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The intent of Pilgrim Processing is to provide commentary on the Daily Lectionary from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer. The format for the comment is Old Testament Lesson first, Gospel, and Epistle with a portion of one of the Psalms for the day as a prayer at the end.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

24 July 2011

Psalm 24, 29; 2 Sam 1:17-27; Rom 12:9-21; Matt 25:31-46

It seems strange to hear David eulogize Saul so extravagantly in this passage, "Your glory, O Israel, is slain on your high places!” and "You daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you luxuriously in scarlet, who put ornaments of gold on your apparel.” This is the same Saul who had sought out David to kill him lo these many years. David always recognized Saul as king over God’s people, the one chosen and anointed by God as the first king. Even after running and hiding from Saul for years, David never lost sight of that. It is understandable that he laments over Jonathan, a man who was willing to lay down any claim he might have to the throne because he believed that David was chosen and anointed by God to be the next king. Jonathan was a true friend and brother to David at great cost to himself. Remember that Jonathan was a daring soldier and leader himself and yet he subordinated whatever desire he may have had to be king when he saw David and recognized him as God’s anointed. In this lament, David shows himself to be truly a man of God, a man who can weep even over the death of his great enemy.

So is faith the determiner of our eternal destiny or is it works? We have focused for so long on the moment of salvation, the big decision, the aisle walk, that we have forgotten that that is only the beginning, it is meant to bring about transformation. The idea that Jesus is indeed the incarnate Son of God and that His death is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, that He was resurrected from the dead and that simply believing in Him means that we will have eternal life is meant to bring about a changed way of thinking about our lives and the way the world works. If we do not see such change, that we begin to love God with all that we have and all that we are, and that we begin to move in the direction of loving others as we love ourselves, then can we say that we were saved because we once said the right thing? It seems here that Jesus is saying that our faith needs to have evidence that we have changed from selfishness to selflessness.

This passage from Romans follows the verse about the transformation of life by the renewing of the mind. That idea needs to be fleshed out with content, what does transformation look like? Paul says that it has everything to do with an “other” focus, loving one another as a primary way of life. In that first passage we see David’s heart that never avenged itself on Saul and in the end is able to lament over his death. We see also the depth of love that is to pass between brothers and sisters in Christ. There should be observable change in a Christian’s life and that change should set us apart from the world. We should see Christ formed in us, the Jesus that counted equality with God as not to be grasped and the attitude of sacrifice for the sake of God and our neighbor, realizing that this life isn’t all there is, therefore we can let go of much in order to receive the prize that awaits.

Crown Him with many crowns, the Lamb upon His throne.
Hark! How the heavenly anthem drowns all music but its own.
Awake, my soul, and sing of Him who died for thee,
And hail Him as thy matchless King through all eternity.

Tune

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