20th Sunday after Pentecost - Proper 22

Old Testament Lesson: Job 1:1; 2:1-10

During the sermon, I shared my frustration at the “decision” (cutting away) of the Divine Wager which frames Job’s dilemma.

Another frustration is the lectionary’s decision to cut out the arrival of Job’s friends.

When someone we love experiences a trauma—we often stress ourselves out trying to come up with something—anything!—to say that might make the situation better. Those words are almost impossible to find…some experiences are just awful, and there is no way a simple phrase will improve what is going on.

That is why I admire Job’s friends here in the prologue. I think they know there is nothing they can say that will comfort Job in this moment. He has lost everything. Instead of worrying about what to say, their focus is concentrated on support, on simply standing in silence, doing their best to show Job that they are there for him. It is a wonderful model of friendship for us to follow—we don’t have to know what to say, showing up is far more important.

Psalm:

Psalm 26

It is difficult to know whether or not the Psalmist had heard of Job’s story. Nevertheless, the Psalmist represents Job’s concentration on living a righteous life following God’s commandments.

It is important to remember that Job (together with the Book of Ecclesiastes) offer a counter to the Wisdom tradition found throughout the Old Testament/ Hebrew Scriptures.

Epistle: Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12

The Letter to the Hebrews is an interesting entry in our New Testament Canon.

We do not know who authored the letter. Many attribute it to Paul, given his favored literary genre. Others argue that Hebrews was authored by someone else. (The debate generally rests on how well you think the theology of Hebrews fits in with the Pauline letters.)

To me, the question of authorship is overshadowed by the letter’s intent. As the disciples were sharing the Easter story, we are drawn to the “success” stories, the early and excited crowds who have decided to follow Jesus. Yet, we don’t often consider the folks who were a bit trepidatious about this invitation. “How could this Jesus of Nazareth be God’s Christ is he died such an accursed death?” Was a familiar point of contention.

The Letter to the Hebrews is written to precisely those members of the Jewish faith who still had their doubts—and as such, it gives the Church a gift in helping us see the Jewish context of Jesus’ ministry.

Gospel:

Mark 10:2-16

Preaching can sometimes be “feast or famine.” Sometimes you are scraping the bottom of the barrel to get anything from just one of the four lectionary texts—other weeks you wish you could give two sermons.

What do we make of Jesus’ words about divorce?

For me, the critical phrase is “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you.” Jesus does not reject the commandment which allows for divorce. He simply admits that human obstinance is part of the problem.

Our pigheadedness gets creates problems for intrepreation. First, it constrains our thinking to only hearing a word about legality of divorce. This stymies our ability to the possibilities that Jesus may have been concerned with more than simply dissolving marriages. Was there a part of Jesus whose concern about divorce isn’t legal, but moral? As a divorced woman, there would be few prospects in the culture of that time—in some ways divorcing a woman was equal to a sentence of destitution.  If we can provide for a divorce in which each spouse is cared for, would that change Jesus’ attitudes towards divorce—it’s difficult to say, but certainly a possibility.

Instead of a manuscript, here are my sermon notes