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Ep. 24: Jesus was ANGRY we were away or Proper 15C / Ordinary 20C / Pentecost +13

Eric Fistler

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For Sunday, August 18
Proper 15C / Ordinary 20C / Pentecost +13

Show Notes after the break (click read more)

SHOW NOTES -  8/18/13
Episode 24 - Proper 15C / Ordinary 20C / Pentecost +13

Opening Music: “Welcome Back Kotter Theme”

Luke 12:49-56
Hebrews 11:29-12:2

Check-in

Primary Scripture -– Luke 12:49-56  Jesus brings conflict

  • Challenging - but Good News
  • Fire- think Holy Spirit and Fiery Pillar
    • Baptism
    • Cleansing, not destructive Fire
  • Do not sanitize Jesus
    • Jesus is an embodiment of God’s love
    • Love does not mean “being nice”
    • Love and faith can be painful and difficult
    • Love and accountability
  • Jesus - Peacebringer?
    • v. 51 seems to be contrary to the entire Gospel (1:79, 2:14, 7:50, 8:48,10:5-6, 19:42, 19:38)
      • Not everyone wants Divine peace/Kingdom of God
      • Those in power, those content with the status quo
    • used to support Just War Theory, "hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword…. He is sifting out the hearts of men before his judgment seat…. His truth is marching on."
    • It is painful to have our old ways burned away
    • Familial divisions - cf. 8:21 “My mother and brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it”
    • To demand peace (and prosperity) at the expense of those on the margins is to cry, "'Peace, peace,' when there is no peace"(Jer. 8:11). Until we get beyond tribal understandings of "peace in our time" (and on our terms), the peace on earth proclaimed by angels will remain a peace that "surpasses all understanding" (Phil. 4:7). David J. Schlafer, Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary - Feasting on the Word – Year C, Volume 3: Pentecost and Season After Pentecost 1 (Propers 3-16).
  • Phyllis Tickle: “Two kinds of peace”
    • Temporal peace - Secular peace which is akin to comfort, politeness, or niceness.
    • Eternal peace - Sacred peace that lies beyond.  
    • Jesus is the Prince of Peace, but not of comfort.
    • John 16:20-22

Secondary scripture - Hebrews 11:29-12:2 - great cloud of witnesses

  • We know Paul did not write, but we do not know who did write it (even Origen did not consider it to be Pauline as early as the third century)
  • We do not know where faith will lead:
    • Great events - Red Sea, Walls of Jericho OR Great suffering - being stoned, martyred, etc
    • The history of faith is a history of struggle
      • Red Sea
      • Entry into the Promised Land/Jericho
    • The writer of Hebrews is looking back through the “family photo album.”
      •  “Why should we look at this photo album of faith and faithfulness? Because in looking, we learn who we are. We learn that we are not alone and that we are part of a family with particular traits and characteristics.”  (Bryan Whitfield)
  • Anti-Jewish Triumphalism v. 40
    • It is also quite plausible, however, to read this verse in a spirit of humble gratitude, similar to Paul's image of the church as a "wild olive shoot" grafted into the "rich root of the olive tree" (Rom. 11:17-24). Christians are the beneficiaries of this "cloud of witnesses," not the extraordinary heroes who finally get the job done. A triumphalist reading of any New Testament text calls into question God's faithfulness. If God has reneged on the promise to Israel, how can the church depend on God's faithfulness to the promise made through Jesus Christ? - John C Shelley, Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary - Feasting on the Word – Year C, Volume 3: Pentecost and Season After Pentecost 1 (Propers 3-16).
  • The difficulty of living the Christian life
    • Hebrews Community- persecuted for their faith
    • Today’s Christians - silent persecution to being truly Christian, speaking up for the marginalized, social justice, life of prayer, share all we have, etc.
      • persecuted by consumerism, narcissism (the i___ culture), individualism
  • Suffering
    • DO NOT GLORIFY SOMEONE ELSE’S SUFFERING
    • Easy to say your suffering is redemptive while sitting in comfort
    • This is a message of hope that is to come
    • The future joy does not delegitimize or justify the current suffering
      • suffering is still awful and needs to be comforted

Extra Bonus - Isaiah 5:1-7- The Song of the Vineyard

  • Song that shifts voice.
    • Begins with prophet’s voice singing about his friend’s vineyard.
      • All things were made ready
      • Set up for successful vineyard
    • Verse three shifts to divine voice and judgment
      • The vineyard produced terrible fruit despite the work of the owner
      • Judgement of owner is that the plants must be removed and the whole thing must start over.
  • Bad fruit = Lack of justice.  Instead of justice, there is bloodshed. Instead of righteousness, there are cries.
  • The song takes place before famous “call of Isaiah” in chapter 6 with the hot coal touching his lips.
    • “It is Isaiah’s first clear public act as God’s prophet, even as this event is overshadowed by the episode recorded in chapter 

Closing

TY: listeners, Opening music,
TY: Closing music,Paul and Storm, “Oh No”

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