Sunday 29 January 2016
Bible Readings in the Good News
Psalm – Psalm 15
1st Reading – Micah 6:1-8
Gospel Reading – Matthew 5: 1-12
Read: Australian Psalms by Bruce D. Prewer (p. 96 Epiphany)
Story (https://www.coc.org/files/Epiphany%202012.pdf)
The story of the Epiphany is about a search for something and about following a star or light. The following story has many versions. This version is from
http://stories-shortstories.blogspot.com/2007/12/lost-key-mulla-nasrudin-story.html
One day, people saw Mullah Nasruddin out in the street searching frantically for something. The inquisitive nature of man was on work. “What are you searching for, Mullah? They enquired.
“I’ve lost my key” replied Mullah. The helping nature of humankind was at work. So everyone joined him, trying to help him. After some search, someone had the urge to ask the place where exactly, the key was lost. So that more condensed search could be made. So, the inquiry was made for the same to Nasruddin.
“I lost the key in the house,” replied Mulla matter of factly. “Then why are you searching for it in the street?” was the obvious question asked to him.
“Because there is more light here.” Replied Mulla
Text Illustration (Laidlaw, 2013)
There is a story told about a revival in Georgia, USA, where a man stood up and gave his testimony. “Brothers and sisters,” he said “You know I haven’t been what I ought to have been, I stole hogs, I got drunk, I told lies, I’ve played poker, cussed and abused women. But through all of this, there is one thing I haven’t done. I have never lost my religion.”!!
One wonders just what shape his religion took which he believed he has never had lost!
I wonder if he would have learned anything from today’s lessons, as they go to the heart of what Christian faith is and believes. And in the process, tells us what it is not!
It sounds as though many of the Georgia man’s values were shaped by worldly values rather than God’s – the Beatitudes are about God’s values as is the reading from Micah and the Psalm. Those reading is about the wisdom of the world and the wisdom of God.In this season of Epiphany, today we commemorate and celebrate, the mission and ministry of Jesus Christ. Praise him now and forever!
The Sermon of the Mount as it is affectionately known in the gospel of Matthew, Jesus begins instructing what it means to be living in the light as disciples. The Sermon of the Mount is answering the question that David raises in Psalm 15: Lord who may enter your Temple? Who may worship on Zion, your sacred hill? And in Micah 6: What shall I bring to the Lord, the God of heaven, when I come to worship him?
Psalm 15 is a Psalm by David and belong to the Book 1 (Psalm 1- 41), which covers an early collections of Davidic hymns. The last verse of Psalm 41: Praise to the Lord, the God of Israel! Amen! Amen! This indicates who the Psalms address to ‘the God of Israel’ and when we read Psalm 15, it is to a specific Lord (Yahweh), ‘the God of Israel’. This Psalm is regarded as a processional hymn on entering the temple. Part of the ritual of going to the temple to worship, on the outside the gate, a choir asking permission to enter and on the inside another choir, petition to purify and worthy to enter. To appreciate what is happening in our situation, the entrance point between the public space at the boundary of the property, seeking permission to enter the homestead, then the gate is open and you proceed to the door of the homestead by the worker. Before proceeding further, the worker ensure you meet the requirement to enter inside the homestead, may require shoes to be taken off.
We have a processional Psalm that asks a question and David responds by stating what is required, obeys God, does what is right, does not slander others, does no wrong to his friends, and does not spread rumours. He goes on in verses 4-5 with this:
He despises those whom God rejects but honours those who obey the Lord. He always does what he promises, no matter how much it may cost. He makes loans without charging interest and cannot be bribed to testify against the innocent. Whoever does these things will always be secure.
These verses talks to the community life of a person seeking permission to enter the Temple in what they do with their speech (verses 3-4) and how they handle their money (verse 5). The Hebrew language points to a walker of life in daily activity within the community, who have friends and neighbours.
A word about verse 4, “He despises those whom God rejects…” is not a good translation as it is a continuation of the previous verse and points to a vile man who rejects God. The NIV reads, “who despises a vile man” and doesn’t fear the Lord. It is talking about someone who is hardened in their sins, knowingly and flagrantly living in a vile and lawless manner. The type of person we are talking about is Pharaoh from the story of the exodus with the engagement of Moses. The Hebrew people despise Pharaoh because the treatment they received and treated him as a vile person.
In Psalm 15, David informed us what we must do, to gain entrance to the Temple to worship God, is based on how we live in the community and interact with friends and neighbours. With the Micah passage before us, the prophet instructing the people after hearing the Lord’s complaint.
The people of Israel saw God as a burden to life. We complain ourselves when to come to the house of God, to worship him and forgetting what he has done for us. Micah was a contemporary of Isaiah, from a country town in Judah, the southern kingdom and what we have today is part of God’s message to Micah. Micah relays what the Lord gave him to declare and reminded the people of God provision of the exodus from Egypt. He rescued them from slavery, provide leaders, blessed them through the foreign priest Balaam and brought them into the promised land. These verses demonstrated that God hears his people and executes a plan. God doesn’t only use those inside but also outsiders to achieve his plan of salvation.
In reply, the people stated the customary practices to the question in Micah 6: “what shall I bring to the Lord, the God of heaven, when I come to worship him?” Their reply was offerings, for sacrifices or even their “first-born child to pay for my sins” (vv.6-7). Micah informs the people, what is required as to what constitute good: to do what is just, to show constant love, and to live in humble fellowship with our God.
Our readings from Psalm 15 and Micah 6 has informed us in answering the question in worshiping God through, to do what is right and to do what is good. Let us now consider the teaching of Matthew from Jesus’ instruction.
When one looks at the Gospel of Matthew, it is about being a disciple of Jesus, being a light to the people in darkness. We pick up the story in chapter 5 with the Beatitudes, where Jesus saw a crowd gathering, he found a mount to sit down and began his instruction.
The Beatitudes are also referred to as the characteristics of Christian discipleship and centres around a feeling of inadequate in ourselves needing Jesus. According to Tasker, “the eight qualities set down here, when blended together (and no single one of them can, in fact exist in isolation from the others) make up the character of those who alone are accepted by the divine King as His subjects (3, 10), who alone can see Him who is invisible (8), and who alone are worthy to be His sons (9). (Tasker, 1981, Tyndale New Testament Commentary: The Gospel According to St. Matthew, p. 61)
What are these eight qualities that are for to be express in disciples?
- Who know they are spiritually poor
- Who mourn
- Who are humble
- Desire what God requires
- Who are merciful to others?
- Who are pure in heart?
- Who work for peace
- Who are persecuted because they do what God requires
There is an interplay between being and doing with the shape of the Beatitudes, which impinges on the character to be followed.
Susan Butterworth, Master of Divinity candidate at Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. says,
“Hear with the disciples, Jesus’ words of renewal. We are blessed by God’s grace to live the abundant life of the household of God, in the relationship with God and our neighbours. We are called to be Peacemakers, living the Beatitudes in our daily work, in our communities and organisations. Do Justice. Love Kindness. Walk Humbly with your God. Hunger and thirst for Righteousness. Make peace with purity of heart. Expect nothing less than the kingdom of God, and persevere in the face of opposition.”
In closing, there is a Rabbinic wisdom of Simon the Just, a high priest in Jerusalem around 140 BCE and is title, ‘Three Pillars of Wisdoms’
He used to say:
“The world stands on three things: on Torah, and on worship, and acts of kindness.”
Misha, Abot 12 (http://virtualreligion.net/iho/sages.html)
I would add, the Scriptures instead of Torah with worship and kindness to our friends and neighbours.References
Butterworth, Susan, 2017, Becoming Peacemakers, Epiphany 4(A) from http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/stw/2017/01/03/becoming-peacemakers-epiphany-4a-january-29-2017/
Laidlaw, Morira, 2013. Years A, B, C: Liturgies Online Offline [CD]
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