Here is the latest “Pericope Particulars” – a look ahead at the readings and themes associated with this coming Sunday’s worship according to the 3-year lectionary. (A pericope (/pəˈrɪkəpiː/; Greek περικοπή, “a cutting-out”) in rhetoric is a set of verses that forms one coherent unit or thought, suitable for public reading from a text, now usually of sacred scripture. Also can be used as a way to identify certain themes in a chapter of sacred text.)
As per our regular structure, the first resource comes from Issues Etc. Issues, Etc. is a ten-hour weekly syndicated radio talk show and podcast. The program features expert guests, expansive topics while extolling Christ (their own tagline, but very fitting). The program is hosted by Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod Pastor Todd Wilken and produced by Jeff Schwarz. There is a running series on the show called Looking Forward to Sunday Morning (3 Year Lectionary) in which guest Dr. Carl Fickenscher presents the readings and themes associated with the specific Sundays of the church year. Below is the link for this coming Sunday.
Scripture Readings:
Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 64:1-9
64 Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence 2 [a] as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil to make your name known to your adversaries, and that the nations might tremble at your presence! 3 When you did awesome things that we did not look for, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence. 4 From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him. 5 You meet him who joyfully works righteousness, those who remember you in your ways. Behold, you were angry, and we sinned; in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved?[b] 6 We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. 7 There is no one who calls upon your name, who rouses himself to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have made us melt in[c] the hand of our iniquities. 8 But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand. 9 Be not so terribly angry, O Lord, and remember not iniquity forever. Behold, please look, we are all your people.
New Testament Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:3-9
3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 4 I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, 5 that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— 6 even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— 7 so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Gospel Reading: Mark 13:24-37
The Coming of the Son of Man
24 “But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, 25 and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 26 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.
The Lesson of the Fig Tree
28 “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. 29 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. 30 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
No One Knows That Day or Hour
32 “But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Be on guard, keep awake.[a] For you do not know when the time will come. 34 It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants[b] in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. 35 Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows,[c] or in the morning— 36 lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. 37 And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.”
Meditation: Rev. Bednash
Over the last few months, I have noticed a trend. Of course, this trend is not all encapsulating and is a general observation, but it’s something I’ve seen nonetheless. Amid massive upticks in virus positivity rates and hospital beds at a steady incline of occupancy; people have been waiting, calling, and relying on the words from the mouths of men come down from governors, Capitol Hill, and courthouses rather than the Word come down from the mouth of the Lord.
The previous statement is not an indictment of those who look for guidance from the leaders and rulers placed above us. The rulers and leaders have been placed there for good order. They are to responsibly rule and govern in ways beneficial for those whom they represent. As Christians (Lutherans), we understand this through the two kingdoms’ teaching and the fourth commandment. We trust that the Lord has given individuals specific tasks, gifts, and abilities to serve their neighbors competently in body and (for the Christian) soul. We thank the Lord for those in the medical field who are hastily working on a vaccine against the virus.
As Christians, we should not selfishly defy our rulers or ignore the physical (scientific) observations that we encounter. We thank the Lord for rulers who have promoted the open worship and public gathering of Christians. We thank the Lord for scientific advances throughout the years, which have deepened our understanding of the works of the Lord’s hand. We thank the Lord for those medical advances which have helped to eradicate many devastating diseases. We thank the Lord all the while continuing to wait, call, and rely on His Word.
Here we find the crux of the issue and trend that I have seen beginning to develop, even among Christians. The issue relates to our Old Testament reading of Isaiah 64:6-7. We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. There is no one who calls upon Your name, who rouses himself to take hold of You; for You have hidden Your face from us, and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities.
Have we become the same? Have we focused on ourselves, our safety, deeds, abilities, and others’ deeds/abilities more so than the Lord’s work and Word? Have we trusted more in the leaders and rulers the Lord has placed over us more than we have trusted in the Lord Himself? Have we begun to trust more in things of this world than the Lord Himself? Have called upon the names of our leaders and rulers over the Name of the Lord? Have our good intentions resulted in not so good outcomes? Has our quest for stewardship over our physical bodies that the Lord gave to us resulted in destroying our spiritual bodies? Is there anyone who calls upon the Lord’s name and rouses themselves to take hold of Him?
In the last couple of months, Christians are opting to neglect gathering together in person, slowly losing connection with the public hearing of God’s Word to gather together around Facebook posts and the governors’ latest word. Rather than receiving God’s Word as comfort, the only comfort sought is the word that comes from news outlets. Hope rooted in the Lord has shifted toward hope rooted in community groups and buzzwords.
For example, I recently saw a Facebook post shared on a public community page, not associated with any church, which encouraged individuals to stand on their front porches at 6 pm Christmas Eve and ring a bell for two minutes “to spread Christmas spirit and help Santa fly his sleigh” with the intention to “end 2020 with a bit of magic, hope, and togetherness”. While the act is relatively harmless and indeed enchanting, I am positive it means nothing in the grand scheme of life other than receiving “a nice warm feeling.”
Before I get destroyed down in the comment section for being too cynical. Consider how many Christians might adopt this idea and participate while neglecting true hope and togetherness gathering together at church provides. There is no more profound or meaningful gathering together than gathering God’s saints together in prayer as one accord, as the body of Christ on earth.
Now there is the added variable that we are currently in the midst of a global pandemic but isn’t our Lord bigger than such a thing? We should fear and love God alone, for He alone has created and has power over this world. (Genesis 1, Matt. 8:23-27, Luke 8:22-25, Mark 4:35-4, Matt. chapter 8, Matt. 9, Mark 2, among numerous references.) So we find ourselves steeped in depression, fear, and anxiety over all the atrocities that we are currently facing in this world, looking on towards our leaders and rulers, yet always finding a new excuse to refrain from the Lord’s Word. So comfortable we forget all the things that the Lord has done, and we rely upon our actions to lift us out of this situation of depression, sickness, pandemic, etc.
Maybe it’s time to call upon the name of the Lord. Just like the people of Isaiah’s day had gone astray, falling to the Assyrians and soon to the Babylonians, cried to the Lord lamentations and rebukes, we too cry out in rebuke, retorts, and reviling; lamenting before the Lord while neglecting to call upon His name. There is no one who calls upon Your name, who rouses himself to take hold of You… ‘Why do you stay far away from us Lord in our time of need?… because no one calls upon My name.’
While safety is a concern, especially for those who have specific medical conditions that complicate infections, isn’t now more than ever the most crucial time to call upon the Name of the Lord? Now is the time to call upon the Name of the Lord in hope and togetherness through prayer and comfort found in His Word and His Son’s body and blood. Have we become puffed up in pride concerning our deeds during the pandemic? Have we succumbed to the virtue signaling of safety and the safety for others, all the while neglecting and destroying our own and our neighbor’s spiritual safety, health, and bodies?
For perspective, the Prophet Isaiah gives us an apparent, explicit, and vivid detail of those who trust in themselves, their abilities, their accomplishments to vindicate or save them in Isaiah 64:6. We have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. Trusting in our abilities, no matter how virtuous they might be in the eyes of our peers, gains nothing in the eyes of the Lord. Therefore, we fear and love God, above all things. We are not fearful of those things that can only harm us physically. Romans 8:38-39 While we diligently wait for a vaccine, trusting in those whom the Lord has given specific skills and medical abilities as well as adhering to our governmental leaders, we continually call upon the Name of the Lord and rouse ourselves to take hold of Him above all things.
We are the clay, and You are our potter; we are all the work of Your hand. (Isaiah 64:8) We are only clay, fragile, and chipped. Therefore, whose trust, whose guidance, in whose hands would we rather be? The hands of those who are but clay, the same as us, or the hands of the potter who breathed into us life and salvation? The Lord is not far away. He is where He has promised to be all along. Have we been calling His name and seeking after Him where He has promised to be? (Lord’s Supper, believers gathering together as His body on earth, and in His Word?) If so, let us continue to do so, with the help of the Holy Spirit.
Bibliography
Isaiah 64:1-9 Holy Bible English Standard Version. Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Bible Gateway, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+64%3A1-9&version=ESV. Accessed 27 11 2020.
“Looking Forward to Sunday Morning (3 Year Lectionary): The First Sunday in Advent – Dr. Carl Fickenscher, 11/26/20.” Issues, Etc., Lutheran Public Radio, 26 11 2020, https://issuesetc.org/2020/11/25/3312-looking-forward-to-sunday-morning-3-year-lectionary-the-first-sunday-in-advent-dr-carl-fickenscher-11-26-20/.
Mark 13:24-37 Holy Bible English Standard Version. Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Bible Gateway, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+13%3A24-37&version=ESV. Accessed 27 11 2020.
1 Corinthians 1:3-9 Holy Bible English Standard Version. Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Bible Gateway, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+1%3A3-9&version=ESV. Accessed 27 11 2020.