Augt 7, Is. 1:10-20, Heb. 11:1-3, 8-16, LK. 12:22-34
Is. 1, Heb. 11, Lk. 12:32 let us reason together- worship without justice-wearying God.YHWH charges the children of Israel with rebelling against the Divine Parent’s loving care and instruction Justice:: everything is fair, even, balanced. Isaiah points out that doing justice is a grateful response of a people for whom God has already done much.God is fed up with worship that does not show itself i beyond Sabbath worship. A generation of preachers drew the wrong lesson from this passage. They saw the passage as de-emphasizing worship. No, no, no. God is asking us to walk the talk. God want everyday life to reflect what we do in worship. In worship we receive God's vision for our relationships with each other and with God. We act our worship every day, if we are being faithful to our worship goals and vision.
Heb. 11:1-3 This shows a discouraged people that other generations, who had every opportunity to be discouraged as well, kept the faith, kept on the road, kept on keeping on. They persevered. Faith could be called fidelity to God and each other to get away from its sense of an affirmation of faith as doctrinal checklists. Faith, rather than being something ultimately dependent upon us, comes to us at God’s own initiative which, mediated by God’s Word (cf. 1:2), engenders a hope-filled response to the promises of God. This response of trust in God makes “visible” -- through the lives of the assembly of believers -- what otherwise would remain “invisible.” In other words, one who trusts God’s promises is God’s own witness to the new creation that is breaking into our “everyday” visible world through the gospel of Christ Jesus. Here “resurrection,” is not only a source of such faith, but provides a template, a pattern. .
In faith (as in resurrection) God calls new life out of that which is “as good as dead” (verse 12; cf. Rom 4:17b). The gift of faith is God’s work that witnesses to that very God who “is able even to raise someone from the dead” (11:19). In short, God’s invisible work of new creation becomes visible (incarnate) in the life of the one who trusts God. Faith is ‘substance’ (hypostasis; in Latin, substantia) of things hoped for, the ‘proof’ of things not seen.”
I think we made a mistake with the lectionary linking two disparate passages. We are better off hearing, again, what precedes the start of our passage. Luke uncertainty and possessions heart and treasure-You can tell where your treasure is when it gets difficult to reason together. When emotion starts to flood your thinking, then you know that you are in the thrall to a priority. Jesus does draw a distinction from last week in being rich toward God and rich in possessions.To God we matter so much more than possessions or other lements of creation.We don;t add an inch to the length of our lives with worry.For Luke anxiety ahs a sense of big up in the air. Yes, life is evanescent, but God has a long view for us, one that includes moving into the heavenly world of god.Possessions are ways for us to have a sense of security. Jesis says do not worry; do not be anxious. Peter Steinke in "Congregational Leadership in Anxious Times" quotes Henri Nouwen, "The more you feel safe as a child of God, the freer you will be to claim your mission in the world as a responsible human being." Knowing we are safe in our Father's flock, how will we claim our mission in the world?
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