Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for Sunday, Aug. 25, 2013.

First Reading: Isaiah 58:9b-14
Dig deeper into Isaiah and we find that this great book contains the words of three prophets, bible scholars say: One who prophesied the coming destruction of Jerusalem and the temple; one who prophesied from exile in Babylon; and the speaker of today’s verses, who prophesied after the return, when the temple was wreckage and the people were having a hard time settling back in. God will help us, the third Isaiah promises; but we must be just, share with the needy and care for the afflicted. Do all this, and honor the Sabbath, and Judah’s ancient glory will be restored.

Psalm: Psalm 103
Surely the Israelites sang this hymn upon their arrival home from exile, and its message of thanksgiving has made it a favorite of God’s people down through the ages. Remember that God forgives us, heals us and redeems us, the Psalmist exults. We can count on God’s mercy and grace, gentle spirit and abundant love. Thanks be to God!

Second Reading: Hebrews 12:18-29
This is the third of a four-week series of Second Readings from Hebrews, a letter that bible historians believe was originally intended to persuade First Century Christians fearful of Roman persecution from returning to what may have seemed the safer haven of Judaism. While God’s voice shook the earth when Moses received the First Covenant at Sinai, the author assures us that God now gives through Christ a kingdom that cannot be shaken.

Gospel: Luke 13:10-17
As an observant Jew and charismatic rabbi, Jesus knew well and faithfully followed the law demanding observance of the Sabbath, consistent with Isaiah’s call in the First Reading. But his compassion for a painfully disabled woman compelled him to heal her, right there in the synagogue, while he was preaching! The authorities were outraged, but Jesus reminded them that they wouldn’t hesitate to protect their own property on the Sabbath. Why should a woman in pain for 18 years have to wait another hour? This story, continuing Luke’s ten-chapter narrative of Jesus’s journey from Galilee to Jerusalem and the cross, has a deeper subtext: It shows the growing tension between Jesus and temple and state authorities that would culminate with his passion and death on the cross.

Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for Sunday, Aug. 18, 2013.

First Reading: Isaiah 5:1-7
Isaiah, foreseeing the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple and Judah’s exile in Babylon, frames today’s reading as a love song to God’s beautiful vineyard; but the narrative goes downhill fast. Although it was thoughtfully planted and carefully tended, the vineyard produced sour, unusable grapes. God is outdone with it and will tend it no more. Then Isaiah names names: The vineyard is the house of Israel, the people of Judah. God planted them to reap righteousness and justice, but they’ve failed in this mission, and their harvest will be bloodshed.

Psalm: Psalm 80
The Psalmist sings a song that bears a close resemblance to Isaiah’s lyrics of God’s lost love. Here, too, we sing of Israel as God’s beloved, well-tended vine, one that grew fruitful and mighty. But now it is ravaged, eaten by forest animals, burned and cut down. Please return and tend this vine, the Psalmist prays. Return life to the exiled people and they won’t betray you again.

First Reading (Track Two): Jeremiah 23:23-29
Do you think of God as being “transcendent,” or “wholly other,” distinct from the world? Or is God “immanent,” right here around us and present in our lives? The Prophet Jeremiah, who spoke words of doom and warning before the destruction of the first Jerusalem temple, finds God in both places. Don’t think that God is only far off, Jeremiah warns: God is nearby, too. In words that Christians might see as foreshadowing Jesus’s words in today’s gospel, God has fire and destructive power ready for those who forget God’s word.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 82
The idea of God sitting in a divine council of other gods sounds strange to modern ears accustomed to the [idea of ]monotheism that’s fundamental in Scripture. Bible historians say this council may be an echo of ancient Near Eastern tradition, when early Israelites understood our God as supreme over the lesser gods of enemy nations. But the core of the Psalm is as relevant now as it was in the Psalmist’s time: God insists on justice, and calls us to stand up for the weak, the orphan, the lowly, the destitute and the needy.

Second Reading: Hebrews 11:29 – 12:2
Following last week’s reading in which Abraham and his descendants were praised as our ancestors in faith, we continue in Hebrews today with a series of quick snapshots from the Old Testament, praising the bible heroes who achieved greatness through their faith and who now form a “cloud of witnesses” surrounding us. These witnesses, Hebrews says, led the way to Jesus, who to perfect our faith endured the shame of crucifixion and now sits at the right hand of God.

Gospel: Luke 12:49-56
For the past seven Sundays we have been following Jesus through Luke’s account of his journey to Jerusalem, his confrontation with the temple and civil authorities, and the cross. Through lectures and parables he has warned the apostles that following his way is not an easy path. Does it surprise you to hear “the Prince of Peace” warn that he came not to bring peace but fire and division? Bursting with passion for his journey, perhaps he wants us to understand that choosing to walk this hard journey with him may divide us even from friends and family.

Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for Sunday, Aug. 11, 2013.

First Reading: Isaiah 1:1, 10-20
In recent weeks we have heard from the Prophets Amos and Hosea, and now we come to perhaps the greatest of all the prophets, Isaiah, who came a generation later and prophesied to the Kingdom of Judah, while his predecessors had preached to Israel, the Northern Kingdom. His message is consistent, though, in its lament that the people will lose the land and the temple and be forced into exile because they have failed to keep God’s covenant to “do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, and plead for the widow.”

First Reading (Track Two): Genesis 15:1-6
We drop into the middle of a story today: “After these things …” Um, after what things? Most of us remember the Old Testament in fragmentary memorable vignettes: God promises Abram and Sarai – later called Abraham and Sarah – that their heirs will inherit the Promised Land. Abraham bargains with God over Sodom and Gomorrah’s fate, and stands ready to sacrifice his son, Isaac, at God’s command. But those stories lie ahead. At this point, Abram has followed God’s call and done battle for the people. But he has been waiting a long time for his promised heir and hopes for God’s reassurance. Know, God responds, that your 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: 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 – justice to others – in our lives. The Psalmist warns Israel that insincere thanksgiving won’t do, and those who forget God risk being “torn apart.” This language is a far cry from the sweet reassurances of Psalms like the 23rd!

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 of Psalms of thanksgiving and praise. God sees us, God protects us, God loves us. Our souls wait for God, our help and shield. Our hearts are glad in God who loves us; we trust in God’s holy name.

Second Reading: Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16
Hebrews holds an unusual place in the New Testament: Probably written late in the first century, perhaps around the same time as Matthew’s Gospel, its intended audience was probably a group of Jewish Christians who, facing severe persecution, were considering a return to Judaism. Hebrews argues that Christianity is the better way. Still, in these verses, the author takes care to speak well of the Abrahamic tradition, and argues that Jews and Christians will inherit the city of God through faith, beautifully described as “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. God’s kingdom is coming. Still, anyone listening to the next few lines might get a little nervous, at least. Sell your possessions, make durable purses, and be ready to go when Jesus calls. We don’t know when a thief might come into our house at night – who wouldn’t be afraid about that? But this is Jesus’s way of telling the apostles to be ready. The Kingdom may come when we least expect it, bringing us “unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.”

Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for Sunday, Aug. 4, 2013.

First Reading: Hosea 11:1-11Hosea is an early prophet, writing around 750 BCE and likely following soon after Amos (whose dire warnings we heard last month). Hosea, too, warns of the coming destruction of Israel, the Northern Kingdom, if its people don’t return to God’s commandments. In beautiful imagery, he envisions Israel as a child and God as a loving but exasperated parent, who knows that the misbehaving offspring deserve punishment, but won’t give up on them entirely. Eventually they will come home to a happy reunion.

Psalm: Psalm 107
The Israelites returning from exile might have sung a hymn like Psalm 107, subtitled, “God’s compassion despite Israel’s Ingratitude.” Three times in these few verses the people praise God’s “steadfast love,” a poignant Hebrew word – “chesed” – that may also be translated as “compassion,” “faithfulness,” “kindness,” “mercy” or “grace.” Also, did you notice the phrase, “the hungry [God] fills with good things”? If that seemed familiar, you may be remembering the Magnificat, the song of Mary, who used the same words to thank God for choosing her as the mother of Jesus.

Second Reading: Colossians 3:1-11
Continuing this week in Colossians, a letter perhaps written by a later follower of Paul in his name, we see a variation of Paul’s radically inclusive “Neither Jew nor Greek” phrase in his letter to the Galatians. 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 in retirement. Yet God calls him a fool! What are we missing here? Perhaps Jesus is making two points: We never know when we’ll die, and the man has saved up for a future he’ll never see. Perhaps even more important, he is greedy. He never gave a thought to others. 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.

Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for Sunday, July 28, 2013.

First Reading: Genesis 18:20-32
This may come as a surprise: The “grave sin of Sodom” might not be what you think it is. God’s wrath with the Sodomites did not have to do with sex but righteousness: As the Prophet Ezekiel will later cry out, “This was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy.” This covenantal call to righteous action runs through the Bible from Moses through the prophets to Jesus. Even God was willing to bargain with Abraham and save the entire city if only 10 righteous people could be found.

Psalm: Psalm 138
We often pray when we’re in need.  In time of trouble and of fear, we call out in our helplessness and beg God to come to our aid.  But how often do we remember to thank God?  Thanks for a specific blessing, or thanks for our blessings in general: As our mothers taught us, saying “thanks” is the right thing to do. The Psalmist reminds us today that God responds when we call; God loves us and is faithful to us. For this we are truly thankful.

Second Reading: Colossians 2:6-15 (16-19)
The author of Colossians, who may have been a later follower of Paul, reminds us to be thankful, too, for the faith and blessings we receive through Christ.  This letter to the people of Colossae, a community of new believers who may have been wrestling with pagan beliefs from their Greek culture, warns of false teachings, “festivals, new moons or sabbaths,” which, he points out, are only a shadow of what is to come through  Christ. 

Gospel: Luke 11:1-13
Abraham spoke up and argued with God. Jesus showed us all how to talk to God when the apostles asked him, “Teach us to pray.”  What did Jesus say? His prayer calls us to be righteous,  just as God told Abraham: Share our food, forgive our debts, do to others as we would have them do to us. Do these things and help open God’s Kingdom, not only in Heaven but right here on Earth. Talk to God. Argue if you must. Ask, and it shall be given to you.

Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for Sunday, July 21, 2013.

First Reading: Genesis 18:1-10a
In the overall biblical narrative, the important part of today’s reading is God’s assurance that Abraham and Sarah will have a son, despite her advanced age, fulfilling God’s pledge that their children would inherit the Promised Land. But we hear the promise in the context of Abraham’s radical hospitality to three visiting strangers. Who are these strangers? God? Angels? That’s not entirely clear, but it doesn’t matter: Abraham is generous to the strangers, and Abraham becomes patriarch of God’s chosen people.

Psalm: Psalm 15
Who gets to live in God’s tent? Such a privilege must be earned, in the Psalmist’s view, and it is no surprise that, pared down to the essentials, we get another lesson in loving our 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
Sometimes it is hard to decipher Paul’s dense prose. It may help to think of his letters in their original intent: Pastoral advice given to members of a congregation, offering them theological reflection and practical advice. Try thinking about today’s letter this way: First, Paul became a servant of the gospel … a servant of the church. As a servant, he sounds a lot like Martha in today’s Gospel. But he also calls us to reconcile ourselves to Christ and proclaim Christ’s supremacy, which might make us think of Mary.

Gospel: Luke 10:38-42
In last week’s reading from Luke, we heard the Good Samaritan story and reflected on who our neighbor really is. Today, the familiar story of Mary and Martha invites us to dig deeper into this central question of our faith. Who is the good neighbor here? Martha gets busy, cleaning the house, making dinner, making sure that everything is just right for Jesus’s visit. Mary doesn’t do a lick of work. But who spends time with Jesus, learning from him and loving him and being with him? Martha’s work is important, but is she really taking time for Jesus? Perhaps they are both practicing hospitality, each in her own way.

Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for Sunday, July 14, 2013.

First Reading: Amos 7:7-17
Amos is a cranky prophet, speaking of gloom and destruction, foretelling an angry God who threatens to lay waste to the Israel 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.

Psalm: Psalm 82
Love God and love our neighbor. This great commandment resonates through both testaments. It leaves no doubt that this duty to our neighbor gives priority 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 taught in the parable of the Samaritan, so are we called to love our neighbors – all of our neighbors – as we love God.

Second Reading: Colossians 1:1-14
The flowery opening verses of Paul’s letters, bible scholars say, are simply “epistolary prose,” ancient introductory verbiage akin to, “To whom it may concern.” Read closely, though, Paul is greeting the Colossians with hopeful, prayerful words: He prays for them constantly. He is glad that their new faith is bearing fruit. He prays that they will 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
Who doesn’t love the old favorite bible stories? The Parable of the Good Samaritan is so familiar, so reassuring, that it makes us happy to hear it again, with its twist at the end: The victim’s compatriots didn’t do so well, while the fellow we thought would be the bad guy turns out to be the good one. Take note, though, that this story does not come out of nowhere. It is Jesus’s answer to the question, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus, like the prophet Amos and the Psalmist, tells us, “Everyone is your neighbor. Even your enemy. Not just the friend who looks and thinks and acts like you.”

Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for Sunday, July 7, 2013.

First Reading: 2 Kings 5:1-14
Abraham, the patriarch of the Israelites, was born in Aram; but by the time of the Kings, Aram and Israel were enemies, so the powerful Aramean general Naaman can’t have been excited about his servant’s advice that he go to Israel for a cure for his leprosy. But leprosy was then a terrible and disfiguring disease. It rendered the sufferer unclean, cutting him off from his community. So Naaman went, only to have Elisha add insult to injury by sending out a mere servant out with a ridiculous sounding prescription. Fortunately for Naaman, his servants came to the rescue again, calming his rage at Elisha’s disrespect. It can’t hurt to try, they advised … and behold, Naaman was cured.

Psalm: Psalm 30
What an appropriate Psalm to follow Naaman’s healing! It thanks God for healing a grave illness. Then it celebrates 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.

Second Reading: Galatians 6:(1-6), 7-16
We now reach the end of a six-week tour through Galatians, in which Paul has declared Christ’s message is universal for all humankind – Jew and Gentile, man and woman, slave and free – standing up against evangelical opponents who fought for a more exclusive way. Paul’s message clearly repeats Jesus’s message: “Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ.” In other words, love your neighbor as yourself.

Gospel: Luke 10:1-11, 16-20
In last week’s Gospel, Jesus “set his face to go to Jerusalem,” telling his disciples in no uncertain terms not to tarry, Now Jesus organizes an advance team of 70 to tell the local villagers that the Kingdom of God is near. Just as the Seventy were called to do then, so we are called today, to act as Christ’s body on earth and proclaim without shame that Jesus brings good news to the poor, release to captives, sight to the blind and freedom for the oppressed.

Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for Sunday, June 30, 2013.

First Reading: 2 Kings 2:1-2,6-14
Bible trivia question: Besides Jesus, who got into heaven still wearing an earthly body? Today’s reading tells us the prophet Elijah was taken up in a chariot of fire; and the Apocrypha say the prophet Enoch was “taken up,” too. In the Transfiguration we see Moses joining Elijah in a shining body with Jesus; and modern Catholic doctrine holds that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was “assumed” bodily into heaven. While we’re reading this passage, think about the challenge of Elisha taking over the prophet’s job when his predecessor, Elijah, moves on. This may offer food for thought in church communities about to change or recently having changed rectors, saying farewell to the old and preparing to greet the new.

Psalm: Psalm 77
We have had a lot of noisy thunderstorms and pounding rains lately. It is easy to imagine the Psalmist’s thoughts as he wrote about clouds pouring out water, thunder crashing, the earth shaking, and God’s lightning arrows lighting up the world! Troubled, worried by night, seeking comfort for his soul but finding none, the Psalmist imagines God’s power in the storm and remembers how God gently led God’s flock.

Second Reading: Galatians 5:1,13-25
Paul’s letter to the Galatians continues, as he hammers home the point that God’s covenant with Israel now extends through Christ to Jew and Gentile alike. The law of that covenant, he reminds us, is to love our neighbors as ourselves, not to “bite and devour” one another.” The Spirit joins us with our neighbors in “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”

Gospel: Luke 9:51-62
These verses from Luke show us a side of Jesus that we might not like to see. Come, follow him, with such urgency that you must leave your dead father un-buried? Rush off without bidding your family farewell? This is certainly a demanding call! What’s going on? Take another look at the first verse we read today: “… he set his face to go to Jerusalem.” Jesus’s final journey has begun, and everything now focuses on his coming death and resurrection. Nothing else, not even family, can take priority.

Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for Sunday, June 23, 2013.

First Reading: 1 Kings 19:1-15
The prophet Elijah foretold destruction and exile in a time when the Kingdom of Israel was falling apart. A bold man in violent times, he fought the priests of Baal and spoke truth to King Ahab and his wife, Jezebel. In acts that might make us think of Jesus, he made a poor widow’s food last for months; restored her son to life, and finally went up to heaven in a fiery chariot. But now Elijah is worn down and afraid. Fighting despair, he hides under a broom tree and begs God to take his life. But God has other plans, and sends winds, an earthquake and fire to get Elijah back to God’s work.

Psalm: Psalm 42
The beautiful, lyrical language that opens today’s Psalm softens the deep sorrow and lamentation that fill its verses. “Why is my soul cast down? Why has God forgotten me? Where is God?” Elijah might have asked these questions when he cried beneath the broom tree. But finally, for the Psalmist as for Elijah, there is hope in God.

Second Reading: Galatians 3:23-29
Paul’s letter to the people of Galatia continues this week, reminding us in ringing words that we are all equals in Jesus: As it was then, so it is now: There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of us are one in Jesus.

Gospel: Luke 8:26-39
This may be the strangest of all the Gospel stories about Jesus healing. Jesus meets a loud, scary man, naked and in chains, and he sends the demons that possess him into a herd of pigs, who rush into the Sea of Galilee and drown! What were Jesus and the apostles doing in a graveyard in the first place, which would have made them unclean under Jewish law? Why did the demons talk to Jesus, and why did he answer them!? Why did the whole thing scare the neighbors so much that they asked Jesus to leave town? And when the healed man wanted to follow Jesus, why did Jesus tell him no, go back to your people and tell them what God has done? This story shows us Jesus’s power, but it leaves us wondering. So many questions!