THOUGHTS FOR THIS WEEK

Readings

Genesis 45.3-11, 45.15: The dreamer Joseph, who has been toying with his brothers, now reveals himself to them, asks about his father, and assures them that what they intended for evil God has used for good. Their family would be saved from the famine, because of what has happened to Joseph. He sends them back with a message inviting his father to come to Egypt. And then he kisses and weeps over his brothers.

Psalm 37.1-11, 37.40-41: Do not worry about the wicked or envy them for they will fade away. But God gives to those who trust God the desires of their hearts. Commit to the Lord and trust him, wait patiently for God to act, and don’t be angry. The wicked will disappear but the lowly will posses the land. God rescues the godly and saves them.

1 Corinthians 15.35-50: People ask what kind of bodies people will have when they are raised. Like a seed planted into the ground, resurrected bodies are something totally different, heavenly bodies, not earthly. Earthly bodies are planted in the ground, but they are raised as heavenly, eternal bodies.

Luke 6.27-38: Jesus teaches that his followers must love their enemies, for it does no good to only love those who love back – even sinners do that. But, loving enemies and treating them well is acting like children of God, and is compassionate as God is compassionate. This also means we must not judge others, but must forgive, and give generously, for then we will be forgiven and will receive abundance back.

Rev Tania writes:

There is a sense in which the theme of today’s readings could be viewed as resurrection – but in a different, more expanded sense than we would usually think of resurrection.

While Paul’s message in 1 Corinthians 15 does deal with the resurrection of our bodies – the transformation of a “physical” mortal body into a “spiritual” immortal one, the danger is to make resurrection about nothing more than what happens to our current bodies after we die. When we think that Paul referred to his Damascus Road experience as a resurrection appearance of Jesus, we have to admit that Paul sees resurrection as more than just a transformation of the physical body.

Even the distinction between a “physical” body and a “spiritual” one is not the best way to describe the New Testament idea of resurrection. In the light of this, we can view Joseph’s transformed relationship with his brothers – whom he could have treated with the same disdain and cruelty with which they had treated him – as a resurrection, both for them as they were rescued from death, and for Joseph as he discovered the life-giving power of forgiveness and  love.

In Psalm 37 the contrast between the wicked who fade away and the godly who are saved points to a resurrection in which we learn not to be destroyed or overcome by evil and those who perpetuate it, but rather find life and peace as we wait patiently for God’s resurrection life to infiltrate and be revealed in our world.

In the Gospel reading, Jesus’ call for his followers to reject the way of death – loving only those who love us back, and giving evil for evil with those who don’t – is an invitation into a different kind of life that can also be thought of as a resurrection. It is the way of life in which we believe that love ultimately wins over hate, forgiveness over division, and life over death, and in which we live this resurrection life here and now, even in the face of death and evil.

Continuing the theme of call from the last few weeks, today’s call is to live resurrection now, to die to our “earthly” selves which follow the ways of human self-protection and fear and bury them in the ground like a seed, and then allow God to raise us again into a new life of godly self-giving and love where we become (using last week’s metaphor) trees of righteousness.

Rev Tania