The book of the prophet Joel addressed a message of hope to an Israelite people who had experienced devastation by locusts and drought. For those who survived as subsistence, shallow plow farmers, anything that affected crop production \u2013 floods, insects, lack of rain, etc. \u2013 had profound and lasting effects on their emotional well being and religious imagination. The Israelites perceived the end of these disasters as a sign that Yahweh had not abandoned his people, and in fact, had vindicated them.<\/p>\n\n
Our reading today from Joel illustrates the profound sense of solidarity the people of Israel felt from their God. No event, no experience, nothing at all escaped God\u2019s providential and compassionate gaze. God stood by them through the lean years of trial, and now God\u2019s healing presence feels tangible in a time of plenty. This text evinces the heart of a people who oriented every moment of their lives to be in God. They never conceived of themselves as being alone nor was any moment separate from God. Nothing, neither hardship nor joy, had any meaning outside of their relationship with their God.<\/p>\n\n
This psalm was most likely sung in the Temple at the beginning of a new agricultural year. Recalling God\u2019s blessings upon Israel in the past, the psalmist looks to Yahweh for hope \u2013 and rain \u2013 as the planting begins anew.<\/p>\n\n
Like today\u2019s passage from the prophet Joel, this psalm illustrates Israel rooting all activity in the context of God. In this way, all work is sanctified, and nothing falls out of God\u2019s purview or blessing.<\/p>\n\n
Our contemporary culture moves us to separate our religiosity to the sphere of private life and Sunday worship. But this psalm calls us to recognize that everything we undertake in life is significant to God, especially the work we do for our \u201cbread and cheese,\u201d so to speak! God cares profoundly about this dimension of our lives and longs bless and affirm our work. More significantly, the psalmist touches a deep desire that rests in the hearts of all people \u2013 to experience God\u2019s blessing on what we choose to pour our energies into for our sustenance.<\/p>\n\n
Although scholars have long questioned the Pauline authorship of the two letters to Timothy, Second Timothy, from which our reading today is drawn, seems a more likely candidate of the two to be from Paul\u2019s pen (at least in part).<\/p>\n\n
Chronologically speaking, Paul writes this letter while under arrest in Rome, shortly before his death. His rhetoric and sentiments are those of a man looking back over a life well lived. Paul faces death at peace with his life, knowing that he did his best in carrying out the work God asked him to do. And now he is prepared for the final letting go. Paul\u2019s life, from the time of his calling on the road to Damascus to this point, has been a grand exercise in letting go of his own plans, desires, hopes.<\/p>\n\n
As Paul says in verse 6, he has allowed himself to be poured out as a libation, a drink for others of God\u2019s grace. Paul here teaches an important lesson \u2013 our lives are not about us. We are called to be poured out for others, and it is only in that great act that we will find the peace and satisfaction that Paul speaks of here.<\/p>\n\n
Jesus teaches a message in our gospel reading today that most of us do not want to hear: The way up is to go down. We cannot \u201cearn\u201d God\u2019s approval by showing ourselves to be loyal, disciplined, rigorous soldiers. Rather, we fall into God and God\u2019s mercy, compassion, and love through humility and the acknowledgement of our brokenness. The crack in our hearts \u2013 the broken place that this little tax collector seems to be keenly aware of \u2013 is where the light gets in.<\/p>\n\n
Now, the things that the Pharisee is doing \u2013 fasting, praying, almsgiving \u2013 are all good and necessary parts of authentic religious practice. But the Pharisee has committed the greatest sin; he has given into the greatest temptation \u2013 doing the right thing for the wrong reason. Ultimately, his worship is directed toward himself, not God. His own egotism has taken the good practices of religion and put them to an insidious use \u2013 self-inflation and judgment.<\/p>\n\n
In the end, Jesus is calling for authenticity of motivation; calling us to do the right thing for the right reason. More significantly, he invites us to fall into the mercy of a loving God who recognizes and embraces our brokenness, if we will allow God to do so.<\/p>\n\n
Joel 2:23-32 The book of the prophet Joel addressed a message of hope to an Israelite people who had experienced devastation by locusts and drought. For those who survived as subsistence, shallow plow farmers, anything that affected crop production \u2013 floods, insects, lack of rain, etc. \u2013 had profound and lasting effects on their emotional…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":201221,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[23,52,33,3],"tags":[359],"class_list":["post-766741","bible_study","type-bible_study","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bible-studies","category-sermons-that-work","category-the-season-after-pentecost","category-worship-and-prayer-menu","tag-proper-25c"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":23,"label":"Bible Studies"},{"value":52,"label":"Sermons That Work"},{"value":33,"label":"The Season After Pentecost"},{"value":3,"label":"worship_and_prayer_menu"}],"post_tag":[{"value":359,"label":"Proper 25C"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":[],"comment_info":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study\/766741","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bible_study"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study\/766741\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":952267,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study\/766741\/revisions\/952267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=766741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=766741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=766741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}