The Adventurous Lectionary – The Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost – September 5, 2021

Last updated on: August 27, 2021 at 4:38 pm by Bruce Epperly

The Adventurous Lectionary – The Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost – September 5, 2021 2021-08-27T16:38:02-04:00 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.

The Adventurous Lectionary – Pentecost 15 – September 5, 2021

Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23
Psalm 125
James 2:1-17
Mark 7:24-37

Today’s readings reflect the concern for hospitality and affirmation as essential to faithful living. Despite our struggles to be welcoming, God’s realm breaks down the barriers of friend and stranger and rich and poor and invites us to do likewise. All of God’s children deserve our reverence and respect, regardless of nation of origin, gender and sexual identity, age, race, etc., and this is revealed in our political advocacy and personal relationships. Following God’s way challenges us to question our cultural values, sense of propriety, and ethnic and religious boundaries. It challenges us to confront anything that keeps us or others from achieving their full humanity.

Wisdom literature, as exemplified in the passage from Proverbs, is grounded in the discovery of God in the ordinary affairs of daily life. As I tell my elementary school grandchildren, words have consequences. Our outer behaviors expand or limit our possibilities and God’s presence in our lives.

The author of Proverbs gives good advice. A good name, fairness, and justice are not abstractions but lived out in each day’s adventures. Having a good name, a reputation for trustworthiness and fairness, suggests the interplay of the inner life and external behaviors. As we cultivate holiness in the spirit, the natural fruits are consideration for all people regardless of their social standing and economic situation. Rich and poor alike deserve respect, and to shun the poor leads to alienation and diminishment of the soul, not just the souls of the poor but our own.

As I pondered the reading from Proverbs, I was reminded of John Lennon’s tune, “Instant Karma,” the sense that we what we sow we will also reap. While we may not affirm the strict act-consequences theology of cause and effect suggested in the Proverbs passage, we can connect blessedness with justice and compassion at least as it relates to our inner life and most immediate relationships. Generosity expands the spirit and frees us from the prison of self-interest. Injustice may very well lead to calamity on a personal and national level. But sadly, and not addressed by the writer of Proverbs, the impact of injustice falls disproportionately on the marginalized and vulnerable. The wealthy appear to get away with murder by asserting “it’s just business” or “it’s all about the bottom line.” Still, Socrates’ notion that committing injustice is the greatest evil and that is better to suffer injustice than perpetrate it is insightful. Those who commit injustice diminish their ethical stature and shrink their spirits and may experience a famine of hearing God’s word, as the prophet Amos asserts. Their world shrinks to the size of their personal well-being; their spirits atrophy rather than grow. Certainly, we see this in a nation whose primarily governmental priorities are financial, while jettisoning any moral compass to guide the nation’s spirit.

Psalm 125 connects trust in God with personal endurance. Trust in God or another suggests a reliance on grace and a willingness to follow God’s pathways regardless of immediate reward. Like the attitude of a young child toward its parent or grandparent, trust roots us in relationship to the source of safety and blessing. We can endure trials because our interest embraces God’s vision and not just our own idiosyncratic and narrow self-interest. Walking God’s path leads to the joy of a clear conscience and the comfort of knowing that God will supply our deepest needs, including our need to sacrifice for the well-being of our community and the planet.

The Psalm has social implications. What does it mean to trust God in a pluralistic society? What does it mean for our leaders to place their spirituality at the heart of their decision-making? In the scrum of local or national politics, in the confrontation of various power centers, what does it mean to trust God and not only challenge injustice but also protect the nation from its enemies?

The Epistle of James invites us to an embodied and egalitarian faith. Our vision of God as the lover of all creation inspires us to welcome the stranger and uplift the impoverished. Beneath the exteriors of wealth and poverty and power and weakness, God’s Spirit lives. In the spirit of Matthew 25, we treat the poor with grace and hospitality – with equality – because our care for the creature and the Creator are one and same reality. As we have done unto the least of these, we have done unto Christ. So, with the Benedictines, we seek to treat everyone as Christ, experiencing God in all of God’s varied and sometimes distressing disguises. This passage also challenges our cultural values, placing those at the bottom end of society at the center of God’s love and our care. Privilege is given to the poor, not just wealthy benefactors. Christian charity is about compassion and fidelity, not reward. (For more on the Letter of James, see Bruce Epperly, Holistic Spirituality: Life-transforming Wisdom from the Letter of James.)

Jesus’ miraculous power is revealed in a distant healing. First, Jesus heals the alienation between Jews and Gentiles. All are deserving of God’s grace. There are no outsiders in God’s healing realm. Second, Jesus heals the child at a physical distance. Prayer is not limited to those beside us, but shapes the lives of whom we pray, regardless of distance, creating a field of force that enables God to be more effective and energetic in their lives.

Still, this passage leaves us feeling uncomfortable. Jesus appears to be both inhospitable and xenophobic. What’s going on here? Why does the text appear to put Jesus in such a bad light? His mistreatment of the Syrophoenician woman cannot be easily explained away. Was Jesus being a Jewish exceptionalist, focusing only on Jews in his healing ministry? Was he xenophobic? Was he just tired? Or is this passage a parable, a theological bait and switch, in which Jesus mimics the racism of his companions and then pulls the rug out from under them to heal the foreigner’s daughter?

In the subsequent passage, the healing of a man with a speech and hearing impairment, Jesus uses a common medical procedure (spit) to achieve a cure. Accordingly, we can use medicine – including vaccines – as a prayer practice, as a way of trusting God in our healing practices. (For more on Jesus’ healing ministry, see Bruce Epperly, Healing Marks: Spirituality and Healing in Mark’s Gospel; God’s Touch: Faith, Wholeness, and the Healing Miracles of Jesus; and Healing Worship: Purpose and Practice.)

Our faith can transform the world and challenge us to leave our comfort zones behind. The stranger also deserves reverence and is entitled to the same well-being as we seek. God wants us to embrace the joy of a good name cultivating the inner and outer journeys and seeking for others what we must desire for ourselves. (For more on the healing stories in Mark’s Gospel, see Bruce Epperly, Healing Marks: Spirituality and Healing in Mark’s Gospel and Mark’s Holy Adventure: Preaching Mark’s Gospel for Year B)
+++
Bruce Epperly is a pastor, professor, and author of over sixty books, including WALKING WITH FRANCIS OF ASSISI: FROM PRIVILEGE TO ACTIVISM; MYSTICS IN ACTION: TWELVE SAINTS FOR TODAY; PROPHETIC HEALING: HOWARD THURMAN’S VISION OF CONTEMPLATIVE ACTIVISM; PROCESS THEOLOGY AND POLITICS; AND 101 SOUL SEEDS FOR HEALING AND WHOLENESS.

Previous Post

August 20, 2021

Adventurous Lectionary - Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost - August 29, 2021

Next Post

September 4, 2021 The Adventurous Lectionary - Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost - September 12, 2021

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