Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Aug. 18, 2024 (Pentecost 13B/Proper 15)

Christ Accused by the Pharisees (1308-1311), tempera painting on wood by Duccio di Buoninsegna (1255-1319). Museo dell’Opera Metropolitana del Duomo, Siena, Italy. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading (Track One): 1 Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14

David died after 40 years as king, we hear in Sunday’s Track One first reading, and his son Solomon ascended to the throne. Solomon, the first surviving son of David and Bathsheba, would go on to a majestic reign. Here at the beginning of his reign, though, Solomon knows well that he is young and inexperienced. When God comes to Solomon in a dream and invites him to ask for whatever he might wish, Solomon chooses wisely: He asks not for long life or riches but for the wisdom to govern well. This pleases God, who rewards Solomon with wisdom and honor, asking only that the young king walk in God’s way. All will go well for many years, but Solomon’s reign, sadly, will come to a bad end when the lure of great power corrupts him.

First Reading (Track Two): Proverbs 9:1-6

What is wisdom? What is foolishness? How do we gain the one and learn from the other? Sunday’s Lectionary readings offer insight. Wisdom is often personified in the Hebrew Bible as a truth-speaking woman of valor, who was present with God at the Creation. In this short passage from Proverbs, traditionally said to have been written by Solomon himself, we see Wisdom setting the table for a great feast, to which she invites the simple – those who lack wisdom – to come and be made wise. Through wisdom one gains insight and becomes mature, learning to walk in God’s way.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 111

This is one of the many Psalms that sing God’s praise with joy and exultation. Its verses shout thanksgiving for all of God’s work, all of God’s majesty and splendor, all of God’s justice that lasts forever. God feeds us, the Psalmist declares. God’s covenant redeems us, and the people shout “Hallelujah!” “Praise God!” And at the end, the reward is wisdom: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,” exults the final verse. “Those who act accordingly have a good understanding.”

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 34:9-14

A bright young man came up with a puzzled look one morning after hearing this passage from Psalm 34. “I don’t understand about ‘fearing’ the Lord,” he said. “Are we supposed to be afraid of God?” We were quick to reassure him: Rather than being afraid, think instead of feeling awe, being awestruck by God’s love. As the Psalmist sings, follow in God’s way. Speak kindly and with truth; avoid evil and do good; work for peace.

Second Reading: Ephesians 5:15-20

This short passage from the letter to the Ephesians directs the hearer to pursue wisdom, not foolishness, and to fear God not in fright and alarm but with the awe that inspires love. It illustrates that point with specific advice of the kind that prompts many to view Paul as a moralistic finger-wagger: It urges the faithful to avoid drunken debauchery, turning to worship and hymns instead. (To be fair to Paul, though, this letter was almost certainly not written by Paul but by more rigid early Christians a generation or two later.) The passages that follow this reading offer more moral codes that have caused real problems in zealous modern interpretation: “Wives, be subject to your husbands as you are to the Lord,” and possibly even more problematic, “Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, in singleness of heart, as you obey Christ.”

Gospel: John 6:51-58

Jesus’ long narrative about the bread of life has taken a turn. Now a new crowd of Pharisees and temple leaders confronts Jesus and pushes back when he declares that everyone must “eat his flesh and drink his blood” to gain eternal life. Jesus doubles down in Mark’s telling, which uses a Greek word for “eat” that literally means “to gnaw,” “to crunch,” or “to chew.” When John’s Gospel was written after the destruction of the Temple, early Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism were angrily tearing apart. In John’s frequent use of “The Jews” as a dismissive term for the temple authorities who opposed Jesus, we hear a sad refrain that fostered centuries of anti-Judaism.

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Aug. 11, 2024 (Pentecost 12B/Proper 14)

The Prophet Elijah in the Desert (1464-1468), oil painting on panel by Dieric Bouts the Elder (1420-1475). Panel in an altarpiece at Sint-Pieterskerk, Leuven, Belgium. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading (Track One): 2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33

The child born of David’s rape of Bathsheba has died, as God foretold through the prophet Nathan; and now in our Track One first reading we hear of the death of David’s son Absalom. In wildly dysfunctional dynamics of a Bronze Age royal family, Absalom had killed his half-brother, Amnon, for raping their sister, Tamar. Then Absalom went to war against his father, fighting to take over Israel’s throne. David’s soldiers find Absalom trapped in a tree, and kill him despite David’s command to deal with him gently. In spite of his son’s treasonous rebellion, David grieves him deeply. “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would that I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!”

First Reading (Track Two): 1 Kings 19:4-8

God provides physical and spiritual sustenance in time of trouble: This theme continues in this week’s Lectionary readings. In our Track Two first reading we find the Prophet Elijah pursued by an angry Queen Jezebel. Elijah is depressed, unwilling to get up or to eat. He goes to sleep under a broom tree and in despair asks God to take his life. God sends an angel, instead, who tempts Elijah with hot cakes and water and caring support, giving him strength to go on with his prophetic call.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 130

We often hear this Psalm of faithful hope in God; indeed, it has been only a few weeks since the last time it appeared in the Lectionary! In the context of different readings, though, we may sense its verses in new and different ways. On June 29 we heard it alongside David’s grief at the death of his friend, Jonathan. Now we sing it in harmony with David’s grief over his son Absalom’s death. God’s love and grace wait for us even when we are deep in grief. We wait for God, even as in night’s darkest hours we wait for morning light.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 34:1-8

We will read Psalm 34 in three parts over this and the next two Sundays. A Psalm of praise and thanksgiving for God’s protection in time of trouble, it is held in tradition as a hymn sung by King David after he escaped from a threatening situation in warfare. This opening portion includes an unusual sensory metaphor that has been adopted in a contemplative Taizé chant: The Psalmist tells us to “taste and see” that God is good when we are thankful for God’s protection. Happy are those who trust in God!

Second Reading: Ephesians 4:25-5:2

“Do not let the sun go down on your anger.” In its life lessons for those who lived in community in the early church, this passage from the letter to the people of Ephesus speaks good sense to us all: Tell the truth. If you’re angry with your neighbor, work it out; don’t let anger divide you. Don’t steal. Work honestly, and share with those in need. Be honest, but be positive. Be gracious. Forgive one another. And at the end of the day, love each other as Jesus loves us, and try to live as Jesus would have us live.

Gospel: John 6:35, 41-51

We gain a sense of continuity through repetition in Sunday’s Gospel. Once again we hear the beloved verse that concluded last Sunday’s reading, now as the first verse of the Gospel: “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” Now, though, the mood of the crowd following Jesus changes, and people start pushing back. They know Jesus. They know his parents. They watched him grow up. Who is he to be talking like this? But Jesus stands firm, and will continue to do so as we continue through John’s extended exposition of Jesus as manna, the bread of life.

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Aug. 4, 2024 (Pentecost 11B/Proper 13)

The Gathering Of Manna (c.1540-1555), oil painting on panel by Francesco d’Ubertino Verdi, called Bachiacca (1494-1557). Samuel H. Kress Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading (Track One): 2 Samuel 11:26-12:10, 13-15

Last Sunday we heard the shocking story of King David raping the beautiful Bathsheba, then arranging to have her husband, Uriah, killed in battle so David could have Bathsheba for himself. Now we hear the rest of the story. The prophet Nathan, sent by God, tells David about a rich man who selfishly took and slaughtered a poor man’s beloved lamb. Angry, David curses the rich man and threatens to have him killed, only to hear Nathan’s charge, “You are the man!” A merciful God threatens David with serious punishments but spares his life. In the verses just after this passage, though, Nathan foretells that the child of David’s illicit union shall die.

First Reading (Track Two): Exodus 16:2-4, 9-15

From God’s gift of manna to God’s gift of grace through Jesus, our Track Two readings over the next few weeks focus on bread – the bread of life – as metaphor for God’s abundant love. In last Sunday’s First Reading, when the Prophet Elisha fed 100 people with a few small barley loaves, he recalled God promising the people that “They shall eat and have some left.” This week we turn back to the verses in Exodus of which Elisha spoke, when God provided abundant manna, a gift of bread in the desert.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 51:1-13

Echoing the context of King David’s adultery and murder, this psalm’s powerful narrative envisions David wracked in repentant guilt as he confronts his great sin. In poetic words that mirror the promises of God’s covenants with the people, David pours out his shame and grief. He makes no excuses for his wicked acts, but begs for God’s mercy and forgiveness. “Create in me a clean heart, O God,” David begs: a clean slate upon which God can write a new covenant of love.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 78:23-29

Recalling God’s gift of manna to the people in the desert, the Psalmist gives thanks to the Creator, who saw the people’s need and poured down on them all the bread and quails that they could eat: God gave them what they craved and filled them up. The earlier verses of this Psalm, not included in Sunday’s reading, remember that God made a covenant with the people and led them out of slavery. Setting the scene for this passage, they recall how God cared for the people, and, despite their ungrateful complaints and rebellion, God set aside divine anger and fed them with love.

Second Reading: Ephesians 4:1-16

The author of the Letter to the Ephesians offers life lessons in poetic language. These phrases remind us of Paul’s memorable passage in 1 Corinthians, in which Paul speaks of the church as Christ’s body, within which each of us functions according to our gifts. Here, too, all are called to work together with humility and gentleness, in unity as one body and one spirit, “one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all.”

Gospel: John 6:24-35

The crowds around Jesus continue following him around the shores of Galilee. Having watched his miraculous healings and shared in the bountiful loaves and fishes, they are fascinated by this remarkable rabbi. They want to know more about him, but Jesus tells them that they just want more bread. Don’t fret about the world’s bread that does not last, Jesus tells them. Beginning an extended discussion about the bread of life that we will hear in readings from John’s Gospel through August, Jesus declares, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for July 28, 2024 (Pentecost 10B/Proper 12)

Feeding the Five Thousand (c.1580-590), oil painting on canvas by Marten van Valckenborch (1535-1612). Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading (Track One): 2 Samuel 11:1-15

Power corrupts. We see this simple wisdom amply demonstrated in the life of David. For all the reverence that David earned through his kingship and warrior victories, when he was bad, he was very, very bad. We see this in Sunday’s horrifying Track One first reading: He is so attracted by the sight of beautiful Bathsheba bathing on her roof that he summons her, rapes her – no kinder term will serve for a person with his power taking her without her consent – and then arranges for the death of her husband, Uriah, in battle.

First Reading (Track Two): 2 Kings 4:42-44

The story of the Prophet Elisha in our Track Two first reading might make us think of the familiar gospel story about Jesus encountering feeding a hungry crowd of thousands with a few loaves and fishes. As told in the Second Book of Kings, Elisha, faced with a crowd of hungry people, directs that they be fed from a sack of food that a man has brought to sacrifice. There were only 20 loaves and a bit of grain to share among 100 people, which surely didn’t seem like enough. But with God’s help it proved to be more than enough. Just as in the Gospel stories, there were even leftovers after all were fed.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 14

Psalm 14, another of the many Psalms that tradition attributes to David himself, resonates with David’s heinous behavior in the first reading. The Psalmist, speaking in the voice of a disappointed king, laments that the people have turned faithless and corrupt, foolishly denying God as they commit abominable acts. God looks down to see if any wise people remain, but there are none. Yet even in these times of evil, the Psalmist sings, God remains with the righteous. God is the refuge of the just, and eventually will deliver the people and restore their fortunes.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 145:10-19

Like many of the Psalms, this hymn of praise and thanksgiving expresses gratitude to a God who is not only powerful but faithful and merciful too. God is always prepared to gently lift up those who fall and to support those who are oppressed, we hear in this portion of Psalm 145. Echoing the bounty that God provided for the hungry people in the Ezekiel reading and the hungry crowd that Jesus feeds in the gospel stories, the Psalmist, too, celebrates God who gives us food; whose outstretched hands satisfy every living creature.

Second Reading: Ephesians 3:14-21

Sunday’s passage from the letter to the Ephesians takes a break from its pastoral advice to an early Christian community as the author kneels before God to lift up a prayer for the people being addressed. He prays that the people of Ephesus may receive strength through the Holy Spirit, and that Christ may come to live in their hearts through faith. The reading closes with a beautiful blessing that we often hear slightly reworded as a benediction in Morning and Evening Prayer: “Glory to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine.”

Gospel: John 6:1-21

Beginning Sunday and continuing through the month of August, our gospel readings will turn from Mark’s Gospel to the sixth chapter of John’s Gospel, in which we hear Jesus discourse at length about the bread of life. This first portion gives us John’s version of the familiar story of the loaves and fishes, which hints at the Eucharist in its imagery: Jesus first blesses the bread, then shares five barley loaves and two fish among 5,000 people. Somehow this tiny portion feeds everyone so abundantly that there is more left over than they had to start with. The crowds are so amazed that they clamor to make Jesus king, but he slips away, catching up with the startled disciples by walking miles across the choppy water to join them in their boat.

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for July 21, 2024 (Pentecost 9B/Proper 11)

The Good Shepherd, (1616), oil painting on canvas by Pieter Brueghel the Younger (1564-1638). Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Brussels, Belgium. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading (Track One): 2 Samuel 7:1-14a

As our Track One first readings continue following the life of King David, remember that David’s genealogy is the Messianic line that Christians trace down the ages as the ancestry of Jesus. In Sunday’s Track One first reading, David – having consolidated Israel and Judah under his rule – becomes concerned that the people’s custom of keeping the Ark of the Covenant in a mere tent is insufficient to reflect the greatness of God. David decides to build a great temple to hold the Ark in a place of honor. But God, speaking through the prophecy of Nathan, dismisses this idea. God’s home, Nathan declares, is with the House of David: the dynasty of God’s people.

First Reading (Track Two): Jeremiah 23:1-6

Sunday we will read about the Good Shepherd in Psalm 23 and Mark’s allusion to the crowds following Jesus as “sheep without a shepherd” in the Gospel. First, though, the Prophet Jeremiah reminds us that, counter to the image of God as loving shepherd, there are bad shepherds who would destroy the flock and send its sheep running away. God will attend to these evildoers, the prophet says, envisioning the Temple restored on Mount Zion and a successor seated on King David’s throne. Then, Jeremiah foretells, the sheep will be gathered in when the people return to Jerusalem.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 89:20-37

This passage from the middle portion of Psalm 89 celebrates God’s covenant with David and his descendants, a royal family that God made to endure forever. David’s line would last even through war’s devastation and exile’s pain, the Psalmist sings; David’s line would remain in spite of fears of God’s wrath over the nation having broken its covenant. Yes, the people’s iniquities might bring punishment, the rod and the lash, but their actions will never take away God’s love nor prevent the rise of a new David, Messiah and King.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 23

This week we turn again to the beloved 23rd Psalm. We hear its verses so often that most of us probably can read along without looking at the words. Psalm 23 appears five times during the three-year Lectionary cycle, and it also is often chosen for funeral services. Surely it is so popular because of its assurance that God’s goodness and mercy are always with us. Reading the psalm, feeling the comforting presence of the Shepherd, puts us back in touch with God’s restoring grace.

Second Reading: Ephesians 2:11-22

The author of the letter to the Ephesians takes pains to assure this early community’s Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians that all are fully invested in the community. All have become one through Christ Jesus: Jesus is the cornerstone who brings near even those who were far away. At the time of this writing, late in the first century after the fall of the Temple, Jewish Christianity and rabbinic Judaism were splitting apart. Christianity was actively gathering in Gentile converts, and sought to emphasize the promise that all had become one in Christ.

Gospel: Mark 6:30-34, 53-56

The apostles have returned from their mission to go out in pairs, healing and teaching the good news. They’re eager to tell their stories, but bone-weary, too, so Jesus invites them to go off in a boat to find a deserted place to rest. The excited crowds follow them around the shore to meet them, though, and a compassionate Jesus can’t help responding. These sheep needed a shepherd. Then (after the Lectionary skips over two familiar stories about the loaves and fishes and Jesus walking on water) they finally land at Gennesaret on the other side of the lake. Here, too, people come running like a huge flock of sheep to see Jesus, and he willingly touches and heals all who seek him.

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for July 14, 2024 (Pentecost 8B/Proper 10)

Feast of Herod with the Beheading of St John the Baptist (1633), oil painting on canvas by Bartholomeus Strobel (c.1630-1643). Prado Museum, Madrid. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading (Track One): 2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19

King David’s story in Second Samuel continues. David now reigns over the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah. It is a moment for joy as the Ark of the Covenant, which had been in the hands of the Philistine enemies, returns to Jerusalem. This portable shrine, which the people had built in the desert as a holy throne for God, stood at the heart of Israel’s worship. Its return was greeted with celebration, music and dancing; David himself leaped and danced with all his might. In one curious verse, though, we discover that Saul’s wife, Michal, saw him dancing and “despised him in her heart.” What was that about? Later verses suggest that Michal didn’t think that David was decently dressed during his dance in front of all the people of Israel.

First Reading (Track Two): Amos 7:7-15

As the Prophet Amos and John the Baptist each learned from experience, prophesying can get you in trouble even though you’re simply repeating God’s message. Amos, a humble shepherd and sycamore tender, never expected to become a prophet. But when God called him to warn Israel’s leaders that their God had measured them and found them wanting, Amos responded. When Amos warned King Amaziah to expect destruction and exile, the angry king told Amos to get out of his sight, to go back where he came from. Amos learned, as John the Baptist would discover some six centuries later, that prophecy was dangerous and could get him killed. But both prophets heard God’s call and could not refuse.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 24

Psalm 24 is one of the many that tradition attributes to King David himself. It was likely intended as a processional chant to be sung responsively as the priests and congregation approached the Temple. The priest calls out, “And who shall stand in his holy place? Who has the right to come in and worship?” “Those who have clean hands and pure hearts,” the crowd sings back, awaiting the protection of God, the King of Glory, creator of the earth and all that is in it.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 85:8-13

This beautiful passage from Psalm 85 offers us a gentle pause between the anger in Amos and the violence of John the Baptist’s death. God will speak peace to the people; the faithful people will hear peace. When Heaven and Earth meet in truth and righteousness, righteousness and peace share a tender kiss. God grants prosperity and a fruitful harvest, truth springs up, and righteousness goes before.

Second Reading: Ephesians 1:3-14

After almost two months reading through Second Corinthians, our second readings now turn to the letter to the Ephesians for the next six weeks. A letter most likely written to the people of Ephesus in Paul’s name by a later follower around the end of the first century, it addresses an early Christian community that faced persecution. Some of its chapters include difficult passages (which we won’t hear in our Lectionary readings) that urge wives to submit to their husbands and slaves to obey their owners. Today’s reading, though, from the introductory verses, focuses on grace as God’s free gift through Jesus. We also catch a glimpse of an evolving theology: that Christ was present with God even before the creation of the Earth.

Gospel: Mark 6:14-29

When King Herod learned about the healings and miracles that Jesus and his apostles were performing in Galilee, he was both angry and afraid. In a quick Gospel flashback, Mark recalls the gory story about how Herod, at the insistence of his new wife and her daughter, ordered John beheaded and his head brought in on a platter. Now rumors are swirling about Jesus and his healing and teaching. Is he Elijah? Or a new prophet? Herod himself wonders, fearfully musing, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.”

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for July 7, 2024

Jesus commissioning the Twelve Apostles (1481), fresco by Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449-1494). Sistine Chapel, Vatican City, Rome. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading (Track One): 2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10

David has mourned the deaths of King Saul and Saul’s son Jonathan, David’s beloved friend. Now in Sunday’s Track One first reading, all the tribes and elders call David to be formally anointed king over all Israel.That includes both the Northern Kingdom with its capital at Hebron, and Judah, the Southern Kingdom, where Jerusalem is the capital. The elders, who had sworn fealty to Saul, now pledge loyalty to David, recognizing that God has called him to be shepherd over Israel. David would reign for 40 years, becoming greater and greater and earning for Jerusalem the title “City of David.”

First Reading (Track Two): Ezekiel 2:1-5

It’s frustrating when we have something to say, but people won’t listen. It doesn’t feel good, does it? Hold this thought as we hear Sunday’s Track Two readings, as each connects in some way with this spiritual challenge. In our Track Two first reading, God calls Ezekiel to be a prophet to Israel. God is not pleased with the people, telling Ezekiel that they are a nation of rebels who have rebelled against God: an impudent and stubborn people whose ancestors and they themselves continue transgressing against God. These rebellious people may choose to hear or not to hear, God tells Ezekiel, but he is to deliver God’s message of lamentation and mourning and woe.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 48

Psalm 48 offers a spiritual understanding of the founding narrative of Israel’s kingdom in Jerusalem, where the first temple would be built atop Zion, God’s holy mountain. The Psalmist sings praise to the greatness of God, who placed the city of the great king on the lofty hill of Zion, the very center of the world. Let the kings of the earth who might march on Zion in hope of conquest look and be astounded, the Psalmist sings. Let them writhe and tremble and run away, for God has established this citadel forever.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 123

Traditionally understood as a “song of ascent” to be chanted as the priests and people go up to the Temple in formal procession, Psalm 123 calls on a merciful God to hear the peoples’ prayer. They who have suffered the contempt, scorn and derision of the indolent rich and the proud now lift up their eyes to God enthroned in the heavens. They pray that God will show them mercy, for they have had more than enough of contempt.

Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 12:2-10

These verses from 2 Corinthians are full of mysteries! Even bible historians and theologians aren’t sure what Paul means about the “third heaven” or the “thorn” that troubles him but that he does not describe. Perhaps the third heaven describes Paul’s own spiritual experience, and the thorn, Scripture scholars speculate, could be an unnamed illness or disability, or even a sexual temptation. In any case, there is no ambiguity in Paul’s conclusion: Through prayer and reliance on God’s grace through Christ, we can endure hardships that come from within and without.

Gospel: Mark 6:1-13

Jesus’s hometown neighbors and friends aren’t impressed with him. Oh, they were astounded at first by his teaching and preaching in the synagogue, his wisdom and deeds of power. But then they remember that this is nobody but just Jesus, the carpenter’s son! What makes him so high and mighty? Amazed by their unbelief, in Mark’s telling, Jesus responded: prophets are not without honor except in their home town. Then Jesus sends out his followers, two by two, to tell the good news, but he warns them to expect more of the same kind of pushback. Don’t dress up, he told them. Don’t act special. If people won’t welcome you, move on down the road.

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for June 30, 2024

The Raising of Jairus’ daughter (c.1546), oil painting on canvas by Paolo Veronese (1528-1588). The Louvre, Paris. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading (Track One): 2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27

Our journey through the story of Israel’s kings moves into the second book of Samuel. After a series of conflicts between Saul and David, King Saul has died, the battle against the Amalekites has been won, and David is king in his own right. Despite his troubled relationship with Saul, in this Track One first reading we hear David mourning Saul’s death. But that sorrow is eclipsed by David’s deep grief over the loss of Jonathan, Saul’s oldest son and David’s beloved friend. The reading concludes with a long, loving ballad that David calls the Song of the Bow, in which he declares Jonathan’s love for him “wonderful, passing the love of women.”

First Reading (Track Two): Wisdom of Solomon 1:13-15; 2:23-24

Love is so strong that it has power even over death: Our loving God desires neither death nor destruction for us. We hear these hopeful ideas in Sunday’s Track Two first reading, and they recur through the day’s Lectionary selections. First we read the Wisdom of Solomon (often simply called “Wisdom”) from the apocrypha, the 15 “extra” books included at the end of the Hebrew Bible. These verses – which follow just after a warning to an earthly ruler not to invite his own death or destruction by behaving badly – remind us that God’s creation celebrates our life, not our death. God’s creation is a thing of beauty, and righteousness lives forever.

Psalm (Track One): 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.

Psalm (Track Two): Lamentations 3:21-33

This short, song-like passage is taken not from the Psalms but from Lamentations, a short book traditionally attributed to Jeremiah. These brief verses echo the hope and trust in God’s love that we heard in the Wisdom reading. In these words we sing our hope in God’s steadfast love that never ends, love that is renewed every morning. In words that foreshadow the Sermon on the Mount, we sing of giving our cheek to the one who smites us while we wait for our loving God who will not willingly afflict us.

Alternate Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 30

According to tradition, this ancient hymn offers thanksgiving for recovery from a serious illness. There is faithful optimism in these verses as the Psalmist celebrates the gifts of God that bring joy: an end to the sadness and depression that so often accompanies illness; turning the weeping of those long dark hours of night into the celebration that comes at dawn; and turning the mourning of sickness into the dancing of health.

Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 8:7-15

To understand Paul, it is often helpful to recognize him as a pastor who loved the people of this little church, but who often found them cranky and difficult to persuade. Knowing that the congregation in Corinth included both hungry poor people and comfortable rich members who sometimes didn’t want to share, he urges them all to live by the generous example of the churches in Macedonia (mentioned in the verses just before this reading): Do your work, earn what you deserve, but give according to your means so all may have enough.

Gospel: Mark 5:21-43

Jesus and the apostles have come back home from their trip across the Sea of Galilee. Now Jesus performs two surprising healings, encountering one on his way to attend to another. The woman with the hemorrhage that has been with her for 12 years was ritually unclean because of that. She was poor and rejected by her neighbors. But she had great faith in Jesus. The 12-year-old child was the daughter of Jairus, a leader of the synagogue, an important person. When Jesus told the crowd around her bed that he could waken their seemingly dead child, they laughed at him. But Jesus did not care about approval. Calmly, without any fuss, he healed both the woman and the child.

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for June 23, 2024 (Pentecost 5B/Proper 7)

The Storm on the Sea of Galilee (1633), oil painting on canvas by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606-1669). National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading (Track One): 1 Samuel 17: (1a, 4-11, 19-23), 32-49 or 1 Samuel 17:57-18:5, 10-16

The Track One lectionary offers two options this Sunday: The familiar story of the battle between young David and the Philistine giant Goliath, or the less well-known narrative that follows it, telling of the ominous encounter between King Saul and David after Goliath was slain. Both narratives build toward David’s rise to become King, and jealous Saul’s inclination to kill David before he can assume the crown. We stay with Saul, David and Solomon through August, before our Hebrew Bible readings turn to an anthology of wisdom including Proverbs, Job, Esther and Ruth.

First Reading (Track Two): Job 38:1-7,34-41

Even in times of chaos and fear, God remains with us. Surely we are all familiar with the trials of Job. Tested by God at the urging of Satan (who in this context was more an adversary than a demonic spirit), Job retained his faith in spite of horrifying tests that would break even the strongest. Now, nearing the end of the book, Job finally gets his wish that God would come out of hiding and listen to him. But God, speaking out of a whirlwind with power and might, sets Job in his place with words like thunderbolts: “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.” Job quickly repents; and at the end his fortunes are restored.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 9:9-20 or Psalm 133

This passage from Psalm 9 is paired with the David and Goliath reading. Befitting the first reading’s warlike setting, the Psalm gives thanks to God who protects the people in time of trouble and oppression; who never forsakes those who seek protection in God’s name. Psalm 133, which we also read recently on the second Sunday after Easter, is to accompany the first reading about David and Saul. It celebrates the goodness and pleasure of living in unity, comparing this with the luxury of anointing with fine oil so abundantly that it runs down one’s hair and beard.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 107:1-3, 23-32

This beautiful hymn of praise to a God of mercy who protects us in peril sets a pitch-perfect tone for the following Gospel story about Jesus stilling the storm. The psalmist recalls a time when a violent storm at sea came upon some travelers whom God had redeemed. When they cried out to God, the storm gave way to calm. The travelers arrived safely on the shore, and we are called to join them in thanks and praise to a loving God who protects us from peril and delivers us from distress.

Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 6:1-13

The theme of this letter reflects Paul’s effort to reconcile and restore good relations after a period of trouble and anger in the church in Corinth. Paul tells them that he himself has suffered many things for following in Jesus’ way: beatings and prison, hunger and sleeplessness, riots and more. If he doesn’t mention storm and shipwreck, we know that Paul endured those trials, too. He urges the people to remember that God is with us through all difficulties. Open wide your hearts, he tells them, and accept God’s love.

Gospel: Mark 4:35-41

Jesus has been preaching to Jewish crowds on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, and now he leads the apostles across the broad lake to Gentile territory. Along the way we encounter one of those beloved Gospel stories that many of us remember from childhood. As children, though, we might have focused more on Jesus quieting the scary storm than on the apostles’ reactions. First, the fearful apostles fear that the calmly sleeping Jesus isn’t aware – or doesn’t care – that they are in deadly danger and scared out of their wits. Then, catching their breath when all is calm again, they seem shocked to discover that Jesus actually had the power that they had just called on him to use.