Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Readings – Jeremiah 8:18-9:1; Psalm 79:1-9; I Timothy 2:1-7; Luke 16:1-13
Their world was crashing down with the Babylonian Empire’s forces destroying everything and everyone in their path. In the 8th c. B.C.E. the prophet Jeremiah wrote:
My joy is gone, grief is upon me, my heart is sick.
The contemporary psalmist wrote:
O God, the heathen have come into your inheritance;
they have profaned your holy temple;
they have made Jerusalem a heap of rubble.
The ancient sources of healing balm were no match for the onslaught. The balm of Gilead had for centuries been a source of comfort, of healing. We read about it in Genesis 37: 25:
…a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels
carrying gum, balm, and resin, on their way to carry it down to Egypt.
Jeremiah v. 23 ends with a question.
Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there?
Centuries later from those who came in shackles on wooden ships across the Atlantic Ocean, there arose an answer to Jeremiah’s question.
There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole;
There is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin-sick soul.
v.3
Don’t ever be discouraged, for Jesus is your friend,
And if you lack for knowledge, He’ll ne’er refuse to lend.
Lift Every Voice and Sing, #203
Our proper collect for today is about not being anxious about earthly things.
Grant us, Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things,
but to love things heavenly;
even now, while we are placed among things that
are passing away, to hold fast to those that shall endure…
For Jesus is your friend.
What a friend we have in Jesus.
We know that hymn, too. So, we hang on to the Jesus we know through Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, even while others claim the name of Christian. We are called to walk with him and live out the joy of our love, the joy of our faith. While Jeremiah called out:
My joy is gone, grief is upon me, my heart is sick
We proclaim:
Joyful. Joyful, we adore thee.
Perhaps we need to watch less news, do less screen time. Perhaps we need to listen to more music, sit out and enjoy God’s creation more. Perhaps we need to talk with friends about the joy in our lives.
How do we share the joy? Yesterday, on behalf of the people of All Saints, we gave to the sidewalk artists around the library, Creative Playspace gift cards, and for the first-place youth of the Plein Air event, a gift card to Brushstrokes. How do we share the joy? Plan on doing an extra good deed each and every day, beyond the normal routines. Maybe it is calling a family member, or friend, or even sending a short one- or two-line note. Someone recently told me that they have a roll of stamps and a stack of note cards on their desk, so that they can send one every day. Just a couple of lines. We can smile and greet people as we shop or walk about town. Maybe that note card, maybe that smile, maybe that phone call, will be the balm of Gilead that for someone. It may light up their day, and beyond.
Knowing that we have a friend in Jesus enables us to hold fast to the one who endures for eternity, and frees us to be our best self, the person we are created to be.
There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole;
There is a balm in Gilead to heal that sin-sick soul.
Don’t ever be discouraged, for Jesus is your friend.
Amen
