- Gospel Reading: Matthew 5:13-20 You are the salt of the earth
- Psalm Nugget: Psalm 112:1-10 Richard Bruxvoort Colligan (Psalmimmersion.com, @pomopsalmist, Patreon)
- Second Reading: Isaiah 58:1-12 What kind of fast does God like?
- Website: http://amycoxmusic.com/
- Twitter: @AmyECox
- YouTube
Hello and welcome to the Pulpit Fiction Podcast, the lectionary podcast for preachers, seekers and Bible geeks. This is episode 204 for Sunday February 5, 2017, the 5th Sunday After Epiphany Year A.
- Gospel Reading: Matthew 5:13-20 You are the salt of the earth
- Psalm Nugget: Psalm 112:1-10 Richard Bruxvoort Colligan (Psalmimmersion.com, @pomopsalmist, Patreon)
- Second Reading: Isaiah 58:1-12 What kind of fast does God like?
-
BabyWatch 2017!
-
Last #PulpitFictionPoll: What should Eric name his baby boy?
- Winner: Frodo Fistler (40%), Albus (30%), James Tiberius (30%), Obiwan (0%).
-
#PulpitFictionPoll Who are you rooting for in the Super Bowl?
- New England Patriots
- Atlanta Falcons
- The Cubs
- Commercials
-
Last #PulpitFictionPoll: What should Eric name his baby boy?
- Website: http://amycoxmusic.com/
- Twitter: @AmyECox
- YouTube
DONATE: www.pulpitfiction.us/donate
Gospel Reading: Matthew 5:13-20 You are the salt of the earth
Initial Thoughts
- Inseparable from the Beatitudes - would be good to put this reading in context
- Expands on the call to discipleship
- Following Jesus means living in contrast to the status quo of the world
-
Declarations:
- You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world.
- No precondition
- Salt cannot lose its saltiness nor can a light be put under a bushel without being snuffed out- perhaps this is a threat or perhaps this is, like the Beatitudes, stating the way the world is the poor are blessed, you are light light of the world.
-
Salt
- To lose flavor, moraino can also mean to be made fools (Rob Myallis)
- Think 1 Corinthians 1:20 and the last Beatitude - perhaps we are not meant to “preserve” the status quo like salt, but to be foolish for the sake of the Gospel
-
Lamp on a stand
- The only person who “shines” in Matthew is Jesus during the transfiguration, perhaps indicating we can only shine when we allow the light of Christ to shine through us (Rob Myallis)
-
Law
- Law is no longer the requirement to live in the Kingdom of Heaven
- Those who do not follow the law will enter the Kingdom of Heaven
- Some who follow the law will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven
-
Righteousness
- True righteousness is not following the letter of the law, but the Spirit of the law
- Not to abolish for the Kingdom of Heaven is rooted in the Law, but to fulfill is to interpret the law for contemporary practice ("You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times ... but I say to you." E. Powery, WorkingPreacher.com)
- Salt cannot lose its saltiness nor light its shine without devolving into something else. If we are to be disciples of Christ we either season the world with love and illuminate it with grace or we cease to be a disciple of Christ.
- Salt is a preservative- Jesus is not interested in preserving but in sharing the good news of the Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, perhaps we should lose our taste for the status quo and be scattered and trampled for the sake of the Gospel (“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you”). Jesus’ other commands - to be a city on a hill and a light to the world are about reaching out beyond oneself - like being scattered.
-
According to Psychological studied children need to hear 10 affirmations for every negative comment.
- David Lose (workingpreacher.com)“Children, to put it another way, become what they are named. Call a child bad long enough, and he or she will believe you and act bad. Call a child (or teen or adult for that matter) worthless or unlovable or shameful, and eventually he or she -- all of us! -- will live into the name we've been assigned. In the same way, call us good or useful, dependable, helpful, or worthwhile, and we will grow into that identity and behavior as well.”
This episode brought to you by That Church Conference.
- That Church Conference helps digital communicators tell the best story the church has to tell. Through their regional workshops, annual conference in Atlanta, and online training, they provide the most practical church communications resources. Go to ThatCC.com for all the info.
- There is a conference coming in Chicago on April 25 or Nashville July 14, and their big annual two-day conference in Atlanta coming this September 26-27. If you work at a church and want the best training in communications, social media, church online, marketing, and more then these events are a must.
- If you can’t attend in person you can also live stream each event online. Sign up now at thatcc.com. Here’s the best part - just for our listeners, use code PF50 and you can save $50 off any event or live stream.
Psalm Nugget: Psalm 112:1-10 Richard Bruxvoort Colligan
Second Reading: Isaiah 58:1-12 What kind of fast does God like?
Initial Thoughts
- If you don’t use this now, file it away for Ash Wednesday. In fact, it along with the Joel text is an option for Ash Wednesday in the Revised Common Lectionary. The United Methodist Lectionary only offers Joel 2:1-2, 12-17.
- Second week in a row where a rhetorical question about what God wants is asked.
-
Context
-
Deutero Isaiah, Post-exilic. Some would consider it Trito-Isaiah, describing the return from exile.
- Some scholars call ch 56 the beginning of Third Isaiah. Brian Seitz, the author of the New Interpreter’s Bible on Isaiah 40-66 argues against Third
- Isaiah.
- Of course, we’ve talked about before how difficult clean divisions are in this. There was no single moment of exile, and the return from exile also came in waves.
- V. 12 implies that this comes in the midst of devastation and ruins.
-
Deutero Isaiah, Post-exilic. Some would consider it Trito-Isaiah, describing the return from exile.
-
V. 1-5 God speaking about the people. God is responding to the people’s cries. God is listening, just not responsive.
-
“They act like a nation that acted righteously, that didn’t abandon their God.”
- “You act like nothing happened, and think we can just move on.
- From the Prophet Gloria: “And so you're back. From outer space.
-
“They act like a nation that acted righteously, that didn’t abandon their God.”
I should have changed that stupid lock,
I should have made you leave your key
If I'd known for just one second you'd be back to bother me”
-
- Real anger is reserved for verse 4 when God calls out violence of their actions toward each other while seeking mercy from God.
- God sees through the ritual of fasting, prayer, self-affliction, putting on mourning clothes.
-
V. 6-9 God tells the people how to fast properly. Reminiscent of last week’s “I have told you, O Mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require?”
-
The Fast of God is:
- Releasing wicked restraints
- Untying the ropes of a yoke.
- Setting free the mistreated.
- Sharing bread with the hungry
- Bringing the homeless into your house.
- Covering the naked when you see them.
- Not hiding from your own family.
- “Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and God will say, ‘I am here.’”
-
The Fast of God is:
-
V. 10-12 Consequences of living justly
- Your light will shine in the darkness
- Your gloom will be like noon.
- The Lord will guide you continually.
- The Lord will provide, even in parched places.
- God will rescue your bones.
- You will be like a watered garden.
- “They will rebuild ancient ruins on your account; the foundations of generations past you will restore You will be called Mender of Broken Walls, Restorer of Livable Streets.”
-
“Why do we fast and you don’t see; why afflict ourselves and you don’t notice?” This is the question posed by the people. Here, God’s punishment is simply ignoring them. Sometimes, being ignored is the worst kind of punishment. “Silent Treatment” is often seen as a childish response, but ignoring someone is a cruel way to treat them.
- Remember as a kid when you wanted Mom to look as you did something ‘remarkable,’ but she was on the phone or paying bills, or doing dishes, and she said, “Yeah, I see,” but you knew she didn’t really see. That was so frustrating.
- Here, the people feel like they are doing something remarkable. They are fasting. They are praying. They are sincere in trying to get God to notice, but God’s response is silence. So the question remains, “Why the silence?” God provides the answer.
- “The scriptures are clear on the point that people who are anxious to raise holy hands but slow to extend a helping hand to their neighbors in need will not enjoy God’s favor. Many church worship bulletins have a double heading that appears on opposite sides of the page; enter to worship – depart to serve. Isaiah 58 is a warning against allowing those two tasks to be separated. We do not enter to worship as an end in itself. Instead, our worship should equip us, and empower us, and convince us of the service we must offer in pursuit of a just and equitable society.” (Marvin McMickle, African American Lectionary)
Tasty Wafer of the Week:
CLOSING
Thank you listeners
Feedback:
-
Pulpitfiction.us
- Correction - Eugene Boring not Warren Carter- thanks Scott Coats
- Julie - I really got a lot to think about out of this episode, thank you. First, the Micah passage is one of my favorites too, but the perspective on the word "darash" was new to me, that "require" is not a demand from God but rather His deep and heart-felt need from us. It gives a whole different tone to the verse, I love it. Secondly, I was really struck by the thought that "blessed" in the Beatitudes can also be translated as "privileged". With so much discussion about privilege these days and what different people think it means, the idea that all of the things Jesus is describing could make one "privileged" gives me a lot to think about . Thanks again for your show.
- Jessie - Thank you all so much for this show and for all the work you do. I listen to your show every week as I'm running, and I get so much out of it. Thank you for helping this new priest hone her preaching craft!
-
I’ll do this: 92-92-PULPIT (929-278-5748)
- Peter Heidi and his lovely wife!
- facebook.com/pulpitfiction
- Twitter: @pulpitfpodcast
- Find us on iTunes, subscribe and please leave us a review!!
- Or you can always e-mail us: [email protected].
- Support us at pulpitfiction.us/donate
- Website: http://amycoxmusic.com/
- Twitter: @AmyECox
- YouTubes
Thanks to our Psalms correspondent, Richard Bruxvoort Colligan (psalmimmersion.com, @pomopsalmist). Thank you to Scott Fletcher for our voice bumpers, Dick Dale and the Del Tones for our Theme music (“Misirlou”), Nicolai Heidlas (“Sunday Morning”, "Real Ride" and “Summertime”) and The Steel Wheels for our transition music(“Nola’s First Dance” from their album Lay Down, Lay Low) and Paul and Storm for our closing music (“Oh No”).