Sermon, Hillcrest United Methodist Church, June 20, 2010

For the Lutheran Readings for today, and comments on them, see the Episcopal Readings in the file for June 6, 2010, two weeks ago. These traditions differ in relating readings to the weeks following Pentecost.

Episcopal and Presbyterian Readings:

Numbers 14:26-45

An Attempted Invasion is Repulsed (Deut 1.41-45)

26 And the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying: 27 How long shall this wicked congregation complain against me? I have heard the complaints of the Israelites, which they complain against me. 28 Say to them, "As I live," says the LORD, "34 According to the I will do to you the very things I heard you say: 29 your dead bodies shall fall in this very wilderness; and of all your number, included in the census, from twenty years old and upward, who have complained against me, 30 not one of you shall come into the land in which I swore to settle you, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. 31 But your little ones, who you said would become booty, I will bring in, and they shall know the land that you have despised. 32 But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness. 33 And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness for forty years, and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness. number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, for every day a year, you shall bear your iniquity, forty years, and you shall know my displeasure." 35 I the LORD have spoken; surely I will do thus to all this wicked congregation gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall come to a full end, and there they shall die.

36 And the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made all the congregation complain against him by bringing a bad report about the land- 37 the men who brought an unfavorable report about the land died by a plague before the LORD. 38 But Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh alone remained alive, of those men who went to spy out the land.

39 When Moses told these words to all the Israelites, the people mourned greatly. 40 They rose early in the morning and went up to the heights of the hill country, saying, "Here we are. We will go up to the place that the LORD has promised, for we have sinned." 41 But Moses said, "Why do you continue to transgress the command of the LORD? That will not succeed. 42 Do not go up, for the LORD is not with you; do not let yourselves be struck down before your enemies. 43 For the Amalekites and the Canaanites will confront you there, and you shall fall by the sword; because you have turned back from following the LORD, the LORD will not be with you." 44 But they presumed to go up to the heights of the hill country, even though the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and Moses, had not left the camp. 45 Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and defeated them, pursuing them as far as Hormah. (Numbers 14:26-45, NRSV)

The following comments are repeated here from June 22, 2008 (The Sixth Sunday after Pentecost, refs. for the Sunday closest to June 22, Year Two), when comments were repeated from June 25, 2006 (The Sixth Sunday after Pentecost, refs. for the Sunday closest to June 22, Year Two):

In yesterday’s lesson, we were reminded that after the most serious of Israel’s rebellions against Moses and against God yet, after Moses’ intercession, the LORD did forgive (Num. 14:20), but declared that none of these Israelites except Caleb (v. 24) shall see the promised land (v. 23). In today’s lesson, Joshua is included with Caleb (v. 30). But the lesson begins with God’s expression of exasperation to Moses. “How long shall this wicked congregation complain against me?” says the LORD (v. 27a); I have heard their complaints (v. 27b). According to Rabbi J. H. Hertz, Rabbinic tradition relates the words, “how long shall I bear with this evil congregation?” (v. 27a JPS 1917), which he translates literally as “how long shall this evil congregation continue to be?” “to the ten Spies” (Pentateuch & Haftorahs, 2^nd ed., 24^th printing, 1981, p. 628, on Num. 14:27). But Nili S. Fox relates it to the whole congregation. “As I live,” says the LORD–a phrase that Fox calls “an oath formula” (The Jewish Study Bible, 2004, p. 312, on Num. 14:21, 28)–“I will do to you the very things I heard you say” (v. 28). And he recapitulates their complaints. “Your dead bodies shall fall in this very wilderness” (v. 29a), and the LORD adds later, “But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness” (v. 32). Compare the words, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! Why is the LORD bringing us into this land to fall by the sword?” (vv. 2b, 3a). And the LORD explains, “of all your number, included in the census, from twenty years old and upward, who have complained against me, not one of you shall come into the land in which I swore to settle you, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun” (vv. 29b, 30). There are two indications here of the LORD’s oath formula. The first is the wording at the beginning of verse 30, literally, “If (’im) you will enter the land . . .”, which is actually a very strong asseveration, meaning “you will never enter the land . . .” (cf. Gesenius’ Hebrew Grammar, E. Kautsch and A. E. Cowley, edd., 2^nd Engl. ed., 1910, 18^th impression 1985, sec. 149a). We may compare “If (’im) I have made gold my trust . . .” (Job 31:24 NRSV), which amounts to a very strong denial by Job that he has made gold his trust. (Compare several statements in Job’s declaration of innocence, Job 31:5, 7, 9, 13, 16, 19, 21, 26, 29, 31, 33, 38, 39.) But in the present context, the “oath formula,” expresses the LORD’s determination to prevent the exodus generation from entering the promised land. To that compare their earlier complaint: “Would it not be better for us to go back into Egypt?” (v. 3c). The LORD continues: “But your little ones who you said would become booty, I will bring in, and they shall know the land that you have despised” (v. 31). To that compare, “Our wives and our little ones will become booty” (v. 3b). Fox puts it this way: “God reduces the people’s punishment. The entire nation will not be wiped out immediately, but the current generation will not inherit Canaan. The rebellious adult generation will perish in the desert according to their wish (14:2).

The LORD announces a future of suffering for the children also, during the forty-year sojourn in the wilderness. “And your children shall be shepherds (rō‘îm) in the wilderness for forty years, and shall suffer for your faithlessness [lit., ‘bear your unfaithfulnesses [z ^enûthêkem], until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness” (v. 33). The word translated “faithlessness” (NRSV, NJPS) or “unfaithfulnesses” (my translation) is defined by William L. Holladay as “prostitution Jer. 3:2;–2. unfaithfulness to God Num. 14:33” (Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon, 1971, 10^th corrected printing 1988), s.v. z^enûth, cf. “whoredoms” (AV/KJV), “strayings” (JPS 1917). Rabbi Hertz says “ ‘Strayings’ is a departure from the RV [= Revised Version, 1884], which gives the lit. translation of the Heb. z^enûth, the metaphor of marital infidelity used in Scripture to express Israel’s disloyalty to God through the worship of strange gods” (op. cit., on v. 33). The word “shepherds,” as in “your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness” (v. 33a), is translated as “wanderers” (JPS 1917, NEB), or paraphrased, e.g. “your children shall wander” (AV/KJV, margin, ‘Or feed’), or “while your children roam the wilderness” (NJPS 1985, 1999). The Rabbi says, “Although the children were to be spared the fate of their sinning parents, they would not altogether escape the consequences of that falling away from God” (op. cit., on v. 33).

The forty years are related to the forty days of the scouting expedition: “According to the number of days in which you spied out the land, forty days, for every day a year, you shall bear your iniquity, forty years, and you shall know my displeasure” (v. 34). All of this (vv. 28b-34) is the speech that the LORD tells Moses to deliver to the people (v. 28). That speech, for Moses, concludes in verse 34 (followed by a quotation mark in the NRSV). The NRSV text does not use quotation marks around the LORD’s directions to Moses and Aaron (i.e., before v. 27 and after v. 35, so vv. 28b-34, marked with double quotation marks (“. . .”), represent a “quotation within a quotation,” so to speak. The NJPS translation (1985, 1999) makes this explicit, with double quotation marks (“. . .”) before verse 27 and after verse 35. Single quotation marks (‘. . .’) are used to include verses 28b-35 in the speech that Moses and Aaron are to deliver to the people. Whether included (NJPS) or not (NRSV) in the speech dictated for them to deliver, this verse emphatically concludes the LORD’s judgment in the matter.

But the LORD himself closes with emphasis. “I the LORD have spoken,” he says; “surely I will do this to all this wicked congregation gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall come to a full end, and there they shall die” (v. 35). The NJPS translation includes verse 35 in the LORD’s speech by putting the quotation mark after verse 35.

As the next two verses report, says Fox, “The ten scouts who incited the rebellion with their negative report die in a plague on the spot” (op. cit., on vv. 36-37). “But Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh alone remained alive,” we are told, “of those men who went to spy out the land” (v. 38). Following a commonly used analysis of sources in the Pentateuch, N. H. Snaith calls verses 26-38

the P-variant [i.e., Priestly variant] of 10b-25 [which he says is ‘wholly from JE’]–Aaron is now included as well as Moses, and Joshua as well as Caleb. Apparently Eleazar (32:28) is also permitted to be a survivor. This is involved in 29, where it is all those who were numbered from 20 years upwards who were to fall in the wilderness. This excludes all the children and young men and women and all the Levites, who were not numbered from 20 years old upwards. (Peake’s Commentary on the Bible, 1962, reprinted 1972, sec. 221 j, p. 260)

Moses gives a report, including the speech dictated by the LORD, to the people. And we are informed that,“When Moses told these words to all the Israelites, the people mourned greatly” (v. 39). But this and their actions that follow are too little, too late. “They rose early in the morning,” says the narrator, “and went up to the heights of the hill country, saying, ‘Here we are. We will go up to the place that the LORD has promised, for we have sinned’ ” (v. 40). But Moses warns them against proceeding with this belated plan. “Why do you continue to transgress the command of the LORD?” he asks. “That will not succeed” (v. 41). Moses’ warning explains. “Do not go up, for the LORD is not with you; do not let yourselves be struck down before your enemies. For the Amalekites and the Canaanites will confront you there, and you shall fall by the sword; because you have turned back from following the LORD, the LORD will not be with you” (vv. 42-43). Jo Ann Hackett says, “Moses explains that it is no better to go when the Lord has commanded them to turn back (v. 25) than it was to refuse to go when the Lord commanded them to go” (Jo Ann Hackett, HarperCollins Study Bible, 1^st ed., 1993, on Num. 14:41).

But in their presumption, the people attack anyway. “But they presumed to go up to the heights of the hill country, even though the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and Moses, had not left the camp” (v. 44). In consequence, “the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and defeated them, pursuing them as far as Hormah” (v. 45), which was “a crushing defeat,” says Rabbi Hertz, and they “are driven back to the [city of] Hormah which they had only recently conquered. Their direct march northwards is now definitely barred. Henceforth they can enter Canaan only by passing through–and if that is impossible, around–the territories situated to the south and east of the Dead Sea. . . . It will be some thirty-eight years before a fresh military enterprise is undertaken” (op. cit., on v. 45). The Rabbi cites Wiener, “In estimating the historical value of this story, we must remember that no nation gratuitously invents or accepts accounts of defeats it has never experienced.” Other biblical reports of less than flattering incidents might be cited from both Testaments. Honesty in such matters is the best policy.

Acts 15:1-12

15:1 Then certain individuals came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved." 2 And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to discuss this question with the apostles and the elders. 3 So they were sent on their way by the church, and as they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, they reported the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the believers. 4 When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all that God had done with them. 5 But some believers who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees stood up and said, "It is necessary for them to be circumcised and ordered to keep the law of Moses."

6 The apostles and the elders met together to consider this matter. 7 After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, "My brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that I should be the one through whom the Gentiles would hear the message of the good news and become believers. 8 And God, who knows the human heart, testified to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us; 9 and in cleansing their hearts by faith he has made no distinction between them and us. 10 Now therefore why are you putting God to the test by placing on the neck of the disciples a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear? 11 On the contrary, we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will."

12 The whole assembly kept silence, and listened to Barnabas and Paul as they told of all the signs and wonders that God had done through them among the Gentiles. (Acts 15:1-12, NRSV)

The following comments are repeated here from July 23, 2009 (Thursday in the week of the Sunday closest to July 20, Year One), when comments were repeated with some editing from September 11, 2008 (Thursday in the week of the Sunday closest to September 7, Year Two), when comments were repeated from 22, 2008 (the Sunday closest to June 22, Year Two), when comments were repeated from July 26, 2007 (Thursday in the week of the Sunday closest to July 20, Year One), when comments were used with editing and supplement that were combined and revised on June 25, 2006 (the Sunday closest to June 22, Year Two) from June 20, 2004 (the Sunday closest to June 22,Year Two) in an email sent June 14, 2004, for June 14-20, and from July 21, 2005 (Thursday in the week of the Sunday closest to July 20).

The Jerusalem Council, as reported in Acts 15:1-35 is covered by readings for July 23-25, 2009 (Thursday through Saturday in this week, the week of the Sunday closest to July 20, Year One). Today’s reading is more selective, including the beginning of the Council (vv. 1-12), and Monday’s reading (Acts 15:36-16:5) moves on to Paul’s Second Missionary Journey.

Paul and Barnabas have completed their First Missionary Journey and returned to a welcome at Antioch of Syria (Acts 14:26-28). “Then,” says Luke, “certain individuals (tines, an indefinite pronoun) came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved’ ” (Acts. 15:1). The view of these unnamed individuals were those opposed by Paul in his Epistle to the Galatians. “And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them,” says Luke, “Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to discuss this question with the apostles and the elders” (v. 2). As they travel to the conference “through both Phoenicia and Samaria, they [report] the conversion of the Gentiles, and [bring] great joy to all the believers” (v. 3). Paul and Barnabas arrive in Jerusalem and are “welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders,” and they report “all that God had done with them” (v. 4). Although not named earlier (v. 1), later at Jerusalem, we are told that it was “some believers who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees” who said, “It is necessary for them to be circumcised and ordered to keep the law of Moses” (v. 5). At Jerusalem Paul and Barnabas repeat the account of the conversion of the Gentiles (v. 4), but they are opposed by the Pharisaic believers. In view of the conflict, “The apostles and the elders met together to consider this matter” (v. 6).

After much debate, Peter stands up and says, “My brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that I should be the one through whom the Gentiles would hear the message of the good news and become believers” (v. 7). Earlier, Peter had given a report to the church in Jerusalem(11:1-18), a report to “the apostles and the believers who were in Judea” (v. 1), including “the circumcised believers” who “criticized him (v. 2). At the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15), Peter’s testimony omits description of his vision and that of Cornelius, but summarizes the results of his ministry in Cornelius house in much the same way as he reported earlier to the Jerusalem church (Acts 15:7-9; cf. 11:15-17), but with more emphasis on “cleansing their hearts by faith”: “And God, who knows the human heart, testified to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us; and in cleansing their hearts by faith he has made no distinction between them and us” (15:8-9).

In the light of this experience, Peter questions those who advocate circumcision for all. “Now therefore why are you putting God to the test by placing on the neck of the disciples a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear?” (v. 10). “On the contrary,” says Peter, “we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will” (v. 11). He emphasizes that salvation is “through the grace of the Lord Jesus” for Christian Jews as well as Gentiles. The debate portion of the Council concludes as “the whole assembly kept silence, and listened to Barnabas and Paul as they told of all the signs and wonders that God had done through them among the Gentiles” (v. 12). In the continuation James articulates the Council’s decision (vv. 19-20), and arranges for the announcement of this decision (vv. 22-29).

Luke 12:49-56

Jesus the Cause of Division (Mt 10.34-39)

49 "I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50 I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! 51 Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! 52 From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; 53 they will be divided:

father against son
and son against father,

mother against daughter
and daughter against mother,

mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law
and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law."

Interpreting the Time (Mt 16.1-4)

54 He also said to the crowds, "When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, 'It is going to rain'; and so it happens. 55 And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, 'There will be scorching heat'; and it happens. 56 You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time? (Luke 12:49-56, NRSV)

The following comments are repeated here from November 3, 2008 (Monday in the week of the Sunday closest to November 2, Year Two), when the reading was Luke 12:39-59 and comments were repeated from June 22, 2008 (the Sunday closest to June 22, Year Two), when comments were repeated from November 6, 2006 (Monday in the week of the Sunday closest to November 2, Year Two), comments that were combined with revision and supplement from November 1, 2004 (Monday of the week of the Sunday closest to November 2, Year Two), and from June 25, 2006 (the third Sunday after Pentecost, Year Two).

Today’s reading includes two paragraphs from Luke that have parallels in Matthew, but not in Mark or John. A question about the disciples being “baptism that I [Jesus] am baptized with” (Mk. 10:38; cf. Lk 12:50) comes in a different context in Mark (cf. Mk. 10:35-45; Mt. 20:20-28). For parallel passages for the present reading, see the separate file, Divisions within Households, Interpreting the Times, Agreeing with One’s Accuser. The consecutive paragraphs in Luke have parallels in Matthew from different contexts. On the theory–a probable theory–that Matthew and Luke draw on a separate source (Q) in addition to their respective uses of Mark, we can observe here how Matthew apparently separated these paragraphs from the sequence represented by Luke due to his [Matthew’s] topical arrangement of material.

In Luke's Gospel, Jesus speaks of the end of the age. "I came to bring fire to the earth" (Lk. 12:49. He says he has not come to bring "peace" but "division" (v. 51; cf. the “sword,” Mt. 10:34), which is explained as division of households (Lk. 12:52-53; cf Mt. 10:35-36). Such sayings relate to the unique circumstances of the coming spiritual crisis. According to David L. Tiede, in this passage (Lk. 12:49-56), “Jesus defines his ministry in terms of division and judgment” (HarperCollins Study Bible, 1^st ed., 1993, on Lk. 12:49-56). The “fire” (v. 49) is “a symbol of judgment” (Marion Lloyd Soards, NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001, on Lk. 12:49). The “baptism” with which Jesus is “to be baptized” is “here meant figuratively [and] probably refers to his death” (Tiede, on v. 50; so Soards). Jesus asks–rhetorically–“Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth?” (v. 51a, cf. Mt. 10:34), and he answers his own question, “No, I tell you, but rather division!” (v. 51b). Matthew has “a sword” where Luke has “division.” The sayings which put family members against one another (Lk. 12:53; cf. Mt. 10:35-36) suggest heart-wrenching divisions within families, but “sword” suggests war. It’s surely a symbol for the disruptions caused by the Gospel, and perhaps Luke’s term “division” is an interpretation. According to Tiede, “The promise ofpeace . . . becomes a threat of division if the Messiah is rejected” (ibid., on Lk. 12:51). The related sayings from the Gospel of Thomas (in the separate file, Divisions within Households, Interpreting the Times, Agreeing with One’s Accuser) refer to “fire upon the world” (GT 10), to divisions among peoples, that is “divisions upon the earth, fire, sword [and] war,” and among families (GT 16). These sayings are neither clearly apocalyptic, nor clearly–as some have characterized the Gospel of Thomas–Gnostic. Other Gospel of Thomas sayings do give evidence of Gnostic leanings, for example

Jesus saw children that were being suckled. He said to his disciples (mathētēs): These children being suckled are like those who enter the kingdom. They said to him, If we are children, shall we enter the kingdom? Jesus said to them: When (hotan) you make the two one, and make the inside like the outside, and the outside like the inside, and the upper side like the under side, and when you make the male and the female into a single one, so that the male will not be male and the female will <not> be female; when (hotan) you make eyes in place of an eye, and a hand in place of a hand, and a foot in place of a foot, an image (eikōn) in place of an image (eikōn), then (tote) you shall enter [the kingdom]. (GT 22, transl., Bruce M. Metzger)

As noted above, the sayings on interpreting the times (Lk. 12:54-56; Mt. 16:2-3) are found in different contexts. It appears here that Matthew and Luke have use common sayings of Jesus material each in his own context. The “crowds” (Lk.) or “the Pharisees and Sadducees (Mt.) can read signs of the weather (Lk. 12:54-6) but do not "know how to interpret the present time" (v. 56). Matthew’s framework follows Mark 8:11-13, which includes the Pharisees seeking a sign (Mk. 8:11) and the reply that no sign will be given (Mk. 8:12), but adds the reference to the sign of Jonah (Mt. 16:4; 12:39; Lk. 11:29). The references to discerning the weather are expressed differently by Matthew and Luke. Matthew emphasizes the red sky, which indicates fair weather in the evening but stormy weather in the morning (Mt. 16:2-3), but Luke refers to “a cloud rising in the west” as a sign of rain (Lk. 12:54), and the heat brought by the south wind as a sign of “scorching heat” (v. 55). But both draw the conclusion, “You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?” (Lk. 12:56; cf. Mt. 16:3b). In our day, we have come to marvel at technology-based weather forecasting. But how well does our spiritual forecasting work?

As noted above, for the Lutheran Readings for today, and comments on them, see the Episcopal Readings in the file for June 6, 2010, two weeks ago. These traditions differ in relating readings to the weeks following Pentecost.

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.
rdworden@hgst.edu
deanworden@comcast.net