Proper 20A (OT 25)

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Philippians 1:16-30, Bryan Odeen, @BryanOdeen, bryanodeen.wordpress.com, soundcloud.com/bryanodeen

Richard Bruxvoort Colligan, Psalmimmersion.com, @pomopsalmist, Patreon

Exegetical Notes

Matthew 20:1-16

Initial Thoughts

  • CEB - ”denarion” - “daily wage”

    • Warren Carter explains that this is a minimum wage - just enough to subsist for another day.

  • Previous it the young rich ruler who Jesus tells must sell all of his possessions.  This is followed by the “camel through the eye of a needle,” saying.  Chapter 19’s last line is “But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”

  • Immediately following this parable is another prediction of his death and the mother of the sons of Zebedee asks Jesus if her sons could sit on his right and on his left.

Bible Study

  • Is this the right title? Amy-Jill Levine, Short Stories By Jesus, p.215-216

    • Not necessarily an allegory (The vineyard is Israel and the landowner is God) which threatens to take us out of the world, but a story about what the kingdom looks like in terms of real economics

    • The story is just as much about the marketplace and managers as it is about working in the vineyard.

    • “Might we rather see the parable about real workers in a real marketplace and real landowners who hire those workers? The vineyard can still be “Israel”, the ideal community that God intended and that Jesus attempted to call into being…To those who ask ‘Are you saved?’ Jesus might well respond, ‘The better questions is, ‘Do your children have enough to eat?’ or’ Do you have shelter for the night?’” pp.215-216

    • Are we truly committed to making sure everyone has “enough” - the absurdity of the phrase “to earn a living”. What is the true living wage in your county? https://livingwage.mit.edu/

  • This story is bookended by repeated “The first will be last and the last will be first.”

    • The parable expounds on this theme, which is a foundation to the Kingdom of Heaven.

    • The disciples would be thinking of themselves as “first,” because they’ve been in on this from the beginning.

    • They are “ground floor” disciples, so expect a reward.

      • Ground floor investors get better dividends, reap higher rewards

      • Rookie cards value is higher

      • Fans of bands consider themselves “better” fans if they knew them when they were playing in small bars instead of huge arenas

      • “Bandwagon” fans are the worst kind in sports.

    • Jesus declares - “There are no bandwagon fans in the Kingdom of Heaven.”  there is no reward for being on the ‘ground floor.’

    • Important message to the Matthew Community in particular, which is presumably largely Jewish, and might have considered themselves among the “first,” amidst a growing church of newcomers.

  • Fairness is a concept learned from a very early age.  

    • Fairness has little to do with the Kingdom of Heaven

    • Fairness and Grace are not mutually exclusive - there simply is no relationship at all.

    • Great story to share with youth.  Challenges moral assurances.  Challenges sense of “fair”.  Challenges “the way things ought to be.”

    • Challenging the way things ought to be a is vital part of Jesus’ understanding of the Kingdom of Heaven.

  • Mature faith calls us to move beyond fairness and into grace.

    • “The parable's focus falls on how the two groups of laborers regard each other. The last paid are not pleased. Their energy and work have been slighted and dishonored. And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner saying, “These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.” Their grumbling evokes that of the Israelites against God after liberation from slavery (same verb; Exod 17:3)...Instead of reinforcing the superiority of some at the expense of the rest (cf. ch. 19; 20:20-28), he has evened out the distinctions and treated them in solidarity as equals. Instead of using wages to reinforce distinctions, he uses them to express equality and solidarity. That this householder, with great wealth, should enact this egalitarian gesture is surprising, especially when he is blind to greater equalizing actions that he might perform (cf. 19:21)!” Carter, Warren. Matthew and the Margins: A Sociopolitical and Religious Reading p. 397-398

    • My salvation is not dependent upon yours.

    • The Kingdom is not a zero-sum proposition.  My reward/relationship with God is not affected by yours.

    • Reward from God is not about wages.  It is not a scarcity-based economic exchange.  Reward from God is peace, grace, love.  These things are not affected by outside forces, or laws of supply and demand.

    • Immature faith delights in misery of others.  Even if they don’t say it like that, it comes out in ideas and concepts such as “They’ll meet their maker someday,” “They’ll get what’s coming to them,” or “Karma will catch up with them.”  And while there is an element of “you reap what you sow that is in the gospel,” the overwhelming message of the gospel is that we don’t get what we deserve.

  • Jesus poses two questions:

    • “Don't I have the right to do what I want with what belongs to me?”

    • “Are you resentful because I'm generous?'

    • The answer to both is “Yes.”

    • An honest look at this story makes us see ourselves more clearly.  

    • “The question leaves open the workers' and audience's response, while it solicits their/our agreement. The parable challenges audiences of disciples to embrace this alternative egalitarian lifestyle and to view social structures and interactions from that perspective which is fundamental to God's empire. That reign challenges hierarchical and patriarchal structures.” (Carter, p. 398).

Thoughts and Questions

  • An honest look at this passage challenges the way we understand the world.  We see the unfairness of the story, and our natural reaction is to wonder what kind of Kingdom this is.  An honest look at our own jealousy and sense of unfairness reveals the way that we see others who are on the “outside,” and reveals to us the way we may treat “bandwagon jumpers.”  Instead of worrying what others are getting, and worldly concepts of fairness, we must see the reward we already have.  Instead of worrying about the unfairness of a God that blesses all, we should rejoice with those that come to join the work, even if they are late arriving.

  • Seeing the world through the lens of the Kingdom changes everything. The Kingdom of Heaven is a new way of looking at the world. Kingdom evangelism is not about getting people to avoid their punishment, it is about celebrating a bigger party. 

  • How does this affect the way we think of church membership?  How many in our churches feel entitled to influence, time, resources, because they have been “members since…”  We complain about phone services that offer great things to new customers at the expense of those that have been customers forever, but this passage seems to suggest they have it right. One lesson I’ve learned from The Church of the Resurrection is their concept of membership means that people must surrender their privileges.  Members give up the good parking spaces.  They were asked to give up the back pews in the sanctuary.  Give up even the “prime time” worship times at Easter and Christmas.

Exodus 16:2-15

Initial Thoughts

Bible Study

  • v. 1 - Leaving Elim

    • Elim was an Oasis of water, food and rest in the wilderness.

    • They left Egypt 45 days-2 months ago

    • In the wilderness, “The prophets Hosea (2:16–20; 11:1; 13:4) and Jeremiah (2:1–3) regard the sojourn as a time of singular blessing, the veritable honeymoon of YHWH’s marriage to Israel.” Steagald, T. R. (2009). “Theological Perspective on Exodus 16:2–4, 9–15.” Feasting on the Word: Year B Vol. 3, p. 290.

  • People Complain

  • Reject Moses and Aaron

    • The people complain against their leaders, not against God

      • They wish God has killed them in Egypt and blame Moses for bringing them out

      • They forgot who brought them up out of the land of Egypt- not Moses or Aaron, but God.

    • “It would have been better” (echoes Jonah 4:1-3)

    • Selective memory - we wish we were back in Egypt

    • How quickly they have forgotten their groaning under the Egyptians

    • It is easier to doubt than to trust

    • The people do not doubt more than once about each thing (Egyptians, Water, Good Water, Food)

  • God Provides

    • Raining of blessing (contrast with the 7th Plague - raining of hail Exodus 9:13-35)

      • More ordinary than extraordinary:

        • A type of plant lice punctures the fruit of the tamarisk tree and excretes a substance from this juice, a yellowish-white flake or ball. During the warmth of the day it disintegrates, but it congeals when it is cold. It has a sweet taste. Rich in carbohydrates and sugar, it is still gathered by natives, who bake it into a kind of bread (and call it manna). The food decays quickly and attracts ants. Regarding the quails (see Num. 11:31–32), migratory birds flying in from Africa or blown in from the Mediterranean are often exhausted enough to be caught by hand.” “Fretheim, T. E. (1991). Interpretation: Exodus (p. 182). Louisville, KY: John Knox Press.

        • Fretheim goes on to point out the importance of looking for God in the natural ordinariness of the everyday. While we can experience God on the mountaintop, God is also present in the natural blessings which surround us everyday

          • This can have wonderful eco-justice implications - God is not one who works only in the supernatural or extraordinary, but also in the everyday ordinary beauty of creation which surrounds us.

    • God’s response

      • “I am about to rain down” - “This promise of divine benefaction may have a double edge because previou uses of this verb, mamtir, have been associated with God’s showering destruction on humanity - in the Flood story, the Sodom story, and the Plagues narrative.” (Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible, The Five Books of Moses, p. 279)

        • God “rains down” bread. Using the same terminology that we may use in war. Bombs “rain down” on cities. Brings to mind the Berlin Airlift, when bomber planes were used to “rain down” food on the city of Berlin.

      • God always provides- each time, no matter how often the people complain or misunderstand, God still provides

      • In providing - there is no question of deserve- everything is a gift

      • God is not a capitalist, there is no working on the Sabbath, there is no storing up riches, there are no manna-rich and manna-poor

    • Points to God

      • Saving from the Egyptians, providing water, purifying water, providing manna by day and quails by night - all point to who God is

      • “Cannot live by bread alone” Deut. 8:3

  •  Dependance on God

    • “By this point, in the second month of the departure from Egypt, the supply of unleavened bread… may well have been exhausted. Commentators have puzzled over the nostalgia for meat because the Israelistes have taken large flocks with them. Perhaps, as a people whose principal wealth is their flocks, they are loath to make heavy inroads into their livestock for the purpose of food on the journey. In any case, there seems to be a note of panic in the claim that they are on the point of death from starvation.” (Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible, The Five Books of Moses, p. 279)

    • The Israelites are utterly dependant on God and they don’t like it

    • Perhaps one of the problems with the Church today is that we forgot to be dependant on God

    • We are so separated from many things we take for granted: electricity, clean water, clean air, food - we forget the gifts they are and the many people that make them possible.

    • Are we still content with our “daily bread”?

  • Deborah Block: People complain - God Hears - God Responds-People Respond

    • How are we responding to God’s gift?

Thoughts and Questions

  • How do we balance pride/ self esteem with God’s generosity? All that we have is a gift from God- does that leave room for pride?

  • Why is it so hard to think of all that we have from our 401K to our toaster ovens as being a gift from God? Where does this notion of “what I deserve” come from?

  • Are we still content with our “daily bread”?

  • How can we reorient ourselves and others to see God already bl;essing us with natural miracles around us?

  • There are a lot of connections to the Lord’s Prayer - “Give us this day our daily bread” which can also be translated - “Give us the bread needed for this day”. In other words we are given what we need-but not any more than that. What does it mean to embrace the concept of enough and  limit ourselves?

Philippians 1:21-30

Initial Thoughts

  • First of four weeks in Philippians

  • Reminds me of MLK’s speech in Memphis, where he talked about his death - the day before he was murdered.

    • “Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn't matter with me now, because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. 

Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land!

Bible Study

  • Context

    • Authentic Paul.

    • Philippian church founded in about 50 CE. 

      • In Acts, the narration shifts to “we” when Paul gets to Philippi.

      • Small city, population ~10,000.

      • Refounded in 42 BCE as a Roman colony.

      • “Any Jewish presence in Philippi was minimal... Paul’s converts would have been entirely, or mostly entirely, Gentile.” (Morna D. Hooker, New Interpreter’s Bible, v. XI, p. 471)

    • From prison - which prison?

      • Roman house arrest with a capital charge.

      • Caesarea or Ephesus

      • If writing from Rome (which is generally accepted) date would be in the early 60s.

    • Tradition holds that Paul was martyred in Rome.

      • Nothing in  Biblical account of Paul’s death

      • “It is the apocryphal Acts of Paul, written about 160, that tells us Paul was beheaded for his faith after testifying to the gospel before Nero. There we read, ‘then Paul stood with his face to the east and lifted up his hands unto heaven and prayed a long time, and in his prayer he conversed in the Hebrew tongue with the fathers and stretches forth his neck without speaking.’” (as quoted in The Call, by Adam Hamilton, p. 217)

  • Shame and Glory

    • Being in jail is a source of shame - just as crucifixion was the ultimate attempt to crush someone through shame.

    • Paul is standing within the context of a culture where the shame/honor dynamic is important, but he is reversing the typical understanding of what would bring shame and what would bring honor.

    • “It is Paul’s eager expectation and firm hope (since it is founded on God) that he will not be put to shame at the trial but will behave in such a way that now, as always, Christ will be exalted in him. (Morna D. Hooker, New Interpreter’s Bible, v. XI, p. 471)

    • Paul’s only goal is to bring honor to Christ, and he can do that whether he lives or dies.

    • The world would understand a death of beheading by a Roman executioner to be one of extreme shame, but Paul declares that God can use even this repugnant act to glorify Christ.

  • Suffering

    • Opponents

      • “It is sometimes suggested that these opponents were Judaizers… but it seems much more likely that the opposition came from outside the church. The community’s enemies could be either Jews or pagans, but once again the reference to suffering… suggests that their problems may be with the civil authorities.” (Morna D. Hooker, New Interpreter’s Bible, v. XI, p. 471)

      • In Acts, Paul met opposition in Philippi from local businessmen.

    • Suffering is goal?

      • “it’s not that suffering is something altogether different than belief to Paul, it’s that it’s the next logical step. For Paul, belief leads to the kind of living that is so out-of-step with everyone else around you, that pretty soon you’re going to end up being a threat.  And, when you’re a threat, other people dependent on maintaining the status quo are going to start making things difficult for you.” (Rick Morley, A Garden Path)

    • Destruction?

      • “What God makes of that among the persecutors is not the church’s concern. Paul is simply stating that he had said elsewhere and what the church has always believed: The word of God is a two-edged sword. Christ affects the rise and the fall of many. Turning on a light creates shadows, a darkness of a different kind; that is the unavoidable reality.” (Fred Craddock, Interpretation: Philippians, p. 134)

  • Salvation

    • “It is clear that Paul’s reflections hinge on the presence of Christ. Paul is absolutely certain that death is not a transition into a state of non-existence; hence, he is not afraid of it. Paul does not doubt at all that death can only be the moment when he will be united with Christ.” (Christian Eberhart, Working Preacher)

    • Death is accompanied by Resurrection. Sharing in the death of Christ is to share in his resurrection as well.

    • Salvation from opponents is not primarily about their destruction - at least not at the hands of the Christians - it is about destruction of their power.

    • The power that the opposition has is death, but faithfulness removes even that weapon.

    • “Since the image of sleep implies consciousness, the idea perhaps is that if Paul falls asleep in death, his next moment of awareness will be at the resurrection; hence, dying is seen as ‘gain.’ It is important to remember, however, that all these ideas are metaphors - attempts to explain something beyond our understanding. Since God is outside both time and space, questions about when and where are meaningless. Paul’s conviction is simply that death will mean being with Christ and sharing his resurrection life.” (Morna D. Hooker, New Interpreter’s Bible, v. XI, p. 471)

Thoughts and Questions

  • Question of self reflection: “Am I living, and praying, and serving in my community with a kind of faith that challenges the prevailing world order? Am I a champion for the faith that Paul preached, that Jesus preached, and which Jesus demonstrated on the cross? Or, am I, and my faith, too safe? Too bland?” (Rick Morley, A Garden Path)

  • Great reflection about the song “Smile, Though Your Heart is Breaking,” Although the sentiment to smile through adversity seems like a good one, it short-changes the real-life experience of suffering. To simply tell someone to “cheer up,” or to believe that simply smiling through difficult times will somehow fix everything is hollow unless there is something behind it. “Adversity puts the sorrow in Paul's heart along with the yearning for death. As he focuses his thoughts on what God has done for him in sending God's Son, Christ, to companion him, it puts a smile on his lips. Christ within him puts a smile in his heart. Christ empowers him to say "Thanks a lot!" to God, even in prison.

  • How does your life glorify Christ? Your relationship within the community matters as well as your service outside the community.

THANK YOU FOR LISTENING AND GET IN TOUCH:

Thanks to our Psalms correspondent, Richard Bruxvoort Colligan (psalmimmersion.com,@pomopsalmist). Thank you to Scott Fletcher for our voice bumpers, Dick Dale and the Del Tones for our Theme music (“Miserlou”), Nicolai Heidlas (“Sunday Morning”,"Real Ride"and“Summertime”) and Bryan Odeen for our closing music.

ProperAEric FistlerMatthew, Exodus, Philippians, Psalm 75-1507 Comments