This week’s lectionary texts from Jeremiah, 2 Timothy and Luke all concern themselves with living well. Jeremiah writes to the survivors of the sacking of Jerusalem and deportation to Babylon. God spoke a word to them through Jeremiah, and God tells these people that living well looks like building full lives, even if they must live in a foreign land. Living well also looks like seeking and praying for the shalom, the peace and prosperity, of the city in which those exiled find themselves living. God tells these people, likely traumatized and homesick, that their shalom, their peace and prosperity, is now tied to the shalom of the city in which they live. The author of 2 Timothy also writes about living well. Imprisoned and in chains, this author seeks well-being not in worldly comforts but in the salvation that is in Christ Jesus. The writer knows Timothy and his community suffer and struggle, even if they are not in chains themselves, and urges them not to take pride in worldly status but in truth. In the miraculous healing story from the Gospel of Luke, Jesus talks about two kinds of living well. First, Jesus makes the ten men suffering from leprosy “clean.” For Jews in the first century, being clean meant full participation in the life of the community. One had to be ritually clean to participate in communal activities from worship to sharing a meal at a table. You can find the rest of the commentary on our website.
Thank you to guest writer Rev. Marilyn McKelvey Tucker-Marek. | 
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