One way might be the congregation's adult Sunday School class, which is working its way through the curriculum "By Heart: Conversations with Luther's Small Catechism." This curriculum from Augsburg Fortress was released as a way of marking the 500th anniversary of the "official" beginning of the Reformation: Luther sharing his "95 Theses" with the community at Wittenberg and with other theological leaders of the Church. We are now working our way through the chapter focusing on the Lord's Prayer (a coincidence of timing), discussing Luther's explanations of each petition within the Lord's Prayer and what these explanations still mean for us today.
As always, I write these posts as invitations to join me in studying the passages for this coming Sunday by sharing your reflections, insights, and questions in the comments section. If you find an idea or a question coming into your mind as you read through this, please share it in the comments below so that we can talk it over!
Genesis 18:20 - 32
20 Then the LORD said, "How great is the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah and how very grave their sin! 21 I must go down and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me; and if not, I will know."
22 So the men turned from there, and went toward Sodom, while Abraham remained standing before the LORD. 23 Then Abraham came near and said, "Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; will you then sweep away the place and not forgive it for the fifty righteous who are in it? 25 Far be it from you to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?" 26 And the LORD said, "If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will forgive the whole place for their sake." 27 Abraham answered, "Let me take it upon myself to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. 28 Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?" And he said, "I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there." 29 Again he spoke to him, "Suppose forty are found there." He answered, "For the sake of forty I will not do it." 30 Then he said, "Oh do not let the Lord be angry if I speak. Suppose thirty are found there." He answered, "I will not do it, if I find thirty there." 31 He said, "Let me take it upon myself to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there." He answered, "For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it." 32 Then he said, "Oh do not let the Lord be angry if I speak just once more. Suppose ten are found there." He answered, "For the sake of ten I will not destroy it."
- What is the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah? For many years, we have been taught that the sin of these communities was homosexuality. But Ezekiel 16:48 – 50 suggests that there is more to the story: “48 As I live, says the Lord GOD, your sister Sodom and her daughters have not done as you and your daughters have done. 49 This was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. 50 They were haughty, and did abominable things before me; therefore I removed them when I saw it.” (Eze 16:48-50 NRS) The sin or “guilt” of Sodom was inhospitality, selfishness, and pride before we get to anything about “abominable things” like the attempt at sexually assaulting the two visitors in Lot’s home (Genesis 19:1 – 11). And, in the context of Ezekiel 16, the sin of Jerusalem trusting other nations like Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon instead of the Lord’s promises is pronounced to be a greater sin than the sin of Sodom. So what can we definitively say about why the Lord felt the need to destroy these communities?
- This is one of several stories in which we see God change course. We also see this in the fate of Nineveh within the story of Jonah and the story of a dying king who offers a prayer of repentance and God grants the king 15 more years of life. What other stories feature the Lord changing course?
Psalm 138
1 I give you thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise;
2 I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness; for you have exalted your name and your word above everything.
3 On the day I called, you answered me, you increased my strength of soul.
4 All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O LORD, for they have heard the words of your mouth.
5 They shall sing of the ways of the LORD, for great is the glory of the LORD.
6 For though the LORD is high, he regards the lowly; but the haughty he perceives from far away.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies; you stretch out your hand, and your right hand delivers me.
8 The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.
- The psalmist praises the Lord for the Lord’s actions that have protected and justified the psalmist when enemies have confronted the psalmist. I’m not sure how this acts as a response to the Genesis 18 passage, but it’s not my call.
Colossians 2:6 - 15 [16 - 19]
6 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. 8 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ. 9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 10 and you have come to fullness in him, who is the head of every ruler and authority. 11 In him also you were circumcised with a spiritual circumcision, by putting off the body of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ; 12 when you were buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, 14 erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it.
[16 Therefore do not let anyone condemn you in matters of food and drink or of observing festivals, new moons, or sabbaths. 17 These are only a shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. 18 Do not let anyone disqualify you, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, dwelling on visions, puffed up without cause by a human way of thinking, 19 and not holding fast to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows with a growth that is from God.]
- When we include Colossians 2:16 – 19, we see that Paul’s encouragement to trust the Lord’s promises given in baptism is a counter to the people who are trying to get these non-Jewish Christians to observe Jewish laws regarding circumcision, food restrictions, and festival occasions. Paul’s argument is that our baptism into Christ is all that we need for salvation; we do not need to pursue salvation through circumcision, legal righteousness, or “enough” points earned through good works and worship.
- Paul argues that, because we are baptized into Christ, our new life in Christ includes a “spiritual circumcision.” Therefore, a physical circumcision is not necessary.
- Here we see explicitly our forgiveness and redemption tied, or rather “nailed,” to Jesus’ death on the cross. Our records of guilt are left at the cross and we are covered by Jesus’ righteousness.
Luke 11:1 - 13
1 He was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples." 2 He said to them, "When you pray, say:
Father, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
4 And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.
And do not bring us to the time of trial."
5 And he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; 6 for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.' 7 And he answers from within, 'Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.' 8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.
9 "So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. 11 Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? 12 Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"
- I wonder what John taught his disciples about prayer…
- “Missing” from Luke’s account of the Lord’s Prayer: reference to the Father being “in heaven;” the Lord’s will being done on Earth and in heaven; deliverance from evil; any mention of kingdom, power, and glory.
- Worth noting: the word in Luke 11:4, ‘hamartia,’ is the Greek word for ‘sin.’ The Greek word for ‘trespass’ or ‘transgression’ in Colossians 2:13 is ‘paraptomata.’
- Note the example of a request fulfilled not out of friendship but out of annoyance over the persistent requests: loaves of bread needed to feed a late-arriving guest. The metaphor is directed towards prayers offered on behalf of others, not on us carrying our wants and desires to the Lord, hoping the Lord acts like a vending machine and spits out exactly what we want.
- Very few parents give a child a “gift” that would put their child in danger. On the other hand, very few parents give their child every single thing that they request or demand, either. How is Jesus’ comparison to a parent giving gifts to a child a good analogy? Where does the analogy fall apart?
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