Hi Everyone.
After this Sunday I will be away for a couple of weeks, but our old friend and mentor Dean Evans will be with us – and we are always happy to see him and graced by his presence!
This Sunday's FIRST READING is from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah – and what a beautiful passage it is (as all the passages from Isaiah are!).
After a very brief introduction, telling us who Isaiah was:
- Son of Amoz (AY – moz)
- in the reign of kings Uzziah (u – ZI – ah, Jotham (JO – thuhm), Ahaz (AY – haz), and Hezekiah (Hez – uh – KI – ah)
Isaiah then offers us a poem in three parts which begins after a second introduction designed to get our attention:
- hear the word of the Lord…
- Listen to the teaching of our God…
The poem has to do with the discrepancy between the proper practices of religious piety (proper sacrifices, solemn assemblies, ritual purity), and actions which betray a profound inattentiveness to the Word of God (like the practice of injustice and the oppressing of the poor)!
Of special note are the two "Triplets" which Isaiah masterfully inserts into the body of the poem. They summarize, tersely and with punch,
- The things they are doing, but that God is not happy with: trampling the courts, bringing offerings, lighting incense): Triplet number one. Instead of
- The things they are not doing, which God would be happy if they did:doing good, seeking justice, rescuing the oppressed, defending the orphan pleasing for the widow.
It's like a mini version of the original Ten Commandments.
The coda of the poem is God calling everyone together to re-establish the covenant which has been broken: Come now, let us argue it out, says the Lord…
The SECOND READING is from Hebrews – the "Theological Epistle". this is not an epistle of Saint Paul, by the way. We don't know who wrote it, but it's a beauty.
It is essentially a summery of what it means to have faith.
Faith is defined: "the assurance of things hoped for, and the conviction of things not seen." That remains to this day the classic definition of Faith. The passage for this Sunday begins with this definition, so read it deliberately and let the rest of the reading flow from it.
The words "By faith" will be repeated over and over again like the refrain of a ballad. That pattern of the writing indicates that this passage may have been passed down from generation to generation orally – like a creed.
Your "Key Passage" is near the end: All of these (ancestors) died in faith without having received the promises, BUT from a distance they saw and greeted them. This is a neat summary of our Christian life of faith: we live not by what we see, but by what we hope for.
Thank you as always for your ministries with us.
God bless, Tim