The Lectionary and Scripture Interpretation for Ordinary Time
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Overview and Connections
The focus of this Ordinary Time season has been to instruct us on how we are to be in the very depths of our soul; and then, by extension, how we are to act as disciples of Jesus in community with other believers.
Sirach 27:4-7
Today’s reading is from the section 27:22-28:26 on “Malice, Anger, Vengeance, Evil Tongue.”
You might be familiar with a common quip usually attributed to Mark Twain: “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt.” The wisdom of it is actually rooted in scripture, from Proverbs 17:28, “Even fools are thought wise if they keep silent, and discerning if they hold their tongues.”
The premise is universally true and well-known: what one says can be a principle criteria for evaluating a person. Our secret motivations and intentions are often revealed in our words. This is the theme of the Sirach reading as well as the gospel reading today.
I think an interesting thing about speech, about what we say, is that it not only reveals us, it also shapes us. Remember Eliza in My Fair Lady? They work on her speech and in the process she transforms into a lady. If you speak bitterly, you become more bitter. If you speak words of joy, you become more joyful. James 3 has some good wisdom around this as well.
This passage uses a series of metaphors to drive home a point: appearances can be deceiving; first impressions are not always accurate. But once someone starts talking, a facade can fall away and the real person is revealed. Now, we know it’s not always this black and white. Some people talk a really good talk, and it takes time to tease out their character. And for others, the inverse can be true.
I think the challenge of the spiritual life is integrity of character, such that the facade is no longer there; our speech shows us to be the same inside and out.
This passage uses parallelism in the form of three metaphors. All of these illustrate how speech can indicate what is really inside.
The first metaphor in v4 is a strainer. You might think everything in it is the same but when you start shaking it, you see that some is valuable but some is not. Likewise, the outward appearance of someone’s actions can be very appealing, but when they start talking you are more likely to see their faults.
The second metaphor is a furnace. The right amount of heat will create something beautiful, but too much heat will make it crack. A person of integrity will weather storms and tribulations, while others crack under those conditions. Good, critical conversation can often reveal this about someone.
The third metaphor is the fruit of a tree. You might think it’s an apple tree, but once it bears fruit you know exactly what it is. It’s the same with the exterior and interior of a person.
V7 is a word of caution. In all three metaphors, it is what a person says that reveals them. So don’t praise someone until you’ve heard them speak. And of course, this is more than just passive listening, more than a soundbite. This is true conversation with a person, extended and deep. Unfortuantely, this kind of speech is rare in modern society.
What I love about wisdom literature is that it is so rooted in human existence. These metaphors are drawn from very ordinary life. It reminds us that God is to be found at least as much in the quotidian as within the walls of a church. Maybe sometimes more so.
There is a principle called The Hawthorn Effect, which says that the very act of observing something causes it to change. Observing our own speech will necessarily cause us to moderate some of the things we choose to say. Still, it’s a good practice. Listen to what you say and ponder what it says about you.
1 Corinthians 15:54-58
In his earlier life, Paul was a Pharisee and teacher of the Law. When God called him to a new work, he didn’t completely abandon that knowledge and skill. God continued to use that in his new life. In today’s passage, as he often does, Paul draws on his Old Testament expertise to illustrate his points.
Paul begins the passage by conflating two Old Testament verses: Isaiah 25:8 and Hosea 13:14. Isaiah says that the Messiah will “swallow up death forever.” Hosea 13 is a scene of judgment. Israel stands condemned before God and the punishment is death. Hosea 13:14 imagines death having the final victory. Paul reshapes this verse into a challenge: bring it on! Come on death, bring the worst you have to offer. We’re not afraid of you anymore because we know you’ve already been defeated. Death can no longer have the final say, can no longer be the victor.
In v56 he says the law doesn’t do anything in and of itself but reveal the sin. The law is the measure that shows the sin. But thanks be to God who has overcome sin and death! Before Christ, death held an ultimate power. It was the one thing that could never be defeated. But now we live in a world where resurrection is possible because Christ has defeated the ultimate enemy. This hope, this promise, is what fuels our work of sharing the good news.
Once more, the seasons blend with each other. Next week we will enter the season of Lent but this passage invites us into that season with hope. The victory is already won. We can already celebrate. As you begin to think about the season of Lent, how might this passage inform that season?
Luke 6:39-45
Let’s review Luke’s gospel readings up until now. First Jesus gave his mission manifesto: “the spirit of the Lord is upon me.” The reaction to that inclusive message was anger – the people of his hometown try to kill him. Jesus then calls Peter, James and John, who leave everything to follow him. They are meant to be the model, the ideal, for us. And then the “sermon on the plain” – the beatitudes. Who is blessed and who is not within the kingdom. Last week continued that teaching by interpreting it – what does it look like to live oriented to the beatitudes in Luke’s community? This week will continue that exploration.
Vv27-36 from last week felt almost like a narrative with a singular message around the exhortation to love your enemies. Vv37-49 (the rest of the chapter) feels much more disjointed. It’s more like a series of thoughts and teachings strung together.
V39 “he told them a parable” is better translated “he began to speak parabolically.” Jesus speaks here proverbially. Jesus will now speak in the same way as the Sirach reading. This is a collection of wisdom, but all related to “what does it look like to live oriented to the beatitudes?”
The passage begins with the parable or proverb of a blind person trying to lead another blind person. Throughout Luke (and in John’s gospel too), sight functions on both a literal and spiritual level. Jesus brings sight, not only physically, but, more importantly, spiritually. A person who is spiritually blind cannot lead someone else spiritually. So be careful who you follow. And remember the Sirach reading: don’t evaluate on actions – listen to what they say. Make sure there’s an integrity there, otherwise you might end up in a ditch!
V40 is closely related to that thought about being careful who you follow. While you’re learning from someone, you can’t, by definition, be superior to your teacher. You’re still learning. But when you’ve absorbed the teacher’s teachings, when you’re fully trained, then you’ll be like the teacher. Of course in Luke’s gospel, Jesus is the supreme teacher. And we know that, in a sense, we will always be disciples, always learning. But little by little, we should begin to resemble our teacher.
V41 gives us that great metaphor of splinters and beams. That word perceive caught my eye (no pun intended there!). It means “to take note of, consider carefully, discern, detect, make account of.” It’s rooted in the word mind. Perceiving the wooden beam implies that you’re looking, you’re considering, you’re actively thinking about things.
In v42, the word hypocrite is drawn from Greek plays; it was an actor who played a part in the play. But over time it developed a derogatory meaning, particularly in the spiritual world. A hypocrite displays external piety without interior devotion. The actions conform to ritual obligations but the heart is without intention. There’s a lack of integrity.
The prophet Isaiah said, “These people come near to me with their mouth / and honor me with their lips, / but their hearts are far from me.” (Isaiah 29:13). Their worship of God was based on merely human rules they had been taught. God’s response to this situation is found in v14: “Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.”
It’s all too easy to miss the magnitude of my own mess! But kingdom life, living out the beatitudes, demands that we tend to our own inner life before we go mucking about in the lives of others. I think the deeper I get in tending my own inner messes, the less I feel qualified to comment on anyone else’s.
Jesus has used several metaphors and proverbs so far: the blind leading the blind, a teacher/disciple relationship, and someone who is blind to their own faults. The last metaphor in vv43-44 echos the Sirach reading about fruits. Actions can be a camouflage, but ultimately by their fruit you will know them. That comes from Matthew 7 which is Matthew’s version of this teaching. Sirach phrased it as “speech discloses the bent of a person’s heart.” Many different ways to say the same thing.
And v45 says that it another way. This reminded me of Galatians 5:22, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
I think one of the most important life lessons that I come back to again and again is to pay attention to what makes me angry or irritated in another person. There are things in other people that evoke a very exaggerated response in me, out of proportion. And I’ve come to learn that whatever it is that evokes this is usually something I do not like about my own self. It’s so much easier to go picking on the other person to shape up; much harder to realize that trait is my own beam and I really need to tend to it first. I’d be willing to bet you can think of one or two instances in your own life of an exaggerated response to some trait or action in another person. If you dare, consider how that response might reveal a beam in your own life.
Who are the teachers and leaders you follow? What do you know about them from their speech?
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© 2025 Kelly Sollinger