Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Aug. 11, 2019

First Reading (Track One): Isaiah 1:1, 10-20

In recent weeks we have heard from the Prophets Amos and Hosea, who prophesied to the Northern Kingdom of Israel as it fell to the Assyrians. Now our Track One first readings come to perhaps the greatest of all the prophets – Isaiah – who prophesied to the Southern Kingdom, Judah, a generation later as it fell under threat from the Babylonians.

The Prophet Isaiah (1508-1512), fresco by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. (Click image to enlarge.)

Isaiah’s message is consistent with the earlier prophets in its anger – it likens the people to Sodom and Gomorrah – and in its lament: The chosen people are going to lose the promised land and the temple. They will be forced into exile because they have failed to keep the covenant that Moses made with God: to “do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, and plead for the widow.”

First Reading (Track Two): Genesis 15:1-6

In recent weeks our Track Two first readings have looked into the life and work of Abraham, the patriarch of the chosen people: God promising that Abraham and Sarah would have a son; Abraham bargaining with God over Sodom and Gomorrah’s fate. Now we turn back to an earlier chapter, where we find Abram – God has not yet changed his name to Abraham – who is clearly frustrated that he and his wife, Sarai, are still waiting fruitlessly for the heir that God has repeatedly promised them. Abram has followed God’s call and done battle for the people, but his only heir is a slave’s child. He asks for God’s reassurance, and God responds with the repeated promise that Abram’s descendants will be as numerous as the stars.

Psalm: (Track One): Psalm 50:1-8, 22-23

Today’s Psalm fits right in with Isaiah’s prophecy to Judah, and expands upon it: God is pleased to have our offerings of thanksgiving, but God expects us to keep our covenant to be faithful, to be thankful and to practice righteousness and justice to others in our lives. Insincere thanksgiving won’t do, the Psalmist warns. Those who keep God’s way and remember the covenant with Moses will know salvation. But those who forget God risk being “torn apart.”

Psalm: (Track Two): Psalm 33:12-22

Imagine how Abram must have felt after receiving God’s reassurance. Relief, joy and gratitude for God’s love and care: These are the themes, too, of psalms like this one, psalms of thanksgiving and praise. As the prophets consistently proclaim, the nations and people whom God chooses will be happy; God’s eye remains on those who wait for the Lord. Those who trust in the Lord’s name will know God’s loving-kindness.

Second Reading: Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16

As we begin a four-week lectionary visit with the letter to the Hebrews, let’s take care to keep it in historical context. It is not a pastoral letter of Paul but a later document aimed at a broad audience. Hebrews seems to be aimed directly at Jewish Christians who were abandoning Christianity to avoid Roman persecution of the Christian movement. Accordingly, it can be easy to misread its arguments as justification for anti-Judaism. Christianity remains the better way, the author says, arguing that the Jewish patriarchs were faithful long before God revealed the promise of Christ. They saw the promise of Christ from a distance: “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

Gospel: Luke 12:32-40

Do not be afraid, Jesus assures his little flock. This gentle reassurance comes just after he has reminded them to live like the lilies of the field, striving only for God’s kingdom and knowing that all the rest will be given as well. Still, the next few lines might have made the disciples at least a little nervous: Sell your possessions. Give alms. Make durable purses: Be ready to go as soon as Jesus calls, dressed for action and your lamps lit. Be on guard, for you don’t know when a thief might come into the house at night. Be ready, Jesus warns, for God’s kingdom may come when we least expect it, bringing us “unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.”

What are “Track 1” and “Track 2”?
During the long green season after Pentecost, there are two tracks (or strands) each week for Old Testament readings. Within each track, there is a Psalm chosen to accompany the particular lesson.
The Revised Common Lectionary allows us to make use of either of these tracks, but once a track has been selected, it should be followed through to the end of the Pentecost season, rather than jumping back and forth between the two strands.
For more information from LectionaryPage.net, click here.

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Aug. 4, 2019

First Reading (Track One): Hosea 11:1-11

Last Sunday we heard the opening verses of the prophet Hosea, an angry and startling accusation about Israel’s unrighteous path to destruction if its people don’t return to following God’s commandments.

Der reiche Mann und der Tod (The Rich Man and Death), 1622, painting by David Kindt (1580-1652). Hauptkirche St. Jacobi (St. James’ Church), Hamburg, Germany. (Click image to enlarge.)

Now, toward the end of the book, Hosea turns from anger to the softer tone of beautiful imagery. Now he envisions Israel as a child, and God as a loving but exasperated parent. God knows that the misbehaving offspring deserve punishment but isn’t willing to give up on them entirely. God’s heart recoils when Israel turns away, but God’s compassion grows warm and tender. Eventually the children will come home to a happy reunion.

First Reading (Track Two): Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14; 2:18-23

“Vanity of vanities! All is vanity.” ​In reflecting on this familiar passage in the mysterious book of Ecclesiastes,​ ​think of “vanity” in the sense of the original Hebrew word: “breath” or “vapor,” something barely visible that veils the light. We spend our lives futilely toiling under the scorching sun in pursuit of something that we can’t grasp, the poet sings: “chasing after wind.” The first-person narrator, “I, the Teacher” (Qohelet in Hebrew) ,is traditionally understood as King Solomon, but the book was almost certainly written long after the people’s return from exile, centuries after Solomon.

Psalm: (Track One): Psalm 107:1-9, 43

The people returning home from exile might have sung a hymn like this one, hailing God’s compassion despite Israel’s ingratitude. Three times in nine verses the people praise God’s steadfast love, a poignant Hebrew word – “chesed” – that connotes compassion, faithfulness, kindness, mercy, and grace. Take special note of Verse 9, praising God who gives drink to the hungry and fills the hungry with good things, a duty that we hear again in the Magnificat, the song of Mary, and in Jesus’ words in Matthew 25.

Psalm: (Track Two): Psalm 49:1-11

Foreshadowing the parable of the foolish rich man in today’s Gospel, we hear a Psalm that shouts out the foolishness of trust in riches. High or low, rich or poor, we can never ransom ourselves or deliver to God the price of our life, the Psalmist sings. We can never earn enough to ransom our lives when our time comes. No one has enough riches to buy life forever, never seeing the grave. Rich or poor, wise or dull and stupid, all together come to the grave.

Second Reading: Colossians 3:1-11

In our fourth and final week with the letter to the Colossians, the author proclaims that once Christ is revealed in our lives, we are called to put away evil ways and clothe ourselves in a new life in Christ. In words similar to Paul’s invitation to the Galatians to put away all differences among humankind, we are reminded that “there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free.” Once we are raised with Jesus and connected with each other in baptism, such earthly differences as race, religion, gender, class and culture no longer matter. Our new life in Christ is one in all.

Gospel: Luke 12:13-21

The rich man in Jesus’ parable became wealthy through his work, planning and careful investment. He has an enviable retirement plan, having stored up sufficient property and earnings to ensure him a merry life of ease. Yet God calls him a fool, and it’s not hard to see the reasons why. Most obviously, the rich man failed to consider that we never know when we’ll die. He focused his life on saving for a future that he’ll never see. Even more important, he was greedy. He never gave a thought to others. He did not love his neighbors as himself. Jesus – who reminded us that what we do for the poor, we do also for him – has little patience with those who think only of themselves.

What are “Track 1” and “Track 2”?
During the long green season after Pentecost, there are two tracks (or strands) each week for Old Testament readings. Within each track, there is a Psalm chosen to accompany the particular lesson.
The Revised Common Lectionary allows us to make use of either of these tracks, but once a track has been selected, it should be followed through to the end of the Pentecost season, rather than jumping back and forth between the two strands.
For more information from LectionaryPage.net, click here.

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for July 21, 2019

First Reading (Track One): Amos 8:1-12

What does hospitality look like? How should it be practiced? In the Gospel story of Mary and Martha, which sister gets hospitality right? Don’t be too quick to decide before you’ve looked through Sunday’s readings.

Christ in the House of Mary and Martha (1610-1622), oil painting on copper by Vincent Adriaenssen (1595-1675). Private collection. (Click image to enlarge.)

In our Track One first reading, the Prophet Amos continues his angry prophecy against Israel’s king and high priest. Warning of the terrible fate that awaits them and their families if they continue to treat their subjects unjustly – inhospitably – he recites a horrifying litany of curses that will come to the land whose rulers trample the needy and ruin the poor. Their sun will go dark and their crops will fail. The nation will hunger and thirst for God’s words as it will for food and water.

First Reading (Track Two): Genesis 18:1-10a

In Sunday’s Track Two first reading the story of the chosen people begins. God, speaking through three mysterious strangers, comes to the patriarch Abraham by the oaks of Mamre. He greets these strangers with open hospitality far beyond their simple needs, killing a calf to prepare them a lavish meal. Then they reveal that he and his wife Sarah, despite their advanced age, will have a son. Later we learn that Abraham and Sarah’s offspring, as numerous as the stars, will inherit the Promised Land. Now, take your bible and turn the page. As we’ll hear in next week’s reading, immediately following this example of gracious hospitality and its rewards, we’ll hear the story of Sodom’s failure of hospitality and the total destruction that it reaped.

Psalm: (Track One): Psalm 52

Harmonizing nicely with the Track One first reading, the Psalmist angrily calls out a tyrant (Doeg the Edomite, who conspired with Saul to kill King David, according to the small print at the top of the psalm). We hear accusation in every line: This was a tyrant who trusted in great wealth; a liar, who loved evil more than good. Oh, that God would demolish you utterly, the Psalmist shouts. Wicked people who steal from the poor will fail, while those who trust in God’s eternal mercy will live in joy.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 15

Who may come to the holy hill and reside in God’s tabernacle? Such a privilege must be earned, the Psalmist sings. It should come as no surprise that, when we pare this psalm down to its essentials, we get another lesson in hospitality and love of neighbor: Do what is right. Don’t slander. Don’t do wrong by our friends or harm the innocent. These are simple commands, and they guide us into a life of righteousness.

Second Reading: Colossians 1:15-28

The letters of Paul and many of the later letters written by others in Paul’s name use a common approach: They are written to guide specific Christian communities, to advise and to teach. They are like sermons in writing. You can hear it in this passage from the letter to the Colossians today. After a theological meditation on Christ as image of the invisible God who made peace through his sacrifice, the writer tells us that he first became a servant of the gospel, a servant of the church. As a servant, he sounds a lot like Martha in Sunday’s Gospel. And then he advises us to reconcile ourselves to Christ and proclaim Christ’s supremacy, a worshipful approach that might make us think of Mary.

Gospel: Luke 10:38-42

When Jesus arrives at their home in Bethany, Mary and Martha both show hospitality, each in her own way. Martha welcomes Jesus by getting busy with the many tasks involved with serving their guest. Mary simply sits down at Jesus’ feet – an act that would have been very much outside a woman’s usual role in their culture. Martha is offering hospitality very much as Abraham did for his visitors at Mamre. This is a right and proper thing to do; yet this task leaves her worried and distracted, angry with her sister. Yet Mary, Jesus says “has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.” She showed her hospitality by dropping everything to listen to Jesus, their guest.

What are “Track 1” and “Track 2”?
During the long green season after Pentecost, there are two tracks (or strands) each week for Old Testament readings. Within each track, there is a Psalm chosen to accompany the particular lesson.
The Revised Common Lectionary allows us to make use of either of these tracks, but once a track has been selected, it should be followed through to the end of the Pentecost season, rather than jumping back and forth between the two strands.
For more information from LectionaryPage.net, click here.

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for July 14, 2019

First Reading (Track One): Amos 7:7-17

The great commandment to love God and to love our neighbor echoes through our Sunday readings, culminating in the beloved story of the Good Samaritan.

The Good Samaritan (after 1633), oil painting on panel by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606-1669) The Wallace Collection, East Galleries I, London. (Click image to enlarge.)

We have to listen closely to find its shadow in our Track One first reading, though, as we hear the angry prophet Amos foretelling gloom and destruction, warning of an angry God who threatens to lay waste to the promised land that God once protected. Amaziah and Jeroboam, the high priest and king of Israel, want Amos to shut up, go home to Judea, and leave them alone. Why is Amos so angry? Israel has failed to be righteous. Like the priest and the Levite in the Good Samaritan story, the people of Israel have failed to love their neighbors as themselves, and that broke Israel’s covenant with God.

First Reading (Track Two): Deuteronomy 30:9-14

Our Track Two first reading reminds us of the deep history and tradition of the commandment to love God with all our hearts and with all our souls. These verses from Deuteronomy reminded the people that God took delight in assuring their prosperity because they turn to God with just this abundance of love. Indeed, we hear these same words again in Sunday’s Gospel when the lawyer responds to Jesus’ invitation to describe the law. And just as Jesus goes on to demonstrate in the parable of the Good Samaritan, the most basic instruction of the law – Torah, God’s beloved teaching – is to love God and to love our neighbors as ourselves.

Psalm: (Track One): Psalm 82

The great commandment to love God and to love our neighbor runs like a great river through both testaments. Moreover, Scripture leaves us in no doubt whatsoever that this duty to our neighbor is directed preferentially to the weak, the poor and the oppressed. The Psalmist sings, “Give justice to the weak and the orphan … the lowly and the destitute … the weak and the needy.” Just as Jesus showed us in the parable of the Good Samaritan, so are we called to love our neighbors – all of our neighbors – as we love God.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 25:1-9

Attributed by tradition to King David, this Psalm of praise expresses the joy of holding up our hearts and souls with willing trust in God’s everlasting compassion and steadfast love. The Psalmist’s call for protection against their enemies and those who would humiliate them may seem far afield from the Good Samaritan’s action, but the Psalm soon turns, calling on God to lead us in truth and teach us. As God guides the humble and teaches God’s way to the lowly and to sinners, so are we called to keep God’s covenant to love our neighbors as the Samaritan did.

Second Reading: Colossians 1:1-14

Today we begin a three-week visit with the letter to the people of Colossae, a small city in Asia Minor (now Turkey). Although the letter’s opening phrases name Paul as author, most modern Bible scholars believe this letter was written by a follower. The letter begins with hopeful, prayerful words: He prays for them constantly. He is glad that their new faith is bearing fruit. He prays that they will love one another, grow in good works and knowledge of God, gain strength, and be prepared to endure whatever comes their way for their love of Christ.

Gospel: Luke 10:25-37

This week, try thinking of the story of the Good Samaritan in a new way: Put yourself in the place of the injured person on the side of the road. You are injured, bleeding, and worried. Then someone different and scary approaches you, a person you would cross the street to avoid under normal circumstances. How do you feel? And then when they tenderly nurse your wounds and take you for help at their expense. How would you feel? How would this experience change you? Take note, too, that this parable does not come out of nowhere. It is Jesus’ answer to the question, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus reiterates the fundamental commandment to view everyone as our neighbor. Not just the friend who looks and thinks and acts like us, but those who are different, and even those we think of as enemies.

What are “Track 1” and “Track 2”?
During the long green season after Pentecost, there are two tracks (or strands) each week for Old Testament readings. Within each track, there is a Psalm chosen to accompany the particular lesson.
The Revised Common Lectionary allows us to make use of either of these tracks, but once a track has been selected, it should be followed through to the end of the Pentecost season, rather than jumping back and forth between the two strands.
For more information from LectionaryPage.net, click here.

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for July 7, 2019

First Reading (Track One): 2 Kings 5:1-14

Abraham, the patriarch of the Israelites, was born in Aram in Mesopotamia. By the time of Israel’s kings, though, Aram and Israel had become bitter enemies.

The Synaxis of the Seventy Apostles, Russian Orthodox icon, late 19th century. (Click image to enlarge.)

But then the powerful Aramean general Naaman contracted leprosy, a terrible and disfiguring disease that rendered the sufferer unclean, cut off from their community. That was reason enough for Naaman to dismiss national rivalry and follow his Israelite servant’s advice to go to Israel’s prophet Elisha for a cure. In Sunday’s Track One first reading, we hear how Elisha added insult to injury by sending out a mere servant to give Naaman a ridiculous sounding prescription to go wash his body in the Jordan river. Fortunately for Naaman, his servants came to the rescue again, calming his rage at Elisha’s disrespect. It couldn’t hurt to try, they advised … and behold, Naaman was cured.

First Reading (Track Two): Isaiah 66:10-14

Our Track Two first reading takes us to the final chapter of Isaiah. The people have returned from exile to Jerusalem. They were full of joy at the return to their beloved city, but it lay in ruins; they faced the daunting labor of rebuilding the city and constructing a new temple. Still, the prophet declares, it is a time to rejoice and a time to heal. God will shower prosperity on the city, and, in beautiful language envisioning God as a loving mother, God will nurse and carry the people as a mother comforts her child.

Psalm: (Track One): Psalm 30

What an appropriate Psalm to follow Naaman’s healing! This hymn of thanksgiving sings out gratitude to God for recovery from a grave illness. Then it celebrates the gifts of God that may bring even more joy: ending 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.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 66:1-8

Echoing the theme of trust in God’s protective power that we heard in the Isaiah reading, the Psalmist calls on all the earth to be joyful in God and sing the glory of God’s name. Recalling how God protected the people of Israel escaping slavery in Egypt by turning the sea into dry land, we sing out in full voice, making our voices heard in praise of the God who protects us.

Second Reading: Galatians 6:(1-6), 7-16

We have reached the end of Paul’s letter to the Christian community in Galatia in Asia Minor. Throughout the letter Paul has consistently argued that Christ’s message is universal – for all humankind – Jew and Gentile, man and woman, slave and free. Writing from far away, he has stood strongly, sometimes angrly, against the arguments of opponents who tried to persuade the Galatians to follow a more exclusive way. Paul’s final response clearly echoes Jesus’ message: “Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” In other words, follow Jesus by loving your neighbor as yourself.

Gospel: Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

In last week’s Gospel, we saw Jesus beginning his final journey toward Jerusalem, setting his face in the direction of the cross and telling his disciples in no uncertain terms not to tarry. Now Jesus organizes an advance team of seventy witnesses to go on ahead, telling residents in villages along the way that the Kingdom of God has come near. Those who reject them, like the Samarian villagers in last week’s Gospel, are rejecting Jesus; They deserve to be left behind like the dust shaken from the apostles’ feet. Those who welcome them are welcoming Jesus himself. Soon the disciples return, full of joy: In Jesus’ name, they have healed and even cast out demons.

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for June 30, 2019

First Reading (Track One): 2 Kings 2:1-2,6-14

Here’s a Bible trivia question for you: Other than Jesus, who got into heaven still wearing an earthly body?

The Lord Commands the Prophet Elijah (1585-1589), oil painting on canvas by Paolo Fiammingo (c.1540-1596). Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. (Click image to enlarge.)

Sunday’s Track One first reading tells us the story of the prophet Elijah taken up in a chariot of fire. The Apocrypha tell us that the prophet Enoch was “taken up,” too. In the Transfiguration we see Moses joining Elijah in a shining body to greet Jesus; and modern Catholic doctrine holds that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was “assumed” bodily into heaven. As you think about this passage, consider the challenge that faces Elisha as he takes over the prophet’s job that Elijah handed over as he moved on.

First Reading (Track Two): 1 Kings 19:15-16,19-21

The two books of Kings sum up the story of Israel’s kings from the reign of David until the fall and exile of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Sunday’s Track Two first reading enters the narrative as the prophet Elijah, who had been chosen by God to speak truth to Israel’s kings and to warn them that disaster lay ahead, was despairing because he feared death at the hands of his foes. But God gives Elijah strength and sens him on with instructions to choose Elisha as his successor. Elisha hesitates, foreshadowing the reluctant followers of Jesus in today’s Gospel as he goes back first to kiss his parents and feed his family – but then he comes along.

Psalm: (Track One): Psalm 77:1-2, 11-20

This Psalm’s stormy images of dark clouds, thunder, lightning and pounding rain stand as metaphors for a God whose mighty deeds reveal power and might. Deeply troubled and crying out without ceasing, the Psalmist calls on God without tiring, seeking comfort for the soul yet refusing to accept it when it comes. But then hope appears as we reflect on God’s power in the storm and remember how God gently led the people out of slavery and protected them in the desert.

Psalm: (Track Two): Psalm 16

Almost exactly half of the 150 Psalms are attributed by tradition to the hand of King David, as is this one, titled “Song of Trust and Security in God” in the New Revised Standard Edition. The speaker, David or a later Psalmist writing in his name, calls out for God’s protection and guidance. Those who follow false gods will only increase their trouble, the poet sings. But by accepting God as his “portion and cup,” his heart will be glad and his spirit will rejoice, knowing that God will not abandon him to the grave.

Second Reading: Galatians 5:1,13-25

We return to Paul’s letter to the Galatians two chapters after last Sunday’s second reading. He continues his argument that the way of Christ is open to all humankind: God’s covenant with Israel extends through Christ to Jew and Gentile alike. The law of that covenant, he goes on, requires us to love our neighbors as ourselves, not to “bite and devour” one another. The Spirit binds us to our neighbors in “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”

Gospel: Luke 9:51-62

Jesus now sets his face to go to Jerusalem. From now through the end of the long Pentecost season at the end of November, we will follow Luke’s account of Jesus’ long journey from his home in Galilee toward Jerusalem, his Passion and the Cross. As the journey begins in Sunday’s Gospel, we see a side of Jesus that may surprise us with his seeming frustration and impatience. Is his call to come and follow him so urgent that disciples must leave their dead un-buried? Is there really no time even to bid their families farewell, as Elisha did when Elijah called him? For Jesus, everything now focuses on urgency in bringing in the Kingdom. Nothing else is more important than that.