Lectionary blog for Oct. 5, 2025
17th Sunday after Pentecost
Habakkuk 1:1-4, 2:1-4; Psalm 37:1-9;
2 Timothy 1:1-14; Luke 17:5-10
I recently served as an interim pastor for a delightful little congregation after their long-time pastor retired. Like so many congregations, they had shrunk over the years and wondered about the future. It was my privilege to observe the congregation’s everyday faithfulness and their extraordinary warmth as they navigated the in-between times. Folks bonded together to fix the building and to make sure they were ready to welcome college students back to school and the community. They also shared a meal together every week (it is way more than just snacks).
On one of my last Sundays there I shared my amazement at the amount of work that each person contributed to making the congregation vibrant. A woman serving as an usher said, “The name of our congregation is Faith. We’re just being faithful.”
This week’s lectionary passages remind us that common faithfulness is to be the mark of all the people of God.
In the book of Habakkuk, the prophet is upset and wonders if God sees all the injustice being practiced by the Judahites, and, if so, why God doesn’t do anything about it. Omitted from the reading is God’s response starting at 1:5. God has noticed all the injustice, of course, and will cleanse the land of Judahite idolatry and injustice through the Babylonian conquest.
A horrified Habakkuk asks how the unrighteous can possibly discipline God’s people. God’s response: the arrogant person’s soul is not right, but the righteous one will live by her/his faithfulness (2:4). In a time of coming cataclysm, when injustice and wickedness surround, the only safe bet is to live faithfully and follow God’s commands, no matter what else may happen. Ordinary, everyday faithfulness is what God wants.
The psalmist takes up both Habakkuk’s lament and God’s instructions. Evildoers seem to prosper, and wrongdoers seem to get ahead of others. This feels wrong! But the psalmist reminds people to “trust in the Lord and do good” (37:3). God will bring forth the righteousness of those who do good and allow it to shine like light (6). In the meantime, we are to actively long for the coming of God in undisturbed peace (7; see author’s note below). This is anything but passive waiting! Instead, ordinary, everyday faithfulness is what God wants.
This week’s lectionary passages remind us that common faithfulness is to be the mark of all the people of God.
Moving to the Gospel reading, Jesus responded to those who had been sent out to proclaim his message by telling them about the bare minimums of faithfulness. If they had faithfulness even the size of a tiny seed, they could command trees to move. Jesus then told a parable, saying that servants are not praised for doing their bare minimum of work. Instead, a servant works all day and then eats when the work is over. Just so, Jesus’ disciples are to regard themselves as servants of his faithfulness, not expecting to be served but to work on behalf of the kingdom. Ordinary, everyday faithfulness is what God wants!
What is this ordinary, everyday faithfulness? It’s explained in this Gospel passage, just before our reading. Jesus pointed out that difficult times and stumbling blocks come for everyone. But death is preferable to leading a child or an immature person away from righteousness and into sin. That said, if someone who sins receives rebuke and repents of their sins, seeking to make amends, they are to be welcomed back, even if it happens multiple times a day. It was these two teachings—on the devastation of causing suffering to children and on the unlimited grace for those who would seek to return to everyday faithfulness—that caused the apostles to demand that Jesus increase their faithfulness. Ordinary, everyday faithfulness is what God wants, after all.
In a time of violence and corruption (I write these reflections over a month in advance, but it seems a safe bet that there will be bad stories in the news), we are not to give into despair or jealousy. We are certainly not to be part of the problem in making life less safe or more challenging for young people. And we are not to become hard-hearted and turn away those who would make attempts to repent and repair. Instead, we are simply to practice ordinary, everyday faithfulness (and grace!), because that’s what God wants.
Author’s note: “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him” is a tortured translation. The initial verb דּוֹם makes sense to render as something like “be silent” or “be still.” But the second verb הִתְחוֹלֵל probably is better understood as commanding twisting/turning/writhing/bodily longing, anything but patient waiting).
