Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost: Faith to Make A Difference

Today's Scripture Readings

Lamentations 1:1-6 (NRSV)

How lonely sits the city

that once was full of people!

How like a widow she has become,

she that was great among the nations!

She that was a princess among the provinces

has become a vassal.

She weeps bitterly in the night,

with tears on her cheeks;

among all her lovers

she has no one to comfort her;

all her friends have dealt treacherously with her,

they have become her enemies.

Judah has gone into exile with suffering

and hard servitude;

she lives now among the nations,

and finds no resting place;

her pursuers have all overtaken her

in the midst of her distress.

The roads to Zion mourn,

for no one comes to the festivals;

all her gates are desolate,

her priests groan;

her young girls grieve,

and her lot is bitter.

Her foes have become the masters,

her enemies prosper,

because the LORD has made her suffer

for the multitude of her transgressions;

her children have gone away,

captives before the foe.

From daughter Zion has departed

all her majesty.

Her princes have become like stags

that find no pasture;

they fled without strength

before the pursuer.

Psalm 137 (BCP, p. 792)



2 Timothy 1:1-14 (NRSV)

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, for the sake of the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus,

To Timothy, my beloved child:

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

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. Recalling your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy. 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. For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.

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, 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, 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. For this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher, 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. Hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Guard the good treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us.

Luke 17:5-10 (NRSV)

The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" 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.

"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'? 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'? Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? 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!'"

Blog Reflection

The readings this weekend seem so appropriate for this horrible week in the United States.   The government is closed.   People who rely on the government as their employment are furloughed.  WIC programs are closed.  The Center for Disease Control cannot function.  It is a terrible time.   The opportunities for Americans to help others by way of our government is greatly limited.   The words from Lamentations seem so appropriate.   They speak to the situation we are in.

The Gospel for this weekend is full of images that seem supernatural to us.  Jesus is talking in hyperbole.  What might He really be saying?

Jesus is challenging His disciples to use their faith not to compete, but to do things that make a difference.  Our faith is not for the purpose of making ourselves look like miracle workers.   It is to give evidence of what we believe, by living the Gospel we listen to.   In verse five of the 17th Chapter of Luke we read this weekend, the Disciples tell Jesus "increase our faith."   Jesus tells them to do things that show forth their faith, in such a way that everyone would sit up and take notice.  You have to admit that if anyone actually made a mulberry tree be uprooted and planted in the sea, every news media outlet would make a breaking news story out of it.   Jesus tells us to believe enough that what we believe becomes what we live.

We may be living in a time of Lamentation with our government shutdown.   There are plenty of people living through the injustice of oppression, violence, discrimination and faithlessness.  We Christians have the greatest opportunity to make our faith and our God visible as we speak out on behalf of the marginalized in society and the Church and encourage us to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ that changes what we believe into something we can see.    To do this, we must all look past each person's race, gender, gender identity/expression, religion, sexual orientation, health status, economic status, language, immigration status, and see Jesus present and calling us.   Our Baptismal Covenant asks us to live out the Gospel, by seeing in each person God's whole and living Self, calling out to us to welcome Jesus and to bring reconciliation and healing to His Body, the Church.   This is the faith we profess.   This is our faith profession living, breathing and performing miracles where none seem possible.

Amen.

Prayers

Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to
hear than we to pray, and to give more than we either desire
or deserve: Pour upon us the abundance of your mercy,
forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid,
and giving us those good things for which we are not worthy
to ask, except through the merits and mediation of Jesus
Christ our Savior; who lives and reigns with you and the
Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.  (Proper 22, Book of Common Prayer, p.234).

Grant, O God, that your holy and life-giving Spirit may so
move every human heart [and especially the hearts of the
people of this land], that barriers which divide us may
crumble, suspicions disappear, and hatreds cease; that our
divisions being healed, we may live in justice and peace;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Prayer for Social Justice, Book of Common Prayer, p.823).

O God, you have bound us together in a common life. Help us,
in the midst of our struggles for justice and truth, to confront
one another without hatred or bitterness, and to work
together with mutual forbearance and respect; through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen.  (Prayer for Times of Conflict, Book of Common Prayer, p.824).