000 Allen FMT (i-xxii) - The Presbyterian Leader

200 Proper 27 [32]/Year B
to the oneness of God. The integrity of God begets integrity within the
human being and in the human community.
The community is perpetually to teach the Shema and, by implication,
the whole of Deuteronomy (6:6–9). The home is to be a classroom. Community
members are to “bind them [Moses’ words] as a sign” on the hand
and to fix them on the decorative forehead band. People were to write
them on their doorposts (giving rise to the Jewish custom of mounting a
small container with the Ten Words, called a mezuzah, at the entrance to
the house). Copies were also placed at the city gates so that people entering
and leaving would remember to walk in God’s ways. “The idea [is that]
the habit of observing God’s laws has the long term effect of instilling reverence
for God” and of helping those habits become a faithful way of
life. 62 Many congregations today could recover this emphasis on teaching
as an antidote to theological amnesia.
Deuteronomy 6 is half of an ideal pairing with Mark 12:28–34. When
asked to identify the commandment that is first of all, the Markan Jesus
responds by adapting Deuteronomy 6:4–5 with the text that would complete
the ideal pair for today, Leviticus 19:17–18 (see Seventh Sunday after
the Epiphany/Year A). Similar points come out in Matthew 22:34–40 and
Luke 10:25–28, Romans 3:30, 1 Corinthians 8:4, and Ephesians 4:6.
Proper 27 [32]/Year B
Ruth 3:1–5; 4:1–17+ (Semicontinuous)
Although the narrative of Ruth is ostensibly set in the period of the Judges,
it should be dated in the postexilic period as a voice in the conversation in
the Jewish community regarding whether Jewish people could marry
Gentiles. Ezra called Jewish people to divorce marriage partners who
were not Jewish (Ezra 9:1–10:44; cf. Neh. 10:30; 13:1–3, 23–27). While
this step sounds harsh today, the preacher should help the congregation
realize that Israel’s postexilic life was languishing as people drifted from
Torah (e.g., Ezra 4:1–7; Neh. 1:3; 5:1–15; 9:1–37; Mal. 1:6–14; 2:1–9,
13–16; 3:5, 7–10). The Deuteronomic theologians counseled putting
away foreign gods (e.g., Josh. 24:14–28) and avoiding intermarriage and
otherwise keeping distant from the inhabitants of the land to maintain the
blessing of YHWH (e.g., Deut. 7:1–4; 12:29–32; 13:12–18; 23:3–6; cf.
Exod. 34:11–16). In the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, Jewish leaders sought
to restore the vitality of the community. Intermarriage may have led some
Jewish people to bring foreign gods and practices into Jewish homes, and