Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Aug. 8, 2021

First Reading (Track One): 2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33

“Grant to us, Lord, we pray, the spirit to think and do always those things that are right, that we, who cannot exist without you, may by you be enabled to live according to your will.” We’ll see this theme of Sunday’s Collect reflected in the week’s readings.

Death of Absalom (1753-1762), tapestry by Corrado Giaquinto (1703-1766). Palacio de Aranjuez, Madrid. (Click image to enlarge.)

In our Track One first reading, the child born of David’s rape of Bathsheba has died as the prophet Nathan foretold. Now we learn of the death of another of David’s sons, Absalom. Absalom had killed his half-brother, Amnon, for raping their sister, Tamar; then Absalom went to war against his father, seeking to wrest away Israel’s throne. David’s soldiers find Absalom trapped in a tree, and kill him despite David’s command to deal with him gently. Despite his son’s 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 Sunday’s Track Two 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 in our Lectionary readings. In fact, it has been only a few weeks since we read it on the last Sunday in June! In the context of different readings, though, we may understand its verses in new and different ways. On June 27 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. God’s love and grace wait for us even when we are deep in grief, the Psalmist reminds us. We wait for God, just as in night’s darkest hours we wait for morning light.

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

Our Track Two Psalm will present Psalm 34 in three parts this Sunday through August 22. 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

“Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger.” This passage from the letter to the people of Ephesus still speaks good sense in modern times: 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 beloved verse that concluded 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. They know Jesus. 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 continue through John’s extended exposition of Jesus as manna, the bread of life, for the next three Sundays.

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 Today’s Lessons for Aug. 9, 2015

Prophet Elijah in the Desert, Dieric Bouts the Elder, Oil on panel, 1464-68, Sint-Pieterskerk, Leuven, The Netherlands.

God provides physical and spiritual sustenance in time of trouble: This theme continues in this week’s readings. Here the Prophet Elijah, pursued by an angry Queen Jezebel, is depressed, unwilling to get up or to eat. He goes to sleep under a broom tree and hopes to die. God sends an angel, though, who tempts Elijah with hot cakes and water and caring support, giving him strength to go on with his prophecy.

Psalm: Psalm 34:1-8

We will read Psalm 34 in three parts in coming weeks. A Psalm of praise and thanksgiving for God’s protection in time of trouble, it is held in tradition as a hymn sung by King David after he escaped from a threatening situation. In an unusual sensory metaphor that has been adopted in a contemplative Taizé chant, the Psalmist tells us to “taste and see” that God is good when we are thankful for God’s protection.

Second Reading: Ephesians 4:25-5:2

This lesson offers good advice for those who lived in community in the early church. It is good advice, too, for those in church community in any era: 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. In short, 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. They know Jesus. 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.