Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Aug. 29, 2021

First Reading (Track One): Song of Solomon 2:8-13

During the first half of the Pentecost season during this Lectionary year we have followed the stories of Israel’s Judges and Kings in our Track One first readings. Now, we’ll devote most of the rest of the season to the Hebrew Bible’s wisdom literature – books of thoughts and advice on wise and proper living.

James the Just, the Brother of Jesus. Ancient Orthodox icon. (Click image to enlarge.)

Our wisdom journey begins this Sunday with a love poem. What an unexpected thing to find in the Bible! The Song of Solomon is a collection of love poems that tradition attributes to King Solomon himself, although they were actually written centuries later. These verses sing of deep love between a woman and a man who has just returned to her after a cold winter. The subject invites us to look for all sorts of metaphor, but remember sometimes a love song is just a love song.

First Reading (Track Two): Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9

Don’t do as we say. Do as we do. This simple wisdom is unveiled for us throughout Sunday’s Track Two readings. In the first reading last week, we looked on as an aging Joshua, facing the end of his life, called on the people to recommit to God’s covenant now that they were established in the Promised Land. This week we back up in time to Deuteronomy, listening in as Moses emphasizes the importance of following God’s covenant. By carrying God’s teaching through the generations, he tells the people, the Israelites will earn the right to live in the promised land, gaining the world’s respect for wisdom and discernment.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 45:1-2, 7-10

In the context of the Song of Solomon, these snippets from Psalm 45 are framed as a love song, too. A noble song fashioned for a king on the occasion of his royal wedding, it praises the king himself as the fairest of men, from whose lips produce flowing grace. But the narrative quickly turns to praise God, above the king. God is the Holy One who has anointed and blessed the king with an enduring throne and a scepter of righteousness. God has anointed the king because God loves righteousness and hates iniquity, the psalm tells us. Thus the king carries out God’s will and earns God’s blessings on earth.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 15

Echoing Moses’ wisdom in the first reading, the Psalmist – said by tradition to be King David himself – proclaims that those who live blamelessly and with righteousness and truth may earn God’s protection. Be honest, be trustworthy, be fair; protect the innocent. Follow these ways, the psalm advises us, and abide upon God’s holy hill. Honesty, kindness, and love of neighbor all make a difference: The way we live matters to God.

Second Reading: James 1:17-27

Following several weeks with second readings chosen from the letter to the Ephesians, we now turn to the letter of James for five weeks. Although this epistle is traditionally attributed to James, the brother of Jesus, it was more likely written in James’ name by a later Jewish Christian after the fall of the Temple, perhaps around the same time as Matthew’s Gospel.. This passage is akin to today’s other readings in its emphasis on God’s covenant: “Care for the widows and orphans in their distress.” Throughout the letter, the writer shows little doubt that we are called not merely to hear God’s teaching but to act on what we hear.

Gospel: Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

After our summer digression into the bread narrative in  John’s Gospel, we now return to Mark for the rest of this liturgical year, picking up where we left off in mid-July. If you don’t pay attention, though, you might think for a moment that nothing has changed, as we find Jesus arguing with a crowd of Scribes and Pharisees just as we left him doing in John’s account. The law-abiding religious leaders have challenged Jesus because they saw his disciples ignoring the strict ritual practice of washing before eating. In response, Jesus quotes the Prophet Isaiah in a passage that showers scorn on those who honor God with their lips while their hearts are far away. The message: Do not thoughtlessly follow ritual; rather live in the spirit of God’s laws. It is not eating that defiles us, Jesus proclaims, but the sins that come from our mouths and our hearts.