22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time Year A - Hearts Burning Within

The Lectionary and Scripture Interpretation for Ordinary Time

Jeremiah 20:7-9

On the 12th Sunday of Ordinary Time we read from this same chapter vv10-13. Today we back up and read the verses before that.

All the prophets wrote about the despair they sometimes felt in living out their mission. But Jeremiah takes it to a whole new level! His despair is liberally sprinkled throughout this book. He also wrote the book of Lamentations. Jeremiah doesn’t shrink away from confronting the bad in life and letting God know he’s not happy about it. One scholar said “Jeremiah laments longer and better than anyone in the Bible.” If you need a model for complaining, Jeremiah is helpful in that regard. He gives us a model of being honest in prayer.

First let’s situate the story in a wider history. The northern kingdom of Israel fell to Babylon in the early 700s BC. For about one hundred years afterwards, Babylon made forays further and further south to threaten the southern kingdom of Judah. Finally Judah and Jerusalem fell to Babylon in 587BC.

Jeremiah’s career began in the late 500s and spanned the fall and deportation. His job was primarily to tell the Jewish people of the kingdom of Judah that being conquered by Babylon was inevitable and, in fact, was God’s judgment and they should just accept it and go meekly. Obviously this was considered a bit treasonous and so Jeremiah did not have an easy life.

Chapters 18-20 are a reflection on the symbolic meaning of the prophet’s life. This last section in chapter 20 ends in the prophet’s despair. He despairs of being able to live out the call, or even being heard by the people he’s been sent to.

If you go back to chapter 1 you can read the story of Jeremiah’s call. 1:17-19 is particularly important to today’s reading:
“Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you. Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them. Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and the people of the land. They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you,”

Verses 1-6 just prior to today’s reading are about Jeremiah being thrown into the stocks by the priest Pashhur whom Jeremiah promptly denounces.

Don’t let anyone tell you you can’t tell God off and tell God exactly what you think! Even the greatest of prophets sometimes gave God an earful, as Jeremiah begins to do in verse 7.

The New American Bible translates Jeremiah’s complaint as being “seduced.” Other versions translate it as “enticed” or “duped.” There’s a sense in this Hebrew word that Jeremiah wanted to refuse God’s call but found himself unable to. And he didn’t exactly appreciate where that landed him.

In 1:19 God promised persecution but God also said God be with Jeremiah. Jeremiah is feeling awfully alone right now.

He continues his prayer in verse 8. Everything Jeremiah was supposed to preach was about how God was going to let a foreign invader conquer the land – that was definitely going to bring violence. There was nothing good really that Jeremiah could say.

So, in verse 9, Jeremiah thinks to himself, if I can’t say anything good then I’m just not going to say anything at all. He tried to suppress his prophetic voice but that didn’t work – he has to preach, he simply has to say these things. In the end, the call of God is irresistible!

What calls has God made on your own life and how have you responded to them?

Have you ever wanted to rail against God for things that just don’t seem right? Take some time to complain to God – put it out there and clear the air and see how God responds.

Matthew 16:21-27

During Ordinary Time, I’ll cover the Old Testament and then the Gospel readings as a pair so that we can better see the connections.

This is the last of five weeks in this section of chapters 14-17 which talk about the slow recognition and acknowledgment of Jesus for who he is. It parallels chapters 11-12 which talked about the rejection of Jesus.

One of the things that surfaces in this section is the realization that not only is it others recognizing Jesus for who he is but Jesus himself coming to see what all his mission entails. There is a parallel here with Jeremiah: at the outset, the mission seemed clear and maybe felt a bit easier. But as Jeremiah and Jesus come to understand the mission more deeply, they realize it’s going to demand far more of them than they first realized.

This passage starts off “From that time on….” We’ve been building up in this section. We’ve seen miracles, 5000 were fed, Peter walked on water, Jesus calms the storm. And then last week there was the discussion about Jesus’ identity: who do others say I am? What do you think – who do you think I am? And Peter blurts out “I don’t know? The Messiah?!!!”

After Peter’s declaration, Jesus tells them to keep quiet about it. Why? Because the Jewish people had a notion of what the Messiah was – a military leader who would conquer and liberate the Jews from Rome. Jesus knew he wasn’t that kind of Messiah. So in today’s reading, he begins to talk to them about what being a Messiah means and also what it means to follow such a Messiah.

Verse 21 mentions elders, chief priests and scribes. These were the three principal groups that made up the Sanhedrin, the religious authority that would eventually condemn Jesus.

In this verse Jesus doesn’t mention the cross. He doesn’t have to. Every Jewish person would have know that the Jews had no political authority to condemn anyone to death. Only the Romans could do that. Everyone also knew that the Roman means for keeping the populace under control was crucifixion.

Peter then rebukes Jesus aside from the group, privately. I think we’re challenged to understand Peter’s vehemence because we’ve managed to domesticate the cross. We wear it as jewelry and it’s around us all the time. We forget that it was an instrument of torture for criminals. Peter was appalled that his friend would talk openly about this as though it were inevitable. For the disciples, this idea of dying that way was simply unimaginable.

To take that a step further, in that culture, disciples were expected to follow a revered teacher in every aspect. If Jesus is going to suffer and die in this way, the disciples would be expected to follow.

In verse 23 we might be equally appalled that Jesus calls Peter Satan! Take a moment to read Matthew 4:8-10 where Jesus is being tempted in the desert. There, Satan offered Jesus the kingdom without the cross which is exactly what Peter is trying to do. Jesus says you can’t have one without the other. He’s also reminding Peter of his rightful place as a disciple and follower.

Satan can be thought of as a single person or as the force of evil that affects this world. Both views can coexist.

Jesus calls Peter an “obstacle,” which is the Greek word skandalon, meaning a snare, stumbling block or a stumbling stone. This is in stark contrast to last week’s image of Peter as a rock. Or maybe we can think of the meaning of Petros – a small rock often found in a pathway. Have you ever gotten a small pebble stuck in your shoe? Think of how irritating that can be and how it can cause you to literally stop in your tracks and deviate from the path. That was Peter the Rock in this moment.

So Jesus rebukes Peter, reminds him of his place as a student and then he begins to teach all the disciples in verse 24 about what it means to be both Messiah and disciple. He tells them you can’t have the kingdom without the cross. Not only will Jesus suffer but now he’s telling his disciples, his friends, that they too will have to suffer if they want to be true followers.

I think it’s an age-old temptation, to think that we can have the kingdom without the cross. That we can somehow save our life while avoiding the suffering. But Jesus says it several different ways in this passage: it doesn’t work that way. If you want to get to the kingdom, you must necessarily pass through the suffering, the cross.

In verse 27 Jesus tells us that nothing escapes God’s notice. We might be making an outward show of things but ultimately what is inside seeps into our conduct and it is that which will God will judge.

Verse 28 is not in the lectionary but I think it’s a necessary encouragement to keep in mind. While we cannot, indeed, have the kingdom without the cross, it is equally true that passing through the way of suffering brings us to see the kingdom all around us.

Are there places in your life today where you are trying to avoid the suffering? How might such suffering be an entry into the kingdom?

Old Testament / Gospel Connection

How are the Old Testament and Gospel readings connected? Each week I will offer my views on this but I encourage you to first read the passages and look for your own connections!

Jesus and Jeremiah both had missions they perhaps did not fully understand at the outset. Can you identify? What have I gotten myself into?! Jeremiah lamented that what he thought God called him to and what God actually called him to was such a divide that it was as though God had duped him, deceived him. Jesus, when he realized fully what his mission encompassed and he tried to share that with his friends, was met with incomprehension and even rebuke from those closest to him.

One theme from these stories is that of being misunderstood by those around us but pressing on anyway.

Romans 12:1-2

See detailed background on Romans here.

Way back on the 11th Sunday of Ordinary Time (link above) we left the Christmas season and entered into Ordinary Time with the book of Romans in chapter 5. Congratulations for having made it this far! You’ve made it through all the heavy theological stuff in this book – we’ve survived Paul!

Last week we finished up chapters 9-11 where Paul explores the state of Jews in relation to the Gentiles.

There are four more chapters in Romans but we only have two more Sundays in the book. Today we hear this little tiny snippet from chapter 12 and next week a tiny snippet from the end of chapter 13.

Chp 12-15:13: A summons to live according to the gospel. This is the exhortation part of the letter: how are they to live out the consequences of this inclusive gospel which Paul has preached? This is a very practical part of the letter. This is where Paul gets out of the head and into the actions.

Chapters 12-13 form a teaching unit. It’s not really an ethical treatise but rather a rambling and somewhat unsystematic reflection on ethics. It implies that the Jewish Mosaic law doesn’t really bind Christians. Rather, Christians are bound by a law deeper and much more demanding. In general, these chapters are about the relation of Christians to the society in which they live.

Verse 1 begins with “therefore” (which the lectionary omits). This is really an important word. Therefore… in light of all the theology that Paul has given us, therefore we must act!

Paul urges us to offer our bodies and uses the Greek word soma which means not only the physical body but the entire existence of a person. This includes intellect, emotions, spiritual etc. This is in contrast to the Greek word sarx which is just the physical realm of the body. The Message version translates soma as “your everyday, ordinary life – your sleeping, eating, going-to-work and walking-around sort of life.”

We are to offer our lives as spiritual sacrifices. This is in contrast to the Jewish system of animal sacrifices. These didn’t do anything to change the underlying heart and behavior. They were like a band aid. A living sacrifice indicates a complete and whole-hearted offering.

Paul says this is our spiritual worship. Spiritual here is understood in terms of inward, as opposed to outward and material. Paul invokes the whole milieu of Jewish sacrifice but he’s careful to say that it is not precisely that; rather it is something living and deeper than the surface

So…. in the light of all that Paul has said about Jews and Gentiles and about living all that out…. He says we are to offer everything we are, every part of us, in something like a sacrifice that becomes something living. We become the worship if you will.

In verse 2 Paul says that we are not to conform or pattern our lives after the world around us. Paul didn’t know the Roman community personally but he has been a pastor long enough that he knew what kinds of issues will likely need to be addressed. And perhaps one of the most timely issues for any age is the temptation to succumb to the surrounding culture. Rather, Paul says, we are to be transformed, which is the Greek word metamorphoó, changing form or shape. It’s the same word Matthew and Mark use for Jesus’ transfiguration.

How are we transformed? Paul says it’s by the renewing of our minds. The Greek word for renewing denotes a process of making something new or novel. The mind is the thinking and discerning aspect of the physical being. The Christian church has fleshed this out in a variety of ways including community, liturgical worship, the Eucharist, personal prayer, a quest for holiness and many others. Paul has just said that we are to offer ourselves as sacrifices which brings to mind formal worship. But for Paul, formal worship is so intimately connected to daily life that we can’t separate the two.

One way to interpret what Paul is saying here is that this new moral life that Christians are called to is not about simple conformity to a blueprint provided by some external law or sanction. That is, perhaps, how many of the Jews understood their religious system and observing the rules is where we all begin the spiritual journey. But maturity is not a life driven by attending mass scrupulously or saying the rosary just right or anything else about the exteriors of our faith. Rather, it is something that proceeds from the innermost core of a person in right relationship with God.

In verse 2 Paul uses the second person plural which suggests that this is communal rather than a strictly individual discernment of the will of God. For Paul, discernment involves a constant quest for God’s will. And he’s surprisingly confident in the capacity for our renewed mind to determine God’s will and have a life flow out of that which is pleasing to God.

In the rest of this section Paul is going to give some very concrete guidance on a few particular matters. But the heart of Paul’s approach to right living is confidence in our ability to discern right moral behavior. It’s important to remember that chapters 12-15 are not a code or comprehensive treatment of how to act. Rather, they’re more like illustrations of the kind of life a renewed mind not conformed to this world will lead to. Try reading these chapters and then thinking of what Paul might write in them today.

Another way to put these verses is said beautifully by The Message translation: “Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without thinking.” Rather, allow God to transform your being so that, instead of reflecting your culture, you can help shape it.

What does offering your whole being as a living sacrifice look like for you?

What’s an area of your life that God has completely transformed?

In what concrete ways do you renew your mind and discern God’s will?

Questions to ponder

What do these readings say about how to live day in and day out as Christians?