BCP Daily Office Lectionary for Nov. 15, 2004
Source: http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/index.htm
Morning Psalm(s): Psalm 89:1-18 [Presbyterian: 57:1-11]
Evening Psalm(s): PM Psalm 89:19-52 [Presbyterian: 85:1-13\
Old Testament: Habakkuk 2:1-4, 9-20
Epistle: James 2:14-26
Gospel Luke 16:19-31
Presbyterian Readings for the current day:
http://www.pcusa.org/cgi-bin/lectiond.cgi
The opening dialogue of Habakkuk concludes with the prophet's expectation to hear the LORD's answer: "I will stand at my watchpost . . .I will keep watch to see what he will say to me,/and what he will answer concerning my complaint" (Hab. 2:1). The LORD promises justice which may "seem to tarry," but "will surely come" (v. 3). The "righteous," not like "the proud," "live by their faith" (v. 4). This verse has been explained by R. Lansing Hicks & Walter Brueggemann (NOAB), "The heart of the matter is that the righteous who are faithful to God have power to live but the proud (i.e. unrighteous) do not endure. Here the contrast is primarily between Israelites and Chaldeans; but the verse has, properly, received wider application (Rom. 1:17; Gal 3:11; Heb. 10:38-39)." Paul emphasizes his doctrine of justification by faith, but Hebrews refers to the "endurance, so that, when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised" (Heb. 10:36), followed by the quotation from Habakkuk 2:3-4 (Heb. 10:37-38), and his extended list of Old Testament heroes and heroines of faith (chap. 11).
The reading from Habakkuk continues with a series of "Woes" directed at the time to Israel's enemies, but which denounce sins of tyranny and oppression wherever they occur (Hab. 2:6-20). "Alas for you who build a town by bloodshed,/and found a city on iniquity!" (v. 12). "The cup in the LORD's right hand/will come around to you,/and shame will come upon your glory" (v. 16). "For the violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you . . . because of human bloodshed and violence to the earth,/to cities and all who live in them" (v. 17).
James offers his comparison of faith and works. The former without the latter "is counterfeit" (Warren A. Quanbeck & Pheme Perkins, NOAB, commenting on Jas. 2:14). "Such faith cannot save (Mt. 25:31-46; Gal. 5:6)." A passage from The Interpretation of the New Testament 1861-1986 by Stephen Neill and Tom Wright relates well both to this reading from James and the comments on Habakkuk 2:4 (above). "Faith cannot be built on one narrow section of the Christian revelation without help from the other. . . . It is clear that the word [faith] is used with interestingly different connotations by Paul, by James, and by the writer to the Hebrews. The three in a broad general sense look respectively to the past, to the present, and to the future. In Paul faith means something like total surrender to God on the basis of the promises he has given to man in Jesus Christ. In James, faith means loving obedience to the commands of God. In Hebrews, faith means going forth boldly into the unknown, in the certainty that God is at the end of the journey as well as at its beginning. Clearly, each of these concepts is valid, Christian, and apostolic. Lacking any one of them our faith must be partial and one-sided" (pp. 203-204).
The Gospel reading is the story of the rich man and Lazarus (Lk. 16:19-31). The story seems to illustrate earlier statements about being faithful, not dishonest, whether you have "very little" or "much" (Lk. 16:10) and about not serving "two masters," "God and wealth" (v. 13). The Pharisees, who were the point of the earlier sayings (cf. vv. 14-15), may still be in view. "The main point (vv. 27-31) is that the Old Testament speaks an urgent and sufficient call to repentance (v. 17)" (Elwyn E. Tilden and Bruce M. Metzger, NOAB), but there is a warning against trust in riches which recalls the Parable of the Rich Fool (Lk. 12:13-21) and a reminder to consider the needs of the marginalized and outcast (cf. Mt. 25:31-46).
Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.