Daily Bible Reading: Lamentations 3 and Romans 15

Lamentations 3 – If you are not torn apart by the words of this lament, I do not understand it. The comments I have in my notes on this reflect the many different “states of mind” I have brought to it over the years. It slays me every time.

Here are the first three verses:

“I am one who knows what it is to be punished by God. He drove me deeper and deeper into darkness and beat me again and again with merciless blows. He has left my flesh open and raw, and has broken my bones. He has shut me in a prison of misery and anguish. He has forced me to live in the stagnant darkness of death. He has bound me in chains; I am a prisoner with no hope of escape. I cry aloud for help, but God refuses to listen. I stagger as I walk; stone walls block me wherever I turn” (3:1-9).

But then at the deepest moment of despair, we sense an inward turning: “I have forgotten what health and peace and happiness are. I do not have much longer to live; my hope in the Lord is gone. The thought of my pain, my homelessness, is bitter poison. I think of it constant, and my spirit is depressed. Yet hope returns when I remember this one thing. The Lord’s unfailing love and mercy still continue, fresh as the morning, as sure as the sunrise. The Lord is ALL I HAVE, and so in him I put my hope” (3:17-24).

           

The idea that the Lord is our portion—almost our fate—is so important.  Here we have a Lord that is equally our worst enemy (enemy to all that would let Him down) and our best lover.  We can find our meaning nowhere but in Him, but it is not always fun—he is our portion, nevertheless. The underlying truth is “he does not willingly afflict or grieve anyone” (3:33).

           

“The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him.  It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord” (3:25-26) This is a good Quaker passage.

           

Another interesting passage – pre-Enlightenment: The Lord knows when our spirits are crushed in prison; he knows when we are denied the rights he gave us; when justice is perverted in court, he knows” (3:34-36).

           

“Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the Lord. Let us lift up our hearts as well as our hands to God in heaven.  We have transgressed and rebelled, and you have not forgiven” (3:40-42)

           

“You came near when I called on you; you said, ‘Do not fear!” (3:57). This is always what Jesus said when he approached people to follow or relate to him.

What a different spirit this comes from than the one we bring the Lord today in our pride and refusal to bow before His role in the circumstances of our lives, even those that are dire. I try to imagine what it is like to have been a Jew after Hitler, reading these lines—what fury must they have kindled in the breasts of Jews toward God, but what confusion too. The wonderful movie called The Quarrel wrestles with this.

How so we reconcile ourselves to this experience of God’s mysterious presence in the sufferings we endure because of human unfaithfulness to His Love and because of the complexity of the reality God places us in?

Romans 15 – Paul encourages us to serve our neighbors, put up with their weaknesses to build up the church.  Then Paul quotes or alludes to psalm 69—“I am scorned by those who scorn you,” but this fits less well than verse 7 of the same psalm:  “Let those who seek you, God of Israel, not be disgraced through me (‘hindered’ might be more apropos).” The NRSV has “dishonored.” The JB says, “Let those who seek not be ashamed of me.” This last seems most conducive to the use Paul is making of the psalm.  It is interesting because it permits Paul too to make a generalization about the uses to which sacred writings may be put.  He says, “Whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope” (15:4).

Paul goes into the role Christ plays as reconciler.  He came to “confirm the promises given to the patriarchs” (15:8), AND to evoke the praise of the gentiles [for as they—we—learn of the way his steadfastness to the Jews has been confirmed, so we too are led into relationship with Him. He cites several OT passages that allude to the fact that God’s name will be proclaimed among the nations or the gentiles [2 Sam.22: 50, Psalm 18:50, Is.11: 10 (JB)—the root of Jesse shall “be sought out by the nations”] ** The JB is uniformly better at translating OT passages in such a way as to make it appear Paul actually might have been using them appropriately.

Paul reviews his success in spreading the gospel among the gentiles.  He has not gone where other evangelists have been but only to those who have not heard (15:14-21). These missions have long kept him from coming to Rome, but now he plans to come on his way to Spain.  But first he tells them he must go to Jerusalem to bring the money he has collected to the saints there.  He anticipates trouble in Jerusalem: “I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, . . . to join me in earnest prayer to God on my behalf, that I may be rescued from the unbelievers in Judea . . .” (15:31).

Daily Reading: Psalm 119:89 through 176 and Matthew 17

Psalm 119:89-176 - The word of the Lord, His faithfulness, His law - while never experienced without sufferings and doubts - are the most precious things the psalmist - thought by many to have been King David - has in his life. God is our teacher, and "how sweet is the taste" of all He imparts to us. Again, as I said yesterday, this psalm sounds to me as if it were really written by a king or political leader who wants so badly to be faithful, obedient and appreciative of God, but who is also surrounded by temptations - of power, of worldliness and paranoia: "Powerful people attack me unjustly, but I respect your law. How happy I am because of your promises. . ." (119:161-162).

I can so identify. Even in my simple day to day life, I get the greatest pleasure and feeling of meaningfulness when I feel God's presence, but as hard as I try, as much will power as I bring to the task, I can never be completely without ego, without impatience, without judgment. I can never be wholly what I think God wants me to be. "Give me life, so that I may praise you; may your instructions help me. I wander about like a lost sheep; so come and look for me, your servant because I have not neglected your laws" (119:175-176).

Matthew 17 - Jesus leads disciples Peter, James and John up a high mountain, and while they are there, Jesus seems to undergo a complete change of appearance. His face shines like the sun and his clothes are dazzling white. The disciples experience the presence of Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus. Of course, it is the ever eager Peter who rushes to say something, offering to make three tents for them. From a cloud over Jesus, the three disciples hear a voice saying, "This is my own dear Son, with whom I am pleased - listen to him!" (17:5). This event in Jesus' life is referred to as the "transfiguration" - or the complete change in how he is seen, a vision of his spiritual reality. Jesus doesn't want them to speak of what they have seen and heard. When they ask Jesus about why the teachers of the Law always say Elijah must come before the Messiah, Jesus says he has come in the person of John the Baptist.

The chapter moves on to the healing of a boy who is epileptic and when his disciples ask him why they couldn't heal him - drive the demon out - Jesus tells them it is because they do not have enough faith. All they need is faith the size of a mustard see, but they don't even have that. They are very sad when Jesus tells them he is going to be killed, even when he reassures them he will be brought to life again after three days.

Then there is the little anecdote about Jesus paying the Temple tax and finding the coin in the first fish they take from the lake.

In all these stories, Jesus is clearly being seen by his disciples as other-worldly and trying to prepare them for his coming death and resurrection.