Proper 15B (OT 20)

443: August 15, 2021

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284: August 19, 2018

1 Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14, Cheryl Kerr

Psalm 111, Richard Bruxvoort Colligan (Psalmimmersion.com, @pomopsalmist, Patreon)

128: August 16, 2015

Featured Musician & Psalm 111, Richard Bruxvoort Colligan, “God, Give Me Wisdom” from his album Seeds of Faith (Psalmimmersion.com, @pomopsalmist, Patreon)

John 6:51-58

Initial Thoughts

  • First Reaction: Didn’t we just talk about this last week? 

    • “v. 48-50: “I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.”

    • Now it picks up with more eating flesh and drinking blood.

  • The Common English Bible translation on “Human One” makes this passage sound gross.

    • A little more explicit than in the previous passage, but same general idea.

Bible Study

  • This is an issue of life and death - Those who eat the flesh of Jesus and drink his blood will live and those who do not have “no life in them”

  • Living Bread

    • Change from Bread of Life to Living bread is noteworthy due to its present participle tense. (also the same word used to describe God as “living” Father in v. 57).

    • Living notes an ongoing action, something which is happening now and continuing.

    • “The promise made to the woman at the well, living water, is now for those listening here, living water and living bread, and serves to underscore the truthfulness of Jesus’ words.” Karoline Lewis, John: Fortress Biblical Preaching Commentaries, p.94

  • What does it mean to eat the flesh of Jesus and drink his blood? 

  • What is Jesus talking about?

    • Eucharist - is this the institution of the Lord’s Supper in the Gospel of John?

      • Maybe not - “In John’s Gospel there are no Words of Institution, no Lord’s Supper per se that informs current liturgical practices of the Eucharist. With that in mind it is not fair to this Gospel...to import our theologies about or preferences for communion practices.” Lewis, p. 95

    • “The Gospel of John is written for insiders, for the beleaguered little group of believers whose allegiance to Jesus has brought them to the crisis of separation from their neighbors and families, "the Jews" who now hate them. When these believers hear this Gospel read to them, they know the story well. They have heard the echoes of the liturgy of the Lord's Supper from the beginning of chapter 6, echoes that are found in all four Gospels' accounts of the miraculous feeding.” Wayne Meeks, Feasting on the Word – Year B, Volume 3: Pentecost and Season After Pentecost 1 (Propers 3-16).

    • The question about Jesus' literal flesh and blood are as absurd as whether someone will crawl back into their mother’s womb to be born again (John 3). This passage uses the same rhetorical pattern, “How can this (anyone be born/man give us his flesh) be?”

    • Jesus will give himself, his body, his flesh and blood to the world, just as he gave bread to the multitude so that they might be fed and live.

    • “When Jesus offers himself as the Bread of Life...it is not limited to the offering of his life on the cross. That allusions to the Lord’s Supper are relocated from the events surrounding the death of Jesus to the middle of his earthly ministry suggests that the offer of his flesh is first and foremost connected with abundant life here and now and not just the resurrection, and certainly, not just the crucifixion.” Lewis, p. 95

  • Jesus’ Gift

    • The bread of life, Jesus’ life and body are given/sacrificed to reveal God’s way of abundant life for all people

    • When we life in that way of self-sacrificial, non-violent love and grace we receive Christ’s gift and partake in the body of Christ

    • When we live as Jesus lived, eat as Jesus ate, love as Jesus loved and are willing to die as Jesus died - we are participating in the body of Christ and Christ is truly present in our midst.

    • We celebrate communion to remember Jesus’ life, death and resurrection and to encourage us and give us strength to let Christ dwell within us

    • “One avenue of interpretation is to take the institution of the Lord's Supper as Jesus' gift to the church (and through the church to the whole cosmos) for life abundant now, and for life with God everlasting.” O Benjamin Sparks. Feasting on the Word – Year B, Volume 3: Pentecost and Season After Pentecost  (Propers 3-16).

    • “Eternity keeps on dipping into our time. Our memorial feast of bread and wine joins us with the living Christ, who is forever—and thus joined to him, we are forever.” (Sparks)

  • Abide

    • New Revised Standard uses the language of “abide.” Those who eat also abide. This reveals a sense of living together - doing life together. 

    • “Jesus says that those who eat μενω ("abide", 6:56) in him.  This is a key theme in the Gospel of John, in fact, one of the opening questions -- where are you abiding? (John 1:38).  Eternal life is the same thing as staying with Jesus.  So what does eternal life look like?  Well, it looks/feels like that amazing feeling of knowing that we are in the presence of God.” Robert Myallis, LectionaryGreek.blogspot.com

  • Common confusion about early Christian - whether or not they were cannibals

  • Live forever & eternal life is not about immortality but about living in the WAY of Jesus

Thoughts and Questions

  • A great opportunity to discuss the Eucharist- what happens? Why do we do it? How is Jesus present? What does it mean? All important questions that too often go unanswered in the church.

  • What does it mean to separate Communion from the violence of crucifixion? How might communion be more life giving when centered in the middle of Jesus’ life?

  • You are what you eat

Ephesians 5:15-20

Initial Thoughts

  • Last week was 4:1-16, what the CEB calls “Living in Unity”

  • Skip 4:17-5:14, which CEB calls “Living transformed lives” and “Behaving as God’s children.”

  • This section, 5:15-20 (could have included v. 21) is “Living wisely.”

  • Stops just short of household codes

  • Next week we wrap up Ephesians with 6:10-20, “Living in God’s victory”

Bible Study

  • Steps to living wisely:

  1. Make good use of your time

    1. “The language of ‘making the most of the time’ is borrowed directly from the commercial vocabulary of the marketplace. The verb is exagorazomenoi, which means literally snapping up all chances of a bargain that are available. It refers here in part to the stewardship of time as God’s priceless commodity. There is a call to invest our energies in occupations that are worthwhile.” (Ralph Martin, Interpretation: Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon, p. 66)

  2. Don’t be ignorant

  3. Understand the Lord’s will

    1. “Pertains not so much to the acquisition of intellectual knowledge as to the orientation of persons to the values approved by God.” (Beverly Gaventa, Texts for Preaching, Year B, p. 470)

    2. “In the first century philosophical tradition, the opposite of foolishness is self possession, discipline, independence of the spirit and will. For Christians, however, the wisdom that stands opposite of foolishness is not one’s own wisdom, but that which stems from understanding God’s will.” (Beverly Gaventa, Texts for Preaching, Year B, p. 470)

  4. Don’t get drunk on wine

  5. Be filled with the Spirit

    1. Speak to each other with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs;

    2. Make music to the Lord in your heart

  6. Always give thanks to God.

  7. (Not included in lection) Submit to each other out of respect for Christ.

  • Paul presents opposites and pairs:

    • Ignorance // Understanding Lord’s will

    • Drunk on Wine // Filled with spirit

    • Speak to each other with music // Make music in your heart

    • Give Thanks to God // Submit to each other

Thoughts and Questions

  • How many of these things do we confine to worship? Making music, psalms, giving thanks - all feel like something we do ‘at church’ but maybe not other times.

    • Christian radio / podcasts / literature /  movies.

      • Unfortunately most of it is tripe.

      • What are some ways we can help fill our time/energy with things that are helpful in discerning God’s will?

        • Spiritual disciplines

  • Giving thanks at all times and for everything

    • Seems like an impossible task

    • “Gratitude” by Diana Butler Bass reveals that Gratitude is the undoing of “the system,” where everything was quid pro quo.

  • Gratitude as a lens can also shift all of life’s experiences. Even the bad things can be seen through lens of gratitude and can be transformed from crisis to opportunity. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzNSRYP00uQ

1 Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14

Initial Thoughts

  • One of 2 stories people know about Solomon- the other being the story of the divided baby- which won’t appear for another couple years in the lectionary (Proper 12A)

    • That story occurs immediately after this as an example of Solomon’s wisdom

    • Good example of Solomon’s wisdom- easy to use knowing you aren’t going to overlap next week

  • Great storytelling exploration- looking forward to hear Story Divine on this one

    • What would you wish for?

Bible Study

  • Context:

    • David is now dead and Solomon is now King

    • 1 Kings 2:13-3:2

      • Adonijah, Solomon’s brother is executed

      • Abiathar, priest, is exiled from priesthood

      • Joab, David’s former general, executed

      • Shimei, executed

      • Solomon married Pharaoh's daughter!

      • Builds the temple and a wall around Jerusalem.

    • There is no separation of Church and state in ancient Israel- religion is the state

  • Solomon’s response

    • Humility: “I am only a little child” (NRSV), “I’m your servant”

    • Acknowledgment of God’s actions: “You showed kindness”, “You’ve kept this great loyalty”, “You made me, your servant, king”

    • Can’t do it without the help from God

  • Wisdom

    • the ability to distinguish good from evil

      • How strange since this is the very thing Adam and Eve sought

      • Wisdom is not the problem, but intent. Adam and Eve sought to be God, Solomon seeks to be a better servant

      • Wisdom is something which can only be given from God, never taken

    • Focus on how to govern God’s people

  • Legacy

    • Solomon is set up as the best King that was or will be

    • Better than David

    • For tells the disastrous divided monarchy to come

Thoughts and Questions

  • Exploring the difference between intelligence and wisdom: Intelligence is knowing a tomato is a fruit- wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad

  • Ask the congregation- what would you ask for?

  • As churches and individuals - are we focused on how best to serve God and serve people? Would we ask for wisdom? Or would we ask for balanced budgets and larger memberships?

Thanks to our Psalms correspondent, Richard Bruxvoort Colligan (psalmimmersion.com,@pomopsalmist). Thank you to Scott Fletcher for our voice bumpers, Dick Dale and the Del Tones for our Theme music (“Misirlou”), Nicolai Heidlas (“Sunday Morning”,"Real Ride"and“Summertime”) and Bryan Odeen for our closing music.

Pentecost BEric FistlerEphesians, John, Psalm 75-150, 1 KingsComment