Chapter 13, the last chapter of the letter to the Hebrews, contains some final exhortations to the life of faith.
1st Reading
(Track 1): Jeremiah 2:4-13
In chapter two of
Jeremiah, the prophet delivers God’s indictment of Israel. The chapter reads
like a divorce suit. Israel has abandoned its relationship with its God, unlike
all other peoples from east to west. The people have forgotten the story that
brought them to the promised land and sustained them there. As the story is
forgotten, their right relationship with the land and with the God of their
land fails. The institutions who were charged with the keeping of the
story—priests, judges, rulers, prophets—have all failed. The consequence is
that the keeping of a just society is lost, and with community lost, the land
will be lost. It is a waste of the love and the life given to Israel as a gift.
2:4 Hear the word of the Lord,
O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel. 5 Thus says the Lord: What wrong did your ancestors find in me that they
went far from me, and went after worthless things, and became worthless
themselves? 6 They did not say, “Where
is the Lord who brought us up from
the land of Egypt, who led us in the wilderness, in a land of deserts and pits,
in a land of drought and deep darkness, in a land that no one passes through,
where no one lives?” 7 I brought
you into a plentiful land to eat its fruits and its good things. But when you
entered you defiled my land, and made my heritage an abomination. 8 The priests did not say, “Where is the Lord?” Those who handle the law did not
know me; the rulers transgressed against me; the prophets prophesied by Baal,
and went after things that do not profit. 9 Therefore
once more I accuse you, says the Lord,
and I accuse your children’s children. 10 Cross
to the coasts of Cyprus and look, send to Kedar and examine with care; see if there
has ever been such a thing. 11 Has
a nation changed its gods, even though they are no gods? But my people have changed
their glory for something that does not profit. 12
Be appalled, O heavens, at this, be shocked, be utterly desolate,
says the Lord, 13 for my people have committed two evils:
they have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and dug out cisterns for
themselves, cracked cisterns that can hold no water.
Psalm 81:1, 10-16 (Track
1)
The ending portion of Psalm 81 (10-16) rehearses the same
rejection of relationship with the Lord as
the Jeremiah reading above. Yet three times God calls Israel “my people” and a
pathway is given out of the broken relationship: listen again and walk in my ways. God has not
utterly rejected Israel. God’s tenderness towards “my people” remains—more than
water from the rock, God would give them honey.
1 Sing with joy to God our strength *
and
raise a loud shout to the God of Jacob.
10 I am the Lord
your God,
who brought
you out of the land of Egypt and said, *
“Open
your mouth wide, and I will fill it.”
11 And yet my people did not hear my voice, *
and
Israel would not obey me.
12 So I gave them over to the stubbornness of their
hearts, *
to
follow their own devices.
13 Oh, that my people would listen to me! *
that
Israel would walk in my ways!
14 I should soon subdue their enemies *
and
turn my hand against their foes.
15 Those who hate the Lord
would cringe before him, *
and
their punishment would last for ever.
16 But Israel would I feed with the finest wheat *
and
satisfy him with honey from the rock.
1st Reading
(Track 2): Sirach 10:12-18
Sirach (also called
Ecclesiasticus) is a book of the Apocrypha, a collection of books that Roman
Catholics consider to be part of the Old Testament, Protestants do not, and
Anglicans set off in a separate section calling them “edifying,” but containing
nothing essential for salvation. Sirach is largely a collection of wisdom
sayings. Here the principle subject is pride. It was partly based on this
passage that medieval lists of the seven deadly, or “mortal” sins always had
pride as number one.
10:12 The beginning of human pride is to forsake the Lord; the
heart has withdrawn from its Maker. 13 For
the beginning of pride is sin, and the one who clings to it pours out
abominations. Therefore the Lord brings upon them unheard-of calamities, and
destroys them completely. 14 The
Lord overthrows the thrones of rulers, and enthrones the lowly in their place. 15 The Lord plucks up the roots of the
nations, and plants the humble in their place. 16
The Lord lays waste the lands of the nations, and destroys them to
the foundations of the earth. 17 He
removes some of them and destroys them, and erases the memory of them from the
earth. 18 Pride was not created for
human beings, or violent anger for those born of women.
Or
this
1st Reading
(Track 2): Proverbs 25:6-7
Proverbs is a
collection of teaching and wise sayings for the purpose of “gaining instruction
in wise dealing, righteousness, justice, and equity; to teach shrewedness to
the simple, knowledge and prudence to the young” (Proverbs 1:3-4). Humility is
one of the basic components of this wisdom teaching.
25:6 Do not put yourself forward in the king’s presence or stand
in the place of the great; 7 for it
is better to be told, “Come up here,” than to be put lower in the presence of a
noble.
Psalm 112 (Track 2)
Psalm 112 is an acrostic poem, like several other psalms. In
this regard it is paired with Psalm 111. Together, each subsequent line of
these two psalms begins with a subsequent letter of the Hebrew alphabet. This
psalm is a wisdom psalm, comparing, as most wisdom literature in the Hebrew
Bible does, the contrasting fate of the righteous and the wicked. If there is a
predominant theme it is generosity.
1
Hallelujah!
Happy are they who fear the Lord *
and have great delight in his commandments!
2
Their descendants will be mighty in the land; *
the generation of the upright will be blessed.
3
Wealth and riches will be in their house, *
and their righteousness will last for ever.
4
Light shines in the darkness for the upright; *
the righteous are merciful and full of compassion.
5 It
is good for them to be generous in lending *
and to manage their affairs with justice.
6 For
they will never be shaken; *
the righteous will be kept in everlasting remembrance.
7
They will not be afraid of any evil rumors; *
their heart is right;
they put their trust in the Lord.
8
Their heart is established and will not shrink, *
until they see their desire upon their enemies.
9
They have given freely to the poor, *
and their righteousness stands fast for ever;
they will hold up their head with honor.
10
The wicked will see it and be angry;
they will gnash their teeth and pine away;
the desires of the wicked will perish.
2nd Reading: Hebrews
13:1-8, 15-16
Chapter 13, the last chapter of the letter to the Hebrews, contains some
final exhortations to the life of faith, all that grow out of what the writer
has been teaching from the beginning of the letter. The primary importance of
love among the members of the community repeats what was said in 6:10 and 10:24
& 32. The most significant practice of love is hospitality, not to the
known, but to the unknown. This love is also radical enough that it results in
solidarity with those in prison or under torture. The marriage bond is the symbol
of this love and the love of money its greatest obstacle. The quotation in
verse 5 is Deut. 31:6 and in verse 6, Psalm 56:11. In Hebrews, the sacrifice of
praise (and thanksgiving) has replaced the sacrifice of blood. This phrase is
an important one to the Anglican tradition, appearing twenty times in our
Prayer Book.
13:1 Let mutual love continue. 2 Do
not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have
entertained angels without knowing it. 3 Remember
those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them; those who are
being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured. 4 Let marriage be held in honor by all, and
let the marriage bed be kept undefiled; for God will judge fornicators and
adulterers. 5 Keep your lives free
from the love of money, and be content with what you have; for he has said, “I
will never leave you or forsake you.” 6 So
we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What
can anyone do to me?” 7 Remember
your leaders, those who spoke the word of God to you; consider the outcome of
their way of life, and imitate their faith. 8 Jesus
Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. 15 Through him, then, let us continually offer a sacrifice of praise to
God, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name. 16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what
you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.
Gospel Reading: Luke 14:1,
7-14
Jesus’ commending humility
in seeking places at the table comes from Proverbs 25:6-7. It also has a
parallel in the sayings of a late 1st century Rabbi, Simeon ben
Azzai. For Jesus, however, it is not only about appropriate behavior in the
present. It tells us something about the future and the resurrection of the
righteous (or just). This humility (and its accompanying hospitality) is not
only the right thing to do, it is who God is and what the kingdom of God is
like.
14:1
On one
occasion when Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat
a meal on the sabbath, they were watching him closely. 7 When he noticed how the guests chose the
places of honor, he told them a parable. 8 “When
you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place
of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your
host; 9 and the host who invited
both of you may come and say to you, ‘Give this person your place,’ and then in
disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. 10 But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest
place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up
higher’; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table
with you. 11 For all who exalt
themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” 12 He said also to the one who had invited
him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your
brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in
return, and you would be repaid. 13 But
when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the
blind. 14 And you will be blessed,
because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of
the righteous.”
The Scripture
quotations (except for the psalm) are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division
of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the
U.S.A., and are used by permission. All
rights reserved. The Psalm translation is
from The Book of Common Prayer. Commentaries are copyright © 2019 Epiphany
ESources, 67. E. Main St., Hornell, NY
14843, www.EpiphanyEsources.com.
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to copy for group study. Bulletin
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