Pentecost 6B

Posted on June 26, 2018 by Robin Garr

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for July 1, 2018

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

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

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 today’s reading we hear David mourning the death of Saul. But that grief is eclipsed by David’s deep grief over the loss of Jonathan, Saul’s oldest son and David’s beloved friend, as 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. God desires neither death nor destruction for us. We hear these hopeful ideas in today’s first reading, and they recur through the day’s readings. 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, following 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

When we sing this psalm of faithful hope in God, we express our confidence that God’s love and grace wait for us even when we are deep in grief, as David grieved upon the death of Jonathan. Out of the depths we call out to God, knowing that we will be heard, for there is always forgiveness in God. We wait for God, as even in night’s darkest hours we wait for morning light.

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

This short, song-like passage from Lamentations, a short book traditionally attributed to Jeremiah, may be used in place of today’s Psalm. In these verses, echoing the hope and trust in God’s love that we hear the first reading, we sing of our hope in God’s steadfast love that never ends, love that is renewed every morning. In words reminiscent of the Sermon on the Mount, we sing of giving our cheek to the smiter while we wait for our loving God who will not willingly afflict us.

Alternate Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 30

This Psalm, a hymn of thanksgiving for healing and restoration after illness, sings praise to the joy of life in God’s favor, as opposed to the grief of death under God’s wrath. We feel song when God favors us, but when God’s face turns away, we are afraid. Fortunately, we sing, God’s anger endures only for seconds, “the twinkling of an eye,” but God’s favor lasts a lifetime. “Weeping may spend the night,” the Psalmist warns; but then, in exultation, reminds us that “joy comes in the morning.” We sing without ceasing to God, who turns our weeping into dancing and clothes us with joy.

Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 8:7-15

Paul loved the people of this little early church community in Corinth, but they were often cranky, quarrelsome, difficult to persuade, and sometimes got on his last nerve. Many of the members of the community were poor and often hungry, but there were comfortably wealthy members too, and sometimes they weren’t eager to share with their hungry neighbors. Holding up the example of Christ, who was rich yet became poor for our sakes, he urges them all to live by Jesus’ example: 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 just returned home from their trip across the Sea of Galilee. Jesus hurries to get to the bedside of the desperately ill child of Jairus, a synagogue leader. On their way, they encounter a woman who had been suffering hemorrhage for a dozen years. Ritually unclean because of her condition, poor, and rejected by her neighbors, she touches Jesus’ robe in hope of being healed. Jesus pauses, tells her that her faith has made her well; then they rush on to find Jairus’ daughter already dead. The crowd laughs when Jesus declares that the child is not dead, only sleeping, but Jesus takes the child’s hand and brings her back to life. Rich or poor, powerful or weak, Jesus healed both without question.

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.

Pentecost 5B

Posted on June 19, 2018 by Robin Garr

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for June 24, 2018

Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee (1695), oil painting by Ludolf Bakhuizen (1630-1708). Indianapolis Museum of Art. (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 familiar story 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 First Testament 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 the adversary, retaining 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 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

A passage from Psalm 9, accompanying the David and Goliath reading, 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. We heard Psalm 133, which goes with the reading about David and Saul, just after Easter. It celebrates the joy of living in unity, using the luxurious metaphor 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 today’s Gospel story about Jesus stilling the storm. The psalmist remembers an event when a storm came upon some travelers whom God had redeemed, who had gone down to the sea in ships. When they cried out to God, the storm gave way to calm. They 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 rests on Paul’s effort to reconcile and restore good relations after a period of trouble and anger in the church in Corinth. Paul himself has suffered many things for following in Jesus’ way, he writes: 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. Through all difficulties, he urges the people to remember that God is with us. Open wide our hearts and accept God’s love.

Gospel: Mark 4:35-41

We continue to follow Jesus and the apostles through his ministry as told by Mark, following him now from the Jewish territory on the west side of the Sea of Galilee across the deep lake to Gentile country on the other side. This sets the scene for the beloved Gospel story of Jesus calming the stormy waters to save the ship. This time, though, pay particular attention to the reactions of the apostles. They are terrified! Jesus doesn’t seem to know that they are in deadly danger. Does he even care that they are scared? And then, after all is calm, they are awestruck by the discovery that Jesus really did have power to still the storm.

Pentecost 4B

Posted on June 12, 2018 by Robin Garr

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for June 17, 2018

The Sower (1850), oil painting on canvas by Jean François Millet (1814-1875). Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading (Track One): 1 Samuel 15:34-16:13

Saul, named king of Israel amid great hopes, hasn’t worked out. In fierce and bloody verses just before this reading, God had ordered Saul to gather an army and attack the neighboring Amalekites, utterly destroying all that they have and killing all their people and livestock. But against God’s command Saul spared the king and kept the best spoils for himself. Now God regrets having made Saul king, and rejects him. In today’s reading God sends Samuel to Bethlehem to find the next king from the sons of Jesse. Much to everyone’s surprise, God passes over seven strong, handsome sons to choose the youngest, David.

First Reading (Track Two): Ezekiel 17:22-24

It is only a few days until the Summer Solstice, and all nature has turned green and lush at last. How fitting that many of Sunday’s readings touch on planting, growing, and new life! Much of the prophet Ezekiel’s writings are filled with angry recriminations to a people in exile, but today’s passage looks forward more gently toward a restored Israel, using the metaphor of a mighty cedar, a lofty tree that provides nesting space for birds and shade for many creatures. The prophet’s words offer an inspiring reminder that, with God’s help, a mighty tree can grow from a sprig. In the beauty of creation, we know that God is good.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 20

Fitting with the militaristic theme of Israel’s kings and their call to holy war against their neighbors, the Psalm for Sunday’s Track One option is understood as a prayer for victory, a blessing before battle, calling on God to defend the people, send help and strength, accept their offerings and advance their plans. Rather than trusting in chariots and horses, the people call on the name of God to give victory to Israel’s king.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 92:1-4,11-14

Echoing the promise in our first reading of the mighty cedar that grows from a sprig, this Psalm of praise and thanksgiving sings of mighty trees, too – cedars of Lebanon and lofty palms – standing for those who grow and flourish under God’s nurturing care. Through righteousness, justice, and faith in God’s loving kindness, we hope to remain ripe and fruitful all our lives.

Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 5:1-17

The metaphor of growth and fruitful harvest doesn’t jump right out at us in these verses from Paul’s second letter to the church in Corinth, but look closely and perhaps we can catch a glimpse of it in the last verses: When we choose to live in Christ, our lives change. Just as the leaves fall in autumn and our flowers and gardens die, only to return full of life in the spring, everything that is old passes away in Christ’s new creation. Everything becomes new for us again in the life we gain through Jesus.

Gospel: Mark 4:26-34

Like so many of Jesus’ parables, the two featured in Sunday’s Gospel draw metaphors from seeds and sowing, tiny beginnings that grow up to yield food from the earth. But something more is happening here: These are the first of 18 parables in Mark’s Gospel in which Jesus tells stories that hint at the nature of the Kingdom of God. “The Kingdom is like” is surely the most frequent introductory phrase in the Gospel. Here, too, begins another recurring theme in Mark: Jesus tells mysterious parables that intentionally disguise his mission, and he tells his followers to keep his healings secret. Was Jesus’ call for a Kingdom of God, a kingdom that might replace Roman rule, too dangerous an idea to bring up in public?

Pentecost 3B

Posted on June 5, 2018 by Robin Garr

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for June 10, 2018

Garden of Eden (1530), painting by Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553). In the foreground: Prohibition of God to Adam and Eve, in the middle ground: Creation of Adam, the Fall, Discovery of the Fall, the Expulsion from Paradise. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. (Click image to enlarge.)

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

This reading may at first appear to be an obscure passage from Israel’s early history, but it marks a significant turning point: Having settled in the Promised Land under the guidance of judges (temporary military leaders), the nation now faced rising difficulties with corrupt judges, including the prophet Samuel’s own sons, who had taken bribes. The people clamored for a king to lead them in the manner of their neighboring nations. Samuel opposed this idea, declaring that God was Israel’s king. But with God’s direct guidance, Samuel finally gave in and named Saul king; but Samuel warned that the people would come to regret it.

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

When Adam and Eve ate the fruit that God forbade, they suddenly realized that they were naked. Then they realized that they had defied God’s command. No wonder they were scared! They covered their bodies and hid. When God found them, they blamed each other, and they blamed the snake. What would have happened if they refused to take the fruit? Would the bible have ended just like that, Adam and Eve living happily ever after in Eden? But Adam and Eve did disobey God and lost their home in the garden. Bear in mind, though, that God came out of the garden with them, and stayed with a people of free will and belief through all the ages.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 138

Even from on high, God cares for the lowly. This lovely Psalm of thanksgiving praises God and exults in gratitude that God stays with us when we are in trouble, and answers us when we call. In words that echo the familiar verses of the beloved 23rd Psalm, we remember that God keeps us safe even when we walk in the midst of trouble and that God’s strong hand protects us from our enemies.

Psalm: (Track Two): Psalm 130

We hear this Psalm of hope in God’s redemption now and then in Lent; and it is often chosen, albeit less frequently than Psalm 23, as a Psalm for use in the burial of the dead. Titled “De Profundis” (“out of the depths”), it 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.

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

Do not lose heart, Paul tells the Christian community of Corinth, even though we may feel as if we are living a life of affliction and wasting away in our fallen world. That anguish is only momentary in God’s greater intent: God raised Jesus from the dead, and God will raise us, too, Paul writes. The pain that we feel today is only passing. Through God’s grace we will come to live forever in God’s glory beyond all measure.

Gospel: Mark 3:20-35

Last Sunday we saw Jesus rouse the anger of the Pharisees when he healed a man with a withered hand in the synagogue on the Sabbath. Now, accompanied by a huge, excited crowd that has been following him, he’s in trouble with his family and neighbors. The neighbors think Jesus has gone crazy, or is possessed by a demon, which in those times amounted to the same thing. His mother and brothers come out to talk to him, but his reply probably did not make his family happy: He tells them that his followers are his family now, with work to do in a broken world full of sinners.

Pentecost 2B

Posted on May 29, 2018 by Robin Garr

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for June 3, 2018

Christ heals the man with paralyzed hand (c.1180). Byzantine mosaic in the Cathedral of Monreale, Palermo, Sicily. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading (Track One): 1 Samuel 3:1-10

Our liturgy now moves into the long season after Pentecost. For six months we will walk with Jesus and the apostles, hearing Mark’s Gospel narrative of Jesus’ early ministry from Galilee to Jerusalem and the cross. During this season we have a choice of two “tracks” of Lectionary readings for first reading and the Psalm. Sunday’s first reading for Track One, which we also heard after Epiphany earlier this year, tells us of the young prophet Samuel, puzzled by a mysterious voice that calls him in the night that he eventually discerns as God’s call.

First Reading (Track Two): Deuteronomy 5:12-15

Sunday’s Track Two first reading foreshadows the Gospel with a passage about Sabbath from the First Testament’s “other” Ten Commandments narrative: not the familiar version in Exodus but a somewhat more extended list in Deuteronomy. While the Exodus version tells us to rest on the seventh day because God rested on the seventh day after the creation, this commandment is more nuanced: Because the people were once slaves who never had rest until God brought them out of Egypt, all creatures should rest and give thanks on the Sabbath – all the family, resident aliens, even slaves, and all the family livestock as well.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 139:1-5, 12-17

We heard this Psalm on the second Sunday after Epiphany. Now we repeat it on the second Sunday after Pentecost. God knows us as intimately as the potter knows his clay, the Psalmist sings. God knows our every thought, whatever we are doing, wherever we are; God knows every word that we speak and every idea that we imagine. Even before we were born, God knew us.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 81:1-10

This song of praise and joy to God who led the people out of Egypt imagines an orchestra of ancient instruments ringing out in exultation. Sing with joy, it shouts; raise a song with timbrel, harp, lyre, and ram’s horn to accompany the people’s voices in praise of God who heard the people’s voices and came to save them. Recalling the first commandment, we recall, “There shall be no strange god among you … I am the Lord your God.”

Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 4:5-12

We will spend six weeks hearing passages from Paul’s second letter to the Christian community in Corinth, Greece. This shorter letter – actually several short epistles later combined in a single volume – was written several years after the first, and it follows what Paul calls “a painful” return visit with this beloved but often argumentative community. In this portion (perhaps the last of the letters), that quarrel seems behind them, and Paul offers beautiful words of encouragement for hope after despair and survival after loss. Death may come, as it did to Jesus, but life flourishes in us through the glory of God that makes the life of Jesus visible in our mortality.

Gospel: Mark 2:23-3:6

These two short narratives from early in Mark’s Gospel set a theme that will recur through Mark and through the Gospels: Jesus is not afraid to challenge authority, and Jesus has little patience for rote obedience to the rules – specifically rigid Pharisaical interpretations – when a practical need makes it more sensible to bend or ignore them. So we see Jesus and the disciples picking and eating grain on the Sabbath because they are hungry; then Jesus heals a man with a withered hand in the synagogue, as the Pharisees look on with angry horror and begin plotting ways to destroy him.

Trinity Sunday B

Posted on May 22, 2018 by Robin Garr

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for May 27, 2018

Christus onderwijst Nicodemus (Christ talking with Nicodemus at night), 1640. Oil on panel by Crijn Hendricksz Volmarijn (c.1601-1645). Private collection, Sotheby’s, London. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading: Isaiah 6:1-8

Last Sunday, on Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came in wind and fire. Now as we celebrate Trinity Sunday, we reflect on the relationship among Creator, Redeemer and Advocate. In our first reading, Isaiah sees a vision calling him to be God’s prophet, an image that brings him woe, not joy, for he does not believe that is worthy to see God. He confesses that he is a man of unclean lips among a people of unclean lips, whereupon a seraph cleanses and purifies him with holy fire, touching a coal to the prophet’s lips. Then, hearing God’s call again, Isaiah steps up, no longer held back by feelings of unworthiness.

Psalm 29

We sang this Psalm just a few months ago, on the first Sunday after the Epiphany; and we sing it again now, on the first Sunday after Pentecost. On both occasions, immediately following the celebration of a bold manifestation of the divine, it seems appropriate to “Ascribe due honor to God’s holy name.” The powerful metaphor of a majestic storm offers us insight into the Holy Spirit as a powerful wind. A storm strong enough to break and spin mighty oaks and cedars, shoot flames, and shake the wilderness might send us running for shelter. But it also has potential to lure us outside to feel the rain and the wind on our faces as the storm rolls by.

Alternative to the Psalm: Canticle 13

Canticles, “little songs,” are scripture passages similar in style to Psalms, chosen for use in worship in the Book of Common Prayer. Canticle 13 offers a short portion of the “Song of the Three Young Men” who were thrown into a fiery furnace by angry King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon in the book of Daniel and the apocryphal Song of Azariah. Safe under God’s protection, they survived this ordeal, not only walking unharmed through a raging fire but joyfully singing this hymn of glory to God, promising to praise and highly exalt God forever.

Second Reading: Romans 8:12-17

We turn back a page in Romans this week to hear these verses that come just before last week’s reading about Christians groaning in the pain and expectancy of a mother in labor as they wait for salvation. Now we see Paul building toward that image as he describes the great gift that awaits Christians: When we accept a life led by the Spirit, we become children of God, just as Jesus is the Son of God. Like Jesus we become heirs of God. Inspired by the Spirit, we recognize that suffering with Jesus opens us up to being glorified with Jesus.

Gospel: John 3:1-17

Sunday’s Gospel provides us the context to John 3:16 that a simple sign held up in a sports stadium can’t give. Nicodemus, a Pharisee, comes to talk with Jesus by night, hoping no one will see him visiting the controversial rabbi. Nicodemus is curious but bewildered by Jesus’ mysterious language. What does it mean to be “born from above,” or, in some translations, “born again”? Nicodemus just can’t grasp the distinction between being literally born of flesh as an infant and being born of the Holy Spirit in faith. Through the Son, from the Creator, inspired by the Spirit’s restless wind, we come to the Kingdom through a spiritual rebirth in faith and belief.

Pentecost B

Posted on May 15, 2018 by Robin Garr

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for May 20, 2018

Pentecost (ca. 1305). Fresco by Giotto di Bondone (c.1267-1337), Scrovegni Chapel, Padua, Italy. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading (or alternate Second Reading): Acts 2:1-21

Come, Holy Spirit! It is Pentecost, and Sunday’s readings speak in many ways about the coming of the Holy Spirit into the world. In our first reading from Acts, the Holy Spirit comes into the room in wind and tongues of fire. Every person in the crowd of spectators hears the apostles speaking in his or her own native tongue, signaling that Christ has come for all nations and that the word of God is heard in every language. Peter then preaches to the crowd in the apocalyptic words of the Prophet Joel, foretelling that God would pour out the Spirit on all God’s people in the last days.

First Reading (alternate): Ezekiel 37:1-14

The prophet Ezekiel imagines an eerie, deathly valley filled with dry bones. In these poetic verses, God tells Ezekiel to prophesy, and as he does so, the dry bones become connected, covered with skin, and then breathed to life as a vast multitude. Ezekiel’s prophetic vision reveals God’s promise to restore Israel from exile. In the context of this week’s readings, we may hear it as the work of the Spirit bringing forth life and a multitude of witnesses from the dust and dry bones of death.

Psalm 104:25-35,37

This Psalm of joy and thanksgiving celebrates the diversity of all God’s creation: God has filled the earth and sea with too many amazing creatures to count. Recalling the first story of creation in Genesis, the Psalmist reminds us that God’s spirit was at work in creating the Earth, and that God’s spirit remains active in making creation new again. The loss of breath ends life; new breath restores it.

Second Reading: Romans 8:22-27

Paul’s striking words describe all creation groaning in labor pains like a mother giving birth, while the Holy Spirit joins in “with sighs too deep for words” to help us pray. Like many unusual metaphors, these verses prompt us to reflection that leads to insight. Like a mother eager to hold her new infant, we are eager for the new life that God has in store for us, yet we wait patiently for something that we desire but cannot yet see.

Gospel: John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15

We turn again to John’s account of Jesus’ last talk with his disciples at the Last Supper. Jesus tells them that he will soon go back to God, the one who sent him, but that they will send an Advocate who will testify on God’s behalf. Even though the apostles have been with Jesus since his public ministry began, he tells them, there is still much that they don’t understand; much that Jesus has not explained. When the Advocate comes, bearing Jesus’ words, much more will be revealed, and then they will understand.

Easter 7B

Posted on May 8, 2018 by Robin Garr

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for May 13, 2018

Tirage nomination de saint Matthias (Election of St. Matthias by drawing lots), 12th century painting in the parish church of the vallée de l’Aisne, France. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading: Acts 1:15-17, 21-26

Three days after Ascension Thursday and one week before Pentecost Sunday, our readings for the last Sunday after Easter mark a pause in time, a moment when the world is about to turn. Our first reading from Acts finds the apostles gathering just after Jesus has been taken into heaven, lifted up into a cloud. Next Sunday we will hear of the Holy Spirit coming down like wind and fire, inspiring the apostles to take the Gospel into the world. But first, asking God’s guidance, they cast lots and choose Matthias to take the place in their numbers left by the departure of Judas, the traitor who betrayed Jesus.

Psalm 1

The first of all the Psalms begins the book with a promise: Happiness awaits those who walk in the way of God. The 150 Psalms, the ancient hymns of the Jerusalem temple, sing an emotional range from joy to fear to anger to sadness to thanksgiving, but the joy of following God provides a recurring bass line. Psalm 1 also celebrates delight in the law, the Torah, understood not as mere regulation but God’s holy teaching: God showing us how to live in love of God and neighbor.

Second Reading: 1 John 5:9-13

Our Eastertide voyage through the first Letter of John concludes today with part of its last chapter. This letter written in the spirit of John’s Gospel by later members of the Johannine community. Its consistent, uplifting theme reassures us again in these verses that we gain eternal life through God’s love given us in Jesus: “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

Gospel: John 17:6-19

In the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Jesus spends the night before his crucifixion praying in the Garden of Gethsemane while the apostles wait and try not to fall asleep. John’s Gospel is different: Here we hear Jesus after the last supper, talking to his disciples and praying for them, preparing them to move ahead after he has gone . Having protected and guarded the apostles – losing only Judas from the flock – Jesus now asks God to protect them as Jesus sends them out into the world, as God had sent Jesus out into the world.

Easter 6B

Posted on May 1, 2018 by Robin Garr

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for May 6, 2018

Detail of Jesus giving the Farewell Discourse to his Apostles after the Last Supper (1308-1311); Maestà, tempera on wood altarpiece by Duccio di Buoninsegna (1255-1319). Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, Siena. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading: Acts 10:44-48

Sunday’s readings build on the theme that we heard last Sunday: God’s love pours out on all the world, and we are called to love each other as God loves us. Our first reading marks a key turning point in Acts: The joyful reaction of a Gentile crowd to Peter’s teaching reveals to the apostles that the Holy Spirit comes to everyone, not only Jewish Christians but Gentiles too. Everyone. Peter asks, “Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” The answer is clear: Baptism is for all. As we heard in last week’s reading about the Ethiopian eunuch, “Here is water. What is to prevent it?”

Psalm: Psalm 98

This triumphant hymn of faith in God’s power is consistent with the theme that we hear throughout today’s readings: God’s victory shows divine mercy and faithfulness for Israel, but it is not a victory for Israel alone. God will judge not only Israel but all the people of the earth with mercy and equity. In a resounding symphony of thanksgiving, not only the people but even the sea, the lands, the rivers and hills ring out their joy, singing to the Lord a new song.

Second Reading: 1 John 5:1-6

Our second reading and Gospel continue seamlessly where last Sunday’s readings left off, expanding on the same theme. We are commanded to love one another as Jesus loves us. Now we learn in the First Letter of John that the way to love God – to become a child of God – is by obeying God’s commandments, a direction that follows the Jewish tradition of love for God’s law and teaching. In words that echo the triumphant sentiment of today’s Psalm, we hear that our faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God brings God’s victory into the world.

Gospel: John 15:9-17

Mark, Matthew and Luke all tell us that Jesus taught – in the spirit of the essential Jewish prayer, the Shema – that the greatest commandment is to love God with all our heart and soul and strength and mind. Then Jesus connects the dots: It follows, then, that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. In John’s Gospel Jesus expands on this theme. Just as God has loved Jesus, so Jesus loves us. Therefore, he commands, “Love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Through our faith we go out and bear fruit that will last, like the branches of the vine in last week’s Gospel.

Easter 5B

Posted on April 24, 2018 by Robin Garr

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for April 29, 2018

The Baptism of the Eunuch (1626). Oil painting on oak panel by Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669). Museum Catharijneconvent, Utrecht, Netherlands. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading: Acts 8:26-40

Hear this assuring message through Sunday’s readings: God’s abiding love is open to all humankind. It showers on us as a free gift. The Acts reading offers a sweet, funny story of the young church: All are welcome, no matter who they are. To join the young Christian community through baptism, all you had to do was ask. Even an Ethiopian eunuch – a foreigner from a strange land, barred from Judaism because his physical condition made him biblically unclean – was eagerly welcomed as an equal. With mutual joy, right there on the spot, Philip baptized him as one of us.

Psalm: Psalm 22:24-30

This relatively short passage comes from a longer Psalm that begins with the memorable words that Jesus uttered from the cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” The despair of the opening two verses quickly turns, though, to the message we hear in this reading, a statement that resonates with Philip’s warm welcome to the Ethiopian eunuch: God is the ruler of all the world’s nations: those already born and all those yet to come. We live for God, we serve God, we praise God, and we fulfill our vow to God by caring for the poor and feeding the hungry.

Second Reading: 1 John 4:7-21

Sunday’s verses from the first letter of John both reflect and add to Jesus’ unforgettable promise as told by John the Evangelist: “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you … love one another as I have loved you.” (We will hear that passage, by the way, in next week’s Gospel.) This reading, like last week’s, assures us of God’s love, and in doing so it calls us to action. “Love one another” is not just a suggestion: It incorporates a covenant promise. If we can’t love our brothers and sisters, how can we make room in our hearts for God?

Gospel: John 15:1-8

For the remaining Sundays of Eastertide, our Gospel readings will draw from John’s account of Jesus’ long farewell to his disciples at the Last Supper. Here, Jesus uses the vineyard as an extended metaphor for our relationship with God through Christ. Clearly describing vineyard practices that continue with little change to this day, Jesus shows us how God cuts out weaker branches in order to make the vines strong and productive. We must abide in God as God abides in us; otherwise we risk being pruned and discarded as the weak vines are. But when we abide in God through Jesus, living in God like a sturdy branch on a nurturing vine, we will be strong and fruitful.

Illuminations

Welcome to Illuminations. We hope these brief reflections on Sunday's readings will help you prepare thoughtfully for worship.

Author Archives: Robin Garr