October 25, 2009
Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost
Proper 25
Jeremiah 31:7-9
Psalm 69:15-18, 31-38
Hebrews 7:23-28
Mark 10:46-52
In his book A Cross Shattered Church, Stanley Hauerwas observes that, for the first 17 centuries after Christ's earthly ministry, the primary place of theology was the pulpit. As a result of the Enlightenment, theology retreated into the walls of the ivory towers, becoming as much of an academic pursuit as a key element of the body of Christ. In our calling as Christians, it important for us to remember the role that theology plays in our everyday lives. According to Hauerwas, "The story that makes us Christians cannot be known without proclamation....That is why our task is not to explain "the meaning" of the text, but rather to show how our lives are unintelligible if Jesus Christ is not the Lord."1 With that in mind, let us take a look at today's readings.
As we look at today's Gospel reading, we see what one of my old youth group kids would call "another Jesus miracle." We see seven rather short verses that we've probably read a dozen times or more in Sunday School and in our readings of the Scripture. Jesus is walking along the road with a crowd, he heals a blind man, and carries on his way. This story is told in three of our four Gospels, only escaping mention in the Gospel of John. By reading this story...
