Musings on the Daily Lectionary

In today's Old Testament reading Nehemiah speaks to an Israel who has struggled and languished after returning from exile in Babylon. And he recalls their history with God for the people, asking them to remember who they are, a people formed by God, a people who exist because God cares for them.

In the gospel reading from Matthew, Jesus speaks to Pharisees who complain about his disciples' not washing their hands before eating, breaking "the tradition of the elders." But Jesus says that it is the Pharisees, and not his disciples, who have lost their way, have forgotten who they are. "You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied rightly about you when he said: 'This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines.'"

In much of traditional, Protestant, American Christianity, the term "going to church" has come to describe the dominant form of religious participation. But more and more, people are finding that this falls woefully short. And they are beginning to ask themselves, Who are we? What does it truly mean for us to be the people of God?

Both Jesus and Nehemiah say that answering these questions requires some deep remembering. It is a remembering that reaches beyond how we've been doing things for a generation or two. It reaches back to remember who we are at our core. It finds an identity in God's saving acts, most especially God's saving act in Jesus. It answers questions about who we are by asking who Jesus calls us to be, by considering how we are called to serve God.

Who are we? Who has God called us to be in Christ? Is what we are currently doing about that? Or do we need to do some remembering?

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