The Collect Proper 8 Almighty God, you have built your Church upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone: Grant us so to be joined together in unity of spirit by their teaching, that we may be made a holy temple acceptable to you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. The Collect Proper 8 The first section seems to be an introduction for the main theme which is unity. The lessons for each of the three-year cycle address this concept from different angles. In RCL A, the unity theme in Genesis is the story of Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son. A point of unity on a global scale in that this incident is important to Christianity, Judaism and Islam. The Gospel from Matthew in RCL A features unity as in the welcome of Jesus is a welcome of the Father. In RCL B as related in 2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27 David’s unity with Jonathan the son of Saul after their death in battle. The reading from Corinthians concerns Paul’s collection from Corinth for the church at Jerusalem, a show of practical unity. In RCL C, the theme of unity is best shown For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." The prayer for unity is simple, obviously needed, and devilishly difficult to actually achieve. Theme The collect uses Unity as its theme as will the Collect next week. The readings are all expositions on faith and the result of faith. Genesis 22:1-14 God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." He said, "Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you." 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. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place far away. 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.” Genesis 22:1-14 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. 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?" Abraham said, "God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son." So the two of them walked on together. 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. Genesis 22:1-14 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his son. But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven, and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." 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." 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. 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." Context Since last week we have moved along in Genesis. This story is now in Abraham’s family history section and we are past the universal history. Abraham who bargained with God to save the cities on the plain. The consecration of the firstborn. Exodus 13:1-6 According to ancient belief, the devotion of the firstborn of humans and of beasts to God, the giver of fertility, was necessary for continuing increase and well-being. In this context – The sacrifice of the first born was an ancient fertility rite. In early times the concept developed allowing substitution of a lamb for the first born human child. Text The testing of Abraham. In its oldest form this story was told to show that the Deity surrendered a claim upon the life of the firstborn and provided an animal for a substitute . In its present context the story portrays another threat to the divine promise: God asks Abraham to sacrifice his only heir, the child of the promise, in whom the people's future would be realized, a trial to see whether he would obey in faith. Abraham and the Christian Church The Christian Church has always recognized in Abraham its spiritual ancestor on account of his faith, a concept worked out by St. Paul. The Early Church Fathers also looked to his obedience in leaving his homeland at God’s call. St. Augustine compared it to the following of the Word practiced by the Apostles. Abraham and the Christian Church His sacrifice in today’s reading particularly furnished the early Church with a model of perfect submission to the will of God in the severest trials. It came to prefigure the death of Christ, Many have drawn out further similarities: 1. the ram that is killed signifies the humanity of Jesus, and 2. Isaac who remains alive the Divinity of the Jesus. Unity The event is a prime event for Jews, Christians and Islam. The same event is featured in the Quran or Koran, with slightly different details. In the Quran (Surah 37, As-Saffat), the son to be sacrificed is traditionally identified as Ishmael (Ismail), not Isaac. It could be a point of unity. Abraham and Isaac in Art Filippo Brunelleschi, The Sacrifice of Isaac, 1401
Lorenzo Ghiberti, The Sacrifice of Isaac, 1401
Bronze reliefs, Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence These are competition pieces produced to see which artist would have the commission to do a new set of bronze doors for the Florence Baptistry. It came down to Brunnelleschi and Ghiberti; the commissioners tried to have them work together but neither was interested. Ghiberti won; Brunnelleschi left Florence to study Roman ruins and eventually returned to figure out how to put a dome over Florence Cathedral. Ghiberti, First Set of Doors, 1402-25 Lorenzo Ghiberti, The Story of Abraham, 1425-52
Gilded bronze, 79 x 79 cm, Baptistry, Florence Ghiberti, Second Set of Doors, 1425-52 Caravaggio, The Sacrifice of Isaac, 1601-02
Oil on canvas, 104 x 135 cm, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, The Sacrifice of Isaac, 1726-29
Fresco, 4000 x 5000 cm, Palazzo Patriarcale, Udine Psalm 13 Usquequo, Domine? 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; Psalm 13 Usquequo, Domine? 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 13 Usquequo, Domine? A Prayer for deliverance from personal enemies in the form of a lament. The psalmist lays out his complaint, followed by an expression of trust and a vow. In this case the promise is to sing praises. Jeremiah 28:5-9 The prophet Jeremiah spoke to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests and all the people who were standing in the house of the LORD; and the prophet Jeremiah 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. Jeremiah 28:5-9 But listen now to this word that I speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people. The prophets who preceded you and me from ancient times prophesied war, famine, and pestilence against many countries and great kingdoms. 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." The final omitted part 10 Then the prophet Hananiah took the yoke from the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, and broke it. 11 And Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, “Thus says the Lord: This is how I will break the yoke of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon from the neck of all the nations within two years.” At this, the prophet Jeremiah went his way. Jeremiah and Hananiah - Context In August 594 BC, Hananiah faced Jeremiah in the temple and predicted total restoration within two years, breaking Jeremiah’s yoke to emphasize his point. Jeremiah recalled that their predecessors had predicted chastisement in contrast. Hananiah’s promise, though attractive and accepted, seems very doubtful to us – BUT WE KNOW IT AS WRONG. Later Jeremiah used the symbolism of an iron yoke to emphasize that the Exile would continue . JEREMIAH prophet of Judah Born in 650 BC and died after 587 BC. After the period of reform under Josiah who died in battle at Megiddo in 608 BC. Then after the fall of Nineveh in 606 the prophet called for submission to Babylon, but the kings resisted. The people fell back into idolatry 607-597 and Jeremiah started to proclaim the coming destruction. There was some hope in 597, but a new King rejected it and Judah continued to side with Egypt against Babylon. The result was disaster and exile. Psalm 89:1-4,15-18 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.'" Psalm 89:1-4,15-18 Misericordias Domini 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. Psalm 89:1-4,15-18 Misericordias DominiThe Psalm is entitled “God’s Covenant with David A Maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite. The entire Psalm is 48 verses long. This is described as the End of Book III of the Five Books of the Psalter into which the Psalter was divided in imitation of the Pentateuch. The end of each is a doxology or Amen. Peter and Paul (short version)
Feast Day: June 29 Catacomb picture of Peter and Paul with the Chi-Rho symbol between them. Gravestone for the boy Asellus, 4th or 5th C.
Marble catacomb inscription, Pio Cristiano: Vatican Museum Monogrammist M (Netherlandish),
St Peter and St Paul holding the sudarium, 1500-25
Engraving with hand-colour, 83 x 60 mm, British Museum Hans Holbein, the Younger,
New Testament Title-plate with St Peter and St Paul, 1523
Woodcut, 24,3 x 16,6 cm
Kupferstichkabinett, Öffentliche Kunstsammlung, Basle Romans 6:12-23 Do not let sin exercise dominion in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. 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. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Romans 6:12-23 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? 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, and that you, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms because of your natural limitations. Romans 6:12-23 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. When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. So what advantage did you then get from the things of which you now are ashamed? The end of those things is death. But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the advantage you get is sanctification. The end is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Slaves Paul draws an analogy from slavery. Sinners are sin's slaves; but if they become God's slaves, how can they any longer obey their former master? Sanctification is the result of righteousness / justification. One in gratitude, should follow God’s lead and not that of sin. The larger argument of Paul St. Paul argues to rebut the objection that in undeserved Grace we might as well continue in sin so that grace might abound. He argues that Baptism effects a change in character and is a death to sin and a sharing in Christ's death and resurrection. As in a transfer, as of a slave, to a new ownership, viz, from sin to righteousness, or Like the death of a spouse, the end of one marriage-bond and the beginning of another. PROTESTANTISM The characteristics of original Protestantism are: The system of Christian faith and practice based on acceptance of the principles of the Reformation. FAITH the Christian faith - Objective Found in the Creeds, In the definitions of accredited Councils. In the teachings of the saints, and, above all, in the revelation contained in the Bible. the Christian faith - Subjective Faith as in the three virtues of St. Paul ‘faith’ 'hope' and 'love' Faith is the human response to Divine truth of the Gospels which is the childlike and trusting acceptance of God’s kingdom. Trust in God. Denominational twist Luther Luther's teaching on Justification by 'Faith Alone' stressed that the only voluntary part of faith was trust the rest was from God. Later Lutheran theologians: Knowledge Assent , and Trust. Anglican -Thirty-Nine Articles Agree on Justification by Faith only Art. XI and denying merit to works done before justification Art. XIII guards against ascribing virtue to human effort apart from divine grace and assert that good works are the fruit of faith not the cause. Matthew 10:40-42 Jesus said, "Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 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; 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." Context Today’s reading seems in contrast to the ‘commissioning of the Disciples in Proper 7 and the steep price, even though this is the next verse. This reading is a positive statement about the rewards for kindness. Note the same reward for welcoming a Disciple, a prophet, a righteous person and just one of the crowd. Similar to the Parable of laborers…. The Way In the course of a few verses the ‘requirement’ for followers has gone from choosing God and rejection of family to simply giving a cup of cold water to another. Is this a description of the world without and then with grace.
