Above: Eyes
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The Collect:
Almighty God, you anointed Jesus at his baptism with the Holy Spirit
and revealed him as your beloved Son.
Keep all who are born of water and the Spirit faithful in your service,
that we may rejoice to be called children of God,
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns
with the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
—Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 22
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The Assigned Readings:
Numbers 27:1-11
Psalm 106:1-12
Luke 11:33-36
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Happy are those who uphold justice,
who do what is right on every occasion.
–Psalm 106:2, The Psalms Introduced and Newly Translated for Today’s Readers (1989), by Harry Mowvley
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The reference to human eyes in Luke 11:33-36 might prove confusing. The assumption regarding eyes in that text was one common to the Hellenistic world in which the Gospel According to Luke originated. That assumption was that one’s inner darkness or light shone in the eyes. The concern of the text, therefore, is one’s inner life. Does light or darkness dominate? As Jesus said elsewhere in the Gospels, that darkness which comes from within a person, not that darkness which enters one from outside, defiles one.
The reading from Numbers 27 refers to the rebellion of Korah against Moses in Chapter 16. The perspective of the Book of Numbers is that Moses was God’s anointed, so to oppose Moses was to resist God. Numbers 16:31-35 describes the unfortunate fate of those rebels. Among those followers was Zelophehad, who had only female heirs. Other ancient cultures in the region had liberal inheritance laws permitting women to inherit even when male heirs existed. Ancient Israel was an especially patriarchal society, though, so an exception benefiting women, such as the daughters of Zelophehad, came into being.
Standards of justice are concrete, for particular cases define them. Does one seek to do the right thing? Does one succeed in that goal? Or does one create or perpetuate injustice? How one treats vulnerable people is a fine standard of justice.
SEPTEMBER 22, 2015 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF JOHN CAMPBELL SHAIRP, SCOTTISH POET AND EDUCATOR
THE FEAST OF PHILANDER CHASE, PRESIDING BISHOP OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
THE FEAST OF SAINT THOMAS OF VILLANOVA, ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF VALENCIA
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Adapted from this post:
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BLOGA THEOLOGICA 
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