Illuminations of readings for Sunday, Sept. 9, 2012.

First Lesson: Isaiah 35:4-7a
Israel gets good news from the prophet Isaiah: don’t be afraid, even though the fortunes of war have sent you into exile, and separated you from home and Temple. God is coming, with healing and comfort, and will lead you back. Earth and waters and all creation will show their joy.

Psalm 146
Traditionally titled “Praise for God’s Help,” today’s Psalm echoes the Isaiah reading: Praise God, who is always there to support us, to care for those in need and those who are oppressed, and who keeps promises. Alleluia!

Second Lesson: James 2:1-10, 14-17
Today’s reading from James repeats God’s commands: love your neighbor; clothe and feed the naked and the hungry; and show your faith by doing good works. Let’s think about James’s question: If a homeless person in dirty clothes were to walk into our service today, pushing a grocery basket, would we greet that person with our fabled St. Matthew’s hospitality? What would you do?

The Gospel: Mark 7:24-37
Jesus surprises us with unexpected actions in two miracle stories from Mark’s Gospel today. Is this the Jesus we love, who seems to sneer as he compares the Gentile woman’s children to dogs? Her simple response persuades him, and shows us the human side of a Jesus who learns. Then Jesus cures a deaf man … but warns everyone to keep quiet about it. This is a consistent theme in Mark. But why would Jesus want his miracles kept secret?

Illuminations of readings for Sunday, Sept. 2, 2012.

First Lesson: Song of Solomon 2:8-13
A love poem – what an unexpected thing to find in the Bible! From the book of love poems that tradition attributes to King Solomon, these verses sing of deep love between a woman and a man, but it can also be understood as telling of God’s love for Israel – and for us.

Second Lesson: James 1:17-27
Christian tradition attributes the letter of James to the apostle identified as Jesus’s brother. Although the time of its writing makes this appealing legend doubtful, the letter remains as one of the New Testament’s strongest calls to the social gospel, urging us to “reach out as Christ’s hands to the world”. As James says, don’t just hear the word, do it.