Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for July 7, 2024

Jesus commissioning the Twelve Apostles (1481), fresco by Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449-1494). Sistine Chapel, Vatican City, Rome. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading (Track One): 2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10

David has mourned the deaths of King Saul and Saul’s son Jonathan, David’s beloved friend. Now in Sunday’s Track One first reading, all the tribes and elders call David to be formally anointed king over all Israel.That includes both the Northern Kingdom with its capital at Hebron, and Judah, the Southern Kingdom, where Jerusalem is the capital. The elders, who had sworn fealty to Saul, now pledge loyalty to David, recognizing that God has called him to be shepherd over Israel. David would reign for 40 years, becoming greater and greater and earning for Jerusalem the title “City of David.”

First Reading (Track Two): Ezekiel 2:1-5

It’s frustrating when we have something to say, but people won’t listen. It doesn’t feel good, does it? Hold this thought as we hear Sunday’s Track Two readings, as each connects in some way with this spiritual challenge. In our Track Two first reading, God calls Ezekiel to be a prophet to Israel. God is not pleased with the people, telling Ezekiel that they are a nation of rebels who have rebelled against God: an impudent and stubborn people whose ancestors and they themselves continue transgressing against God. These rebellious people may choose to hear or not to hear, God tells Ezekiel, but he is to deliver God’s message of lamentation and mourning and woe.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 48

Psalm 48 offers a spiritual understanding of the founding narrative of Israel’s kingdom in Jerusalem, where the first temple would be built atop Zion, God’s holy mountain. The Psalmist sings praise to the greatness of God, who placed the city of the great king on the lofty hill of Zion, the very center of the world. Let the kings of the earth who might march on Zion in hope of conquest look and be astounded, the Psalmist sings. Let them writhe and tremble and run away, for God has established this citadel forever.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 123

Traditionally understood as a “song of ascent” to be chanted as the priests and people go up to the Temple in formal procession, Psalm 123 calls on a merciful God to hear the peoples’ prayer. They who have suffered the contempt, scorn and derision of the indolent rich and the proud now lift up their eyes to God enthroned in the heavens. They pray that God will show them mercy, for they have had more than enough of contempt.

Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 12:2-10

These verses from 2 Corinthians are full of mysteries! Even bible historians and theologians aren’t sure what Paul means about the “third heaven” or the “thorn” that troubles him but that he does not describe. Perhaps the third heaven describes Paul’s own spiritual experience, and the thorn, Scripture scholars speculate, could be an unnamed illness or disability, or even a sexual temptation. In any case, there is no ambiguity in Paul’s conclusion: Through prayer and reliance on God’s grace through Christ, we can endure hardships that come from within and without.

Gospel: Mark 6:1-13

Jesus’s hometown neighbors and friends aren’t impressed with him. Oh, they were astounded at first by his teaching and preaching in the synagogue, his wisdom and deeds of power. But then they remember that this is nobody but just Jesus, the carpenter’s son! What makes him so high and mighty? Amazed by their unbelief, in Mark’s telling, Jesus responded: prophets are not without honor except in their home town. Then Jesus sends out his followers, two by two, to tell the good news, but he warns them to expect more of the same kind of pushback. Don’t dress up, he told them. Don’t act special. If people won’t welcome you, move on down the road.

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for June 30, 2024

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

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

Our journey through the story of Israel’s kings moves into the second book of Samuel. After a series of conflicts between Saul and David, King Saul has died, the battle against the Amalekites has been won, and David is king in his own right. Despite his troubled relationship with Saul, in this Track One first reading we hear David mourning Saul’s death. But that sorrow is eclipsed by David’s deep grief over the loss of Jonathan, Saul’s oldest son and David’s beloved friend. The reading concludes with a long, loving ballad that David calls the Song of the Bow, in which he declares Jonathan’s love for him “wonderful, passing the love of women.”

First Reading (Track Two): Wisdom of Solomon 1:13-15; 2:23-24

Love is so strong that it has power even over death: Our loving God desires neither death nor destruction for us. We hear these hopeful ideas in Sunday’s Track Two first reading, and they recur through the day’s Lectionary selections. First we read the Wisdom of Solomon (often simply called “Wisdom”) from the apocrypha, the 15 “extra” books included at the end of the Hebrew Bible. These verses – which follow just after a warning to an earthly ruler not to invite his own death or destruction by behaving badly – remind us that God’s creation celebrates our life, not our death. God’s creation is a thing of beauty, and righteousness lives forever.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 130

Titled “De Profundis” (“out of the depths”), this Psalm of faith in God’s redemption reminds us that we wait in hope for God’s love and grace even in times of grief, pain and despair. Even in death we await the resurrection, as in night’s darkest hours we wait for morning light. We hear this psalm three times in this Lectionary cycle; it is also suggested for use in the burial of the dead.

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

This short, song-like passage is taken not from the Psalms but from Lamentations, a short book traditionally attributed to Jeremiah. These brief verses echo the hope and trust in God’s love that we heard in the Wisdom reading. In these words we sing our hope in God’s steadfast love that never ends, love that is renewed every morning. In words that foreshadow the Sermon on the Mount, we sing of giving our cheek to the one who smites us while we wait for our loving God who will not willingly afflict us.

Alternate Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 30

According to tradition, this ancient hymn offers thanksgiving for recovery from a serious illness. There is faithful optimism in these verses as the Psalmist celebrates the gifts of God that bring joy: an end to the sadness and depression that so often accompanies illness; turning the weeping of those long dark hours of night into the celebration that comes at dawn; and turning the mourning of sickness into the dancing of health.

Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 8:7-15

To understand Paul, it is often helpful to recognize him as a pastor who loved the people of this little church, but who often found them cranky and difficult to persuade. Knowing that the congregation in Corinth included both hungry poor people and comfortable rich members who sometimes didn’t want to share, he urges them all to live by the generous example of the churches in Macedonia (mentioned in the verses just before this reading): Do your work, earn what you deserve, but give according to your means so all may have enough.

Gospel: Mark 5:21-43

Jesus and the apostles have come back home from their trip across the Sea of Galilee. Now Jesus performs two surprising healings, encountering one on his way to attend to another. The woman with the hemorrhage that has been with her for 12 years was ritually unclean because of that. She was poor and rejected by her neighbors. But she had great faith in Jesus. The 12-year-old child was the daughter of Jairus, a leader of the synagogue, an important person. When Jesus told the crowd around her bed that he could waken their seemingly dead child, they laughed at him. But Jesus did not care about approval. Calmly, without any fuss, he healed both the woman and the child.

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for June 23, 2024 (Pentecost 5B/Proper 7)

The Storm on the Sea of Galilee (1633), oil painting on canvas by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606-1669). National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading (Track One): 1 Samuel 17: (1a, 4-11, 19-23), 32-49 or 1 Samuel 17:57-18:5, 10-16

The Track One lectionary offers two options this Sunday: The familiar story of the battle between young David and the Philistine giant Goliath, or the less well-known narrative that follows it, telling of the ominous encounter between King Saul and David after Goliath was slain. Both narratives build toward David’s rise to become King, and jealous Saul’s inclination to kill David before he can assume the crown. We stay with Saul, David and Solomon through August, before our Hebrew Bible readings turn to an anthology of wisdom including Proverbs, Job, Esther and Ruth.

First Reading (Track Two): Job 38:1-7,34-41

Even in times of chaos and fear, God remains with us. Surely we are all familiar with the trials of Job. Tested by God at the urging of Satan (who in this context was more an adversary than a demonic spirit), Job retained his faith in spite of horrifying tests that would break even the strongest. Now, nearing the end of the book, Job finally gets his wish that God would come out of hiding and listen to him. But God, speaking out of a whirlwind with power and might, sets Job in his place with words like thunderbolts: “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.” Job quickly repents; and at the end his fortunes are restored.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 9:9-20 or Psalm 133

This passage from Psalm 9 is paired with the David and Goliath reading. Befitting the first reading’s warlike setting, the Psalm gives thanks to God who protects the people in time of trouble and oppression; who never forsakes those who seek protection in God’s name. Psalm 133, which we also read recently on the second Sunday after Easter, is to accompany the first reading about David and Saul. It celebrates the goodness and pleasure of living in unity, comparing this with the luxury of anointing with fine oil so abundantly that it runs down one’s hair and beard.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 107:1-3, 23-32

This beautiful hymn of praise to a God of mercy who protects us in peril sets a pitch-perfect tone for the following Gospel story about Jesus stilling the storm. The psalmist recalls a time when a violent storm at sea came upon some travelers whom God had redeemed. When they cried out to God, the storm gave way to calm. The travelers arrived safely on the shore, and we are called to join them in thanks and praise to a loving God who protects us from peril and delivers us from distress.

Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 6:1-13

The theme of this letter reflects Paul’s effort to reconcile and restore good relations after a period of trouble and anger in the church in Corinth. Paul tells them that he himself has suffered many things for following in Jesus’ way: beatings and prison, hunger and sleeplessness, riots and more. If he doesn’t mention storm and shipwreck, we know that Paul endured those trials, too. He urges the people to remember that God is with us through all difficulties. Open wide your hearts, he tells them, and accept God’s love.

Gospel: Mark 4:35-41

Jesus has been preaching to Jewish crowds on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, and now he leads the apostles across the broad lake to Gentile territory. Along the way we encounter one of those beloved Gospel stories that many of us remember from childhood. As children, though, we might have focused more on Jesus quieting the scary storm than on the apostles’ reactions. First, the fearful apostles fear that the calmly sleeping Jesus isn’t aware – or doesn’t care – that they are in deadly danger and scared out of their wits. Then, catching their breath when all is calm again, they seem shocked to discover that Jesus actually had the power that they had just called on him to use.

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for June 16, 2024 (Pentecost 4B/Proper 6)

Ernte in der Provence (Harvest in Provence, 1888), oil painting on canvas by Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890). The Israel Museum, Jerusalem. (Click image to enlarge.)

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

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

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

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

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 20

Mirroring the militaristic theme of Israel’s kings and their call to holy war against their neighbors, Psalm 20 is a prayer for victory, a blessing before battle. The Psalmist calls on God to defend the people, to send help and strength, accept their offerings and advance their plans. Rather than trusting in chariots and horses, the people call on the name of God to give victory to Israel’s king.

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

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

Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 5:1-17

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

Gospel: Mark 4:26-34

The two parables featured in Sunday’s Gospel draw metaphors from seeds and sowing: tiny beginnings that grow up to yield food from the earth.These are also the first two of 18 parables in Mark’s Gospel in which Jesus tells stories that hint at the nature of the Kingdom of God. “The Kingdom is like” is surely the most frequent introductory phrase in this Gospel. But wait! There’s still more! This passage also begins another recurring theme in Mark: Jesus speaks through mysterious parables in which he intentionally disguises his mission. Then he explains the real meaning to his followers but tells them to keep it all secret. Perhaps Jesus’s repeated call for a Kingdom of God – a kingdom that might be seen as a regime change from Roman rule – was too dangerous an idea to talk about in public.

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for June 2, 2024 (Pentecost 2B/Proper 4)

Jesus Heals the Man with a Withered Hand (1692), illumination in an Arabic manuscript of the Gospels copied in Egypt by Ilyas Basim Khuri Bazzi Rahib, probably a Coptic monk. (Click image to enlarge.)

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

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

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

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

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

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

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 81:1-10

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

Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 4:5-12

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

Gospel: Mark 2:23-3:6

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