BCP Daily Office Lectionary for Oct. 20, 2004

  Source: http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/index.htm

Morning Psalm(s): AM Psalm 38

Evening Psalm(s) PM Psalm 119:25-48

Old Testament: Ecclus. 7:4-14

Epistle: Rev. 8:1-13

Gospel Luke 10:17-24

The reading from Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) comes from a long list of mostly negative instructions that sometimes include an explanation. "Do not seek to become a judge," the negative injunction, "or you may be unable to root out injustice;/you may be partial to the powerful,/and so mar your integrity," the explanation (Ecclus. 7:6). "Do not commit a sin twice;/not even for one will you go unpunished" (v. 8). "Refuse to utter any lie,/for it is a habit that results in no good" (v. 13). Other advice is given to stand on its own merits without explanation. "Do not seek from the Lord high office,/or the seat of honor from the king" (v. 4). "Commit no offense against the public,/and do not disgrace yourself among the people" (v. 7). "Do not grow weary when you pray;/do not neglect to give alms" (v. 10). At first glance the primary motivation seems to be enlightened self-interest, but altruism is invoked, "do not neglect to give alms." And one is to live as under God, "Do not ridicule a person who is embittered in spirit,/for there is One who humbles and exalts" (v. 11).

In Revelation, the seventh seal (Rev. 8:1-2) becomes a transition to the seven trumpets. The seven seals were opened by the Lamp, seals one to six in chapter 6 and seal seven here. An angel "with a golden censor" offers "a great quantity of incense . . . with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar that is before the throne" (Rev. 8:3). After the "smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God" (v. 4), the angel takes fire from the altar and throws it on the earth, resulting in "peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake" (v. 5). Four of the seven trumpets follow in chapter 8. Earlier, when the Lamb opened each seal, the result was judgment, a white horse representing warfare for the first seal (Rev. 6:1-2), a red horse representing death in battle for the second seal (Rev. 6:3-4), and so on. When the first angel blows the first trumpet, the result is "hail and fire, mixed with blood" and the devastation (burning) of a third of the earth (Rev. 8:7). When the second angel blows his trumpet, fire devastates a third of the sea, a third of the sea creatures and a third of the ships (v. 8-9). And this continues as well, summed up as "Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth" (v. 13). It's a very dark picture that is painted for us here, but we should remember the protection by sealing of the martyrs (the 144,000) and the redeemed multitude from every nation (chap. 7). Revelation describes the battle between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan in very graphic terms, but closes with new heavens and earth, a new Jerusalem, and a peaceful setting in which the "temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb" (Rev. 21:22), "the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb" (v 23). Paradise is restored, nourished by "the river of the water of life" and "the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit" (22:1, 2).

The Gospel reading from Luke reports the return of the seventy, who rejoice in their recent experiences. "Lord in your name even the demons submit to us!" (Lk. 10:17). This apparently represents a battle victory in the war between the two kingdoms (God's and Satan's), but Jesus tells them to "rejoice that your names are written in heaven" (v. 20). Jesus rejoices as much in the experience and insight gained by the disciples as in the results of their ministry. "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants" (v. 21; cf. Mt. 11:25). Jesus' further comments speak of the Son as revealing the Father (v. 22; cf. Mt. 11:27) and of how his disciples see what the prophets "desired to see . . . but did not see" (v. 24; cf. Mt. 13:17), that is, "the fulfillment of the messianic age" (David L. Tiede, HarperCollins Study Bible). It is a privilege to participate in the Lord's ministry. We are reminded that it is his ministry, and we, as the disciples, should rejoice in our relation to him. "Rejoice that your names are written in heaven."

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.