28 Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyon, c. 202 was a Greek bishop noted for his role in guiding and expanding Christian communities in what is now the south of France and, more widely, for the development of Christian theology by combating heresy and defining orthodoxy. Originating from Smyrna, now Izmir in Turkey, he had seen and heard the preaching of Polycarp,[3] the last known living connection with the Apostles, who in turn was said to have heard John the Evangelist.[4]
29 Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Apostles
July
1 Harriet Beecher Stowe, Writer and Prophetic Witness, 1896 and Pauli Murray, Lawyer, Poet, Author, Activist, Priest (First African-American Woman ordained in Episcopal Church), 1985
2 Walter Rauschenbusch, 1918, was an American theologian and Baptist pastor who taught at the Rochester Theological Seminary. Rauschenbusch was a key figure in the Social Gospel and single tax movements that flourished in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was also the maternal grandfather of the influential philosopher Richard Rorty[13][14] and the great-grandfather of Paul Raushenbush.[15]          Washington Gladden, 1918, and Jacob Riis, 1914, Prophetic Witnesses
4 Independence Day



OLD TESTAMENT: Genesis 22: 1 - 14 (RCL)

Gene 22:1 (NRSV) After these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." 2 He said, "Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Mori'ah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you." 3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac; he cut the wood for the burnt offering, and set out and went to the place in the distance that God had shown him. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place far away. 5 Then Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey; the boy and I will go over there; we will worship, and then we will come back to you." 6 Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. 7 Isaac said to his father Abraham, "Father!" And he said, "Here I am, my son." He said, "The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?" 8 Abraham said, "God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son." So the two of them walked on together.
9 When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. He bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his son. 11 But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven, and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." 12 He said, "Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me." 13 And Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place "The LORD will provide"; as it is said to this day, "On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided."


2 Kings 4: 8 - 11, 14 - 16a   (Roman Catholic)

2Kin 4:8 (NRSV) One day Eli'sha was passing through Shu'nem, where a wealthy woman lived, who urged him to have a meal. So whenever he passed that way, he would stop there for a meal. 9 She said to her husband, "Look, I am sure that this man who regularly passes our way is a holy man of God. 10 Let us make a small roof chamber with walls, and put there for him a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp, so that he can stay there whenever he comes to us."
11 One day when he came there, he went up to the chamber and lay down there.
14 [Later Elisha asked,] "What then may be done for her?" Geha'zi answered, "Well, she has no son, and her husband is old." 15 He said, "Call her." When he had called her, she stood at the door. 16 He said, "At this season, in due time, you shall embrace a son."


Jeremiah 28: 5 - 9 (alt. for RCL)

Jere 28:5 (NRSV) Then the prophet Jeremi'ah spoke to the prophet Hanani'ah in the presence of the priests and all the people who were standing in the house of the LORD; 6 and the prophet Jeremi'ah said, "Amen! May the LORD do so; may the LORD fulfill the words that you have prophesied, and bring back to this place from Babylon the vessels of the house of the LORD, and all the exiles. 7 But listen now to this word that I speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people. 8 The prophets who preceded you and me from ancient times prophesied war, famine, and pestilence against many countries and great kingdoms. 9 As for the prophet who prophesies peace, when the word of that prophet comes true, then it will be known that the LORD has truly sent the prophet."


PSALM 13 (RCL)

Psal 13:1 (NRSV) How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I bear pain in my soul,
and have sorrow in my heart all day long?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
3 Consider and answer me, O LORD my God!
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death,
4 and my enemy will say, "I have prevailed";
my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.
5 But I trusted in your steadfast love;
my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
6 I will sing to the LORD,
because he has dealt bountifully with me.


13   Usquequo, Domine?   (ECUSA BCP)

1  How long, O Lord?
will you forget me for ever? *
  how long will you hide your face from me?


2  How long shall I have perplexity in my mind,
and grief in my heart, day after day? *
  how long shall my enemy triumph over me?

3  Look upon me and answer me, O Lord my God; *
  give light to my eyes, lest I sleep in death;

4  Lest my enemy say, "I have prevailed over him," *
  and my foes rejoice that I have fallen.

5  But I put my trust in your mercy; *
  my heart is joyful because of your saving help.

6  I will sing to the Lord, for he has dealt with me richly; *
  I will praise the Name of the Lord Most High.


Psalm 89: 1 - 4, 15 - 18 (alt. for RCL)
Psalm 89: 1 - 2, 15 - 18 (Roman Catholic)

Psal 89:1 (NRSV) I will sing of your steadfast love, O LORD, forever;
with my mouth I will proclaim your faithfulness to all generations.
2 I declare that your steadfast love is established forever;
your faithfulness is as firm as the heavens.
3 You said, "I have made a covenant with my chosen one,
I have sworn to my servant David:
4 "I will establish your descendants forever,
and build your throne for all generations.'" [Se'lah]
5 Let the heavens praise your wonders, O LORD,
your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones.

15 Happy are the people who know the festal shout,
who walk, O LORD, in the light of your countenance;
16 they exult in your name all day long,
and extol your righteousness.
17 For you are the glory of their strength;
by your favor our horn is exalted.
18 For our shield belongs to the LORD,
our king to the Holy One of Israel.

Note: Verse numbering in Roman Catholic bibles is one higher than the above.


89   (ECUSA BCP)

Part I   Misericordias Domini

1  Your love, O Lord, for ever will I sing; *
  from age to age my mouth will proclaim your faithfulness.

2  For I am persuaded that your love is established for ever; *
  you have set your faithfulness firmly in the heavens.

3  "I have made a covenant with my chosen one; *
  I have sworn an oath to David my servant:

4  'I will establish your line for ever, *
  and preserve your throne for all generations.'"


15  Happy are the people who know the festal shout! *
  they walk, O Lord, in the light of your presence.

16  They rejoice daily in your Name; *
  they are jubilant in your righteousness.

17  For you are the glory of their strength, *
  and by your favor our might is exalted.

18  Truly, the Lord is our ruler; *
  The Holy One of Israel is our King.



NEW TESTAMENT: Romans 6: 12 - 23 (RCL)

Roma 6:12 (NRSV) Therefore, do not let sin exercise dominion in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. 13 No longer present your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and present your members to God as instruments of righteousness. 14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
15 What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that you, having once been slaves of sin, have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted, 18 and that you, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. 19 I am speaking in human terms because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to greater and greater iniquity, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness for sanctification.
20 When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 So what advantage did you then get from the things of which you now are ashamed? The end of those things is death. 22 But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the advantage you get is sanctification. The end is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.


Paul has told his readers that baptism has changed their way of being from one in which God responded to their continual contravention of the Law by loving them more to one in which sin is no more. But freedom from sin is not yet definitive: they can still be tempted and can succumb to the “passions” of their “bodies”. So take care to avoid using any of your faculties and functions (“members”, v. 13) to advance the cause of evil, but rather work actively to advance God’s benevolence (“righteousness”). At the end of time, sin will not be your master, and you will fully live the baptised life, “under grace” (v. 14), in God’s free gift of love. In v. 15 Paul asks again the rhetorical question he posed in v. 1: are we now free to behave as we like, no longer being subject to the Law?; he again answers no!.

He now uses the analogy of slavery (or servanthood) to explain the two ways of being. You cannot serve two masters (v. 16). If sin is your master, you will face spiritual (as well as physical) death; death will be final. However if you serve God, your end is oneness with him (“righteousness”). Through baptism you have ceased to be under sin ; you have committed yourselves willingly (“from the heart”, v. 17) to obedience to the gospel of Christ’s death and resurrection (“form of teaching ...”). You have attained Christian liberty and have become servants of God (v. 18). He explains a divine truth “in human terms” (v. 19).

In the old way, you were slaves to licentiousness and accumulation of sin (for only some sins could be forgiven); in the new way, you work towards “sanctification” (v. 19, consecration to God and dedication to him). Before conversion, you thought yourselves free from God’s demands (v. 20), but the end-point of that life was “death” (v. 21). In the new way, the goal (“end”, v. 22) is sharing in God himself, “eternal life”. Now v. 23: “wages” are regular, recurrent. In the old way, you regularly deserved spiritual “death”, but God’s gift is pro gratia , without expectation of repayment.

Verse 12: “sin”: For Paul, hamartia (sin) is that personified active force that came into human history through Adam, has reigned over human beings up to Jesus’ coming, and seeks to continue to reign. It can entice Christians too. [ NJBC]

Verse 12: “their passions”: In P46 (the oldest text of Romans) and elsewhere (notably in the writings of Irenaeus and Tertullian), the text is obey it, i.e. sin. The sense of the text is much the same. [ NJBC]

Verse 13: Paul uses a military figure: “instruments of wickedness” is literally weapons of wickedness and “instruments of righteousness” is literally arms of righteousness. “Wickedness” (iniquity) and “righteousness” are also contrasted in 1QS (*Qumran Rule of the Community) 3:20-21. There sedeq (uprightness) is closely linked to observance of the law, whereas for Paul it assumes all the connotations of the new Christian life. [ NJBC]

Verse 13: “instruments of righteousness”: Righteousness here is God’s act of grace towards the sinner that enables him or her to live in grace, i.e. to be no longer under the control of sin. Paul makes an allusion to Isaiah 11:5 (“Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins.”) and 59:17 (“He put on righteousness like a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head; he put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and wrapped himself in fury as in a mantle”). [ NJBC]

Verse 14: “will have”: NJBC considers the future tense here to express a categorical prohibition, so must is an appropriate translation.

Verses 16-22: “slaves”: Note that in 1:1 Paul calls himself (literally) a slave (Greek: doulos) of Christ. He uses the word as it was used in the Old Testament (strangely, the NRSV consistently translates the word as servant):

Certain persons called themselves slaves of Yahweh: see Psalms 27:9; 31:16; 89:50.
Slave was used to describe great figures who served Yahweh in the story leading to salvation (salvation history): Moses in 2 Kings 18:12; Joshua in Judges 2:8, and Abraham in Psalm 105:6.
Paul sees himself as being in the same lineage.

Verse 17: “form of teaching”: “Form” translates typos, a word which has two meanings: (1) a visible impression (of a stroke or a die), a mark, an image (as in our word typewriter), and (2) a compendious, terse, presentation of a topic. (It is so used in Plato’s Republic). Being coupled with didache (teaching) here, the latter sense seems more likely. So the reference seems to be to a succinct summary of faith which was “entrusted” to the newly baptised. [ NJBC]

Verse 18: “set free from sin”: The notion of Christian liberty is operative from this point on in Romans: in 8:2, Paul writes: “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death”. See also 7:3 and 8:21. [ NJBC]

Verse 19: “to impurity and to greater and greater iniquity”: Paul is probably not thinking of typical pagan vices, but rather the same forms of sin of which the Qumran community repudiated their members: see 1QS (Rule of the Community) 3:5; 4:10, 23-24. [ NJBC]

Verse 19: “sanctification”: In the sense in which Paul uses “saints” in 1:7: “To all God's beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints ...”. See also 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8. [ NOAB]

Verse 22: “eternal life”: i.e. God’s future, the world to come. The term “eternal life” is used infrequently by Paul but he does also use it in 2:7; 5:21; Galatians 6:8. [ NJBC]

Verse 23: “wages”: The Greek word literally means ration money, as paid to a soldier – a regular, recurrent payment. The idea is that the more one sinned, the more justification God had for cutting one off from him when one physically died. [ NJBC]

GOSPEL: Matthew 10: 40 - 42 (RCL)
                   Matthew 10: 37 - 42 (Roman Catholic)

Matt 10:37 (NRSV) Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38 and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.
40 "Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 41 Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet's reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; 42 and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple--truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward."

Our reading is Jesus’ final instructions to his disciples as he prepares them to continue his mission. Earlier he has told them that being his followers will, at times, be difficult: they will be persecuted. Now he tells them the nature of the authority they will have, and will hand on to future disciples.

Jewish law considered that one’s agent is like oneself. Jesus goes beyond this: to welcome a disciple is to welcome both him and the Father. Prophecy (v. 41) continues into the era of the risen Christ. If one “welcomes a prophet”, recognizing his office and actions (“name”), one will “receive a prophet’s reward”, i.e. a place in the Kingdom. A “righteous person” is probably a Christian. A person who welcomes him or her, recognizing what being a Christian means, will attain union with God. Then v. 42: one who, “in the name of a disciple” (and through him, of God), helps someone on the fringe of society (or the Church) even in a simple, kindly way will be rewarded in heaven.

Verse 40: Comments: Jewish law considered that one’s agent is like oneself.: See Mishna Berokot 5:5. [ NJBC]

Verse 41: There seem to have been some bad prophets in Matthew’s community: see 7:15-16 (“Beware of false prophets ...”) and 23:34. See also Didache 11:3-6. [ NJBC]

Verse 41: “righteous person”: Scholarly opinions vary regarding to whom this is a reference. One scholar suggests that it is a person who has suffered persecution for the faith and remains in the community as an honoured witness. [ NJBC]

Verse 42: “little ones”: Jesus calls his disciples “children” in Mark 10:24 and refers to them as “infants” in Matthew 11:25. So an interpretation (which may be different from that given in Comments ) is that Jesus is referring here to those who have started the journey to understanding God’s ways but have a long way to go. See also 18:6, 10, 14 where Jesus also refers to “little ones”. Clearly, “little ones” are very important to God. [ NJBC]

Verse 42: “their”: This is a gender-neutral way of saying his or her or one’s. The reference is to the person who gives to the “little ones”.

© 1996-2020 Chris Haslam