Pentecost 7C

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for July 28, 2019

First Reading (Track One): Hosea 1:2-10

In Sunday’s Gospel we will hear Jesus teaching the apostles to pray, as he gives them Luke’s version of the familiar Lord’s Prayer, then goes on to tell them a thing or two about prayer and how it works.

Jesus teaches the apostles how to pray.

Jesus teaches the apostles how to pray. (The banner they are holding contains the first words of the Lord’s Prayer in Latin. Medieval biblical illumination. (Click image to enlarge.)

First, though, in Sunday’s Track One first reading, we hear a passage from the prophet Hosea that sounds even more grim and angry than the language we’ve heard from the prophet Amos in the past two weeks. Hosea uses a strange metaphor: God orders him to marry and have a child with a prostitute, as a way to warn Israel that it faces destruction as punishment for having forsaken God’s ways. The last verse, though, offers hope for the future, promising that the children of Israel, as numerous as the sand of the sea, will be children of the living God.

First Reading (Track Two): Genesis 18:20-32

Last week in our Track Two first reading we heard about Abraham meeting God with three strangers in the desert and learning that he and his wife, Sarah, will have offspring as plentiful as the stars. Now Abraham has apparently become comfortable in his relationship with God. He bargains and argues with the Creator in hope of saving Sodom from violent destruction. Why did Sodom deserve this? God’s wrath with the Sodomites did not have to do with sexual sin, as you might assume, but with their selfish failure to be righteous. As the Prophet Ezekiel will later declare, “Sodom 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.

Psalm: (Track One): Psalm 85

Echoing Hosea’s description of an angry God, Sunday’s Psalm sings out the grateful relief of a thankful people. They had feared that they deserved God’s fury and wrathful indignation. But now they look forward to the mercy and salvation that they hope to receive from a God who remains faithful regardless of their sins. When we listen to God, the Psalmist sings, we hear mercy meeting truth while righteousness and peace join in a kiss.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 138

We often pray when we’re in need. In time of trouble and fear, we cry out in our helplessness and beg God to come to our aid. But how often do we remember to thank God? Whether we are thankful for a specific blessing, or grateful for our blessings in general, we say thanks. As our mothers taught us, saying “thanks” is the right thing to do. The Psalmist reminds us that God responds when we call. God loves us and is faithful to us. God’s right hand will save us; God’s steadfast love endures.

Second Reading: Colossians 2:6-15 (16-19)

The author of the letter to the Colossians, thought to be a later follower writing in Paul’s name, reminds us to be thankful for the faith and blessings we have received through Christ. This letter to the people of Colossae, a Greek community of new Christians who may have been wrestling with the pagan beliefs of their culture, warns of false teachings. “Festivals, new moons or sabbaths,” the author points out, are only a shadow of what is to come through Christ.

Gospel: Luke 11:1-13

When Jesus teaches us to pray, he calls us to be righteous, just as the ancient prophets demanded of Israel: Honor God’s name, share our food, forgive our debts, do to others as we would have them do to us. Do these things and we help build God’s kingdom, not only in Heaven but right here on Earth. After having given the Apostles this prayer, he didn’t stop there, but went on in the following verses to talk about prayer in language rich in metaphor. How do we read his words about a persistently demanding friend who won’t give up asking his neighbor for bread at midnight until the neighbor gives in? Perhaps this underscores the importance of sharing our bread and loving our neighbors no matter what the circumstances. Just as God opens the door when we knock, so should we do the same for our neighbor.

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 6C

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for July 21, 2019

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

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

Christ in the House of Mary and Martha

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

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

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

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

Psalm: (Track One): Psalm 52

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

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 15

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

Second Reading: Colossians 1:15-28

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

Gospel: Luke 10:38-42

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

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

Pentecost 5C

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for July 14, 2019

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

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

The Good Samaritan

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

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

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

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

Psalm: (Track One): Psalm 82

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

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

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

Second Reading: Colossians 1:1-14

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

Gospel: Luke 10:25-37

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

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

Pentecost 4C

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for July 7, 2019

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

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

The Synaxis of the Seventy Apostles

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

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

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

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

Psalm: (Track One): Psalm 30

What an appropriate Psalm to follow Naaman’s healing! This hymn of thanksgiving sings out gratitude to God for recovery from a grave illness. Then it celebrates the gifts of God that may bring even more joy: ending the sadness and depression that so often accompanies illness … turning the weeping of those long dark hours of night into the celebration that comes at dawn … and turning the mourning of sickness into the dancing of health.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pentecost 3C

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for June 30, 2019

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

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

The Lord Commands the Prophet Elijah

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

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

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

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

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

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

Psalm: (Track Two): Psalm 16

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

Second Reading: Galatians 5:1,13-25

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

Gospel: Luke 9:51-62

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

Pentecost C

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for June 9, 2019

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

Come, Holy Spirit! It is Pentecost, and we hear the breath of the Holy Spirit – the Advocate that Jesus had promised that God would send to the apostles in his name – through all our readings.

Pentecôte

Pentecôte (1732), painting by Jean Restout II (1692-1768), Musée du Louvre, Paris. (Click image to enlarge.)

In Sunday’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles, the disciples are gathered for Shavuot, the Jewish Feast of Weeks (Pentecost in Greek), which celebrates the gift of knowledge through Torah. While they are gathered, the Spirit comes down to them in a mighty wind and tongues of fire, bringing them the gift of many tongues. The Spirit sends the apostles out to share the good news of Jesus Christ with all the people of the earth.

Alternate First Reading: Genesis 11:1-9

The story of the Tower of Babel is another of the ancestral legends in Genesis that children and adults alike enjoy hearing re-told. It follows immediately after the stories of Noah and his family, and it clearly hadn’t taken long for humanity to get into trouble again. Now they are building a huge city and a mighty tower that can reach the heavens, a development that troubles their creator. A careful reading shows us that God wasn’t angry that they tried to reach heaven, but rather worried that – echoing Adam and Eve’s desire to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil – they would learn too much and become too wise. By causing this prideful people to speak different languages that others could not understand, God encouraged them to scatter out and fill the earth.

Psalm: Psalm 104:25-35

This lovely hymn of praise begins with images that must surely bring pleasure in anyone who loves ships, the sea and the whales who do indeed seem to “sport” in it as they leap and spout under God’s blue skies and brilliant sunlight. And then, over the waters, we see the breath of God that brings us life, just as in the first moments of creation when God’s spirit-breath blew over the waters like a mighty wind separating land from sea, night from day.

Second Reading: Romans 8:14-17

In this short passage from his letter to the early church in Rome, Paul quickly sketches an idea that the early church would work out as Trinity over the centuries that followed. God the Creator inspires us – literally, breathes belief into us – through the Holy Spirit. This redeems us from the slavery of fear, making us adopted children of God, sharing our heritage with Jesus, the son of God, with whom we suffer and through whom we are glorified.

Gospel: John 14:8-17, 25-27

If the closing verses of Sunday’s Gospel seem familiar, they should: We heard those same lines just three weeks ago, when Jesus assured the apostles that God would send the Advocate – the Holy Spirit – in Jesus’ name, to guide them and remind them of all that Jesus taught. Now we go back and hear the words that led up to that promise: Jesus assures the apostles that Jesus dwells in God and God in Jesus. “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father,” he says. God has done God’s works through Jesus, showing us the face of the Father in the acts of the Son. Now, through the power of the Spirit, we are reminded of all that Jesus taught.

Christ the King B

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Nov. 25, 2018

Ecce Homo (Behold the Man), Christ before Pilate

Ecce Homo (Behold the Man), Christ before Pilate (c. 1860-c. 1880), oil painting by Antonio Ciseri (1821-1891). Museo Cantonale d’Arte, Lugano, Switzerland. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading (Track One): 2 Samuel 23:1-7

We conclude the long string of Sundays after Pentecost with the feast of Christ the King – sometimes called the less patriarchal “Reign of Christ” – with a poetic passage called “The Last Words of David.” This hymn of praise, likely written in David’s memory long after his death, declares David as God’s favorite, a just ruler, the one through whom the God of Israel speaks. God has made an everlasting covenant with David, one that will bring prosperity to his reign and success to all his descendants.

First Reading (Track Two): Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14

It might seem awkward for Americans, who tossed out the British king in 1776 in favor of a Republic governed by its people, to declare God a traditional monarch and Jesus a warrior king. But Christ as King or Lord stands in opposition to earthly kings. In contrast with the emperor of Rome, Christ was a new, different kind of king, bringing a new and just kind of kingdom where all receive their daily bread. Our first reading from Daniel imagines an Ancient One, a mighty God of flame, coming in clouds on a fiery throne, an all-powerful God giving dominion over all peoples, nations, and languages.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 132:1-13 (14-19)

Sunday’s Psalm continues in the spirit of this week’s first reading about David and God’s covenant to bless and bring prosperity to him and to his descendants. Remembering the hardships that David endured in keeping his oath to God, the Psalmist vows not to rest until Israel builds a temple on Mount Zion, a dwelling place on earth where God can rest. If Israel’s children keep the covenant that their kingly ancestor made with God, then Israel will sit on David’s throne forever.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 93

God is king! God is majestic! God is powerful! How this mighty hymn must have thundered through the ancient temple, celebrating the power and the kingship of God in metaphors of sound and fury: Roaring floods and massive ocean waves thundering, calling out the glory of God our king. Unlike earthly kings, the Psalmist sings, God’s world is certain, immovable and mighty. God’s kingdom will endure, sure and holy, for ever and evermore.

Second Reading: Revelation 1:4b-8

This greeting from the first page of Revelation gives away the simple secret of this mysterious book: It is not a strange and frightening prediction of the End Times, nor does it conceal coded information about our times, or any other time or place. It was a subversive sermon for persecuted Christians in Asia Minor, carrying this simple message: God our King, who was with us at the beginning and will be with us at the end, loves us and frees us from our sins through Christ. In words that echo the Daniel reading, we hear that Jesus our Savior, God, ruler of all the kings of the earth, will come back with the clouds to deliver justice.

Gospel: John 18:33-37

Finally, in John’s Gospel, Jesus makes his kingship clear as he stands before Pilate. Or does he? Accused of declaring himself king of the Jews, an act of treason against the powerful Roman Empire, Jesus answers, clearly and firmly, “My kingdom is not of this world.” Pilate remains puzzled. Jesus stakes his claim to a kingdom and claims his kingship, but it’s “not from here,” adding that he came into the world to testify to the truth. Is he a king? “You say so,” Jesus replies to Pilate. But when and how will this kingdom come? Will it come in the future with trumpet blasts and fire and brimstone? Or do we build it every day when we act as Christ’s hands in the world?

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 26B

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Nov. 18, 2018

Michelangelo's Last Judgement

The Last Judgment (1487-1564), fresco by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564). Sistine Chapel, Vatican City. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading (Track One): 1 Samuel 1:4-20

At the beginning of the season after Pentecost this year, we heard several readings about the Prophet Samuel, who followed God’s commands to find the young shepherd David, who would become Israel’s king. Now, as the Pentecost season nears its end, we step back in time to hear the story of Hannah, who is anguished and suffers verbal abuse because she can’t bear a child. She opens her heart in prayer, and finds that God is with us in times of trouble and pain. Her prayers are answered. She finds joy, and later gives birth to Samuel, who will become the last of the great judges who governed Israel before the time of its kings.

First Reading (Track Two): Daniel 12:1-3

The long season of Sundays after Pentecost season is nearing its end for this year. Advent will begin in two weeks, and with it a new lectionary year, as we prepare to celebrate Jesus’ birth on Christmas Day. Sunday’s readings foreshadow a central theme of Advent: our hope of resurrection and new life. Daniel is one of the last books written in the Old Testament. It reflects Israel’s falling under Greek rule some two hundred years before Christ, a period that’s also remembered in the Jewish Hanukkah feast. Sunday’s reading begins with an apocalyptic vision – similar in style to the book of Revelation – that prophecies Israel’s ultimate triumph with the help of the Archangel Michael. It also introduces the idea of bodily resurrection of the dead, the first time that this concept is raised in the Old Testament.

Alternative to the Psalm (Track One): 1 Samuel 2:1-10

In place of a Psalm we sing the prayer of Hannah, mother of the newborn Samuel, who celebrates her joy at the birth of her child. Listen closely to these words of hope and strength and hear how they foreshadow the Magnificat, the song that Mary will sing about God’s gift in Jesus. Both Hannah and Mary sing out praise of God who lifts up the lowly and the poor while casting down the rich and powerful. Mary, however, bearing the child who will become the Prince of Peace, will not repeat the words of vengeance, battle, and judgment of enemies that we hear in Hannah’s song.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 16

Just as the reading from Daniel promises a heavenly reward to those who remain faithful, the Psalmist reassures the people that God will not abandon those who always follow God. A different fate awaits the unfaithful, those who follow other gods: They may see their troubles multiplied, and God will not so much as speak the names of their gods. But God will never abandon those who remain faithful. The hearts of the faithful will be glad and their spirits will rejoice.

Second Reading: Hebrews 10:11-14 (15-18) 19-25

We reach the end of our seven-week journey through the letter to the Hebrews. Two chapters remain in the full letter, but this passage concludes its extended narrative about Jesus as the great high priest who offered for all times a single sacrifice superior to those of the old priests in the Temple of Jerusalem. In line with Sunday’s other readings, this passage calls on its readers to hold fast without wavering, provoking each another to love and good deeds, encouraging one another all the more as they see the Day approaching.

Gospel: Mark 13:1-8

Jesus’s words about wars, earthquakes and famines in Sunday’s Gospel give us a taste of the apocalyptic prophecies that will draw our attention through Advent. These verses follow immediately after last week’s account of Jesus watching the poor woman giving her last two coins to the Temple treasury. Jesus, still angered by the hypocrisy of the scribes, utters his own version of an apocalypse, declaring that the Temple will be destroyed, thrown down, not one stone left upon another. As Mark’s Gospel now turns toward the cross, these words will soon be held against Jesus before the Temple’s high priest. As we prepare to celebrate Christ’s incarnation, we remember his death and resurrection.

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 25B

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

Le denier de la veuve (The Widow's Mite).

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
.

All Saints B

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Nov. 4, 2018

The Raising of Lazarus

The Raising of Lazarus (1304-1306), fresco by Giotto di Bondone (c.1266-1337). Cappella degli Scrovegni nell’Arena, Padua, Italy. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading: Wisdom of Solomon 3:1-9

We are an Easter people. All of us go down to the dust; yet even at the grave we make our song: Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia. On All Saints Day, as when we bury our dead, we dress the altar not in the black of mourning but the white of hope and joy. We remember that we are dust, and to dust we shall return; yet we celebrate the communion of saints, the living and the dead, all bound together in Christ. These ideas all come together in Sunday’s readings, beginning with Wisdom’s promise that peace, love and joy with God await God’s faithful people.

First Reading (Alternate): Isaiah 25:6-9

On All Saints Day we dress our altar not in the black of mourning but the white of hope and joy. We remember that we are dust, and to dust we shall return. On this day we celebrate the communion of all the saints, the living and the dead, all bound together in Christ. These ideas are all knit together in today’s readings, beginning with the Prophet Isaiah’s vision of a banquet table that will welcome all the people of all the nations, a delicious feast of rich food and aged, clear wines for a people united at last in a kingdom where where sorrow and pain are no more, neither sighing, but life everlasting. It is no coincidence that these verses are also often chosen for our burial liturgy.

Psalm: Psalm 24

Today’s psalm, like both alternative first readings, celebrates the rewards for those who live as God would have us live. Originally it was an ancient liturgy, a responsive chant sung by priests and people as they approached the Temple for worship. The priest calls out, “Who can stand in his holy place?” The crowd roars back, “Those who have clean hands and pure hearts!” The priest responds, “Who is the king of glory?” “The Lord of hosts,” the crowd shouts back with joy.

Second Reading: Revelation 21:1-6a

Our second reading is also frequently heard at funerals, as one of the readings used in the liturgy for celebration of a life. Continuing the All Saints Day theme of a glorious life after death for those who love God, it describes a holy city coming down out of heaven, a new Jerusalem that stands in stark contrast to the dark and demonic earthly city of Rome, portrayed in Revelation as Babylon. We hear that death and pain will be no more in the heavenly city, for God will be with us every day, wiping the tears from our eyes.

Gospel: John 11:32-44

Lazarus has died, and Jesus weeps. Jesus knew his friend was dead, so he took his time getting to Bethany, which angered Lazarus’s sisters, Mary and Martha. Maybe he could have done something, if only he had hurried. So often death in the family brings not only sadness but anger and rage. And then, whispering a quiet prayer to God, Jesus calls out and Lazarus answers. Jesus says “No” to the death of Lazarus, just as God will say “No” to death for Jesus and for us all on Easter Day. Death does not have the last word.

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
.