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

252 Proper 11 [16]/Year C
is it “beyond the sea,” so that someone would need to make a sea voyage.
“No, the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart
for you to observe.” The community assists in internalizing the commandments
by teaching them constantly (see Proper 26/Year B).
The Deuteronomic theologians do not use the term “prevenient
grace,” but something like that notion is indicated here. God has already
placed the resources for obedience and blessing within the community.
The community needs only to act on these things.
On the one hand, this text invites idolatrous communities today to
repent. On the other hand, real-life experience is often more ambiguous;
these themes do not always work out as cleanly as the Deuteronomists
suppose. Further, while God’s general designs are “not too hard” to
understand, identifying the most faithful way to put them into practice in
particular situations is not always easy. Communities need to struggle
together in conversation to determine what appear to be more and less
adequate attitudes and behaviors.
Leviticus 19:17–18 (Seventh Sunday after the Epiphany/Year A) or
Deuteronomy 6:4–6 (Proper 26/Year B) would be better readings to go
with Luke 10:25–37, the Gospel for today. Elsewhere, Matthew and Mark
adapt the notion of regathering of exiles (Deut. 30:4) to the eschatological
ingathering the apocalypse (Matt. 24:31; Mark 13:27): as God was
faithful to Israel in exile, so God will be faithful at the time of the apocalypse.
First John 5:3 echoes Deuteronomy 30:11 to make the point that
following the Commandments is not burdensome. In Romans 2:29 Paul
cites Deuteronomy 30:6 to show that Gentiles share a mode of circumcision
with their Jewish companions. 73 In the same vein, in Romans 10:6-
8, the apostle interprets Deuteronomy 30:12–14 to say that “God’s
character remains the same as in the time of Moses.” 74 By coming to the
God of Israel through Jesus Christ, Gentiles do not supersede Israel but
join Israel as witnesses to God’s faithfulness.
Proper 11 [16]/Year C
Amos 8:1–12+ (Semicontinuous)
Today’s text falls into three parts. Verses 1–3 present the fourth imaginative
experience that was the source of Amos’s prophecy to the northern
kingdom; verses 4–8 sharply criticize the way in which the well-to-do
merchants of Israel fleeced the poor; and verses 9–12 announce the com-