The Lessons Appointed for use on the Sunday Closest to June 22
Proper 7 RCL C
1 Kings 19:1-4, (5-7), 8-15a
Psalm 42 and 43
or
Isaiah 65:1-9
Psalm 22:18-27
Galatians 3:23-29
Luke 8:26-39 The Collect O Lord, make us have perpetual love and reverence for your holy Name, for you never fail to help and govern those whom you have set upon the sure foundation of your loving kindness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. The Collect Proper 7 The collect is a little different in that the observation is second and the petition is first. Its action words are: “make us have perpetual love and reverence for your holy Name, for you never fail to help and govern those whom you have set upon the sure foundation of your loving kindness.” The readings from all three years have many examples of Divine help for the faithful or weak. In RCL A the reading from Genesis is the rescue of Ishmael, or the alternate from Jeremiah praising the Lord for deliverance of the needy from evil doers. In RCL B the story of David’s miraculous defeat of Goliath. In RCL C, Elijah flees Jezebel, and an angel delivers food that allows him to survive a 40-day trek across the desert to Mt Hormel. The Collect Proper 7 The psalms, and because of alternates there are a number of them, speak of rescue and deliverance. Some of the saved were great heroes of the faith and others were helpless innocents. And we should note that none was spared the inconvenience of the ordeal, but they were allowed to achieve a Divine purpose St Alban’s Day June 22nd First martyr of Britain 304 AD "St. Alban, the first martyr of the British Church about 304 A.D." This window depicts the first martyr of the British Church in Roman times. For the first three centuries, Christianity was outlawed by Rome. The persecutions were not continuous or in all areas but were frequent enough. Alban was not a Christian, but gave shelter to a Christian Priest. When the Romans came to arrest the priest Alban donned the priest's clothing and was arrested in place of the priest, condemned and executed. The year is thought to be 304 AD, which was only a few years before the Edict of Milan in 312 AD by which Constantine made the Church the state religion of Rome. A century after this Rome fell and England, as well as Europe descended into barbarism. 1 Kings 19:1-4, (5-7), 8-15a Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, "So may the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow." Then he was afraid; he got up and fled for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongs to Judah; he left his servant there. But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die: "It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.” 1 Kings 19:1-4, (5-7), 8-15a [Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, "Get up and eat." He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again. The angel of the LORD came a second time, touched him, and said, "Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you."] He got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God. At that place he came to a cave, and spent the night there. Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" He answered 1 Kings 19:1-4, (5-7), 8-15a "I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away." He said, "Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. 1 Kings 19:1-4, (5-7), 8-15a When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" He answered, "I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away." Then the LORD said to him, "Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus." The next line after the reading… when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king over Aram. 16 Also you shall anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel; and you shall anoint Elisha son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah as prophet in your place. 17 Whoever escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu shall kill; and whoever escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall kill. 18 Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.” Context We move in the story of Elijah to the time after the drought incident. The drought, remember Ahab searching for Elijah to end the drought and Elijah’s visit to the Widow of Zarapath. Proper 6 The drought ends in a contest of God and Elijah, and the priests of Baal. Elijah wins when God ignites and burns the sacrifice despite much water poured on, even consuming the water. Proper 5 Elijah orders all of Baal’s priest taken out and killed. The day’s reading is the other shoe falling!! The Text This section is entitled “The revelation to Elijah on Mount Horeb.” Elijah flees the temper of Jezebel – and laments his cowardice “I am no better than my ancestors.” Mt Horeb is by northern tradition the place where the law was revealed to Moses. Southern tradition names the place as Sinai. Scholars think because of the distances involved, 200 miles that the author could not have intended the actual site of Mt. Horeb. Although Elijah is fortified with some type of miraculous food and fear of Jezebel. So, what’s up with Elijah First, we can see that Elijah is a true OT superstar. The appearance of the Lord in such dramatic fashion is a direct parallel with Moses at the delivery of the LAW. In the prior stories Elijah was larger than life, but one dimensional. Here we see for the first time a very human, very frightened person. Visions of Naboth not only dead but humiliated, were real to Elijah. This weakness provokes not rejection by God, but compassion. A very gentle God tending to Elijah as he sleeps and providing food – for the strength to flee? So, what were the gods? The gods of that age were natural phenomenon, fire, the sun, storms. God was not: WIND EARTHQUAKE; OR FIRE The exact appearance or form of God for them as for us is a fascination, as much as the nature of God. In this passage we learn what God is not, but in a way that would have distinguished Him in the ancient mind. WHAT WAS GOD From this reading we don’t know. Elijah knew to come out when there was a sound of sheer silence. No attempt is made to describe God, or His passing as was done with Moses. Only Elijah at the cave, being told to return to the land he had just fled! And on that return he is told by God to anoint kings and even find his own successor. A man on the run now a fearless man with a mission. Like Job, the personal encounter in the storm simply satisfied Job in his misery and Elijah in his fear. So, what is God? An angel of God awakes Elijah and instructs him to eat on his journey to Horeb. From a French Bible of the 1670s, Pitts Library, Emory University Dieric Bouts the Elder, Prophet Elijah in the Desert, 1464-68
Oil on panel, 88 x 71 cm, Sint-Pieterskerk, Leuven And now a lighter subject! Jezebel Jezebel Jezebel. Princess of Tyre who married Ahab, king of Israel. She was the great-aunt of Dido, the founder of Carthage. Her name meant Where is the Prince? Jezebel was an ardent worshiper of Baal was responsible for Naboth’s death resulting in a prediction that dogs would eat Jezebel’s corpse in Jezreel. Jehu was anointed king by the Lord to destroy Ahab’s house because of what Jezebel had done to the prophets and the faithful of Yahweh. When Jehu arrived to in Jezreel to kill Jezebel she appeared adorned like a queen in a window, regally defiant and was thrown out of the window by her own attendants and was trampled to death. Jezebel’s sons and daughter also ruled, the latter for six years. Jezebel later becomes an insult to women and appears in Revelation. Gustave Dore, Jezebel images, c. 1870s Psalm 42 & 43 Psalm 42 Page 643, BCP Quemadmodum 1 As the deer longs for the water-brooks, *
so longs my soul for you, O God. 2 My soul is athirst for God, athirst for the living God; *
when shall I come to appear before the presence of God? 3 My tears have been my food day and night, *
while all day long they say to me,
"Where now is your God?” 4 I pour out my soul when I think on these things: *how I went with the multitude and led them into the house of God, 5 With the voice of praise and thanksgiving, *
among those who keep holy-day. 6 Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul? *
and why are you so disquieted within me? 7 Put your trust in God; *
for I will yet give thanks to him,
who is the help of my countenance, and my God. Psalm 42 Page 643, BCP Quemadmodum8 My soul is heavy within me; *
therefore I will remember you from the land of Jordan, and from the peak of Mizar among the heights of Hermon. 9 One deep calls to another in the noise of your cataracts; * all your rapids and floods have gone over me. 10 The LORD grants his loving-kindness in the daytime; *
in the night season his song is with me,
a prayer to the God of my life. Psalm 42 Page 643, BCP Quemadmodum 11 I will say to the God of my strength,
"Why have you forgotten me? *
and why do I go so heavily while the enemy oppresses me?" 12 While my bones are being broken, *
my enemies mock me to my face; Psalm 42 Page 643, BCP Quemadmodum 13 All day long they mock me *
and say to me, "Where now is your God?" 14 Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul? *
and why are you so disquieted within me? 15 Put your trust in God; *
for I will yet give thanks to him,
who is the help of my countenance, and my God. Psalm 42 Page 643, BCP Quemadmodum1 Give judgment for me, O God,
and defend my cause against an ungodly people; *
deliver me from the deceitful and the wicked. 2 For you are the God of my strength;
why have you put me from you? *
and why do I go so heavily while the enemy oppresses me? 3 Send out your light and your truth, that they may lead me, * and bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling; Psalm 42 Page 643, BCP Quemadmodum4 That I may go to the altar of God,
to the God of my joy and gladness; *
and on the harp I will give thanks to you, O God my God. 5 Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul? *
and why are you so disquieted within me? 6 Put your trust in God; *
for I will yet give thanks to him,
who is the help of my countenance, and my God. Psalm 42 and 43 These Psalms are treated as one in the text and footnotes. The Psalm 42 superscription is “Longing for God and Help in Distress.” with a directive to the Choir master. The Psalm 43 superscription is “Prayer to God in Time of Trouble.” These are laments seeking healing for a pilgrimage from the author’s home in north Palestine at Mt Mizar near Mt. Hermon to Jerusalem. The exact location of Mizar is not known. The author’s sickness is taken as proof that he is forsaken by God. BAPTISM SYMBOL Psalm 42 1 As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. A stag or hart based on the Bestiary an ancient writing was said to have trampled a snake, the devil, and afterward to have been refreshed by drinking from a running stream. In medieval art these concepts were combined, and the hart or stag became a symbol for Baptism, particularly when two stags or harts are shown drinking. Isaiah 65:1-9 I was ready to be sought out by those who did not ask, to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, "Here I am, here I am," to a nation that did not call on my name. I held out my hands all day long to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices; a people who provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens and offering incense on bricks; who sit inside tombs, and spend the night in secret places; who eat swine's flesh, with broth of abominable things in their vessels; who say, Isaiah 65:1-9 "Keep to yourself, do not come near me, for I am too holy for you." These are a smoke in my nostrils, a fire that burns all day long. See, it is written before me: I will not keep silent, but I will repay; I will indeed repay into their laps their iniquities and their ancestors' iniquities together, says the LORD; because they offered incense on the mountains and reviled me on the hills, I will measure into their laps full payment for their actions. Isaiah 65:1-9 Thus says the LORD: As the wine is found in the cluster, and they say, "Do not destroy it, for there is a blessing in it," so I will do for my servants' sake, and not destroy them all. I will bring forth descendants from Jacob, and from Judah inheritors of my mountains; my chosen shall inherit it, and my servants shall settle there. Isaiah Isaiah was active from 742 BC until 701 BC, a time of trouble in Israel, powerful enemies threatened all around and the end would be the destruction of the land and exile. It is generally accepted that what we know as Isaiah was actually written in phases, 1-39 by Isaiah, 40-66 in 539 BC at the time of Cyrus of Persia and some say a third was written after the return from exile. The reading is from this final section. Third Isaiah Isaiah 56 through the end is thought to be an independent final section. In Isaiah one thing to watch is the identity of the speaker, it is sometimes the prophet, sometimes the nation of Israel or Jerusalem and sometime, as today, God. This is actually a response by God to the prior section of Isaiah. The prophet in Chap 64 is asking for God to return and forget their former transgressions. The failure of God to answer their pleas is also touched on. The Text God answers the query of why he has been silent while the people have suffered, with a declaration that it was the people and not Him who were silent. Note that, like the then ancient story of Abraham in the argument for the few good people in Sodom, God will not the destroy the bad grapes for the sake of the good grapes. This should be good news to us bad grapes, and so thanks to you good grapes!! Psalm 22:18-27 Page 611, BCP Deus, Deus meus 18 Be not far away, O LORD; *
you are my strength; hasten to help me. 19 Save me from the sword, *
my life from the power of the dog. 20 Save me from the lion's mouth, *
my wretched body from the horns of wild bulls. 21 I will declare your Name to my brethren; *
in the midst of the congregation I will praise you. 22 Praise the LORD, you that fear him; *
stand in awe of him, O offspring of Israel;
all you of Jacob's line, give glory. Psalm 22:18-27 Page 611, BCP Deus, Deus meus 23 For he does not despise nor abhor the poor in their poverty;
neither does he hide his face from them; *
but when they cry to him he hears them. 24 My praise is of him in the great assembly; *
I will perform my vows in the presence of those who worship him. Psalm 22:18-27 Page 611, BCP Deus, Deus meus 25 The poor shall eat and be satisfied, and those who seek the LORD shall praise him: * "May your heart live for ever!" 26 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, * and all the families of the nations shall bow before him. 27 For kingship belongs to the LORD; *
he rules over the nations. Psalm 22 The directions for this are: Plea for Deliverance from Suffering and Hostility “To the leader: according to The Deer of the Dawn. A Psalm of David.” I think this is a tune name for the text. The text of Psalm 22 Psalm 22 is thought to be a Prayer for deliverance from mortal illness. The reading as selected misses some of the more pertinent NT context. V 1 is Quoted by Jesus on the cross (Mark 15.34). V 6-8 The psalmist's misery is aggravated by the mockery of those who regard illness as proof of God's displeasure – see debate on healing of the man blind from birth. Some of the references are obscure such as the Bulls of Bashan. The text of Psalm 22 The battle language is a vivid account of the poet's fever and resulting weakness. The psalmist vows, on recovery, to offer a formal thanksgiving in the midst of the congregation at the temple V21 to the end. Galatians 3:23-29 Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise. Magna Charta of Christian liberty In the prior weeks we have been working toward this section of the letter. The prior readings were really introductory and preliminary. We are now reaching the central section. The central part of the letter is an exposition of the doctrine of justification by faith alone Galatians 3.1-4.31. The Brief This is a very tightly reasoned argument. The lectionary skips some fairly important sections. Paul is working through a number points to bring his readers into agreement. Omitted points 3 You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly exhibited as crucified! 2 The only thing I want to learn from you is this: Did you receive the Spirit by doing the works of the law or by believing what you heard? 6 Just as Abraham "believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” 16 Now the promises were made to Abraham . . . 17 My point is this: the law, which came four hundred thirty years later, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise. It is after these points that our text begins The omitted point The faith-principle is older and more fundamental than the Mosaic law itself. Paul follows the chronology found in some manuscripts of the Septuagint according to which the 430 years included the sojourn of Israel's forebears in Canaan and in Egypt According to Paul the true purpose of the Mosaic law is that the law could not make people righteous but it revealed God's will so that they might recognize their transgressions. The Law then was an interim step, no longer needed. The Law The Law set apart God’s Chosen people, but now the time for that division is gone. Now for one of the great New Testament quotes: “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise.” Offspring Paul’s argument is very sharp in that he quotes from the Abraham saga that God’s promise was to the Offspring of Abraham, not OffspringS. The singular offspring is Jesus, from whom Christians inherit the promise. Like children entrusted to a guardian during their minority, the nation of Israel was entrusted to the Law as guardian. With the coming of Jesus, believers have reached maturity and no longer need the guardian. Luke 8:26-39 Jesus and his disciples arrived at the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. As he stepped out on land, a man of the city who had demons met him. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he fell down before him and shouted at the top of his voice, "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me" -- for Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. Luke 8:26-39 (For many times it had seized him; he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the wilds.) Jesus then asked him, "What is your name?" He said, "Legion"; for many demons had entered him. They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss. Now there on the hillside a large herd of swine was feeding; and the demons begged Jesus to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. Luke 8:26-39 Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned. When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran off and told it in the city and in the country. Then people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed. Luke 8:26-39 Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them; for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him; but Jesus sent him away, saying, "Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you." So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him. The Galilee Ministry In all three synoptic Gospels, Jesus spends a period in Galilee in Luke this extends from Luke 4:14 to 9:50. The incident is preceded by several parables and the quieting of a storm. There is no explanation as to why Jesus is traveling by boat to the Gerasene area. There is no explanation as to why He is then asked to leave. Mark 5 In Mark the incident also follows the quelling of the storm at sea and followed by the healing of a young woman. There is only one demoniac, but the story is told in virtually the same words and language as in Luke. Matthew 8 In Matthew this incident follows the storm incident at sea. There are two demoniacs and the demons in this version ask to be sent to the herd of swine. The swineherd then runs through the town and when the towns people come they also ask that He leave the area. Demoniacs Mark: “Jesus Heals the Gadarene Demoniacs” Matthew: “Jesus Heals the Gadarene Demoniacs” Luke: “Jesus Heals the Gerasene Demoniac” Which Luke describes as “Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee” The sources are mixed, the word Gerasene in the Harper Collins Bible Dictionary refers one to “Gadara” a city six miles from the Sea of Galilee, with only a small Jewish population. The town name in Luke is “Gerasa” which Harper Collins says is almost certainly a mistake by Luke. The point Perhaps as an outcast person the Demoniac had become an object which the locals could blame for their evil. Jesus changes the status quo, the man is freed, but now the locals will have to look in themselves for that evil. The former Demonic then remained there to share the good news. We aren’t told what happened afterwards. We can only wonder how they all were changed in time. Remember, Onisimus the freed slave and perhaps later the Bishop of Ephesus. Perhaps the Demoniac like Elijah, was emboldened to do great things after his encounter with God. Common Theme for the Day In the OT, Elijah was changed by his encounter with God. The Galatians are reminded how they were changed by their encounter with God. And finally, the Demoniac, saved from his misery and transformed also by his encounter the God. Unknown Anglo-Saxon, possibly Canterbury,
The Miracle of the Gadarene Swine, c. 1000
Tempera colors and gold leaf on parchment
12 5/16 x 7 1/8 in., Getty Museum James Tissot, Swine Driven into the Sea
Briton Rivière (1840-1920), The Miracle of the Gaderene Swine, 1883 Tate Gallery
