Bible Study: Proper 22 (C) – 2025

RCL: Lamentations 1:1-6; Psalm 137; 2 Timothy 1:1-14; Luke 17:5-10

Lamentations 1:1-6

Lamentations are songs of sadness. Here, at the beginning of the book, we get notes of loneliness and homesickness in the context of the Babylonian Exile. The visceral imagery, along with the litany of constituents who are grieving, demonstrate how even in our loneliest moments, when we might feel like there’s “no one to comfort” us and all of our “friends have dealt treacherously” with us, it can be helpful to remember that we are not the only ones who are or who have ever felt the way we are feeling, even if that feeling is one of immense guilt. Anyone who’s listened to a song and experienced catharsis could tell you this, and that is precisely what the Book of Lamentations is for.

In verse 5, we also see a common approach to making sense of unimaginable grief. The logic goes something like this: God is all good and all powerful, but bad things are happening, so it must be because we did something to deserve the bad things. While ancient Israel did have a lot to repent for, this logic isn’t ironclad when you take a long view. Jesus certainly took issue when it was applied to a blind man (John 9:1-12), and we’re assured that “all things work together for good” for God’s people (Romans 8:28).

• What are your favorite ways to bring on catharsis (the release of—and subsequent relief from—difficult emotions)? Why do you think those ways are effective?
• How do you make sense of it when bad things happen? What are ways God might have used difficult experiences in your past for a good end?

Psalm 137

Fans of the musical Godspell will recognize the first four verses of Psalm 137 as the source text for the song, “On the Willows There,” which is performed as a cathartic lament when Jesus is in the Garden of Gethsemane shortly before his crucifixion. Originally, like Lamentations, it was a song of the Babylonian Exile. In its entirety, we see in real-time how quickly sadness can be corrupted with anger.

As the Psalm progresses, the imagery for feeling powerless in the face of grief transforms and takes a violent turn. It moves from the unused instrument hung on a tree to the Psalmist’s body parts becoming painfully unusable in verses 5-6 and concludes with a terrible desire in verses 7-9 for those responsible for the present pain to feel the same pain, if not worse, in the future. This is what happens when we sit too long in negative feelings, feeling helpless to change them in positive ways: we develop fantasies for how to change them at all costs, even if that involves perpetuating a cycle of harm.

• The Psalmist feels unable to worship God with music because they are so sad, but they still wrote this song. Have you ever felt so discouraged that you felt unable to do something you loved, but found the strength to do it anyway? How did that feel?
• Think of a time when you hurt someone else because they hurt you first. What got you to that point, and how could you have avoided hurting them?

2 Timothy 1:1-14

The opening of Paul’s second letter to Timothy also centers on suffering. Recalling Timothy’s tears, he encourages his “beloved child” to join with him in “suffering for the gospel.” We’ve already discussed how not suffering alone can lighten our burdens, and how sometimes we find ourselves wishing suffering on our enemies, but it seems peculiar for Paul to wish suffering on someone else he claims to love. In the rest of the epistle, we see evidence that Paul is imprisoned and believes he will be executed soon. He is gearing up to ask Timothy to visit him a final time, and so the mention of suffering is a conscious acknowledgement that this carries a risk for Timothy to be arrested, too. It’s bold, but Paul understands that, because of their mutual love and trust, he can ask Timothy for what he really needs and Timothy will oblige.

Having suffered so far himself, Paul does have some wisdom and insight when it comes to the subject. The clause following this bid to “join” in suffering for the Good News in verse 8, relying on “the power of God,” could be interpreted either as how one goes about suffering for the gospel or the result ofthat suffering.

• Are you comfortable asking for help when you really need it, even when it might be a burden to your loved ones? Why or why not?
• What is the advantage of each interpretation of verse 8? Which do you prefer?

Luke 17:5-10

The Gospel text is perhaps the most difficult of this week’s readings, with Jesus matter-of-factly describing harsh treatment of enslaved people in response to his apostles (a synonym for disciples, here) asking him to “increase” their faith. Noting that this is his audience, Jesus’ rhetorical questions are even more disquieting. There’s no getting around the fact that this dialogue indicates that Jesus’ followers enslaved people in his own time, not to mention the regrettable number of Christians who did so throughout history. Slavery was a structural sin, one that was normalized by socioeconomic institutions in various cultures across time, so that it seemed essential to daily life.

In the context of the psalm and its images of uselessness, the word “worthless” stands out in the concluding verse of the Gospel passage. Keeping in mind that enslaved people were led to believe they were worthless for doing “only” what they were told to do, under conditions in which they could only do so much, we can interpret Jesus as saying that his disciples are similarly mistaken about their faithlessness when they ask for their faith to be increased, as they had already been faithfully obeying the call to follow him.

• What structural sins are we party to today? Hint: Enriching Our Worship 1 gives us a confession that articulates repentance for “the evil done on our behalf.”
• We all have moments when we feel not _________ enough. What is usually in that blank for you? How do you remember that you are a wonderfully made child of God?

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