Commentary on Lectionary for October 17, 2010

Genesis 32:22-31; Jeremiah 31:27-34; Psalm 121:1-8; 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5; Luke 18:1-8

I am writing this from Tucson, where Psalm 121 seems especially appropriate. In every direction you look, there are mountains: the Catalinas, the Santa Ritas, the Tucsons, and the Rincons. If you journeyed into them, you would indeed need to call upon the Lord for help, because there are mountain lions, rattlesnakes, scorpions, tarantulas, and the ever present scorching sun sucking up every drop of moisture. Going back to work after a wonderful vacation must feel a little like encountering those critters.

The Psalmist promises: "He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep." --Israel--that name given to Jacob after he wrestled all night with a man he later recognized as God ("I have seen the face of God and lived!"). In Genesis 32, Jacob, too, was traveling and was afraid because his brother Esau was close on his heels with 400 men--Esau, whom he had cheated out of his inheritance. The knowledge that if harm came to Jacob and his family, it was his own fault, must have tasted bitter.

And that's the message Jeremiah was communicating to the descendants of that same Israel: the Babylonians are coming! Our civilization is unraveling, and much of this has been brought upon ourselves because we have lost our way.

2 Timothy puts a solution in focus for all of these travelers: the living word of God, the word that Jeremiah prophesied is written on our hearts, can remind us of the direction we should be taking. These sacred, ancient words can remind us with whom we are wrestling--not as proof texts, not as weapons, but as a powerful wind blowing the dust from our path and gently but powerfully turning us toward the places where His Spirit waits. The awfully wondrous fact is that God has given us freedom and so He does not guarantee himself a win every time. We usually manage to withhold some piece of dross within ourselves, yet even though we can never win this struggle with God, we limp along with the marvelous knowledge that we have been touched by Him!

He blesses us and continues to listen to us. He apparently wants us to continue our journey through life, with all its scorpions and snakes, with the confidence that--unlike the judge in Luke 18--his help will come to us and abide with us, especially when we side with the widows and victims of injustice.