Episcopal Church of the Incarnation

West Point, Mississippi

Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost [Proper 22](C)

Habakkuk 1.1-2.4 Psalm 37.3-10 2 Timothy 1.6-14 Luke 17.5-10

Habakkuk 1.1-2.4

1) Habakkuk prophesied early in the sixth century, B.C., prior to the fall of Jerusalem. The Chaldeans he refers to were from S. Mesopotamia, with their capital at Babylon. They are known to us generally as the “Babylonians”.

2) The beginning of the book consists of a dialogue between the prophet and God. It is difficult in English to notice when the identity of the speaker is changing, as it does throughout the dialogue.

a) The prophet takes the initiative and questions God about the evil and suffering he witnesses.

3) Notably, the identity of the “wicked” is ambiguous. it is not clear whether the wicked are a group within Israel, or the foreign enemies (the Assyrians and Chaldeans).

a) This ambiguity resonates in Habukkuk, as a prophet speaking in a time of turmoil.

i) Will God remain faithful to His promise, and deal faithfully with Israel, in the face of overwhelming earthly power?

4) Habakkuk following the pattern of a psalm of lament. He laments that there is no justice, and God does not reply with comfort, but with the information that the Chaldeans are coming!

a) God lets the prophet know that He is raising up the Chaldeans; they are an instrument of His justice.

b) The prophet asks how this can be allowed, to which God responds that the prophet is to proclaim that the righteous live by faith.

Psalm 37.3-10

1) This psalm is a Wisdom psalm, composed in Hebrew as an acrostic, which reminds us that the righteous are blessed.

2) We are to take our delight in the Lord, and fret not if the wicked prosper (as they very often do!) in this world.

a) Faith in God leads to real blessing, which transcends this world.

2 Timothy 1.6-14

1) Paul begins this letter, following his greeting to Timothy, and expressions of thanksgiving, focuses on three messages:

a) Timothy is to rekindle the divine gifts which he has received.

b) The power of God enables the endurance of sufferings.

c) Love enable fidelity to the message which Paul has brought.

2) The ability to teach and lead in virtue is a gift from God.

3) Leadership in the Church involves suffering. For this God provides confidence, in the proclamation of His salvation.

4) Paul was made a herald of the proclamation of God’s salvation in Jesus Christ. (Cf. Titus 1.3; 1 Tim. 2.7.) This proclamation has a specific content, and Timothy (and all Church leaders) are to hold fast to this as “the good treasure entrusted”.

Luke 17.5-10

1) In the previous weeks, we have followed Jesus in two phases of His journey to Jerusalem, a journey in which he has encountered much opposition. This narrative phase is now concluded with a focus on inward renewal in the disciples.

a) This segment recapitulates the theme at the beginning of the travel narrative: renewal.

2) The apostles recognize that what they need more than anything else in their journey is faith. Jesus teaches that genuine faith can bring about unexpected results.

3) In His teaching about the servant, Jesus presents the other side of the coin from His teaching at 12.35-37 (where the master serves the faithful servant), which underscored God’s unmerited graciousness to His servants. Here Jesus teaches that service includes responsibility and duty.

a) His focus on responsibility in ministry is a reminder most particularly to those in leadership positions in the Church.

b) The disciples are not unworthy in themselves, but any servant who has done his/her duty does not thereby merit any claim on God’s graciousness.