Pentecost 4A

Posted on June 22, 2020 by Robin Garr

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for June 28, 2020

First Reading (Track One): Genesis 22:1-14 

We reflect on sacrifices as small as the gift of water to a child and as serious as the death of a child in Sunday’s Track One readings.

Sacrifice of Isaac (c.1603), oil painting on canvas by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610). Uffizi Museum, Florence, Italy. (Click image to enlarge.)

Having sent his son, Ishmael, into the desert with his mother to die, as we heard in last Sunday’s reading, Abraham now receives an even more shocking command: God tells him to slay his beloved son Isaac as a sacrifice. What in Heaven’s name is going on here? Perhaps the easy answer is to recognize that these are these are ancient legends, difficult for us to understand in our own context, and not intended to be taken literally even in their original setting. For the ancients, perhaps this narrative showed that God does not desire human sacrifice. It reveals a compassionate God who, having subjected Abraham to a harsh test, then ultimately says “no” to death.

First Reading (Track One): Jeremiah 28:5-9 

To understand this Track Two first reading, it is helpful to have the context of the verses just preceding it. Jeremiah had warned the priests and people of Israel in exile that their sojourn in Babylon had a long way to go, and that any prophets who told them otherwise were liars. Then the young prophet Hananiah stood up and challenged Jeremiah, prophesying that God had in fact broken the yoke of the Babylonian king and would bring all the exiles home within two years. Now in this short passage, Jeremiah responds. He agrees that God will indeed end the exile some day, but that will happen only when peace prevails and war, pestilence and famine come to an end.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 13

At first glance, this Psalm might not seem the best choice to read to someone who is grieving or afraid. The Psalmist speaks from the depths of fear and loss, suffering deep pain. Has God’s face turned away, leaving him alone and defenseless? But even in this dark place, hope remains; for God’s love is steadfast and abiding. God has been just and fair, and the Psalmist trusts that God will remain so.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 89:1-4,15-18

These two excerpts taken from a longer Psalm celebrate God’s covenant with King David, a royal lineage that God established to last forever as a sign of God’s righteousness and never-ending rule. Those who walk in God’s way and rejoice in the divine name will be full of joy, knowing that God is their ruler, the Psalmist sings: The Holy One of Israel is everlasting king.

Second Reading: Romans 6:12-23 

Paul uses the idea of slavery to make his point in Sunday’s passage from his letter to the Romans: Through Christian baptism we have been spared from the slavery of sin, freeing us to joyously embrace a better kind of slavery, the “enslavement” of willing submission to God through Christ. In this way, Paul writes, we receive the free gift of grace that brings eternal life.

Gospel: Matthew 10:40-42 

This is the third and final Sunday Gospel passage from Matthew’s account of Jesus teaching his recently commissioned apostles. In the first two readings we heard him warn about the challenges of discipleship. Now Jesus tells them about the rewards of following his way. Immediately following his troubling warning that those who follow him must leave friends and family behind, Jesus now echoes the Psalmist’s promise that God will be just and fair. Jesus promises that those who practice justice in his name – even in such small ways as offering water to a child – will receive God’s justice.

Pentecost 3A

Posted on June 15, 2020 by Robin Garr

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for June 21, 2020

First Reading (Track One): Genesis 21:8-21 

Sometimes we turn to scripture for reassurance, looking for readings that bring us comfort and joy. Sunday’s readings are different: They challenge us, jolt our assumptions, and at the end, make us think about how our spirituality works.

Hagar in the Desert, oil painting on canvas by Giambattista Pittoni (1687-1767). Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, Venice. (Click image to enlarge.)

The Track One first reading offers a particularly troubling story about Abraham, the patriarch of the chosen people. Abraham followed God’s commands with exemplary faithfulness, yet here we see him doing something disturbing as he sends his slave, Hagar, and their son, Ishmael, out into the desert to die. Happily, God intervenes, saving Ishmael and promising them a bountiful future parallel to that of Abraham and Sarah’s son, Isaac. (Indeed, while Jews and Christians recognize Abraham as our patriarch through Isaac, the world’s Muslims trace their Abrahamic line through Ishmael.)

First Reading (Track Two): Jeremiah 20:7-13 

In Sunday’s Track Two first reading, we find the prophet Jeremiah angry and upset. God has called him to prophesy to the people that their failure to be righteous and just will bring destruction upon them, but they will not listen. Worse, they laugh and deride him when he shouts about their impending peril. Anger builds up in his bones like a burning fire, and he cannot hold it in. Even his close friends wait for him to stumble. But Jeremiah knows that it is his persecutors who will stumble, for God is with him like a warrior at his side.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 86:1-10, 16-17

Like Hagar with Ishmael in the desert, the Psalmist in Sunday’s Track One psalm suffers in misery. He suffers in distress despite his faith and trust in God. Recognizing that God is a God like no other, the God of all nations, who loves us even when we aren’t happy, he cries out his prayer, trusting in a good and forgiving God to answer him and make his heart glad.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 69: 8-11, (12-17), 18-20

The tone of lamentation in Sunday’s Track Two psalm rings in harmony with Jeremiah in the first reading. Like Jeremiah, the Psalmist spoke for God only to become the subject of scorn and reproach from his own friends and family. Even drunkards at loiterers at the city gate made up mocking songs about him! The Psalmist begs God to save him from their hatred, to turn to him in compassion and rescue him from his enemies.

Second Reading: Romans 6:1b-11 

Everything in our lives changes in Baptism. This reassuring theme runs like a thread through Paul’s letter to the Romans. Baptism unites us with Christ so that we share in his death and resurrection, Paul writes. In Baptism we symbolically die to our old life that was enslaved by sin, and through God’s abounding grace become alive to new life through Jesus.

Gospel: Matthew 10:24-39 

How can we read a difficult Gospel passage like this? We love to imagine Jesus as the Prince of Peace, but now we hear that he did not come to bring peace but a sword, to set family members against each other, and to call us to leave our families behind when we follow him. These disturbing verses, continuing Jesus’ stern instructions to the apostles in last Sunday’s Gospel, may reflect the difficult times when the evangelist we know as Matthew was writing his Gospel. The Roman Empire had crushed a Jewish rebellion, leaving Jerusalem shattered and the Temple in ruins. Jewish Christians were breaking away from Rabbinic Judaism amid angry rivalry over Jesus’ status as Messiah. Under those circumstances, it would have been not only hard but dangerous to follow Jesus’ Way. From those times to ours today, Jesus calls us to give, not to take.

Pentecost 2A

Posted on June 8, 2020 by Robin Garr

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for June 14, 2020

First Reading (Track One): Genesis 18:1-15,(21:1-7) 

The long season after Pentecost with its green vestments and liturgical colors now begins. From now until Advent starts in November, our Sunday readings will take us through the life of Jesus in the Gospel according to Matthew.

The Angel Appears to Sarah (1726-28), fresco by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696-1770). Museum Palazzo Patriarcale, Udine, Italy. (Click image to enlarge.)

The Lectionary offers a choice of two separate tracks of First Readings and Psalms during this season. Churches that follow Track One will hear the Hebrew Bible’s narrative of God’s chosen people, from the patriarch Abraham through Isaac, Esau and Jacob, Joseph, Moses and Joshua. Sunday’s first reading begins that story as Abraham welcomes and offers hospitality to three mysterious strangers, who foretell that he and Sarah will have a son and that their offspring will inherit the Promised Land. Sarah finds this hilarious because of their great age, but God’s promise is fulfilled in their son, Isaac.

First Reading (Track Two): Exodus 19:2-8a 

This Sunday we start the season after Pentecost, featuring the green liturgical colors that will continue until Advent begins at the end of November. During this time churches may choose to follow either of two Lectionary tracks, each with its own First Readings and Psalms. In Track Two, the Hebrew Bible readings usually show some relationship with the week’s Gospel in theme or theological point. This Sunday, for example, we see Moses bringing God’s words to the elders of the people, asking and receiving their agreement to be in lasting covenant with God. Listen for a distant kinship in Sunday’s Gospel, as Jesus gathers his 12 disciples, sending them out to heal the sick, raise the dead, and proclaim the good news.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 116:1, 10-17

This Track One Psalm comes again after only a short break, as we heard it on the Third Sunday of Easter just about two months ago. In the verses designated for this reading, we sing of the transforming joy that comes with recovery and resurrection after a frightening illness. In the joy of restored life, the Psalmist offers thanks to God who frees us from the snares of death.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 100

This joyful hymn is familiar to many Episcopalians as the Jubilate, one of the readings that the Book of Common Prayer offers us for use in the “Invitatory and Psalter” near the beginning of Morning Prayer of the service. It draws its joyous theme from the truth that Moses gave to the elders: We are God’s creation, God’s own people, and – using the metaphor that we know and love in Psalm 23 – the sheep of God’s pasture.

Second Reading: Romans 5:1-8 

Our second readings for the next three months will be excerpted from Paul’s letter to the Romans, in which we hear him beautifully working out his evolving theology of Christ, the Spirit and salvation. Paul writes to a community that he had not yet met, at a time when Rome’s Jewish Christians were returning from exile, while the city’s formerly pagan Christians had faced persecution at home. In a theme that recurs, Paul encourages all the Christians of Rome, regardless of their heritage, to love one another other and heal their differences in spite of their own suffering. Reminding them that Jesus was tortured and died on the cross, he urges them to learn endurance in their own pain, remembering that even though they are sinners, they are justified through faith and saved through the cross.

Gospel: Matthew 9:35-10:8(9-23) 

After having spent much of Lent and all of Eastertide hearing readings from John’s Gospel, we now return to Matthew for the rest of the Lectionary year. Earlier in the year we heard portions of the Sermon on the Mount. Now we find Jesus, who had been teaching and healing on his own, selecting 12 apostles to help. He gives them power to heal and exorcise and even raise the dead, then charges them to go out to the “lost sheep of the house of Israel” to proclaim the good news that the kingdom of heaven has come near. His rules for them are strict: Accept no pay. Take only the most basic possessions along. Don’t stay with those who don’t welcome you. Be prepared for persecution and hate, but know that the Son of Man is coming soon.

Trinity Sunday A

Posted on June 1, 2020 by Robin Garr

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for June 7, 2020

First Reading: Genesis 1:1-2:4a 

As our readings move from Eastertide to Pentecost, we have celebrated Christ’s ascension into heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father, then seen the Holy Spirit coming in wind and fire.

The Garden of Eden (1530), oil painting on poplar wood by Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553). Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden, Germany. (Click image to enlarge.)

Now as Trinity Sunday marks the start of the six-month-long season after Pentecost, we reflect on Creator, Son and Holy Spirit in their mysterious dance, three persons in one triune God, the Holy Trinity. Sunday’s readings begin where Scripture begins as our first reading presents the first of the two creation stories that open the book of Genesis. We need not take the Genesis story literally to appreciate its beautiful poetry as it portrays a monotheistic God – Creator, Word and Spirit wind moving over the waters – as a loving creative force at work in the world.

Psalm: Psalm 8

This Psalm of praise beautifully knits together the ideas that call for our attention on Trinity Sunday. In it we give praise and thanksgiving for God’s earthly creation. We remember that we hold dominion over creation. We accept that this duty demands that we preserve and protect “the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea.” And finally we worship the majesty of God, our Creator who made it all.

Alternate Psalm: Canticle 13

As an optional alternative to Psalm 8 on Trinity Sunday we may sing Canticle 13 from the Book of Common Prayer, a portion from the Song of Praise from the Apocryphal Prayer to Azariah. Also known as the Song of the Three Young Men who danced and sang in defiance of the flames in King Nebuchadnezzar’s fiery furnace, these verses, added as a supplement to the song in modern times, offer resounding praise and exaltation to God as Creator, Son and Holy Spirit.

Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 13:11-13 

You won’t find many explicit references to the Holy Trinity in the New Testament, as it took the early church nearly 300 years to fully work out the Trinitarian theology expressed in the Nicene Creed. But we hear foreshadowings of this idea in this reading and the Gospel. In Paul’s loving farewell at the end of his second letter to the people of Corinth, he urges this often squabbling congregation to sort out their conflicts and love one another as God loves them, asking this in the “grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit.”

Gospel: Matthew 28:16-20 

Last week, Pentecost Sunday, we heard of the Holy Spirit coming to the disciples in wind and fire, inspiring them to go out to the world and tell the good news of the resurrection and eternal life. Now on Trinity Sunday we hear the final verses of Matthew’s gospel – his only account of the risen Christ. Jesus, in Matthew’s account, had told the women at the tomb to tell the eleven disciples to go on to Galilee, where he would meet them. Now they meet on a mountain. Some of them worship him, but others are doubtful. Then Jesus commands them to go and “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit,” a great commission to Christian evangelism.

Pentecost A

Posted on May 25, 2020 by Robin Garr

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for May 31, 2020

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

Pentecost has arrived, and all our readings speak in some way of God’s Spirit moving in the world.

Pentecost (1732), oil painting on canvas by Jean II Restout (169201768). The Louvre, Paris. (Click image to enlarge.)

In this reading we join the apostles as they gather to celebrate Shavuot, the Jewish spring harvest festival that falls seven weeks after Passover. The resurrected Christ had told them that they would soon be “baptized in the Holy Spirit,” receiving power to be his witnesses to the ends of the earth — and now the Spirit comes in a rush of wind and tongues of fire, inspiring the Apostles to declare the Good News in many languages. Then Peter steps up and tells the crowd that, as the Prophet Joel foretold, God’s Spirit will be poured out for all.

First Reading (alternate): Numbers 11:24-30

Seven weeks after Easter we celebrate Pentecost, the third major church holiday of the year. On Christmas we remembered the birth of Jesus. On Easter we recall Jesus’ death and resurrection. Pentecost completes the circle with God’s gift of the Holy Spirit, inspiring us to take the Gospel out to the world in Jesus’ name. This alternative first reading tells how God’s spirit empowered 70 of his elders. The spirit even came to two elders who weren’t present, an event that perturbed Joshua until Moses reassured him. Wherever God’s spirit moves through us, good things can happen.

Psalm: Psalm 104:25-35

This hymn of praise exults in all the works of God’s creation, including the charming idea that God may have made some creations, like Leviathan, the giant whale, “for the sport of it,” just for fun. Not only do we thank God for making the earth, its seas, and creatures both small and great, but also for nurturing them, ensuring that they are fed, and offering them protection. God’s Spirit goes out to continue creation and renew the earth, just as she breathed over the face of the waters on the day of creation.

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:3b-13

Paul’s beautiful first letter to the people of Corinth clearly spells out his theology of the Holy Spiri: Through the Spirit we all are all made one in baptism. Nationality, economic status, gender, slave or free, none of these things matter. Just as the body is made up of different parts that serve different functions, all of us bring our own special gifts as we work together, guided by the Spirit, for the good of all. We are all moved by the Spirit, each according to our own gifts, but all in one as members of the body of Christ.

Gospel: John 20:19-23

Think about what it must have been like for the disciples on the first Easter day. Grieving the crucifixion and death of their leader, Jesus, they surely felt both wild hope and fearful uncertainty when Mary Magdalene came running in shouting “I have seen the Lord!” She told them that the tomb was empty and she had met a man in white there. But how? Why? What does it all mean? They stay in the locked room as darkness falls, and suddenly Jesus is among them. He wishes them peace, shows them his wounds. Then he breathes on them, empowering them with the Holy Spirit who will take them out into the world.

Gospel (alternate): John 7:37-39

Pentecost is one of the feast days designated as especially appropriate for baptism. In fact, one of its traditional English names, “Whitsunday,” or “White Sunday,” refers to the white garments that those being baptized wore in ancient times. Whenever we welcome new members into Christ’s Body in the church, the celebrant blesses the water in the font, reminding us that “In it we are buried with Christ in his death. By it we share in his resurrection, and through it we are reborn by the Holy Spirit.” In this short alternative gospel, Jesus tells how rivers of living water will flow from the hearts of those who believe. Through the living water of baptism our hearts join in pouring out the good news of the Gospel.

Christ the King C

Posted on November 18, 2019 by Robin Garr

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Nov. 24, 2019

First Reading (both Lectionary tracks): Jeremiah 23:1-6

The Lectionary year of Luke comes to an end on Sunday, and Jesus’ long journey from Galilee to Jerusalem culminates with Christ on the cross.

Jesus Crucified Between Two Thieves (c.1430), painting on softwood by Hans von Tübingen (1380-1462). Österreichische Galerie Belvedere, Vienna. (Click image to enlarge.)

Hanging under a sign that sneeringly declares him “King of the Jews,” Jesus is flanked by two criminals and mocked by Roman soldiers. Before we reach this Gospel, though, we hear readings that envision the reign of God through King David and Christ as supreme Messiah. In our first reading, The prophet Jeremiah speaks fierce words of woe to the kings of Judah, whose poor leadership and moral guidance brought Jerusalem and its leaders into exile. A mighty Messiah, a stronger shepherd, will come and reign in glory for Israel and Judah, the prophet foretells.

Psalm (Track One): Canticle 16 (Luke 1:68-79)

Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, was a priest in the Temple whom God had struck mute for refusing to believe that his elderly wife, Elizabeth, had become pregnant after an angelic visitation. In this canticle (replacing the usual Psalm), we look on as his voice returns while he holds and names the infant John. The child, he declares, will be a prophet in the tradition of Abraham and Sarah, who also were blessed with a child through God’s action in their old age. The child, Zecheriah proclaims, will be the prophet who will go before Jesus, the Messiah and king, to declare his way.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 46

Even when terrible things happen, God is with us, promises this psalm of simple hope and praise. When terrible things happen, even when earthly kingdoms and nations are shaken by frightening events, when mountains rock and the oceans roar and foam, God remains with us. God doesn’t promise us a world where horrors can’t happen and no one ever suffers. But even in the worst of times, the Psalmist reminds us, God abides, inviting us to take refuge in God’s strength. Our Prayer for Quiet Confidence (BCP p.832), draws from Psalm 46 as it reminds us, “Be still, and know that I am God.”

Second Reading: Colossians 1:11-20

The author of the letter to the Colossians, too, speaks to a people facing trouble and fear, the persecuted Christian community of Colossae in what is now Western Turkey, across the Aegean from Greece. These verses urge the Colossians to endure their difficulties with patience and the strength that comes from God’s glorious power. Jesus, through his incarnation as God in human flesh, rescues us from the power of darkness and transfers us into the kingdom of Christ. Christ is the first of all creation and the head of the body of the church.

Gospel: Luke 23:33-43

It may seem surprising to hear a Gospel about Christ on the cross at this time of year. But this passage shows us Christ as a completely different kind of king! Jesus is crucified, a horrible form of execution reserved for Rome’s most despised evildoers. He hangs bleeding and in unimaginable pain, while above him is placed a sign meant to mock him by declaring him King of the Jews. Soldiers and a criminal on a nearby cross torment him as a Messiah who can’t save himself. Yet while all this is going on, Jesus shows his love and his true power, quietly inviting a repentant criminal on another cross into a different kind of kingdom, one given for all humanity and for all time.

Pentecost 23C

Posted on November 12, 2019 by Robin Garr

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Nov. 17, 2019

First Reading (Track One): Isaiah 65:17-25

We are approaching the end of the long sequence of Sundays after Pentecost. Next week brings the celebration of Christ the King as the last Sunday after Pentecost. Then we move into Advent and a new Lectionary year.

Zerstörung Jerusalems durch Titus (The Destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, 1846), oil painting on canvas by Wilhelm von Kaulbach (1805-1874). Neue Pinakothek, Munich. (Click image to enlarge.)

In Sunday’s Track One first reading, we read the concluding verses of the book of Isaiah. The people have endured the loss of Jerusalem and the temple, spent years in exile, and finally returned to the shattered city and must begin the arduous task of rebuilding. Now the prophet celebrates God’s plan for the new Jerusalem, a joy and a delight. It will be a city with no weeping, no distress … no death in childbirth, no pain … joyous lives of 100 years of youthful strength! And, at the end, it is a holy place of peace, where the lion and the lamb rest together and none shall hurt or destroy.

First Reading (Track Two): Malachi 4:1-2a

The short book of Malachi, the last of the twelve so-called minor prophets, falls at the very end of the Hebrew Bible. The verses in Sunday’s Track Two first reading begin its fourth and final chapter. Malachi, whose name in Hebrew means “Messenger,” speaks of a people newly returned from exile, warning that the great day of the Lord is coming. In language that may remind us of the apocalyptic tone of the day’s Luke passage, the prophet warns that God will separate evildoers from the righteous and destroy them. Those who revere God’s name, though, will have healing and joy, “leaping like calves from the stall.”

Alternate Psalm (Track One): Canticle 9 (Isaiah 12:2-6)

In place of a Track One Psalm on Sunday we will chant these verses from earlier in Isaiah, a passage that may be familiar as Canticle 9, “The First Song of Isaiah,” that we read in Morning Prayer. Hard times lie ahead for the people at this point as they face exile, but the prophet makes clear that God will remain with them. Even in threatening times, even when we feel frightened and vulnerable, God will be our stronghold and our sure defense.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 98

In harmony with the prophet Malachi’s vision of God as a righteous healer, Sunday’s Track Two Psalm envisions God as fair and just judge of the world and all its people. When God comes to judge the earth we will sing a new song, lift up our voices, and express our joy so abundantly that even the sea, the lands, the rivers and the hills will jump up and join the celebration. God’s righteousness will be known to all the nations.

Second Reading: 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13

“Anyone unwilling to work should not eat.” Too often we hear this harsh judgment echoed in modern times, shorn of its context. In its original sense, this letter – written in Paul’s name in a time of Roman persecution – insists that all the members of the church in Thessalonika get up and pull their fair weight in a battle against an immediate challenge. Slacking would have been unfair and corrosive to a group that lived in community. But in no way does this negate Christ’s call to give food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, or any of the other ways he calls us to show love to our neighbors.

Gospel: Luke 21:5-19

The evangelist we know as Luke wrote this scary forecast of war and destruction for a primarily Gentile audience some 70 years after the Crucifixion and 30 years after the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple. He is telling the searing story of an actual event, the fall of the Temple, framing it as a lesson taught by Jesus to his apostles during the week of his passion and death, just after a series of arguments with Pharisees and Sadducees. The story bears a truth as meaningful for us as for Christians in Luke’s own time of persecution: God is with us. Even when we’re betrayed, scorned, hated and hurt, “By our endurance we will gain our souls.”

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 22C

Posted on November 5, 2019 by Robin Garr

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Nov. 10, 2019

First Reading (Track One): Haggai 1:15b-2:9

Sunday’s readings remind us to place our hope and trust in God, even during hard times.

Christ and the Pharisees, painting by Ernst Karl Georg Zimmermann (1852-1901). (Click image to enlarge.)

In the Track One first reading, we hear the minor prophet Haggai (pronounced “Hah-guy”) date his prophecy specifically in the second year of the reign of King Darius the Great of Persia, some 500 years before Christ. Darius was a successor to King Cyrus, who had released the people from Babylonian exile and sent them back to Jerusalem about 20 years before. The restoration of the city and the Temple proved to be a big job that couldn’t be done quickly. But Haggai calls the people to hang on to their courage and faith in God: Zion’s wealth and grandeur will be rebuilt in splendor even greater than the first Temple.

First Reading (Track Two): Job 19:23-27a

Our Track Two first reading drops us into the middle of Job’s long talk with his friends, in which they try to figure out why so many bad things are happening to him, while he remains unpersuaded by their advice. Job shouts in frustration, wishing that his words could be written in a book or even engraved on a rock forever. In words that Handel would set to memorable music in The Messiah, Job declares, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at the last he will stand upon the earth.” Whatever happens to him, in the end, Job expects justice and equity when he stands before God, who will redeem him.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 145:1-5, 18-22

The 150 Psalms cover a broad range of hope, lament, petition and praise, a diverse anthology that seems appropriate for all the ways that God’s people approach the divine in worship and song. The last group of the Psalms, though, conclude the book with unalloyed praise. As we hear these Psalms, starting with this portion of Psalm 145, we can almost hear resounding chords and choruses as the people raise their voices in awe at God’s wonder. “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised!”

Alternative Psalm (Track One): Psalm 98

Psalm 98, available as an alternative to the Psalm 145 passage above for Sunday’s Track One readings, is a song of praise too, this one focused on our joy with God’s faithfulness to the people and the marvelous things that God has done. Singing to the Lord a new song – a phrase that we also chanted in the All Saints readings – the Psalmist calls on all creation to join the chorus: The sea and all that is in it, the rivers clap and the hills ring out with joy. God will judge the world with righteousness and its people with equity.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 17:1-9

Confident that he has done no wrong in the face of accusers, the Psalmist echoes the voice of Job as he calls on God to hear his plea of innocence. His prayer comes from lips that do not lie. Inviting God to weigh his heart and melt him down as an assayer judges gold, he is confident that God will be just. “Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me under the shadow of your wings,” he prays in the comforting words that we sing in Compline at day’s end.

Second Reading: 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17

This second letter to the Greek community in Thessalonika probably came a generation after the first, perhaps around 100 CE, and was surely written in Paul’s name by a later follower. Early Christians had expected that Christ would return very soon. But by this late date, many of them had died, and following generations were clearly hoping for some kind of reassurance, particularly since Christians faced Roman persecution. The author urges them not to be deceived by false teachings of a “lawless one” but to stand firm, remember the Good News, and hold fast to good works and words.

Gospel: Luke 20:27-38

Since our last reading from Luke’s Gospel, we have skipped over several major events, including Jesus’ tumultous arrival in Jerusalem to waving palms. Now we find him debating Torah with a group of Sadducees who try to trip him up: When a man who had seven wives dies and goes to heaven, which of the seven women will be his wife? It may seem that Jesus responds by declaring there is no marriage in heaven, but remember that in this and several other parables in this chapter, Jesus is pushing back against trick questions. Those who die are like angels and children of God, he says. In that context, earthly marriage doesn’t matter.

All Saints C

Posted on October 29, 2019 by Robin Garr

Thoughts on the Lessons for All Saints C, Nov. 1, 2019
(All Saints’ Day may also be celebrated on the Sunday following Nov. 1.)

First Reading: Daniel 7:1-3; 15-18

We remember all saints, known and unknown, on November 1, All Saints’ Day. As one of the seven principal feasts of the church year, its observance may be moved to the following Sunday.

The Sermon on the Mount (1598), oil painting on copper by Jan Brueghel the Elder (1568-1625). The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. (Click image to enlarge.)

The first reading from the book of Daniel, one of the last books in the Old Testament, resembles the style of Revelation. Its contemporaries would have recognized its then-popular genre as symbolic, not literal. In these verses, Daniel tells of a vivid dream about four alarming beasts that represent earthly kings, a terrifying vision that left his spirit troubled. But the nightmare ends with reassurance as we recall all who have died and gone to their eternal rest: God will win and reign forever.

Psalm: Psalm 149

Shouting out praise for God’s glory, we join the Psalmist in a new song with full hearts and voices, worshiping God so fully that the people physically embody their prayer in dance, music and song. We rejoice that God takes pleasure in us; we praise God who lifts up the poor. But then the short Psalm takes a sudden turn that might remind us of an ancient vision of Judgement Day: It recognizes God not only as protector of the faithful but also as stern judge of all who’ve turned against God’s way.

Second Reading: Ephesians 1:11-23

Christ is King, and God has placed him at God’s right hand to rule over us all, the author of Ephesians assures his flock, writing to the persecuted Christians of Asia Minor in Paul’s name. From that time onward, the author assures them, all the people of God, baptized in Christ and sealed by the Spirit, are the saints of God. We are Christ’s body on earth, pledged through our inheritance through baptism to redemption as God’s own people.

Gospel: Luke 6:20-31

As we hear Luke’s version of the Beatitudes in Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain, compare it in your mind with Matthew’s familiar narrative in the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew’s account shows Jesus guiding us toward service and neighborly love. We can find that in Luke’s view as well. But Luke’s version, as we might expect from the evangelist who told us of Mary’s Magnificat and Jesus’ first sermon in Nazareth, is more directly focused on caring for the poor and the oppressed; not just Matthew’s “poor in spirit” but those who actually have no money, no resources. Luke calls us to give food to the hungry and water to the thirsty as well as standing with those who “hunger and thirst for righteousness.” Don’t just turn the other cheek: Forgive your enemies, and pray for them. In Luke’s Beatitudes, doing unto others is not easy, but it is essential. It binds us as the people of God.

Pentecost 21C

Posted on October 29, 2019 by Robin Garr

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Nov. 3, 2019
(All Saints’ Day may also be celebrated on the Sunday following Nov. 1. Those Illuminations are posted separately.)

First Reading (Track One): Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4

If the name Habakkuk doesn’t seem familiar, there’s a reason for that: A reading from the book of this minor prophet happens only twice in the three-year Lectionary cycle of Sunday readings.

Zacchaeus and Jesus. Orthodox icon By the Hand of Nicholas P. Papas. (Click image to enlarge.)

We hear it as the Track One first reading this Sunday, and these same verses were the Track Two first reading four weeks ago. But this short three-chapter book is unusual and fascinating. Unlike most of the prophets who heard God’s word and passed it on to humanity, Habakkuk shouts out his own warnings, then turns to God with frustration because, in his opinion, God isn’t listening. Habakkuk feels left alone without divine assistance. But now God responds, directing Habakkuk to write his vision down so clearly that a runner can read it while racing past.

First Reading (Track Two): Isaiah 1:1, 10-18

Isaiah’s great book of prophecy gets off to a fiery start. It begins with five full chapters filled with God’s angry wrath before we even get to God’s call to the prophet. First we must clearly hear God’s anger at the people’s failure to keep the covenant that their ancestors made through Moses at Mount Sinai. We hear that wrath in today’s reading, as God likens Israel to Sodom and Gomorrah. They are a people so vile that God hates them and their works. But, as always, this angry judgment is not absolute. This is the way to restore God’s love: “Cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, and plead for the widow.”

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 119:137-144

We hear verses from Psalm 119 fairly often. The longest of all the Psalms, fully 176 verses long, portions of it appear a dozen times during the three-year lectionary cycle. While it offers different poetry in every section, it remains true throughout its course as a long, loving celebration of God’s teaching and law. Today’s verses may have come as good advice to those who were targeted by Habakkuk’s prophecy: When trouble and distress come on us, God’s law and teaching are our delight.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 32:1-8

Rebounding from the horrific notion of a God too angry to hear the people’s prayers or sacrifices, too outdone to give them even the least attention, our Psalm sings the joy that comes when the separation from God that results from sin is ended, replaced with the utter joy of knowing God’s forgiveness. No longer groaning with pain that feels like withered bones, the repentant sinner is now guarded against trouble and surrounded with shouts of deliverance.

Second Reading: 2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12

This reading begin a three-week visit with the second letter to the church of Thessalonika in Northern Greece. This letter probably came a generation after the first letter to the Thessalonians, perhaps around 100 CE, and it was probably written in Paul’s name by a follower long after his death. These early Christians were facing severe Roman persecution, and the letter opens with hearty thanks and gratitude for their steadfast faith despite all that they have had to endure.

Gospel: Luke 19:1-10

What’s this? Another tax collector? Last week we saw Jesus praising a tax collector for his humble prayer. Jesus even called a tax collector, Matthew, as one of his apostles. The Pharisees often criticized Jesus for hanging around with prostitutes and tax-collectors – the most insulting occupations they could think of. Tax collectors were despised because they traitorously sold their services to the hated Roman occupiers, extracting heavy taxes from the people, and often taking a little extra to enrich themselves. Nevertheless, here is Jesus shouting out to another tax collector – the diminutive Zacchaeus – who had climbed a tree the better to see him. Then Jesus invites himself to dinner at Zacchaeus’ house! Like the praying tax collector in last week’s Gospel, Zacchaeus earns salvation by following Jesus.

Illuminations

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

Category Archives: Pentecost