Reflections on the Lectionary for July 2007 Moving Toward Jersusalem By Rev. Dr. Keith A. Russell

It is always a challenge to preach during the month of July. The lazy days of summer make worship attendance sporadic and it is easy for the preacher to decide that not much can really happen in summer. Summer is often regarded as a necessary gap between Pentecost and Advent. Hence, the preacher might be tempted to think that his or her task is just to fill in between the “really” important liturgical seasons.

The lectionary readings for July do, however, provide an interesting opportunity to overcome summer doldrums and focus on a particular theme. The gospel readings are from the section of Luke’s Gospel in which Jesus makes a dramatic turn toward going to Jerusalem, a turn toward his own death. The Lukan lessons for the month are found in this longer section (9:51–19:28) on the journey to Jerusalem. Jesus’ turn toward Jerusalem is a major transition in the Lukan narrative and is not so much a geographical journey as it is an editorial structure created by Luke to examine the mission of the Jesus movement. This is material peculiar to Luke, and each reading has ecclesiological implications not only for the early church but for us as well.

The readings from Luke are surrounded by readings from the prophets and the pastoral epistles. The readings from the Hebrew Bible present the ascension of Elijah (2 Kings 2:1–2, 6–14), Elisha’s healing of Naaman (2 Kings 5:1–14), two judgment oracles from Amos (7:7–17; 8:1–12), and Hosea’s marriage to Gomer (Hos 1:2–10). Each of these readings can be treated from an ecclesiological perspective in dialogue with the gospel readings. Each of them deals with the mission of God’s people from a variety of perspectives and with the judgment that results from unfaithfulness on the part of God’s people.

The readings from the pastoral epistles all attend to the meaning of life in Christ but do so in the context of the church. How is the church to act in order to be prepared for the mission of the new life now available through the Christ event? The readings from Galatians and Colossians concern the quality of this new life in the church. To be ready for a new mission, the church must be a new humanity. The tension that exists between the old humanity and the emerging new humanity is a theme of all these readings.

With this introduction in mind, I will give attention to each of the readings for the month of July. A focus on mission might be a helpful way to organize summer preaching and challenge some new thinking about our ongoing challenge to be a people with a mission. As Jesus makes the turn toward Jerusalem, attention is given not only to his death but also to the implications of obedience for the life and work of the church. Perhaps this July will be an opportunity to deepen the conversation about what kind of new humanity we would like to become as we ponder the challenges of our contemporary mission.

July 1, 2007
2 Kings 2:1–2, 6–14; Gal 5:1, 13–25; Lk 9:51–62

The gospel reading is the beginning of Luke’s turn toward Jerusalem. It begins with Jesus being rejected by a Samaritan village. While the disciples want to punish the village, Jesus does not, and moves on to another village. Along the way to the next village there are a series of teachings about following Jesus. The summary is that there can be no excuse for not following him when invited. Following after Jesus is more important than burying the dead or bidding farewell to loved ones. Jesus says, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” (9:62)
This first reading establishes an eschatological urgency about following Jesus. How do we interpret this kind of saying in our context? Often a saying like this is presented in such a way as to produce guilt for not being a better disciple. Are there ways to get at the urgency of the call without inducing a guilt trip? What is urgent about Jesus’ mission today? How do we talk about it?

The reading from 2 Kings is the story of the ascension of Elijah and the passing of the prophetic mantle to Elisha. How this story relates to the gospel lesson is a question. We might want to look at the two passages’ linkage as the prophetic tradition passing from Elijah to Jesus. Part of the mission of the Jesus movement is the prophetic message of Elijah and Jesus.
Paul’s letter to the Galatians presents the struggle between law and freedom, the spirit and the flesh. One of the built-in tensions of the Jesus movement is how to reconcile law and freedom. How do we live according to the Spirit? How does a new humanity emerge in the body of Christ?

July 8, 2007
2 Kings 5:1–14; Gal 6: (1–6), 7–16; Lk 10:1–11, 16–20

The Lukan reading is the sending of seventy disciples with the instruction to “carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road.” (10:4) There is the assumption of radical hospitality. Disciples are to go out with the expectation that they will be received and cared for by the households of faith. The presence of the reign of God produces hospitality. Perhaps radical hospitality is a sign of the reign of God. However it works, the instructions that Jesus gives are clear. The disciples are to take nothing, stay where they are welcomed, cure the sick, and announce that the “the kingdom of God has come near to you.” If not received or welcomed, they are to announce judgment by saying that “the kingdom of God has come near.”

In Luke’s Gospel the appointment of the seventy is clearly a mission strategy. Even as Jesus turns toward death in Jerusalem, the focus is on how the new movement takes hold, grows, and works. A mission strategy is part of the foreshadowing of death and resurrection. The urgency of the reign of God requires a decision — acceptance or rejection.
The passage from 2 Kings is the story of Elisha’s healing of Naaman. A foreigner is healed both to show God’s power and that his concern for the neighbor extends beyond Israel.

Galatians deals with the theme of the prior week as it centers on Christian conduct. Again the tension between law and freedom is stressed with the emphasis being put on life in the Spirit which is made possible by Jesus’ death. How men and women are to live in this new humanity was a significant challenge in the first century as it continues to be in the twenty-first century. How do we deal with our own tension between law and freedom? How do we talk about Christian living? Perhaps one perspective on the conversation is to link the radical hospitality of Luke with the call that Paul issues in Galatians. What would hospitality to the stranger look like for our churches? How can it be more than having a coffee hour at the end of worship? Can the church practice hospitality to the homeless, to immigrants, to others?

July 15, 2007
Amos 7:7–17; Col 1:1–14; Lk 10:25–37

Luke’s reading is the familiar story of the Good Samaritan. This lesson speaks to a theme that runs throughout Luke: that the meaning of new life in Christ is linked to the love of neighbor. The neighbor is not simply the one whom you know or love, but the one who is in need. Hence, Jesus tells this story of the man who fell among robbers and who was attended to by a Samaritan. As Jesus turns toward Jerusalem, the focus on the love for neighbor does not diminish. Love for neighbor is one of the signs that the reign of God is near. The church is likewise to practice “neighbor love.” Radical hospitality and radical love are marks of the reign of God.

How do we talk about such love in today’s church? My focus is not on making people feel bad for what they are not doing, but on focusing offering a new vision of what we might do. We need encouragement to dream new dreams and have new vision. Colossians 1 is a word of encouragement that stresses thanksgiving and forgiveness. Perhaps we need such an epistle addressed to us today about love and hospitality.

The reading from the prophet Amos is a dialogue between Amaziah, the court prophet, and Amos, the shepherd prophet. We do have a struggle today among prophets. The prosperity prophets talk not about loving our neighbor but about rewards for faithfulness. How do we address these false leaders who cheapen the Gospel and deny the need for both radical love and radical hospitality extended to the neighbor?

July 22, 2007
Amos 8:1–12; Col 1:15–28; Lk 10:38–42

The story of Jesus, Mary, and Martha is the Lukan reading. However sorry one may feel for Martha, the focus on the importance of women as disciples is a consistent theme in Luke. The emphasis upon women that we find in Luke and Acts speaks powerfully to developing leadership in both the first- and the twenty-first-century church. With sexism raising its ugly head in so many churches, the focus on the primacy of women in the gospel strategy cannot be overemphasized.
The Amos text underlines again the importance of caring for the neighbor and makes clear the judgment that comes when neglect of the poor is practiced. A consistent theme of prophetic readings is the need to care for the poor, the widow, the orphan, and the stranger.

The Colossians reading is a Christological reflection. The focus is on how a new humanity is possible because of what God has done in Christ. Because of Jesus’ death, there can be reconciliation in the church, and a new humanity can be created which witnesses to the power of God in Christ.

July 29, 2007
Hos 1:2–10; Col 2:6–15, (16–19); Lk 11:1–13

The texts for this Sunday are difficult to relate to one another. It is probably wiser to select one and stick with it. Luke’s version of the Lord’s Prayer is shared along with the importance of persistence in prayer. God will give good gifts. “Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.” (11:9) Note that in Luke the call is to forgive our debtors (“everyone indebted to us”), a word choice that is fully in keeping with Luke’s treatment of money. Forgiveness is both material and spiritual.

The Colossians reading is a continuation of the previous week’s Christological reflection. Here the death of Christ is linked to his resurrection, so that a believer is buried with Jesus in baptism but raised with him from the dead. Not only is Christ the Lord of the church, but he is also the Lord of life. Paul claims that Jesus “disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it.” (2:15) Believers are to hold fast to Christ and not follow the ways of the world.

The Hosea reading sets up a comparison between Israel as a whore and Hosea’s wife Gomer. Clearly there is a focus on judgment for disobedience.

A Final Thought

The journey toward Jerusalem as outlined by Luke does give an organizational frame for preaching during the month of July. With an emphasis on ecclesiology, the preacher may use this month to refresh and deepen his or her own thinking about the mission of the church and map out new plans for the year to come.