Pondering Pastor

Lectionary 32: Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost

Luke 20:27-38

²⁷Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to him ²⁸and asked him a question, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. ²⁹Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; ³⁰then the second ³¹and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. ³²Finally the woman also died. ³³In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her.”³⁴Jesus said to them, “Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; ³⁵but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. ³⁶Indeed they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. ³⁷And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. ³⁸Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.”

Initial Review

Jesus is in Jerusalem (Palm Sunday events happen in Chapter 19).  So we have an event happening during the week leading up to the crucifixion.

I often get the kinds of questions the Sadducees ask Jesus.  They are questions that can’t be answered directly because the question assumes a perspective that I might not share.  Those who are answered often complain that I didn’t really answer the question, when I really can’t.  The Sadducees ask a question that can either be understood as “entrapment” or “a polemic” against resurrection.  It might be considered rhetorical because it can be heard as saying, “Look, the whole resurrection question is ridiculous because why would God let this kind of conflict or problem arise?”

There is the additional problem that the understanding of “everlasting life” in the days of Moses was that we live eternally through our children (specifically sons).  As the “name” is carried on into the future, the “father” lives on.  So at one level we have conflicting understandings of what resurrection/eternal life means.

I fully expect questions arising out of this lectionary reading about heaven and resurrection and what we might expect.

The second part of the answer of Jesus takes some unpacking.   If, as the Sadducees believe, there is no resurrection and once people are dead … they are dead (nothing), then the active statement of God to Moses at the burning bush about being the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would mean that God was the God of nothing.  If God is to be God of something, then those people must be alive to God.  (Not the way I think … but then I’m not Jesus.)

So, as usual on Monday, I’m not sure where to take this on Sunday.  I could talk about resurrection, heaven, or eternal life.  I suspect people have a lot of questions about that … but will there be enough answers to preach?

Pondering Pastor

After my initial work earlier in the week, I’ve got some ideas forming as I begin to move into sermon writing mode.

Once again, the Gospel text: Luke 18:1-8

Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my opponent.’ For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, ‘Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.’” And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

The Old Testament Lesson is the story of Jacob wrestling with the “angel” in Genesis 32:22-31.

The Psalm is 121 “I lift my eyes to the hills …”

The focus of all three is clearly about prayer. Prayer is one of those topics that is a challenge to people. If you believe that God controls everything … why pray? If God doesn’t control everything … why pray? What good is praying, many people will ask … even very faithful people.

O. Hallesby’s book, Prayer contains two chapters on “Wrestling in Prayer”.

I really think that the parable of the widow and the unjust judge can be a distraction to the purpose of the parable. The Gospel writer says that Jesus told the parable about their need to pray always and not lose heart. People are more likely to be persistent when they feel they’ve been treated unjustly (by companies, or in relationships) than in prayer. How much more is God the loving father willing to bring justice than even an unjust judge who is worn down by persistence.

A lingering question that may form the basis of a sermon is “How can you pray when …?”

Mother Theresa struggled with the very same question. The book of her private letters reveals that her private prayer life was non-existent for long stretches, and that the only prayer she was engaged in was the corporate prayer of worship and her order.

As usual, I’ll be interested to see where I’m led this week as I prepare the sermon.

Pondering Pastor

This link takes you to the sermon

Why is it that each week when I look at the lectionary texts, my first reaction is to groan?

Sunday, October 21, 2007 - Lectionary 29C

Luke 18:1-8

Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my opponent.’ For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, ‘Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.’” And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

Initial Thoughts

Persistence is what moves the judge. Is God like the judge or not? It seems as though parts of the reading suggest that God is like the judge, moved by persistence rather than mercy. Other parts of the reading seem to suggest that God is more merciful than the judge, so if persistence can move the judge, how much more will God be moved by our persistence. Maybe this really is not so much about God as it is the need for persistence in prayer. But the challenge with that is that if we don’t “succeed” in prayer are we to assume that we weren’t persistent enough? There is not much that seems grace-filled in this passage. It all depends upon the persistence of the one making the prayer … not on the one hearing the prayer.

Luke is the only Gospel writer with this “parable”.

The focus of part of the passage is justice.  God gives justice.  I’ll have to do some more digging about what that means in this context.  Are faith and persistence related? How quick are we to lose heart?  I’m still troubled by the implication that if we are persistent enough we will get what we want … although it says that we will be granted justice, not what we want.

Once again, I’m glad that I have the better part of a week to wrestle with this one.

Pondering Pastor