Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Nov. 14, 2021

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

Almost six months ago, as the long season after Pentecost began, we heard several readings about the Prophet Samuel, who followed God’s commands to go out and find the youth – the shepherd David – who would grow up to become Israel’s king.

Zburzenie Jerozolimy (Destruction of Jerusalem, 1750s), oil painting on canvas by Johann Georg Trautmann (1713-1769). Tarnowskie Góry Museum, Silesia, Poland. (Click image to enlarge.)

Now, as the Pentecost season approaches its end, we return to the first chapter of Samuel time to hear the story of Samuel’s mother, Hannah. Troubled in her heart because she is unable to bear children, Hannah is also verbally abused by a friend over her barrenness. She prayed constantly, and her prayers were answered: She gives birth to Samuel, who will become the last of the judges who governed Israel, and who would anoint Saul to be its first king.

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

The long Pentecost season is drawing to its close. In two weeks Advent will begin, as we prepare to celebrate Jesus’ birth on Christmas Day. Sunday’s readings foreshadow a central theme of Advent: our hope of resurrection and new life. Our Track Two first reading is from the book of Daniel, one of the last books written in the Old Testament. Its narrative reflects Israel’s persecution under Greek rule in the 2nd century BCE. This reading begins Daniel’s lengthy “apocalyptic” vision – a genre similar to Revelation – that envisions ultimate triumph. It introduces the idea of a physical, bodily resurrection of the dead, the first time that this theological concept is raised in the First Testament.

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

In place of a passage from the Psalms this week we sing the prayer of Hannah, in which she celebrates her joy over the birth of her child in words that are mirrored in the New Testament in Mary’s song, the Magnificat. Both prayers sing of God lifting up the lowly and the poor while casting down the rich and powerful. But Mary, bearing the child who will become the Prince of Peace, will not repeat the words of vengeance, battle, and judgment of enemies that we hear in Hannah’s song.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 16

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

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

Now we reach the last of our seven Sunday readings from the letter to the Hebrews. Two chapters remain in the full letter, but this passage concludes the extended narrative that we have been following: Jesus is the great high priest who offered for all times a single sacrifice superior to those of the old priests in the Temple of Jerusalem. This passage calls on its readers to hold fast without wavering, to provoke each other to love one another and do good deeds, and to encourage one another all the more as they see the day of God’s coming draw near.

Gospel: Mark 13:1-8

Our yearlong journey through Mark’s Gospel comes to its end Sunday. These concluding verses follow immediately after last week’s account of the poor woman who gave her last two small coins to the Temple treasury. Jesus, still angered by the hypocrisy of the scribes, prophesies the destruction of the Temple, declaring that all the great buildings on the Temple Mount will be destroyed, thrown down, not one stone left upon another. These are the words that the high priest will hold against Jesus, but we will set that narrative aside now as we approach Advent and prepare to celebrate the Incarnation, Jesus as God with us.

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Nov. 7, 2021

First Reading (Track One): Ruth 3:1-5; 4:13-17

Ruth, the young Moabite widow introduced in last week’s first reading, has settled in Bethlehem with her widowed Israelite mother-in-law, Naomi.

Le denier de la veuve (The Widow’s Mite). Watercolor painting on graphite (1886-1894) by James Tissot (1836-1892). The Brooklyn Museum.(Click image to enlarge.)

In the tough world that widows and orphans faced in those times, one of them needs to find a husband to save the family from poverty. Through a bit of trickery suggested by Naomi, Ruth persuades her kinsman Moab to marry her. It works, and they have a child named Obed. Why is this little story placed in context with the books about Israel’s kings? The final verses unveil the answer: Obed will be the grandfather of King David, and thus he and his parents are in the genealogical line of Israel’s Messiah.

First Reading (Track Two): 1 Kings 17:8-16

Our Track Two readings start with the story of a poor widow who answers a difficult call from the Prophet Elijah. Both Lectionary tracks conclude with Mark’s story about another widow, the poor but generous woman who, in Jesus’ parable, gives all that she has to the Temple treasury. In this first reading, we hear of a widow who trusted God’s promise and shared her meager fare with Elijah, even though she had so little to eat that she believed she and her son would soon die of starvation. God provided, and her tiny portion of oil and meal proved sufficient to feed them all until the drought and famine ended.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 127

Psalm 127 delves into ideas of maintaining home and family that resonate with the story of Ruth. In the ancient Near East, it was difficult for a family to survive without strong sons to build the home, grow crops, and protect the family from invaders. Sons like these are gifts that can come only as a blessing from God, says the Psalmist. God builds the house, watches over the city like a watchman keeping vigil, and provides children as a gift to God’s people, a quiver full of God-given arrows to help protect against enemies.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 146

“Praise God, O my soul!” This ringing hymn of praise begins the first of the final five Psalms, a collection that concludes the book with powerful tones of exultation in God’s greatness. But after the first joyous verse its tone shifts to a theme of caution: Take care, for while God can always be trusted, earthly rulers cannot. We can count on God, our creator, to give hope to widows and orphans; help for the poor, justice for the oppressed, freedom for the prisoner, and help for those who are disabled, to those who are alone, and to strangers in strange lands.

Second Reading: Hebrews 9:24-28

The letter to the Hebrews continues in its extended elevation of the eternal sacrifice of Jesus, as opposed what its writer sees as the more transient sacrifices of the old Temple’s earthly high priests. The earthly high priest had to come back to the sanctuary every year to atone for his sins. This animal sacrifice was repeated over and over again “with blood that is not his own.” But Jesus, the letter goes on, having borne the sins of many, will appear a second time. He need not come to deal with sin – that has already been done in Jesus’s sacrifice once and for all – but to save his faithful people.

Gospel: Mark 12:38-44

Jesus has arrived in Jerusalem on his final journey, and he is challenging the religious and political establishment in ways that will turn them angrily against him. First he scorns the scribes for their arrogance and hypocrisy. He mocks them for flaunting their wealth and power with ostentatious dress and prayer while they “devour widows’ houses.” Then, as Jesus sits near the Temple treasury, watching believers make their donations, a poor widow appears. She has little, but in contrast with the scribes, she gives two small coins: all that she has. Jesus praises her, not for giving all that she had, but because she gave it from her heart. It was not the quantity but the quality of her giving that mattered.

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Oct. 31, 2021

First Reading (Track One): Ruth 1:1-18

In the midst of the Hebrew Bible’s books that tell the stories of Israel and its kingdom, tucked in between Joshua and Judges, Samuel and Kings, we find the short, charming book of Ruth.

Christ Among the Scribes (1587), triptych by Frans Francken I (1542-1616). Cathedral of our Lady, Antwerp, Belgium. (Click image to enlarge.)

These opening verses tell a love story about Ruth, a young Moabite widow, who follows her beloved mother-in-law, Naomi, back home to Bethlehem after Ruth’s husband’s death. In today’s verses – a passage often chosen for use in weddings – we hear Ruth promise Naomi that she will loyally stay with her: “Where you go, I will go; you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God.”

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

Foreshadowing Sunday’s Gospel, our Track Two second reading tells of Moses giving the people the Shema, the short prayer that is central to Jewish worship in Jesus’ time and on to today: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.” God commanded that the people keep this prayers in their hearts, teach it to their children, bind it to their hands and foreheads, and fix it on their doorposts.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 146

Singing the praise of God who cares for God’s people and loves us deeply, the Psalmist calls us to look beyond earthly rulers, who cannot help us in the long run. Rather, place our hope in God, creator of the earth and all that is in it, who reigns forever. God’s caring justice favors the poor and the oppressed, those most in need: 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, as Jesus would later call on us to do, God cares for us all.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 119:1-8

Psalm 119, the longest of all the Psalms, devotes all its 176 verses to a consistent message: God’s decrees, God’s law and teaching given in the Torah, are wonderful, and following them makes us happy. The ideas that we hear today in the first eight verses of the Psalm continue throughout, and they echo the covenant between God and Moses at Mount Sinai: Those who follow God’s teaching and walk in God’s ways will be rewarded. Keep us steadfast in following this teaching, the Psalmist prays, asking in turn not to be forsaken.

Second Reading: Hebrews 9:11-14

We continue reading in the letter to the Hebrews, and the author is sticking with the theme we heard in last week’s passage: In his effort to bring backsliding Jewish converts back to the infant church, the author of Hebrews continues to lift up Jesus as a great high priest superior to the old high priests of defunct Temple. Jesus is as priest in a perfect tent that is not part of this creation, we hear; he entered the Holy Place not through the blood sacrifice of goats and calves but with his own blood. Through this sacrifice, we are told, we all are purified in body and soul.

Gospel: Mark 12:28-34

A lot has happened since we left Jesus with the no longer blind Bartimaeus in Jericho last Sunday. We have skipped over Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem amid waving palms and high hosannas; Jesus has overturned the money changers’ tables and gotten into several arguments with the Scribes and Pharisees, who have started plotting to kill Jesus. But now another kind of scribe emerges. This scribe approaches Jesus kindly and asks him to name the greatest commandment. Jesus replies, as a proper rabbi should, with the Shema; then he adds a second: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The scribe agrees, adding that all this is greater than burnt offerings and sacrifices.

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Oct. 10, 2021

First Reading (Track One): Job 23:1-9, 16-17

Job has been tormented beyond imagination and has lost everything: all of his possessions and much of his family are gone. His friends, seeking to console him, have done a very poor job of showing compassion. He must have done something wrong, they scolded him in the verses before this reading.

Christ and the Rich Young Man (1485-1491), woodcut manuscript illumination printed on paper by the anonymous Master of Antwerp in a 15th century bible translation. (Click image to enlarge.)

They wondered if his lack of piety or his great wickedness might have angered God. In Sunday’s Track One first reading, Job responds with bitter, angry words: He deserves a chance to lay out the facts. He has a right to argue his case before God. If only he could get a hearing before God, he is sure that he would  prevail. But although he looks in every direction, he can’t find God anywhere. He is terrified, and he wants to vanish into darkness. Stay tuned: Next week we’ll hear how God responds.

First Reading (Track Two): Amos 5:6-7, 10-15

A powerful theme flows through Sunday’s readings, reminding us how important it is to subject ourselves to God. We must behave justly and treat the poor generously, never stealing from those less fortunate; and, we hear in the Gospel, we are to give everything that we have to the poor. In the Track Two first reading, the Prophet Amos warns Israel’s Northern Kingdom that its habit of living well while “trampling” on the poor will lead to disaster. “Seek good and not evil,” urges the prophet who, a few verses after this passage, will exhort the people of God to “let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 22:1-15

When Jesus was dying on the cross, in his last agony he cried out the words that begin Psalm 22: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” So begins this reading, which the New Revised Standard Version titles “Plea for Deliverance from Suffering and Hostility.” It echoes Job’s lament in the cry of one who is strung out, knocked down, worn out, feeling the depth of despair and no place to turn … except to God, who knew them as an infant and who, they pray, will be there for them now.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 90:12-17

In the portion of this Psalm that precedes the verses we hear in this reading, the author – held by tradition to be Moses himself – has warned of God’s anger with a sinful people. Now in this passage he calls on God to return, to show loving-kindness, to teach the people to be wise, and to replace adversity with gladness. Through God’s works, grace and splendor, the Psalmist prays, may the people  be wise, turn the work of our hands to God’s purposes, and enjoy the prosperity that our handiwork may yield.

Second Reading: Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12

The writer of Hebrews musters surprisingly warlike images of Jesus in this short passage, presenting him as a frighteningly sharp two-edged sword that pierces, divides, cuts soul apart from spirit and our body’s joints from our bones’ marrow. We are laid bare, called to account before God! Yes, God expects much of us. But we also hear that Jesus knows and understands us. Although Jesus is our great high priest who has passed through the heavens, he also can sympathize with our weakness, having been tested in every way as we are tested. We may approach the throne of grace boldly, seeking mercy and receiving grace.


Gospel: Mark 10:17-31

“Go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor … then come, follow me.” Really? This parable appears, with slightly different details about the man, in the Gospels of Mark, Matthew, and Luke.  Luckily for us, this parable is obviously not to be taken literally. We’re not expected to give everything we own to the poor. Uh, are we? Perhaps these verses, like the Sermon on the Mount, challenge us by setting Jesus as a standard of perfection that we can aim for but won’t likely reach. Or perhaps we are meant to squirm a little as we recognize just how rich we are, and ask ourselves if our possessions stand between us and real love of God and neighbor, just as Jesus, in Mark’s version, looked at the man and loved him.

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Sept. 26, 2021

First Reading (Track One): Esther 7:1-6, 9-10; 9:20-22

Take note of this reading, as this is the only time during the three year Lectionary period that we hear a reading from the book of Esther … and even this is only for those following Track One!

Sketch for Christ Rebuking His Disciples (c.1858), oil painting on canvas by Charles Robert Leslie (1794-1859). Tate Gallery, London. (Click image to enlarge.)

We come in just in time to hear the end 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 legend of the Jewish people. In these verses Queen Esther of Persia reveals 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 justice is served. This event is remembered in Jewish tradition with feasting, joy, and gifts of food for each other and the poor.

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

Sometimes the story of the Israelites wandering with Moses in the desert seems like an ancient reality show. Freed from slavery in Egypt by God’s mighty hand, the people complain because they miss the good food that they used to enjoy. This gets an angry response from God that prompts Moses to bark back. Then, two men who had remained in the camp start prophesying without supervision! A young man runs to tell on them, and Moses’ assistant Joshua wants them punished. But Moses says no: He only wishes that all the people could prophesy and share God’s spirit! A few moments after this reading, we hear a similar story in the Gospel from Mark.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 124

Recalling a time when Israel feared death at the hands of enemies, Psalm 124 sings joyous thanksgiving for God’s protection in parting the waters of the Red Sea so the people could escape Pharaoh’s bondage in Egypt. If God had not been on their side when the enemies rose up against them, the Psalmist exults, 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

These verses from Psalm 19 urge us to pray, and tells us why we should: God’s commandments are good, and it is good for us to follow them. The Psalm ends with a familiar exhortation that preachers often offer at the beginning of a sermon, and that we might all do well to ponder when we begin to pray: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”

Second Reading: James 5:13-20

As we reach the end of our month-long 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: Are we suffering? Pray! Are we happy? Sing hymns of praise! Are we sick? Ask our friends to pray for us! Prayer works. When we bring our brothers and sisters back to God’s way, we save them from death, the author of James says; 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 Apostle John seems angry and perhaps a little possessive. “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us,” he yells. We can imagine him running up to Jesus and demanding, “Make them stop! They’re not authorized!” But Jesus isn’t bothered. “Do not stop him,” he tells the apostles, adding, “Whoever is not against us is for us.” Jesus, perhaps using an old rabbinic tradition of contrasting an act with an extreme alternative, goes on with some pretty scary language about staying on the right path or else. But his point is clear: If people are with us, don’t throw them out.

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Sept. 12, 2021

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

We turn back to the first chapter of the book of Proverbs this week, where we meet Wisdom personified as a powerful woman. “Be wise! Embrace knowledge,” she shouts out to the city and all its inhabitants.

Peter the Apostle (1743), oil painting on canvas by Giuseppe Nogari (1699-1766). Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden, Germany. (Click image to enlarge.)

Wisdom roars in a prophetic voice; and like the prophets, she finds that many refuse to listen. When distress and anguish come to them, she warns, she will laugh and mock them. When they call on her in their panic, she will not answer. Echoing the covenantal warning that we hear often from the other prophets and in the Psalms, she warns, “the complacency of fools destroys them; but those who listen to me will be secure and will live at ease, without dread of disaster.”

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

What is it like when great suffering stands between us and the goals we most desire? This challenging question recurs in Sunday’s readings. Isaiah raises this idea in the 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 interpret it as an image of Christ.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 19

The heavens declare the glory of God! The beauty of creation rings out in this psalm of praise for God at work in the universe. Echoing the first reading’s exhortation to hear and attend to Wisdom’s word, the psalm’s verses urge us to rejoice in our hearts about God’s perfect law: Torah, the word that, in the original Hebrew, is synonymous with “teaching.” The psalm concludes with a familiar prayer that preachers often use to begin 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

Like Isaiah’s Suffering Servant, the Psalmist, too, speaks from a place of sorrow and grief, in a Psalm traditionally understood as a song of thanksgiving for recovery from illness. Filled with despair, 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


A teacher’s tongue may reveal the way of God, but tongues can be tricky, this passage from the letter of James tells us in delightful wordplay. James likens this small but powerful organ to other small but powerful things that can control forces beyond their size: A horse’s bridle, a ship’s rudder, a spark that starts a forest fire. Our tongues can bless, but tongues may curse, as well. Watch our tongues, James warns. Use them wisely to praise and bless our brothers and sisters, not to express hurtful things.

Gospel: Mark 8:27-38


We have reached the midpoint of Mark’s Gospel, and the narrative is taking a turn. Last week we saw Jesus for the first time extend his ministry to a Gentile, healing a woman’s child. Now, in a strange conversation with his disciples, much new is unveiled: First, Jesus confirms Peter’s bold announcement, the apostles’ first revelation that Jesus is the Messiah. 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, take up the cross, and follow him. If you wish to save your life, he warns, you must lose it first.