Bible Tuesday for Pentecost 19, 2017

Isaiah 25:1-9

O Lord, you are my God;
I will exalt you, I will praise your name;
for you have done wonderful things,
plans formed of old, faithful and sure.
2 For you have made the city a heap,
the fortified city a ruin;
the palace of aliens is a city no more,
it will never be rebuilt.
3 Therefore strong peoples will glorify you;
cities of ruthless nations will fear you.
4 For you have been a refuge to the poor,
a refuge to the needy in their distress,
a shelter from the rainstorm and a shade from the heat.
When the blast of the ruthless was like a winter rainstorm,
5 the noise of aliens like heat in a dry place,
you subdued the heat with the shade of clouds;
the song of the ruthless was stilled.

6 On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples
a feast of rich food, a feast of well-matured wines,
of rich food filled with marrow, of well-matured wines strained clear.
7 And he will destroy on this mountain
the shroud that is cast over all peoples,
the sheet that is spread over all nations;
8 he will swallow up death for ever.
Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces,
and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth,
for the Lord has spoken.
9 It will be said on that day,
Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us.
This is the Lord for whom we have waited;
let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.

Chapters 24–27 of the prophecy of Isaiah are apocalyptic in style and content, echoing themes in Daniel and Revelation. Chapter 24 discusses the sin of Israel in its many forms and the blight its brings upon both the people and the land of Israel.

So it is a surprise, while reading a litany of Israel’s evils and God’s punishments, to suddenly read poetic praise of God. This could be interpreted as words of adoration and love a child might coo to his mother in an effort to avert her attention from the permanent marker mural he just drew on kitchen wall. Isaiah 25 could also be the words of thanksgiving for justice a faithful Jew might pray.

Verse 2 refers to a strong city that has been demolished and is an example for Israel’s enemies. This could be Jericho or any of the many walled cities that were defeated by Israel over its history. While God, who created all that exists, can easily destroy a walled city, the writer praises God for being the refuge of the poor and the shelter of the needy.

Verse 5 in this translation speaks of “the noise of aliens”. This same phrase can also be translated as “the rage of strangers” or of “arrogant men.” “Alien” and “stranger” are synonymous in Hebrew, being translated from one word which means “everyone except Jews”. With that in mind, the writer of this passage of Isaiah is describing for the reader the quelling of secular noise that God will bring about, the ending of the chaos of “vanity”, in order that God’s feast may be served and enjoyed in true peace.

Psalm 23 (translation from The Jewish Study Bible”)

The Lord is my shepherd; I lack nothing.

He makes me lie down in green pastures;

He leads me to water in places of repose;

He renews my life;

He guides me in right paths as befits His name.

Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no harm, for You are with me;

Your rod and Your staff—they comfort me.

You spread a table before me in full view of my enemies;

You anoint my head with oil;

My drink is abundant.

Only goodness and steadfast love shall pursue me all the days of my life,

And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for many long years.

This is a psalm attributed to King David. That is important to note because Kings were referred to as Israel’s shepherds. One of the very common sins of Israelite kings is that they forgot they were shepherds for God, the farm and flock owner, and usurped God’s role for themselves. But in this psalm, King David, sung as Israel’s greatest king, is putting everything in proper perspective by acclaiming God as his shepherd.

King David describes God’s kingship as benevolent perfection. God abundantly feeds and waters his sheep in safety and peace. God prepares and presides at a feast set out for David and his enemies so as to broker peace. God ritually prepares David for God’s work by anointing his head with oil. The tools for shepherding, the rod and the staff, are not used to punish the sheep but to guide them and keep predators away.

The last line of this psalm, can be translated as it is above or as “And I shall dwell in the Horse of the Lord forevermore.” The above translation speaks of dwelling in the Temple all the days of this life. The more traditional translation speaks of living with God in eternity. Both Jews and Christians who recite this psalm, especially at funerals, no doubt hope for both life with God now and forever.

Philippians 4:1-9

1Therefore, my brothers and sisters,* whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.

2 I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord.3Yes, and I ask you also, my loyal companion,* help these women, for they have struggled beside me in the work of the gospel, together with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life.

4 Rejoice* in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.* 5Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. 6Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, beloved,* whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about* these things. 9Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.

St. Paul describes the congregation in Philippi as “my joy and crown”. Does Paul mean to claim some kind of laurel wreath for being God’s messenger to this congregation?

Over the history of Christianity, much has been made about the proper role for women in the church. Certain passages of St. Paul are frequently cited, as are Timothy and Titus, when delineating the freedoms of women in the church differently from those of men. “Women should keep silent in church… If want to know anything, they should ask their husbands…” 1 Corinthians 14:34-35, for example. But the roles of women and men in St. Paul’s correspondence with Christian communities are quite varied and broad. Take, for instance, these two women in the congregation in Philippi.

Euodia and Synteche are two church women who appear to be having a conflict that is reverberating through their congregation. Paul admonishes them, and the whole congregation, to strive for harmonizing their minds with that of Christ’s, since they, Paul states, have been his co-workers for the gospel and have received the gift of eternal life (“names are written in the Book of Life.”)

Paul goes on to reinforce a theme of Jesus’ which Paul also champions, “Do not worry. Pray to God and give thanks in all situations.” The following paragraph restates this same admonishment, “focus on what is lovely, praiseworthy, etc. and let God’s peace fill you.” When worry seizes you, speak a petition to God for these things, and then turn your heart in gratitude to meditate on what is good and right.

Matthew 22:1-14

Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying: 2‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. 3He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come. 4Again he sent other slaves, saying, “Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.” 5But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, 6while the rest seized his slaves, maltreated them, and killed them. 7The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. 8Then he said to his slaves, “The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. 9Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.” 10Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; so the wedding hall was filled with guests.

11 ‘But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, 12and he said to him, “Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?” And he was speechless.13Then the king said to the attendants, “Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 14For many are called, but few are chosen.’

Here comes another hard hitting parable spoken to the chief priests and Temple leaders in the presence of the disciples and the crowds on Palm Sunday afternoon in one of the Temple courtyards.

In this parable, as in the previous ones of this series, Jesus is describing the Kingdom of Heaven. A king is giving a wedding banquet for his son. This is a White House state dinner. RSVP-ing in the negative is not an option. Yet, when the king’s slaves arrive to escort the guests to the banquet, some guests ignore the slaves, while others abuse them, and no one actually comes to the banquet! These first guests represent the chief priests and religious leaders in Jerusalem. Jesus, the son for whom the wedding banquet is thrown, has just ridden into Jerusalem as the new king, on the backs of donkeys as is the tradition of Israel. Yet NONE of the Jewish leaders came out to acclaim him! They were AWOL!

Since none of the originally invited guests bother to come to the King’s banquet, the slaves are sent out to gather all of the regular people off the streets to come eat a free gourmet meal and celebrate the prince’s marriage. These people come by the droves if for no other reason than to eat their fill. (Remember the feeding of the 5,000? Some of the folks who were fed kept following Jesus around hoping for more free food, while others seemed to not only eat physically but started to be quenched spiritually too.) To attend a wedding in Jesus’ day was very different than attending a wedding in the US today. Couples who ask handfuls of friends to be part of the wedding party are also asking these friends to not only buy a wedding gift from their registry, they are also asking these bride’s maids and groom’s men to put out hundreds of dollars on matching outfits, whether rented or purchased. In Jesus’ day, wedding guests were not to be kept away if they did not have proper clothing. The banquet host arranged not only for food, wine, tables and linens, but also rental clothing for those who did not own formal attire. In this parable, when the second round of guests show up from off the streets, slaves greeted them with soap and water to refresh themselves and rented formalwear for them to don. Now they were ready to party!

The last part of this parable is the hardest to hear. One guy is setting at table with everyone else, chowing down, who is not cleaned up and wearing his rented tux. The king greets him as “Friend” and asks him why he didn’t stop at the concierge tent and get cleaned up. The guy “was speechless.” So the king has the guy roughed up and tossed out, because “many are called but few are chosen.” Wow!