Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for June 6, 2021

First Reading (Track One): 1 Samuel 8:4-20,11:14-15

The six-month-long season after Pentecost now begins, with its green vestments and liturgical colors. The Lectionary offers a choice of two separate tracks of first readings and psalms during this season.

Christ among the Pharisees (1600s), oil painting on canvas by Jacob Jordaens (1593-1678). Sotheby’s, London. (Click image to enlarge.)

In Track One, our first readings for the next three months will recall the ancient stories of Israel’s kings from Saul to Solomon. Then, through the end of November we’ll dip into the Hebrew Bible’s wisdom literature, including the books of Job and Ruth. Sunday’s Track One first reading finds the chosen people in a time of turmoil in the Promised Land. Tired of being governed by corrupt judges, the people clamored for a king to lead them. The prophet Samuel opposed this idea, declaring that God was Israel’s king. But with God’s direct guidance, Samuel finally gave in and named Saul king, warning that the people would come to regret this decision.

First Reading (Track Two): Genesis 3:8-15

This Sunday we start the season after Pentecost, featuring the green liturgical colors that will continue until Advent begins at the end of November. During this time churches may choose either of two Lectionary tracks, each with its own First Readings and Psalms. In Sunday’s Track Two first reading, we hear the familiar story of Adam and Eve in the garden after having eaten the fruit that God forbade. They realized that they were naked, and hearing God coming, they hid because they were afraid. When God found them, they blamed each other, and then they blamed the snake. What would have happened if they refused to take the fruit? Would they have lived happily ever after in Eden? But when they lost their home in the garden, God came out with them, and stayed with a people of free will and belief through the ages.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 138

Even in the world outside Eden, a world of work and pain and hunger, we know that God remains with us. Even from on high, the Psalmist sings, God cares for the lowly. This lovely psalm of thanksgiving praises God and exults in gratitude that God stays with us when we are in trouble, and answers us when we call. In words that echo the familiar verses of the beloved 23rd Psalm, we hear that God keeps us safe even when we walk in the midst of trouble; God’s strong hand protects us from our enemies.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 130

Titled “De Profundis” (“out of the depths”), this Psalm of faith in God’s redemption reminds us that we wait in hope for God’s love and grace even in times of grief, pain and despair. Even in death we await the resurrection, as in night’s darkest hours we wait for morning light. We hear this psalm three times in this Lectionary cycle; it is also suggested for use in the burial of the dead, although it is surely chosen less often than the beloved 23rd Psalm.

Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1

We may feel as if we live a life of affliction and wasting away in our fallen world, but that anguish is only momentary in the greater scheme of things, Paul assures the people of Corinth in his second letter to this tiny Greek seaport community. Just as God raised Jesus from the dead, God will raise us, too. The pain that we feel now is only temporary; through God’s grace we will live forever in God’s glory beyond all measure.

Gospel: Mark 3:20-35

After spending much of Lent and Eastertide hearing passages from the Gospel of John, we now return to Mark’s Gospel for the rest of this Lectionary year. We find Jesus where we left him, attracting crowds in his early ministry in Galilee. He’s in trouble with just about everyone, from Pharisees upset about his healing to his neighbors and his own family. No one is happy about his healings, his teaching, all the people following him around! His neighbors think Jesus has lost his mind, or maybe has a demon of his own. His family comes out in the street to try to calm him down. His responses surely would not make his mother and brothers happy: He tells them that his followers are his family now, and his work will take him out into a broken world.