The righteous survive by
their faith, and wealthy sinners may get a second chance.
As the
Lectionary continues its selective survey of Israelite prophets, we come to the
small book of Habakkuk, chosen for its famous saying about justification by
faith.
Habakkuk was
a contemporary of Jeremiah and the dialogue between him and the Lord in 1:2-2:5
took place in the same period (609 to 598 BCE )
when Jeremiah was trying to convince King Jehoiakim that God was bringing the
Chaldeans (Babylonians) against Judah
The main part
of our reading is 2:1-4. Prior to that
Habakkuk had complained about the injustice and violence prevailing in his
society (1:2-4). God had answered that
“the Chaldeans are coming” to punish and destroy all the evil-doers. Then, however, the violence of the conquerors
is worse than the previous local chaos, and the prophet complains even more loudly.
Habakkuk
declares himself a watchman (2:1), on the lookout for God’s answer to
the problem – the seeming new injustice caused by God’s judgment. God’s answer to the prophet’s complaint is
that there is a “vision” of the justice yet to come, and the prophet
should write this vision on publicly displayed tablets for all to read.
For there is still a vision for the
appointed time;
it speaks of the end, and does not lie (2:3, NRSV).
The content
of this vision – or the first part of it – is given in verse 2:4. This answer contains the famous quote, “the
just shall live by his faith” (King James Version, quoted in Romans
1:17 ; Galatians
3:11 ; and Hebrews
10:37 -38 – the
last a rather free translation).
This key
verse is pretty difficult to interpret in its Hebrew version, especially
the first half of the verse. (See the
discussion by Ted Hiebert in The New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. VII
[Abingdon Press, 1996], pp. 641-42.)
It is clear
that two persons are being contrasted, one is proud (or, on another reading,
faint-hearted) and the other is the righteous or “just” one. Survival is the issue. The “proud” one will not be upright, or will
not stand straight – that is, will not endure.
The righteous one, on the other hand, will live – that is, will survive
– because of his faith in God’s promise of justice. That survival of the righteous one is
the “end” to which the vision refers, which is an end that must be waited
for. “If it seems to tarry, wait for it;
/ it will surely come, it will not delay” (verse 3, NRSV ).
Ted Hiebert
summarizes the broader meaning. “At a
time when the wicked are in control, when the vision describing God’s intention
to reestablish justice has not yet become a reality, Habakkuk is called in the
interim to trust God’s assurances and to remain faithful.” (Ibid., p. 642.)
The
Lectionary reading stops with verse 4.
However, the NRSV
translation (and also the NIV )
invites us to read verse 5 as the continuation of God’s answer to the
complaint, an answer that further describes the proud or arrogant one who will
not survive. He is a ravenous monster
(presumably characterizing the all-consuming Chaldean empire). Accepting the NRSV
correction of the opening phrase, we read,
Moreover, wealth is
treacherous;
the arrogant do not endure.
They open their
throats wide as Sheol;
like Death they never have enough.
They gather all
nations for themselves,
and collect all peoples as their own
(verse 5).
The arrogant
empire, which has been the instrument of God’s judgment, has become a terror to
the nations.
Psalm 119:137-144.
The Psalm
reading is another stanza from the great acrostic psalm devoted to praise of
God’s instruction (torah). (The
technique and devotion of this Psalm were discussed in the Psalm reading for
the 19th Sunday after Pentecost, Oct. 20th, two Sundays
ago.)
This stanza,
in which all lines begin with the Hebrew letter tsādēh (18th
in the alphabet), especially praises the righteousness (a word beginning
with tsādēh) of God’s commandments and rule. “You are righteous, O Lord, / and your
judgments are right” (verse 137, NRSV ). This is precisely the affirmation contained
in the vision Habakkuk is commanded to write in large letters. The key term “faith(fullness)” from Habakkuk
2:4 appears in the next verse of the psalm: “You have appointed your decrees in
righteousness / and in all faithfulness (trustworthiness).”
The circle of
Torah pietists who praised God in this psalm were dedicated to waiting, as the
prophet had been commanded, until their faith in God’s justice is openly or
secretly revealed in due time.
II Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12.
The opening
of this letter, written in Paul’s name, contains the standard items: the writers are Paul and his assistants
Silvanus (Silas) and Timothy, they address the church of the Thessalonians in
the name of God and Jesus, and they pray for grace and peace upon the
church. The “thanksgiving” then is used
to selectively praise aspects of that church’s life. We “boast of you among the churches of God
for your steadfastness and faith during all your persecutions and the
afflictions that you are enduring” (verse 4, NRSV ). Steadfastness in faith under persecution –
for that the Apostle gives thanks to God.
Our reading
skips to what the apostles pray for, which is basically that the
Thessalonians keep on keeping on – and by doing so keep attracting new converts
to their novel way of living in the world.
What Paul,
Silas, and Timothy pray for is that God will work through the faithful,
more than that the faithful will exert themselves. They pray “that our God will make you worthy
of his call and will fulfill by his power every good resolve and work of
faith…” (verse 11). If the Thessalonians
make “good resolves” and plan “works of faith,” it will be God who determines
how they go, whether they are acceptable and thus successful. Life in this congregation, where everyone is
newly converted, is directed by God’s activity moving through the intentions
and best efforts of the people.
For these new
folks there are no old religious formalities to divert the pious from justice
and mercy. This is a God-intoxicated
community – that is even, perhaps, too much engrossed in the divine to fully
care for day-to-day responsibilities (see 3:6-13).
The Gospel
reading is the delightful story of stature-challenged but rich Zacchaeus.
He was the Chairman and CEO of Tax
Collectors, Inc. of Jericho
Zacchaeus
wanted to see who this new celebrity, Jesus, might be. Since his view was blocked by the crowds, he
ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to view Jesus as he passed. Jesus spotted him up the tree and, we may
speculate, decided that there must be a project in this energetic guy. In any case, Jesus calls Zacchaeus out of the
tree and invites himself to Zacchaeus’ house for a banquet that night – thereby
changing Zacchaeus’ life forever.
Zacchaeus’
neighbors in Jericho – probably good observant Judeans who avoided contact with
unclean people and the disgraceful tax collectors – grumbled, not about
Zacchaeus but about Jesus, who had “gone to be the guest of a sinner” (verse 7,
NRSV ).
At the
gathering at Zacchaeus’ house, the host stands and makes a marvelous public
declaration in response to his acceptance by Jesus. He vows to give half his possessions to the
poor – the critical neighbors, most likely, receiving none of this generosity –
and also to repay any fraudulent business transactions by 400 percent of the
amounts involved. This latter vow
might well have benefited some of the critical neighbors who had suffered from
the computations of the tax collector!
Outcast or not, they would relish a 400% return on their involuntary
investments in his enterprises.
Zacchaeus is
a striking case of one who turned from his evil ways and began to seek justice
– all because the Lord summoned him in the midst of his opulent life. In a remarkable way, the judgment of the Lord
had come unexpectedly upon Zacchaeus, and he responded generously, bringing
blessings to the poor and bonuses to many of the carping but hopefully softened
citizens of Jericho
Jesus’ pronouncement
declared that, “Today salvation has come to this house,” because this
stature-challenged little outcast is also a son of Abraham, and thus an heir to
the promises of blessing to the peoples.
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