Jeremiah 1:4-10

Covered in week 16 of Proper time later this year. Worth checking that out for context.

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

To survive, religions have to have updates. I've highlighted a few of these throughout these 3 years of Lectionaries. This is a big one. The fatherly disciplinarian is updated by the loving son. That theme can only be demonstrated by isolating texts. That's true of all of the themes found throughout the Bible, but this one is pretty well entrenched in the modern mind.

Bono lays it out in modern language in an interview in 2011. Most of it is Bono using youthful language to explain theology, but he has a couple high points, for example on Karma,

You see, at the center of all religions is the idea of Karma. You know, what you put out comes back to you: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, or in physics; in physical laws every action is met by an equal or an opposite one. It's clear to me that Karma is at the very heart of the universe. I'm absolutely sure of it. And yet, along comes this idea called Grace to upend all that "as you reap, so you will sow" stuff. Grace defies reason and logic. Love interrupts, if you like, the consequences of your actions, which in my case is very good news indeed, because I've done a lot of stupid stuff.

As for updates to the religion, Bono tries to incorporate C.S. Lewis' "Liar, Lunatic or Lord" into a screed on how Jesus said, "I'm the Messiah". He didn't just say some nice stuff about loving your neighbor. He came to earth to be crucified. It's a twist on fundamentalism, accepting that Jesus was indeed the Son of God, but showing how people react to it.

And people say: No, no, please, just be a prophet. A prophet, we can take. You're a bit eccentric. We've had John the Baptist eating locusts and wild honey, we can handle that. But don't mention the "M" word! Because, you know, we're gonna have to crucify you. And he goes: No, no. I know you're expecting me to come back with an army, and set you free from these creeps, but actually I am the Messiah. At this point, everyone starts staring at their shoes, and says: Oh, my God, he's gonna keep saying this. So what you're left with is: either Christ was who He said He was the Messiah or a complete nutcase.

I'm not advocating Bono as a modern theologian, but he does reflect some of the new thinking on what the gospels were about. It gives me a little hope that the next update will be an improvement. Near the end though, he utters the same old tripe,

The idea that the entire course of civilization for over half of the globe could have its fate changed and turned upside-down by a nutcase, for me, that's farfetched.

Full interview here.

Luke 4:21-30

Luke will be the featured gospel this summer and we've had a good introduction to it this month. Jesus introduced himself as the liberator last week and everyone liked that. But a truly good leader will not limit his speeches to what his followers want to hear. That leads to the destructive language we heard from Jeremiah. Jesus tells them he won't be accepted, and not by some far off Roman oppressor, but by the very people he is talking to at that moment. He invokes their own traditions of including outsiders. That's when the people turn ugly and want to throw him out. Some see this as a statement about Jesus, the inability of an itinerant preacher to be accepted by those who knew him as a kid, but it seems more like a statement about the followers to me. He's making it clear his mission is not an easy one and if you aren't on board with it, maybe you shouldn't come along.