The Adventurous Lectionary: Pentecost 3

Last updated on: June 5, 2013 at 12:19 pm by Bruce Epperly

The Adventurous Lectionary: Pentecost 3 2013-06-05T12:19:15-04:00 Bruce Epperly

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Lectionary Reflections for Pentecost 3 – June 9, 2013

I Kings 17:8-16; Psalm 146; Galatians 1:11-24; Luke 7:11-17

Abundance in a World of Scarcity

“The jar of meal will not be emptied, nor will the jug of oil fail.” Today’s passages assert that faith opens us to new dimensions of reality and within these new dimensions, miraculous releases of divine energy, congruent with the laws of nature, are released. Willingness to trust God despite appearances opens us to new possibilities, new energies, and a greater sense of vocation. This is not denial of the harsh realities of life – economic shortfalls, conflict, mortality – but the recognition that these realities are not the whole story. Within the concreteness and limitations of life, unexpected possibilities may emerge. God’s gentle providence brings forth possibilities where we only see limitations.

The encounter of Elijah and the widow of Zaraphath could be ripped from today’s newspaper or on-line headlines or the latest congregational newsletter. It portrays the constant struggle to affirm abundance in a world of scarcity. Elijah is given divine guidance to travel to Zaraphath, outside of Jewish territory in Sidon, and find a home with a widow. He is even told that she will provide board as well as room. When he initially encounters her, his request for a meal is met with a firm “no.” The widow has nothing in the cupboard for the spiritual leader. In fact, she is preparing one last meal for herself and her son with the expectation that they will eventually starve. Elijah is insistent that he be fed – one wonders if his insistence is intended to still his own stomach pangs or open the widow to new possibilities of divine nourishment for the widow and her son. Eventually, she relents, feeds the spiritual leader, and receives the blessing of continuously replenished jar of meal and jug of oil.

The widow’s response is realistic – she has nothing left to eat and death awaits her and her son. I have heard the same message countless times in congregations: “we have only a few years left and we’ll have to close the doors,” “we’re all gray hairs and don’t have the energy to carry on,” “we’ll have to cut staff and mission to survive.” All of these may be accurate assessments of a congregation’s present and future. But, do they present the whole story? Realism and bottom line thinking are necessary to run institutions honestly and effectively. But, realism that does not take into consideration divine possibility stifles the imagination and lends itself to self-fulfilling prophesies of demise and decrepitude. The deeper realism of God’s presence raises provocative possibilities and opens the door to vitality. It does not insure success but it inspires faithfulness regardless of the result.

Many of our congregations are on life-support and may close in the next few years. But, like a person diagnosed with an incurable disease, they can still live fully in the time they have left. The reality of our limitations can inspire us to open to new ways of looking at ourselves and the world which breathe new life into stagnant institutions. New congregational pathways may enable congregations to die well; it may also enable them to rise vigorously like the phoenix from the ashes of anxiety.

The words of Psalm 146 inspire us to praise. We praise God because of God’s grandeur and saving presence in our own and our people’s history. Our praise, however, goes beyond the recognition of God’s power and protection. It is inspired by God’s character: God heals, brings justice to the world, sustains the hungry, and frees the prisoners. The God worthy of praise is a justice-seeking, welcoming, and healing God. God’s moral character inspires us to be companions in the quest for justice in our time and place.

Paul’s words to the Galatians are autobiographical in nature, and his autobiography recounts not only his deeds but God’s gracious movements in his life. Paul asserts that his message comes from God not mere mortals. God has set him apart for a unique vocation – to share God’s good news to the Gentile world. Paul sees his vocation as prenatal in origin. Although we may challenge the notion that our vocation is determined prior to our births and that we are merely working out God’s blueprint for our lives, we can affirm Paul’s sense that his life was intended to bear fruit in sharing God’s good news to outsiders. Looking back, he can see traces of God’s providence in his Jewish childhood, theological education, and professional accomplishments. These moments were not accidental but bear the imprint of divine inspiration. While he has let go of his past achievements, Paul’s ability to proclaim the good news of Christ Jesus is grounded on precisely these achievements, including his persecution of members of the Christian movement.

Paul’s experience of vocation is an invitation for preachers to reflect on the question of our vocations. What images are calling us forward? Where are we invited to sojourn in our life’s journey? Can we find a blessing in the events and decisions that have led to this particular moment in time? While congregants may not see their experience of blessing as dramatic, they can be invited to recognize that God is working in their lives, providing direction, possibility, and energy for themselves and the world around them. What “great work” is God calling us to do in the quotidian events of life? How can we do ordinary things with extraordinary faith?

The Gospel reading bounds on the fantastic. On occasion, we hear accounts of new limbs growing and people raised from the dead; these almost universally come from developing countries, untouched by science and postmodernism. Even if we believe that God aims at healing and wholeness, we can be skeptical of such accounts. They seem to go against the regular laws of the universe and medical science. People who have been dead – lacking vital signs for hours – never regain any meaningful form of life as a result of oxygen deprivation. If medical science is correct and the preponderance of evidence suggests this, what are we to do with Jesus’ raising of a widow’s dead son? Did Jesus defy the laws of nature? Could Jesus truly reverse brain damage? Can people raise the dead in similar fashion today? If so, why does this seem to occur only in countries virtually untouched by scientific thinking? Moreover, why do these events only occur in an infinitesimal number of cases, teasing us, but not delivering us and our loved ones in our hours of need?

I believe that healing energies can be released in the dynamic process of divine call and human response. I believe our touch and prayers can transform mind, body, and spirit. Still, my experience is that our intercessions and anointings often are effective in incremental rather than dramatic ways, and that often the only result – and this is perhaps the most important – is a transformation of spirit that may ease the pain and give confidence in God’s care, even though the ultimate diagnosis remains unchanged.

Still, the healing of the widow of Nain’s son provides an important glimpse into Jesus’ healing ministry and our own. Healing is grounded in compassion, in a feeling of heart-felt and visceral solidarity with the pain of others, in this case, the loss of a child’s life and his mother’s grief and diminished economic situation. The quest for healing challenges us to cross boundaries of clean and unclean: Jesus’ own ritual purity is compromised by his touching the corpse. Finally, our compassionate, boundary-breaking action, can elicit amazing responses: the dead may not rise, but dying spirits may be revitalized. While we cannot negate the possibility of such dramatic healings, we can be God’s partners in the everyday healings that may be more life-and-world-transforming over the long haul. We can experience a life-changing abundance of divine energy in a world dominated by scarcity thinking.

(For more on Jesus’ healings, see Bruce Epperly, Healing Marks: Healing and Spirituality in Mark’s Gospel; Healing Worship: Purpose and Practice; and God’s Touch: Faith, Wholeness, and the Healing Miracles of Jesus.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

May 27, 2013

The Adventurous Lectionary for June 2, 2013: Truth, Exclusion and Violence

Next Post

June 3, 2013 Seeing the World with the Eyes of the Heart

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Book Reviews The Adventurous Lectionary Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 December 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz