Sunday Stretch: Vol. 3

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

Thanks for joining in for Week 3 of the Sunday Stretch: where I’ll break down some weekly Bible passages, share prayer and prayer requests with you and for this community as well as the broader world.

As I read this week’s Bible passages, I’m struck by the way they communicate the endurance of God’s faithfulness, and the value of rote practices of faith. I think sometimes in the 20th/21st Century version of American Christianity, we’ve bought into this Neo-pietistic idea that faith must always be emotional, exciting, and ‘authentic,’ whatever that means.

When evaluating our own faith practices and Christian communities, however, I think we have to separate the idea of authenticity with the reality of biblical Truth. Social media and marketing companies have made “authenticity” a product, buying and selling and making celebrity on the idea of being authentic. I read an article just this morning about how wealthy Americans have tried to trade on authenticity (think of People magazine’s old photo section: “Stars: they’re just like us,” featuring photos of celebrities grocery shopping or taking out the trash. This idea of authenticity often masks real social inequalities, made evident by displays like the recent Instagram post from Kylie Jenner, showing side by side photos of his/her private jets with beau Travis Scott, despite a subsequent post showing Jenner shopping at Target.

With all this buying and selling of supposed “authenticity,” faith communities often try to get in on the game, even as cases of clergy abuse and misconduct, and financial improprieties among pastors and churches and faith-based organizations raise charges of hypocrisy and mistrust.

What rings true, then, in an age where authenticity is often a pose?

Looking at this week’s texts, I see Jesus urging us into authentic practice, as well as authentic belief or speech. While many in my generation have resisted the idea of compulsory Sunday church attendance, I see this week’s Luke text raising again the importance of an antiquated ideal of “duty.” More than feigned authenticity, a society and community marked by duty is an enduring society and community. Thinking of my own small-town congregation, and the practice week by week of church families signing up to “usher,” which includes cleaning the church, preparing Sunday’s worship service, traditional usher duties during the service, and providing coffee and treats afterward — I am reminded that it is not the authentic “joy” of cleaning the church or cooking that sustains our church, but rather the shared work and commitment to duty, trusting that one another will step in week after week after week. It is this practice of duty and shared commitment that has sustained my church for more than a century. And, I think Jesus reminds us this week, sometimes it is the practice of our faith: worship, prayer, commitment - that leads us into greater love, faith, hope, and joy - where true authenticity is finally achieved.

Grace Lutheran Church in Brownton, MN

Bible Stories

Here are some weekly readings (from the Revised Common Lectionary), and some reflection thoughts/questions:

Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4

Hab. 1:1   The oracle that the prophet Habakkuk saw.

Hab. 1:2    O LORD, how long shall I cry for help,

and you will not listen?

Or cry to you “Violence!”

and you will not save?

3 Why do you make me see wrong-doing

and look at trouble?

Destruction and violence are before me;

strife and contention arise.

4 So the law becomes slack

and justice never prevails.

The wicked surround the righteous—

therefore judgment comes forth perverted.

Hab. 2:1    I will stand at my watchpost,

and station myself on the rampart;

I will keep watch to see what he will say to me,

and what he will answer concerning my complaint.

2 Then the LORD answered me and said:

Write the vision;

make it plain on tablets,

so that a runner may read it.

3 For there is still a vision for the appointed time;

it speaks of the end, and does not lie.

If it seems to tarry, wait for it;

it will surely come, it will not delay.

4 Look at the proud!

Their spirit is not right in them,

but the righteous live by their faith.

The Prophet Habakkuk was well-acquainted with suffering, war, and political turmoil - writing in the midst of the Babylonian Exile and the cruelty of the Babylonian Empire to the People of Israel.

Under such political onslaught and persecution, God’s people were often tempted to give up their practices of faith, such as worship, prayer and sacrifice. In this time, the prophet encourages the people that God remains by their side. Fulfilling his role as witness for God, the prophet says that “I will stand at my watchpost, and station myself on the rampart.”

In times such as our own, with climate disasters raging around the world in floods, hurricanes, and wildfires; and manmade nuclear weapons threatening human survival during the war of Russian aggression in Ukraine, God’s people are called as Habakkuk does to stand at the watchpost and bear witness.

Questions to Ponder

The first four verses of this passage would be considered a lament, or a protest, to God. Do you have a prayer of lament today?

Why does the Bible contain so many laments? What is the difference between a lament and a complaint?

Despite the violence and suffering he sees, the Prophet does not close his eyes but promises to continue to stand at his watchpost. Why does God need witnesses, do you think?

Who are the witnesses to our present age?

2 Timothy 1:1-14

2Tim. 1:1   Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, for the sake of the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus,

2Tim. 1:2   To Timothy, my beloved child:

Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

2Tim. 1:3   I am grateful to God—whom I worship with a clear conscience, as my ancestors did—when I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day.  4 Recalling your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy.  5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you.  6 For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands;  7 for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.

2Tim. 1:8   Do not be ashamed, then, of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God,  9 who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace. This grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,  10 but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.  11 For this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher,  12 and for this reason I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know the one in whom I have put my trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard until that day what I have entrusted to him.  13 Hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.  14 Guard the good treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us.

Too often, Paul’s letters to Timothy are used in support of masculine hierarchy, or a patriarchal version of Christianity. The truth is much more complex, as we see here in this section from 2 Timothy. Indeed, throughout Paul’s letters, he bears witnesses to women leaders of the early churches. Here, I am paying special attention to verse 5, where Paul credits Timothy’s faith to “your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice.”

As I read this verse, I think of my grandmother Beryl and my mother Claudia, both of whom are readers of this newsletter. Both of these women in my life have been steady and faithful practitioners of their faith, whether it’s my grandma’s daily Happy Hour Bible Study, or my mom’s daily morning devotions. Their practices, even more than their words, sets an example.

Who in your life was an example of the practice of the faith?

What did they do that stood out to you, and was handed down to you?

To whom do you serve as an example for the practice of the faith? What do you want them to know about your faith?

Luke 17:5-10

Luke 17:5   The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”  6 The Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

Luke 17:7   “Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here at once and take your place at the table’?  8 Would you not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink’?  9 Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded?  10 So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!’”

The most famous line of this passage comes at the beginning, as Jesus compares the smallness of vital faith to a tiny mustard seed. But as I read this passage this week, I was drawn instead to the brief parable of verses 7-10. Here, as they have a few times recently, Jesus’ words seem a bit harsh. The Law/challenge of this parable is clear: you shall not require praise for merely doing what needs to be done. But where is the Gospel/promise?

As I wrote above, I think this parable has a lot to do with the concept of “duty,” and the ways that societies and communities, especially faith communities, require a shared work ethic and sense of duty. Doing what needs to be done is what sustains families and communities over the long haul. Jesus knows this. He himself has to fulfill an incredibly difficult duty, that of the Cross. So Jesus thus encourages us as well, knowing that all must share together in duty in order for communities to endure in faith, hope, and love.

What do you consider the major duties of your life?

Who helps you complete your duties?

Does it feel like you are sometimes being dutiful alone? What does that feel like?