Pentecost 7C

Lord's Prayer
Lutheran Hour Float
Rose Parade 2022

Luke 11:1-4

¹ Jesus 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, holy 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."

Pentecost 6C

He is before all things
and in him all things hold together.
Colossians 1:17

Colossians 1:15-20

¹⁵ Christ is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; ¹⁶ for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. ¹⁷ He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

¹⁸ Christ is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. ¹⁹ For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, ²⁰ and through him God was pleased to reconcile all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.

Background and Authorship

This is the second of four weeks that the second reading comes from the epistle to the Colossian church. Last week I started but never finished a reflection on Colossians 1:1-14. This week I had to say something about Colossians so I could include my illustration of Colossians 1:17—one of my all time favorites.

Despite the greeting referencing Paul and his sidekick Timothy, this epistle's grammar, syntax, vocabulary, and sentence structure depart from the style of Paul/Saul of Tarsus' seven genuine letters. In addition, the household codes in 3:18 – 4:1 are patriarchal rather than egalitarian in the ways Paul's epistles to the churches at Galatia and at Corinth recommend for communities in Christ to be structured and function.

Most likely a ministry companion, friend, student, or younger sibling of Paul wrote this letter from 60CE to as late as 75CE, about three decades after Jesus' death and resurrection, predating the gospels. Colossae was in current western Turkey, 120 miles inland from the Aegean Sea. Apparently the site of the congregation at Colossae now is a heap of ruins waiting to be excavated.

Because Colossians and the later letter to the church at Ephesus share similar theology and language, the probable author of both sometimes gets called deutero-Paul or Paul the Second. I was excited to learn recently from Enter the Bible that Colossians may have been a template for Ephesians, with Ephesians qualifying as an early commentary on the content of Colossians. Enter the Bible is a free, scholarly yet accessible resource from Luther Seminary.


Style and Content

In Colossians we find theology (the word about the divine), Christology (words about the Christ), and cosmology (words about the scope and reach of all creation) that anticipates the worldview of John's gospel almost a half century later. In his seven undisputed epistles, the apostle Paul is about outward from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth; the cosmic Christ of Colossians moves beyond planet earth into immeasurable time and space.

Even in translation, Colossians' poetic splendor takes Paul up a few notches. It's as if original Paul was super-concerned about carefully articulating formal theology of law and gospel, death and resurrection, but Colossian's author already has all that down, so they feel confident to riff and gloss on those basics.

As in Paul's authentic letters, Colossians are "in Christ," rather than followers or disciples as the gospels describe Jesus' people. This is the Christ who embraces and rules all creation, yet affects individuals at their core.

Future weeks will refer to the social and religious location that had the Colossian church involved in a syncretism that sounds like the edge of heresy, so all along the letter affirms the sufficiency, authority, power, and divinity of Jesus Christ.


gods God Images

Christ is the image of the invisible God. Colossians 1:15

Imperial Rome and its colonies were full of coins stamped with the emperor's image. The Roman Caesar supposedly was the son of a god, bestowing on him a slice of divinity. Formal church history well may (it does) locate the confession of Jesus as fully human and fully divine in the Definition of Chalcedon from the ecumenical council that convened in the year 451, but this letter to the Christians at Colossae declares Jesus divine four centuries earlier.


Authority Sovereignty Rule

Today's reading describes Jesus as God's authoritative presence and the actual ikon / icon / image of the invisible God. How do you picture something that's invisible, that can't be seen? Do you remember Genesis 1:27 tells us God created humanity (us!) in the divine image—imago Dei?

Early Christians perceived – "saw, viewed" – Jesus as fully imprinted with God. In terms of the first century's (and this twenty-first's) status quo, these words from Colossians are seditious and subversive! They proclaim the person, power, and rule of Jesus Christ in terms that only are supposed to belong to the emperor. If – because – Jesus is supreme, then caesar isn't. Because Jesus is Lord, national flags and corporate logos aren't our central symbols. The cross of Calvary is.

Pentecost 4C

Remain in this house, eating and drinking
whatever they set before you,
for workers deserve their pay.
Don’t move from house to house. Luke 10:7

Houses from Kids Map Creator by MaNechaeva on Creative Market

This is essentially what I wrote three years ago in 2022 with a few revisions and changes.

Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

¹ After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. ² He said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. ³ Go on your way; I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. ⁴ Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. ⁵ Whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace to this house!' ⁶ And if a person of peace is there, your peace will rest on that person, but if not, it will return to you.

⁷ "Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. ⁸ Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; ⁹ cure the sick who are there, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.' ¹⁰ But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, ¹¹ 'Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.'

¹⁶ "Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me."

¹⁷ The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, "Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!" ¹⁸ He said to them, "I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. ¹⁹ Indeed, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will hurt you. 20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."

The Original Setting

"After this" in 10:1 refers back to events reported in chapter 9 that include:

• feeding 5,000+ people with five loaves and two fish
• Peter's confession of Jesus as Messiah
• Jesus' Transfiguration (reported in 9:31 "They spoke about Jesus' departure or exodus, which he was about to bring to fulfillment in Jerusalem")
• casting out a demon
• Jesus' exceptionally radical call to discipleship that excludes expected human activities of burying the dead, saying goodbye before leaving.

As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven (ascendancy, authority, Lordship), Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. Luke 9:51

Particularly in Luke's and Mark's gospels, Jesus' journey to Jerusalem is relentless and incessant. Jesus mostly grew up and lived in small town Nazareth in semi-remote Galilee; Jerusalem was the center of religious power and the seat of Roman imperial control. Jews considered the J-Temple the axis mundi or conduit between heaven and earth.


Where We Live

The Lord sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. Luke 10:1

Much of scripture reveals God already has been at work in a particular setting before God leads (sends) us there—God has been to our future! In addition, I've heard many contemporary real-life testimonies of that fact, as likely you have, too.

Similar to what Luke 9:1-6 reports when he sent out the original twelve, Jesus gives instructions for going into the world as itinerant missionaries. We all need this direction because like Jesus and his first followers, all of us itinerate from one place to another, from one ministry to another, often within a single day.

Paralleling Moses and the seventy elders, Luke's Jesus picks up on the number 70 (72 in some versions). Seventy combines seven, the number of perfection and ten, the number of completion in Hebrew numerology. He wisely advises everyone to travel in pairs.


Comments and Questions

Travel light! Why? Always? Is that a good idea for us today? Why does he say "Greet no one on the road"? Are these guidelines only for less-developed countries or remote rural communities? Maybe for short-term high school and college mission trips to nearby places (Habitat for Humanity Houses, for example) or across the international border? Or can they apply elsewhere?

The very first thing is to speak Shalom, the fullness of God's loving, merciful, presence to everyone they meet.

• How can we speak peace in words and show peace in our actions?

Church-speak and Christianese are foreign languages to a lot of people. The idea of church or Christianity turns off many people, especially because white supremacy nationalism that excludes most of the human family has become the idea of Christianity for so many.

Accept the hospitality and act as guests of households we visit. Eat whatever people give you!

Local cuisine helps us learn about our hosts. "You are what you eat" – "we become what we eat together." As we enjoy their hospitality and their food, we become the family or individuals that host us.

This scripture presents food and lodging as compensation.

• What's your opinion of pay-your-own-way ministries versus ones that pay in dollars and cents and/or housing and vehicle allowance?

It's a little different, but as an artist-designer, I'm the creative director when I design a project pro bono, which gives me more creative freedom, yet I still need to address client preferences and concerns and the final project needs to meet their needs.

If the people don't welcome and receive us? Shake the dust of that place off your feet! Get rid of the evidence. Try to shake off memories of them? Or maybe not? What's your experience?

Filled with the Spirit of Pentecost, we go everywhere as Jesus' presence. Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me. Luke 10:16

Discerning when to quit trying to engage an individual, a family, or a group; and deciding it's time to move on to the next place can be full of anxiety.

• How do we learn to leave one setting or a particular type of ministry and try on the next?