top of page

The Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity

Friend, Move Up Higher

Lord, we implore You, grant Your people grace to withstand the temptations of the devil and with pure hearts and minds to follow You, the only God; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Amen.

DP888512.jpg

An Overview

---

Artwork: Le Repas Chez le Pharisien (The Meal at the Home of the Pharisee), from Les Quatre Banquets (The Four Feasts), Jacques Callot. French, ca. 1625. From the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

 

The Old Testament

Proverbs 25:6-15

  • vs. 6-7: This proverb begins with an analogy comparing haughtiness with vying for the best seat when in the presence of someone important. This haughtiness is always best replaced with a humility, closing out this short proverbial statement "it is better to be told 'come up here,' than to be put lower in the presence of a noble."

  • vv. 7-10: The next proverb begins with the less analogical example of bringing things to court. The advice goes that, rather than making conflict public, settle things privately. Verse 9 warns against revealing someone's secret, and verse 10 makes the incredibly valid point that if you publicize someone else's secret, he will likely have some dirt on you as well and your reputation will fall into disrepair.

  • vv. 11:-14: Solomon now gives us a rapid-fire list of what it means to give and receive good counsel.

  • v. 11: Here we are not speaking of formal, legal declarations, but simply words that have been spoken between colleagues or friends. Concerning the odd mention of golden apples in a silver setting, The Lutheran Study Bible only adds this note: "apples of gold in a setting of silver. Metaphor for jewelry. Some botanists believe the fruit was apricots." I personally don't think that seeing it as an apricot instead of an apple helps interpret this verse in any way. Other ancient bible translations do give the implication that this has something to do with jewelry. Thus, if we want to remove all poetic language we can understand this verse to mean "A word fitly spoken is beautiful."

  • v. 12: the imagery of jewelry is continued here, but now it is not compared to a "word fitly spoken," but instead to an erring ear listening to a reprover. For one who is in the wrong, being reproved is like having a beautiful earring placed in your ear.

  • v. 13: This simile doesn't land very well here in Wyoming. We don't like snow in September. Solomon uses an odd word here for cold (tsanan) and is likely making some wordplay, since it sounds like the word for humble (tsana). Steinmann's commentary on the Proverbs suggests that this isn't a reference to falling snow, but is the product of wealthy landowners sending servants to the mountains "to cool and refresh the hot, hardworking harvesters. In the same way a messenger who can be trusted to compete his mission and adequately represent his master's wishes is refreshing to the authority who is relying on him." I'm not so sure about this interpretation (see translation notes below), but I can't really say much about it other than "good messengers refresh the ones who sent them when they do what they're supposed to do."

  • v. 14: now we have a negative example. If a man boasts of a gift he does not give, he is like a cloudy windy day with no rain

 

Translation Notes

  • vv. 8-10 are expanded in the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament: Do not enter into a quarrel quickly, That you may not be sorry in the end. When your friend reproaches you, Retreat and do not despise him, Lest your friend continue to reproach you, And your quarrel and enmity shall not depart, But be equal to death for you.

  • v. 13: In the ancient Greek translation, this verse reads "As the falling snow in harvest is beneficial against the heat, so is a faithful messenger, etc." I point this out only to say that if Dr. Steinmann is correct in his reading that this is about landowners bringing down snow from the mountain, the interpretation has changed between Solomon (c. 1000 BC) and the Greek translation about 700 years later, to specifically be about "falling" snow.

The Epistle

Ephesians 4:1-6

  • v. 1: Paul reminds us that he is writing this letter was written from prison.

  • vv. 1-3: Paul urges (see translation note below) Christians to continue not only to believe as Christians, but also to act as Christians which includes being humble, gentle, patient, it means bearing with one another in love and being eager to maintain unity because we are already unified by the Holy Spirit and peacefully bonded together.

  • v. 4: Paul unpacks what he means by being eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit by showing us that there is one body (that is, there is one Church) and only one Holy Spirit.

  • vv. 5-6: Greek manuscripts align these verses differently as though they were poetry. Paul may be quoting an Ephesian hymn or well-known poem here.

  • vv. 5-6: Just as there is only one Church and one Spirit, there is only one Lord, there is only one faith, there is only one Baptism, there is only one God. To try and argue that there are multiple Churches (that is, multiple true religions) is to say that there are multiple Gods. To say that there are multiple Baptisms is to say that there are multiple Lords. The "urging" to remain Christian is built on the reminder (comfort) that God is one, and so His people are one in faith.

 

Translation Notes

  • v. 1: "urge" Greek parakalo, the same word that is used elsewhere to speak of comfort or encouragement. Confirmation students will recognize the 5th Function of Scripture is to "comfort" (Romans 15:4). We can add "urge" to the growing definition of comfort/encourage.

  • vv. 1 &3: It's easier to identify wordplay as an outsider, but it is possible that Paul is doing this on purpose. In verse 1, Paul calls himself a "prisoner" (desmios) of the Lord. A few lines later, he urges Christians to be eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the "bond" (sundesmo) of peace. These words share the same root and Paul may be equating being "bound" by the Spirit as akin to Paul being "bound" for the Lord.

The Holy Gospel

Luke 14:1-11

  • vv. 1-2: Luke is providing some heavy -handed foreshadowing here: it's the sabbath, Jesus is at the house of one of the chief Pharisees, and everyone is watching Him carefully. And behold! There's a sick man with dropsy (it's unclear what this means exactly in Greek, possibly Edema or some other sort of bloating disease).

  • v. 3: Here it appears as though Jesus is interrupting whatever conversation was going on at dinner, or maybe even continues it. Jesus responds or answers the reality that faces Him by asking the Pharisees "is it lawful to heal on the sabbath or not?"

  • v. 4: While it is possible that Jesus was trying to engage in a conversation about the Old Testament, He is also showing that He is the perfect guest, never acting until His hosts understand what's going on. Jesus seemingly takes their silence as consent and heals the man on the Sabbath.

  • vv. 5-6: Jesus gives the Pharisees a more tangible example, if someone close to you falls into a well on a Sabbath day, of course you would help him instead of fussing about sabbath laws. This implies that they think what Jesus did was wrong, though they're all too ashamed to say it out loud.

  • vv. 7-11: The mood seems to shift here. Jesus has moved past discussing Sabbath laws and instead seems to chide those who have chosen the best seats at the banquet.

  • v. 8: Jesus sounds like Solomon here. Even though Luke calls this a parable in verse 7, it sounds more like a proverbial word of advice.

  • vv. 8-10: Indeed, this echoes of the opening lines of Proverbs 25, in which we learn that putting yourself forward at a king's banquet, or revealing a secret in court will always result in you being put to shame.

  • v. 11: Here we see the real thrust of what Christ is saying, not only regarding seats at a banquet, but also regarding how one reads and interprets laws about the sabbath. Humility is the key to faith, and when there is no humility and only self-exaltation, eternal humbling will occur. When we read and re-read these words of Jesus in light of Paul's words to the Ephesians we realize that everything we are to do as Christians revolves around dying to ourselves, being humble, and letting God be the One who does the exalting.

 

Translation Notes

  • v. 5: Most ancient manuscripts read "which of you having a donkey or an ox etc." I personally think this reading is stronger theologically because Jesus is asking about animals, and then comparing the sick man to an animal. The example of a son is a little too on-the-nose.

Poetry Used in the Liturgy of Reminiscere

  • Psalm 119 צ ,ע ,א: Psalm 119 is a massive acrostic poem. The Introit for today draws from the first Letter Aleph in which the poet praises God for allowing his ways to remain upright and in accord with God's law, testimonies, precepts, righteous rules, and statutes. The opening words of the Introit draw from Ayin in which the poet boldly confesses that he has done no wrong and hates every false way and Tsadhe which praises the Righteous Lord for instituting righteous rules. All to say, this Introit should draw us into a deep meditation on what it means to love the Lord with our whole heart so that we can, with the Ephesians, remain in the Bond of Peace by walking in accord with our calling.

  • Psalm 2- The opening words of Psalm 2 should be familiar. It is admittedly unclear why the Lectionary Committee chose this for the 17th Sunday after Trinity, though it is possible that verses 10 and 11 draw a connection with Proverbial statements and the interaction between Kings and the guests at their banquets.

  • Psalm 33- In preparation for the Gospel, God's people will confess that the people who chase after God's counsel are the ones called Blessed.

  • Psalm 116-  This is a beautiful example of a prayerful conversation between "self" and "self," that is to say, the Psalmist here is asking his own soul to return his rest, and asking himself what he should render the Lord (the answer being: I will lift up the cup of salvation). Finally he confesses that he loves the Lord because the Lord has heard his prayer and his pleas for mercy.

Artwork: Manuscript Leaf with the Opening of the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Ephesians, from a BibleFrench, ca. 1300. Met Museum of Art.

sf1998-538-2s1.jpg
1985-52-30241-pdp.jpg

Further Reading & Listening

 

 

Artwork: Saint Paul, Zacharias Dolendo. Dutch, 1596. From the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

St. John's Lutheran Church
 

1-307-548-7127

stjohnslovell@gmail.com

On the Corner of 5th and Montana

Lovell, Wyoming 82431

  • Facebook

Get in Touch with Us

Success! Message received.

bottom of page