Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Sept. 30, 2018

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

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

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

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

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 124

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

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

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

Second Reading: James 5:13-20

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

Gospel: Mark 9:38-50

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

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

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Sept. 23, 2018

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

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

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

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

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

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

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 1

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

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 54

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

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

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

Gospel: Mark 9:30-37

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

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

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Sept. 16, 2018

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

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

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

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

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

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 19

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

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

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

Second Reading: James 3:1-12

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

Gospel: Mark 8:27-38

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

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

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Sept. 9, 2018

Jesus and the Canaanite woman. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading (Track One): Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23

This Sunday we turn to the book of Proverbs, another work of wisdom literature that, like the Song of Solomon that we heard last week, was thought in older times to have been written by King Solomon himself. Many of its simple, timeless aphorisms might remind us of such modern works as Benjamin Franklin or the Old Farmer’s Almanac, and much of its wisdom seems as applicable now as it did 2,500 years ago. Much of it, too, phrased in memorable poetic rhythms, reminds us that God’s covenant with the people gives preference to the poor: “Do not rob the poor because they are poor, or crush the afflicted at the gate; for the Lord pleads their cause and despoils of life those who despoil them.”

First Reading (Track Two): Isaiah 35:4-7a

God feeds the hungry, gives drink to the thirsty, heals the blind and the deaf and takes the side of the oppressed, and we are called to do the same. This call for distributive justice resonates through Sunday’s readings. First we hear the Prophet Isaiah sounding the call. He speaks from exile in Babylon, urging the people to remain strong and fearless as God comes to save the people and their land. Even though the fortunes of war have sent you into exile and separated you from home and Temple, Isaiah sings, God is coming with healing and comfort and will lead you back. God will open their eyes and ears as Earth and waters and all creation are restored in speech and sing their joy.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 125

One of the shortest of the Psalms with just five verses, Psalm 125 also holds up the justice of God’s covenant with the people. Those who trust in God can no more be moved than Zion, the mountain on which the Temple stands, we sing; God stands around the people as the hills rise around Jerusalem, fixed and strong forever. God rewards those who are good and pure in heart, but those who turn to evil ways will be sent away with all the evildoers.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 146

Echoing Isaiah’s celebration of God’s justice, our Psalm sings the praise of God who cares for us and loves us deeply. Do not trust in earthly rulers, the Psalmist warns, for they cannot help us in the long run. Place our hope in God instead, who created the earth and all that is in it, and who reigns forever. God’s caring justice favors those most in need: the poor and the oppressed, hungry people, prisoners. those who are blind; the stranger, the widow, the orphan; those weighed down by life’s load. In caring for the least among us, God cares for us all.

Second Reading: James 2:1-17

In its second chapter this week, the letter of James gets straight to its theological point: It does no good if you offer a hungry or naked brother or sister only your warm wishes but no food or clothing. If you don’t give them what they need, what good is that? This advice should speak as clearly to us today as it did to its first century audience. What if a homeless person came to our church today, looking for a haircut and a bath? Would we greet that person warmly and find a way to help? God expects us to love all our neighbors, rich and poor alike, James reminds us. Kind words alone are not enough; faith without such works is dead.

Gospel: Mark 7:24-37

This may be one of the most troubling passages in the four Gospels. Jesus, has left the apostles and the crowds for a while, traveling alone in Tyre, a coastal region populated by Israel’s enemies, the descendants of the Canaanites whom the Israelites had driven out of the Promised Land. It is surprising that Jesus is there; surprising that a woman of the region, who apparently knows of his healing powers, asks for help; and frankly shocking that he dismisses her with a startling slur, comparing her and her daughter to little dogs. We might consider this a rare glimpse into Jesus’ fully human side, briefly shorn of the divine; or it may simply be a later addition to the Gospel story, aimed at showing Jesus recognizing a mission wider than Israel alone. Either way, we see the woman’s faith empowering her to challenge Jesus, whereupon he listens, learns, and heals her child, just as he will restore hearing and speech to the deaf Gentile man in the next town down the road.

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

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Aug. 26, 2018

Joshua passing the River Jordan with the Ark of the Covenant (1800). Oil painting on wood by Benjamin West (1738-1820). Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading (Track One): 1 Kings 8:22-23, 41-43

The narrative of the kings of ancient Israel reaches its zenith as the wise and wealthy King Solomon, son of King David, dedicates the first Temple in Jerusalem. The Ark of the Covenant, God’s sanctuary on Earth, has a permanent home at last. Solomon speaks to all the assembled leaders of Israel and Judah, reminding them of God’s covenant with his father David: “There shall never fail you a successor before me to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your children look to their way, to walk before me as you have walked before me.” Sadly, as the narrative goes on, the people will fail to practice justice and righteousness. The nation will decline and fall, the temple will be destroyed, and the leaders will be sent to exile in Babylon as the prophets foretold.

First Reading (Track Two): Joshua 24:1-2a, 14-18

When we are facing major life choices, how do we decide? Where is God in this process? Hear this challenging question as we go through Sunday’s readings. First we see Joshua, Moses’ successor, assembling the people whom he had led into the Promised Land, taking it from its Canaanite inhabitants in a fierce and bloody war. Joshua, now in old age and facing death, confronts them with a decision: Will they follow the gods of their new neighbors, or will they renew the covenant that their ancestors Abraham and Moses made with the God who led them out of exile and through the desert? They respond faithfully: “We … will serve the Holy One, for he is our God.” These are good intentions; but Joshua knows the people’s long history: The verses that come just before and after this reading, and the snippet that it reading skips over, offer hard reminders that breaking the covenant has real consequences.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 84

This lyrical hymn of praise celebrates the joy of worshiping in the temple that Solomon built. Those who decide to put their trust in God, the Holy One of hosts, will receive God’s grace and glory. The people in exile who prayed for God’s favor, who accepted God’s covenant, trusted that God would welcome the people home and would offer protection, favor and honor to those who had trust. As God provides nests for the small birds, so will God provide for us. As God provides pools of water for thirsty travelers, so will God hear our prayers.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 34:15-22

We have chanted this Psalm in three parts over three successive Sundays. Its hymn of praise and thanks to our merciful, saving God concludes this week with a simple, critical choice that fits the theme of this week’s readings: Those who choose to follow God’s commandments, like the Israelites entering Canaan, will earn God’s protection against fear, sorrow and danger. The wicked and the unrighteous who choose otherwise will eventually be punished, the Psalmist sings; but those who choose to serve God can trust in God.

Second Reading: Ephesians 6:10-20

As we reach the last of seven Sunday readings from the letter to the Ephesians, we hear another call to make a choice: As a persecuted church, a tiny minority in the Empire of Rome, the people clearly understood that their struggle was not against “blood and flesh” – surely an echo of Jesus’ promise in John – but against the powerful earthly rulers who stood for the forces of evil. Our armor, breastplate, helmet, sword, belt and sturdy shoes of faith in God protect us when we choose to boldly declare our faith.

Gospel: John 6:56-69

Our five-week journey through Jesus’ difficult discourse about eating his body and drinking his blood comes to its end today. We have seen the enthusiastic crowds that surrounded him at the start gradually dwindle away as they take literally each new and troubling call to eat Jesus’ body and drink his blood in order to gain eternal life. First the skeptics and faithless had turned away in disgust. Now the division grows as many of his own disciples, even, become uncomfortable and leave. Only those closest to Jesus make the decision to remain with him no matter what. In the end their faith wins out over doubt, even if they don’t understand it, because they know Jesus as the Holy One of God. Peter declares, “ Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

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

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Aug. 19, 2018

Wisdom, 1170s parchment folio page in tempera, gold and silver leaf and ink. J. Paul Getty Center, Los Angeles. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading (Track One): 1 Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14

David died after 40 years as king, and his son Solomon ascended to the throne. Solomon, the second son of David and Bathsheba, will go on to a majestic reign. As we see him here at the beginning, though, Solomon knows well that he is young and inexperienced. When God comes to Solomon in a dream and invites him to ask for whatever he might wish, Solomon chooses wisely, by asking not for long life or riches but for the wisdom to govern well. God is pleased, and rewards Solomon with wisdom and honor, asking only that he walk in God’s way. All will go well for many years, but Solomon’s reign, sadly, will come to a bad end when the lure of great power corrupts him.

First Reading (Track Two): Proverbs 9:1-6

What is wisdom? What is foolishness? How do we gain the one and learn from the other? Reflect on Sunday’s readings for insight. Wisdom is often personified in the First Testament as a woman, present with God at the Creation. In this short passage from Proverbs, traditionally (although surely not historically) said to have been written by Solomon himself, we see Wisdom setting the table for a great feast, to which she invites the simple to come and be made wise. Through wisdom we gain insight and become mature. We learn to walk in God’s way.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 111

Again we chant together a Psalm that we heard earlier this year (during the season after Epiphany) in the context of different readings. One of the many Psalms that sing God’s praise with joy and exultation, it shouts out our thanksgiving for all of God’s work, all of God’s majesty and splendor, all of God’s justice that lasts forever. God feeds us. God’s covenant redeems us. The people shout “Hallelujah!” “Praise God!”

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 34:9-14

The notion of “fearing” God often gives rise to misunderstanding. I remember as a child being puzzled and perhaps a little disturbed the first time I encountered this, and I hurried to ask Mom: “What does fearing the Lord mean? Are we supposed to be afraid of God?” It’s good to recognize its true sense: We should not be afraid but in awe – awestruck by God’s love and righteousness. Hear the Psalmist sing: follow God’s way. Speak kindly and with truth. Avoid evil and do good. Work for peace.

Second Reading: Ephesians 5:15-20

This short passage from the letter to the Ephesians fits neatly into the pattern of this week’s readings with its focus on pursuing wisdom, not foolishness, and fearing God not in fright and alarm but with awe that inspires love. It’s worth noting that its explicit command to avoid drunken debauchery has sometimes been interpreted in modern times to support the complete prohibition of alcoholic beverages, but we know how that came out; we can turn to the Wedding Feast at Cana to gather that Jesus and his family and friends had no objection to the social enjoyment of wine.

Gospel: John 6:51-58

Jesus’ long narrative about the bread of life has taken a turn. We have seen awed crowds following Jesus after he fed thousands with bread and fish, hoping to see more signs and maybe get more bread. Now a new crowd of Pharisees and temple leaders confronts Jesus and pushes back, especially when Jesus doubles down on his talk of “living bread” by adding that everyone must “eat his flesh and drink his blood” to gain eternal life. When John’s Gospel was written after the destruction of the Temple, early Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism were angrily tearing apart. In John’s frequent use of “The Jews” as a dismissive term for the temple authorities who opposed Jesus, we hear a sad refrain that fostered centuries of anti-Judaism.

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

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Aug. 12, 2018

Landscape with the Prophet Elijah in the Desert (1605-1615). Oil painting on canvas by Abraham Bloemaert (1566-1651). The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia. (Click image to enlarge.)

The child born of David’s rape of Bathsheba has died, as God foretold through the prophet Nathan; and now we learn of the death of David’s son Absalom. In wildly dysfunctional dynamics of a Bronze Age royal family, Absalom had killed his half-brother, Amnon, for raping their sister, Tamar. Then Absalom went to war against his father, fighting to take over Israel’s throne. David’s soldiers find Absalom trapped in a tree, and kill him despite David’s command to deal with him gently. In spite of his son’s treasonous rebellion, David grieves him deeply. “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would that I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!”

First Reading (Track Two): 1 Kings 19:4-8

When we are in trouble and despair, God provides us the physical and spiritual sustenance of the bread of life. This ongoing theme continues through this week’s Lectionary readings. In our first reading we find the Prophet Elijah torn by depression and fear. He has escaped the murderous anger of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel, who had threatened to kill him. But now, alone in the stark wilderness and deeply depressed, he lies down under a broom tree and asks God to let him die. Instead, though, God sends an angel to tempt Elijah with hot cakes and water and loving support. This restores Elijah’s strength, and he resumes his prophesying.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 130

We often hear this Psalm of faithful hope in God; indeed, it has been only a few weeks since the last time it appeared in our readings! In the context of different readings, though, we may sense its verses in new and different ways. On June 29 we heard it alongside David’s grief at the death of his friend, Jonathan. Now we sing it in harmony with David’s grief over his son Absalom’s death. God’s love and grace wait for us even when we are deep in grief. We wait for God, even as in night’s darkest hours we wait for morning light.

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

We will hear this Psalm, divided into three portions, in this and coming weeks. Tradition holds that David himself sang this Psalm after he had narrowly escaped death at the hands of King Abimelech of the Philistines. Appropriately, it is a song of praise and thanksgiving for God’s protection in time of trouble. In an unusual sensory metaphor that has been adopted in a contemplative Taizé chant, we “taste and see” that God is good.

Second Reading: Ephesians 4:25-5:2

“Do not let the sun go down on your anger.” In its life lessons for those who lived in community in the early church, this passage from the letter to the people of Ephesus speaks good sense to us all: Tell the truth. If you’re angry with your neighbor, work it out; don’t let anger divide you. Don’t steal. Work honestly, and share with those in need. Be honest, but be positive. Be gracious. Forgive one another. And at the end of the day, love each other as Jesus loves us, and try to live as Jesus would have us live.

Gospel: John 6:35, 41-51

The verse that ended last week’s Gospel is repeated as the first verse this week: “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” These words describe our hope in the Eucharist so clearly that we often sing them in the Fraction Anthem before Communion. Here, though, the crowd following Jesus starts to push back. Echoing the scene we heard in Mark’s Gospel last month, they challenge Jesus: They know him. They know his parents. They watched him grow up. Who is he to be talking like this? But Jesus stands firm, and will continue to do so as we stay with this Chapter of John for the next three Sundays. In Jesus we know God. Through Jesus, God is with us.

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

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Aug. 5, 2018

The Gathering Of Manna (c.1540-1555), oil painting on panel by Francesco d’Ubertino Verdi, called Bachiacca (1494-1557). Samuel H. Kress Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (Click image to enlarge.)

Last Sunday we heard the shocking story of King David raping the beautiful Bathsheba, then arranging to have her husband, Uriah, killed in battle so David could have Bathsheba for himself. Now we get the rest of the story. The prophet Nathan, sent by God, tells David about a rich man who selfishly took and slaughtered a poor man’s beloved lamb. Angry, David curses the rich man and threatens to have him killed, only to hear Nathan’s charge, “You are the man!” A merciful God threatens David with serious punishments but spares his life. In the verses just after this passage, though, Nathan foretells that the child of David’s illicit union shall die.

First Reading (Track Two): Exodus 16:2-4, 9-15

Our readings this Sunday focus on bread as a metaphor for God’s abundant love. From God’s gift of manna to God’s gift of grace through Jesus, we hear about the bread of life. Think back to last Sunday’s First Reading about the prophet Elisha feeding 100 people with a few barley loaves: As he did so, he recalled that God had promised the people that “They shall eat and have some left.” In today’s reading we go back to the verses of which Elisha spoke, when God provided abundant manna, a gift of bread in the desert.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 51:1-13

We also heard this familiar Psalm earlier this year on the fifth Sunday of Lent, but it certainly bears repeating in the context of King David’s adultery and murder. The Psalm’s powerful narrative envisions David wracked in repentant guilt as he confronts his great sin. In poetic words that mirror the promises of God’s covenants with the people, David pours out his shame and grief. He makes no excuses for his wicked acts, but begs for God’s mercy and forgiveness. “Create in me a clean heart, O God,” David begs; create a clean slate upon which God can write a new covenant of love.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 78:23-29

The Psalmist remembers God’s gift of manna and gives thanks to the Creator who saw the people’s need and poured down on them all the bread and quails that they could eat. God gave them what they craved and filled them up. To gain context for these verses, turn back and look at the preceding verses of this Psalm, which recalls how God made a covenant with the people and led them out of slavery in Egypt. It tells how God cared for them, and, despite their ungrateful complaints and rebellion, God set aside divine anger and fed them with love.

Second Reading: Ephesians 4:1-16

The author of Ephesians, writing in Paul’s name a generation or two after Paul, seems to draw in this reading from the wellsprings of Paul’s memorable writing in First Corinthians. Like Paul, Ephesians envisions the Christian community as Christ’s body, in which each of us acts according to our gifts. We are all called to work together with humility and gentleness to make the body function, living in unity as one body and one spirit, “one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6one God and Father of all.”

Gospel: John 6:24-35

The crowds around Jesus continue following him around the shores of Galilee. Having watched his miraculous healings and shared in the bountiful loaves and fishes, they are fascinated by this remarkable rabbi. They want to know more about him, and Jesus comes right out and tells them: they want more bread. Don’t fret about the world’s bread that does not last, Jesus tells them. Continuing his extended discussion about the bread of life that we will hear in John’s Gospel through August, he declares, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

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

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for July 29, 2018

The Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes (6th century). Mosaic in the Basilica di Sant’ Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna, Italy. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading (Track One): 2 Samuel 11:1-15

Power corrupts. We see this simple wisdom amply demonstrated in the life of David. For all the reverence that David earned through his kingship and warrior victories, when he was bad, he was very, very bad. We see this in Sunday’s horrifying Track One first reading: He is so attracted by the sight of beautiful Bathsheba bathing on her roof that he summons her, rapes her – no kinder term will serve for a person in his power taking her without her consent – and then arranges for the death of her husband, Uriah, in battle.

First Reading (Track Two): 2 Kings 4:42-44

Just about everyone enjoys hearing about the time Jesus fed a crowd with loaves and fishes that mysteriously multiply to more than fulfill the need. This is surely one of the most familiar Gospel stories. In fact, it is Jesus’ only miracle that is told in all four Gospels. You may not be so quick to remember the similar story of the Prophet Elisha feeding a crowd, though! Faced with a crowd of hungry people, Elisha directed that they be fed from a sack of food that a man had brought to sacrifice. He had only 20 loaves and a bit of grain for 100 people, which didn’t seem like much, but it proved to be more than enough. Just as in the Gospel stories, there were even leftovers.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 14

Another of the many Psalms that tradition attributes to David himself, this one resonates with David’s heinous behavior in the first reading. Here the Psalmist, imagined as a disappointed king, laments that the people have turned faithless and corrupt, foolishly denying God as they commit abominable acts. God looks down to see if any wise people remain, but there are none. But even in these times of evil, God remains with the righteous; God is the refuge of the just, and eventually will deliver the people and restore their fortunes.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 145:10-19

Reflecting the bounty that God provided for the hungry people in Ezekiel and that Jesus fed the hungry crowd on the mountainside, this Psalm of worship, praise and thanksgiving celebrates God who feeds us, whose outstretched hands satisfy every living creature. We sing of a God who is not only powerful but faithful and merciful as well. Our God will always gently lift up those who fall and support those who are oppressed.

Second Reading: Ephesians 3:14-21

Sunday’s passage from the letter to the Ephesians takes a break from its pastoral advice as the author kneels before God to lift up a prayer for the people being addressed. He prays that the people of Ephesus may receive strength through the Holy Spirit, and that Christ may come to live in their hearts through faith. The reading closes with a beautiful blessing that we often hear slightly reworded as a benediction in Morning and Evening Prayer: “Glory to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine.”

Gospel: John 6:1-21

Starting Sunday and continuing through the month of August, our gospel readings will turn from our year with Mark to visit the sixth chapter of John, in which Jesus discourses at length about the bread of life. We begin with John’s version of the familiar story of the loaves and the fishes. John more directly hints at the Eucharist than do the other evangelists: Jesus takes the bread, blesses it by giving thanks, then distributes five barley loaves and two fish to 5,000 people. The blessed repast somehow fills everyone abundantly, and more is left over than they started with! The crowds are so amazed that they clamor to make Jesus king by force; but he slips away, terrifying the disciples by walking miles across the water to catch up with their boat.

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

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for July 22, 2018

Jesus healing in the land of Gennesaret, by Gustave Doré (1832-1883). Engraving in The Holy Scriptures, Old and New Testaments, published in 1885, Stuttgart, Germany. (Click image to enlarge.)

As our Track One first readings continue following the life of King David, remember that David’s is the Messianic line that Christians trace down the ages as the ancestry of Jesus. In Sunday’s reading, David, having consolidated Israel and Judah under his rule, becomes concerned that the people’s custom of keeping the Ark of the Covenant in a mere tent is insufficient to reflect the greatness of God. David decides to build a great temple, but God, speaking through the Prophet Nathan, dismisses this idea. God’s home, Nathan declares, is with the House of David, the dynasty of God’s people.

First Reading (Track Two): Jeremiah 23:1-6

The image of a shepherd as metaphor for a caring leader who protects the flock recurs in several of our readings today. First we see the prophet Jeremiah speaking fierce truth to the power of Babylon, which had destroyed Jerusalem and the temple and was holding many of the people in exile. God is going to round up the remnant of his scattered flock and bring them home like a shepherd with his flock, the prophet declares, and the oppressors will be punished for their evil. Soon God will restore the glory of the lost kingdom, raising up a mighty new king like David.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 89:20-37

Sunday’s Psalm verses celebrate God’s covenant with David and his descendants, a royal family that God made to endure forever. David’s line would last even through war’s devastation and exile’s pain, the Psalmist sings; David’s line would remain even in spite of fears of God’s wrath over the nation having broken its covenant with God. Yes, the people’s iniquities might bring punishment, the rod and the lash, but their actions will never take away God’s love nor prevent the rise of a new David, Messiah and King.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 23

Now we return to the beloved 23rd Psalm. We hear its verses so often that most of us probably can read along without looking at the words. It appears five times in the three-year Lectionary cycle and also is often chosen for funeral services. Surely it is so popular because of its assurance that God’s goodness and mercy are always with us. Reading the Psalm, feeling the comforting presence of the Shepherd, puts us back in touch with God’s restoring grace.

Second Reading: Ephesians 2:11-22

The author of the letter to the Ephesians strives to assure formerly Gentile Christians that they are fully invested in the community, completely united with their Jewish Christian sisters and brothers without any need to follow Jewish law. The author writes that all have become one through Christ Jesus, the cornerstone, who brings near even those who were far away. At the time of this writing, late in the first century after the fall of the Temple, Jewish Christianity and rabbinic Judaism were splitting apart. Christianity was actively gathering in Gentile converts, and it was important to emphasize the truth that all had become one in Christ.

Gospel: Mark 6:30-34, 53-56

Two Sundays past, we heard Jesus sending his disciples out in pairs to heal the sick, cast out demons, and teach the good news. They’ve come back home now, eager to talk about their mission. Apparently they’re worn out, too, as Jesus invites them go in the boat to a quiet place to rest. But the crowds following Jesus are too eager to wait, so they follow like a herd of sheep, and Jesus feels a shepherd’s compassion for them. Later, they cross over the water and land at Gennesaret, where another large flock comes running to see Jesus. Of course this loving shepherd willingly touches and heals all who come.

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.