March
12, 2006
Second Sunday in Lent B
Book of Common Prayer Lectionary
Genesis
22:1-14
Psalm 16
Romans 8:31-39
Mark 8:31-38
Revised Common Lectionary
Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16
Psalm 22:23-31
Romans 4:13-25
Mark 8:31-38
Reflection and
Response
Prayer Starter
Todays readings call us to trust
in Gods faithfulness. In Genesis, God affirms his faithfulness
to Abraham. Paul, in his letter to the Romans, assures us that God
is totally and absolutely "for us." In todays gospel,
the story of the transfiguration, Elijah, Mosesand the voice
of Godendorse the completeness of Gods revelation in
Jesus.
First Reading: Genesis
22:1-14 (BCP)
The account of Isaacs
offering comes as the climax of the story of Abrahams relationship
with God. At Gods command, Abraham has already cut himself
off from his past, from country and family, and retains only the
promise of new status. Now God commands him to cut off his future,
the heir of the promise, his beloved son Isaacand no new promise
is given.
The story is simply told, without direct
expression of the thoughts or feelings of the participants. Its
power comes from the events and relationships themselves. The story
centers upon the exemplary faith of Abraham and the God-tested strength
of the bond between God and Abraham. Abraham demonstrates his faithfulness
by his readiness to act in obedience, trusting in Gods faithfulness
to the promise instead of trying to take matters into his own hands
to make Gods plans work out.
Genesis 22:1-14
After these things God tested Abraham.
He said to him, "Abraham!"
And he said, "Here I am."
He said, "Take your son,
your only son Isaac, whom you love,
and go to the land of Moriah,
and offer him there as a burnt offering
on one of the mountains that I shall show you."
So Abraham rose early in the morning,
saddled his donkey,
and took two of his young men with him,
and his son Isaac;
he cut the wood for the burnt offering,
and set out and went to the place in the distance
that God had shown him.
On the third day Abraham looked up
and saw the place far away.
Then Abraham said to his young men,
"Stay here with the donkey;
the boy and I will go over there;
we will worship, and then we will come back to you."
Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering
and laid it on his son Isaac,
and he himself carried the fire and the knife.
So the two of them walked on together.
Isaac said to his father Abraham, "Father!"
And he said, "Here I am, my son."
He said, "The fire and the wood are here,
but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?"
Abraham said,
"God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my
son."
So the two of them walked on together.
When they came to the place that God
had shown him,
Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order.
He bound his son Isaac,
and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.
Then Abraham reached out his hand
and took the knife to kill his son.
But the angel of the LORD
called to him from heaven, and said,
"Abraham, Abraham!"
And he said, "Here I am."
He said, "Do not lay your hand on the boy
or do anything to him;
for now I know that you fear God,
since you have not withheld your son,
your only son, from me."
And Abraham looked up and saw a ram,
caught in a thicket by its horns.
Abraham went and took the ram
and offered it up as a burnt offering
instead of his son.
So Abraham called that place "The LORD will provide";
as it is said to this day,
"On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided."
First Reading: Genesis
17:1-7, 15-16 (RCL)
This reading recounts Gods
surprising gift of an everlasting covenant to Abram. God also promises
to bless Abram with numerous descendants even though he and his
wife Sarai are in their nineties. Such an astounding promise challenges
their trust in God to provide. Their new identity in relation to
God is signified by receiving new names (Abraham and Sarah), much
like newly-baptized Christians as they become members of the new
covenant community.
Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16
When Abram was ninety-nine years old,
the LORD appeared to Abram, and said to him,
"I am God Almighty;
walk before me, and be blameless.
And I will make my covenant between me and you,
and will make you exceedingly numerous."
Then Abram fell on his face;
and God said to him,
"As for me, this is my covenant with you:
You shall be
the ancestor of a multitude of nations.
No longer shall your name be Abram,
but your name shall be Abraham;
for I have made you
the ancestor of a multitude of nations.
I will make you exceedingly fruitful;
and I will make nations of you,
and kings shall come from you.
I will establish my covenant
between me and you,
and your offspring after you
throughout their generations,
for an everlasting covenant,
to be God to you
and to your offspring after you.
God said to Abraham,
"As for Sarai your wife,
you shall not call her Sarai,
but Sarah shall be her name.
I will bless her, and moreover
I will give you a son by her.
I will bless her,
and she shall give rise to nations;
kings of peoples shall come from her."
Psalm: Psalm 16 (BCP)
This song is one of supplication,
but the petition takes only one half of a verse (v. 1). The remainder
of the prayer is a meditation on the reasons the psalmist can turn
to God in this time of need.
Psalm 16
Protect me, O God,
for in you I take refuge.
I say to the LORD, "You are my
Lord;
I have no good apart from you."
As for the holy ones in the land,
they are the noble, in whom is all my delight.
Those who choose another god multiply
their sorrows;
their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out
or take their names upon my lips.
The LORD is my chosen portion and my
cup;
you hold my lot.
The boundary lines have fallen for
me in pleasant places;
I have a goodly heritage.
I bless the LORD who gives me counsel;
in the night also my heart instructs me.
I keep the LORD always before me;
because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
Therefore my heart is glad, and my
soul rejoices;
my body also rests secure.
For you do not give me up to Sheol,
or let your faithful one see the Pit.
You show me the path of life.
In your presence there is fullness of joy;
in your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Psalm: Psalm 22:22-31
(RCL)
Psalm 22 consists of a lament
and a thanksgiving. The psalmist describes his suffering and his
trust in God. The Lord has always been faithful to Israel and to
him. But now he is tormented by enemies, whom he likens to savage
beasts.
Psalm 22:22-31
You who fear the LORD, praise him!
All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him;
stand in awe of him,
all you offspring of Israel!
For he did not despise or abhor
the affliction of the afflicted;
he did not hide his face from me,
but heard when I cried to him.
From you comes my praise in the great
congregation;
my vows I will pay before those who fear him.
The poor shall eat and be satisfied;
those who seek him shall praise the LORD.
May your hearts live forever!
All the ends of the earth shall remember
and turn to the LORD;
and all the families of the nations
shall worship before him.
For dominion belongs to the LORD,
and he rules over the nations.
To him, indeed, shall all who sleep
in the earth bow down;
before him shall bow all
who go down to the dust,
and I shall live for him.
Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the Lord,
and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn,
saying that he has done it.
Second Reading: Romans
8:31-39 (BCP)
Todays reading, cast
in the form of a public debate, uses ironic questions and parallel
phrases. Paul assures the Christians in Rome that they have nothing
to fear, for the crucifixion shows the extent of Gods love
toward all believers. God and Christ are "for us" (v.
31). No other authority or force can separate the Christian from
God.
In verse 31, Paul refers to Psalm 118:6
and then alludes, by his choice of words, to Abrahams offering
of Isaac as a reflection of Gods offering. For Paul, Psalm
44:22, applied by the rabbis to Jewish martyrs, showed that suffering
was the Christians lot.
Romans 8:31-39
What then are we to say about these things?
If God is for us, who is against us?
He who did not withhold his own Son,
but gave him up for all of us,
will he not with him also give us everything else?
Who will bring any charge against Gods elect?
It is God who justifies.
Who is to condemn?
It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes,
who was raised,
who is at the right hand of God,
who indeed intercedes for us.
Who will separate us from the love of Christ?
Will hardship, or distress, or persecution,
or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
As it is written,
"For your sake we are being killed all day long;
we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered."
No, in all these things
we are more than conquerors
through him who loved us.
For I am convinced
that neither death, nor life,
nor angels, nor rulers,
nor things present, nor things to come,
nor powers, nor height, nor depth,
nor anything else in all creation,
will be able to separate us
from the love of God
in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Second Reading: Romans
4:13-25 (RCL)
In chapter 4, Paul cites
the examples of Abraham to prove that justification by faith is
not contrary to the Old Testament. In Judaism at that time, Abraham
was held up as a model of righteousness through works. Paul argues
that Abrahams faith, his readiness to believe and act upon
Gods promise, put him in right relationship to God, apart
from any works. This righteousness is open to allJew and Gentilewho
trust in God, regardless of whether they keep the law.
Paul, on the other hand, argues that
Abrahams faith, his readiness to believe and act upon Gods
promise, put him in right relationship to God apart from any works.
This righteousness is open to allJew or Gentilewho trust
in God, regardless of whether they keep the law or not. The promised
inheritance comes through faith to Abrahams true descendants
who are those who follow his example of faith. To make the fulfillment
of the promise contingent upon the later Mosaic law would render
the promise void. The law serves only to make transgression evident.
This was probably developed from the Roman maxim, "no punishment
without a law."
God "gives life to the dead"
(v. 17: a phrase from the daily Jewish prayers, perhaps used here
especially in association with the later rabbinic belief that Abraham
had indeed sacrificed Isaac but that God had raised him) and "calls
into existence the things that do not exist" (v. 17; the son
of the aged Abraham and those descended from him). God can through
his grace, his favor, fulfill his promise to all, even "against
hope" (v. 18), against all human expectation.
Romans 4:13-25
For the promise that he would inherit the world
did not come to Abraham
or to his descendants through the law
but through the righteousness of faith.
If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs,
faith is null and the promise is void.
For the law brings wrath;
but where there is no law,
neither is there violation.
For this reason it depends on faith,
in order that the promise may rest on grace
and be guaranteed to all his descendants,
not only to the adherents of the law
but also to those who share the faith of Abraham
(for he is the father of all of us,
as it is written,
"I have made you the father of many nations")
in the presence of the God
in whom he believed,
who gives life to the dead
and calls into existence
the things that do not exist.
Hoping against hope,
he believed that he would become
"the father of many nations,"
according to what was said,
"So numerous shall your descendants be."
He did not weaken in faith
when he considered his own body,
which was already as good as dead
(for he was about a hundred years old),
or when he considered
the barrenness of Sarahs womb.
No distrust made him waver
concerning the promise of God,
but he grew strong in his faith
as he gave glory to God,
being fully convinced
that God was able to do
what he had promised.
Therefore his faith
"was reckoned to him as righteousness."
Now the words,
"it was reckoned to him,"
were written not for his sake alone,
but for ours also.
It will be reckoned to us who believe in him
who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead,
who was handed over to death
for our trespasses
and was raised
for our justification.
Gospel: Mark 8:31-38
Todays reading begins
with the first prediction of Jesus passion, death and resurrection.
In Mark, the three predictions (8:31; 9:31; 10:33-34) are set into
a common pattern: (1) prediction, (2) misunderstanding by the disciples
and (3) teaching on discipleship.
Peter offers Jesus the title of Messiah,
"the Christ" (8:29). In Mark, the general expectation
of the Messiah seems to be a political leader. Jesus rejects this
understanding. Mark reiterates throughout his gospel that Jesus
disciples cannot truly understand the meaning of Jesus as Messiah
before, or apart from, the crucifixion. Peter rejects the thought
of a suffering Messiah, implicitly tempting Jesus to the same false
messiahship offered by Satan in the wilderness. The disciples are
called to the total surrender of all assertion of self that clings
to personal desires over the will of God.
Mark 8:31-38
Then he began to teach them
that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering,
and be rejected by the elders,
the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed,
and after three days rise again.
He said all this quite openly.
And Peter took him aside
and began to rebuke him.
But turning and looking at his disciples,
he rebuked Peter and said,
"Get behind me, Satan!
For you are setting your mind
not on divine things
but on human things."
He called the crowd with his disciples,
and said to them,
"If any want to become my followers,
let them deny themselves
and take up their cross and follow me.
For those who want to save their life
will lose it,
and those who lose their life for my sake,
and for the sake of the gospel,
will save it.
For what will it profit them
to gain the whole world
and forfeit their life?
Indeed, what can they give in return for their life?
Those who are ashamed of me
and of my words
in this adulterous and sinful generation,
of them the Son of Man
will also be ashamed
when he comes in the glory of his Father
with the holy angels."
Reflection and Response
To the modern ear, the story
of Abraham ready to sacrifice his son sounds too brutal, too primitive.
It is hard for us to relate to human sacrifice, or this last-minute,
quick save.
Yet when we turn to the reading from
Romans, we realize that the sacrifice of Isaac, averted at the last
second, actually happened to Jesus. We are struck by the powerlessness
of God, handing over Gods own Son to the cruelty of crucifixion.
This is the ultimate point to which Gods love leads, and will
lead us if we follow: the willingness to sacrifice even what is
most precious.
As Paul points out, if God is willing
to do that for us, what would God not do? Knowing that God is so
completely for us, how could we worry about anything standing against
us? Paul asks six questions that give us food for thought this Lent
and the impetus to turn back to God who has given everything for
us.
The gospel continues in the same vein.
Flawed mortals find it heartening that the Churchs first human
leader was a person who made frequent mistakes. This time, Peter
is so far out of line that Jesus even calls him "Satan."
And yet, Peter voices what many of us feel: a reluctance to suffer,
a wariness of rejection and a fear of death. Peter is simply more
open in expressing feelings that we disguise more cleverly.
The antidote Jesus proposes to his
followers must sound as cozy to them as embracing the electric chair
would to us. They knew what the cross was for: an instrument of
torture and execution. We use sophisticated lethal injections at
remote penitentiaries; they did the dirty business publicly in the
streets.
Yet Jesus proposes that the only way
out is through, that we must embrace that which we fear the most.
Suffering, rejection and death are part and parcel of the human
experience. Jesus challenges us to seize our lives, prickly and
annoying as they sometimes are, and transform them. He would not
only talk about this way of transformation; He would soon show them
how to do it.
Quietly consider:
When and how has God helped me to get through (not avoid) rough
times?
What challenges am I currently facing, and how do I anticipate God
might help me through them?
Prayer Starter
Jesus, this week help me to get through...