Bible Tuesday for Epiphany 7, 2017

Leviticus 19:1-2 and 9-18

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them: You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. 9When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10You shall not strip your vineyard bare, or gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the alien: I am the Lord your God.

11You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; and you shall not lie to one another. 12And you shall not swear falsely by my name, profaning the name of your God: I am the Lord. 13You shall not defraud your neighbor; you shall not steal; and you shall not keep for yourself the wages of a laborer until morning. 14You shall not revile the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind; you shall fear your God: I am the Lord.15You shall not render an unjust judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great: with justice you shall judge your neighbor.16You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not profit by the blood of your neighbor: I am the Lord. 17You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin; you shall reprove your neighbor, or you will incur guilt yourself. 18You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

The book of Leviticus describe the penal code, moral code, and ethical code of Israel. All of these commandments given by God are understood as of equal importance.

“Only through faithful observance of God’s commands can the Israelite fulfill the sacred charge of being holy…Through this miscellany of laws, [the writer] expresses the idea that through performance of all prohibited actions, all Israelites are able to absorb the effusion of the divine Presence in their midst, and be holy.” The Jewish Study Bible

Verses 9-10: Note how God builds into this commandment the care for the poor. If this command was followed, the poor could go into the fields daily during harvesting and get enough to feed themselves and their families. It was exactly this that Ruth was doing in Boaz’s field, so that she and Naomi could eat.

Verse 13: In planting and harvesting time, just as today, day laborers were greatly needed. This command makes clear that it is sinful to withhold wages, , whether to keep the laborer on the property for another partial day’s work, or any other reason.

Verse 14: This can be understood to command that God’s people are to preserve the dignity of all people, whether disabled, or poor, as the verses 9-13 address.

Verses 15-16: Justice means dealing fairly no matter who brings the suit and who the defendant is. Verse 16 could be translated, “Do not spread false rumors among your countrymen to bring about unjust charges against that person; do not ignore the bloodshed of your fellow, thus preventing charges from being brought against the perpetrator.” The Jewish Study Bible

Verses 17-18: This commandment prohibits grudge holding against family. If you have a gripe with a family member, go identify the fault and work it out with that person instead of receiving God’s judgment against you for holding a grudge. All of that applies to all of Israel as well.

The repetition of “I am the Lord” at the beginnings and/or endings of these commands is the equivalent of “I am God. Do this because I said so!”

Psalm 119:33-40

3Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes, and I will observe it to the end.

34Give me understanding, that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart.

35Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it.

36Turn my heart to your decrees, and not to selfish gain.

37Turn my eyes from looking at vanities; give me life in your ways.

38Confirm to your servant your promise, which is for those who fear you.

39Turn away the disgrace that I dread, for your ordinances are good.

40See, I have longed for your precepts; in your righteousness give me life.

We have a continuation of last week’s psalm, for today. To accompany the above Leviticus periscope, this section of the psalm sings praises to the Law of God and declares devotion to it. One can detect in this psalm the beginnings of replacing adoration of God with adoration of the Law, a problem that begat legalism and the belief that one could make one’s self holy, apart from God, by adhering to the Law.

1 Corinthians 3:10-23

10According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it. Each builder must choose with care how to build on it.

11For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ. 12Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13the work of each builder will become visible, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each has done. 14If what has been built on the foundation survives, the builder will receive a reward. 15If the work is burned up, the builder will suffer loss; the builder will be saved, but only as through fire.

16Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? 17If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.

18Do not deceive yourselves. If you think that you are wise in this age, you should become fools so that you may become wise. 19For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” 20and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.”

21So let no one boast about human leaders. For all things are yours,22whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all belong to you, 23and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.

Last week’s pericope of Paul’s letter to the congregation in Corinth began his refute against folks evaluating the validity and strength of their baptisms by whom they were baptized. Paul continues his argument against such thinking in this week’s pericope.

Paul argues by first describing what it is that he actually did through baptizing, “I laid a foundation.” Paul proclaimed the gospel of God in Jesus Christ and baptized thes folks into it. Paul goes on to state that folks can build on this foundation with all matter of materials, but the quality of the building will be revealed “by fire”, that is, when the faith is tried by the circumstances of life.

“For in fact,” Paul continues, “the foundation I laid, the building that you and others do, is all work on what already belongs to God…YOU! You are HOLY!” Here Paul builds on and differs from the Leviticus reading for this week. Paul agrees that through relationship with God, God makes the believer holy. But, that relationship is not initiated by or defined by the law, but rather by Jesus Christ, through evangelism and baptism.

Matthew 5:38-48

38“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; 40and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; 41and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. 42Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.

43“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. 46For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Now we come to the meat of being baptized. The Sunday afternoon joy ride of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount hit some pot holes last week, but this week it just slammed on the breaks and threw all hearers/readers into their seatbelts! “Do not resist evil doers?!!!!!”

Faithful reading and true meditation on this text gives glimpses of who Jesus truly is and who he calls all the baptized to be.

First, passive aggressive justice: “An eye for an eye,” verses “If anyone strikes you on the cheek, turn the other also.” Jews and all other occupied peoples were on the bottom two rungs of the Roman societal ladder. The religious leaders, wealthy merchants, and those who cooperated with the Romans (ie: tax collectors) are on the second to the bottom rung. Peasants, tradesmen, foreign slaves like Jews, and the poor occupy the very bottom rung. When someone of higher status wanted to punish and/or disgrace you, they would back hand slap you with their right hand on your right cheek. By turning the other cheek, you are insisting that they slap you as an equal, with the palm of their hand to your left cheek. You still would receive their wrath but it would not be shaming. You both would be treating each other as social equals.

“If anyone wants to sue you for your coat, give them your cloak as well.” To sue someone with the goal of disgracing him, one would sue for his coat. Whereas, if you would stand in court and strip off not only your coat, but your cloak (tunic worn against the skin) as well, you would literally be stripping naked and handing over to your accuser the clothes off your back. In so doing, the disgrace would no longer be on you but on your accuser, because it was a great offense to expose someone else’s nakedness.

“If anyone forces you to walk one mile, go also the second mile.” This refers to the right that Roman soldiers and citizens had over any non-citizen. Romans could conscript peasants to carry their armor, luggage, or provisions, but for no further length than one mile. By offering to go a second mile, once again, you are turning an insult into a gracious act. Giving to all who beg and lending to all who ask to borrow is putting one’s self on equal footing with the one making the request.

“He makes his sun rise on the evil and the good…” God treats each human with the same amount of love, mercy, dignity, and compassion. In so doing, God shows all creation completeness, perfection. God expects the faithful to do the same. God does not debase us, demanding that humans kneel before him, hat in hand. Rather, God runs down the lane to meet our errant selves, lavishing upon us love, joy, a kiss, and a signet ring. So are we granted dignity and expected to grant dignity. We are to view ourselves as equals with all, no matter how they view themselves or us. Our status in life is all the same: horribly sinful, and created and loved by God.