerusalem will even be called (symbolically), “The Lord our justice.”

Paul’s First Letter to the Thessalonians was written to strengthen a persecuted and maligned community. Written from an apocalyptic perspective, the letter assumes that the world is presently in a middle period between the first and the second comings of Christ. During this time, it is easy to grow disheartened and to lose one’s way. Paul has just affirmed the faith of the Thessalonians despite these challenges and prays not only that God strengthen this faith, but also increase the preeminent sign of faith, which is love. This love is not a “feeling,” but a stance that pleases God, an expression of “blameless holiness,” which manifests itself in care for “one another and for all.” Such a stance can be particularly difficult in the face of both the delayed return of Christ and the experience of persecution.

Jesus’ warning of the coming judgment and redemption reflects Jewish apocalyptic expectations in the first century. By this time, prophetic pronouncements of God’s restoration of Israel had come to be seen as pointing toward a turning point, even an end, of history. The “signs,” which involve the dissolution of the stable cosmic order, foretell the coming of the Son of Man, a figure derived from the vision of Daniel 7:13, who represented the divine Messiah. The arrival of the Son of Man initiates the period of judgment for the wicked, but redemption for the just. Only those who have persevered in righteousness despite the long wait for that redemption will experience it when they find themselves standing before God’s appointed judge.

Dec 03 2024

We Didn’t Start the Fire . . . But We Keep It Going

The Bible tells us that when he became king, Solomon prayed to God to give him wisdom, that he might have a “listening heart to judge your people. . . . For who is able to give judgment for this vast people of yours?” (1 Kings 3:4–9). In the book of Wisdom we are given an extended version of this prayer, in which Solomon asks God, “Who understands what is pleasing in your eyes and what is conformable with your will?” (9:9). Today’s reading continues that prayer, the point of which is that without the wisdom that comes from God as a gift of the Holy Spirit (9:6, 17), humans are crippled in their ability to understand reality. If they have trouble figuring out the natural and human world, how can they possibly know the ways of God without the gift of wisdom, which is freely given to anyone who seeks it earnestly?

Here is what we are able to discern about Philemon, Onesimus, and Paul from this very short letter. Onesimus is a slave of Philemon and has, apparently, run away and ended up with Paul, who is in prison. There he has been baptized by Paul, so that Paul can call Onesimus his “child” and himself his “father.” Paul is now sending Onesimus back to Philemon, a fellow Christian, with the hope that the latter will free the slave and send him back to Paul. The Apostle does not want to command anything of Philemon, but he hopes that he will do the right thing once he realizes that Onesimus is now his “brother,” not only as a fellow human being but especially as a fellow Christian. Paul expects Philemon to recognize that Christians cannot relate to one another according to the world’s standards.

Jesus returns to an earlier point about commitment to discipleship (Luke 9:51–62) to make things perfectly clear: not even family, not even one’s own life must take precedence over Jesus. The word translated “hate” here should rather be rendered “deny” or “give up.” Jesus gives his reason for this through two examples, both of which highlight the need to be fully prepared before one begins a major project. It is notable that in both examples, preparation means adequately supplying oneself with money or people, whereas Jesus concludes what seems to be the opposite: to prepare to follow him, one must get rid of everything. This is a paradox, because by giving up everything, one gathers to oneself the interior and exterior freedom to give oneself completely to Christ.

Dec 03 2024

Reflection-We Didn’t Start the Fire . . . But We Keep It Going

I built many fires during the COVID-19 pandemic. In mid-January of 2021, when it was twenty degrees outside, how else were my students and I to stay warm in my Michigan backyard during spiritual direction Those bonfires were big! Each started with a spark from a match. The spark caught the rolled-up newspaper, which then ignited the walnut sticks and the oak kindling. Flames shot up. The light was bright. I threw on oak and cherry. Loads of logs later, a pile of coals began to glow and glimmer. Only then did we begin to get warm from the fire’s heat.

The author of Luke/Acts might tell you that discipleship is like that fire. In the early days of the church, the spark of the Spirit ignited the apostles at Pentecost. The gospel shot out to the ends of the earth in a bright flare. Jesus’ followers glowed with the light of love. Folks burned with the faith and the flame grew. By the time that Luke was old, loads of logs had been thrown on that fire: his companion Paul had been killed, Peter had been crucified. Stories of martyrs spread: tales of those who gave up family, reports of those who gave up possessions, legends of those who gave their lives in allegiance to that Name. The flame of faith glowed from the coals of martyrdom. And that fire warmed the world.

People began to ask, Who is this man Jesus whose followers are willing to die for him? Who is this Holy Spirit who ignites such courage in such ordinary folks? Luke had to make Jesus’ story known. He had seen the Holy Spirit transform believers. Those early years of enthusiasm had matured into glowing coals of martyrdom. The message? Follow Jesus. Take the path of the cross. Know that it was costly for Jesus. Know that it will be costly for you. Count that cost. Know that it could mean your life. Follow anyway.

Consider/Discuss

To us in the twenty-first century, Jesus’ conditions for discipleship in Luke’s Gospel might seem harsh: give up family, possessions, life. To the first-century Christians, it was the reality of their lives. By the time that Luke wrote it down, it had become their history. In our time and place, what does committed discipleship look like? What does total allegiance to Jesus cost us?
We cannot conform ourselves to God’s will on our own strength. When have you felt the warmth of the Holy Spirit empowering you to be more than you thought you could be?
How have you experienced the power of prayer to fuel that flame more brightly?

Living and Praying with the Word

Lord, you ask much. At the same time, you give much. We are not abandoned to our own devices. Spirit of love, enflame our hearts for courage and bravery and strength. Lead us higher, lead us to be who you want us to be. You ask us to count the cost. You ask us to be willing to follow you no matter the cost. We want to do that. We give ourselves to you again this day. Thank you for firing our hearts and leading us forward.

Nov 08 2024

Reflection-God of Promise

In Thornton Wilder’s play The Skin of our Teeth, Mrs. Antrobus tells her husband, George, that she didn’t marry him because he was perfect, that she didn’t even marry him because she loved him; she married him because he gave her a promise. And she gave one to him. And over the years, as their children were growing up, that mutual promise protected all of them, moving them into the future together.

A promise can open up into an unexpected future, marked by new life. God’s promises spoken in today’s first reading offered hope to a people who had little reason to hope. The hope of a restored Jerusalem, of a descendent of David who would do what is right and just—such promises began to be fulfilled in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.

With Jesus a new age began that promised to bring the old order of chaos and destruction to an end. With his birth a new power entered the world, making it possible to live in love, and allowing men and women to “increase and abound in love for each other and for all,” as Paul writes to the Thessalonians. Total fulfillment of God’s promises remains in the future.

But beginnings offer hope. A new church year calls on us to live as a people of hope in what God can do in our own day. Advent invites us to renew our relationship with the promises of God made visible in the person of Jesus Christ.

Consider/Discuss

Do you think of God as a promise keeper?
Do you see Jesus as beginning the fulfillment of God’s promises?
What hopes do you have for this new year of grace?

Responding to the Word

Lord, awaken us to your love and grant us your salvation, so we might bring new life to our world by what we say and do. Bless this new year of grace, and may our call to holiness alert the world to your transforming power.

Nov 08 2024

God of Promise

Jeremiah’s words announce a future wherein God’s promise of restoration will be fulfilled. A shoot, a sign of new life springing from previous life, will be raised up for the Davidic house. Jerusalem, the city whose name means “foundation of peace,” is here called “The Lord our justice.” Thus, the foundation of this peace is justice, and the basis of the justice is the quality of commitment to the Lord. This oracle opens with an announcement that God will deliver the people to safety, and it concludes with the people rooting their salvation in the righteousness of God.

Paul expresses his desire for the spiritual growth of the Thessalonians. His exhortation contains a tone of urgency, encouraging the believers to continue to live righteous lives. He does not ask that their love increase, but that their capacity for growth be expanded so that they can fill it with love. This love should be both communal (for one another) and universal (for all). It breaks all ethnocentric bounds and, like the love that Paul himself possesses, it resembles the inclusive love of God. Paul implies that the coming time of fulfillment should be an incentive to righteous living.

Jesus speaks of cosmic disturbances and the distress on earth that these disturbances will cause. His cosmic turmoil calls to mind the primordial chaos out of which God brought order (see Genesis 1:1–10), and the destruction at the time of Noah out of which God brought order anew (see Genesis 7:12; 9:9–11). In the case described in this passage, the disturbances are probably less predictions of actual historical events than they are metaphorical images portraying the end of one age and the birth of another. For those who faithfully await the revelation of God, this will not be a time of punishment, but of fulfillment. Since the exact time of the revelation is unknown, the fundamental exhortation is: Beware! Take heed! Be alert! Don’t be caught by surprise!