Reading Scripture--Light. Quick, & Tender

Daily Office Devotional, Monday, August 16, 2021

Proper 15, the week of the twelfth Sunday after Pentecost

The Rev. David W. Perkins, Th.D.

Key phrases for reflection from today’s reading.

13Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see whether perhaps he would find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary (moved from Sunday).

(See below.)

Daily Office Lectionary readings:

AM Psalm 106:1-18; PM Psalm 106:19-48

2 Samuel 17:24-18:8; Acts 22:30-23:11; Mark 11:12-26

Morning Prayer, Rite 2, page 75, Book of Common Prayer

Evening Prayer, Rite 2, page 115, Book of Common Prayer

Compline (Night Prayer), Page 127, Book of Common Prayer

Daily Office Gospel, Mark 11:12-26

12 On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. 13Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see whether perhaps he would find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14He said to it, ‘May no one ever eat fruit from you again.’ And his disciples heard it.

15 Then they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling and those who were buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves; 16and he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. 17He was teaching and saying, ‘Is it not written,

“My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations”?

But you have made it a den of robbers.’

18And when the chief priests and the scribes heard it, they kept looking for a way to kill him; for they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was spellbound by his teaching. 19And when evening came, Jesus and his disciples went out of the city.

20 In the morning as they passed by, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. 21Then Peter remembered and said to him, ‘Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.’ 22Jesus answered them, ‘Have faith in God. 23Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, “Be taken up and thrown into the sea,” and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you. 24So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

25 ‘Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.’

David’s Reflections

Can we draw a distinction between mere reading and interpreting, making sense of what we read? If so, what would that distinction be and what would move us from one to the other during the act of reading?

In today’s Gospel, when Jesus’ hunger for food turned his attention to the fig tree, he went looking for figs. Yet, the story-teller, Mark the evangelist, whispers in the reader’s ear that it was not the season for figs. That proves puzzling to the reader, especially when Jesus cursed the tree and it withered.

During a sabbatical year from seminary teaching spent at Emory University, the focus of my research was literary theory. I was fortunate to be hosted that year with the late Robert Detweiler, a Pennsylvania Dutch Mennonite, who was both a seminary graduate and a scholar in comparative literature. One of the first books I read was the second in a three-part series on symbolism by a Bulgarian, Tzvetan Todorov, entitled Symbolism and Interpretation. That little book opened numerous windows for me regarding the art of reading.

Todorov says, “A text or a discourse becomes symbolic at the point where, through an effort of interpretation, we discover in it an indirect meaning. . . .in principle, we require that the text itself indicate to us its symbolic nature, that it posses a series of observable and undeniable properties through which it leads us on to that peculiar form of reading which is ‘interpretation.’ We begin with the answer, with the interpretive reaction, but we go back to the question, which is posed by the symbolic nature of the text itself.” *

Todorov speaks of indexes or triggers in a text that move us from merely reading to asking meaning questions. In the Bible those bumps or triggers in the text present themselves as puzzling gaps in the text or as spots where the surface meaning eludes or puzzles us.

The phrase we noted earlier, “it was not the season for figs” (v. 13), presents us with just such a trigger or index, a piece of content that we cannot make sense of at the literal or surface level. We find ourselves puzzling over the rationale for Jesus’ search for figs out of season and his cursing of the tree.

In the reading of the Bible, those kinds of omissions or additions (Mark’s whisper to us is an addition to the story), can prove puzzling to the reader. Texts containing rich content, like the creation stories (Genesis 1-2) or the beatitudes (Matthew 5//Luke 6) also function like triggers. They slow the reader down and prompt meaning questions. Reading becomes conflicted and difficult. No wonder the Bible feels like such a challenge to us. Yet, the Bible actually is permeable; often the answers are much more simple than we think. And, keeping a light-hearted, even playful spirit about the bumps and gaps makes the exploration most enjoyable.

If we keep the Bible open and allow ourselves to be slowed down into asking meaning questions, we normally will find help from within the text itself. Today’s Gospel is such a text. Mark begins the story of the fig tree, interrupts it with the cleansing of the Temple, and then resumes it. (Mark often does this in the narrative. Matthew and Luke consistently revise Mark to remove the “narrative sandwich” technique.) Could it be that Jesus is acting symbolically here? Could it be that the fig tree has become a symbol for the Temple system and its officials, with whom Jesus found himself in ongoing conflict?

Within forty years of this passage, the Roman army razed the Temple. Was Jesus announcing an impending judgment on the stubbornness of the religious leadership? Was he grieving? Was he speaking a prophetic message with actions rather than words? If so, the surface level, the season of the year related to the growth of figs, would become irrelevant.

A passage like this one speaks to us about the subtle skill of the biblical story tellers and about our need for persistence in the reading of these texts. If you have a list of puzzling texts, perhaps rereading them and rethinking those puzzling places might yield richness at a symbolic level. Bring to that rereading a curious, light-hearted spirit and dance with the text.

I love something Krister Stendahl, Lutheran bishop and New Testament scholar said about reading the Bible (and about preaching). “The best rule for reading scriptures is the very same as for preaching: It should be light, quick, and tender.”+

*Tzvetan Todorov, Symbolism and Interpretation, (Ithaca, NY: Cornell UP, 1987), p. 19.

+Krister Stendahl, “Why I Love the Bible.” https://bulletin.hds.harvard.edu/why-i-love-the-bible/

Collect of the Day, Proper 15, the twelfth Sunday after Pentecost

Almighty God, you have given your only Son to be for us a sacrifice for sin, and also an example of godly life: Give us grace to receive thankfully the fruits of this redeeming work, and to follow daily in the blessed steps of his most holy life; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (BCP, 232)

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Our Lord

http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/Mary.htm

Collect of the Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary

O God, you have taken to yourself the blessed Virgin Mary, mother of your incarnate Son: Grant that we, who have been redeemed by his blood, may share with her the glory of your eternal kingdom; through your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

A Collect for the Renewal of Life

O God, the King eternal, whose light divides the day from the night and turns the shadow of death into the morning: Drive far from us all wrong desires, incline our hearts to keep your law, and guide our feet into the way of peace; that, having done your will with cheerfulness while it was day, we may, when night comes, rejoice to give you thanks; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 99)

For Local Government

Almighty God our heavenly Father, send down upon those who hold office in this State (Commonwealth, City, County, Town, __________ ) the spirit of wisdom, charity, and justice; that with steadfast purpose they may faithfully serve in their

offices to promote the well-being of all people; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 822)

In the Evening

O Lord, support us all the day long, until the shadows lengthen, and the evening comes, and the busy world is hushed, and the fever of life is over, and our work is done. Then in thy mercy, grant us a safe lodging, and a holy rest, and peace at the last. Amen. (BCP, 833)

A Collect for Mission

O God, you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth, and sent your blessed Son to preach peace to those who are far off and to those who are near: Grant that people everywhere may seek after you and find you; bring the nations into your fold; pour out your Spirit upon all flesh; and hasten the coming of your kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 100, 257)