Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Sept. 11, 2022

First Reading (Track One): Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28

Pick through scripture and you’ll sometimes find a portrait of God as righteously, stormily angry, Turn to another page and you’ll find an image of overwhelming, steadfast love. Here’s reassurance: Divine love ultimately prevails.

In our Track One first reading, for example, Jeremiah shows us a vision of God erupting in emotional anger that any parent exhausted by misbehaving children can understand: “My people are foolish … they are stupid children … they have no understanding.” Look out, Jeremiah warns the people at the end of Sunday’s passage: God is angry now, and that has consequences. And yet, Jeremiah says, in all this wrath, God yet I will not make a full end.

First Reading (Track Two): Exodus 32:7-14

Can it be a coincidence that this reading falls during the same general season as our Jewish sisters and brothers celebrate the High Holidays? Rabbinical tradition teaches that Yom Kippur, the Feast of Atonement, falls on the date when Moses brought the second set of commandments down from the mountain. With atonement, God will forgive even such an idolatrous act as the Israelites’ worship of the golden calf, portrayed in Sunday’s Track Two first reading, the act that made Moses so angry that he shattered the first set of stone tablets. The lesson is one for the ages: No matter how grave our offenses, when we are truly sorry and we humbly repent, God has mercy on us and forgives us. Every single time.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 14

Sunday’s Track One Psalm offers us clear echoes of Jeremiah’s vision of God as having less than infinite patience when the people go wrong. Jeremiah’s declaration that the people were stupid and foolish recurs here in the Psalmist’s scorn for fools, corrupt people and doers of abominable deeds. Mirroring the brief pause in God’s unrelenting anger in the Jeremiah passage, the Psalm too ends on a note of hope for those who seek refuge in God.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 51:1-11

Speaking of sins like worshiping a golden calf that seem too terrible to pardon, our Track Two Psalm recalls the time when King David sent his loyal soldier Uriah into harm’s way and certain death in order to cover up David’s adulterous affair with Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba. Then the prophet Nathan accused David, shocking him into recognizing his great sin. The Psalmist, assumed by legend to be David himself, imagines the king’s anguished repentance and hope for God’s forgiveness.

Second Reading: 1 Timothy 1:12-17

From now through the end of October we’ll be reading from the short first and second letters of Timothy. These are framed as letters of pastoral advice written by Paul to his associate Timothy. Bible scholars, though, believe they were actually written by a later Christian leader in Paul’s name. Composed in a time when the early church was becoming institutionalized and cautious, they tend to be more strict and dogmatic than Paul’s early letters. We’ll find none of that in Sunday’s reading, though. Here the writer speaking as Paul gives thanks that God forgave Paul’s blasphemy, persecution and violence and showered him with Christ’s faith and love.

Gospel: Luke 15:1-10

Take a moment to consider the first of these two familiar parables in a new way: Would a solitary shepherd, alone in the wilderness with predators all around and responsible for the care of a large flock, really leave 99 sheep unprotected to go out alone into the scary darkness to find just one? Well, maybe. Perhaps Jesus would. But perhaps Jesus is spinning a memorable story to make sure that everyone gets the point: God does not just forgive us when we go astray. God actively comes after us, looking for us, bringing us back, every single time.

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 Sunday’s Lessons for Sept. 15, 2019

First Reading (Track One): Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28

Pick through scripture and you’ll sometimes find a portrait of God as righteously, stormily angry; look on another page and you’ll find an image of overwhelming, steadfast love. Here’s reassurance: Divine love ultimately prevails.

In our Track One first reading, for example, Jeremiah shows us a vision of God erupting in emotional anger that any parent exhausted by misbehaving children can understand: “My people are foolish … they are stupid children … they have no understanding.” Look out, Jeremiah warns the people at the end of Sunday’s passage: God is angry now, and that has consequences. And yet, Jeremiah says, in all this wrath, God yet I will not make a full end.

First Reading (Track Two): Exodus 32:7-14

Can it be a coincidence that this reading falls during the same general season as our Jewish sisters and brothers celebrate the High Holidays? Rabbinical tradition teaches that Yom Kippur, the Feast of Atonement, falls on the date when Moses brought the second set of commandments down from the mountain. With atonement, God will forgive even such an idolatrous act as the Israelites’ worship of the golden calf, portrayed in Sunday’s Track Two first reading, the act that made Moses so angry that he shattered the first set of stone tablets. The lesson is one for the ages: No matter how grave our offenses, when we are truly sorry and we humbly repent, God has mercy on us and forgives us. Every single time.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 14

Sunday’s Track One Psalm offers us clear echoes of Jeremiah’s vision of God as having less than infinite patience when the people go wrong. Jeremiah’s declaration that the people were stupid and foolish recurs here in the Psalmist’s scorn for fools, corrupt people and doers of abominable deeds. Mirroring the brief pause in God’s unrelenting anger in the Jeremiah passage, the Psalm too ends on a note of hope for those who seek refuge in God.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 51:1-11

Speaking of sins like worshiping a golden calf that seem too terrible to pardon, our Track Two Psalm recalls the time when King David sent his loyal soldier Uriah into harm’s way and certain death in order to cover up David’s adulterous affair with Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba. Then the prophet Nathan accused David, shocking him into recognizing his great sin. The Psalmist, assumed by legend to be David himself, imagines the king’s anguished repentance and hope for God’s forgiveness.

Second Reading: 1 Timothy 1:12-17

From now through the end of October we’ll be reading from the short first and second letters of Timothy. These are framed as letters of pastoral advice written by Paul to his associate Timothy. Bible scholars, though, believe they were actually written by a later Christian leader in Paul’s name. Composed in a time when the early church was becoming institutionalized and cautious, they tend to be more strict and dogmatic than Paul’s early letters. We’ll find none of that in Sunday’s reading, though. Here the writer speaking as Paul gives thanks that God forgave Paul’s blasphemy, persecution and violence and showered him with Christ’s faith and love.

Gospel: Luke 15:1-10

Take a moment to consider the first of these two familiar parables in a new way: Would a solitary shepherd, alone in the wilderness with predators all around and responsible for the care of a large flock, really leave 99 sheep unprotected to go out alone into the scary darkness to find just one? Well, maybe. Perhaps Jesus would. But perhaps Jesus is spinning a memorable story to make sure that everyone gets the point: God does not just forgive us when we go astray. God actively comes after us, looking for us, bringing us back, every single time.

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. 21, 2016

First Reading: Jeremiah 1:4-10

Does this reading seem familiar? We heard it last Epiphany, hardly six months ago. When God called Jeremiah, the young man doubted his ability to do this important job. “Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy!” But God reassures him: Even before Jeremiah was born, God knew him, and knew that he would be a prophet to nations and kingdoms, with power “to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.”

First Reading (Track Two): Isaiah 58:9b-14

The book of Isaiah actually contains the work of three ancient writers, according to modern bible scholars. Now we hear from the third Isaiah, who prophesies soon after the nation’s return from exile: The temple and the city must be rebuilt; and that will be hard work. But Isaiah promises that all will be well if they follow God’s covenant: Be just, share with the needy, and care for the afflicted. Do all this, and honor the Sabbath, and Judah’s ancient glory will be restored.

Psalm 71:1-6

We sang this Psalm portion, too, in Epiphany, and this makes sense since it fits well with the reading from Jeremiah. In these verses the Psalmist speaks for us from a place of weakness and fear, seeking refuge in God as we ask for protection and help. God knows us, like Jeremiah, since before our birth; God sustains us throughout our lives as our strength and our hope.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 103:1-8

This familiar hymn of thanksgiving is beloved for its assurances that God loves us, has mercy on us and takes care of us. It is easy to imagine the people of Isaiah’s time singing verses like these as they traveled home from exile. In its hopeful verses we remember that God forgives us, heals us and redeems us. We count on God’s mercy and grace, gentle spirit and abundant love.

Second Reading: Hebrews 12:18-29

Last week’s Hebrews reading celebrated the Old Testament heroes who made up the “cloud of witnesses” that now stands with us as we follow in Jesus’ way. Today we remember Moses receiving the Ten Commandments: The people were terrified as the the sky went dark, lightning flashed, thunder roared, and the earth shook with God’s power. But now we have a new covenant under Jesus. God gives us through Christ a kingdom that cannot be shaken.

Gospel: Luke 13:10-17

As a teacher and rabbi in Judaism’s ancient tradition, Jesus knew and followed Torah, God’s law and teaching. He faithfully kept the Sabbath. But even when he was teaching in the synagogue, out of compassion he stopped what he was doing to heal a woman’s painful disability. The woman was overjoyed, but the leaders of the synagogue were outraged. How dare Jesus work on the Sabbath? But Jesus called out their hypocrisy, reminding them that they would not hesitate to work to protect their own property on a Sabbath. Why should a woman in pain for 18 years have to wait another hour?

Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for Sunday, Aug. 11, 2013.

First Reading: Isaiah 1:1, 10-20
In recent weeks we have heard from the Prophets Amos and Hosea, and now we come to perhaps the greatest of all the prophets, Isaiah, who came a generation later and prophesied to the Kingdom of Judah, while his predecessors had preached to Israel, the Northern Kingdom. His message is consistent, though, in its lament that the people will lose the land and the temple and be forced into exile because they have failed to keep God’s covenant to “do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, and plead for the widow.”

First Reading (Track Two): Genesis 15:1-6
We drop into the middle of a story today: “After these things …” Um, after what things? Most of us remember the Old Testament in fragmentary memorable vignettes: God promises Abram and Sarai – later called Abraham and Sarah – that their heirs will inherit the Promised Land. Abraham bargains with God over Sodom and Gomorrah’s fate, and stands ready to sacrifice his son, Isaac, at God’s command. But those stories lie ahead. At this point, Abram has followed God’s call and done battle for the people. But he has been waiting a long time for his promised heir and hopes for God’s reassurance. Know, God responds, that your descendants will be as numerous as the stars.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 50:1-8, 22-23
Today’s Psalm fits right in with Isaiah’s prophecy: God is pleased to have our offerings of thanksgiving, but God expects us to keep our covenant to be faithful, to be thankful and to practice righteousness – justice to others – in our lives. The Psalmist warns Israel that insincere thanksgiving won’t do, and those who forget God risk being “torn apart.” This language is a far cry from the sweet reassurances of Psalms like the 23rd!

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 33:12-22
Imagine how Abram must have felt after receiving God’s reassurance. Relief, joy and gratitude for God’s love and care: These are the themes of Psalms of thanksgiving and praise. God sees us, God protects us, God loves us. Our souls wait for God, our help and shield. Our hearts are glad in God who loves us; we trust in God’s holy name.

Second Reading: Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16
Hebrews holds an unusual place in the New Testament: Probably written late in the first century, perhaps around the same time as Matthew’s Gospel, its intended audience was probably a group of Jewish Christians who, facing severe persecution, were considering a return to Judaism. Hebrews argues that Christianity is the better way. Still, in these verses, the author takes care to speak well of the Abrahamic tradition, and argues that Jews and Christians will inherit the city of God through faith, beautifully described as “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

Gospel: Luke 12:32-40
Do not be afraid, Jesus assures his little flock. God’s kingdom is coming. Still, anyone listening to the next few lines might get a little nervous, at least. Sell your possessions, make durable purses, and be ready to go when Jesus calls. We don’t know when a thief might come into our house at night – who wouldn’t be afraid about that? But this is Jesus’s way of telling the apostles to be ready. The Kingdom may come when we least expect it, bringing us “unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.”