Sunday Stretch: Vol. 134

Start off your week with a grounded take on Bible, prayer, the world, and your life ...

Hi Readers,

Mid-July isn’t exactly one of the busiest seasons of the church year, but this week does represent one of the most important lessons from Jesus in all of Scripture, so I’m glad I get to share this reading (along with the others) with you today. Especially for times such as these in America, while we mourn children and adults killed at Texas camps due to severe flooding, and while our U.S. government has authorized more and more power, money, and manpower to harshly treat and even imprison immigrants and migrants (those whom the Bible refers to often as the “stranger.”) Into this harsh and capricious world we hear Jesus’ command for us to be merciful, in fact that mercy is the very way to follow God’s greatest commandment.

Let’s get to the texts …

PS: For local readers, I’m preaching this morning at 9:30 CT at Crossroads Parish - located today at Atonement Lutheran Church in New Brighton, MN. Hope to see some of you there! Thanks to Pastor Cassie Nault for the invitation.

Photo by Joshua Lott, New York Times

Bible Stories

Deuteronomy 30:9-14

Deut. 30:9 and the LORD your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all your undertakings, in the fruit of your body, in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your soil. For the LORD will again take delight in prospering you, just as he delighted in prospering your ancestors, ¹⁰ when you obey the LORD your God by observing his commandments and decrees that are written in this book of the law, because you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

Deut. 30:11 Surely, this commandment that I am commanding you today is not too hard for you, nor is it too far away. ¹² It is not in heaven, that you should say, “Who will go up to heaven for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?” ¹³ Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, “Who will cross to the other side of the sea for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?” ¹⁴ No, the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe.

In my first few reads through this text, I find myself unsure quite how to respond to it. In some ways, I hear echoes of the promises of the Prosperity Gospel and the theology of glory. God is going to make me prosperous! What does that promise mean in an age and in a land when inequality is rampant: when some people are billionaires and others don’t have enough food to feed themselves or their children?

I think this is one of the places where the Lectionary could use a bit more context. If you read all of verse 30, you’ll see that this passage is setting up God’s command for the Israelites to Choose Life. God is asking that their commitment be first to be people of faith and people of life. Of course - lots of room to interpret what that might mean … but we do also see here a focus on God’s word (rather than land or blood) as the key unifying factor.

Questions to Ponder

What do you think the biblical definition of prosperity is - and how might it differ from our American cultural definition of prosperity?

What kind of prosperity does God take delight in, do you think?

Why is the nearness of God’s word so important?

Colossians 1:1-14

Col. 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

Col. 1:2 To the saints and faithful brothers and sisters^a in Christ in Colossae:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

Paul Thanks God for the Colossians

Col. 1:3 In our prayers for you we always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, ⁴ for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, ⁵ because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. You have heard of this hope before in the word of the truth, the gospel ⁶ that has come to you. Just as it is bearing fruit and growing in the whole world, so it has been bearing fruit among yourselves from the day you heard it and truly comprehended the grace of God. ⁷ This you learned from Epaphras, our beloved fellow servant.^a He is a faithful minister of Christ on your^b behalf, ⁸ and he has made known to us your love in the Spirit.

Col. 1:9 For this reason, since the day we heard it, we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God’s^a will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, ¹⁰ so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God. ¹¹ May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully ¹² giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled^a you^b to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. ¹³ He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, ¹⁴ in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.^a

The letter to the Colossians is one of those books that sometimes I find too ornate, too flowery, maybe even relatable. I’m not sure why. Like some of the other epistles in the Bible, Paul’s authorship of this book has been questioned, due to some of those irregularities in the language. If it was written by Paul, it was likely during one of his imprisonments. If not, there’s some question that maybe the author was influenced by the philosophy of Epicurus (known for his glorification of pleasure). There are also similarities with Philemon. All of this is relatively unimportant for our purposes; I share it just for your information.

What I do appreciate though in this text is the centrality of hope within it (especially with the context knowing that it was written while Paul was in prison, and the Church was under constant threat of Roman persecution). The prayer of verses 9-14 is one that many of us might want to pray for a loved one, maybe a child or grandchild. Hope is what makes this prayer possible.

Do some reading about the ancient city of Colossae and find it on a map. What was significant about this place?

How do you think Epaphras felt reading these words about himself in the letter? Have you ever read or heard similar words about yourself? How did it make you feel? Why was it important for Paul to recognize Epaphras in this way?

Re-read verses 9-14. Imagine that this prayer is being prayed for you, and receive its wishes and hopes.

Luke 10:25-37

Luke 10:25 Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus.^a “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” ²⁶ He said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” ²⁷ He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” ²⁸ And he said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.”

Luke 10:29 But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” ³⁰ Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. ³¹ Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. ³² So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³ But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. ³⁴ He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. ³⁵ The next day he took out two denarii,^a gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.’ ³⁶ Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” ³⁷ He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

At some point, when I studied at Luther Seminary, we had to take a biblical proficiency quiz. I remember studying for it with flashcards and making mnemonic devices for myself. For this one, I told myself Luke 10 is Good SamariTEN. (Side note, I heard a number of years ago that they got rid of this exam as a requirement for the M. Div. I was disappointed to hear that. It was an important test for me and clearly that knowledge stuck with me over the years. Yes, seminary education has needed reform. But, I don’t think we should have diminished the rigor. Maybe that’s just my own personal soapbox).

Actually - my first thought here delves well into the lesson from this very text. How humbling!