Readings (Track 1)

It would be hard to find a sharper contrast than that in today’s readings from Exodus and Matthew. Exodus: like last week’s reading, the Egyptian oppression of the Israelites is front and center, and God is going to do something about it. “I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians…So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.” On the other hand, Mattthew. Last Sunday we heard Peter’s confession: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (16:16.) That sounds promising—maybe Jesus will do to the Romans what Moses did to the Egyptians. But no, “Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”

We often hear that the Old Testament is concerned about material things, the New Testament about spiritual things. If that were true it might explain the contrast, but recall how the Romans reading ends: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Overcoming evil—in all its forms—is still the challenge; but how?

Moses did bring Israel out of Egypt, but Egypt—speaking metaphorically—was still in Israel. Ironically, it’s King Solomon, renown for his wisdom, who puts the Israelites to forced labor to build his temple (1 Kgs 5:13ff). When at Solomon’s death the people ask for relief, Solomon’s son Rehoboam responds “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions” (1Ki 12:14). Israel out of Egypt—relatively easy; Egypt out of Israel—not so easy.

Jesus doesn’t explain why he, the Messiah, “must” go to Jerusalem, but we get a partial explanation later in response to the request that James and John get the choice seats.

“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many” (20:25-28).

Pulling back the camera, it’s no good focusing on the Egyptian pharaoh or the Roman emperor. The problem’s deeper, this unending competition for dominance. Jesus going to Jerusalem can’t be another version of that. And Jesus’ followers have hardly begun to learn that that’s not what he’s about.

So, in today’s Gospel: “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” If we asked Matthew what that looked like in practice, he’d probably sigh and tell us to read the rest of his Gospel. That wouldn’t be bad advice.

Happily, our second reading is the second half of Romans 12. Some weeks back we heard Paul ask the Romans “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?” (6:3). Baptism: an enactment of Jesus’ “take up their cross.” And he begins our current chapter with “I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice” (12:1). So, while I don’t think Paul’s writing with the Matthew scroll before him (the timing’s wrong), Jesus’ words are being passed down orally, and this chapter is a useful exploration of what “those who lose their life for my sake will find it” might look like in Rome. So Paul—still in last week’s reading—goes immediately to “I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think” (12:3). Enough with this unending competition for dominance.

It would be tedious to go through the reading verse by verse. It’s a reading to take home and tape to the bathroom mirror. One verse might show itself relevant on Tuesday, another on Friday. But let’s notice a couple of things before wrapping up.

“Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.” Probably useful to remember when watching the news or scrolling on the smartphone. I’m struck by Ellen Davis’ definition of blessing: “Blessing is fundamentally an act of acknowledging the essential goodness of the other’s being; it is a commitment of one’s will to the flourishing of the other.”[1] Blessing isn’t about approving what the other is doing, but acknowledging that that “other” also bears God’s image, with all the potential for wonder and tragedy that involves.

“Outdo one another in showing honor.” I’d guess that competition is hardwired into our DNA. Paul’s wise enough not to try to squelch it. But he does think it can be redirected. In any parish we’re probably pretty good at honoring some, not so good at honoring others. Paul’s encouraging us to be proactive. As we heard last week, God’s given each of us gifts for the good of the body. That’s something to celebrate. More often. More comprehensively.

“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” How? The second verse of “Lead on, O King eternal” (#555) nails it: “for not with sword’s loud clashing, nor roll of stirring drums, / but deeds of love and mercy, the heavenly kingdom comes.”

Or, as the old riddle goes, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.”

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[1] Opening Israel’s Scriptures, p.28.