Advent 2C

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Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Dec. 5, 2021

First Reading: Baruch 5:1-9

In the second week of Advent, we turn from apocalyptic expectations of fear and foreboding to a more hopeful theme: A Messenger is coming to make the way ready for the Messiah.

St John the Baptist

Detail from the Ghent Altarpiece: St John the Baptist (c.1425-1429l). Oil painting on panel by Jan van Eyck (c.1390-1441). Saint Bavo Cathedral, Ghent, Belgium. (Click image to enlarge.)

In Sunday’s first reading from the prophet Baruch (one of the apocryphal books at the end of the Hebrew Bible) gives us his version of a more familiar Isaiah passage: He declares that Israel in exile will no longer need to mourn, for God will lower the mountains and fill up the valleys to make level ground upon which the people may walk safely home. In the Gospel, Luke will repeat the Isaiah verses in the voice of John the Baptist.

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First Reading: Malachi 3:1-4

God’s Messenger is coming, and the people will delight in them, foretells the minor prophet Malachi, whose Hebrew name literally means “my messenger.” But it’s not going to be easy, Malachi warns the people. Because of their sins and their failure to walk in God’s way, the Messenger will have to cleanse the people with fire and strong soap, making them pure and pleasing to God. In words that Handel would make unforgettable in The Messiah two millennia later, the prophet sings, “Who can endure the day of his coming? He is like a refiner’s fire!”

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

In place of a Psalm we sing a Canticle taken from Luke’s Gospel. These verses tell the story of John the Baptist’s father, Zechariah, a priest of the Temple. When Zechariah had refused to believe that his elderly wife, Elizabeth, had really become pregnant after an angelic visitation, God struck him mute. But his voice returned when he held the infant and named him John. This child, Zechariah declares, in words that we often read in Morning Prayer, is to be a prophet like Abraham, the Messenger who will “go before the Lord to prepare his way.”

Second Reading: Philippians 1:3-11

In affectionate words reminiscent of his letter to the Thessalonians in last week’s second reading, Paul starts his letter to the people of Philippi in Macedonia, Greece, with greetings, love, thanks for their friendship and prayers for their well-being. Writing from a Roman prison, Paul remembers their eager acceptance of the Gospel. He prays for this little congregation’s continued spiritual growth and insight, and he prays that this will lead them to a harvest of righteousness and justice in God’s love through Christ.

Gospel: Luke 3:1-6

In Sunday’s Gospel, Luke introduces us to John the Baptist, who we had met in the Canticle/Psalm as an infant in the hands of his father, the Temple priest Zechariah. The reading begins with a detailed roster of Roman and Jewish leaders of the time, a practice that we also see in the introduction of Hebrew Bible prophets like Ezekiel, placing the prophet in a specific time and place. Luke tells us that John, traveling in the regions along the Jordan, proclaimed a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Then Luke likens John’s prophecy to Isaiah’s call to “Prepare the way of the Lord … make his paths straight,” filling every valley and making every mountain and hill low so that all humanity may see God’s salvation.

Advent 1C

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Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Nov. 28, 2021

First Reading: Jeremiah 33:14-16

The wheel of the seasons has come around to Advent. A new liturgical year begins.

Triptych of the Last Judgement

Triptych of the Last Judgement (c.1486), oil painting on oak panel by Hieronymus Bosch (c.1450-1516). Groeningemuseum, Bruges, Belgium. (Click image to enlarge.)

While much of the world is already celebrating Christmas with carols, parties, and serious shopping, Advent invites us to move toward the celebration of the Incarnation in a quieter, more meditative way. Sunday’s readings look toward the fulfillment of God’s promise to humanity and our desire for forgiveness as we wait for the coming of the Messiah. Israel in exile understood the prophet Jeremiah’s words in our first reading to be a promise that the people would return safely to Jerusalem, protected by God’s righteous justice. Christians must honor that understanding, while also imagining in the prophet’s words an image of Jesus as our righteous king and savior.

Psalm: Psalm 25:1-9

Just as the Jeremiah reading calls for hope and trust in a time of pain, Sunday’s Psalm portion asks us to put our faith in God’s love. The psalmist, speaking in the imagined voice of King David, repeatedly calls for God’s compassion using the Hebrew word chesed. This, said to be Thomas Merton’s favorite biblical word, represents an emotion-laden idea that may also be translated as “faithfulness,” “kindness,” “mercy” or “grace.” Yes, it is reassuring to place our hope in God’s compassion, faithfulness, kindness, mercy, and grace when things look dark.

Second Reading: 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13

So many of Paul’s letters are directed to beloved communities from afar. He expresses hope to be reunited with them, and calls for God’s blessing on their lives. This short letter to the people of Thessalonika in Northern Greece is believed to be the earliest authentic letter from Paul. He prays that, with God’s help, they will love each other and love everyone! He prays that God will strengthen their hearts in holiness so they may be blameless before God at the coming of Jesus with all the saints.

Gospel: Luke 21:25-36

In this passage from Luke’s Gospel, Jesus is teaching the apostles after they have left the Temple, not long before they gather for the Last Supper and his passion begins. Jesus is giving the disciples dire warnings, in apocalyptic language, of hard times to come. The Temple will be destroyed and Jerusalem fallen to its foes, and people will faint with fear as even the heavens are shaken. These signs will signal that Jesus’s return and the world’s redemption are drawing near, and everyone should pray that they have the strength to escape all the things that will happen. Yes, Luke makes Jesus’s coming sound scary – when I was a little boy, these Advent readings used to scare the bejabbers out of me. That may be the Evangelist’s point: The people of God should live good lives and be ready, so Jesus’ coming won’t be a surprise.

Christ the King B

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Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Nov. 21, 2021

First Reading (Track One): 2 Samuel 23:1-7

After six months, the long season of Sundays after Pentecost, with the focus of its Gospels on Jesus and his life and works, comes to its end with the feast of Christ the King, a feast also sometimes less patriarchally called “The Reign of Christ.”

Christ Before Pilate Again

Christ Before Pilate Again (1308-1311), detail of tempera painting on wood by Duccio di Buoninsegna (1255-1319). Museo dell’Opera Metropolitana del Duomo, Siena, Italy. (Click image to enlarge.)

Sunday’s readings appropriately focus on kings and kingdoms. Our Track One first reading, which may have been written in David’s memory long after his death, declares David God’s favorite: a just ruler through whom the God of Israel speaks. God has made an everlasting covenant with David, we hear, a covenant that will bring prosperity to his reign and success to all David’s descendants.

First Reading (Track Two): Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14

Sunday’s readings all shine a light on ideas of God as King, from the mighty celestial ruler imagined in the Track Two first reading from Daniel to John’s Gospel vision of the Jesus on trial, king of a very different realm. Daniel portrays an Ancient One, hair and gown in snowy white, seated on a fiery throne and served by thousands, judging all humanity. This transcendent figure sends out a human messiah to rule as king over all the nations, holding everlasting dominion that shall never be destroyed.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 132:1-13 (14-19)

Sunday’s Track One Psalm echoes the spirit of the first reading about God’s covenant to bless King David and to bring prosperity to him and to his descendants. Remembering the hardships that David endured in keeping his oath to God, the Psalmist vows not to rest until Israel builds a temple on Mount Zion, a dwelling place on earth where God can rest. If Israel’s children keep the covenant that their kingly ancestor made with God, the psalm goes on, then Israel will sit on David’s throne forever.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 93

Written in an age when earthly kings held real and ultimate power over their people, this mighty hymn of praise portrays God as a king among kings from time before time: God is king! God is majestic! God is powerful! Unlike earthly kings, the Psalmist sings, God’s world is certain, immovable and mighty. God’s kingdom will endure, sure and holy, forever and evermore.

Second Reading: Revelation 1:4b-8

This, the first page of Revelation, reveals the secret of this mysterious book: It is not a strange and frightening prediction of the End Times. It does not conceal coded information about our times, or any other time or place. Nope! It was a subversive sermon intended for persecuted Christians in the seven cities in Asia Minor (now Western Turkey). It carried this simple message: God our King, who was with us at the beginning and will be with us at the end, loves us and frees us from our sins through Jesus Christ. In words that echo the Daniel reading, we hear that Jesus our Savior, God, ruler of all the kings of the earth, will come back with the clouds to deliver justice.

Gospel: John 18:33-37

Jesus, facing the final hours before his death by crucifixion, has been handed over to Pilate, the Roman governor. Soon Jesus will wear a mocking, painful king’s crown made of thorns. But Pilate’s concern is political: Has this rabbi declared himself king? That would be an act of treason against Rome’s all-powerful emperor: a capital offense. When Jesus finally answers, clearly and firmly, “My kingdom is not of this world,” Pilate remains puzzled. Jesus stakes his claim to a kingdom and claims his kingship, but “not from here,” adding that he came into the world to testify to the truth. In following verses, Pilate will wash his hands of this troubling matter, but the crowds will have their way.

Pentecost 25B

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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.

Destruction of Jerusalem

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 Two): 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.

Pentecost 24B

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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).

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.

All Saints B

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(The readings for All Saints Day may be moved to the following Sunday, Nov. 7, 2021.)

First Reading: Wisdom of Solomon 3:1-9

We are an Easter people. All of us go down to the dust; yet even at the grave we make our song: “Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.”

The Raising of Lazarus

The Raising of Lazarus (1304-1306), fresco by Giotto di Bondone (c.1266-1337). Cappella degli Scrovegni nell’Arena, Padua, Italy. (Click image to enlarge.)

On All Saints Day, as when we bury our dead, we dress the altar not in the black of mourning but the white of hope and joy. We remember that we are dust, and to dust we shall return; yet we celebrate the communion of saints, the living and the dead, all bound together in Christ. These ideas all come together in the Lectionary readings for All Saints Day, beginning with Wisdom’s promise that peace, love and joy with God await God’s faithful people.

Alternate First Reading: Isaiah 25:6-9

On All Saints Day we dress our altar not in the black of mourning but the white of hope and joy. We remember that we are dust, and to dust we shall return. On this day we celebrate the communion of all the saints, the living and the dead, all bound together in Christ. These ideas are all knit together in today’s readings, beginning with the Prophet Isaiah’s vision of a banquet table that will welcome all the people of all the nations, a delicious feast of rich food and aged, clear wines for a people united at last in a kingdom where where sorrow and pain are no more, neither sighing, but life everlasting. It is no coincidence that these verses are also often chosen for our burial liturgy.

Psalm: Psalm 24

The psalm designated for All Saints Day, like the first readings, celebrates the rewards for those who live as God would have us live. Originally it was an ancient liturgy, a responsive chant sung by priests and people as they approached the Temple for worship. The priest calls out, “Who can stand in his holy place?” The crowd roars back, “Those who have clean hands and pure hearts!” The priest responds, “Who is the king of glory?” “The Lord of hosts,” the crowd shouts back with joy.

Second Reading: Revelation 21:1-6a

Our second reading is also frequently read at funerals, as one of the readings used in the liturgy for celebration of a life. Continuing the All Saints Day theme of a glorious life after death for those who love God, it describes a holy city coming down out of heaven, a new Jerusalem. This shining city stands in stark contrast to the dark and demonic earthly city of Rome, portrayed in Revelation as Babylon. We hear that death and pain will be no more in this heavenly city, for God will be with us every day, wiping the tears from our eyes.

Gospel: John 11:32-44

Lazarus has died, and Jesus weeps. Jesus knew his friend was dead, so he took his time getting to Bethany, which angered Lazarus’s sisters, Mary and Martha. Maybe he could have done something, if only he had hurried. So often death in the family brings not only sadness but anger and rage. And then, whispering a quiet prayer to God, Jesus calls out and Lazarus answers. Jesus says “No” to the death of Lazarus, just as God will say “No” to death for Jesus and for us all on Easter Day. Death does not have the last word.

Pentecost 23B

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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

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.

Pentecost 22B

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Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Oct. 24, 2021

First Reading (Track One): Job 42:1-6, 10-17

When God is with us, when God saves us and makes us well, we show our gratitude with shouts of joy and thanksgiving. Hold this theme of gratitude and grace in your thoughts as we reflect on Sunday’s readings.

Jesus healing blind Bartimaeus near Jericho

Jesus healing blind Bartimaeus near Jericho (c.1470-1479), oil painting on panel by the fifteenth century Flemish painter known as Meester van de Inzameling van het Manna. Museum Catharijneconvent, Utrecht, Netherlands. (Click image to enlarge.)

In the Track One first reading, we join Job after God finally responded to his demands for a hearing: In last week’s passage, God spoke from a whirlwind to remind Job of the magnificence of God’s creation, next to which Job is tiny and insignificant. Now we hear Job quietly, faithfully accepting this. And then comes good news: God restores Job’s fortunes, double what they had been before. Job lives out a long life with riches, a big family and the respect of his friends. Job’s story has a happy ending, but it’s good to remember that even when things don’t get better, God remains God and loves us still.

First Reading (Track Two): Jeremiah 31:7-9

in last week’s Track Two first reading, we heard the Prophet Isaiah’s meditation on Israel’s Suffering Servant, who carried the pain of exile. Now we turn to the Prophet Jeremiah. With loving words and with tears of comfort and joy, Jeremiah tells Israel that God will bring the people out of exile. The weak and the strong, mothers and children, those who can’t see and those who can’t walk, will all come back home together, praising God and giving thanks.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 34:1-8, (19-22)

Today’s psalm, described as “Praise for Deliverance from Trouble” in the New Revised Standard Version, resonates harmoniously with the story of Job that we heard in the first reading. Sunday’s selected verses begin with a song of praise that exalts God’s name. Then, in a sudden thematic turn, the psalmist remembers a time of terror, when they prayed to the Holy One for deliverance. God indeed saved them from all their troubles, and the psalmist responds with joy: “Taste and see that God is good is good; happy are they who trust in the Most High!”

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 126

The pain of exile and the joy of return form the base narrative for much of the Hebrew Bible’s psalms and the words of its prophets. We heard that joy in Jeremiah’s happy prophecy in the first reading, and we hear it again in this joyful psalm. It rings in celebration of Israel’s restoration on Mount Zion, Jerusalem, the home of the Temple. Turning to a deeply meaningful image of planting fields and reaping a harvest bounty, these verses ring out in memory of our ancestors sowing with tears, reaping with songs of joy. They went out weeping, carrying the seed; but they brought home ripe sheaves of grain, joyfully shouting out their thanksgiving.

Second Reading: Hebrews 7:23-28

Seeking to bring Jewish converts back to the infant church, the author of Hebrews compares Judaism unfavorably to Christianity in words that sound less than generous to modern ears. These verses, building on those that went before, declare that Jesus is a far greater high priest than the old high priests of the Temple. The Jewish high priests were mere mortal, sinful humans, who had to purify themselves repeatedly through constant sacrifices because they were weak. Perhaps it’s best simply to stand with this reading’s conclusion: Jesus, who has been made perfect forever by God, offers justice for all.

Gospel: Mark 10:46-52

Blind people in ancient times were desperate and ashamed. They had to beg for food, and their neighbors often assumed that their blindness was punishment for some grievous sin. Sadly, physical blindness has also been an enduring metaphor for willful refusal to “see” or believe. Mark’s Gospel uses this image often: He told of such a healing near the beginning of his Gospel, and now again toward the end, repeatedly standing for the apostles’ inability to comprehend Jesus’ message. But blindness is not really the central point of this Gospel. Rather, we see God most clearly in Bartimaeus’ gratitude … and in his decision not to go away but to stay and follow Jesus.

Pentecost 21B

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Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Oct. 17, 2021

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

If you want to be in charge of everything, be careful. This theme recurs in various forms in Sunday’s readings.

James and John stand on either side of Jesus

James and John stand on either side of Jesus in this Orthodox icon of Jesus and the apostles. (Click image to enlarge.)

In our Track One first reading, Job has been loudly lamenting his condition and looking everywhere for God, angrily demanding that God come out of hiding and hear him. Now Job gets his wish. God speaks to him out of a whirlwind in power and might, and quickly sets Job in his place. God hurls poetic words at Job like thunderbolts: “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.” There is no promise that chaos and disaster will not occur in wind and flood and starvation; but nothing in creation is greater than its Creator.

First Reading (Track Two): Isaiah 53:4-12

Throughout Sunday’s readings we hear of servant leadership, sacrifice, and walking humbly with our God. Isaiah’s “Suffering Servant,” whom we meet often in our readings (most recently just one month ago), may make us think of Jesus in his willing sacrifice to bear the sins of many. In its original context, though, Isaiah writes of the servant’s suffering in the past tense, remembering Israel itself as the servant, the sacrificial pain of its sad exile now finally come to an end.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 104:1-9,35, 37c

Echoing God’s extended response to Job, this hymn of exaltation worships God as creator of the universe and as ruler of all creation, whose mighty works fill us with awe. The Psalmist portrays God clothed in majesty and splendor. God rides across the world on the wings of clouds, spreading out mountains and valleys, oceans and rivers; setting the earth immovably on its foundations and separating the land from the water.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 91:9-16

We hear only the second half of Psalm 91 today. Take a moment, though, to look up the preceding verses in the Psalter (Pages 719-20, BCP). There we learn of another servant who suffered, yet who received God’s protection against illness and enemies. In the verses we read on Sunday, the Psalmist assures us that we gain protection by seeking refuge in God. Then, in a form quite unusual for the Psalms, God speaks directly in the first person, assuring the servant of God’s protection, honor and salvation.

Second Reading: Hebrews 5:1-10

Hebrews, more akin to a published sermon than a traditional letter, is historically understood as an effort to persuade first century Jewish Christians who had returned to Judaism under persecution to come back to the way of Christ. To that end, it presents Jesus as the new high priest, one who brings a new covenant and new sacrifice in the aftermath of the destruction of the Temple. Jesus, fully human, suffered “with loud cries and tears,” it tells us. Learning obedience through suffering, Jesus became the greatest of the line of priests that began with King Melchizedek, the first high priest named in Genesis. As the perfect image of God, Christ earned salvation for us all.

Gospel: Mark 10:35-45

In the verses just before these, Jesus told the apostles for the third time, in more detail than ever, that when they reach Jerusalem he will be arrested, flogged, killed, and will rise again. And now, also for the third time, some of them respond with remarkable cluelessness. Showing how little they have learned, James and John (“the Sons of Thunder”) don’t ask but tell Jesus that they want to sit at his side in God’s kingdom. Jesus has news for them: To follow Jesus we must be servants, not those served; if we wish to be first, we must be the slave of all.

Pentecost 20B

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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

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.