Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Nov. 11, 2018

Le denier de la veuve (The Widow’s Mite). Watercolor painting on graphite (1886-1894) by James Tissot (1836-1892). The Brooklyn Museum.(Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading (Track One): Ruth 3:1-5; 4:13-17

In the midst of the Old Testament books that tell the story of Israel and its kingdom – tucked in between Joshua and Judges, Samuel and Kings – we find the short, charming book of Ruth. This is a love story about Ruth, a young Moabite widow, who follows her beloved mother-in-law, Naomi, back home to Bethlehem after Ruth’s husband’s death. Through a bit of trickery suggested by Naomi, Ruth persuades her kinsman Moab to marry her, and they have a child named Obed. Why is this little story placed in context with the books about Israel’s kings? The final verses reveal the rest of the story: Obed will be the grandfather of King David, and thus he and his parents are in the genealogical line of Israel’s Messiah.

First Reading (Track Two): 1 Kings 17:8-16

Sunday’s readings begin with the story of a poor widow who answers a difficult call from Elijah; and they end with Mark’s story about a poor but generous widow who gives all that she has to the Temple treasury. God cares for widows, the weak, the stranger and the oppressed, and we are called to do the same. In our first reading, we hear of a widow who trusted God’s promise and fed Elijah out of her meager fare, even though she had so little to eat that she believed she and her son would soon die of starvation. God provides, and her bit of oil and meal prove enough to feed everyone and to last until the drought ends.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 127

Psalm 127 delves into ideas of maintaining home and family consistent with the story of Ruth. In the ancient Near East, it was difficult for a family to survive without strong sons to build the home, grow crops, and protect the family from invaders. Sons like these are gifts that can come only as a blessing from God, says the Psalmist. God builds the house, watches over the city like a watchman keeping vigil, and provides children as a gift to God’s people, a quiver full of God-given arrows to help protect against enemies.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 146

“Praise God, O my soul!” This ringing hymn of praise begins the first of the final five Psalms, concluding the book with powerful songs of exultation in God’s greatness. But after the first joyous verse its tone shifts to a theme of caution: Take care, for while God can always be trusted, earthly rulers cannot. We can count on God, our creator, to give hope to widows and orphans; help for the poor, justice for the oppressed, freedom for the prisoner, and help for those who are disabled, to those who are alone, and to strangers in strange lands. This is the pledge of God’s covenant with the people through Abraham, Noah and Moses, and they remain the priorities that Jesus taught about the Kingdom of Heaven.

Second Reading: Hebrews 9:24-28

Hebrews continues in its extended discussion of the differences between the eternal sacrifice of Jesus against the more transient sacrifices of the old Temple’s earthly high priests. The earthly high priest was required to return to the sanctuary annually to atone for his sins, repeating an animal sacrifice over and over again “with blood that is not his own.” But Jesus, having borne the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin – that has already been done in Jesus’s sacrifice once and for all – but to save his faithful people.

Gospel: Mark 12:38-44

Jesus has arrived in Jerusalem on his final journey, and he is challenging the religious and political establishment in ways that will turn them angrily against him. First he scorns the scribes for their arrogance and hypocrisy, mocking them for flaunting their wealth and power with ostentatious dress and prayer while they “devour widows’ houses.” Then, as Jesus sits near the Temple treasury, watching believers make their donations, a poor widow appears. She has little, but in contrast with the scribes, she gives two small coins: all that she has. Jesus praises her, not for giving all that she had, but because she gave it from her heart. It was not the quantity but the quality of her giving that matters.

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 Oct. 28, 2018

Jesus opens the eyes of a man born blind (1308-1311). Painting by Duccio di Buoninsegna (1255-1319). The National Gallery, London. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading (Track One): Job 42:1-6, 10-17

The cosmic conversation between God and Job comes to its happy conclusion. Earlier we have heard Job angrily wondering why God would not respond to him; then saw Job stand awestruck as God speaks from a whirlwind about the magnificence of God’s creation, next to which which Job is tiny and insignificant. Now, in the last chapter of the book, Job responds. He quietly, faithfully accepts God’s power. Having seen and heard God, he can only despise himself, repenting in dust and ashes. But then the world turns: God restores Job’s fortunes, double what they had been before. Job lives a long life with riches, a big family and the respect of his friends. So Job’s story ends happily, but remember, too, that even when things don’t get better, God is God and loves us still.

First Reading (Track Two): Jeremiah 31:7-9

When God is with us, when God saves us, when God makes us well and showers grace upon us, we can hardly help but express our gratitude and joy with shouts of thanksgiving and praise. Hold this theme of gratitude and grace in our thoughts as we reflect on today’s readings. First, after having heard last week the Prophet Isaiah’s meditation on Israel’s Suffering Servant carrying the pain of exile, we now turn to the Prophet Jeremiah, speaking to Israel in exile with loving words of comfort and joy: God will bring the remnant of Israel out of exile. The weak and the strong, mothers and children, those who can’t see and those who can’t walk, all will return home together, weeping with joy, praising God, and giving thanks.

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

A good thematic fit with today’s readings, this portion of Psalm 34 meshes nicely with the story of Job. Titled “Praise for Deliverance from Trouble” in the New Revised Standard Version, it begins with a song of praise, singing our intention to bless and praise God at all times. When King David, imagined as the author of this Psalm, found himself in a dangerous place, he prayed for deliverance from his terror. God indeed saved him from all his troubles, and he responded with joy: “Taste and see that God is good; happy are they who trust in the Most High!”

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 126

The pain of exile and the joy of return form the base narrative for much of the Old Testament’s Psalms and Prophets. Sunday’s Psalm clearly echoes Jeremiah’s happy prophecy in these verses of joy. We sing in celebration of Israel’s restoration on Mount Zion – Jerusalem, the home of the Temple. Turning to a striking agricultural image of planting fields and reaping a harvest bounty, we sing in memory of our ancestors sowing with tears, reaping with songs of joy; going out weeping, carrying the seed, but bringing home ripe sheaves of grain, joyfully shouting our thanksgiving.

Second Reading: Hebrews 7:23-28

Seeking to bring Jewish converts back to the infant church, the author of Hebrews compares Judaism unfavorably to Christianity in words that sound less than generous to modern ears. These verses, building on those that went before, declare that Jesus is a far greater high priest than the old high priests of the Temple. The Jewish high priests were mere mortal, sinful humans, who had to purify themselves repeatedly through constant sacrifices because they were weak. Perhaps it’s best simply to stand with this reading’s conclusion: Jesus, who is made perfect forever, stands for us all through his sacrifice on the cross.

Gospel: Mark 10:46-52

Like other disabled people in Jesus’ time, a blind person had little option but beg for basic sustenance, and their neighbors often assumed that their disability was punishment for some grievous sin. Sadly, physical blindness has also been an enduring metaphor for willful refusal to “see” or believe. So Bartimaeus’ neighbors had little but pity, at best, for Bartimaeus as he sat by the Jericho road. Perhaps a few people might throw him a small coin when he begged for alms. So when Bartimaeus heard Jesus passing by, he yelled as loud as he could, asking Jesus to have mercy on him. Jesus listened, Jesus healed him, declaring that his faith had made him well; and Bartimaeus, his sight restored, chose to follow Jesus. How might we answer if Jesus asked us, as he asked the blind man, “What do you want me to do for you?”

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 Oct. 21, 2018

“For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve.” Christ Washing the Feet of the Disciples (1580s), oil painting by Paolo Veronese (1528-1588). National Gallery in Prague. (Click image to enlarge.)

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

In last week’s Track One first reading we heard Job loudly lamenting his condition, looking for God and angrily demanding that God come out of hiding and hear him. Now Job gets his wish, but God’s response may not be what he had expected. A mighty, powerful God speaks to Job out of a whirlwind and quickly sets him quite literally in his place. “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?” God thunders, hurling poetic words at Job like thunderbolts. “Tell me, if you have understanding.” God has created a wonderful universe, full of beautiful creation; but sometimes creation stands in conflict, when a lion seeks its prey or when young ravens go hungry.

First Reading (Track Two): Isaiah 53:4-12

If you want to be in charge, be careful what you wish for. Throughout Sunday’s readings we hear of servant leadership, sacrifice, and walking humbly with our God. Isaiah’s “Suffering Servant,” who we meet often in our readings (most recently only last month) may make us think of Jesus in his willing sacrifice to bear the sins of many. In its original context, though, Isaiah writes of the servant’s suffering in the past tense, remembering Israel itself as the servant, the sacrificial pain of its sad exile now finally come to an end.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 104:1-9,35, 37c

Echoing God’s extended response to Job, this hymn of exaltation worships God as creator of the universe and as ruler of all creation, whose mighty works fill us with awe. It envisions God clothed in majesty and splendor, wrapped in a cloak of light that crosses the heavens. God rides across the world on the wings of clouds, spreading out mountains and valleys, oceans and rivers, setting the earth immovably on its foundations and separating the land from the water.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 91:9-16

We will chant only the second half of Psalm 91 on Sunday, but it is worth taking a moment to read the entire psalm. (You can find it in the Psalter, Pages 719-20, BCP). In verses 1-9 we hear of another servant who suffered, yet who received God’s protection against illness and enemies. In the verses that we pick up today, the Psalmist assures us that we can find protection by seeking refuge in God, when we pray as Jesus taught us, “deliver us from evil.”

Second Reading: Hebrews 5:1-10

These verses from the letter to the Hebrews presents Jesus as the perfect high priest, a new high priest with a new covenant and new sacrifice. But this high position did not come easily. Because Jesus was fully human, he was not immune from suffering; he suffered “with loud cries and tears.” He learned obedience through his suffering, even as God’s own Son. Thus he became the greatest of the line of priests that began with King Melchizedek, the first high priest named in Genesis. As the perfect image of God, Christ earned salvation for us all.

Gospel: Mark 10:35-45

Immediately before today’s Gospel, the apostles have just heard Jesus tell them for the third time that when they reach Jerusalem he will be arrested, flogged, killed, and will rise again. And now, also for the third time, we hear some of them responding with remarkable cluelessness. James and John “the Sons of Thunder,” who we recently heard complaining that other people were casting out demons in Jesus’ name, now demand, more than request, that Jesus let them sit at his right and left hand in God’s kingdom. One more time, Jesus sets the apostles straight: To follow Jesus we must be servants, not those served; if we wish to be first, we must be the slave of all.

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 Oct. 14, 2018

Reflect on this: This painting of Christ and the Rich Young Ruler (1889) by Heinrich Hofmann (1824-1911), was purchased for Riverside Church in New York by John D Rockefeller Jr., one of the richest men in the world. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading (Track One): Job 23:1-9, 16-17

You should really turn back and read the portion of Job that came just before this reading. Job has lost everything, including all his possessions and much of his family. Now his friends, seeking to console him, have done a spectacularly poor job of showing compassion. He must have done something wrong, they assured him, asking if his lack of piety or his great wickedness might have angered God. Now Job responds with bitter, angry words. He deserves a chance to lay out the facts, to argue his case before God, he says; and if he could get a hearing, he would surely prevail. But he looks in every direction yet can’t find God anywhere. He is terrified and wants to vanish into darkness. Hold these thoughts: We’ll hear God’s response to Job next week.

First Reading (Track Two): Amos 5:6-7, 10-15

The strong theme of Sunday’s readings reminds us how important it is to subject ourselves to God, behaving justly and giving to the poor, never stealing from or harming those less favored. Indeed, we hear in the Gospel that no matter how well we follow the commandments, we must furthermore give everything that we have to the poor. The Prophet Amos, warning Israel’s Northern Kingdom that its habit of living well while trampling the poor will lead to disaster at the hands of the Assyrians. “Seek good and not evil,” urges the prophet. A few verses after this reading, Amos will call on the people of God to “let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 22:1-15

When Jesus was dying on the cross, in his last agony he cried out the words that begin Psalm 22: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” This Psalm, titled “Plea for Deliverance from Suffering and Hostility” in the New Revised Standard Version, also echoes Job’s lament. It is the cry of one who has suffered as Job has suffered, mocked by those around him and sunk in the depth of despair. He thinks that he has no place to turn; but there is still God, who knew him as an infant and who, he prays, will remember him now.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 90:12-17

We jump in to the middle of this Psalm in Sunday’s readings, skipping past the first portion in which the writer – held by unlikely tradition to be Moses himself – has warned of God’s anger with a sinful people. In these verses we plead with God to return, to show loving-kindness, to teach the people to be wise, and to replace our adversity with gladness. Through God’s works, grace and splendor, we pray, may the people be wise, turn the work of our hands to God’s purposes, and enjoy prosperity as the result of our handiwork.

Second Reading: Hebrews 4:12-16

The letter to the Hebrews may reveal its roots in persecution in the early church: It speaks of Jesus, the word of God, in terms that we seldom associate with the Good Shepherd: “sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow … before him no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare …” God expects much of us. But we also know that Jesus knows and understands us; although Jesus is our great high priest who has passed through the heavens, he also can sympathize with our weakness, having been tested in every way as we are tested. We may approach the throne of grace boldly, seeking mercy and receiving grace.

Gospel: Mark 10:17-31

Jesus’ words in this Gospel might seem harsh: If the rich man can’t give all his money to the poor, he isn’t welcome in God’s kingdom. But why? This man is good. He keeps the commandments. Mark even tells us that Jesus loved him. Perhaps Jesus is still reflecting on the verses that came just before, contrasting this wealthy man with the innocent children who will inherit God’s kingdom. Or Jesus may be exaggerating for effect, as he may have done with his response to the Pharisees about divorce in last week’s Gospel. But even if we think we can get away with not taking these verses literally, we can hardly ignore Jesus’ compelling call to serve others, to care for the least of these, and to place ourselves last in order to be first in God’s Kingdom.

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 Oct. 7, 2018

The Garden of Eden (1350), oil painting on poplar wood by Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553). The Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister , Dresden, Germany. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading (Track One): Job 1:1; 2:1-10

Many people find the story of Job and his troubles disheartening, particularly considering that a casual reading may give the impression that God caused suffering for Job because, literally, Satan talked him into it. But let’s be positive: Job is a great short story and an important part of the Bible’s wisdom literature, the books that teach us about life and God. Don’t we all wonder how bad things can happen to good people? Listen and ponder as we read through Job in the next four weeks. We hear parts of the beginning of Job today, and it starts off like an ancient folk tale. Remember, too, that in that time Satan was not understood as a devil with horns, but a kind of prosecutor or adversary in the heavenly order.

First Reading (Track Two): Genesis 2:18-24

Sunday’s readings aren’t easy. First, we hear a part of the second creation narrative in Genesis, a legend about Eve being made from Adam’s rib, that some have interpreted to place women in secondary status to men. Then in Mark’s Gospel we hear Jesus reject divorce in words so strict that they have been invoked to hold people in abusive relationships. Think about relationships in all today’s readings, trying to read them faithfully yet generously. Perhaps they invite us to think about all creation, and God’s universal call to men and women to be responsible for our relationships with plants, animals and each other. Hold these thoughts, too, as we celebrate St. Francis with our Blessing of the Animals.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 26

Just as Job, we are told, was “blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil,” the Psalmist in today’s reading declares before God that he has lived with integrity, trusting in God without faltering. In the light of Job’s trials, one might wonder if the author of this psalm is testing fate when he invites God to “test me … and try me.” We may also hear hint of Pharisaical self-satisfaction in his desire not to be counted among the evildoers or to suffer their punishment. But in the end his plea is humble, promising integrity and asking for God’s pity and redemption.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 8

This resounding hymn of praise for God expresses our awe at the many glories of God’s creation. The heavens, the moon, the stars in their courses are all the work of God’s hands. The majestic arc of creation is so great that mere humanity seems small in comparison. Yet God has given humanity charge of all the animals, wild and domestic, and all the creatures of the sea. Surely we are called to exercise the same level of careful and loving relationship with this creation as we count on God to provide for us.

Second Reading: Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12

Why does God care for mere mortals so much that he sent a son and savior, the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s being, to become “lower than the angels” to live and die among us? Hear the echo of Psalm 8 in these verses as the author of Hebrews quotes a portion of it directly. This letter is thought to have been written to coax back Jewish Christians who had returned to Judaism in the face of persecution late in the first century. In this passage we hear that Jesus tasted death for all of us, through his sufferings raising us all up as his brothers and sisters.

Gospel: Mark 10:2-16

Jesus’ strict command against divorce is difficult to hear in a modern times, when divorce has become acceptable, if unhappy; a troubled end to a relationship. In the patriarchal culture of Jesus’ time, divorce was even worse, because it was inequitable: A man could set aside his marriage for any reason, or keep his wife trapped in abusive relationship. A woman had no recourse, could not practically initiate divorce, and worse, a woman alone was likely to end up homeless and hungry, shamed and reduced to begging. Should it surprise us that Jesus spoke firmly against that, recalling the words of Eve’s creation from Genesis? Then, in the next segment, when we see Jesus holding and blessing little children, we begin to see Jesus’ idea of God’s kingdom in the image of a child: Don’t judge others. Don’t be unkind.

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 Sept. 30, 2018

Jesus Exorcizing a Demon. Folio in Les Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry (1416); Musée Condé, Chantilly, France. (Click image to enlarge.)

Sunday offers us the only reading from the book of Esther that we hear during the entire three-year lectionary period. We come in toward the end of the book, just in time to hear the ending of this story that, in Jewish tradition, is read in its entirety on the feast of Purim. Esther is the only book in the entire Bible that doesn’t mention God, but it tells a stirring, albeit legendary, story of the Jewish people. We hear Queen Esther of Persia reveal at a banquet feast that she is Jewish and would herself be killed with her people if the wicked Haman carried out his plan to kill or enslave all of Persia’s Jews. The angry king orders Haman hanged on a giant gallows, and the event is remembered with feasting, gladness, and gifts of food to each other and to the poor.

First Reading (Track Two): Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29

Listen! We listen for the voice of God. We ask God to listen to us when we pray. We listen to each other, and sometimes we hear. Listen for themes of listening and hearing in Sunday’s readings. In our first reading we hear the people in the desert, sick and tired of manna, hungrily remembering the good food they enjoyed in Egypt; so hungry that they would eagerly return to Pharaoh’s slavery for something good to eat. God is angry. Moses is angry! Fortunately, God offers a practical solution: Moses may name seventy elders to help him carry the load of leadership. Then, two men who had remained in the camp started prophesying without supervision! Moses’ assistant Joshua wants them punished, but Moses says no: If only all the people could prophesy and share God’s spirit.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 124

Remembering another time when Israel feared death at the hands of enemies, Psalm 124 sings joyous thanksgiving for God’s protection, parting the waters of the Red Sea when they escaped Pharaoh’s bondage in Egypt. If God had not been on their side when the enemies rose up against them, we sing, the waters would have overwhelmed them! The torrent would have gone over them! But God did not give them up. They escaped, singing, “Our help is in the Name of the Lord, the Maker of Heaven and Earth.”

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 19:7-14

Listen and hear, as we sing this psalm that calls on us to pray and tells us why we should pray. God’s commandments are good, and to follow them does us good, we sing. Sweeter than honey and more desirable than gold, God’s laws and commandments enlighten us and keep us on a straight path. How do we pray? The answer is so important that it’s repeated twice: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my strength, my rock, and my redeemer.”

Second Reading: James 5:13-20

As we reach the end of our monthlong visit with the letter of James, this powerful epistle has called on us to care for our neighbors, to protect the weak, and to do the work that God has given us to do. Now the letter ends with a call to prayer, listing several conditions in which we might choose to pray. Are we suffering? Pray! Are we happy? Sing hymns of praise! Are we sick? Ask our friends to prayer! Prayer works. When we bring our brothers and sisters back to God’s way, we save them from death, for God works through us as God worked through the prophet Elijah when he prayed for an end to a killing drought and famine.

Gospel: Mark 9:38-50

The beginning of Mark’s Gospel this Sunday seems to echo an element of the Track Two first reading: Just as some of Moses’ followers, and Joshua, were angry about two seemingly unauthorized members of the community who started prophesying, the Apostle John tried to stop a stranger who was casting out demons in Jesus’ name. But Jesus tells them to be glad, rather, that others are speaking in his name: “Whoever is not against us is for us.” Then Jesus offers a series of scary warnings about doing things that cause others to stumble: “If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off … And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out.” Fortunately, this was surely not literal advice. Jesus, as he often does, is following an old rabbinic tradition, illuminating everyday actions by comparing them to their most extreme alternatives.

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 Sept. 23, 2018

Christ Blessing the Children (1535-1540). Painting on beech wood by Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553). Städel Museum, Frankfurt, Germany. (Click image to enlarge.)

This reading seems to express an ancient, patriarchal view of woman’s subsidiary role in the household, an attitude that we hope the 21st century is leaving behind. Of course we should read the patriarchal language in both testaments as a signal of its own time and culture, not as guidance for the modern world. But read closely, and see that this capable wife is no shrinking, helpless figure. She has her husband’s trust; she supervises the household servants as she buys goods and food for the family and even purchases farm and vineyard fields. She is strong, brave, wise and kind. Her husband and her children praise her. “Let her works praise her in the city gates,” indeed!

First Reading (Track Two): Wisdom of Solomon 1:16-2:1, 12-22

Both good behavior and bad behavior have consequences. Righteousness is pleasing to God; evil deeds lead to death. We hear this theme in Sunday’s readings first in a reading from the book of Wisdom, which is traditionally attributed to King Solomon but was actually written in Greek in the last centuries before Christ. Most of Sunday’s reading, save for the opening and closing verses, presents the ungodly, arguing why they choose to persecute the righteous people who look down on them. They are wrong, of course, as the bracketing verses make clear: They don’t understand God’s purpose, nor do they recognize the rewards of a blameless life.

First Reading (Alternate Track Two): Jeremiah 11:18-20

Jeremiah is often called “the Weeping Prophet” for the loud lamentations that he shouts out to warn the leaders of Jerusalem and Judah that their failure of righteousness and justice is going to bring down God’s wrath in the form of defeat, destruction and exile. In these short verses, though, his weeping is more personal: He has learned that those leaders, angered by his prophecies, are scheming to kill him. He feels like a gentle lamb led to slaughter, he sings, but even in the face of enemies he remains committed to God.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 1

We sang Psalm 1, the first of the 150 Psalms, in the weeks after Easter. Now we return to it again. We celebrate those who follow in the way of God, who delight in God’s teaching and meditate on it. These faithful souls will be happy, becoming as firmly rooted in faith as are trees deeply rooted by running water, gaining strength and bearing fruit. The wicked, in contrast, can count on no such happy end. Those who do not follow in God’s way will be blown away like chaff in the wind.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 54

This Psalm, attributed by tradition to King David, recalls a time when the young David, not yet the king, was forced to flee in terror from an angry, jealous Saul who sought to kill him. This narrative resonates with the reading from Wisdom: When insolent and ruthless enemies seek our lives, God’s laws will not hold them back. A time of fear is a time to pray, a time to call on God who delivers us from trouble and upholds our lives.

Second Reading: James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a

Picking up where last week’s reading from James left off, the author expands on the theme of guarding our tongues – tiny yet powerful instruments that they are – to praise and bless, not to poison. Contrasting the wisdom that comes from above with the envy and ambition in our hearts, he calls us to show our gentle, wise works in good lives, rather than engaging in earthly, unspiritual ambition and boasting. Resist evil, draw near to God, and God will draw near to us.

Gospel: Mark 9:30-37

Moving on to the end of the next chapter after last week’s reading, we find Jesus and the apostles back in Galilee after their foray into the Gentile country of Tyre and Sidon and Caesarea Philippi. When Jesus tells them for a second time that he must suffer, be killed and then rise again, they still don’t get it. Mark tells us that they’re even afraid to ask, perhaps remembering Peter’s embarrassment when Jesus angrily called him “Satan.” Now, when Jesus leaves them by themselves, they start arguing about which of them is the greatest. Jesus, who must have been thoroughly exasperated, shows them a small child. Following Jesus is not about greatness and power, he says. It is about serving others; it is about welcoming the smallest and weakest among us.

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 Sept. 16, 2018

Detail of a stained glass window of the Confession of Peter: “But who do you say that I am?” Church of St Mary and St Lambert in Stonham Aspal in Suffolk, England. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading (Track One): Proverbs 1:20-33

Have you ever noticed that ancient Hebrew poetry, like the Old Testament’s wisdom writings and the Psalms, does not rhyme words or sounds? Instead, it rhymes ideas. Look at each verse: Wisdom, as a powerful woman, is shouting out to the city and all its inhabitants: Be wise! Embrace knowledge!” Now note how every verse is divided into two lines. The idea expressed in each first line is reflected, explained, or expanded upon by the second. Ideas rhyme. Watch for this poetic technique in the Psalms, too, and see how meaning grows when lines build on lines to strengthen ideas.

First Reading (Track Two): Isaiah 50:4-9a

What is it like when great suffering lies in the road that leads to our most desired goals? We hear this challenging question in various forms in Sunday’s readings. Isaiah raises this question in his powerful metaphor of the “Suffering Servant.” What could be more important to a community than its teachers, whose words shape our growth and understanding? Isaiah portrays this teacher as a servant who suffers the humiliation of exile and turns away from those who strike him. To Israel he represented the nation awaiting vindication in its own exile. Christians would later see the image of Christ in this servant.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 19

The heavens declare the glory of God! This psalm of praise sings out the beauty of creation, God at work in the universe. Mirroring the first reading’s exhortation to hear God’s word, its verses urge us to rejoice in our hearts about God’s perfect law, a word that, in the original Hebrew, is synonymous with “teaching.” The psalm concludes with a familiar phrase that preachers often speak at the beginning of a sermon: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 116:1-8

In the spirit of the Suffering Servant, the poet recalls a time of sorrow when he was sick and close to death. Filled with grief, entangled in the cords of death, the Psalmist called out, and God responded. Now, rescued from death’s grip, his tears are wiped dry and his feet no longer stumble. Walking again in the land of the living, his heart fills with love for God, who has heard his voice in supplication.

Second Reading: James 3:1-12

The tongue of a teacher may reveal the way of God, but tongues can be tricky, the letter of James tells us in delightful wordplay. He likens this small but powerful organ to other little yet strong things that can control forces beyond their size: A small bridle holds back a powerful horse. A very small rudder moves a massive ship. A mere spark can flare into a forest fire. Yes, tongues may bless, but tongues can curse, too. James warns us to guard out tongues: Use them wisely, to praise and bless our brothers and sisters; don’t use them to stain the body with hurtful poison.

Gospel: Mark 8:27-38

The season after Pentecost lasts almost exactly six months this year, from June through November. We have passed the mid-point of Mark’s Gospel, and the narrative is taking a sharp turn. First, Jesus confirms Peter’s bold announcement that he is the Messiah, the apostles’ first hint of this startling revelation. Then, to Peter’s horror, Jesus tells them that he must endure great suffering, rejection and death. If they want to follow him, Jesus warns, they must deny themselves and take up the cross: You’ll have to lose your life in order to save it. What will it profit anyone to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Soon now they will move on toward Jerusalem and the cross.

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.