Proper 24 - October 17, 2010

Genesis 32:22-31

            I find the Genesis stories fascinating because of their shadowy character - there’s a lot that’s left open to interpretation.  As in, why does God like Jacob, exactly?  He’s devious (see 25:29-33; 27:1-29; 30:25-43); he’s always in conflict (even fighting with Esau in the womb!).  At the same time, he seems to recognize when he’s been in God’s presence (28:10-22; 32:30).  And the “fight” in him seems to be part of what God likes, since the new name he gets in this text denotes his “striving” with God and other people.  Another hazy part of today’s text is this “man” that Jacob wrestles – who is he, exactly?  He’s described as a “man,” but Jacob understands that it’s God.  Why is that?  It reminds me somewhat of the story of the “three men” who appear to Abraham and Sarah in Genesis 18, except in that story we’re told from the beginning that it’s/they’re really “the Lord.”  

            So this “man” finds Jacob and grabs him, and they wrestle all night.  The word for “wrestle” is apparently a play on “Jacob” (and maybe also “Jabbok,” the river where it happens).  Anyway, Jacob is not letting go, so finally his sparring partner has to resort to an unfair move, giving Jacob a mean charley-horse.  He says, “Let me go, for the day is breaking” -- I suppose God doesn’t especially want to be seen.  But Jacob refuses to let go until he gets a blessing.   Before any blessing, though, he receives a new name: “Israel,” meaning something like “strives with God” or “God strives.”  Jacob asks the other’s name, but instead of a straight answer he now gets his blessing.  I’m reminded that naming denotes power – think Adam naming the animals.  So here, the power relationship between Jacob and God is reestablished: Jacob can wrestle with God, refusing to let go even when he’s been hurt; but God has the power to know and shape and define Jacob’s very identity.  At the end of the story Jacob knows he’s been face-to-face (hand-to-hand?) with God; he’s even got the limp to prove it.

Psalm 121

            This is one of the psalms of “ascent,” psalms for praying while on pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem (cue Track 2 from REM’s “Murmur”).  The images remind of dangers on the road, and it ends with a promise that God is with us in all our goings-out and comings-in.  This psalm reminds me that God is with us on our pilgrimage through life, in the pilgrimage of the church’s life, in our weekly congregational life of worship and meetings and caring for each other and service, even in our daily going out to work and coming in at the end of the day.  Thanks be to God.

2 Timothy 3:14-4:5

            Just a very few quick observations on this one.  In the first couple of verses, the author reminds his protégée how he has been shaped by his faith through his years.  He observes that the same scriptures that have shaped him are able to prepare us all for our pilgrimage of faith (ala Psalm 121).  Then he urges his protégée to “be persistent” and to “endure suffering” – which reminds me of Jacob-style wrestling with God.  Finally, I notice that the author urges persistence and endurance “in view of [Christ’s] appearing and his kingdom.”  In other words, we can endure not just because we understand that God is “with us”, but because of our faith in God’s final victory, that God’s kingdom is on the way!

Luke 18:1-8

           

            This is the Lectionary text that caused one of our seminary professors, Richard Hays, to proclaim in a div. school worship service that “Bible translators are spineless weenies.”  It was awesome.  And I’ll get to the reason in a bit. 

The first verse of this text frustrates me because Luke tells us up front what he thinks the parable means.  It’s like explaining a joke - “see, it’s funny because…” and suddenly it’s not nearly as funny anymore.  I like my parables straight up, with all the strangeness intact.  Oh well.  The parable itself is wonderful – simple, entertaining, and powerful.  There are two characters, a judge and a widow.  Perfect: a judge suggests power and authority; a widow, vulnerability and limited means.  The Law had special regard for widows because of their vulnerability (see, e.g. Deuteronomy 10:17-18).  Problem here is, this judge didn’t fear God or respect people, so he was apt to rule unjustly.  Taking matters into her own hands, the widow (apparently involved in some kind of legal dispute) kept coming to the judge over and over demanding that he rule in her favor.  (A risky move to my mind, as (1) judges get tired of seeing the same person over and over in court, and (2) they really don’t like somebody coming to them outside court about a case.)  Anyway, so the story goes, neither the widow’s legal arguments nor any regard for the Law has any effect on the judge, but her pure persistence convinces him to do what she asks.  In short, he actually becomes frightened of her, and this is the part that got Prof. Hays.  The NRSV translates verse 18 as “I will grant her justice so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.”  But if you check out the footnote, that part of the verse literally says, “so that she may not finally come and slap me in the face.”  You’ve got to admit, it is much juicier – it suggests to me that she was more upset every time she came, and the judge finally just gave in because he didn’t want to know what the next time would be like.

Jesus’ point?  If this judge, who didn’t have a just bone in his body, could respond favorably to the widow’s repeated pleas, how much more will our just and loving God respond to our prayers for justice! 

I have to admit, verse 8 tripped me up at first: after this nice parable about prayer, Jesus raises doubts about our faith?  But then I pulled back and looked at the context of this parable – Jesus has just given some stern warnings about needing to stay watchful for the fulfillment of God’s kingdom (17:20-37).  So Jesus isn’t talking here about just any prayer; he’s talking about eschatological prayer, “Thy kingdom come.”  He’s talking about praying for God’s kingdom of justice to finally overtake and supplant the injustice of our world.  He’s talking about prayers for justice for the outsiders (see 14:13), the poor (16:19-31), and the vulnerable (e.g., widows).  So with that in mind, Jesus’ pointed question at the end of the text makes sense.

Works Consulted

Joel Rosenberg’s notes to Genesis, and David Tiede’s notes to Luke in the HarperCollins Study Bible

Harper’s Bible Dictionary